JP2005196076A - Method and device for removing developer remaining in developing unit in wet image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for removing a developer remaining in a developing unit for a wet image forming apparatus capable of preventing operator's hand or a housing chamber for housing a developer supply unit from being stained in detaching the developing unit or the developer supply unit from a main body frame. <P>SOLUTION: A liquid developing device 54 is divisionally constituted of the developing unit 81 and the developer supply unit 82. A developing roller 72 and a coating roller 73 are provided on a mount frame 83 constituting the developing unit 81. A draw-up roller 74 and stirring screws 77a and 77b are housed in a developer storing container 71 constituting the supply unit 82. The developer 70 stored in the container 71 is transferred to a photoreceptor drum 51 by the respective rollers. When the developer 70 in the supply unit 82 is depleted and the exchange time thereof comes, the rotation of the roller 74 is stopped and only the rollers 72 and 73 are rotated so that the developer remaining on their surfaces is transferred to the drum 51 so as to be removed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

    The present invention relates to a method for removing residual developer from a developing device in a wet image forming apparatus employed in a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, and the like, and an apparatus therefor.

  In general, a wet image forming apparatus forms an electrostatic latent image by irradiating the surface of a photosensitive drum with light according to image information, and a developer composed of toner and carrier is applied to the electrostatic latent image. Is adhered by a developing roller to form a toner image on the photosensitive drum. On the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller, the developer stored in the developer storage container is uniformly applied by the supply roller and the application roller.

  As the liquid developing device, there is a type in which the developing roller, the application roller, the supply roller, and the stirring screw for stirring the developer are integrally unitized together with the developer storage container. Further, as a liquid developing device, a developing device including the developing roller and the coating roller, and a detachable attachment to the lower side of the developing device, and the supply roller and the stirring screw are accommodated in a developer storage container. There is also a split type in which the developer supply device can be detached.

  When a developing operation is performed by the liquid developing device and the developer in the developer reservoir is exhausted, it is necessary to supply the developer into the developer reservoir. For this reason, the integrated liquid developing device is removed from the main body frame of the wet image forming apparatus, and is replaced with another developing device unit that stores the developing solution. In the split type liquid developing device, the developer supply unit is removed from the developing unit mounted on the main body frame and replaced with another developer supply unit.

Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which an integrated developer unit is attached to and detached from a rotating base. Patent Document 2 discloses a configuration in which a developing belt and a developing unit constituted by a coating roller for applying a developer to the belt, a pumping roller, and a developer tank are separable.
JP 2000-181179 A JP2000-214687

  However, the integrated conventional liquid developing device as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 is not configured to remove the remaining developer attached to the developing roller and the supply roller during the replacement operation. In the integrated liquid developing device, there is a possibility that the operator's hand touches the developer remaining on the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller and the coating roller exposed to the outside and is soiled. For example, in a split-type liquid developing device as disclosed in Patent Document 2, the storage chamber in which the liquid developing device is stored is soiled by the developer spilled from the developing roller and the supply roller (or developing belt). There was also a problem.

  In the split type developing device, since the developing device is not removed, the developing roller and the coating roller are not exposed to the outside and are not touched by the operator, but when the developer supply device is separated. In addition, there is a problem that the developer adhering to the developing roller and the application roller is dripped, and the operator's hand is soiled or the housing chamber for housing the liquid developing device is soiled.

The above problem also occurs when the developing unit or the developer supply unit of the liquid developing device reaches the end of its life and the liquid developing device or the developer supply unit is removed.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art and accommodate an operator's hand and a liquid developing device when the developing device or the developer supply device is removed from the main body frame of the wet image forming apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a residual developer removing device for a developing device in a wet image forming apparatus that can prevent the inside of a storage chamber from being soiled.

  In order to solve the above problems, the invention described in claim 1 is directed to an image carrier capable of forming an electrostatic latent image based on image information, and a developer attached to the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier. A developing device including a developing solution carrier for developing, and a developing solution supply device including supply means for supplying the developing solution from a developing solution storage container for storing the developing solution to the developing solution carrier of the developing device; A first driving means for driving the developer carrying member of the developing device; a second driving means for driving the supplying means of the developing solution supply; and a developing solution for detecting the presence or absence of the developing solution in the developing solution storage container. In the wet image forming apparatus comprising presence / absence detecting means and / or life judging means for judging the life of at least one of the developing device and the developer supply device, the developer presence / absence detecting means and / or the life judging means To the developer “No” signal or “Life” signal Then, with the second drive means on the developer supply side stopped, the first drive means of the developer carrier is operated to remove the developer remaining on the developer carrier by the removing means. The gist is to do.

The invention according to claim 2 is summarized in that, in claim 1, the removing means is an image carrier, a blade, a brush, or a suction nozzle.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image carrier capable of forming an electrostatic latent image based on image information, and a developer carrier for developing the developer by attaching a developer to the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier. A developer supply device, a developer supply device including supply means for supplying the developer from a developer storage container for storing the developer to the developer carrier of the developer, and a developer carrier of the developer First driving means for driving, second driving means for driving supply means of the developer supply device, developer presence / absence detecting means for detecting presence / absence of developer in the developer storage container, and / or the developer In a wet image forming apparatus comprising a life judging means for judging the life of at least one of the developer supply devices, the second driving means is stopped with respect to the first driving means and the second driving means. , A control signal for operating the first driving means alone And gist in that a force controlling device.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the developing device and the developer supply device are configured to be separable, and a lock for locking the assembled state is provided between the developing device and the developer supply device. The gist is that a mechanism is provided.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is summarized in that, in the third aspect, the developing device and the developer supply device are integrally formed.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the control device according to any one of the third to fifth aspects, wherein the control device has a developer “no” signal or a life “arrival” from the developer presence / absence detecting means and / or life judging means. The gist of the invention is that the operation of removing the developer remaining on the developer carrying member by the removing means is automatically performed based on the signal.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the method according to any one of the third to sixth aspects, the control device performs the development only after performing an operation of removing the developer remaining on the developer carrying member by a removing unit. The gist is that the apparatus and / or the developer supply apparatus can be replaced.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the third to seventh aspects, the developer carrying member of the developing unit is a developing roller, and the developing solution supply unit is accommodated in the developing solution storage container. The first drive comprises: a stirring member that stirs the developed developer, a pumping roller that contacts the developer and pumps up the developer, and an application roller that contacts the pumping roller and supplies the developer to the developing roller. The gist of the invention is that the developing roller and the application roller are rotationally driven, and the second driving means is configured to rotationally drive the agitating member and the pumping roller.

  According to the present invention, based on the developer “no” signal or the life “arrival” signal from the developer presence / absence detecting means and / or the life determining means, the second drive means on the developer supply side is stopped. Then, the first driving means of the developer carrier is operated to remove the developer remaining on the developer carrier by a removing means such as an image carrier, a blade, a brush, or a suction nozzle. For this reason, when removing the developing device or the developer supply device from the main body frame of the wet image forming apparatus, it is possible to prevent the operator's hand and the storage chamber for storing the liquid developing device from being soiled.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a tandem color image forming apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as an image forming apparatus) will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a wet image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the first image forming unit.

  The image forming apparatus includes a paper feeding unit 1, a vertical conveyance path 2, a registration roller pair 3, a belt conveyance unit 4, a first image forming unit 5, a second image forming unit 6, a third image forming unit 7, 4 image forming means 8, secondary transfer means 9, fixing means 10, discharge conveyance path 11, discharge tray 14 and the like. The paper feed means 1 includes a paper feed cassette 1a and a pickup roller 1b, and transports the paper P in the paper feed cassette 1a to the vertical transport path 2 by the pickup roller 1b. The vertical conveyance path 2 conveys the conveyed paper P to the secondary transfer unit 9 via the registration roller pair 3.

  The belt conveying unit 4 includes a driving roller 41, a driven roller 42, and an endless intermediate transfer belt 43 that is stretched over the two rollers. The intermediate transfer belt 43 maintains an appropriate tension by the tension roller 44. In this state, the driving roller 41 receives driving force from a driving motor (not shown), and the outer peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 51 in each image forming unit and the outer peripheral speed of the intermediate transfer belt 43 of the belt conveying unit 4 are constant. It is to be driven to become.

  The first to fourth image forming units 5 to 8 shown in FIG. 1 are for black (BK), magenta (M), cyan (C), and yellow (Y) from the left side in the figure, and are all substantially the same. It is a unit of composition. Here, for convenience of explanation, the configuration of the first image forming unit 5 will be described with reference to FIG. In other image forming units, the same components as those of the first image forming unit 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The first image forming means 5 includes a photosensitive drum 51, a main charging device 52, an LPH (LED PRINT HEAD) 53, a liquid developing device 54, a primary transfer means 55, a cleaning device 56, and a charge eliminating lamp 57. By assembling it into the housing made of the above, it becomes one unit and is attached to the apparatus main body (not shown).

  The photosensitive drum 51 is an amorphous silicon drum and is charged by the main charging device 52 so that the dark potential at the developing position is about 300V. The LPH 53 irradiates the surface of the charged photoconductive drum 51 with light corresponding to image information, whereby an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoconductive drum 51. The photosensitive drum 51 corresponds to a latent image carrier and a removing unit. The LPH 53 is used to reduce the size of the unit, but an LSU (laser scanning unit) may be used.

  The liquid developing device 54 stirs and mixes a developer composed of toner and a carrier so as to have a predetermined concentration, and an electrostatic latent image of a portion of the photosensitive drum 51 irradiated with the developer by the developer roller. To form a toner image on the photosensitive drum 51. The dark potential of the photosensitive drum 51 is set to 300V, the developing bias is set to 200V, and the post-exposure potential is set to 20V. That is, the dark potential corresponds to the white portion of the image, the post-exposure potential corresponds to the black portion of the image, and this difference is a so-called contrast potential. The toner image obtained by developing the electrostatic latent image formed as described above is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 43 of the belt conveying unit 4 at the nip with the primary transfer unit 55. In the present embodiment, the primary transfer means 55 uses a transfer roller, and a voltage having a polarity opposite to the surface potential of the photosensitive drum 51 is set in a range of −1000 to −1300 V and applied. ing.

  The toner that has not been transferred onto the photosensitive drum 51 is scraped off by the rubber blade 56a of the cleaning device 56 in the next process, and is neutralized by the neutralizing lamp 57 so as to lower the residual potential on the surface and make it uniform. Prepare for a series of processes. The potential setting for image formation in this manner varies depending on the characteristics of the photosensitive drum 51, the toner performance, and the environment. The image forming apparatus develops images corresponding to magenta, cyan, and yellow on the photosensitive drum by the second to fourth image forming units 6 to 8 in the same manner as the first image forming unit 5. A full-color image is formed by sequentially repeating the transfer onto the intermediate transfer belt 43 without transfer.

  Returning to FIG. 1, image formation after transfer will be described. In the present embodiment, the secondary transfer unit 9 includes a secondary transfer roller. The secondary transfer unit 9 is disposed at a secondary transfer position on the vertical conveyance path 2. The secondary transfer position is a position where the secondary transfer unit 9 faces the driving roller 41 and is pressed against the intermediate transfer belt 43. A secondary transfer bias is applied to the secondary transfer unit 9, and the paper P conveyed by the secondary transfer unit 9 from the intermediate transfer belt 43 through the vertical conveyance path 2 and the registration roller pair 3. A full-color image is secondarily transferred to the image. Thereafter, the paper P onto which the full-color image has been secondarily transferred is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 43 and conveyed to the fixing unit 10. The fixing unit 10 includes a first fixing roller 10a and a second fixing roller 10b. Each fixing roller includes a fixing heater (not shown), and the identification fixing heater is controlled to a predetermined temperature necessary for fixing. Due to this temperature, a full-color image is fixed on the paper P that is pressed and passed by both rollers. The paper P is discharged to the discharge tray 14 via the discharge conveyance path 11 after being fixed by the fixing unit 10.

  The intermediate transfer cleaning unit 12 includes an intermediate transfer cleaning roller 12a and an intermediate transfer cleaning blade 12b. The intermediate transfer cleaning roller 12 a is in pressure contact with the intermediate transfer belt 43 and is rotated in the same direction as the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 43. The intermediate transfer cleaning blade 12b counter-contacts the intermediate transfer belt 43 on the downstream side from the position of the intermediate transfer cleaning roller 12a in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt 43, thereby removing residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 43. The intermediate transfer belt 43 is prepared for the next image forming process.

Next, a schematic configuration of the liquid developing device 54 will be described with reference to FIG.
The liquid developing device 54 according to this embodiment includes a developer storage container 71 that stores the developer 70. Inside the developer storage container 71, a developing roller 72 as a developer carrier, a coating roller 73, a pumping roller 74 as a supply means, a doctor blade 75, a cleaning blade 76, and a pair as a stirring member. Stirring screws 77a and 77b. The developing roller 72, the application roller 73, the scooping roller 74, and the agitation screws 77a and 77b are rotationally driven by a driving means described later including a gear train. The developer 70 is adjusted to disperse the toner in a high concentration in a carrier liquid made of a nonpolar insulating liquid such as silicon oil and the carrier liquid. The agitating screws 77a and 77b circulate and agitate the developer 70. A part of the pumping roller 74 is immersed in the developer 70, and the developer 70 that has been pumped is rotated in contact with the application roller 73 to apply the developer 70 to the application roller 73.

Next, a characteristic configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, the liquid developing device 54 is of a split type, and includes a developing device 81 mounted at a predetermined position on a main body frame (not shown) of the wet image forming apparatus, and a lower portion of the developing device 81. And a developer supply device 82 that is detachably mounted. The developing device 81 includes a mounting frame 83 that rotatably supports the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73. One end of the mounting frame 83 has a first frame for rotationally driving the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73. One drive means 84 is attached.

  The developer storage container 71 constituting the developer supplier 82 accommodates the scooping roller 74 and stirring screws 77a and 77b. A second driving means 86 for rotating the pumping roller 74 and the agitating screws 77a and 77b is provided at the end of the developer storage container 71.

  Guide rail portions 83c and 83d having guide grooves 83a and 83b are formed on the left and right sides of the lower end of the mounting frame 83 of the developing device 81. On the other hand, protrusions 71a and 71b that are slidably guided in the guide grooves 83a and 83b of the frame 83 are integrally formed laterally on both left and right edges of the upper end opening of the developer storage container 71 on the developer supply unit 82 side. Is formed. A closed annular storage groove 71c is formed in the upper end surface of the developer storage container 71, and a closed annular seal ring 88 is engaged with the storage groove 71c. The guide rail portions 83c and 83d of the mounting frame 83 are fitted with the protrusions 71a and 71b of the developer storage container 71 of the developer supply device 82 so that the developer 81 and the developer supply device 82 are assembled. It has become.

  When the developer supply unit 82 is separated from the frame 83 of the developer 81 as shown in FIG. 3, a shielding cover 89 is attached to the upper end opening of the developer storage container 71. ing. Guide rail portions 89c and 89d having guide grooves 89a and 89b for slidingly guiding the protrusions 71a and 71b are integrally formed on the left and right sides of the shielding cover 89. The assembled state of the developing device 81 and the developer supply device 82 is locked by a lock mechanism 90 (shown in FIG. 4 and not shown in FIG. 3).

  The second driving means 86 is held in a state where the developing device 81 and the developer supply device 82 are assembled, and the second driving means 86 is held in a stopped state, and only the first driving means 84 is used alone. A clutch mechanism 91 for operating is provided. The clutch mechanism 91 is provided, for example, between a rotating shaft that supports the pumping roller 74 and a gear supported by the rotating shaft. However, the configuration is not shown in FIG. 3, and is simplified in FIG. Show.

Next, a control device for controlling the operation of the liquid developing device 54 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, a central processing unit (CPU) 101 for performing arithmetic processing based on various data is provided inside the control device 100, and this CPU 101 has a read-only memory dedicated to data reading. A (ROM) 102 and a random access memory (RAM) 103 capable of reading and writing data are connected. The control device 100 is provided with a timer 104 for setting the operating time of the first driving means 84 alone. Connected to the control device 100 is a developer presence / absence detector 105 for detecting whether or not there is developer in the developer supplier 82.

  The control device 100 is connected to the first and second drive means 84 and 86, a lock mechanism 90 and a clutch mechanism 91 via a drive circuit 106. The control device 100 is connected to an operation unit 107 for inputting various data and a display 108 as a notification means for displaying various data.

  Next, an operation for removing the developer remaining on the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73 provided in the developing device 81 of the liquid developing device 54 configured as described above will be described.

When the developing operation by the liquid developing device 54 is performed for a predetermined time and the developing solution stored in the developing solution storage container 71 of the developing solution supply device 82 is exhausted, the developing solution presence / absence detector 105 shown in FIG. The absence of liquid is detected. It is detected by this “developer no signal” that the replacement timing of the developer supply device 82 has come, and is output to the control device 100. (See step S1 in FIG. 5)
Next, as shown in step S2, a signal is output from the control device 100 to the display 108, and it is displayed on the display 108 that the replacement time of the developer supply device 82 has been detected, and the developing operation is stopped. .

  Next, in step S <b> 3, the operation unit 107 is operated by an operator, and a signal instructing replacement work of the developer supply unit 82 is input to the control device 100. As a result, the clutch mechanism 91 is operated in a mode in which power is cut off, and only the first driving means 84 of the first driving means 84 and the second driving means 86 is operated alone. At this time, in FIG. 2, the scooping roller 74 is stopped and the application roller 73 adjacent to the roller 74 is rotated, so that the developer 70 is not newly supplied to the application roller 73.

  As shown in step S <b> 4, the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73 are rotated for a predetermined time set by the timer 104, and the residual developer attached to the outer peripheral surfaces of the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73 is removed from the photosensitive drum 51. It is transferred to the outer peripheral surface of.

  When the predetermined time set by the timer 104 elapses, the single operation of only the developing device 81 by the first driving unit 84 is stopped in step S5, and the rotation of the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73 is stopped. In step S <b> 6, the lock mechanism 90 is released, and the replaceable state of the developer supply unit 82 is displayed on the display 93. In step S <b> 7, the developer withdraws the developer storage container 71 of the developer supply unit 82 from the frame 83 of the developer 81 in the horizontal direction, and the used developer supply unit 82 becomes another developer supply unit 82. To be exchanged. A new developer supply unit 82 is mounted at a predetermined position of the frame 83 and is locked at a predetermined position by a lock mechanism 90.

  In FIG. 5, an instruction for replacement work is manually performed by an operator, but instead, this may be shown by a flowchart of FIG. That is, when the developer supply unit 82 comes to be replaced, the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73 of the first driving means 84 of the developing unit 81 are automatically rotated for a predetermined time, and thereafter, the developing unit 81 and the developing solution supply The lock mechanism 90 of the device 82 may be released, and the display 93 may indicate that the developer supply device 82 is in a replaceable state.

  In the above-described embodiment, before the developer supply unit 82 of the liquid developing device 54 is removed, the residual developer attached to the surfaces of the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73 on the developing unit 81 side can be removed. For this reason, the developer is not dropped from the developing roller 72 and the application roller 73 during the operation of removing the developer supply device 82 by the operator, and the operator's hand can be prevented from being soiled. In addition, a receiving tray for collecting the residual developer can be eliminated, the number of parts can be reduced, and the installation space can be reduced.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
In this embodiment, the liquid developing device 54 is configured as follows. That is, the developing device 81 and the developer supply device 82 are integrally configured so as not to be separated, and the shielding cover 111 is detachably attached to the opening portion of the frame 83 that exposes the developing roller 72. . The frame 83 is provided with a first driving means 84 for rotating the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73, and the developer storage container 71 is not shown, but a first driving means 84 for rotating the pumping roller 74 and the stirring screws 77a and 77b. Two drive means 86 are accommodated. The second driving means 86 is also provided with a clutch mechanism 91.

  In this alternative embodiment, when the developer presence / absence detector 105 detects the absence of developer, the first drive means 84 is operated alone for a predetermined time set by the timer 104 as described above. The residual developer attached to the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73 is transferred to the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 51. The detailed removal operation of the residual developer is almost the same as the above-described operation.

  In this other embodiment, the entire liquid developing device 54 is removed from a predetermined position of the main body frame. The shield cover 111 is attached to the opening of the frame 83 in the removed liquid developing device 54. Then, with the shielding cover 111 of the new liquid developing device 54 storing the developing solution opened, the liquid developing device 54 is mounted at a predetermined position of the main body frame of the wet image forming apparatus.

  In this other embodiment, before the liquid developing device 54 is removed, the residual developer adhering to the surfaces of the developing roller 72 and the application roller 73 can be removed, so that the operator can open the opening of the frame 83. The operator's hand is not soiled even when the developing roller 72 and the application roller 73 exposed from the portions are accidentally brought into contact with the outer peripheral surfaces.

In addition, you may change this embodiment as follows.
In the above-described embodiment, the developer supply unit 82 or the liquid developing device 54 is replaced using the developer presence / absence detector 105 that detects the presence / absence of the developer stored in the developer storage container 71. I made it. Instead of this, when the lifetime of the developing device 81, the developer supply device 82 and the liquid developing device 54 is counted by the life judging means and the replacement time has come, the developing roller 72 and the coating roller 73 described above are used. You may make it perform the operation | work which removes the residual developing solution adhering to the outer peripheral surface.

  Based on the determination result by the developer presence / absence detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of the developer in the developer storage container 71 and / or the life judging means for judging the life of at least one of the developing device and the developer supplying device. The residual developer may be transferred from the developing roller 72 to the photosensitive drum 51.

  The developer remaining on the developing roller 72 is transferred to the photosensitive drum based on the developer “absence” signal or the life “arrival” signal from the developer presence / absence detecting means and / or the life determining means to the control device 100. A function of automatically performing an operation of transferring to 51 may be provided.

  Only after the controller 100 performs an operation of transferring the developer remaining on the developing roller 72 to the photosensitive drum 51, the integral-type liquid developing device 54 or the split-type developer supplying device 82 is replaced. You may give the function to accept | permit.

  ○ When removing the developer remaining on the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller 72, a removing means such as a blade, a brush, or a flat suction nozzle may be placed in contact with or close to the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller 72. Good.

  In FIG. 4, the second drive means 86 is driven by the first drive means 84. However, when the second drive means 86 is also driven independently, the clutch mechanism 91 is The operation of the first drive unit 84 and the second drive unit 86 is individually controlled by a control signal from the control device 100, and is omitted.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a wet image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a first image forming unit. The expansion exploded perspective view of a liquid development device similarly. The block circuit diagram for controlling operation | movement of a liquid developing device similarly. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the liquid developing device. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the liquid developing device. The perspective view of the liquid developing device which shows another embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 70 ... Developer, 71 ... Developer storage container, 72 ... Developer roller, 73 ... Coating roller, 74 ... Pumping roller, 81 ... Developer, 82 ... Developer supply device, 84 ... First drive means, 86 ... Second Drive means, 90 ... lock mechanism, 100 ... control device.

Claims (8)

An image carrier capable of forming an electrostatic latent image based on image information;
A developing device including a developer carrier for developing the developer by attaching the developer to the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier;
A developer supply device comprising a supply means for supplying the developer from a developer storage container for storing the developer to the developer carrier of the developer;
First driving means for driving a developer carrier of the developing device;
Second driving means for driving supply means of the developer supply device;
Wet image formation provided with a developer presence / absence detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of developer in the developer storage container and / or a life judging means for judging the life of at least one of the developing device and the developer supplying device In the device
On the basis of a developer “no” signal or a life “arrival” signal from the developer presence / absence detecting means and / or life determining means, the developer is stopped in a state where the second driving means on the developer supply side is stopped. A method for removing a residual developer from a developing device in a wet image forming apparatus, wherein the first driving unit of the carrier is operated and the developer remaining on the developer carrier is removed by a removing unit. 2. The residual developer removing device for a developing device in a wet image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the removing means is an image carrier, a blade, a brush, or a suction nozzle. An image carrier capable of forming an electrostatic latent image based on image information;
A developing device including a developer carrier for developing the developer by attaching the developer to the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier;
A developer supply device comprising a supply means for supplying the developer from a developer storage container for storing the developer to the developer carrier of the developer;
First driving means for driving a developer carrier of the developing device;
Second driving means for driving supply means of the developer supply device;
Wet image formation provided with a developer presence / absence detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of developer in the developer storage container and / or a life judging means for judging the life of at least one of the developing device and the developer supplying device In the device
A wet type characterized in that a control device is provided for outputting a control signal for operating the first driving means alone with the second driving means being stopped with respect to the first driving means and the second driving means. A residual developer removing device for a developing device in an image forming apparatus. 4. The developing device according to claim 3, wherein the developing device and the developing solution supply device are configured to be separable, and a locking mechanism for locking the assembled state is provided between the developing device and the developing solution supply device. A residual developer removing device for a developing device in a wet image forming apparatus. 4. The residual developer removing device for a developing unit in a wet image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the developing unit and the developing solution supply unit are integrally formed. 6. The developer carrying device according to claim 3, wherein the control device is configured to carry the developer solution based on a developer “no” signal or a life “arrival” signal from the developer presence / absence detecting unit and / or a lifetime determining unit. An apparatus for removing residual developer from a developing device in a wet image forming apparatus, wherein an operation for removing developer remaining on a body by a removing means is automatically performed. 7. The control device according to claim 3, wherein the control device performs the operation of removing the developer remaining on the developer carrying member by a removing means only after the developer and / or the developer supply device. An apparatus for removing a residual developer from a developing device in a wet image forming apparatus, wherein the apparatus is configured to be exchangeable. 8. The developing member according to claim 3, wherein the developer carrying member of the developing unit is a developing roller, and the developing solution supply unit agitates the developing solution stored in the developing solution storage container. A pumping roller that pumps up the developer in contact with the developer, and an application roller that contacts the pumping roller and supplies the developer to the developer roller, and the first driving means includes the developer roller and the coating roller. A residual developer removing device for a developing device in a wet image forming apparatus, wherein the second driving means is configured to rotate, and the second driving means is configured to rotationally drive the stirring member and the pumping roller.

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