JP2006072007A - Process cartridge and image forming apparatus using it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a process cartridge for forming a high quality image without image rubbing etc., by preventing the occurrence of a scar in an abutting part of an image carrier and an intermediate transfer body. <P>SOLUTION: The process cartridge is provided in which at least a latent image carrier 11 and a cleaning apparatus 12 are integrated and the process cartridge can be attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus main body 1, wherein the process cartridge is provided with: an intermediate belt 41 abutted on a photoreceptor belt 11 which is the image carrier; and lubricant 101 which can be recovered by a cleaning means when the machine is stopped and is interposed in a part of contact of the photoreceptor belt 11 with the intermediate transfer belt 41, and the image forming apparatus is also provided which includes the process cartridge. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a process cartridge used for image formation by an electrostatic copying process such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a printer, and more particularly to a process cartridge provided with an intermediate transfer body or a transfer material transport body. . Furthermore, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using this process cartridge.

Image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, printers, and facsimile machines using an electrophotographic process electrically adsorb toner from a developing unit to an electrostatic latent image formed by exposure on a photosensitive drum with a laser or the like. As a result, a visible image is formed on the photosensitive drum. The image forming apparatus transfers a toner image on a photosensitive drum to a sheet material, and fixes the toner image on the sheet material with heat or pressure in a fixing device to form an image.
In these apparatuses, in order to stably obtain a high-quality image, after the image is formed, residual toner remaining without being transferred onto the image carrier or intermediate transfer body is collected by a cleaning device. . As the cleaning device, a device having a cleaning blade made of an elastic material such as urethane rubber is usually used, and the remaining toner is scraped off and collected by bringing the blade into contact with the image carrier or intermediate transfer member. Yes.

  Regarding the image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration, generally, a color image forming apparatus using an image carrier and / or an intermediate transfer body, or a color image in which a plurality of colors of toner are superimposed on a photosensitive material and transferred onto a transfer material at once. In the forming device, due to the difference in maintenance performance and the consumption frequency of each part, an intermediate transfer member and a cleaning device that removes waste toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member are integrated into a process cartridge. Some are detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus.

  By the way, in the image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration, there may be a problem that a scratch is generated due to vibration or the like at a contact portion between the image carrier and the cleaning blade, the developing device, or the intermediate transfer belt. For example, when the apparatus main body is shipped in a state where the intermediate transfer member is in contact with the image carrier, there is a phenomenon in which minute scratches are generated in the nip portion of the image carrier or the intermediate transfer member due to vibration during transportation. Usually, these do not appear to the extent that they appear in the image, but in severe cases they may appear as streaks in the image.

Therefore, conventionally, a protective sheet member is inserted at a minute interval between the image carrier and other members so as not to be damaged even if the image carrier and these members come into contact with each other, and as a means for avoiding this problem. (See Patent Documents 1 and 2).
However, in such a configuration, the process cartridge or the developing device may be attached to the image forming apparatus with the protective member attached by mistake. In this case, the protective paper enters the apparatus, and the image This may cause problems such as cosmetics. In order to solve such a problem, in Patent Document 3, regarding the protective sheet inserted between the photosensitive drum and the developing sleeve or between the developing sleeve and the regulating blade, one end of the protective sheet is regulated with the photosensitive drum and the developing sleeve or the developing sleeve. A handle for inserting the protective sheet member at the other end of the blade is provided. Since this handle protrudes from the outer shape of the process cartridge and is fixed so as to be convex, if the handle is attached to the process cartridge and is attached to the insertion port of the image forming apparatus, the handle and the periphery of the insertion port Therefore, the user cannot attach the process cartridge to the image forming apparatus, and the process cartridge and the developing device are erroneously attached to the image forming apparatus with the protective member attached. To prevent that.

  Further, in the invention described in Patent Document 4, regarding the contact portion between the image carrier and the cleaning blade of the cleaning unit, in order to avoid a situation in which the member is damaged due to the contact of the nip portion, A slide member that can move along the guide groove is arranged on the side surfaces on both sides with a contact pin suspended from the outer surface, and a tension bar is bridged at a position facing the lower surface of the cleaning unit. A configuration in which the shielding sheet is stretched so as to cover the cleaning blade disposed on the lower surface of the cleaning unit by the tensioning rod and the tensioning plate when not attached to the main body, and is protected so that the cleaning blade is not damaged. It has become.

  Furthermore, as another means for solving the above-described problem, means for providing a release mechanism so that the nip portion does not come in contact has been proposed. As an example of this, in the invention described in Patent Document 5, for example, in the density measuring unit provided in the image forming apparatus, the image receiving material is nipped by a nip roller pair composed of a grid roller and sent to the density measuring position. It has a mechanism that can accurately measure the density of the measurement chart formed on the image receiving material by the densitometer. However, during normal image formation, the upper roller of the nip roller pair is separated from the lower roller by the nip release mechanism (nip As a result, the upper roller is prevented from coming into contact with the image forming surface of the image-receiving material on which the image is formed, so that high-quality image formation can be performed. This provides an image forming apparatus capable of measuring density without damaging the image during normal image formation.

JP 2000-029370 A JP 2002-182541 A JP 2004-126002 A JP-A-6-095556 JP 2004-118052 A

  However, in the inventions described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, there is a possibility that a defect such as scratching occurs when the protective paper is removed due to restrictions on the direction in which the apparatus can be operated due to the configuration of the apparatus. Further, in the invention described in Patent Document 5, since the number of parts is increased by providing the release mechanism, the cost is increased, and there is a possibility of erroneous operation such as forgetting to release the release mechanism when the apparatus is installed. The invention described in Patent Document 4 also increases the number of parts, leading to an increase in cost, and installing a new mechanism may cause a malfunction.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the problem is that scratches occur at the contact portion between the image carrier and the intermediate transfer member due to vibration during transportation of the process cartridge or the apparatus main body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus using the same, which can form a high-quality image without image blurring.

The features of the present invention, which is a means for solving the above problems, are listed below.
1. The process cartridge of the present invention is a process cartridge in which at least the latent image carrier and the cleaning unit are integrated, and is detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus, and includes an intermediate transfer member or a transfer material transport member that contacts the latent image carrier. And a lubricant that can be recovered by the cleaning means when the machine is stopped is provided in a contact portion between the latent image carrier and the intermediate transfer member or the transfer material transport member.
2. Further, the process cartridge of the present invention includes: In the process cartridge described in item 3, the lubricant is toner.
3. An image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that visualizes an electrostatic latent image formed on a latent image carrier with toner, and at least the latent image carrier and a cleaning unit are integrated into the image forming apparatus main body. In an image forming apparatus including a detachable process cartridge, the image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transfer body or a transfer material conveyance body that comes into contact with a latent image carrier, and a contact portion between the latent image carrier and the intermediate transfer body or transfer material conveyance body includes: A process cartridge is provided in which a lubricant that can be collected by the cleaning means is interposed when the machine is stopped.
4). The image forming apparatus according to the present invention further includes the above-described 3. And a process cartridge as described above.

  In the process cartridge and the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the means for solving the above prevents the surface of the image bearing member and the intermediate transfer member from being scratched without providing a special mechanism, and achieves low cost and high image quality. There is an effect that an image can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive belt 11 as a latent image carrier that is wound around a plurality of support rollers. The photosensitive belt 11 is rotationally driven in a clockwise direction indicated by an arrow A in the drawing, and around the charging device 13, the optical writing unit 20, four sets of developing devices 31K, 31C, 31M, and 31Y, and an intermediate transfer member. The intermediate transfer belt 41, the photoreceptor cleaning device 12 and the like are disposed. An organic photosensitive layer is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor belt 11.
When an image forming operation (printing operation) is performed by the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a high voltage is applied to the charging device 13 so that the photosensitive belt 11 is uniformly charged. In an image signal processing unit (not shown), color image information such as a color image signal sent from an external computer is converted into an optical writing signal and sent to the optical writing unit 20. In the optical writing unit 20, a laser as a light source is controlled based on the optical writing signal, and Black (K), Cyan (C), and Magenta (M) via a polygon mirror, an f / Θ lens, and a reflecting mirror. , Optical writing corresponding to the image signal of Yellow (Y) is performed, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive belt 11.
The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive belt 11 is developed for each color by the developing devices 31K, 31C31M, and 31Y having the respective color toners. Thereby, a toner image is formed for each color on the photosensitive belt 11.

At the contact portion between the photosensitive belt 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 41, the toner image on the photosensitive belt 11 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 41 by applying a charge having a polarity opposite to that of the toner to the primary transfer bias roller 45. Is done. By repeating this toner image formation and transfer operation four times, a four-color color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 41. The color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 41 is transferred by the paper transfer roller 50 as the secondary transfer member to the transfer paper as the recording material sent from the paper feed cassette 80 by the conveyance roller pairs 82 and 83. . The transfer paper on which the color toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 60, and the toner image is melted and fixed.
The photoconductor cleaning device 12 always abuts on the photoconductor belt 11 and cleans remaining toner on the photoconductor belt 11. On the other hand, the intermediate transfer member cleaning device 42 is held at a position separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 41 during the image forming operation, and is contacted with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 41 after the formed image is transferred onto the transfer paper. Residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 41 is cleaned.

Next, a specific configuration of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a process cartridge to which the present invention is applied. This process cartridge includes a photosensitive belt 11 as a latent image carrier, a charging device 13, a photosensitive member cleaning device 12, an intermediate transfer belt 41 as an intermediate transfer member, and an intermediate transfer member cleaning device 42. It is configured.
In the present invention, the lubricant 101 is interposed between the photosensitive belt 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 41, so that the photosensitive member can be used when the image forming apparatus main body 1 is shipped or when a process cartridge supplied as a supply is shipped. The contact between the body belt 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 41 prevents the surface from rubbing and causing scratches.
The lubricant 101 used here is collected by the photoreceptor cleaning device 12 or the intermediate transfer member cleaning device 42. In this way, by using a member that can be collected by a cleaning device that has been conventionally provided as a protective member, the need to provide a special mechanism is avoided, thus preventing erroneous operation due to the installation of a new mechanism, There is also an advantage that costs can be reduced.

In addition, the above-described problem of scratches in the contact portion may occur not only when the apparatus main body or the process cartridge is transported but also when the apparatus is in operation. This occurs due to a difference in peripheral speed between the photosensitive belt 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 41 when the image forming operation is started or stopped. In this case as well, a minute amount is formed on the surface of the photosensitive belt 11 or the intermediate transfer belt 41. Scratches will occur.
Therefore, in the present invention, by using the lubricant 101 as a toner, the nip portion between the photosensitive belt 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 41 is always lubricated not only during transportation such as shipping but also during operation of the apparatus. An image forming apparatus or a process cartridge capable of supplying the agent 101 can be provided.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart when the toner is supplied to the nip portion between the photosensitive belt 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 41 at the end of the image forming operation.
After a predetermined image forming operation by each color developing device, one developing device is operated at a predetermined timing before the photosensitive motor is stopped, and toner supply to the photosensitive belt 11 is executed.
Here, it is necessary to set the timing at which the developing device is operated so that the toner adhering to the photosensitive belt 11 at this time comes to a contact position with the intermediate transfer belt when the photosensitive motor is stopped. is there.
Further, the developing device operated here may be fixed to, for example, a frequently used K developing device, or K, C, M, and Y developing devices may be arbitrarily selected.
Further, the toner supply to the photosensitive belt 11 may be performed for every predetermined number of sheets instead of always after the image forming operation in order to save toner consumption.
In this embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus that includes one latent image carrier and sequentially superimposes colors on the intermediate transfer member has been described. It is also possible to apply the present invention to an image forming apparatus including a photoconductor or a plurality of photoconductors and a transfer material transport body.

1 is a front view illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is an example of a process cartridge to which the present invention is applied. 6 is a timing chart when supplying toner to the nip portion between the photosensitive belt 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 41 at the end of the image forming operation.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 11 Photoconductor belt 12 Photoconductor cleaning apparatus 13 Charging apparatus 20 Optical writing unit 31Y, 31M, 31C, 31K Developing apparatus 41 Intermediate transfer belt 42 Intermediate transfer body cleaning apparatus 45 Primary transfer bias roller 50 Paper transfer roller 50
60 Fixing Device 80 Paper Feed Cassette 82a, 82b, 82c, 83 Conveying Roller Pair 101 Lubricant

Claims (4)

In a process cartridge in which at least the latent image carrier and the cleaning unit are integrated and detachable from the image forming apparatus main body,
The process cartridge is
An intermediate transfer member or a transfer material transport member that comes into contact with the latent image carrier,
A process cartridge characterized in that a lubricant that can be collected by the cleaning means is interposed at a contact portion between the image carrier and the intermediate transfer member or transfer material transport member when the machine is stopped. The process cartridge according to claim 1,
The process cartridge, wherein the lubricant is toner. An image forming apparatus that visualizes an electrostatic latent image formed on a latent image carrier with toner, and includes an at least a latent image carrier and a cleaning unit, and a process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. In the forming device,
The process cartridge is
An intermediate transfer member or a transfer material transport member that comes into contact with the latent image carrier,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that a lubricant that can be collected by the cleaning means is interposed at the contact portion between the latent image carrier and the intermediate transfer member or transfer material transport member when the machine is stopped. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.
The image forming apparatus includes the process cartridge according to claim 2.

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