JP2006084878A - Lubricant applicator, cleaning apparatus, and process cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lubricant applicator which can efficiently apply a lubricant to an image carrier of a photoreceptor with a simple constitution. <P>SOLUTION: The lubricant applicator has a solid lubricant 51 of a solid form, a rotary brush 52 for applying the solid lubricant 51 to a photoreceptor drum 2 and a flicker 53 for equalizing the solid lubricant 51 adhered to the rotary brush 52. The lubricant applicator is arranged around the photoreceptor drum 2 so that a relation: Nd≥Nf≥Nz may be satisfied, wherein Nz denotes length by which the rotary brush 52 comes into contact with the solid lubricant 51, Nf denotes the length of the rotary brush 52 by which the rotary brush 52 comes into contact with the flicker 53 and Nd denotes the length of the rotary brush 52 by which the rotary brush 52 comes into contact with the photoreceptor drum 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a lubricant application device, a cleaning device, and a process cartridge used in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, or a facsimile using an electrophotographic method or an electrostatic recording method.

  Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus, the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 after image transfer is cleaned by a cleaning device 5 as shown in FIG. That is, the residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 is scraped off by the cleaning blade 54, and the solid lubricant 51 is brought into contact with the rotating brush 52 positioned upstream of the cleaning blade 54 in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 2. A lubricant is applied to the body drum 2 to reduce the contact resistance of the cleaning blade 54.

  Since the cleaning blade 54 is in direct contact with the photosensitive drum 2, stabilizing the amount of lubricant applied is an important issue for extending the life of the photosensitive drum and improving the image quality.

  In Patent Document 1, by providing a lubricant coating device and a lubricant inhibitor coating device that loses the effect of the lubricant, fluctuations in the lubricant coating thickness can be reduced, and an appropriate lubricant film can be stably formed. It is said.

JP 2001-255776 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, there is a problem that a special device called a lubricant inhibitor coating device must be provided, which is expensive.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a lubricant application device, a cleaning device, and a process cartridge that can apply a lubricant to a photoconductor without waste with a simple configuration.

  In order to achieve this object, the lubricant application device of the present invention includes a solid lubricant made solid, a rotating brush for applying the solid lubricant to an image carrier, and the solid lubricant attached to the rotating brush. The length of the rotating brush that contacts the solid lubricant is Nz, the length of the rotating brush that contacts the flicking member is Nf, and the image carrier is in contact with the image carrier. The length of the rotating brush is Nd, and it is arranged around the image carrier so that the relationship Nd ≧ Nf ≧ Nz is established. In the present invention, the length of the rotating brush that contacts the solid lubricant is Nz, the length of the rotating brush that contacts the flicking member is Nf, and the length of the rotating brush that contacts the image bearing member is Nd. Nz relationship holds. Therefore, the solid lubricant applied to the rotating brush can be made uniform and applied to the image carrier without waste.

  Further, the apparatus may be configured as a cleaning device including the lubricant application device according to claim 1 and a cleaning blade that contacts the surface of the image carrier and removes deposits attached to the image carrier. It is also possible to configure as a process cartridge in which at least the cleaning device according to claim 2 and the image carrier are integrally formed.

  According to the present invention, the lubricant can be applied to the image bearing member with a simple structure without waste.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a photosensitive drum 2 as an image carrier that has a photosensitive layer formed on its surface and rotates in the direction of the arrow, and the photosensitive drum 2 has a uniform background potential. A scorotron charger 3 for charging, an optical system scanning unit for exposing the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 with a light beam modulated in accordance with image data (only the laser beam is shown in the figure), and the photosensitive drum by exposure. A developing device 4 that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the toner 2 with toner, a cleaning device 5 that cleans the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 after the transfer of the toner image, and residual charges on the photosensitive drum 2. A static elimination device 6 for removing, a conveyance belt 7 for conveying a sheet on which a toner image is transferred, and the like are sequentially arranged. With these devices, the charging, exposure, development, transfer, and cleaning steps are sequentially performed around the photosensitive drum 2 as the photosensitive drum 2 rotates, and the toner image transferred to the recording sheet is continuously transferred. It is comprised so that it can form.

  An image forming process of the image forming apparatus will be described. First, after the photosensitive drum 2 is charged by the scorotron charging device 3, an electrostatic latent image is written on the photosensitive drum 2 by laser light from the optical system scanning unit, and then electrostatically developed by the developing device 4. The latent image is visualized as a toner image and moved to a transfer site at a predetermined timing. On the other hand, the sheet is conveyed to a transfer site at a predetermined timing by the conveyance belt 7, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 2 is transferred to the sheet by applying a transfer bias to a transfer roll (not shown).

  The photosensitive drum 2, the scorotron charger 3, the developing device 4, the cleaning device 5, the slow current device 6 and the like, and the opening 9 for exposure are integrally formed as a process cartridge 10. . This process cartridge is detachable from the main body of the electrophotographic apparatus comprising the transfer roller 8, the fixing device 12, and other components not shown, and is attached to the main body of the electrophotographic apparatus using the mounting rail 11. Integrated.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the cleaning device 5. As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning device 5 simultaneously applies a solid lubricant 51 made of a solid lubricant such as zinc stearate, and the solid lubricant 51 and the photosensitive drum 2 as an image carrier. A rotating brush 52 that contacts and rotates in one direction, a flicker (flicking member) 53 provided on the downstream side of the solid lubricant 51 in the rotating direction of the rotating brush 52, a synthetic rubber, and the like, and a free end portion thereof. It has a cleaning blade 54 and the like attached in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 2. The solid lubricant 51, the rotating brush 52, and the flicker 53 are referred to as a lubricant application device. The solid lubricant 51 is held by the holding member 55, and the length of the rotating brush 52 that contacts the solid lubricant 51 can be adjusted by changing the angle of the holding member 55.

  According to this cleaning device 5, when the rotary brush 52 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow, the solid lubricant 51 is scraped by the friction of the rotary brush 52 to become powder, and the rotary brush 52 (the brush fiber). Further, when the rotating brush comes into contact with the flicker 53, the attached solid lubricant 51 is made uniform. Thereafter, the solid lubricant 51 adhering to the rotating brush 52 is applied to the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 by the rotation of the rotating brush 52.

  In the cleaning device 5 of this embodiment, the length of the rotating brush 52 that contacts the solid lubricant is Nz (see FIG. 3), the length of the rotating brush 52 that contacts the flicker 53 is Nf (see FIG. 3), and the photosensitive member. Assuming that the length of the rotating brush 52 that contacts the drum 2 is Nd (see FIG. 3), the rotary brush 52 is attached to the periphery of the photosensitive drum 2 so that a relationship of Nd ≧ Nf ≧ Nz is established (see FIG. 4).

  That is, in order to ensure the uniform area Nz of the rotating brush 52 to which the solid lubricant 51 is applied, the length Nf of the rotating brush 52 in contact with the flicker 53 needs to satisfy Nf ≧ Nz. As a result, the solid lubricant 51 is uniformly stretched in the region of the length Nf of the rotary brush 52. In order to apply the solid lubricant 51 to the photosensitive drum 2 without waste, it is necessary to satisfy Nd ≧ Nf.

  In this way, the cleaning device 5 of the present embodiment can uniformly homogenize the solid lubricant 51 applied to the rotating brush 52, and can apply the homogenized solid lubricant 51 to the photosensitive drum 2 without waste. .

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of a process cartridge. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a cleaning device 5. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the length Nz which a rotating brush contacts a solid lubricant, the length Nf of the rotating brush which contacts flicker, and the length Nd of the rotating brush which contacts a photoconductor drum.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Photoconductor drum 3 Scorotron charger 4 Developing apparatus 5 Cleaning apparatus 6 Grading apparatus 7 Conveyance belt 8 Transfer roller 9 Opening 10 Process cartridge 11 Mounting rail 12 Fixing apparatus 51 Solid lubricant 52 Rotary brush 53 Flicker 54 Cleaning Blade 55 Holding member

Claims (3)

A solid lubricant made solid; a rotating brush that applies the solid lubricant to an image carrier; and a flicking member that makes the solid lubricant adhered to the rotating brush uniform.
Nd is a length where the rotating brush contacts the solid lubricant Nz, a length of the rotating brush which contacts the flicking member is Nf, and a length of the rotating brush which contacts the image carrier is Nd ≧ Nd ≧ A lubricant application device, wherein the lubricant application device is arranged around the image carrier so that a relationship of Nf ≧ Nz is satisfied.   2. A cleaning device comprising: the lubricant application device according to claim 1; and a cleaning blade that contacts the surface of the image carrier and removes deposits attached to the image carrier. A process cartridge comprising at least the cleaning device according to claim 2 and the image carrier.

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