JP2006126434A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which is low-cost and has high containing efficiency of a toner collection container by enabling excitation periodically or according to a use frequency without providing any extra driving source by exciting the toner collection container. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus is equipped with a driving source which drives a conveying means of conveying a recording material, a driving transmitting means of transmitting driving when the driving source rotates in a direction reverse to that in the recording material conveyance, an exciting lever which excites the toner collection container by the driving transmitting means, and a guide means of guiding the exciting lever in the exciting direction, and is characterized in that the toner collection container is excited by reversing the driving source for a specified time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer provided with toner recovery means.

  In a conventional image forming apparatus, for example, a copying machine, a small amount of toner used for development remains on the photosensitive drum after transfer, and is scraped off by a cleaning unit and accommodated in a toner recovery container. . It is desirable that as much toner as possible can be collected in the toner collection container.

  In view of this, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228620 proposes a method of breaking the mountain that can be freely dropped by moving the position of the toner collection container in conjunction with the insertion / removal of the paper feeding cassette as well as the accumulation due to the free fall of the toner.

Japanese Patent No. 3302579

  However, many image forming apparatuses can be provided with additional paper feeders or have manual paper feeders, and a predetermined paper cassette for moving the toner recovery container is not always inserted and removed. There is a problem that inconvenience arises when the user wants to move regularly or according to the frequency of use.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a current situation, a drive source for driving a conveyance unit that conveys a recording material, a drive transmission unit that transmits a drive at the time of rotation opposite to the sheet material conveyance of the drive source, A vibration lever that vibrates the toner collection container by the drive transmission means, a guide means that guides the vibration lever in the vibration direction, and the toner collection container is vibrated by rotating the drive source reversely for a predetermined time. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can perform vibration regularly or in accordance with the frequency of use without providing a new drive source, and that is low in cost and high in the efficiency of housing a toner collection container.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a drive source that drives a conveying unit that conveys a recording material, and a drive that transmits driving when the driving source rotates in the direction opposite to the recording material conveyance time. A transmission means; a vibration lever that vibrates the toner collection container by the drive transmission means; and a guide means that guides the vibration lever in the vibration direction, and the toner is reversely rotated for a predetermined time. The collection container is vibrated.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the drive source is rotated in the reverse direction to that during conveyance of the recording material after the recording material is fixed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the timing of reversely rotating the drive source for a predetermined time is performed after a predetermined number of times of image formation.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the timing of the reverse rotation of the drive source for a predetermined time is performed after the image duty is integrated and the predetermined toner is consumed.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the conveying means is a registration roller.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, the drive source is reversed when the recording material is sandwiched between the conveying means even when the drive source is rotated in the reverse direction for a predetermined time. The drive source is reversely rotated for a predetermined time after the sandwiched recording material is removed without being rotated.

  According to the present invention, a drive source that drives a conveyance unit that conveys a recording material, a drive transmission unit that transmits driving when the drive source rotates in the direction opposite to the conveyance of the recording material, and a toner collection container by the drive transmission unit And a guide means for guiding the vibration lever in the direction of vibration, and the toner collection container is vibrated periodically by rotating the drive source for a predetermined time. Thus, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can be vibrated in accordance with the frequency without providing a new drive source, and that is low in cost and high in the efficiency of housing the toner collection container.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the image forming unit of the image forming apparatus, which will be described in the image formation of a color image.

  For example, photosensitive drums a (yellow), b (magenta), c (cyan), and d (four image forming media arranged in parallel to form toner images of colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, respectively. Black) and an intermediate transfer belt 2 which is a transfer conveying means arranged in a manner of cutting the photosensitive drums a to d vertically.

  A primary charger, a developing device, and a transfer charger (not shown) are respectively arranged around the photosensitive drums a, b, c, and d driven by an image forming drive motor (not shown). Unitized as ~ 1d.

  An exposure device 6 composed of a polygon mirror or the like is disposed below the photosensitive drums a to d.

  First, laser light based on a yellow component color image signal of an original is projected onto the photosensitive drum a through a polygon mirror of the exposure device 6 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum a, and a developing device is formed on the electrostatic latent image. Then, the yellow toner is supplied and developed, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a yellow toner image.

  When this toner image arrives at the primary transfer portion where the photosensitive drum a and the intermediate transfer belt 2 come into contact with the rotation of the photosensitive drum a, the primary transfer bias applied to the transfer charging member 2a causes the toner image on the photosensitive drum a. The yellow toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 2 (primary transfer).

  When the portion of the intermediate transfer belt 2 carrying the yellow toner image moves to the image forming unit, a magenta toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum b by the same method as described above in the image forming unit, and this magenta toner image Is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 2 from the yellow toner image.

  Similarly, as the intermediate transfer belt 2 moves, a cyan toner image and a black toner image are superimposed and transferred onto the yellow toner image and the magenta toner image at each primary transfer portion of the image forming unit. The

  On the other hand, the recording material P is stored in the cassette 4. The recording material P is fed one by one from the cassette 4 by the pickup roller 8, and after being timed by the registration roller 9, reaches the secondary transfer portion, and by the secondary transfer bias applied to the secondary transfer roller pair 3, The four color toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 2 are collectively transferred onto the recording material P (secondary transfer).

  The recording material P onto which the four color toner images have been transferred is guided by the conveyance guide 20 in the secondary transfer roller pair to the fixing roller pair and conveyed to the fixing roller pair 5, where it is fixed by receiving heat and pressure. As a result, the toner of each color is melted and mixed to form a full-color print image fixed on the recording material P, and then the inner discharge conveyance roller pair 10 and the discharge conveyance roller pair 11 provided downstream of the fixing roller pair 5. The paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 7.

  Although a drive source of the image forming apparatus is not shown, an image forming drive motor for driving the photosensitive drums a to d and the intermediate transfer belt 2, a first developing motor for driving the cyan and black developing devices, yellow and magenta A second developing motor for driving the developing unit, a paper feeding motor for driving the pickup roller 8, a registration motor for driving the registration roller 9, a fixing motor for driving the fixing roller pair 5 and the inner paper discharge transport roller pair 10, and paper discharge A drive source is divided into a paper discharge motor that drives the transport roller pair 11. The image forming drive motor and the first and second developing motors are in charge of driving the image forming unit, and the paper feed motor, registration motor, fixing motor, and paper discharge motor are in charge of driving the recording material transport unit.

  A small amount of toner remains on the photosensitive drums a to d and the intermediate transfer belt 2 after the transfer, and the toner is collected by a cleaning unit (not shown) and conveyed to the toner collecting unit.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a main part of a toner collecting unit of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  The toner collecting unit includes a toner collecting container 101, a toner transport pipe 102, and a relay unit 103. A conveying screw (not shown) rotates in the toner conveying pipe 102 and conveys the toner collected by the cleaning means. The conveyed toner freely falls through the relay unit 103 and is collected in the toner collection container 101. The toner collecting container 101 is detachable from the relay unit 103. When the collected toner becomes full with the collected toner, only the toner collecting container 101 can be taken out of the image forming apparatus. The relay unit 103 and the toner collection container 101 are relayed via a seal material so that the falling toner does not leak from the toner collection container 101.

  The vibration lever 110, the guide member 111, the biasing spring 112, the cam gear 113, the transmission gear train 114, the drive gear 120, the one-way gear 121, the roller gear 122, and the registration motor 123 constitute a vibration means.

  The drive gear 120 is rotated by a registration motor 123. When the drive gear 120 rotates in the direction of arrow A, the registration roller 9 is rotated in the direction of conveying the recording material P during the image forming operation via the roller gear 122. At this time, since the one-way gear 121 rotates but does not transmit drive to the transmission gear train 114 and is idling, no vibration is applied to the toner collection container 101.

  The toner recovered in the toner recovery container 101 is accumulated as shown in the accumulation shape α of FIG. The fact that the toner in the toner recovery container 101 has reached a predetermined amount is detected by detecting that the toner has reached the detection window 101a by a sensor (not shown). If the deposition proceeds as it is, a state where a lot of dead space not containing toner remains in the toner collection container 101 and the top of the accumulation shape α is received by the toner collection container 101 before the toner accumulates on the detection window 101a. It reaches the entrance 101b.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2A, the drive gear 120 is rotated in the direction of the arrow B opposite to that during image formation. The one-way gear 121 drives the transmission gear train 114, and the cam gear 113 rotates. Then, the excitation lever 110 is raised by the biasing spring 112 while being guided by the guide member 111 in accordance with the cam shape of the cam gear 113. At this time, the vibration lever 110 hooks and lifts the end of the toner collection container 101. When the cam gear 113 further rotates from this state, the toner collection container 101 falls as the cam gear 113 pushes down the vibration lever 110 as shown in FIG. 3A and 3B are repeated by rotating the cam gear 113, and the toner collection container 101 is vibrated. By performing the vibration, the accumulated shape α formed before the vibration is changed to the accumulated shape β as shown in FIG. 3, and more toner can be accumulated in the toner recovery container 101. Since toner reliably accumulates in the detection window 101a, a stable toner amount can be detected.

  Since vibration due to vibration may affect image formation, it is desirable to perform vibration during non-image formation. That is, the vibration is performed after fixing the image on the recording material P. It is effective to perform the vibration periodically or in accordance with the frequency of use. For example, the vibration is performed after a predetermined number of image formations. There is a method of performing after the image duty is integrated and a predetermined amount of toner is consumed.

  During non-image formation, the recording material P is never held between the registration rollers 9, so there is no problem even if it rotates in reverse. Therefore, there is no problem in using the reverse rotation of the motor for driving the registration roller 9. However, when the recording material P is held between the registration rollers 9 even during non-image formation such as when JAM occurs, the recording material P that has been jammed is removed without being vibrated even if the vibration conditions are satisfied. Excitation is performed during the return operation.

  In the present embodiment, the configuration in which the drive motor for driving the registration roller 9 is vibrated by reverse rotation has been described. However, the recording material P is not limited to the registration roller 9 and the recording material P when the roller is reversely rotated during non-image formation. The present invention can be applied to any drive source that drives a transport roller that does not transport the roller. For example, there is no problem even if it is configured to drive using a reverse rotation of a fixing motor or a paper discharge motor. However, in this embodiment, since the toner collection container is disposed at the lower part of the image forming apparatus, the distance is increased, and it is not used because it is disadvantageous in terms of cost and space compared to the registration motor 123.

  Although the paper feed motor is equivalent to the registration motor 123 in terms of arrangement conditions, the pickup roller 8 driven by the paper feed motor is in contact with the recording material P stored in the cassette 4, and therefore the pickup roller 8 during reverse rotation. The one-way gear is newly used to prevent the rotation, so it is not used. A driving source using reverse rotation can be selected in consideration of the arrangement conditions, cost, space, and the like of the driving source of the conveying unit that conveys the recording material P in the image forming apparatus and the toner recovery container 101. desirable.

  The drive source that drives the image forming unit rotates the member that transports the toner and the member that contacts the cleaning unit. Therefore, if the toner is rotated in the reverse direction, problems such as toner clogging and image defects may occur. It is not used for exciting the collection container 101.

  In the present embodiment, the configuration of an image forming apparatus capable of color printing has been described. However, the present invention can be widely applied to an image forming apparatus including a toner collecting unit, and is also applicable to an image forming apparatus for monochrome printing only. Applicable.

<Embodiment 2>
Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a main part of the toner collecting means according to the present embodiment.

  The present embodiment is different from the toner collecting means of the first embodiment in that the vibration direction of the toner collecting container 101 is horizontal. The description will focus on the differences from the present embodiment.

  The vibration lever 110 ′ holds the toner collection container 101 with holding portions 110 a ′ and 110 b ′. When the drive gear 120 rotates in the direction of arrow B, the cam gear 113 'rotates. The vibration lever 110 ′ is guided by the guide member 111 ′ and is abutted against the cam portion of the cam gear 113 ′ by the urging spring 112 ′, and thus reciprocates in the horizontal direction. The toner collection container 101 held by the vibration lever 110 'also reciprocates in the same manner, and the toner collection container 101 can be vibrated in the horizontal direction.

  When the vibration is applied in the horizontal direction, the effect of breaking the crest on which toner is accumulated can be obtained more effectively than the vibration according to the present embodiment, but for reducing the frictional resistance between the toner recovery container 101 and the floor surface. There are considerations such as placing the toner collection container 101 on the roller 126 and making the sensor 125 for detecting the toner amount a detection width that can secure a gap ε that is equal to or larger than the horizontal movement amount γ of the toner collection container 101. is necessary.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of a toner recovery unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of a toner recovery unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of a toner recovery unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the image forming apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of a toner collecting unit according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

a to d Photosensitive drum P Recording material 101 Toner collection container 102 Toner transport pipe 103 Relay means 110 Excitation lever 111 Guide member 113 Cam gear 114 Transmission gear train 120 Drive gear 121 One-way gear 122 Roller gear 123 Registration motor

Claims (6)

  A driving source for driving a conveying means for conveying the recording material; a drive transmitting means for transmitting driving when the driving source rotates in the reverse direction to the conveying of the recording material; and the toner collecting container is vibrated by the drive transmitting means. An image forming apparatus comprising: an oscillating lever that guides the oscillating lever in an oscillating direction, and oscillating the toner collection container by rotating the driving source in a reverse direction for a predetermined time.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving source is rotated in the reverse direction to that during conveyance of the recording material after the recording material is fixed.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the timing of rotating the drive source in a reverse direction for a predetermined time is performed after a predetermined number of times of image formation.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the timing of reversely rotating the drive source for a predetermined time is performed after the image duty is integrated and the predetermined toner is consumed.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying unit is a registration roller.   Even when it is time to reversely rotate the drive source for a predetermined time, when the recording material is sandwiched by the conveying means, the drive source is not rotated backward, and the drive is performed after the sandwiched recording material is removed. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the source is reversely rotated for a predetermined time.

Images