JP2006215072A - Image forming apparatus and cleaning method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus and a cleaning method capable of removing toner stuck, for a normal image and a patch image, on an intermediate transfer member. <P>SOLUTION: When two modes are switched, the toner on the intermediate transfer member, which is discharged from a polarity-switched 1st brush roll and passed through a 2nd brush roll, is removed by a 1st cleaning means or a 2nd cleaning means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a cleaning method for an image forming apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for cleaning toner on an intermediate transfer member by a brush cleaning method and a cleaning method thereof.

  The image forming apparatus collects toner remaining on the surface of a photosensitive member (photosensitive drum or photosensitive belt) or an intermediate transfer member (intermediate transfer belt or intermediate transfer drum) as an image carrier even after the toner image is transferred. A cleaning device is provided. Part of the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member or intermediate transfer member after transfer to the transfer material is charged with a reverse polarity, and the charge distribution is non-uniform. In order to efficiently collect such residual toner, cleaning devices using various brushes have been proposed.

  One example of the cleaning device includes a pair of fur brushes arranged so as to be in contact with the surface of the photoreceptor (see, for example, Patent Document 1). A reverse polarity bias voltage is applied to each fur brush. For example, a residual toner having a normal charging polarity (negative polarity) is collected by a fur brush to which a positive polarity voltage is applied. The toner is collected by a fur brush to which a negative voltage is applied.

There has also been proposed a method of changing the voltage of the same polarity between the cleaning brushes between the bias voltage applying means and the two cleaning brushes (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 60-170879 A JP-A-6-130875

  However, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, patch images for image density adjustment and patch images for correcting the timing of each of the Y, M, C, and K images when forming a color image are formed on the intermediate transfer member. In the image forming apparatus to be formed, it is necessary to clean the image formed on the intermediate transfer body after adjusting the image density and correcting the image timing. Further, the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer body If a large amount of toner adheres to the intermediate transfer member, such as when a jam occurs before being transferred to the transfer material, the toner cannot be removed in a single cleaning step, and the intermediate transfer after the cleaning step Some toner may remain on the body. For this reason, the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member that has not been removed in such a single cleaning process may cause image defects such as color mixing and backside contamination during the next image formation, and image density adjustment adjustment failures. It was the cause of generating.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 also proposes a method of changing the voltage of the same polarity between the two cleaning brushes between the bias voltage applying unit and the two cleaning brushes. However, a bias voltage applying unit other than the cleaning brush is required. Therefore, there was a problem of a complicated configuration.

  In order to solve the above problem, there may be considered a method of cleaning by providing two cleaning modes and switching the polarity of the brush roll in each mode. In the first mode, image formation is performed based on normal image data, and the voltage applied to the two brush rolls is applied to the residual toner on the intermediate transfer body after transfer to the transfer material. Reverse the polarity.

  In the second mode, since the untransferred toner is a toner having a normal charging polarity (negative polarity), two toners are applied to the patch image adhering to the intermediate transfer member and the untransferred toner to the transfer material. Both polarities applied to the brush roll are set to a positive voltage.

  However, in the above method, the positive toner ejected from the brush roll whose polarity is changed from negative to positive adheres to the intermediate transfer member and is not removed in the cleaning process, and is generated in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. It has been found that this causes image defects and image density adjustment defects.

  In view of the above, the present invention can prevent image defects and image density adjustment defects without having any complicated configuration, and can prevent untransferred toner such as normal transfer residual toner and patch images adhering to the intermediate transfer member. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus and a cleaning method thereof that can satisfactorily clean any transfer toner.

  The object of the present invention can be achieved by the following constitution.

(Claim 1)
A photoreceptor,
Charging means for charging the photosensitive member;
Image exposure means for forming an electrostatic latent image by image exposure on the charged photoreceptor;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image;
An intermediate transfer member for primary transfer of the toner image;
Primary transfer means for transferring the toner image onto the intermediate transfer member;
First cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the photoreceptor after the primary transfer;
Secondary transfer means for secondary transfer of the toner image on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material;
A second cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member,
In an image forming apparatus having a first mode for forming an image based on normal image data and a second mode for forming a patch image based on patch image data,
The second cleaning means is more than the first brush roll and the first brush roll for cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer member by rotating by contact with the intermediate transfer member when a voltage is applied. A second brush roll disposed on the downstream side in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member;
Control means for controlling the voltage applied to the first brush roll and the second brush roll and the primary transfer means;
In the first mode, the control means applies a negative polarity voltage to the first brush roll, applies a reverse polarity positive polarity voltage to the second brush roll, and Apply a voltage of a predetermined polarity to the next transfer means,
In the second mode, a positive voltage is applied to the first brush roll, a positive voltage having the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll, and the primary transfer means An image forming apparatus that controls to apply a voltage having the same polarity as the predetermined polarity in the first mode.

(Claim 2)
A photoreceptor,
Charging means for charging the photosensitive member;
Image exposure means for forming an electrostatic latent image by image exposure on the charged photoreceptor;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image;
An intermediate transfer member for primary transfer of the toner image;
Primary transfer means for transferring the toner image onto the intermediate transfer member;
First cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the photoreceptor after the primary transfer;
Secondary transfer means for secondary transfer of the toner image on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material;
A second cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member,
In a cleaning method for an image forming apparatus having a first mode for forming an image based on normal image data and a second mode for forming a patch image based on patch image data,
The second cleaning means is more than the first brush roll and the first brush roll for cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer member by rotating by contact with the intermediate transfer member when a voltage is applied. A second brush roll disposed on the downstream side in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member;
During cleaning in the first mode, a negative polarity voltage is applied to the first brush roll, and a positive polarity voltage of reverse polarity is applied to the second brush roll,
At the time of cleaning in the second mode, a positive voltage is applied to the first brush roll, a positive voltage having the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll, and the first brush roll The toner discharged onto the intermediate transfer member is reversely transferred to the photosensitive member by applying a positive voltage to the primary transfer unit, and the toner reversely transferred to the photosensitive member by the first cleaning unit. An image forming apparatus cleaning method comprising: removing the image forming apparatus.
(Claim 3)
A photoreceptor,
Charging means for charging the photosensitive member;
Image exposure means for forming an electrostatic latent image by image exposure on the charged photoreceptor;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image;
An intermediate transfer member for primary transfer of the toner image;
Primary transfer means for transferring the toner image onto the intermediate transfer member;
First cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the photoconductor after the primary transfer;
Secondary transfer means for secondary transfer of the toner image on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material;
A second cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member,
In an image forming apparatus having a first mode for forming an image based on normal image data and a second mode for forming a patch image based on patch image data,
The second cleaning means is more than the first brush roll and the first brush roll for cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer member by rotating by contact with the intermediate transfer member when a voltage is applied. A second brush roll disposed on the downstream side in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member;
Control means for controlling a voltage applied to the first brush roll and the second brush roll;
In the first mode, the control means applies a negative voltage to the first brush roll, and applies a positive voltage of reverse polarity to the second brush roll,
In the second mode, a positive polarity voltage is applied to the first brush roll and a positive polarity voltage of the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll, and then a negative polarity is applied to the first brush roll. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that a positive voltage having a reverse polarity is applied to the second brush roll while applying a positive voltage.
(Claim 4)
A photoreceptor,
Charging means for charging the photosensitive member;
Image exposure means for forming an electrostatic latent image by image exposure on the charged photoreceptor;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image;
An intermediate transfer member for primary transfer of the toner image;
Primary transfer means for transferring the toner image onto the intermediate transfer member;
First cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the photoconductor after the primary transfer;
Secondary transfer means for secondary transfer of the toner image on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material;
A second cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member,
In a cleaning method for an image forming apparatus having a first mode for forming an image based on normal image data and a second mode for forming a patch image based on patch image data,
The second cleaning means is more than the first brush roll and the first brush roll for cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer member by rotating by contact with the intermediate transfer member when a voltage is applied. A second brush roll disposed downstream in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member;
During cleaning in the first mode, a negative voltage is applied to the first brush roll, and a positive polarity voltage having a reverse polarity is applied to the second brush roll.
At the time of cleaning in the second mode, a positive voltage is applied to the first brush roll, and a positive voltage having the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll. Before the toner discharged from the brush roll onto the intermediate transfer body reaches the first brush roll, a negative voltage is applied to the first brush roll and the reverse of the second brush roll. A method for cleaning an image forming apparatus, wherein a positive polarity voltage is applied. The object of the present invention is achieved by the following configurations.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent image defects and image density adjustment defects without having any complicated configuration. In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform both good cleaning on the intermediate transfer body for normal transfer residual toner and untransferred toner such as patch images.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The description in this column does not limit the technical scope of the claims or the meaning of terms. In addition, the following assertive description in the embodiment of the present invention shows the best mode, and does not limit the meaning or technical scope of the terms of the present invention.

  A schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram illustrating a color image forming apparatus which is an example of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

  The color image forming apparatus 100 is called a tandem type color image forming apparatus, and a plurality of sets of image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K, an endless belt-shaped intermediate transfer unit 7, a paper feeding and conveying unit 21, and a fixing unit. Means 24. A document image reading device SC is disposed on the upper part of the main body A of the image forming apparatus.

  An image forming unit 10Y that forms a yellow image includes a charging unit 2Y, an exposing unit 3Y, a developing unit 4Y, and a primary transfer unit disposed around a drum-shaped photoconductor 1Y that functions as an image carrier. 1 transfer roller 5Y and first cleaning means 6Y. The image forming unit 10M that forms a magenta image includes a drum-shaped photoreceptor 1M that functions as an image carrier, a charging unit 2M, an exposure unit 3M, a developing unit 4M, and a first transfer roller 5M as a primary transfer unit. The first cleaning means 6M is provided. An image forming unit 10C that forms a cyan image includes a drum-shaped photoreceptor 1C that functions as an image carrier, a charging unit 2C, an exposure unit 3C, a developing unit 4C, and a first transfer roller 5C as a primary transfer unit. The first cleaning means 6C is provided. The image forming unit 10K that forms a black image includes a drum-shaped photosensitive member 1K that functions as an image carrier, a charging unit 2K, an exposure unit 3K, a developing unit 4K, a first transfer roller 5K as a primary transfer unit, 1 cleaning means 6K.

  The endless belt-shaped intermediate transfer body unit 7 includes an endless belt-shaped intermediate transfer body 70 as a semiconductive intermediate transfer body that is stretched by a plurality of rollers 71, 72, 73, and 74 and is rotatably supported. Have.

  The images of the respective colors formed by the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K are sequentially transferred and synthesized on the rotating intermediate transfer body 70 by the first transfer rollers 5Y, 5M, 5C, and 5K. A color image is formed. A transfer material P such as a sheet as a recording medium accommodated in the sheet feeding cassette 20 is fed by the sheet feeding means 21, passes through a plurality of intermediate rollers 22 A, 22 B, 22 C, 22 D, and a registration roller 23, and is then second. Are transferred to a secondary transfer roller 5A as a transfer means, and a color image is collectively transferred onto a transfer material P such as paper. The transfer material P such as paper on which the color image has been transferred is fixed by the fixing unit 24, is sandwiched between the paper discharge rollers 25, and is placed on a paper discharge tray 26 outside the apparatus.

  On the other hand, after the color image is transferred to the transfer material P such as paper by the secondary transfer roller 5A, the residual toner is removed by the second cleaning means 6A from the intermediate transfer body 70 from which the transfer material P such as paper is separated by curvature. The

During the image forming process, the first transfer roller 5K is always in pressure contact with the photoreceptor 1K. The other first transfer rollers 5Y, 5M, and 5C are in pressure contact with the corresponding photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, and 1C, respectively, only during color image formation. The secondary transfer roller 5A comes into pressure contact with the intermediate transfer body 70 when the transfer material P such as paper passes through the secondary transfer roller 5A to perform secondary transfer. The intermediate transfer body 70 in the above image forming apparatus is a polyimide belt, and stable image formation is maintained by setting the volume resistivity in the range of 1 × 10 ⁷ to 1 × 10 ¹¹ Ω · cm. The primary transfer means from the photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K to the intermediate transfer body 70 is provided with a foaming roller (outer diameter 20 mm, resistance value 1 × 10 ⁵ Ω) from the back of the intermediate transfer body 70. The second transfer means that press-contacts onto a transfer material P such as paper comprises an intermediate transfer body 70, a backup roller 74 that sandwiches the intermediate transfer body 70, and a secondary transfer roller 5A. Each roller surface is semiconductive. The metal shaft is covered with a rubber material, the resistance value of the backup roller 74 is 1 × 10 ⁵ to 1 × 10 ¹⁰ Ω, and the resistance value of the secondary transfer roller 5A is 1 × 10 ⁵ to 1 × 10 ^10. Ω semi-conductive rubber material is used Yes.

The second cleaning unit 6A will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the second cleaning means 6A and its electrical configuration.
In the first brush roll 61, a conductive acrylic fiber brush 61A (outer diameter: about 16 mm, resistance value: 1 × 10 ¹⁰ to 1 × 10 ¹¹ Ω) having a wire diameter of 6 denier is implanted around the core metal, Connected to the power source 31 via the polarity selector switch 31a so that a positive or negative polarity voltage is applied, and an overwrap amount of 1 mm (the surface of the object on which the radius of the brush roll and the rotation center of the brush roll / brush roll contact) The surface of the intermediate transfer member contacts the surface of the intermediate transfer member at a speed of 300 rotations / minute in the forward direction with respect to the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member. Further, at a position facing the first brush roll 61, a roller 71 in a state where the material is aluminum and the surface of the roller is electrically conductive and is grounded is disposed with the intermediate transfer member 70 interposed therebetween.
A first flicker bar 63 made of stainless steel having a diameter of 16 mm is rotated on the first brush roll 61 at a rate of 300 rotations / minute in the opposite direction to that of the first brush roll 61 and is brought into contact with the brush 61A with an overlap amount of 1 mm. The toner is removed from the brush 61A. From the flicker bar 63, a section of a scraper plate 65 made of a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 0.05 mm is brought into contact with the counter position with respect to the rotation direction of the flicker bar 63, and the toner adhering to the flicker bar 63 is scraped off. The toner scraped off is collected in the collecting unit 67.
Further, the second brush roll 62 is provided with a conductive acrylic fiber brush 62A (outer diameter: about 16 mm, resistance value: 1 × 10 ¹⁰ to 1 × 10 ¹¹ Ω) around the core metal. Then, it is connected to the power source 32 so that a positive voltage is applied, and is located downstream of the first brush roll 61 in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer body 70. The second brush roll 62 contacts the intermediate transfer body 70 with an overlap amount of 1 mm, and rotates at a speed of 300 rotations / minute in the opposite direction to the first brush roll 61. A roller 71 is also disposed at a position facing the second brush roll 62. Then, the second brush roll 62 rotates a flicker bar 64 made of stainless steel having a diameter of 16 mm at a speed of 300 rotations / minute in a direction opposite to that of the second brush roll 62, and abuts the brush 62A with an overlap amount of 1 mm. Then, the toner is removed from the brush 62A. From the flicker bar 64, a scraper plate 66 made of a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 0.05 mm is brought into contact with the flicker bar 64 at the counter position, and the toner adhering to the flicker bar 64 is scraped off and scraped off. In the same manner as the first brush roll 61, the collecting unit 67 collects the.
The power supply 33 applies a voltage to the first transfer rollers 5Y and 5K.
The control unit 30 includes a CPU (central processing unit) (not shown), a work memory, and the like, reads a program into the work memory, and centrally controls each part of the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 according to the program. The control unit 30 controls the power supplies 31, 32, and 33, and performs execution control of a first mode for forming an image based on normal image data and a second mode for forming a patch image based on patch image data.

In the second cleaning means 6 </ b> A in the first mode, a negative voltage is applied to the first brush roll 61, and a positive voltage is applied to the second brush roll 62.
This mode is used to remove the transfer residual toner from the intermediate transfer member 70 during normal printing. This is because the transfer residual toner includes both positive and negative polarity toners, and thus it is necessary to apply positive and negative polarity voltages to the first and second brush rolls 61 and 62, respectively. However, when the patch image is removed from the intermediate transfer body 70, the amount of toner adhering is large, so that it cannot be processed by a single cleaning process in the first mode. Therefore, using the fact that the polarity of the adhering toner before the secondary transfer is stable with the polarity charged by the developing means 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K, the control means to the first brush roll 61 as the second mode. The positive polarity voltage is switched from the negative polarity by 30 and the positive polarity voltage is also applied to the second brush roll 62, so that both the first and second brush rolls 61 and 62 have opposite polarity to the adhered toner. A large amount of residual toner is removed by applying a polar voltage.

  However, the positively charged toner attached to the first brush roll 61 at this time has the same polarity because the polarity of the first brush roll 61 is switched from the negative polarity to the positive polarity. Be expelled. Since the polarity applied to the second brush roll 62 is also positive, the toner also moves through the second brush roll 62 to the image forming unit 10Y.

  At the time of forming a color image, a positive voltage is applied to the first transfer roller 5Y so that the toner is pressed against the photoreceptor 1Y to reversely transfer the toner. Thereafter, the toner is cleaned by the first cleaning means 6Y. When a black image is formed, a positive voltage is applied to the first transfer roller 5K, and the toner is reversely transferred to the photoreceptor 1K. Thereafter, the toner is cleaned by the first cleaning means 6K.

Next, a cleaning method for the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the cleaning process according to the first embodiment of the intermediate transfer body 70, which is executed in the color image forming apparatus 100. In the flowchart of FIG. 3, the color image forming apparatus 100 is turned on, and the control unit 30 is set to automatically start the first mode or the second mode. To do.
In step S01, it is determined whether or not the first mode has been selected. When the first mode is selected (step S01: YES), the processes of step S02 and step S03 are continued.
In step S <b> 02, the control unit 30 determines the polarity of the negative voltage from the power source 31 and applies the negative voltage to the first brush roll 61 from the power source 31. In step S03, the first and second brush rolls 61 and 62 are rotated by a motor (not shown), and at the same time, the flickers 63 and 64 are also rotated by a motor (not shown).
When the first mode is not selected (step S01: NO), the processes after step S04 are executed. In step S04, the second mode is selected, and in step S05, the control means 30 determines the polarity and applies the positive voltage to the first brush roll 61 from the power source 31, and the second brush roll 62 is also positive. Is applied from the power source 32. In step S06, the first and second brush rolls 61 and 62 are rotated by a motor (not shown), and the flickers 63 and 64 are simultaneously rotated by a motor (not shown). Next, in step S07, the toner on the intermediate transfer body 70, which has been ejected from the first brush roll 61 and passed through the second brush roll 62, has a predetermined polarity from the power source 33 to the first transfer roller 5Y by the control means 30. A voltage is applied, the photosensitive member 1Y is rotated in step S08, the first transfer roller 5Y is pressed against the photosensitive member 1Y, the toner on the intermediate transfer member 70 is reversely transferred, and the first cleaning unit 6Y is operated. To perform cleaning.
However, in the case of black image formation, a voltage having a predetermined polarity is applied to the first transfer roller 5K in step S07, and the reverse transfer is performed to the photoreceptor 1K that is always pressed and rotated, and the first cleaning unit 6K is subjected to the reverse transfer. You can also perform cleaning.

According to the present embodiment, a positive voltage is applied to the first brush roll 61 and a positive voltage of the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll 62 during cleaning in the second mode. Then, the toner discharged from the first brush roll 61 onto the intermediate transfer body 70 is reversely transferred to the photoreceptor 1Y by applying a positive voltage to the primary transfer means 5Y, and reversely transferred by the first cleaning means 6Y. Since the positive polarity toner thus removed is removed, it is possible to perform good cleaning with any of the normal transfer residual toner adhering to the intermediate transfer member and the untransferred toner such as the patch image.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the cleaning process according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It is assumed that the power is turned on and set in the same manner as in the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S09, it is determined whether or not the first mode is selected. When the first mode is selected (step S09: YES), the processes of step S10 and step S11 are continued. In step S <b> 10, the control means 30 determines the polarity of the negative voltage from the power source 31 and applies it to the first brush roll 61 from the power source 31, and applies the positive voltage from the power source 32 to the second brush roll 62. In step S11, the first and second brush rolls 61 and 62 are rotated by a motor (not shown), and at the same time, the flickers 63 and 64 are also rotated by a motor (not shown).

  When the first mode is not selected (step S12: NO), the processing after step S13 is executed. In step S12, the second mode is selected, and in step S13, the control means 30 determines the polarity and applies the positive voltage to the first brush roll 61 from the power source 31, and the second brush roll 62 is also positive. Is applied from the power source 32. In step S14, the first and second brush rolls 61 and 62 are rotated by a motor (not shown), and at the same time, the flickers 63 and 64 are also rotated by a motor (not shown). Next, in step S15, the toner on the intermediate transfer member 70 that has been ejected from the first brush roll 61 and passed through the second brush roll 62 is conveyed. Next, the control means 30 determines at what timing the toner is switched to the first mode before the toner reaches the first and second brush rolls 61 and 62. When the control means 30 determines that switching to the first mode is necessary (step S15: YES), the first mode is selected in step S16, and the negative polarity voltage is controlled to the first brush roll 61 in step S17. The means 30 is applied from the power source 31, and a positive voltage is also applied to the second brush roll 62 from the power source 32.

  Thereafter, the toner on the intermediate transfer member 70 is removed by the second cleaning means 6A. If it is determined in step S15 that mode switching is not required (step S15: NO), the process returns to step S15 to repeat the determination of whether mode switching is necessary.

  According to the present embodiment, a positive voltage is applied to the first brush roll 61 and a positive voltage of the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll 62 during cleaning in the second mode. Then, the toner discharged from the first brush roll 61 onto the intermediate transfer body 70 is reversely transferred to the photoreceptor 1Y by applying a positive voltage to the primary transfer means 5Y, and reversely transferred by the first cleaning means 6Y. Since the positive polarity toner thus removed is removed, it is possible to perform good cleaning with any of the normal transfer residual toner adhering to the intermediate transfer member and the untransferred toner such as the patch image.

1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram illustrating a color image forming apparatus which is an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is an expanded sectional block diagram of the 2nd cleaning means which concerns on this invention. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of an intermediate transfer member cleaning process executed in the color image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of an intermediate transfer member cleaning process executed in the color image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1Y, 1M, 1C, 1K Photoconductors 5Y, 5M, 5C, 5K First transfer rollers as first transfer means 6Y, 6M, 6C, 6K First cleaning means 5A Secondary as second transfer means Transfer roller 6A Second cleaning means 30 Control means 61 First brush roll 62 Second brush roll 63, 64 Flicker bar 65, 66 Scraping plate 70 Intermediate transfer body 71 Roller 1

Claims (4)

A photoreceptor,
Charging means for charging the photosensitive member;
Image exposure means for forming an electrostatic latent image by image exposure on the charged photoreceptor;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image;
An intermediate transfer member for primary transfer of the toner image;
Primary transfer means for transferring the toner image onto the intermediate transfer member;
First cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the photoreceptor after the primary transfer;
Secondary transfer means for secondary transfer of the toner image on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material;
A second cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member,
In an image forming apparatus having a first mode for forming an image based on normal image data and a second mode for forming a patch image based on patch image data,
The second cleaning means is more than the first brush roll and the first brush roll for cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer member by rotating by contact with the intermediate transfer member when a voltage is applied. A second brush roll disposed on the downstream side in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member;
Control means for controlling the voltage applied to the first brush roll and the second brush roll and the primary transfer means;
In the first mode, the control means applies a negative polarity voltage to the first brush roll, applies a reverse polarity positive polarity voltage to the second brush roll, and Apply a voltage of a predetermined polarity to the next transfer means,
In the second mode, a positive voltage is applied to the first brush roll, a positive voltage having the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll, and the primary transfer means An image forming apparatus that controls to apply a voltage having the same polarity as the predetermined polarity in the first mode. A photoreceptor,
Charging means for charging the photosensitive member;
Image exposure means for forming an electrostatic latent image by image exposure on the charged photoreceptor;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image;
An intermediate transfer member for primary transfer of the toner image;
Primary transfer means for transferring the toner image onto the intermediate transfer member;
First cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the photoreceptor after the primary transfer;
Secondary transfer means for secondary transfer of the toner image on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material;
A second cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member,
In a cleaning method for an image forming apparatus having a first mode for forming an image based on normal image data and a second mode for forming a patch image based on patch image data,
The second cleaning means is more than the first brush roll and the first brush roll for cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer member by rotating by contact with the intermediate transfer member when a voltage is applied. A second brush roll disposed on the downstream side in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member;
During cleaning in the first mode, a negative polarity voltage is applied to the first brush roll, and a positive polarity voltage of reverse polarity is applied to the second brush roll,
At the time of cleaning in the second mode, a positive voltage is applied to the first brush roll, a positive voltage having the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll, and the first brush roll The toner discharged onto the intermediate transfer member is reversely transferred to the photosensitive member by applying a positive voltage to the primary transfer unit, and the toner reversely transferred to the photosensitive member by the first cleaning unit. An image forming apparatus cleaning method comprising: removing the image forming apparatus. A photoreceptor,
Charging means for charging the photosensitive member;
Image exposure means for forming an electrostatic latent image by image exposure on the charged photoreceptor;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image;
An intermediate transfer member for primary transfer of the toner image;
Primary transfer means for transferring the toner image onto the intermediate transfer member;
First cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the photoconductor after the primary transfer;
Secondary transfer means for secondary transfer of the toner image on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material;
A second cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member,
In an image forming apparatus having a first mode for forming an image based on normal image data and a second mode for forming a patch image based on patch image data,
The second cleaning means is more than the first brush roll and the first brush roll for cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer member by rotating by contact with the intermediate transfer member when a voltage is applied. A second brush roll disposed on the downstream side in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member;
Control means for controlling a voltage applied to the first brush roll and the second brush roll;
In the first mode, the control means applies a negative voltage to the first brush roll, and applies a positive voltage of reverse polarity to the second brush roll,
In the second mode, a positive polarity voltage is applied to the first brush roll and a positive polarity voltage of the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll, and then a negative polarity is applied to the first brush roll. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that a positive voltage having a reverse polarity is applied to the second brush roll while applying a positive voltage. A photoreceptor,
Charging means for charging the photosensitive member;
Image exposure means for forming an electrostatic latent image by image exposure on the charged photoreceptor;
Developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image;
An intermediate transfer member for primary transfer of the toner image;
Primary transfer means for transferring the toner image onto the intermediate transfer member;
First cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the photoconductor after the primary transfer;
Secondary transfer means for secondary transfer of the toner image on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material;
A second cleaning means for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member,
In a cleaning method of an image forming apparatus having a first mode for forming an image based on normal image data and a second mode for forming a patch image based on patch image data,
The second cleaning means is more than the first brush roll and the first brush roll for cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer member by rotating by contact with the intermediate transfer member when a voltage is applied. A second brush roll disposed downstream in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer member;
During cleaning in the first mode, a negative voltage is applied to the first brush roll, and a positive polarity voltage having a reverse polarity is applied to the second brush roll.
At the time of cleaning in the second mode, a positive voltage is applied to the first brush roll, and a positive voltage having the same polarity is applied to the second brush roll. Before the toner discharged from the brush roll onto the intermediate transfer body reaches the first brush roll, a negative voltage is applied to the first brush roll and the reverse of the second brush roll. A method for cleaning an image forming apparatus, wherein a positive polarity voltage is applied.

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