JP2007298782A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus that ensures recovery of scattering toner by preventing a filter from being clogged and thereby prevents toner from passing through the minute holes of the filter. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus includes: photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K; developing devices 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K; a toner suction duct 130; a sucking means 260; the filter 220, to which scattering toner adheres; and a vibrating means 250, which vibrates the filter. Scattering toner which has occurred is trapped by the filter 220 of a dust collector 200. By causing the vibrating means 250 to vibrate the filter 220, toner clinging to the filter 220 is separated to prevent the filter from being clogged. When the sucking means 260 stops, the vibrating means 250 vibrates the filter 220, thereby preventing toner from passing through the minute holes of the filter. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system, and more particularly to collection of scattered toner generated in the image forming apparatus.

  In an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method, the surface of an image carrier such as a photosensitive drum is uniformly charged, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by forming an original image on the surface of the image carrier with laser light or the like. The toner is developed with toner to form a toner image, which is transferred onto a sheet as a recording medium, and the toner is heated and melted and fixed by a fixing device.

  The toner includes a one-component magnetic developer made of a magnetic toner and a two-component developer made by mixing a magnetic carrier and toner. Here, the toner includes both.

  In the image forming apparatus, ozone is generated from the corona charger along with the corona discharge, and toner is scattered from the developing apparatus during the developing operation. However, these ozone and toner have an undesirable effect on the environment and image quality. It is known to give.

  Concerning ozone, a configuration has been proposed in which the configuration of the corona charger is devised, the generated ozone is forcibly sucked by a suction fan, and an odor is removed by a filter provided along the way.

  For scattered toner, a configuration in which a suction port of a toner suction duct is provided at a position where the developing device is close to the surface of the photoreceptor is known. The sucked scattered toner flies through the toner suction duct, enters a wide suction chamber, and is captured by a filter provided on the suction fan side of the suction chamber.

  However, when a large amount of scattered toner is captured, the filter is clogged, the suction force is decreased, and the scattered toner capturing ability is decreased.

  Therefore, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-242195), a magnet body is provided on the floor surface upstream of the filter in the filter chamber provided with the filter, and the toner before being adsorbed by the filter is dropped by magnetic force, We have proposed a developer recovery unit that is prevented from adsorbing to a filter.

However, in the developer recovery unit of Patent Document 1 described above, both the force attracted by the fan and the magnetic force by the magnet are applied to the scattered toner, and the toner moves in the direction of the combined force. Since the attractive force is larger, it proceeds substantially toward the filter and is hardly attracted to the magnet. Therefore, in order to attract the magnet, the fan must be stopped, and there is a trade-off problem that the toner cannot be sucked if the fan is stopped. In addition, if the toner accumulates on the magnet to some extent, there is a problem that the magnetic force for dropping the toner is reduced and the toner cannot be adsorbed. Because of these problems, the filter was easily clogged.
JP 2005-242195 A

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus that can prevent clogging of a filter and reliably collect scattered toner.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention suctions an image carrier, a developing device that develops a latent image on the image carrier with toner, and scattered toner generated in the vicinity of the developing device. Therefore, a toner suction duct provided with a suction port in the vicinity of the image carrier, a suction means for sucking air in the toner suction duct, and a filter for sucking scattered toner provided on the upstream side of the suction means, A vibration means for vibrating the filter; and a control device for controlling the vibration means and the suction means, wherein the control device drives the vibration means when the suction means is stopped. Yes.

  The control device has a counter for counting the number of image formations, and is configured to drive the vibration means for each preset number of images to vibrate the filter, or the control device controls the entire image formation device. The filter may be configured to vibrate by driving the vibrating means during an image forming operation, or the image forming apparatus includes a feeding system motor for transporting paper, and the control device includes the feeding system. The vibration unit may be driven while the motor is operating, or the suction unit may be stopped on the condition that the control unit is stopped.

  The scattered toner generated between the image carrier and the developing device is sucked by the toner suction duct and captured by the filter. When vibration is applied by the vibration means, the filter vibrates, and the toner adhering to the filter is peeled off from the filter, thereby preventing the filter from being clogged. However, if the suction means and the vibration means are operated at the same time, it becomes difficult for the toner to be separated from the filter. Therefore, when the control device vibrates the filter, the suction means controls to stop the suction. As a result, the toner adhering to the filter can be easily peeled off, and clogging of the filter can be prevented.

  The control device has a counter that counts the number of image formations and drives the vibration unit to vibrate the filter for each preset number of sheets, so that the toner adhering to the filter is periodically screened off. And can effectively prevent clogging.

  In addition, the control device operates the vibration unit during the image forming operation to vibrate the filter, or drives the vibration unit while the feeding system motor is operating, thereby generating sound when the filter is vibrated. Can be superimposed with the sound during image formation, and noise can be prevented.

  In addition, when the image carrier is moving, scattered toner is generated. Therefore, the suction unit ensures that the scattered toner is collected only when the image carrier is stopped. Can be made.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. However, the duct block and the dust collector are omitted for convenience. As shown in FIG. 1, this image forming apparatus is called a tandem type color image forming apparatus, and includes an automatic document feeder 30, an image reading device 60, image writing devices 3Y, 3M, 3C, 3K, and an image carrier. Photoconductors 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K, chargers 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K, developing devices 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K, a fixing device 24, an image carrier 6 including an intermediate transfer belt, and a paper feed cassette 20a. , 20b, 20c, a conveyance system 22 and the like.

  5Y, 5M, 5C, and 5K are toner replenishing units that replenish new toner to the developing devices 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K, respectively.

  The automatic document conveying means 30 is means for automatically conveying a double-sided or single-sided original d. The image reading device 60 is a device that reads image information by a scanning optical system. The image reading device 60 reflects the contents of a large number of originals d fed from the original placement table by three movable mirrors 60c, and collects the condensing lens 60b. Thus, an image is formed on the image sensor 60a made of a CCD and read.

  The image forming unit 10Y that forms a yellow image includes a charger 2Y, an image writing device 3Y, a developing device 4Y, and a cleaning device 8Y that are arranged around a photoreceptor 1Y as an image carrier. The image forming unit 10M that forms a magenta image includes a charger 2M, an image writing device 3M, a developing device 4M, and a cleaning device 8M around a photoconductor 1M as an image carrier. The image forming unit 10C that forms a cyan image includes a photoreceptor 1C as an image carrier, a charger 2C, an image writing device 3C, a developing device 4C, and a cleaning device 8C. The image forming unit 10K that forms a black image includes a photoreceptor 1K as an image carrier, a charger 2K, an image writing device 3K, a developing device 4K, and a cleaning device 8K. The charger 2Y and the image writing device 3Y, the charger 2M and the image writing device 3M, the charger 2C and the image writing device 3C, and the charger 2K and the image writing device 3K constitute a latent image forming unit for each color. To do.

  The image carrier 6 as an intermediate transfer belt is an endless belt, is stretched by a plurality of rollers, and is rotatably supported. The image carrier 6 is provided with a cleaning device 9, and the cleaning device 9 includes a cleaning roller and a cleaning blade.

  A signal of image information formed on the image sensor 60a is sent to an image processing unit (not shown). The image processing unit performs analog processing, A / D conversion, shading correction, image compression processing, and the like, and then sends a signal for each color to the image writing devices 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K.

  In the image writing apparatuses 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K, a semiconductor laser is used as a laser light source, and a light beam emitted from the semiconductor laser is formed into a scanning light beam by an optical element such as a polygon mirror to be used as a photosensitive body as a scanning object. It enters the bodies 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K, and forms an electrostatic latent image of each color.

  The respective color images formed by the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K are sequentially transferred onto the rotating image carrier 6 by transfer devices 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K as primary transfer devices (1). Next transfer), a synthesized color image is formed. The paper P accommodated in the paper feed cassettes 20a, 20b, and 20c is fed by the paper feed means 21a, 21b, and 21c, passes through the transport system 22, and is timed by the registration roller 23 as a secondary transfer device. The color image is transferred onto the paper P by being conveyed to the transfer device 7a (secondary transfer). The sheet P on which the color image has been transferred is subjected to fixing processing by the fixing device 24, is sandwiched between the sheet discharge rollers 25, and is placed on the sheet discharge tray 26 outside the apparatus.

  On the other hand, after the color image is transferred onto the paper P by the transfer device 7a, the image carrier 6 from which the paper P has been separated is cleaned by the cleaning device 9.

  2 is an enlarged view showing portions of the image forming unit and the dust collecting device in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a further enlarged view of the uppermost duct block 100Y and its periphery in FIG.

  The four color image forming units of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K), the image carrier 6 as an intermediate transfer member, and the like are mounted on a process stand (not shown). This process frame can be taken in and out in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface via a rail (not shown) provided on the apparatus main body side. The chargers 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K can also be attached and detached in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface.

  The duct block 100Y is disposed between the charger 2Y of the yellow (Y) image forming unit and the developing device 4Y. Similarly, the magenta (M) image forming unit includes the duct block 100M, the cyan (C) image forming unit includes the duct block 100C, and the black (K) image forming unit includes the duct block 100K. Each is arranged. In the following description, the duct block 100Y provided between the charger 2Y and the developing device 4Y will be described, but the other duct blocks 100M, 100C, and 100K have the same configuration unless otherwise specified. In the following description, the duct blocks 100Y, 100M, 100C, and 100K are collectively referred to as the duct block 100. Similarly, the photosensitive member, the charger, and the developing device are also collectively referred to as the photosensitive member 1, the charger 2, and the developing device 4, respectively.

  The duct block 100 has a structure in which three ducts 110, 120, and 130 divided by partition walls 101, 102, 103, and 104 are layered.

  The air introduction duct 120 in the middle is a duct for guiding the outside air into the charger, and the ozone suction duct 110 formed on the air introduction duct 120 is the ozone from the charger 2 (with the operation of the corona discharge electrode). Is a duct for removing and discharging from the charging device 2 or its surroundings.

  The ozone suction duct 110 is formed between a partition wall 101 at the top of the duct block 100 and a partition wall 102 that serves as a boundary between the air introduction duct 120. The suction port of the ozone suction duct 110 is located downstream of the charger 2 when viewed in the rotation direction (counterclockwise) of the photoreceptor 1.

  Attaching means for attaching the charger 2 is located near the photosensitive member 1 of the partition wall 103. With the charger 2 attached, a space is provided between the bottom surface of the charger 2 and the partition wall 103 facing the back thereof. 121 is formed. A hole is formed in the bottom surface of the charger 2, and the air supplied from the air introduction duct 120 passes through the charger 2 and reaches the photoreceptor 1.

  The air introduction duct 120 is connected to another duct provided in the process frame. This duct is provided with a fan or the like, and sends outside air to the photosensitive member 1 through the charger 2.

  The lower developing device 4 having the same shape as the lower surface of the duct block 100 (specifically, the lower surface including the partition wall 103 portion inclined obliquely to the left) and the lower surface of the partition wall 103. With this upper surface, a passage 105 for discharging scattered toner that communicates with the developing region of the lower photoconductor 1 is formed. A seal 104 a that closes the upper surface of the lower developing device 4 is provided at the tip of the partition wall 104. The toner suction duct 130 of the duct block 100 below the upper developing device 4 sucks scattered toner generated between the lower photoconductor 1 and the developing device 4.

  The scattered toner generated between the uppermost photoreceptor 1Y and the developing device 4Y is sucked by a toner suction duct 131 formed along the upper surface of the developing device 4Y.

  One end portions of the ozone suction duct 110 and the toner suction duct 130 for discharging the toner are opened and connected to the dust collector 200 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the dust collector 200. The photosensitive member 1 has a cylindrical shape extending in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. A dust collector 200 is disposed on one end side, in this embodiment, on the back side when the process frame is pulled out.

  The dust collector 200 has one connection port 201 on the upper side and four connection ports 202, 203, 204, 205 on the side surface. A toner suction duct 131 is connected to the connection port 201. To the connection port 202, the toner suction duct 130 and the ozone suction duct 110 of the duct block 100Y under the developing device 4Y are connected. Similarly, a toner suction duct 130 and an ozone suction duct 110 of the duct block 100M below the developing device 4M are provided at the connection port 203, and a toner suction duct 130 of the duct block 100C below the development device 4C is provided at the connection port 204. And the ozone suction duct 110 are connected to each other. Only the ozone suction duct 110 for discharging ozone of the duct block 100K under the developing device 4K is connected to the lowermost connection port 205.

  The internal space of the dust collector 200 is divided into a storage unit 210, a filter 220, and a suction chamber 230. Above the suction chamber 230 is a suction port 240 to which a suction fan as the suction means 260 is connected. A vibration means 250 for applying vibration to the filter 220 is provided below the dust collector 200.

  The storage unit 210 is a space in which scattered toner and ozone sucked by the toner suction ducts 130 and the ozone suction duct 110 are temporarily stored. The toner suction duct 130 and the ozone suction duct 110 have a small cross-sectional area, so the flow rate is fast. However, since the storage part 210 has a large cross-sectional area and sufficiently reduces the flow rate, a part of the toner falls downward. Then, the toner that does not fall reaches the filter 220 and is captured. A toner collection unit 211 is formed below the storage unit 210 as a space for storing the dropped toner.

  The filter 220 serves both as a filter for adsorbing toner and a filter containing activated carbon for removing ozone, and a sheet-like filter is formed into a bellows shape by being diffracted multiple times with the same width. By folding in a bellows shape, the rigidity of the filter 220 can be increased and the vibration by the vibration means 250 can be easily transmitted. In addition, a large number of suction surfaces 220a of the filter 220 are formed in layers, so that the total area of the suction surfaces 220a increases and the dust collection capacity can be increased.

  The vibration means 250 in this embodiment is configured to apply vibration to the filter 220 by rotating a disc-shaped weight 251 attached eccentrically to the motor. Since the shaft of the motor is in the horizontal direction, the weight 251 gives the vibration in the vertical direction to the filter 220. However, the vibration means 250 is not limited to the structure of the embodiment. If the filter 220 has a bellows shape and each fold of the bellows is in the vertical direction, the scattered toner adsorbed on the suction surface 220a of the filter 220 is likely to fall due to the vibration in the vertical direction.

  Since the filter 220 is folded in a bellows shape, a large number of suction surfaces 220a are arranged in layers with a slight gap, but the first suction surface 220a absorbs most of the toner. Then, some of the toner that has passed through the first suction surface 220a is attracted to any one of the plurality of suction surfaces 220a that continues from the second, third,... When the angle α shown in FIG. 4 of the suction surface 220a of the filter 220 is an obtuse angle, the toner separated by the vibration falls while sliding on the suction surface 220a.

  On the other hand, it is preferable that the angle α is an acute angle as illustrated. The acute angle means that the upper side of the toner suction duct is inclined toward the upstream side and the lower side is inclined toward the downstream side for the following reason. Most of the scattered toner that reaches the filter 220 is captured by the first suction surface 220 a of the filter 220. When the vibration unit 250 vibrates the filter 220 and the angle α is an acute angle, the toner separated from the first suction surface 220a immediately leaves the suction surface 220a and falls downward, and is collected by the toner collection unit 211. Because it will be possible.

  The toner adsorbed on the second, third and subsequent adsorption surfaces 220a is peeled off from the adsorption surface 220a due to vibration, but falls and falls on the back surface of the previous adsorption surface 220a. Will slip down. The toner that has fallen downward collects in the toner recovery unit 211 formed in the lower part of the storage unit 210.

Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment will be described.
When image formation starts, the photoreceptor 1Y rotates counterclockwise, and the charger 2Y uniformly charges the surface of the photoreceptor 1Y by corona discharge. The charged surface of the photoreceptor 1Y is irradiated with a laser beam from the image writing device 3Y along the writing optical path to form a yellow electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 1Y. Thereafter, an electrostatic latent image of each color is formed as described with reference to FIG. 1 to form a toner image, which is transferred to an image carrier 6 as an intermediate transfer member, formed on a sheet, and fixed by a fixing device 24. Is done.

  In such an image forming process, when the photoreceptor 1Y rotates, the air on the surface of the photoreceptor 1Y moves together to generate a surface layer flow. Further, ozone is generated from the charger 2Y. The generated ozone rides on the surface layer flow and flows toward the lower part of the developing device 4Y.

  The flow of ozone riding on the surface layer flow toward the lower part of the developing device 4Y is sucked by the negative pressure of the ozone suction duct 110, ozone is removed by activated carbon for ozone removal contained in the filter 220 of the dust collecting device 200, and ozone is removed. The air becomes free of air and is discharged outside the machine.

  The scattered toner generated between the photoreceptor 1 </ b> Y and the developing device 4 </ b> Y is sucked by the negative pressure of the toner suction duct 131 and enters the dust collector 200. Then, the speed is reduced in the dust collector 200, and a part is dropped due to gravity and collected by the toner collecting unit 211. The toner that has not dropped reaches the filter 220. Since the eyes of the filter 220 are smaller than the toner particles, most of the toner is captured by the first adsorption surface 220a of the filter 220. Some toner passes through the first adsorption surface 220a, but is adsorbed somewhere on the second and third adsorption surfaces.

  The scattered toner generated between the photoreceptor 1M and the developing device 4M enters the passage 105 of the duct block 100 below the developing device 4Y, passes through the toner suction duct 130 communicating therewith, and is collected by the dust collecting device 200. Are captured by the filter 220. Similarly, ozone and scattered toner generated in the photoconductor 1C and the photoconductor 1K are sucked into the toner suction duct 130 and the ozone suction duct 110, respectively, and enter the dust collector 200.

  Since the ozone suction duct 110 and the toner suction duct 130 suck air near the charger 2Y, the vicinity of the charger 2Y has a low pressure. Therefore, outside air is introduced from the air introduction duct 120. Since these three ducts are separated and arranged in an orderly manner, it is possible to control three winds, that is, a wind containing ozone, a wind containing scattered toner, and a wind supplied from outside.

  Scattered toner adheres to the suction surface 220 a of the filter 220. If left unattended, it will eventually become clogged and the filter function will be lost. Therefore, the vibration unit 250 is operated to vibrate the filter 220. Due to this vibration, the toner adhering to the suction surface 220 a is peeled off and falls and accumulates in the toner recovery unit 211. The clogging of the filter 220 can be prevented by the toner peeling.

  Since the filter 220 is bent into a bellows shape, the filter 220 has high rigidity, can transmit vibration well, and can promote toner peeling. Further, since the suction surface 220a extends in the vertical direction, the peeled toner easily falls downward. In particular, in the embodiment, the suction surface 220a is provided with an inclination such that the angle α is an acute angle. Therefore, the separated toner falls off the filter 220 and is easily collected by the toner collecting unit 211.

  However, if the fan of the suction unit 260 is sucking while the filter 220 is vibrating, the toner on the suction surface 220a of the filter 220 is likely to pass through the eyes of the filter. If the eyes of the filter pass through, toner will be released to the outside air, which is a problem. There is also a problem that noise is generated by vibrating the filter. Therefore, in the present invention, these problems are solved as follows.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. The control device 70 is for cooperating each device attached to the image forming apparatus, is configured mainly by a computer, has a CPU and a storage device (not shown), and is installed with a control program such as image processing. ing.

  The operation panel 71 is a device for an operator to input numerical values such as the paper size or the number of copies, or various settings, and includes a numeric keypad and various push buttons. The display unit 72 is a display device such as a liquid crystal panel that displays the set values. However, the display unit 72 can be used as a touch panel so that a part of the operation can be performed.

  The image processing unit 73 performs image processing such as rotation on the image read by the image reading device 60, and transfers the image to a sheet by the printer control unit 76 via the image forming unit 75.

  The feed motor 20 can alternatively drive the paper feed cassettes 20a, 20b, 20c containing the respective size sheets and the transport system 22 by a clutch or the like, and transports the paper from the selected paper feed cassette. To control. Further, the control device 70 controls the vibration means 250 and the suction means 260 and can also detect rotation / stop of the photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K via the printer control unit 76. The number counter 77 counts the number of images formed after the vibration unit 250 stops.

  The method of controlling the suction means and the vibration means of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  In the first control method according to FIG. 6, first, the previous vibration unit 250 vibrates the filter 220 and counts the number of images formed after the stop. When a predetermined number of sheets is counted (# 101), it is checked whether the main body of the image forming apparatus is in an image forming operation (# 103). If the image forming operation is not in progress, it waits for the image forming operation to start, confirms that the image forming operation is in progress, and stops the suction means 260 (# 105). Then, the vibration means 250 is driven to vibrate the filter 220, and stops after a predetermined time has elapsed (# 107). Thereafter, the suction means 260 is restarted (# 109), and the value of the sheet counter is paid out to 0 and a new sheet count is started.

  By such control, when the suction unit 260 is stopped, the vibration unit 250 vibrates the filter 220, so that toner can be prevented from slipping through the eyes of the filter 220.

  Further, the noise caused by the vibration can be made inconspicuous by vibrating the filter during the image forming operation. Furthermore, by vibrating the filter every predetermined number of sheets, the toner adhering to the filter can be periodically removed to effectively prevent clogging of the filter.

  In the second control method shown in FIG. 7, as in FIG. 6, first, the previous vibration means 250 vibrates the filter 220 and counts the number of images formed after the stop. When a predetermined number of sheets is counted (# 111), it is checked whether or not the feed motor 20 that transports the sheet of the image forming apparatus is operating (# 113). If the feeding motor 20 is stopped, the suction unit 260 is stopped while the feeding motor 20 is operating in the next image forming operation (# 115). Then, the vibration means 250 is driven to vibrate the filter 220 and stops after a predetermined time has elapsed (# 117). Thereafter, the suction means 260 is restarted (# 119), and the value of the number counter is paid to 0 to start counting a new number.

  According to this control method, in addition to the effects of the control method of FIG. That is, since the sound generated by the paper feeding operation is large during the image forming operation, the noise generated when the filter 220 vibrates can be made inconspicuous by driving the vibration means 250 in superposition with this sound. it can.

  In the third control method shown in FIG. 8, as in FIG. 7, first, the previous vibration unit 250 vibrates the filter 220 and counts the number of images formed after the stop. When a predetermined number of sheets is counted (# 121), it is checked whether or not the feed motor 20 that transports the sheet of the image forming apparatus is operating (# 123). If it is confirmed that the feeding motor 20 is in operation, it is next checked whether any of the photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1K is in operation (# 125). Then, after confirming that all the photoconductors are stopped, the suction means 260 is stopped (# 127). Then, the vibration means 250 is driven to vibrate the filter 220 and stop after a predetermined time has elapsed (# 129). Thereafter, the suction means 260 is restarted (# 131), and the value of the counter of the number of sheets is paid out to 0 and a new number of sheets is started to be counted.

  When any of the photosensitive members 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K is rotating, toner is supplied from the developing devices 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K of the rotating photosensitive member, and scattered toner is also generated. become. When the suction unit 260 stops in this state, the scattered toner cannot be sucked, and as a result, the scattered toner flows to other areas in the apparatus. Therefore, this problem can be solved by stopping the suction unit while the developing device is stopped.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. It is an enlarged view which shows the image forming unit and dust collector part of FIG. It is the figure which expanded the uppermost duct block of FIG. 2, and its periphery. It is a perspective view which shows the internal structure of a dust collector. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the 1st control method of the suction means and the vibration means in this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 2nd control method of the attraction | suction means and vibration means in this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 3rd control method of the suction means and the vibration means in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1K Photoconductor 4, 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K Developing device 20 Feed system motor 70 Control device 77 Number counter 110 Ozone suction duct 130, 131 Toner suction duct 200 Dust collector 211 Toner recovery Part 220 filter 220a adsorption surface 250 vibration means 260 suction means

Claims (5)

  An image carrier, a developing device for developing a latent image on the image carrier with toner, and a toner suction provided with a suction port in the vicinity of the image carrier for sucking scattered toner generated in the vicinity of the developing device A duct, suction means for sucking air in the toner suction duct, a filter provided on the upstream side of the suction means for adsorbing scattered toner, vibration means for vibrating the filter, vibration means and suction An image forming apparatus, wherein the control device drives the vibrating means when the suction means is stopped.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control device has a counter for counting the number of image formations, and drives the vibration unit for each preset number of sheets to vibrate the filter.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control apparatus controls the entire image forming apparatus and drives the vibration unit to vibrate the filter during an image forming operation.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a feeding system motor for transporting paper, and the control device drives the vibration unit while the feeding system motor is operating. The image forming apparatus according to any one of the above.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller stops the suction unit on condition that the image carrier is stopped.

Images