JP2008225198A - Cleaning device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device of which miniaturization and cost reduction are attained while improving cleaning performance. <P>SOLUTION: The cleaning device 7 which cleans an image carrier 2 on which toner 15 remains comprises: a brush-shaped member 14b; a base material 14a which has a plurality of through holes and in which the brush-shape member 14b is implanted; and a suction means connected to the base material 14a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying apparatus, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction machine, and more particularly to a structure of a cleaning apparatus that removes toner remaining on an image carrier.

  Conventionally, the surface of the image carrier is uniformly charged with a positive or negative charge by a charging unit, and then an electrostatic latent image is formed by performing exposure according to the image to be formed. There is known an electrophotographic forming method in which a toner charged to a polarity is supplied from a developing device to form a toner image, and the toner image is transferred to a transfer material or an intermediate transfer member by a transfer unit. In this method, the toner remaining on the image carrier is removed by a cleaning device, and the electrostatic latent image is re-formed on the image carrier by charging again in a state where no toner remains on the image carrier. Is possible. As a cleaning device used here, a blade method or a conductive or insulating brush roller method is known, and a blade method that is simple and inexpensive is widely used.

  As an image obtained by this image formation, image quality has been improved recently, and small toner particles tend to be used frequently. Further, in the toner manufacturing method, energy saving has progressed and the polymerization method has become the mainstream, and in this polymerization method, the cost can be reduced by using a spherical shape that does not require a step of deforming the toner. Furthermore, it is expected that the transfer efficiency is improved by making the toner spherical, and the energy saving effect is further improved by reducing the amount of toner discarded as the remaining toner. In order to remove the small and spherical toner produced by the polymerization method from the above-described blade type cleaning device from the image carrier, the small and spherical toner must be brought into strong contact with the surface of the image carrier. Since the blade passes through the blade, the wear of the blade and the surface of the image carrier becomes faster than before, and the driving torque of the driving means for driving the image carrier must be increased.

  In order to solve the above problems, a cleaning device using an electrostatic brush roller that adsorbs toner by electrostatic force is proposed as a cleaning device that efficiently removes small and spherical toner while reducing damage to the image carrier. Has been. Further, as another cleaning device, a first cleaning means and a second cleaning brush roll comprising a first cleaning brush roll and means for collecting the toner of the polarity adsorbed thereto, and toner and paper dust adsorbed thereon are used. A cleaning device having a second cleaning device comprising a collecting device, and a cleaning device having a corona irradiation device between the transfer device and the cleaning device are disclosed in, for example, “Patent Document 1” in a brush cleaner assembly for a drum. For example, “Patent Document 2” discloses a technique for tightly joining a charging chamber and a vacuum suction cyclone chamber that is vacuum-sucked from one side surface, and includes a first cleaning blade and a voltage applied to the first cleaning blade. A cleaning device to be applied is disclosed in, for example, “Patent Document 3”.

Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 2-42230 JP 58-23078 A JP 2002-268494 A

  In the technique disclosed in “Patent Document 1”, there is a problem that ozone is generated from the corona irradiation means and the environment is polluted and a device is enlarged. The technique disclosed in “Patent Document 2” has a problem in that since the structure covers the entire brush, a vacuum suction device with a large air volume is required, and the device becomes large. The technique disclosed in “Patent Document 3” has a problem in that all the toner and paper powder cannot be removed because the polarity is on one side.

  In a conventional cleaning device using a brush roller, the residual toner after transfer has a charge, and therefore, a charge having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to the brush for adsorption removal. In general, since the bias voltage at the time of transfer is positive, the negative toner after development is adsorbed by the brush, and the toner that is not adsorbed passes through to the subsequent process. However, the charge of the residual toner often has both positive polarity and negative polarity due to the influence of the discharge generated between the transfer media due to the transfer voltage. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, two cleaning brushes 22a and 22b are provided as cleaning brushes for cleaning the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 2 as an image carrier, and either one has a positive voltage and the other has a negative polarity. The voltage was applied. As another configuration, as shown in FIG. 17, the polarity control member 26 is arranged in contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 2 so that the polarity of the residual toner is aligned to either positive or negative, and aligned to the cleaning brush 22. A configuration is known in which a voltage having a polarity opposite to the polarity is applied and adsorbed.

  In any of the above-described configurations, if the residual toner removed from the photosensitive drum 2 is not removed from the cleaning brushes 22, 22a, 22b, the toner accumulates in the vicinity of the metal core that is the base of the brush, and the toner is made into a roller. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the toner adhering to the brush by some method. As this removal method, the inside of the member covering the entire brush is vacuumed and collected, and as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the cleaning rollers 23, 23a, and 22b are placed in contact with the cleaning brushes 22, 22a, and 22b. For example, the toner may be electrostatically transferred to the cleaning rollers 23, 23a, 23b, and the toner may be mechanically removed from the cleaning rollers 23, 23a, 23b by the blades 24, 24a, 24b.

  In the above-described method, vacuum suction covers the entire cleaning brush for suction, so that there is a problem that the capacity of the suction device is increased, the size of the apparatus is increased, and noise is increased. Further, in the configuration in which the cleaning roller and the blade are provided, there are problems that the number of parts is increased and a large installation space is required, which increases the size of the apparatus and increases the cost.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device that solves the above-described problems and that can reduce the size and cost of the device while improving the cleaning performance.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning device for cleaning residual toner on an image carrier, a brush-like member, a base material having a plurality of through holes and in which the brush-like member is implanted, and the base material And suction means connected to.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the first aspect, the brush-like member further has conductivity, and has a voltage applying means for applying a voltage to the brush-like member. .

  A third aspect of the present invention is the cleaning apparatus according to the second aspect, further comprising a polarity control member that controls the polarity of the residual toner.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the brush-like member is composed of a plurality of brushes having different rigidity.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the brush-like member further electrostatically places a plurality of brushes on the base material coated with an adhesive. It is created by flocking.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is a process cartridge having the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects and an image carrier.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the process cartridge according to the sixth aspect, the image carrier further includes a protective layer and a charge transport layer, and the binder resin constituting the protective layer or the charge transport layer is a crosslinked structure. It is characterized by having.

  The invention described in claim 8 is an image forming apparatus having the process cartridge described in claim 6 or 7.

  A ninth aspect of the invention is an image forming apparatus having a plurality of process cartridges of the sixth or seventh aspect.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the eighth or ninth aspect, a toner having a shape factor SF1 of 100 to 150 is further used.

  According to the present invention, a good cleaning function can be obtained simply by bringing a brush-like member into contact with an image carrier, and the cleaning device can be reduced in size and cost by greatly simplifying the configuration. At the same time, since the brush-like member does not contact the surface of the image carrier with a strong pressure as in the blade system, the life of the image carrier can be extended.

  FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus employing one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 has a photosensitive drum 2 as an image carrier inside the apparatus main body, and a charging roller 3 for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 around the photosensitive drum 2 and charging uniformly. An exposure device 4 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 with a laser beam, and a developing device 6 for supplying the charged toner to the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 to develop the electrostatic latent image into a toner image. A transfer device 5 having a transfer belt 5a and transferring a toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 2 to the recording paper 9, a cleaning device 7 for removing residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 2 after the toner image transfer, A neutralizing device 8 for removing the residual potential on the photosensitive drum 2 is disposed.

  In the above configuration, the photosensitive drum 2 whose surface is uniformly charged by the charging roller 3 forms an electrostatic latent image by the exposure device 4, and is developed by the developing device 6 to form a toner image on the surface. . This toner image is transferred by the transfer device 5 to the recording paper 9 fed through the registration roller pair 11 from the paper feeding device 10 provided at the lower part of the apparatus main body, and the recording paper 9 on which the toner image is transferred is fixed. After the toner image is fixed by being sent to the apparatus 12, it is sent to a subsequent process by the paper discharge roller pair 13. After the residual toner is removed by the cleaning device 7, the photosensitive drum 2 is discharged by the charge removing device 8 and used for the next image forming process. In the transfer device 5, the toner remaining on the transfer belt 5a is cleaned by the belt cleaning device 5b.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view showing the periphery of the photosensitive drum 2. As shown in the figure, the cleaning device 7 has a cleaning member 14 which is a feature of the present invention. Hereinafter, the cleaning member 14 will be described.

  FIG. 3 shows the cleaning member used in the first embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning member 14 is configured by implanting a brush-like member 14b on the peripheral surface of a hollow cylindrical base material 14a. A plurality of through holes 14c are formed in the base material 14a, and a joint 14d to which suction means (not shown) is connected is integrally provided at one end of the base material 14a by a method such as press fitting or welding. The cleaning member 14 is rotatably provided inside the cleaning device 7, and is arranged in such a manner that the tip of the brush-like member 14 b is in contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 2. The cleaning member 14 is rotationally driven in the same direction as or opposite to that of the photosensitive drum 2 by a driving unit (not shown). Note that the cleaning member 14 may be rotated around the photosensitive drum 2.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the residual toner 15 remaining on the photosensitive drum 2 after the transfer is sprung up due to the relative speed difference between the photosensitive drum 2 and the cleaning member 14 and the rigidity of the brush-like member 14b. Residual toner 15 that has been splashed rises instantaneously because of its small mass, moves on the flow of air sucked by suction means (not shown), and is collected through the through-hole 14c and the joint 14d. As the base material 14a, a metal or resin, wire mesh or the like can be used.

  According to the above-described configuration, a good cleaning function can be obtained simply by bringing the cleaning member 14 into contact with the photosensitive drum 2, and the residual toner is collected from the cleaning housing to the waste toner tank by the transport screw as in the prior art. Compared to the configuration, the configuration can be greatly simplified, and the cleaning device can be reduced in size and cost. Further, since the cleaning member 14 does not come into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 with a strong pressing force as in the blade system, the durability of the photosensitive drum 2 can be ensured and the life can be extended.

  FIG. 5 shows the cleaning member 16 used in the second embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning member 16 is configured by implanting a brush-like member 16b on a base material 16a having a hollow structure, and a plurality of through holes 16c are formed on an implantation surface of the base material 16a on which the brush-like member 16b is implanted. Is formed. A joint portion 16d to which suction means (not shown) is connected is formed at one end of the base material 16a. The cleaning member 16 is fixed inside the cleaning device 7, and is arranged in such a manner that the tip of the brush-like member 16 b contacts the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 2.

  Although the relative speed between the photosensitive drum 2 and the brush-like member 16b is smaller than that of the cleaning member 14 due to the above-described configuration, the photosensitive drum 2 passes through the brush-like member 16b while rotating. The residual toner 15 on the upper surface 2 is splashed up, and the residual toner 15 that has been splashed moves on the flow of air sucked by a suction means (not shown) and is collected through the through hole 16c and the joint portion 16d. The same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. Furthermore, according to the second embodiment, the rotational driving means of the cleaning member 14 in the first embodiment can be omitted, the cost can be reduced, and the opening area of the base material 16a can be reduced, so that the suction means has a low output. Can be used, and cost reduction and space saving can be achieved.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the toner after development is inherently negative in polarity, if a positive voltage is applied as a transfer voltage, all of the toner is transferred onto the recording medium. However, the residual toner 15 has positive polarity due to the influence of discharge caused by the transfer voltage. The negative polarity is mixed. FIG. 6 shows this distribution. In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis indicates the polarity and the vertical axis indicates the number of toners. In this embodiment, this polarity is used, and as shown in FIG. 7, a negative voltage is applied to the cleaning member 17 and a positive voltage is applied to the cleaning member 18. Each of the cleaning members 17 and 18 is configured in the same manner as the cleaning member 14, and is configured by implanting conductive brush-like members 17b and 18b on base materials 17a and 18a having a plurality of through holes 17c and 18c. Each is connected to suction means (not shown). The cleaning members 17 and 18 are rotatably provided inside the cleaning device 7 so that the brush-like members 17b and 18b are in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 2. Each of the cleaning members 17 and 18 may be configured to rotate by a driving unit (not shown) or to rotate with the photosensitive drum 2. The conductive brush-like members 17b and 18b preferably have a volume resistance value of 10 ⁵ to 10 ¹⁰ Ωcm, and it is important that the conductive material is not exposed from the covering member. This is because if the conductive material is exposed from the covering member, electric charge flows from the portion to the residual toner 15 that is in contact therewith, and the residual toner 15 has the same polarity as the brush-like members 17b and 18b and is not attracted. It is. Further, the thickness of the brush-like members 17b and 18b is preferably 15 to 40 μm in diameter so that the brush-like members 17b and 18b are familiar with the photosensitive drum 2 and come into contact with the residual toner 15.

  With the above-described configuration, the positive residual toner 15 is electrostatically attracted to the cleaning member 17 and the negative residual toner 15 is electrostatically adsorbed to the cleaning member 18, and all residual toner is removed from the photosensitive drum 2. Therefore, the cleaning effect can be further improved as compared with the cleaning member 14. Also in the present embodiment, instead of the cleaning members 17 and 18, a cleaning member fixedly arranged in the same manner as the cleaning member 16 may be used.

  As described above, the residual toner 15 that has been discharged in the transfer process is distributed in both polarities, but by controlling the residual toner 15 to the polarity on one side, a single cleaning member can be obtained. FIG. 8 shows an example of the polarity control distribution of the residual toner 15. In the figure, the residual toner 15 after transfer is distributed in both polarities as shown in the left figure. However, by injecting charges into the residual toner 15 by the polarity control member, the polarity is set to one side as shown in the right figure. Can be sent.

  FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the fourth embodiment, the cleaning member 18 shown in the third embodiment is used, and the polarity control member 19 is disposed so as to come into contact with the residual toner 15 on the photosensitive drum 2. A voltage is applied to the polarity control member 19, and the residual toner 15 that has passed through the polarity control member 19 is negatively charged. As the polarity control member 19, a member that does not damage the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 such as a conductive blade, a conductive brush, or a conductive film is used. Moreover, even if a corona discharge member is used as the polarity control member, the polarity can be easily controlled uniformly. Residual toner 15 with the polarity approached to one side is satisfactorily removed by cleaning member 18 charged to the opposite polarity.

  According to the above configuration, the residual toner 15 on the photosensitive drum 2 can be brought to one side by the polarity control member 19, so that all the residual toner 15 can be removed by the single cleaning member 18. Can be simplified. Also in the present embodiment, a configuration in which a cleaning member fixedly disposed in the same manner as the cleaning member 16 is used instead of the cleaning member 18 may be used.

  In an actual machine, a low melting point toner may be used for the purpose of fixing at a low temperature. In this case, although the cleaning property is good, the resin component and the external additive adhere to the image carrier and filming is likely to occur. . In some cases, a toner having a small particle diameter is used for the purpose of increasing the resolution of the image, but in this case, the cleaning property is deteriorated. These are phenomena that occur due to the interaction between the toner and the image carrier. For the purpose of toner removal, the brush-like member is made less rigid to make it easier to become familiar with the image carrier and the brush-like member and the toner. On the other hand, for the purpose of removing the filming component, it is necessary to increase the rigidity of the brush-like member to remove foreign matter.

  FIG. 10 shows a cleaning member 20 used in the fifth embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning member 20 is configured by implanting a brush-like member 20b on the peripheral surface of a hollow cylindrical base material 20a, and a plurality of through holes 20c are formed in the base material 20a. A joint portion (not shown) to which suction means (not shown) is connected is provided at one end of the base material 20a. In the brush-like member 20b, high-rigidity regions 20A in which high-rigidity brushes are collected and low-rigidity regions 20B in which low-rigidity brushes are collected are alternately arranged. The ratio between the high-rigidity region 20A and the low-rigidity region 20B varies depending on the purpose of the product. If energy-oriented, low-melting toner is used, and filming is likely to occur, so the ratio of the high-rigidity region 20A increases. The ratio of the region 20B increases.

  According to the above-described configuration, the functions can be separated by arranging brush-like members having different rigidity on the same base material, and not only residual toner is removed but also foreign matter that causes filming and image flow. Can be removed, and a highly functional cleaning device can be provided with an inexpensive configuration.

  Here, a method of creating the cleaning members 14, 17, 18, and 20 will be described with reference to FIG. First, a metal mesh having a plurality of through holes or a punching metal material is formed in a cylindrical shape to form the pipe 21a. The base material 21 is created by press-fitting a weld plug 21b and a joint 21c to the end of the pipe 21a and welding them. Next, an adhesive is applied on the base material 21, and brush fibers cut in advance to a length of about 3 to 6 mm are implanted in the normal direction with respect to the base material 21 using an electrostatic force. At this time, the same thing as the cleaning member 20 mentioned above can be created by mixing a thing with high rigidity and a thing with low rigidity as an appropriate ratio as a brush fiber. As another production method, instead of directly planting the hair on the curved substrate 21, brush fibers are pre-planted on a flat mesh member such as plastic or metal, and the planted member is cut into a predetermined dimension. Thus, the productivity can be improved by winding the substrate 21 around the substrate 21. Also in a fixed cleaning member such as the cleaning member 16, a housing is provided facing the width direction of the image carrier, and brush fibers are previously implanted in the above-described flat mesh member such as plastic or metal at the front of the housing. The filter brush that has been cut and cut is joined, and can be easily created by providing a suction port to which suction means is connected at the rear of the housing.

  According to the above-described configuration, the cleaning member formed by flocking the brush-like member on the base material can be easily created, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. In addition, the use of a filter brush in which brush fibers are pre-planted in the mesh member makes it easier to create the cleaning member, and the manufacturing cost can be further reduced.

  Recently, as digitalization and complexization have progressed in image formation by electrophotography, the demand for higher image quality has increased more than ever, and toner particle size reduction aimed at improving image quality reproducibility. In addition, there is a growing demand for reducing environmental impact during manufacturing. Conventionally, the melt-kneading and pulverizing method has been the main toner production method. However, the smaller the toner particle size, the lower the productivity and the higher the production cost, and the greater the environmental impact during production. was there. Therefore, recently, a polymerization method has been attracting attention because it is relatively easy to control the particle size distribution with a small particle size and sharpness and can control the structure including a colorant and wax. However, the polymerization method has a problem in that it cannot be cleaned by the conventional blade method because SF1 which is the shape factor of the toner becomes small in a normal process. Therefore, in the polymerization method, a deforming step is provided to increase SF1, and a product that can be cleaned by a blade method is manufactured. However, there is a problem that the deforming step increases the cost.

Here, the toner shape factor SF1 is a numerical value indicating the ratio of the roundness of the spherical substance shape, and the square of the maximum length MXLNG of the elliptical figure formed by projecting the spherical substance on a two-dimensional plane is a figure. Divided by the area AREA and multiplied by 100π / 4. That is, it is defined by the following formula.
SF1 = {(MXLNG) ² / AREA} × (100π / 4)
When the value of SF1 is 100, the toner shape is a true sphere, and becomes larger as SF1 increases. Generally, when the shape of the toner is close to a sphere, the contact state between the toner and the toner or between the toner and the image carrier becomes point contact. The attracting force between the toner and the image carrier is also weakened, and the transfer rate is improved.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 shown in the present embodiment, a toner composition containing a binder resin or a colorant containing a modified polyester resin capable of urea bonding in an organic solvent is dissolved or dispersed in an aqueous medium. A toner obtained by particle formation and polyaddition reaction, removing the solvent of the dispersion, washing, and drying was used. As a production method for obtaining a spherical toner, a known emulsion polymerization method, suspension polymerization method, dispersion polymerization method or the like may be used in addition to the production method described above, and the toner obtained by the pulverization method is processed into a spherical shape by heat treatment. You may use what was processed.

  By adopting the above-described configuration, it becomes possible to use toner that could not be completely removed by the conventional cleaning method, and an energy saving effect can be obtained by increasing transfer efficiency and reducing waste toner. Can do.

  The above-described brush-type cleaning member has a significantly lower contact pressure with the image carrier than the conventional blade-type cleaning member. However, when the brush member is rotated at a high speed, the image carrier over time. Wear on the surface. Therefore, in order to ensure the long life of the image carrier, the durability can be improved by using a binder resin for the protective layer or the charge transport layer constituting the image carrier, which has a crosslinked structure.

  Specifically, a reactive monomer having a plurality of crosslinkable functional groups in one molecule is used to form a crosslink structure, and a crosslink reaction is caused using light or heat energy to form a three-dimensional network structure. To do. This network structure functions as a binder resin and exhibits high wear resistance. From the viewpoint of electrical stability, printing durability, and life, it is very effective to use a monomer having a charge transporting function as a whole or part of the reactive monomer described above. A transport site is formed, and the function as a protective layer can be sufficiently expressed. A reactive monomer having a charge transport function includes a compound containing at least one charge transport component and a silicon atom having a hydrolyzable substituent in the same molecule, and a charge transport component and a hydroxyl group in the same molecule. A compound containing a group, a compound containing a charge transporting component and a carboxyl group in the same molecule, a compound containing a charge transporting component and an epoxy group in the same molecule, and a charge transporting component in the same molecule Examples thereof include compounds containing an isocyanate group. These charge transport materials having a reactive group may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  More preferably, as the monomer having a charge transport function, a reactive monomer having a triarylamine structure is effectively used because of its high electrical and chemical stability and a high carrier moving speed. Other than this, for the purpose of imparting functions such as viscosity adjustment during coating, stress relaxation of the cross-linked charge transport layer, low surface energy and reduced friction coefficient, monofunctional and bifunctional polymerizable monomers and polymerizability Oligomers can be used in combination. As these polymerizable monomers and polymerizable oligomers, known ones can be used.

  In the present invention, the hole transporting compound is polymerized or cross-linked using heat or light. When the polymerization reaction is performed by heat, the polymerization reaction proceeds only with thermal energy and a polymerization initiator is required. In order to advance the reaction efficiently at a lower temperature, it is preferable to add an initiator. In the case of polymerization by light, it is preferable to use ultraviolet rays as light, but it is rare that the reaction proceeds only with light energy, and a photopolymerization initiator is generally used in combination. In this case, the polymerization initiator mainly absorbs ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 400 nm or less to generate active species such as radicals and ions, and initiates polymerization. In the present invention, the aforementioned heat and photopolymerization initiator can be used in combination.

  The charge transport layer having a network structure formed as described above has high wear resistance, but has a large volume shrinkage during the crosslinking reaction, and if it is too thick, cracks and the like may occur. In such a case, a protective layer of a low molecular weight dispersion polymer is used on the lower photosensitive layer side as a protective layer, and a protective layer having a crosslinked structure is formed on the upper surface side. Good.

Hereinafter, specific examples of the protective layer described above will be shown.
<Image carrier A>
In the photosensitive drum 2 described above, an image carrier A was prepared in the same manner as the photosensitive drum 2 except that the protective layer coating solution and the film thickness preparation conditions were changed as follows.
182 parts of methyltrimethoxysilane, 40 parts of dihydroxymethyltriphenylamine, 225 parts of 2-propanol, 106 parts of 2% acetic acid, and 1 part of aluminum trisacetylacetonate were mixed to prepare a coating solution for a protective layer. This coating solution was applied on the above-described charge transport layer and then dried, followed by heat curing at 110 ° C. for 1 hour to form a protective layer having a thickness of 3 μm.
<Image carrier B>
In the photosensitive drum 2 described above, an image carrier B was prepared in the same manner as the photosensitive drum 2 except that the protective layer coating solution and the film thickness preparation conditions were changed as follows.
30 parts of a hole transporting compound (see FIG. 12), an acrylic monomer (see FIG. 13) and 0.6 part of a photopolymerization initiator (1-hydroxy-cyclohexyl-phenyl-ketone) were mixed with 50 parts of monochlorobenzene / 50 parts of dichloromethane. It melt | dissolved in the mixed solvent and prepared the coating material for surface protection layers. This paint was applied on the above-described charge transport layer by spray coating, and cured for 30 seconds at a light intensity of 500 mV / cm ² using a metal halide lamp, thereby forming a surface protective layer having a thickness of 5 μm.

  According to the above-described configuration, the binder resin constituting the protective layer or the charge transport layer of the image carrier has a crosslinked structure, whereby the wear resistance of the image carrier is improved, and the cleaning member having a high-rigidity brush member is used. Even during cleaning, the surface of the image carrier is not worn out and the life of the image carrier can be extended.

  FIG. 14 shows a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the sixth embodiment, the photosensitive drum 2, the charging roller 3, the developing device 6, the cleaning device 7, and the static eliminating device 8 shown in FIG. 1 are integrally configured as a process cartridge 25, and the process cartridge 25 is an image. The forming apparatus 1 is configured to be detachable from the apparatus main body.

  According to the above configuration, the image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced in size by integrating the members around the photosensitive drum 2, and the process cartridge 25 can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus 1. Therefore, workability at the time of maintenance or trouble can be greatly improved.

  FIG. 15 shows a seventh embodiment of the present invention. In the seventh embodiment, instead of the image forming apparatus 1, the image forming apparatus 26 includes a plurality (four in this embodiment) of process cartridges shown in the sixth embodiment. The process cartridge 25B contains black toner, the process cartridge 25Y contains yellow toner, the process cartridge 25C contains blue toner, and the process cartridge 25M contains red toner.

  With the above-described configuration, the image forming apparatus 26 can be reduced in size and workability can be improved, and a full color image can be easily obtained.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which an electrophotographic copying apparatus is used as the image forming apparatuses 1 and 26 is shown. However, the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this. Of course, the present invention can be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as multifunction peripherals.

1 is a schematic front view of a main part of an image forming apparatus employing an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic view around an image carrier employing an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic of the cleaning member used for the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the toner removal by the cleaning member used for the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the cleaning member used for the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the polarity distribution of the toner used for each embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the cleaning member used for the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows distribution before and after polarity control of the toner used for each embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the cleaning member used for the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the cleaning member used for the 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the production method of the cleaning member used for each embodiment of the present invention. It is a chemical formula of the substance which comprises the image carrier used for each embodiment of this invention. It is a chemical formula of the substance which comprises the image carrier used for each embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the process cartridge used for the 6th Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the image forming apparatus which employ | adopted 7th Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the conventional cleaning member. It is the schematic of the conventional cleaning member.

Explanation of symbols

1,26 Image forming apparatus 2 Image carrier (photosensitive drum)
7 Cleaning device 14a, 16a, 17a, 18a, 20a Base material 14b, 16b, 17b, 18b, 20b Brush-like member 19 Polarity control member 25 Process cartridge

Claims (10)

In a cleaning device for cleaning residual toner on an image carrier,
A cleaning apparatus, comprising: a brush-like member; a base material having a plurality of through holes; and the suction member connected to the base material. The cleaning device according to claim 1.
The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the brush-like member has conductivity, and has a voltage applying unit that applies a voltage to the brush-like member. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein
A cleaning device comprising a polarity control member for controlling the polarity of the residual toner. The cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The brush-like member is constituted by a plurality of brushes having different rigidity, respectively. In the cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the brush-like member is created by electrostatically implanting a plurality of brushes on the base material coated with an adhesive.   6. A process cartridge comprising the cleaning device according to claim 1 and an image carrier. The process cartridge according to claim 6.
The image bearing member has a protective layer and a charge transport layer, and the binder resin constituting the protective layer or the charge transport layer has a crosslinked structure.   An image forming apparatus comprising the process cartridge according to claim 6.   An image forming apparatus comprising a plurality of process cartridges according to claim 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8 or 9,
An image forming apparatus using a toner having a shape factor SF1 of 100 to 150.

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