JP2009093099A - Image forming apparatus and unit replacement method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus and a unit replacement method, by which contamination with powder such as waste toner and/or carrier is prevented by an operator beforehand when the replacement of a charging device, cleaning device, a developing device, or the like of the image forming apparatus takes place. <P>SOLUTION: The electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a recovering means 230 that incorporates and recovers a unit 190 when the unit 190 is replaced, the unit 190 being detachable, containing toner and/or carrier, and including the cleaning device 17. When the replacement takes place, an operator prevents contamination with powder such as waste toner and/or carrier. Thus, time during which the image forming apparatus is inoperable is decreased by enabling the user to perform the replacement operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a FAX, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that forms a color image and a method for replacing a unit such as a developing device and a cleaning device used in the image forming apparatus. .

In a conventional image forming apparatus, a supply of various toners, carriers, lubricants, etc., units, and components provided separately in the main body exterior door or in the main body exterior door and included in the main body of the image forming apparatus. Toners, carriers, units, parts, and the like are exchanged by opening and closing a door that is opened and closed during maintenance and replacement. When the replaced unit, toner, carrier, or the like encloses the toner before or after use, the toner attached to the periphery of the image forming apparatus may fall due to vibration or the like when the toner is removed. Further, the toner dropped on the main body of the image forming apparatus may contaminate the outside of the apparatus or the inside of the apparatus, and may further contaminate the sheet feeding apparatus provided with paper, resulting in an abnormal image.
In particular, a process cartridge having a photoconductor, a charging device, a developing device, and a cleaning device is frequently replaced. In addition to the process cartridge, the developing device must insert replenished toner, and the cleaning device must discard the collected residual toner. As described above, it often drops around the image forming apparatus and becomes dirty. . For this reason, it is necessary to store and seal these developing devices and process cartridges to prevent contamination.

However, in Patent Document 1, for example, in a small tandem type image forming apparatus having a plurality of photoconductors, even when there are a plurality of image forming units for performing image forming processing including at least development processing, the image is taken out from the machine body. An image forming apparatus that can be easily maintained is disclosed. However, this facilitates the handling of the image forming unit and is not considered to prevent contamination.
Further, in Patent Document 2, in an image forming apparatus provided with an open / close door for a toner inclusion container used to replace or load the toner inclusion container with respect to the image forming apparatus main body before or after use, Positioned below the inner container, interlocks with the opening and closing of the toner inner container open / close lid, covers the gap between the toner inner container open / close lid and the device body, and when the toner inner container is inserted / removed, the toner falls from the gap. An image forming apparatus provided with a toner receiving member for preventing the above is disclosed. However, this is for receiving the toner falling from the toner container, and is not considered to prevent contamination.

JP 2004-109886 A JP 2007-249165 A

Therefore, there has been no prior application in which the photosensitive member, the charging device, the cleaning device, and the like are housed and sealed at the time of replacement.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the problem is that when replacing the charging device, the cleaning device, the developing device, and the like of the image forming apparatus, the operator can remove waste toner and / or carrier. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a unit replacement method for preventing contamination by powder.

The features of the present invention, which is a means for solving the above problems, are listed below.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, there is a collecting means for enclosing and collecting the unit when replacing the detachable unit containing the toner and / or carrier.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the collecting means can be extended and contracted.
In addition, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is characterized by further comprising means for holding the collecting means in a bag.
In addition, the image forming apparatus of the present invention further includes means for fixing the bag with a slit provided in a main body attaching member of the collecting means.

The unit replacement method of the present invention is a unit replacement method for replacing a unit used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. When replacing a v unit containing toner and / or carrier powder, the unit is wrapped. It has the collection means to collect | recover, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.
The unit replacement method of the present invention is further characterized in that the collecting means can be extended and contracted.
Further, the unit replacement method of the present invention is characterized by further comprising means for holding the collecting means in a bag.
In addition, the unit replacement method of the present invention is characterized by further comprising means for fixing the bag with a slit provided in the body attachment member of the recovery means.

  The image forming apparatus and unit replacement method of the present invention as a means for solving the above problem is that, when the charging device, the cleaning device, the developing device, etc. of the image forming apparatus are replaced, the operator uses waste toner and / or carrier powder. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the image forming apparatus from being inoperable and to reduce the inoperable time of the image forming apparatus.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that it is easy for a person skilled in the art to make other embodiments by changing or correcting the present invention within the scope of the claims, and these changes and modifications are included in the scope of the claims. The following description is an example of the best mode of the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a color image forming apparatus.
In the figure, reference numeral 100 is a color copying machine main body, 200 is a paper feed table on which it is placed, 300 is a scanner mounted on the color copying machine main body 100, and 400 is a document presser mounted thereon.
The color copying machine main body 100 is provided with an endless belt-like intermediate transfer member 10 in the center. The intermediate transfer member 10 is wound around three support rollers 14, 15, 16 and can be rotated and conveyed counterclockwise in the drawing. An intermediate transfer body cleaning device 17 for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body 10 after image transfer is provided on the left side of the second support roller 15 among the three support rollers. Further, under the intermediate transfer member 10 stretched between the first support roller 14 and the second support roller 15, four image forming portions 18 of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black are arranged along the conveyance direction. They are arranged side by side.
Each image forming unit 18 in the tandem image forming unit 20 includes a charging device, a developing device, a primary transfer roller 62 as a primary transfer unit, and a photoconductor cleaning device around a photoconductor drum 40 as an image carrier. 63, a static eliminator is provided. An exposure device 21 is provided below the tandem image forming unit 20.

These four image forming units 18 constitute a tandem image forming unit 20 as an image forming unit that forms toner images of different colors on the respective photosensitive drums 40.
A secondary transfer device 22 as a secondary transfer unit is provided on the side opposite to the tandem image forming unit 20 with the intermediate transfer member 10 interposed therebetween. The secondary transfer device 23 is disposed so as to be pressed against the third support roller 16 via the intermediate transfer body 10 and transfers an image on the intermediate transfer body 10 onto a transfer sheet as a transfer material.
A fixing device 25 for fixing the transfer image on the transfer paper is provided downstream of the secondary transfer position in the transfer paper transport direction. The fixing device 25 has a configuration in which a pressure roller 27 is pressed against a fixing belt 26 that is an endless belt.
Further, on the right side of the secondary transfer device 22 and the fixing device 25, a transfer paper reversing device 28 for reversing the transfer paper so as to record images on both sides of the transfer paper is provided.
When making a copy using the color copying machine having the above configuration, the document holder 400 is opened and closed, and the document is set on the contact glass 32.

Then, when a start switch (not shown) is pressed, the scanner 300 is immediately driven to travel on the first traveling body 33 and the second traveling body 34. Then, the first traveling body 33 emits light from the light source and further reflects the reflected light from the document surface toward the second traveling body 34, and is reflected by the mirror of the second traveling body 34 and passes through the imaging lens 35. The document is placed in the reading sensor 36 and the original content is read.
When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, one of the support rollers 14, 15 and 16 is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown), the other two support rollers are driven to rotate, and the intermediate transfer body 10 is rotated and conveyed. To do. At the same time, the individual image forming units 18 rotate the photosensitive drums 40 as image carriers to form black, yellow, magenta, and cyan monochrome images on the respective photosensitive drums 40, respectively. Then, along with the conveyance of the intermediate transfer member 10, the single color images are sequentially transferred to form a composite color image on the intermediate transfer member 10.

On the other hand, when a start switch (not shown) is pressed, one of the paper feed rollers 42 of the paper feed table 200 is selectively rotated, the transfer paper is fed out from one of the paper feed cassettes 44 and separated one by one by the separation roller 45. The paper is fed into the paper feed path 46, transported by the transport roller 47, led to the paper feed path 48 in the copying machine main body 100, and abutted against the registration roller 49 and stopped. Alternatively, the transfer paper on the manual feed tray 51 is fed by rotating the paper feed roller 50, separated one by one by the separation roller 52, put into the manual paper feed path 53, and abutted against the registration roller 49 and stopped.
Then, the registration roller 49 is rotated in synchronization with the composite color image on the intermediate transfer body 10, the transfer paper is fed between the intermediate transfer body 10 and the secondary transfer device 23, and transferred by the secondary transfer device 23. To record a color image on the transfer paper.
The transfer paper after the image transfer is sent to the fixing device 25, and heat and pressure are applied by the fixing device 25 to fix the transferred image. Then, the transfer paper is switched by the switching claw 55 and discharged by the discharge roller 56, and discharged. Stack on the tray 57. On the other hand, the residual toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer body 10 after the image transfer is removed by the intermediate transfer body cleaning device 17 to prepare for the image formation by the tandem image forming unit 20 again.
Next, the individual image forming units 18 of the tandem image forming unit 20 will be described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming unit.
The image forming unit 18 includes a charging device 60 as a charging unit, a developing device 61 as a developing unit, a primary transfer device 62, and a photosensitive member cleaning device 63 around a drum-shaped photoconductor 40 as an image carrier. Prepare. In the illustrated example, the photosensitive member 40 has a drum shape in which a photosensitive organic photosensitive material is applied to a base tube made of aluminum or the like to form a photosensitive layer. However, the photosensitive member 40 may have an endless belt shape.
The image forming unit 18 integrally supports at least the photosensitive member 40 and the developing device 61 to form a process cartridge, and can be detachably attached to the copying machine main body 100 to improve maintenance. May be.
Further, the process cartridge 180 may be formed by integrally supporting a plurality of image forming units 18 or all the image forming units 18.

Among the parts constituting the image forming unit 18, the charging device 60 is in the form of a roller and charges the photoconductor 40 by applying a voltage in contact with the photoconductor 40. Of course, charging can be performed by a non-contact scorotron charger. The two-component developer is conveyed while being stirred to supply and adhere the two-component developer to the developing sleeve 65, and is located at a position lower than the developing portion 67. The stirring unit 66 is provided with two parallel screws 68, and the two screws 68 are partitioned by a partition plate 69 except for both ends. A toner density sensor 71 is attached to the developing case 70.
The developing device 61 uses a two-component developer containing a magnetic carrier and non-magnetic toner, and includes a stirring unit 66 and a developing unit 67.
The developing unit 67 transfers toner of the two-component developer attached to the developing sleeve 65 to the photoreceptor 40, and a developing sleeve as a developer carrying member facing the photoreceptor 40 through the opening of the developing case 70. 65 is provided. Further, a developer regulating member 73 that is held with a gap spaced apart from the surface of the developing sleeve 65 by a certain distance is provided.

The developing sleeve 65 has a non-magnetic rotatable sleeve shape, and a plurality of magnets 72 are disposed therein. Since the magnet 72 is fixed, a magnetic force can be applied when the developer passes through a predetermined place. The magnet 72 has, for example, five magnetic poles N1, S1, N2, S2, and S3 in the rotation direction of the developing sleeve 65 from the location of the developer regulating member 73. The developer forms a magnetic brush by the magnet 72 and is carried on the developing sleeve 65. The developing sleeve 65 is disposed in the developing region on the S1 side of the magnet 72, which forms a magnetic brush for developer, so as to face the photoreceptor 40.
In the developing device 61 having the above configuration, the two-component developer is conveyed and circulated while being stirred by the two screws 68, and is supplied to the developing sleeve 65. The developer supplied to the developing sleeve 65 is pumped and held by the magnet 72 to form a magnetic brush on the developing sleeve 65. The magnetic brush is trimmed to an appropriate amount by the developer regulating member 73 as the developing sleeve 65 rotates. The developer that has been cut off is returned to the stirring unit 66.
On the other hand, of the developer on the developing sleeve 65, the toner is transferred to the photoconductor 40 by the developing bias voltage applied to the developing sleeve 65, and the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 40 is visualized. After the visualization, the developer remaining on the developing sleeve 65 leaves the developing sleeve 65 and returns to the stirring unit 66 where there is no magnetic force of the magnet 72. When the toner concentration in the stirring unit 66 becomes light by this repetition, it is detected by the toner concentration sensor 71 and the stirring unit 66 is replenished with toner.

The photoconductor cleaning device 63 includes a cleaning blade 75 made of, for example, polyurethane rubber, whose tip is pressed against the photoconductor 40.
In the image forming unit 18 having the above-described configuration, the surface of the photoconductor 40 is first uniformly charged by the charging device 60 as the photoconductor 40 rotates, and then the exposure device 21 performs laser or Write light L from an LED or the like is irradiated, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 40.
Thereafter, toner is attached by the developing device 61 to visualize the electrostatic latent image, and the visible image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member 10 by the primary transfer device 62. The surface of the photoconductor 40 after the image transfer is cleaned by removing the residual toner by the photoconductor cleaning device 63 to prepare for image formation again.

Next, a description will be given of the features of the present invention. The developing device 61 of the image forming unit 18 (or the process cartridge 180) and the photosensitive member 40 are integrated to ensure the gap accuracy between the photosensitive member 40 and the developing sleeve 65 so as to improve the image quality of the toner image on the photosensitive member. It is composed. Here, including at least the photosensitive member, the charging device, the developing device, the cleaning device, the lubricant coating device, and the like, the process cartridge selected from these and the integrated process cartridge, and the photosensitive member A combination of a charging device and a cleaning device, a charging device and a developing device, and the like, is collectively referred to as a unit.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a mounted state of the charging / cleaning device in the image forming unit.
In FIG. 3, the cleaning blade 75 adhered to the blade holder 201 of the photoconductor cleaning 63 is centered on the rotating shaft 200 supported by a case 195 of a charging / cleaning device (hereinafter referred to as “CCLU”) 190. The photosensitive member 40 is supported so as to be able to contact and separate.
On the other hand, the charging roller 60, the charging cleaning roller 209, the Mars 206 of the photosensitive member surface lubricant, the Malus coating brush 205, and the Malus coating blade 207 bonded to the coating blade holder 208 are supported by the charging coating holder 202, and the rotating shaft 200. Is supported so as to be able to contact and separate from the photoreceptor 40.
By rotating the lever 213 on the cleaning cam 211 and the charging application cam 212 that are integrally fixed to the cam shaft 210, the blade holder 201 and the charging application holder 202 can be brought into contact with and separated from the photoreceptor 40, respectively. In FIG. 3, the state in contact with the photosensitive member is represented by a solid line, and the separated state is represented by a two-dot chain line.
Therefore, these are units, and further include a cleaning device, which contains toner and / or carrier.

The blade holder 201 is provided with a spring 214 so that the cleaning blade 75 can be pressed against the photoreceptor 40, and a load is applied (in FIG. 3, it is represented by a torsion coil spring, but it may be a compression or tension spring). By rotating the lever 213 about 90 degrees in the clockwise direction, the cleaning cam 211 can lift the cam receiving portions 201 a provided at the (front and rear) both ends of the blade holder 201 and separate them from the photoreceptor 40. Further, by rotating the lever 213 90 degrees counterclockwise from that state, the original state is restored. Similarly, the charging application holder 202 is provided with cam receiving portions 202a located at both ends on the inner side of 201a, and the lever 213 is rotated about 90 degrees in the clockwise direction so that the charging application cam 212 receives the cam application by its own weight. The portion 202a can be lowered and separated from the photoreceptor 40. Further, by rotating the lever 213 90 degrees counterclockwise from that state, the original state is restored.
Therefore, by operating the lever 213, the cleaning blade 75, the charging roller 60, the coating blade 207, and the coating brush 205 that are in contact with the photosensitive member can be moved in two directions like a double-opening and returned. Therefore, the CCLU 190 can be detached from the machine in the front-rear direction without damaging the photoreceptor 40.
The CCLU 190 has two reference pins 215 and 216 at the front and rear by holes of a machine rear side plate (not shown) holding the photoreceptor 40 and the developing device 61 and a front plate (not shown) fixed to the machine front side plate. The position accuracy with respect to the photoreceptor 40 can be ensured by being supported, and the operator can easily replace the CCLU 190 because the front plate can be opened and removed along the image forming bottom plate 219 and the insertion guides 217 and 218. can do.

4 and 5 are schematic diagrams for explaining a state in which the charging / cleaning device in the image forming unit is collected by the collecting unit.
As shown in FIG. 4, first, at the time of replacement, the recovery means fixing member 230 is attached to the recovery means holding member A235 provided in the surrounding unit or the main body or a part of another fixed unit, and the recovery means holding member B236 is attached. To hold the recovery means fixing portion 230.
Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the lever 213 of the CCLU 190 is gripped and rotated from the end of the bellows bag 232 folded into a bellows shape or the like, and the charging device 60 and the photoconductor cleaning device 63 are removed from the photoconductor 40. To release. Next, the CCLU 190 as a unit can be pulled out as it is while holding the lever 213, and can be put in the bellows bag 232. Therefore, when removing, the CCLU 190 can be extracted from the image forming apparatus main body without being contaminated by waste toner including toner and / or carrier. The bag 232 folded in a bellows shape is preferably a thick paper folded in a bellows shape or a rubber system that is a thin elastic body.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view for explaining a state in which the collecting means that has collected the charging / cleaning device is sealed.
After being pulled out, it is lifted to the front upper side, the recovery means fixing part 230 is removed from the recovery means holding members A, B 235 and 236, and the recovery means fixing part 230 is twisted several times as indicated by arrow 1 in FIG. When the bag binding member 231 is bent and sandwiched by the provided slits 231, the replaced CCLU 190 can be sealed without soiling the hands.
In this description, the CCLU 190 has been described. However, the CCLU 190 is effective when used for the developing device 61, the cleaning device 63, the toner cartridge, and the like, and it is also effective when the unit is a combination of these.

1 is a configuration diagram of an electrophotographic apparatus of the present invention. It is an image formation part of this invention. It is a CCLU block diagram of the present invention. It is the front view showing the exchange operation using the collection means of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing drawer operation using the collection means of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing sealing operation of the recovery means of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

17 Intermediate transfer member cleaning device 18 Image forming unit 20 Tandem image forming unit 40 Photosensitive member (image carrier)
60 Charging device (roller)
61 Developing device 62 Primary transfer device 63 Photoconductor cleaning device 65 Developing sleeve (developer carrier)
66 Stirrer 67 Developer 70 Screw 70 Developer Case 71 Toner Concentration Sensor 72 Magnet 73 Developer Restriction Member 73a Agent Restrictor 75 Cleaning Blade 100 Copier Main Body 180 Process Cartridge 190 Charging / Cleaning Device (CCLU)
195 Charging / cleaning device (CCLU) case 200 Rotating shaft 201 Blade holder 201a Cam receiving portions 202 provided at both ends of the blade holder 202 Charging application holder 202a Cams provided at both ends of the charging application holder (front and rear) Receiving portion 204 Waste toner screw 205 Malus application brush 206 Malus 207 Malus application blade 208 Application blade holder 209 Charging cleaning roller 210 Cam shaft 211 Cleaning cam 212 Charging application cam 213 Lever 214 Spring 215, 216 CCLU reference pins 217, 218 CCLU insertion guide 219 Image forming bottom plate 230 Collection means fixing portion 231 Bag binding member 232 Bellows bag 235 Collection means holding member A
236 Collection means holding member B

Claims (8)

In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes a collecting unit that wraps and collects the unit when replacing the removable unit containing toner and / or carrier. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the collection means is extendable. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
An image forming apparatus comprising: a means for holding the collecting means in a bag. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An image forming apparatus comprising: means for holding a bag with a slit provided in a main body attachment member of the collecting means. In a unit replacement method for replacing a unit used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus,
The unit replacement method is characterized in that it comprises a collecting means for enclosing and collecting the unit when replacing the v unit containing toner and / or carrier powder. The unit replacement method according to claim 5, wherein
A unit replacement method characterized in that the collection means can be expanded and contracted. In the unit replacement method according to claim 5 or 6,
A unit exchanging method comprising: means for holding the collecting means in a bag. In the unit exchange method according to any one of claims 5 to 7,
A unit exchanging method comprising: means for holding a bag with a slit provided in a main body attaching member of the collecting means.