JP2009175462A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To uniformly and appropriately charge an image carrier without deteriorating the surface of the image carrier even if environmental conditions and image formation speed are changed in an image forming apparatus in which the image carrier is charged by a contact type charging device by making the contact type charging device contact with the surface of the image carrier. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus applies a bias voltage to the contact type charging device 12 from a bias power source 18 and causes the contact type charging device to charge the image carrier 11. Also, the image forming apparatus causes an electricity removal device 15 to emit light to the surface of the image carrier after the transfer of a toner image, thereby discharging the image carrier. In the image forming apparatus, according to environmental conditions in the image forming apparatus or the image formation speed, an electricity removal control means 32 controls the on/off-turning of the electricity removal device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a composite machine thereof, and more particularly, to apply a bias voltage from a bias power source to a contact charging device. The image carrier is charged by bringing the image carrier into contact with the surface of the image carrier, and the surface of the image carrier after transferring the toner image is irradiated with light from a static eliminator to neutralize the image carrier. The forming apparatus is characterized in that the image bearing member is uniformly and appropriately charged without deterioration of the surface of the image bearing member even when the environmental conditions and the image forming speed are changed. .

  In an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and a composite machine of these, generally, an image carrier is charged by a charging device, and then the image carrier thus charged is exposed. The apparatus performs exposure according to the image data, forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the image carrier, and supplies toner from the developing device to the image carrier on which the electrostatic latent image is formed in this way, A toner image corresponding to the electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the image carrier, the toner image is transferred from the image carrier to a transfer medium, and then the surface of the image carrier is irradiated with light from a static eliminator. The image carrier is neutralized, and the image carrier is charged again by a charging device.

  Here, when the charging device using the corona discharge is used to charge the image carrier with the charging device as described above, the amount of ozone generated increases. The image bearing member is charged by bringing the charging device into contact with the surface of the image bearing member.

  When the contact-type charging device is brought into contact with the surface of the image carrier to charge the image carrier, a bias voltage is applied from the bias power source to the contact-type charging device. In addition, a DC voltage applied only or an AC superimposed voltage in which an AC voltage is superimposed on the DC voltage is used.

  Here, when only a DC voltage is applied as a bias voltage from the bias power source to the contact charging device, the contact charging device and the contact charging device are compared with a case where an AC superimposed voltage in which an AC voltage is superimposed on the DC voltage is applied. Since the amount of discharge at the contact portion with the image carrier is small, charging unevenness is likely to occur on the image carrier due to minute resistance unevenness on the surface of a contact charging device such as a charging roller. In particular, when the image carrier is charged in a low-humidity environment where the resistance of the contact-type charging device increases, or when the image forming speed is increased, the charging unevenness of the image carrier increases, resulting in an image being formed. There is a problem that spot-like or streak-like image unevenness occurs.

  Furthermore, when the surface of the image carrier after the toner image is transferred as described above is irradiated with light from the static eliminator to neutralize the image carrier, free carriers remain on the image carrier, and this free carrier remains. There is a problem in that charging of the image carrier by the contact charging device is suppressed by the carrier, and uneven charging on the image carrier is more likely to occur.

  On the other hand, when an AC superimposed voltage in which an AC voltage is superimposed on a DC voltage is applied from a bias power source to a contact charging device, the image carrier is uniformly charged. As compared with the case where a bias voltage is applied, there is a problem that the surface of the image carrier is deteriorated and easily scraped, the life of the image carrier is greatly reduced, and stable image formation cannot be performed over a long period of time.

  Conventionally, as shown in Patent Documents 1 to 3, when a contact charging device is brought into contact with the surface of an image carrier to charge the image carrier, a bias is applied from the bias power source to the contact charging device. It has been proposed to change the voltage based on the conditions of the image to be formed and to switch between a DC voltage and an AC superimposed voltage in which an AC voltage is superimposed on the DC voltage.

However, even in this case, when the image carrier is charged in a low-humidity environment where the resistance of the contact charging device increases, or when the image forming speed is increased, charging unevenness still remains on the image carrier. Has occurred, and dot-like or streak-like image unevenness occurs in the formed image. In addition, since an AC superimposed voltage in which an AC voltage is superimposed on a DC voltage is applied, there is still a problem that the life of the image carrier is reduced and stable image formation cannot be performed over a long period of time.
JP-A-9-62060 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-174785 JP 2001-109332 A

  The present invention applies a bias voltage from a bias power source to a contact-type charging device, contacts the surface of the image carrier with the contact-type charging device to charge the image carrier, and transfers the toner image. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems in an image forming apparatus in which the surface of a carrier is irradiated with light from a static eliminator to neutralize the image carrier.

  That is, in the present invention, in the image forming apparatus as described above, even when the environmental conditions and the image forming speed are changed, the image carrier is uniformly and appropriately charged by the contact charging device, An object of the present invention is to prevent the surface of an image carrier from being deteriorated and to enable stable image formation over a long period of time.

  In the first image forming apparatus of the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problems, a contact-type charging device that contacts the surface of the image carrier and charges the image carrier, and a bias is applied to the contact-type charger. An image forming apparatus comprising: a bias power source for applying a voltage; and a charge eliminating device for discharging the image carrier by irradiating light on the surface of the image carrier after the toner image is transferred. In addition to providing environmental detection means for detecting the environmental conditions, static elimination control means for controlling on / off of static elimination by the static elimination device based on the environmental conditions detected by the environmental detection means.

  In the first image forming apparatus, the environmental detection unit detects the neutralization on / off by the neutralization control unit based on the environmental condition detected by the environmental detection unit. When the humidity in the set environmental conditions becomes low, the static eliminator by the static eliminator is turned off.

  Further, in the second image forming apparatus of the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problems, a contact-type charging device that contacts the surface of the image carrier and charges the image carrier, and the contact-type charging device In this image forming apparatus, there is provided a bias power source for applying a bias voltage to the image forming apparatus, and a static eliminator for irradiating the surface of the image carrier after transferring the toner image with light to neutralize the image carrier. A speed switching means for changing the image forming speed in the apparatus is provided, and a static elimination control means for controlling on / off of static elimination by the static elimination apparatus based on the image forming speed set by the speed switching means.

  In the second image forming apparatus, the above-described speed switching is performed when the static elimination control means controls on / off of static elimination by the static elimination control based on the image forming speed set by the speed switching means. When the image forming speed set by the means becomes faster, the charge removal by the charge removal device is turned off.

  In the third image forming apparatus of the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problems, a contact-type charging device that contacts the surface of the image carrier and charges the image carrier, and the contact-type charging device In this image forming apparatus, there is provided a bias power source for applying a bias voltage to the image forming apparatus, and a static eliminator for irradiating the surface of the image carrier after transferring the toner image with light to neutralize the image carrier. An environment detecting means for detecting an environmental condition in the apparatus and a speed switching means for changing an image forming speed in the image forming apparatus are provided, and are set by the environmental condition detected by the environment detecting means and the speed switching means. On the basis of the image forming speed, a static elimination control means for controlling on / off of static elimination by the static elimination device is provided.

  In the third image forming apparatus, on the basis of the environmental conditions and the image forming speed detected by the environment detecting unit, the neutralization control unit controls on / off of the neutralization by the neutralizing device. When the humidity under the environmental conditions detected by the environmental detection means and the image forming speed set by the speed switching means are out of the predetermined range, the static elimination by the static elimination device is turned off.

  Further, in each of the first to third image forming apparatuses, the bias voltage applied from the bias power source to the contact charging device is not particularly limited, but in order to prevent the surface of the image carrier from deteriorating. In this case, it is preferable that the bias voltage applied to the contact-type charging device is only a DC voltage.

  In the first image forming apparatus of the present invention, on / off of the neutralization by the neutralization device is controlled by the neutralization control means based on the environmental condition detected by the environmental detection means for detecting the environmental condition in the image forming apparatus. Therefore, until the humidity under the environmental condition detected by the environmental detection means becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined value, the surface of the image carrier is irradiated with light from the static eliminator, while the image carrier is neutralized. When the humidity becomes lower than a predetermined value, the operation of irradiating the surface of the image carrier with light from the above-described static eliminator to neutralize the image carrier can be turned off.

  Here, in the first image forming apparatus, when the image carrier is charged in a low-humidity environment where the resistance of the contact-type charging device increases, the surface of the image carrier is irradiated with light from the static eliminator. When the operation for neutralizing the image carrier is turned off, free carriers are not generated and remain on the image carrier, and the charge of the image carrier is prevented from being suppressed by the free carriers.

  Therefore, in the first image forming apparatus, even when the image carrier is charged by applying only a DC voltage from the bias power source to the contact-type charging device, the image carrier is charged unevenly. Occurrence is suppressed, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of dot-like or streak-like image unevenness in the formed image, and it is also possible to prevent the surface of the image carrier from being deteriorated and easily scraped. Thus, good image formation can be stably performed. In a low-humidity environment, the transfer output when transferring the toner image from the image carrier can be lowered, so that the image formed even when the operation for removing static electricity is turned off as described above. Thus, a memory image called a ghost is prevented from being generated, and a good image can be obtained.

  In the second image forming apparatus of the present invention, on the basis of the image forming speed set by the speed switching means for changing the image forming speed in the image forming apparatus, the static elimination control means turns on the static elimination by the static elimination apparatus, Since the turn-off is controlled, the surface of the image carrier is irradiated with light from the static eliminator until the image forming speed set by the speed switching means exceeds a predetermined value, and the image carrier is neutralized. On the other hand, when the image forming speed set by the speed switching means exceeds a predetermined value, the operation of discharging the image carrier by irradiating the surface of the image carrier from the static eliminator is turned off. can do.

  As a result, in the second image forming apparatus, when the image carrier is charged by increasing the image forming speed, an operation for discharging the image carrier by irradiating light on the surface of the image carrier from the static eliminator is performed. When turned off, as in the case of the first image forming apparatus, free carriers are not generated and remain in the image carrier, and only the DC voltage is applied from the bias power source to the contact-type charging device. In the case of charging the image carrier, the occurrence of uneven charging on the image carrier is suppressed, and the occurrence of dot-like or streak-like image unevenness in the formed image is prevented. It is also possible to prevent the surface of the film from being deteriorated and to be easily scraped, and to stably perform good image formation over a long period of time.

  Further, in the third image forming apparatus of the present invention, the environmental condition detected by the environmental detecting means for detecting the environmental condition in the image forming apparatus and the speed switching means for changing the image forming speed in the image forming apparatus are set. Based on the image forming speed, the static elimination control means controls the on / off of static elimination by the static elimination device, so that the humidity in the environmental conditions detected by the environment detection means and the image formation set by the speed switching means When the speed is within a predetermined range, the surface of the image carrier is irradiated with light from the above-mentioned static eliminator to discharge the image carrier, while the humidity and the image forming speed under environmental conditions are out of the predetermined range. In other words, the operation of discharging the image carrier by irradiating the surface of the image carrier from the static eliminator can be turned off.

  As a result, in the third image forming apparatus, the image carrier is discharged by irradiating the surface of the image carrier from the static eliminator in accordance with the environmental conditions and the image forming speed in the image forming apparatus. The operation can be turned on and off, charging unevenness occurs in the image carrier, dot-like or streaky image unevenness occurs in the formed image, and the surface of the image carrier deteriorates. It becomes possible to more appropriately prevent the image from being easily scraped off, and good image formation can be stably performed over a longer period of time.

  Next, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to those shown in the following embodiments, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within a range not changing the gist thereof.

  In the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, four imaging cartridges 10 </ b> A to 10 </ b> D are mounted in the apparatus main body 1.

  Here, in each of the above-described imaging cartridges 10A to 10D, a drum-shaped photoconductor 11 serving as an image carrier is rotatably provided, and a contact-type in which the photoconductor 11 is charged in contact with the surface of the photoconductor 11. A charging roller 12 that is a charging device, an exposure device 13 that performs exposure according to image information on the surface of the charged photoconductor 11 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor 11, and the photoconductor 11 described above. A developing device 14 for supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the toner to form a toner image, and the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive member 11 after being transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 21 A neutralization device 15 that neutralizes the surface of the photoconductor 11 by irradiating light to the surface of the photoconductor 11 and a first cleaning device 16 that removes residual toner and the like remaining on the surface of the photoconductor 11 after the neutralization are provided.

  In the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, when full color image formation is performed, each developing device 14 in each of the imaging cartridges 10A to 10D has different colors of black, yellow, magenta, and cyan. Toner is accommodated, and a toner image of each color is formed on the surface of each photoconductor 11 in each of the imaging cartridges 10A to 10D.

  Next, the toner images of the respective colors formed on the surfaces of the respective photoreceptors 11 in the respective imaging cartridges 10 </ b> A to 10 </ b> D in this way are respectively transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 that is stretched around the rotation roller 22 and rotated. The toner images are sequentially transferred by the primary transfer rollers 23 provided on the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 21 so as to face the photoconductor 11, and a full-color toner image is formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21. I have to.

  Then, the full-color toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 in this manner is guided to the transfer portion where the rotation roller 22 and the transfer roller 2 face each other, and the recording medium S is fed by the paper feed roller 3. The recording medium S is guided by the timing roller 4 to a transfer portion where the rotation roller 22 and the transfer roller 2 face each other at an appropriate timing, and the toner image on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 is transferred to the recording medium S. I try to transfer it.

  Next, the recording medium S on which the full-color toner image is transferred in this way is guided to a fixing unit provided with a pair of fixing rollers 6 and 6, and the above-described full-color toner image is interposed between the pair of fixing rollers 6 and 6. Is fixed to the recording medium S, and then the recording medium S is discharged by the discharge roller 7.

  Further, after the full-color toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 as described above is transferred to the recording medium S, the cleaning blade 8 a provided in the second cleaning device 8 is provided on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21. The toner is removed from the intermediate transfer belt 21 without being transferred onto the recording medium S and remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, in order to change the image forming speed when switching between a normal image and a glossy image, or when switching between a single color image and a full color image, FIG. As shown, a speed switching means 31 is provided in the CPU 30 of the apparatus main body 1, and an environment measurement sensor 17 is provided in the vicinity of the photoconductor 11 as an environment detection means for detecting environmental conditions in the apparatus main body 1. .

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, when charging the photoreceptor 11 in each of the imaging cartridges 10A to 10D by the charging roller 12, as shown in FIG. A DC voltage is applied as a bias voltage from the bias power source 18 to the charging roller 12, and light is applied from the static eliminator 15 to the surface of the photoreceptor 11 by the static eliminator control means 32 provided in the CPU 30. The on / off of the operation to remove the static electricity by irradiating is controlled.

  Here, when controlling the on / off of the operation of irradiating the surface of the photoconductor 11 with light from the static eliminator 15 by the static eliminator control means 32, the humidity measured by the environmental measurement sensor 17 is controlled. Alternatively, the image forming speed set by the speed switching means 31 is compared with a reference value preset in the storage means 33 provided in the CPU 30 to control on / off of the operation for eliminating static electricity.

  That is, the condition that charging unevenness is likely to occur in the photoconductor 11, for example, when the humidity measured by the environment measuring sensor 17 is lower than a reference value preset in the storage unit 33, or by the speed switching unit 31. When the set image forming speed becomes faster than a reference value preset in the storage means 33, etc., the charge removal control means 32 causes the charge removal device 15 to irradiate the surface of the photoreceptor 11 with light. The operation is turned off so that the photoconductor 11 is not neutralized. In this way, free carriers are not generated and remain on the photoconductor 11, and the occurrence of charging unevenness on the photoconductor 11 is suppressed even under the above-described conditions. It is possible to prevent dot-like or streak-like image unevenness.

  On the other hand, in a case other than the condition in which uneven charging is likely to occur on the photoconductor 11, the surface of the photoconductor 11 is irradiated with light from the static eliminator 15 by the above-described static elimination control means 32 so that the photoconductor 11 is neutralized. To.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, when the photosensitive member 11 is charged by applying a bias voltage from the bias power source 18 to the charging roller 12 as described above, only the DC voltage is applied from the bias power source 18 to the charging roller 12. As a result of the application, deterioration of the surface of the photoconductor 11 is suppressed, the life of the photoconductor 11 is prevented from being greatly reduced, and stable image formation can be performed over a long period of time. In this embodiment, only a DC voltage is applied as a bias voltage from the bias power source 18 to the charging roller 12. However, an AC voltage is superimposed on the DC voltage within a range that does not deteriorate the surface of the photoconductor 11. It is also possible to apply a superimposed voltage.

  Next, a commercially available image forming apparatus (manufactured by Konica Minolta: magiccolor 5570) is modified so that the image forming speed can be switched to three stages of 90 mm / s, 180 mm / s, and 210 mm / s, and the bias Only a DC voltage of -1.1 kV was applied as a bias voltage applied to the charging roller from the power source.

  In addition, a static elimination control means is provided so that on / off of an operation for neutralizing the surface of the photosensitive member by irradiating light from the static elimination device can be controlled.

  Then, using the image forming apparatus modified as described above, as shown in Table 1 below, the image forming speed is switched in three stages of 90 mm / s, 180 mm / s, and 210 mm / s, and the environment in the image forming apparatus is changed. Change the conditions so that half-tone image formation is performed, light is applied to the surface of the photoconductor from the static eliminator, and the static elimination operation of the photoconductor is turned on, and from the static eliminator to the surface of the photoconductor In the case where the neutralization operation was turned off without irradiating light, the presence or absence of unevenness in each formed image was examined, and the case where there was no unevenness was indicated by ○, and the case where unevenness occurred was indicated by ×. .

  As a result, when the surface of the photoconductor is irradiated with light from the static eliminator and the photoconductor is neutralized, the image formed as the image forming speed increases and the absolute humidity decreases. Unevenness was likely to occur.

  In contrast, in the case where the surface of the photoconductor is not irradiated with light from the static eliminator so that the photoconductor is not neutralized, when the image forming speed is increased as described above, or when the absolute humidity is low. Also, the occurrence of unevenness in the formed image was prevented. However, when the surface of the photoconductor is not irradiated with light from the static eliminator so that the photoconductor is not neutralized, there arises a problem that a memory image called a ghost is generated in the formed image under a high humidity environment.

  For this reason, when the environmental conditions in the image forming apparatus are lower than the predetermined humidity, when the image forming speed is higher than the predetermined speed, or based on the environmental conditions and the image forming speed in the image forming apparatus. A reference value is calculated, and only when the reference value is exceeded, the surface of the photoconductor is not irradiated with light from the static eliminator, so that the photoconductor is not neutralized. If the photosensitive member is discharged by irradiating light, it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of unevenness in the image and to prevent the formation of a memory image called a ghost in the formed image.

1 is a schematic explanatory view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration in which a photosensitive member is charged by a charging roller while controlling on / off of charge removal by a charge removal device by a charge removal control unit in the image forming apparatus of the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Transfer roller 3 Paper feed roller 4 Timing roller 6 Fixing roller 7 Paper discharge roller 8 Second cleaning device 8a Cleaning blade 10A to 10D Imaging cartridge 11 Photoconductor (image carrier)
12 Charging roller (contact charging device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Exposure apparatus 14 Developing apparatus 15 Static elimination apparatus 16 1st cleaning apparatus 17 Environmental measurement sensor (environment detection means)
18 Bias power supply 21 Intermediate transfer belt 22 Rotating roller 23 Primary transfer roller 30 CPU
31 Speed switching means 32 Static elimination control means 33 Storage means S Recording medium

Claims (7)

  A contact-type charging device that contacts the surface of the image carrier to charge the image carrier, a bias power source that applies a bias voltage to the contact-type charging device, and a surface of the image carrier after the toner image is transferred In an image forming apparatus provided with a static eliminator that irradiates light to neutralize an image carrier, environmental detection means for detecting an environmental condition in the image forming apparatus is provided and detected by the environmental detection means An image forming apparatus, comprising: a charge removal control unit configured to control on / off of charge removal by the charge removal apparatus based on an environmental condition.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the humidity under the environmental condition detected by the environment detection unit is low, the charge removal control unit turns off the charge removal by the charge removal device. An image forming apparatus.   A contact-type charging device that contacts the surface of the image carrier to charge the image carrier, a bias power source that applies a bias voltage to the contact-type charging device, and a surface of the image carrier after the toner image is transferred In an image forming apparatus provided with a static eliminator that neutralizes the image carrier by irradiating light, a speed switching means for changing an image forming speed in the image forming apparatus is provided and set by the speed switching means. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a static elimination control means for controlling on / off of static elimination by the static elimination apparatus based on an image forming speed.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the image forming speed set by the speed switching unit is increased, the neutralization control unit turns off the neutralization by the neutralization device. Image forming apparatus.   A contact-type charging device that contacts the surface of the image carrier to charge the image carrier, a bias power source that applies a bias voltage to the contact-type charging device, and a surface of the image carrier after the toner image is transferred In an image forming apparatus provided with a static eliminator for irradiating light to neutralize an image carrier, an environment detecting means for detecting an environmental condition in the image forming apparatus, and a speed for changing an image forming speed in the image forming apparatus And a neutralizing device that controls on / off of the neutralization by the neutralization device based on the environmental condition detected by the environmental detection unit and the image forming speed set by the speed switching unit. An image forming apparatus comprising a control unit.   6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the humidity under the environmental conditions detected by the environment detecting unit and the image forming speed set by the speed switching unit are out of a predetermined range. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the static elimination by the static elimination device is turned off by the static elimination control means.   7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a bias voltage consisting of only a direct current voltage is applied from the bias power source to the contact charging device.

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