JP2010039232A - Brush roller for use in image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain dispersion of density of brush piles in a brush roller using a brush fiber fabric in which brush piles are not planted at the end (selvage) of a base fabric. <P>SOLUTION: A toner supply roller 52 as an example of the brush roller comprises: a core bar 521; and a brush fiber fabric 524 wound round the core bar 521. The brush fiber fabric 524 is provided with: a rectangular shape to be wound round the core bar 521 so that one side thereof is parallel to a rotating shaft 522 of the core bar 521. The surface of the core bar 521 is provided with a recessed part 523 parallel to the rotating shaft 521 to store the mutually opposite brush pile appearing surfaces of the brush fiber fabric 524. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a brush roller used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine or a combination machine combining two or more of them, and in particular, a toner supply roller, a cleaning roller or a charging roller. The present invention relates to a brush roller that can be suitably used for, for example.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a combination machine combining two or more of them, which normally forms a toner image, an electrostatic latent image is usually formed on an image carrier such as a photosensitive member in an exposure process. And developing the electrostatic latent image in a development process to form a visible toner image, and transferring the visible toner image to a recording medium such as a recording paper in a transfer process, or temporarily using an intermediate transfer belt or the like The toner image transferred to the recording medium in the fixing process can be fixed on the recording medium by primary transfer to the intermediate transfer body, secondary transfer from the intermediate transfer body to the recording medium.

  In the developing process, the developing roller attaches electrostatically charged toner to the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor. Toner is supplied to the developing roller by a toner supply roller. Conventionally, a sponge material roller has been used as the toner supply roller. The toner must be supplied uniformly to the developing roller by the toner supply roller. In this respect, the sponge material roller is suitable, but in addition to the reverse rotation of the developing roller and the toner supply roller, the surface friction resistance of the sponge material is large, which causes a problem that the rotation resistance of the roller is large. Was.

  On the other hand, the image forming apparatus described above is equipped with many rollers. Among them, there is a brush roller in which a brush pile (brush hair) made of brush fibers is planted on a base fabric, and the base fabric is adhered to a cylindrical core metal (in addition, “core metal” It refers to the structure that forms the skeleton of the roller and does not necessarily have to be metal). This brush roller has a low contact resistance, and even if it is used as a toner supply roller, the problem that the rotational resistance of the roller is large does not easily occur.

  However, in many cases, this brush roller is manufactured by winding a base fabric spirally around a core metal, but the density of the brush pile becomes sparse at the joint (also referred to as a joint) of the base fabric. Density varies. For this reason, there is a problem that the toner cannot be uniformly supplied to the developing roller because the brush pile is not a uniformly distributed roller. This is because when the brush pile is planted to the side end side (ear side) of the base fabric, the brush pile is easily removed, so that the brush pile is planted only to the inside slightly from the side end edge (ear end) of the base fabric. For this reason, the density of the brush pile becomes sparse at the joints between the base fabrics where the ear sides are matched.

  To solve such a problem, although not a toner supply roller, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-56538 (Patent Document 1) discloses a roller-shaped charging brush for realizing uniform charging in an image forming apparatus. This charging brush is a charging brush that is rotated in contact with a charged body in order to charge the charged body. A conductive core rod and a strip-shaped conductive brush wound around the core rod in a spiral shape The conductive brush base material is obtained by implanting conductive brush hairs in a belt-like base material, and the conductive brush base material has a bristle density and a conductive property adjacent to each other on the core bar. Wrap around the core rod so that the adjacent conductive brush substrate side edge portions overlap each other on the core rod so that the brush hair density at the joint portion of the brush substrate side edge portion becomes uniform. It is characterized by being.

  According to this charging brush, the conductive brush base material wound spirally around the conductive core rod has the conductive brush hairs implanted in the belt-shaped substrate. The conductive brush base material is formed on the core bar so that the brush bristle density and the brush bristle density at the joint portion of each adjacent conductive brush base side edge on the core bar are made uniform. Are wound around the core bar so that the adjacent edge portions of the conductive brush bases overlap each other. Accordingly, the charged object can be charged uniformly and stably. For example, even when used as a main charging device for charging the surface of the electrostatic latent image carrier prior to image exposure, image noise (image noise due to so-called winding unevenness) is generated. Occurrence can be suppressed.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-146713 (Patent Document 2) discloses a charging brush that can uniformly charge the outer periphery of a photoreceptor. This charging brush is a charging brush in which a long base cloth in which conductive fibers having elasticity are planted is wound around a shaft having a circular cross-sectional shape and spirally fixed. It is characterized in that the strength of the waist of the fiber planted outside is set weaker than the fiber planted in the center in the direction.

  According to this charging brush, the fiber bends in a direction to be elastically tilted when pressed against the outer periphery of the photoreceptor, but the fiber planted on the outside of the fiber planted on the center of the base fabric is more Since the strength of the waist is weak and the amount of flexure is large, the contact area of the outer side fibers with respect to the photoreceptor increases compared to the fibers in the center of the base fabric. Thereby, the fall of the density of the fiber in the outer side of a base fabric is compensated.

  Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-114195 (Patent Document 3) discloses a brush roller disposed so as to be in contact with the surface of a charged body in order to charge the charged body. This brush roller is formed by providing a strip-shaped conductive brush on the outer periphery of a conductive shaft, and is characterized in that the brush density on the seam side of the strip-shaped conductive brush is higher than that of other portions.

  According to this brush roller, by increasing the brush density at the joint of the brush of the brush roller, the difference between the number of brushes in contact with the member to be charged in the portion other than the joint and the number of brushes in contact with the member to be charged near the joint is small. The charge is made uniform.

JP 2000-56538 A JP-A-8-146713 JP-A-9-114195

  However, in the case where the roller diameter is small, the charging brush disclosed in Patent Document 1 can be wound around the core bar so that the adjacent conductive brush base-side edge portions overlap each other on the core bar. Difficult cases can be assumed. In addition, the charging brush disclosed in Patent Document 2 is difficult to set by appropriately changing the strength of the waist of the brush pile planted on the base fabric depending on the site of the base fabric. In the charging brush disclosed in (1), it is difficult to appropriately change and set the density of the brush piles planted on the base fabric depending on the site of the base fabric. That is, it is a brush fiber cloth in which a brush pile having a uniform density and a uniform waist strength is planted except at the edge of the base fabric, and the brush pile is implanted at the base fabric end (ear). It is difficult to suppress variation in the density of the brush piles in a brush roller using an unfinished brush fiber cloth.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a brush roller in which a brush fiber cloth is wound around a core rod, which is used in an image forming apparatus that forms an image by an electrophotographic method, and the brush fiber cloth is implanted with a brush pile in addition to the base cloth end. It is an object of the present invention to provide a brush roller that suppresses variation in the density of brush piles even when the brush pile is not planted at the end of the base fabric.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following brush roller.
A brush roller used in an image forming apparatus for forming an image by electrophotography, wherein the brush roller includes a core rod and a brush fiber cloth wound around the core rod, and the brush fiber cloth is A brush pile is planted in addition to the base cloth end, and the brush pile is not installed in the joint of the brush fiber cloth wound around the core rod. A brush roller in which the surfaces where the sapphire appears are bent to face the core bar.

  When the brush fiber cloth is wound around the core rod, the ends of the base cloth where the brush pile is not planted are brought into contact with each other at the joint of the brush fiber cloth. If the base fabric end portions simply come into contact with each other, the brush pile density is sparse because no brush pile is implanted in that portion. In the brush roller according to the present invention, the surfaces where the brush piles appear (this surface is the edge of the base fabric and the brush pile is not planted) are bent to face the core bar (facing each other), For example, paste. If it does in this way, the part in which the brush pile is not planted can be faced and this part cannot appear on the surface. For this reason, the part where the density of a brush pile becomes sparse is hidden from the surface, and it can suppress that the dispersion | variation in a density generate | occur | produces in the brush pile which appears on the surface.

  The brush roller according to the present invention includes, for example, a charging brush roller and a visible toner image used for charging an electrostatic latent image carrier (photosensitive member) in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer prior to image exposure. A toner supply roller that supplies toner to a developing roller that forms the toner on the electrostatic latent image carrier, and a toner that remains on the electrostatic latent image carrier after transfer of the toner image and a toner that remains on the intermediate transfer belt. It can be used for a cleaning roller or the like used when removing.

  Further, at the joint of the brush roller, the base fabric end portions of the surfaces where the brush pile appears may be folded and opposed without allowing the brush piles to overlap. In order to prevent the brush piles from overlapping, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density variations in the brush piles appearing on the surface in a state where the brush piles do not contact each other.

  Further, in the case where the brush fiber cloth is a base cloth in which brush piles of a predetermined fiber bundle are planted at regular intervals, the adjacent brush pile group at the joint of such brush rollers. You may make it comprise so that the said base fabric edge part may be bend | folded and opposed so that the space | intervals may form the said fixed space | interval. The distance between adjacent brush pile groups at the joint of the brush roller can be made the same as the distance between the brush pile groups of the base fabric other than the joint, so that variation in density occurs in the brush pile appearing on the surface. Can be suppressed more accurately.

  Further, the joints of the brush rollers may be configured such that the brush piles are allowed to overlap and the base fabric end portions of the surfaces where the brush piles appear are folded and faced. Since the brush piles are stacked, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of density variation in the brush pile appearing on the surface in a state where the portion where the brush piles are sparse is more reliably suppressed.

  Further, when the brush fiber cloth has a rectangular shape wound around the core rod so that one side thereof is parallel to the rotation axis of the roller, the surface of the core rod has an end portion of the base fabric. You may make it comprise so that the recessed part parallel to the said rotating shaft which accommodates the part which faced may be provided. Since the part which made the base fabric edge part oppose is stored in the recessed part provided in the surface of the core rod, it can suppress that a convex part generate | occur | produces on the roller surface.

  Further, when the brush fiber cloth is formed in a belt-like shape wound spirally around the core rod, the surface of the core rod has a spiral shape that accommodates a portion facing the base fabric end. You may make it comprise so that a recessed part may be provided. Since the part which made the base fabric edge part oppose is stored in the spiral recessed part provided in the surface of the core rod, it can suppress that a convex part generate | occur | produces on the roller surface. Furthermore, since the brush fiber cloth is wound spirally around the core rod in this way, the brush roller can be manufactured efficiently.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is a brush roller in which a brush fiber cloth is wound around a core rod, which is used in an image forming apparatus that forms an image by an electrophotographic method, and the brush fiber cloth is other than the edge of the base cloth. Even if the brush pile is planted and the brush pile is not implanted at the end of the base fabric, a brush roller can be provided in which variation in the density of the brush pile is suppressed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

<First Embodiment>
The brush roller according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
[Image forming apparatus to which brush roller is applied]
FIG. 1 shows an example A of an image forming apparatus to which the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied.

  The image forming apparatus A shown in FIG. 1 is a monochrome printer. The image forming apparatus A to which the brush roller according to the present invention is applied is a color image forming apparatus (typically full-color image forming) that can form an image using two or more colors of toner even in such a monochrome image forming apparatus. Apparatus).

  In the image forming apparatus A, the photosensitive member 1 is charged by the charging unit 2, and an electrostatic latent image is captured on the photosensitive member 1 by the image exposure unit 4 including a semiconductor laser, various lenses, a polygon mirror, and the like. The electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image by the unit 5, the toner image is transferred to the recording medium S (hereinafter sometimes referred to as recording paper S) by the transfer unit 6, and then the toner is applied to the recording medium S by the fixing unit 7. The image is fixed and discharged to a discharge unit (not shown).

  The image forming apparatus A includes a drum-type negatively chargeable photoreceptor 1 that is driven to rotate, and the surface of the photoreceptor 1 is a corona discharge charging unit 2 to which a charging voltage is applied from a charging power supply device 3. The toner is uniformly charged to a predetermined potential, and an image exposure unit 4 performs image exposure from the image exposure unit 4 to form an electrostatic latent image. The latent image is negatively charged using the developing roller 51 of the developing unit 5. By reversal development, a visible toner image can be formed. The toner T is supplied to the developing roller 51 of the developing unit 5 by the toner supply roller 52.

  The visible toner image formed on the photoreceptor 1 is transferred to a recording medium S such as transfer paper (recording paper) supplied one by one from the paper feed tray. The recording medium S onto which the toner image has been transferred by the transfer unit 6 is heated and pressed by the fixing unit 7 so that the toner image is fixed on the recording medium S and becomes a monochrome image. The recording medium S on which the toner image is fixed in this manner is discharged onto the discharge tray by the discharge roller pair of the discharge unit. After the transfer, the transfer residual toner on the photoreceptor 1 is removed and cleaned by the cleaning roller 8 and / or the cleaning blade.

  In such an image forming apparatus A, the brush roller according to the present embodiment is preferably applied to the toner supply roller 52. In FIG. 1, the photosensitive member 1 rotates counterclockwise, the developing roller 51 rotates clockwise, and the toner supply roller 52 rotates clockwise. When the rotation direction of the developing roller 51 and the toner supply roller 52 is opposite and a roller with a sponge material having a high surface friction resistance is used as the toner supply roller 52, the rotation resistance is large. On the other hand, the brush roller according to the present embodiment has low surface friction resistance and low rotation resistance. In this regard, it is preferable to use the brush roller according to the present embodiment as the toner supply roller 52. Further, the brush roller according to the present embodiment can also be applied to the cleaning roller 8. Furthermore, the brush roller according to the present embodiment can also be applied to a charging roller that charges the photosensitive member 1 prior to image exposure when the charging unit 2 is constituted by a charging roller. In the following description, it is assumed that the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied to the toner supply roller 52. The toner supply roller 52 is a conductive roller.

  The image forming apparatus A can be a so-called four-cycle full-color image forming apparatus by using a developing unit as described below. A yellow developing unit, a magenta developing unit, a cyan developing unit, and a black developing unit are mounted on a rack that is driven to rotate the developing unit. These four-color developing units are configured in, for example, cartridges that are detachable from a rack. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to each color is sequentially formed on the photoconductor 1 based on image data of each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, and the latent image corresponding to one color is formed each time the latent image is formed. The image is developed by a developing unit corresponding to the color among the four color developing units. The toner images of the respective colors sequentially formed on the photosensitive member 1 in this way are primarily transferred to an intermediate transfer belt (an example of an intermediate transfer member) every time one toner image is formed, and first. The toner image is transferred onto the transferred toner image. The multiple toner images formed on the intermediate transfer belt in this way are secondarily transferred to a recording medium S such as transfer paper supplied one by one from the paper feed tray, and are heated and pressed on the recording medium by a fixing unit. To become a full color image. The brush roller according to the present embodiment can be applied to a toner supply roller that supplies toner of each color in such a full-color image forming apparatus, or to a cleaning roller that removes and cleans transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt after transfer. It is also possible to apply. In addition, the brush roller according to the present embodiment can be applied to a tandem type full-color image forming apparatus.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus that forms an image by the electrophotographic method, the brush roller according to the present embodiment is desired to rotate with a small contact resistance, for example, and a roller (conductive, non-conductive) that requires uniformity. Application (regardless of conductivity) (charging roller, toner supply roller, cleaning roller, etc.) is preferable.

[Brush roller configuration]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the toner supply roller 52 to which the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied. 2A shows the state before the brush fiber cloth 524 is wound around the solid cylindrical core rod 521, and FIG. 2B shows the state where the brush fiber cloth 524 is wound around the solid cylindrical core rod 521. Each subsequent state is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the toner supply roller 52 includes a core bar 521 and a brush fiber cloth 524 wound around the core bar 521. The brush fiber cloth 524 has a rectangular shape that is wound around the core rod 521 so that one side thereof (long side in FIG. 2A) is parallel to the rotation axis 522 of the core rod 521. In addition, the surface of the core bar 521 is provided with a groove-shaped recess 523 parallel to the rotation shaft 522 that accommodates a portion of the brush fiber cloth 524 facing the end.

  When the brush pile is planted to the side end side (ear side) of the brush fiber cloth 524, the brush pile is easily removed, so the brush pile is planted only to the inside slightly from the side edge (ear end) of the base fabric. . In the toner supply roller 52 according to the present embodiment, the brush fiber in which the brush pile is not implanted is used to suppress the density of the brush pile from becoming sparse at the joint of the brush fiber cloth 524 where the ear sides are aligned. In the cloth 524, the surfaces where the brush piles appear are opposed to each other. In the following description, it is assumed that the core rod 521 includes a recess 523 that accommodates a portion of the brush fiber cloth 524 facing the end portion. However, the core rod 521 may be provided with no recess 523. .

  The brush fiber cloth 524 is wound around the core rod 521 provided with the rotation shaft 522 and the recess 523 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2 (B), the portion of the brush fiber cloth 524 facing the end is housed in the recess 523. Hereinafter, the cross section of the brush fiber cloth 524 of the toner supply roller 52 will be described with reference to FIG.

[Cross-sectional structure of brush fiber cloth]
FIG. 3A shows a cross-sectional view of the brush fiber cloth 524 in the conventional brush roller, and FIG. 3B shows a cross-sectional view of the brush fiber cloth 524 of the brush roller according to the present embodiment. As shown in these drawings, the brush fiber cloth 524 is obtained by implanting a brush pile 524A (may be described as a brush pile group 524A) on a base cloth 524B. The side edge (ear end) of the base fabric 524B is not planted with the brush pile 524A in order to prevent the brush pile 524A from falling off. Such a brush fiber cloth 524 is generally made by weaving a warp or weft double woven fabric, cutting a part of the warp or weft at an appropriate position, and applying fluff (brush) on the surface of the fabric. A pile or pile). Due to the structure of a general woven fabric, the intersection of the warp and the weft is easy to come off at the ear. Therefore, when the brush pile 524A is formed up to this ear, the brush pile 524A falls off when the cross between the warp and the weft is removed. End up. For this reason, the brush pile 524A is not formed in the ear portion where the cross between the warp and the weft is likely to come off. Note that a structure in which a bundle of piles is sewn in a U shape by fibers of the background constituting the base fabric 524B may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, conventionally, for example, the side edges (ear ends) of the base fabric 524B where the brush pile 524A of the brush fiber fabric 524 is not implanted are abutted. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3A, in the brush fiber cloth 524, compared to the interval d (1) between the brush pile groups 524A (the width of the brush pile group is D), the butted brush piles The interval d (2) between the groups 524A is large. That is, the density of the brush pile is sparse at the joint of the brush fiber cloth 524 where the ear ends are aligned. For the convenience of explanation, the width D and the interval d (x) (x = 1, 2, 3,...) Are exaggerated more greatly than the actual product with respect to the length of the brush pile 524A.

  On the other hand, in the toner supply roller 52 which is an example of the brush roller according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3B, the brush at the joint of the brush fiber cloth 524 wound around the core rod 521 is used. At the ear ends where the pile group 524A (width D) is not implanted, the surfaces 524C on which the brush pile group 524A appears are opposed to each other. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3B, in the brush fiber cloth 524, the distance d (3) between the brush pile groups 524A abutted compared to the distance d (1) between the brush pile groups 524A (< d (2)) is suppressed from increasing. That is, the density of the brush piles is not sparse at the joints of the brush fiber cloth 524 where the ear ends are matched.

  Then, the surface 524C on which the opposed brush pile group 524A at the ear end where the brush pile group 524A is not implanted is accommodated in the recess 523 of the core bar 521. In the toner supply roller 52 thus configured, the length of the brush pile 524A may be trimmed after the brush fiber cloth 524 is attached to the core bar 521.

  In the brush roller configured as described above, the brush pile 524A is not implanted in the ear portion of the brush fiber cloth 524, and the density of the brush pile becomes sparse even at the joint where the ear portions contact each other. And a uniform brush pile density can be realized.

  As described above, the brush roller according to the present embodiment has a small rotational resistance and a brush pile with a uniform density. When such a brush roller is applied to, for example, a toner supply roller, the rotational resistance is small and the toner T can be uniformly supplied to the developing roller 51. When the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied to the cleaning roller, the transfer residual toner can be uniformly removed and cleaned. Furthermore, when the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied to a charging (charging) roller, the photoconductor and the like can be uniformly charged to a predetermined potential.

<Second Embodiment>
Below, the brush roller which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. Note that the image forming apparatus to which the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied is the image forming apparatus (printer) A described in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be described here. Do not repeat. Detailed description of the same configuration as the brush roller according to the above-described embodiment will not be repeated here.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of brush fiber cloth 624 of the brush roller according to the present embodiment corresponding to FIG. 3B described above. In the first embodiment described above, the surface 524C where the brush pile 524A at the end of the base fabric 524B appears is opposed to each other at the joint of the brush fiber cloth 524 without allowing the brush pile 524A to overlap. However, in the present embodiment, at the joint of the brush fiber cloth 624, the brush piles 624A are allowed to overlap, and the surfaces 624C on which the brush piles 624A at the ends of the base cloth 624B appear are opposed to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the surface 624C on which the brush pile group 624A appears at the end of the ear where the brush pile group 624A is not implanted at the joint of the brush fiber cloth 624 wound around the core rod 521 is partially The brush pile groups 624D are allowed to overlap each other and are opposed to each other. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, in the brush fiber cloth 624, the distance d (3) (between the brush pile groups 624 </ b> A abutted against each other is compared with the distance d (1) between the brush pile groups 624 </ b> A (width D). <D (2)) is suppressed from increasing. In addition, a part of the brush pile groups 624D overlap each other at a distance d (3) between the butted brush pile groups 624A. Thereby, the part where brush pile 624A does not exist can be eliminated more reliably.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, at the joint, it can be assumed that the brush pile of the brush pile group 624D falls down and the density of the brush pile increases from the density of other portions, but there is no brush pile. The possibility of leaving a part may be better. For example, when the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied to the toner supply roller 52, the line image drawn in the original image is not transferred to the recording paper S due to a defect in the formed image due to the toner T not being supplied. However, by eliminating the case where the toner T is not supplied so as not to leave a portion where no brush pile exists, such a serious defective image can be suppressed.

  As described above, the brush roller according to the present embodiment has a low rotational resistance and is provided with a brush pile having a uniform density. It can be reliably suppressed.

<Third Embodiment>
Below, the brush roller which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. Note that the image forming apparatus to which the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied is the image forming apparatus (printer) A described in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be described here. Do not repeat. Detailed description of the same configuration as the brush roller according to the above-described embodiment will not be repeated here.

  FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the brush fiber cloth 724 of the brush roller according to the present embodiment corresponding to FIG. 3B described above. 5A is a cross-sectional view of a conventional brush fiber cloth 724 corresponding to FIG. 3A described above, and FIG. 5C is a brush fiber cloth 724 of FIG. 5B. FIG.

  Also in this embodiment, as in the first embodiment described above (unlike the second embodiment), the brush pile 524A is not allowed to overlap at the joint of the brush fiber cloth 524, The surfaces 524C on which the brush piles 524A at the ends of the base fabric 524B appear are opposed to each other.

  FIG. 5A shows a cross-sectional view of the brush fiber cloth 724 in the conventional brush roller, and FIG. 5B shows a cross-sectional view of the brush fiber cloth 724 of the brush roller according to the present embodiment. As shown in these drawings, the brush fiber cloth 724 is obtained by implanting a brush pile 724A (may be described as a brush pile group 724A) on a base cloth 724B. As described above, the brush pile 724A is not implanted in the side edge (ear end) of the base fabric 724B in order to prevent the brush pile from falling off. That is, only the fiber 725B exists in the side edge (ear end) of the base fabric 724B, and the brush pile 724A is not implanted.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, conventionally, for example, the side edges (ear ends) of the base fabric 724B where the brush pile 724A of the brush fiber fabric 724 is not implanted are abutted. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5A, in the brush fiber cloth 724, compared to the distance d (4) between the brush pile groups 724A (the width of the brush pile group is D), the butted brush piles The distance d (5) between the groups 724A is large. That is, the density of the brush pile is sparse at the joint of the brush fiber cloth 724 where the ear ends are matched.

  On the other hand, in the toner supply roller 52 which is an example of the brush roller according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5B, the brush at the joint of the brush fiber cloth 724 wound around the core rod 521. At the ear end where the pile group 724A (width D) is not implanted, the surfaces 724C on which the brush pile group 724A appears are opposed to each other. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, in the brush fiber cloth 724, the distance d (6) between the butted brush pile groups 724A compared to the distance d (5) between the brush pile groups 724A (< d (5)) is suppressed from increasing. That is, the density of the brush piles is not sparse at the joints of the brush fiber cloth 724 where the ear ends are aligned.

  Furthermore, the brush roller according to the present embodiment is configured such that the interval d (6) shown in FIG. 5B is the same as the interval d (4). That is, the brush fiber cloths 724 are opposed so that the distance d (6) between the adjacent brush pile groups 724A forms a constant distance d (4). This will be described in more detail.

  FIG. 5C is a diagram showing the configuration of the brush fiber cloth 724 in more detail. As shown in FIG. 5C, the base fabric 724B is woven using fibers 725A and 725B as warp yarns and yarns (not shown) as weft yarns, for example. A brush pile group 724A (a bundle of brush piles 724A) is sewn in a U shape on such a base fabric 724B so as to be held by the fibers 725A. When the base fabric 724B is a warp or weft double woven fabric, a part of the warp or weft (for example, only the front side) constituting the base fabric 724B is cut, and the brush pile group 724A (brush A bundle of piles 724A may be configured. In any case, as shown in FIG. 5C, the distance d (4) configured corresponding to the two fibers 725A other than the ears and the three fibers 725C of the ears The interval d (6) which is twice the interval configured corresponding to one of them has the same length. That is, at the end portion of the base fabric 724B, by making ½ of the number of fibers holding the brush pile other than the ear portions face each other, the interval between the brush pile groups is different between the ear portion and the ear portion. Can be the same spacing.

  As described above, the brush roller according to the present embodiment can be provided with a brush pile having a more uniform density at the joint.

<Fourth embodiment>
A brush roller according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. Note that the image forming apparatus to which the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied is the image forming apparatus (printer) A described in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be described here. Do not repeat. Detailed description of the same configuration as the brush roller according to the above-described embodiment will not be repeated here.

  The toner supply roller 550, which is an example of the brush roller according to the present embodiment, differs from the toner supply roller 52, which is an example of the brush roller according to the first embodiment described above, in the form of the concave portion of the core bar. The toner supply roller 52 includes a recess 523 parallel to the rotation shaft 522 that accommodates a portion of the brush fiber cloth 524 facing the end, but the toner supply roller 550 includes a spiral recess on the core rod. The point is different.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a toner supply roller 550 to which the brush roller according to the present embodiment is applied. FIG. 6 shows a state before the brush fiber cloth 553 is wound around the solid cylindrical core rod 551.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the toner supply roller 550 includes a core rod 551 and a brush fiber cloth 553 wound around the core rod 551. The brush fiber cloth 553 has a belt-like shape wound around the core rod 551 in a spiral shape. The surface of the core rod 551 is provided with a spiral recess 556 that accommodates a portion of the brush fiber cloth 524 facing the end.

  A brush fiber cloth 553 is spirally wound around a core rod 551 having a rotation shaft 552 and a recess 556 in the direction indicated by the black curved arrow in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, a portion where the bent portions 554 </ b> B of the brush fiber cloth 553 are opposed to each other is housed in the recess 556. The brush fiber cloth 553 is obtained by bending an ear portion in which the brush pile 555 is not implanted in the base fabric 554 in which the brush pile 555 is implanted. The base fabric 554 includes a surface portion 554A along the cylindrical surface of the core bar 551 and a bent portion 554B that is received in the recess 556. Note that the structure of the bent portion 554B and the contact structure between the bent portions 554B are the same as those in the above-described embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof will not be repeated here.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a belt-like brush fiber cloth 553 is wound spirally around the core rod 551, the surface portion 554 A is fitted along the cylindrical surface of the core rod 551, and the bent portion 554 B is fitted into the recess 556. Go. If it does in this way, a brush roller can be manufactured efficiently, for example by rotating the core rod 551 and making the brush fiber cloth 553 be in contact with the core rod 551 obliquely.

  As described above, the brush roller according to the present embodiment can efficiently manufacture the brush roller having the functions described in the above-described embodiments.

  The embodiment disclosed this time is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. The scope of the present invention is indicated by each claim in the claims after taking into account the description of the detailed description of the invention, and all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the wording described therein are intended. Including.

1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a configuration of a printer as an example of an image forming apparatus to which a brush roller according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a toner supply roller that is an example of a brush roller according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a brush fiber cloth of the toner supply roller shown in FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing of the brush fiber cloth of the toner supply roller which is an example of the brush roller which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the brush fiber cloth of the toner supply roller which is an example of the brush roller which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the toner supply roller which is an example of the brush roller which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

A Printer 1 Photoconductor 2 Charging unit 3 Charging power supply device 4 Image exposure unit 5 Developing unit 6 Transfer unit 7 Fixing unit 8 Cleaning roller 51 Developing roller 52, 550 Toner supply roller 521, 551 Core rod 522, 552 Rotating shaft 523, 556 Concave part 524, 553, 624, 724 Brush fiber cloth

Claims (6)

A brush roller used in an image forming apparatus that forms an image by electrophotography,
The brush roller includes a core rod and a brush fiber cloth wound around the core rod, and the brush fiber cloth has a brush pile planted in addition to a base cloth end,
In the base fabric end portion where the brush pile is not planted in the joint of the brush fiber cloth wound around the core rod, the surfaces on which the brush pile appears are folded and opposed to the core rod side. Brush roller to do.   2. The brush roller according to claim 1, wherein at the joint, the base cloth end portions of the surfaces where the brush pile appears are folded and faced without allowing the brush piles to overlap each other. The brush fiber cloth is obtained by planting brush piles of a predetermined bundle of fibers on a base cloth at regular intervals.
3. The brush roller according to claim 2, wherein the edge portions of the base fabric are folded and faced so that the interval between adjacent brush pile groups at the joint forms the constant interval.   2. The brush roller according to claim 1, wherein, at the joint, the brush piles are allowed to overlap, and the base cloth end portions of the surfaces where the brush piles appear are bent and opposed to each other. The brush fiber cloth has a rectangular shape wound around the core rod so that one side thereof is parallel to the rotation axis of the roller,
The brush according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a surface of the core bar is provided with a concave portion parallel to the rotation axis, which accommodates a portion facing the base fabric end portion. roller. The brush fiber cloth has a band shape spirally wound around the core rod,
The brush roller according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a surface of the core rod is provided with a spiral concave portion that accommodates a portion facing the base fabric end portion.

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