JP2010085689A - Cleaning roller and image-forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning roller which restrains dust from adhering to a coating layer and catches microparticles, which adhere to a cleaning-object member, while restraining the dust from adhering to the cleaning-object member; and to provide an image-forming device. <P>SOLUTION: The surface layer 12a of a coating layer 12 is composed of a woven fabric in which microfibers are arrayed in high density. Accordingly, the surface layer 12a is rotated in a state in which the surface layer presses a cleaning-object member, and microparticles adhering to the cleaning-object member are caught between the microfibers while being scraped off from the cleaning-object member by the microfibers. The woven fabric, which composes the surface layer 12a of the coating layer 12, causes fewer naps than a nonwoven fabric and is excellent in lint-freeness. Thus, dust is not so generated in the woven fabric as in the nonwoven fabric, and consequently the dust is prevented from transferring and adhering to the cleaning-object member, and the quality of an image is prevented from dropping due to the dust adhering to the cleaning-object member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning roller and an image forming apparatus, and in particular, suppresses dust from adhering to a coating layer, and suppresses dust from adhering to a member to be cleaned while adhering to the member to be cleaned. The present invention relates to a cleaning roller and an image forming apparatus that can capture the fine particles.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image forming apparatuses such as a copying apparatus, a printer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and a multi-functional peripheral apparatus are known as apparatuses that form an image on recording paper by a so-called laser system.

  An image forming apparatus employing such a laser system includes a photosensitive drum and a charging roller that rotates while pressing the photosensitive drum to charge the photosensitive drum. The photosensitive drum and the charging roller include Residual toner, external additives that control the fluidity and chargeability of the toner, and fine particles such as paper dust (hereinafter simply referred to as “fine particles”) adhere to the image and adversely affect image quality in subsequent image formation. There was a thing.

  In particular, the charging roller is pressed against the photosensitive drum and is installed in an environment where the concentration of hygroscopic nitrogen oxides generated by corona discharge is high. Therefore, the above-mentioned fine particles are likely to adhere to the charging roller. In some cases, the adhered fine particles grow as a portion that does not cause discharge, and the portion is printed on the recording paper in the form of dots or streaks.

  For this reason, such an image forming apparatus is equipped with a cleaning member that removes fine particles adhering to the photosensitive drum and the charging roller and cleans the photosensitive drum and the charging roller. As this cleaning member, for example, a type in which fine particles are scraped off by a blade or a roller is known.

  However, among these fine particles, since paper powder is pulp fiber, most of it can be scraped off with a blade, but the toner is a resin body such as styrene acrylic or polyester having a diameter of around 10 microns, and the surface is further finer. External additives such as silica, titanium oxide, and alumina are added, and such a blade sometimes cannot be scraped off.

  Therefore, as a cleaning member different from the blade, there is known a cleaning roller that captures particles adhering to the charging roller by rotating while pressing the charging roller. For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a cleaning roller 12 configured by spirally winding a cleaning member 22 made of urethane foam sponge formed in a string shape around a shaft 20. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5D, a cleaning roller 100 in which a core material 101 is covered with a coating layer 102 made of urethane foam is also known.

  According to these cleaning rollers 12 and 100, the cleaning member 22 made of urethane foam sponge and the urethane foam coating layer 102 are charged by the softness of the urethane foam covering layer 102 and the fine irregularities having elasticity formed on the roller surface. Fine particles adhering to the roller can be captured, and the fine particles adhering to the charging roller can be captured more reliably than the blade type described above.

  However, in the cleaning roller 12 disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the string-like cleaning member 22 is spirally wound around the shaft 20, so that the cleaning member 22 intermittently makes line contact with the charging roller. Become. Therefore, as in the conventional cleaning roller 100 shown in FIG. 5D, there is a problem in that the reliability of the cleaning performance is inferior to the cleaning performed by bringing the coating layer 102 into surface contact with the charging roller.

  On the other hand, the conventional cleaning roller 100 shown in FIG. 5D has the following problems due to its manufacturing method. This problem will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a conventional method of manufacturing the cleaning roller 100.

  When the conventional cleaning roller 100 shown in FIG. 5 (d) is manufactured, first, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), urethane foam formed in a square column shape having a through hole 102b through which the core material 101 is inserted. A block 102a made of metal is prepared, and the core material 101 is inserted into the through hole 102b of the block 102a as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 5C, the surface of the block 102a is polished by a polishing machine K (for example, a grinder) so that the block 102a has a cylindrical shape of a desired size. Thus, the conventional cleaning roller 100 shown in FIG.

  As described above, the coating layer 102 of the conventional cleaning roller 100 shown in FIG. 5D is formed by polishing the surface of the block 102a shown in FIG. Polishing powder generated during the polishing process sometimes enters fine irregularities formed on the surface of the layer 102.

  Therefore, when the conventional cleaning roller 100 is mounted on the image forming apparatus, the abrasive powder adhering to the surface of the coating layer 102 may be transferred to the charging roller as a cleaning target and attached to the charging roller. there were. As a result, the abrasive powder adhering to the charging roller may adversely affect the image quality as described above.

  Therefore, as a cleaning member different from the cleaning rollers 12 and 100 described above, the following Patent Document 2 discloses a roll-shaped fine fiber roll 338 in which a nonwoven fabric 3382 made of a large number of fine fibers is wound around a rotating shaft 3381. Is disclosed.

According to the fine fiber roll 338, the surface is composed of a non-woven fabric 3382 composed of a large number of fine fibers, so that the abrasive powder does not adhere to the surface like the conventional cleaning roller 100 described above. Fine particles adhering to the cleaning target can be captured by a large number of fine fibers.
JP 2008-070532 A (paragraphs “0018”, “0019”, FIG. 2A, etc.) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2007-086385 (paragraph “0068”, FIG. 4 etc.)

  However, even the fine fiber roll 338 disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above has a surface made of nonwoven fabric 3382, so it is likely to fluff, may self-generate, and has a poor lint-free property. There was a problem. Therefore, the self-generated dust may transfer to the cleaning target and adhere to the cleaning target in the same manner as the polishing powder described above. As a result, the dust adhering to the cleaning target may adversely affect the image quality as described above.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and suppresses the dust from adhering to the coating layer, and suppresses the dust from adhering to the member to be cleaned. An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning roller and an image forming apparatus capable of capturing adhering fine particles.

  In order to achieve this object, the cleaning roller according to claim 1 includes a rod-shaped core material and a cylindrical coating layer that covers the core material, and the member to be cleaned to which fine particles are adhered is coated with the coating material. The layer to be rotated is rotated to clean the member to be cleaned, and the surface layer of the coating layer is composed of a woven fabric in which fine fibers are arranged at high density. Examples of the fine particles include residual toner, external additives that control the fluidity and chargeability of the toner, and paper powder.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning roller according to the first aspect, the covering layer includes a resin base layer having flexibility between the surface layer and the core material.

  The cleaning roller according to claim 3 is the cleaning roller according to claim 2, wherein the base layer is formed by winding a foam sheet formed in a sheet shape around the core material, and the covering layer is A contact layer is provided between the surface layer and the base layer to bond the surface layer and the base layer.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus includes the member to be cleaned and forms an image on a recording sheet, and includes the cleaning roller according to any one of the first to third aspects.

  According to the cleaning roller of the first aspect, the surface layer of the coating layer is composed of a woven fabric in which fine fibers are arranged at a high density, and thus the surface layer is rotated while pressed against the member to be cleaned. By doing so, the fine particles adhering to the member to be cleaned are trapped between the fine fibers while being scraped from the member to be cleaned by the fine fibers. Therefore, the member to be cleaned can be cleaned by capturing the fine particles adhering to the member to be cleaned. Further, the woven fabric constituting the surface layer of the coating layer is less prone to fluff than the nonwoven fabric and is excellent in lint-free properties. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the self-generated dust from being transferred and attached to the member to be cleaned, and to suppress the adverse effect on the image quality due to the dust attached to the member to be cleaned.

  According to the cleaning roller of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the cleaning roller according to the first aspect, the coating layer includes a resin base layer having flexibility between the surface layer and the core material. Therefore, the underlying layer acts as a cushioning material, and when the coating layer is pressed against the roller to be cleaned, the pressure applied to the surface layer of the coating layer is relieved, and the gap between the fine fibers is not crushed by this pressure. Thus, it is possible to more reliably scrape and capture the fine particles adhering to the member to be cleaned. Therefore, there is an effect that the cleaning property can be further improved.

  According to the cleaning roller of the third aspect, in addition to the effect exhibited by the cleaning roller according to the second aspect, the underlayer is configured by winding a foam sheet formed in a sheet shape around a core material. A base layer whose surface is not polished can be formed. For example, a foam sheet can be prepared by directly molding from a resin material or by cutting from a block body molded to a predetermined size, and the surface is polished by winding this foam sheet around a core material. An unfinished underlayer can be formed. Therefore, the manufacturing efficiency of the underlayer can be improved by the amount that does not go through the polishing step. In addition, since the ground layer has not undergone the polishing process, no polishing powder is adhered to the ground layer, and the adhesion between the surface layer and the ground layer can be improved, and the surface layer is peeled off from the ground layer. Can be prevented. In addition, since the polishing powder does not adhere to the underlayer, the polishing powder does not appear on the surface of the surface layer through the gap between the surface layers, and the polishing powder transfers and adheres to the member to be cleaned. Can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the image quality from being adversely affected by the abrasive powder adhering to the member to be cleaned.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the fourth aspect, since the cleaning roller according to any one of the first to third aspects is provided, the same effect as the cleaning roller according to any one of the first to third aspects is achieved. In addition to the effects, the member to be cleaned can be cleaned so as to be in a good state, so that a high-quality image can be formed on the recording paper.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the internal structure of an image forming apparatus 2 equipped with a cleaning roller 1 of the present invention.

  The cleaning roller 1 rotates while pressing the charging roller 3 mounted on the image forming apparatus 2 to clean the charging roller 3. In particular, the cleaning roller 1 suppresses dust from adhering to the coating layer 12. , While suppressing the dust from adhering to the charging roller 3, residual toner adhering to the surface of the charging roller 3, external additives for controlling the fluidity and charging property of the toner, and fine particles such as paper dust Can be scraped and captured.

  The image forming apparatus 2 forms an image on the recording paper P by a so-called laser method, and in particular, by mounting the cleaning roller 1, the dust is prevented from adhering to the charging roller 3, and the recording paper. A high-quality image can be formed on P. The image forming apparatus 2 corresponds to, for example, a copying apparatus, a printer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, a multifunction peripheral apparatus, and the like.

  In addition to the cleaning roller 1, the image forming apparatus 2 mainly includes a charging roller 3, a photosensitive drum 4, a laser irradiation device 5, a toner supply device 6, a transfer roller 7, a pair of fixing rollers 8, and a blade 9. Yes.

  When an image is formed on the recording paper P by the image forming apparatus 2, the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 is charged to a constant potential by corona discharge via a charging roller 3 that rotates while contacting the photosensitive drum 4. The pattern corresponding to the image formed on the recording paper P is irradiated from the laser irradiation device 5 toward the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 4.

  Then, toner (developer) is supplied from the developing roller 61 included in the toner supply device 6 to the electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is developed. The image is transferred onto the recording paper P conveyed between the photosensitive drum 4 and the transfer roller 7, and the recording paper P is pressed by a pair of fixing rollers 8 to fix the image on the recording paper P. Form an image. The surface of the photosensitive drum 4 that has passed through the transfer roller 7 is scraped by the blade 9 to remove residual toner, paper dust, and the like adhering to the surface.

  The cleaning roller 1 is installed so as to rotate with respect to the charging roller 3 while pressing the charging roller 3, and has a metal core material 11 formed in a rod shape and a cylindrical shape that covers the core material 11. And the coating layer 12 formed on the surface.

  Here, the cleaning roller 1 will be described more specifically with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A is a plan view of the cleaning roller 1, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cleaning roller 1 along the IIb-IIb cross-sectional line shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the cleaning roller 1 includes a core material 11 and a coating layer 12 that covers the core material 11, and the coating layer 12 is shown in FIG. 2B. As described above, the surface layer 12 a constituting the surface of the coating layer 12 and the base layer 12 b formed between the surface layer 12 a and the core material 11 are configured. An adhesive layer (not shown) is provided between the surface layer 12a and the base layer 12b and between the core material 11 and the base layer 12b.

  The surface layer 12a is in contact with the surface of the charging roller 3 and scrapes off residual toner adhering to the surface of the charging roller 3, external additives for controlling the fluidity and chargeability of the toner, and fine particles such as paper powder. It captures and captures, and is composed of a woven fabric in which fine fibers are arranged at high density.

  In this woven fabric, polyester or nylon long fibers are used, and the single yarn fineness (one fineness) is as fine as about 0.07 dtex (about 2 μm). It consists of fine fibers arranged at high density. Further, since the surface layer 12a is configured by winding a sheet-like woven fabric around the base layer 12b, a joint T1 is formed on the surface of the surface layer 12a.

  The underlayer 12b functions as a cushion layer and is made of flexible urethane. Specifically, the polyisocyanate reacts with a polyol (polyether type or polyester type polyol) to generate a polymer formation reaction and foaming. The reaction is started at the same time, and both polyether-based and polyester-based can be used.

  The polyisocyanate and polyol are not particularly limited in their types. Examples of the polyisocyanate include TDI (toluene diisocyanate), MDI (diphenylmethane-4,4'-diisocyanate), a mixture of TDI and MDI, and the like. As the polyol, a polyether polyol to which an alkylene oxide is added, a polyester polyol obtained by polycondensation of carboxylic acid and glycol, an addition polymerization type polyester polyol obtained by ring-opening polymerization, or the like can be used.

  Further, as will be described later, since the base layer 12b is formed by winding a sheet-like foam sheet around the core material 11, a joint T2 is formed on the surface of the base layer 12b.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the action of scraping and capturing the fine particles B by the surface layer 12a of the cleaning roller 1 will be described. FIG. 3A is a diagram schematically showing an enlarged surface layer 12 a of the cleaning roller 1 that is in contact with the surface 3 a of the charging roller 3. FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a comparison target with respect to the present embodiment shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the surface layer 12a of the present embodiment is constituted by a woven fabric in which fine fibers S are arranged at high density. On the other hand, the comparison target shown in FIG. 3B is a fiber S1 that is thicker than the fine fiber S of the present embodiment, and is composed of a woven fabric in which the fibers S1 are arranged at a lower density than in the present embodiment. Shall.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, according to the surface layer 12 a of the present embodiment, when the surface layer 12 a is rotated while being in contact with the surface 3 a of the charging roller 3, it adheres to the surface 3 a of the charging roller 3. The fine particles B are scraped off by the fine fibers S, and the fine particles B are captured in the gaps between the fine fibers S arranged at high density. Therefore, the fine particles B adhering to the surface 3a of the charging roller 3 can be reliably cleaned.

  On the other hand, in the comparison target shown in FIG. 3B, since the fibers S1 are thick and the arrangement density thereof is also rough, the fine particles B adhering to the surface 3a of the charging roller 3 cannot be completely scraped and captured. It can be seen that the fine particles B still remain on the surface 3 a of the charging roller 3.

  Further, since the woven fabric constituting the surface layer 12a of the present embodiment is less fuzzy than the non-woven fabric and is excellent in lint-free property, the self-generated dust is transferred and adhered to the surface 3a of the charging roller 3. The image quality can be suppressed from being adversely affected by the dust adhering to the surface 3a of the charging roller 3.

  Furthermore, although the surface layer 12a of this embodiment is pressed against the surface 3a side of the charging roller 3, this pressure is relieved by the base layer 12b having flexibility shown in FIG. The gaps between the fine fibers S are not crushed, and the fine particles B can be captured between the gaps more reliably.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the cleaning roller 1 described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of manufacturing the cleaning roller 1.

  When manufacturing the cleaning roller 1, first, as shown in FIG. 4A, a block B1 having a predetermined size is foam-molded from a urethane raw material. In this case, a block copolymer of dimethylpolysiloxane and polyether can be used as the foam stabilizer.

  Next, a plate-like block B2 having a predetermined thickness as shown in FIG. 4B is cut out from the foamed block body B1, and the block B2 is further cut as shown in FIG. 4C. Then, it is cut out to form a plate-like foam sheet F having a predetermined size. In addition, FIG.4 (c) is the schematic seen through the thickness direction from the upper direction of the foam sheet F. FIG.

  For this cut-out process, for example, a skid process that cuts in a horizontal direction with a metal cutter, a vertical process that cuts in a vertical direction, and other various processing methods using a heated metal wire, a laser, or the like can be employed. In this case, although some cut powder or the like adheres to the surface of the block B2 and the surface of the foam sheet F, the amount thereof is the polishing adhered to the conventional coating layer 102 shown in FIG. Much less than powder.

  When the foam sheet F is molded, an adhesive layer 13 is formed on the peripheral edge of the foam sheet F as shown in FIG. The adhesive for forming the adhesive layer 13 can be formed by, for example, applying a polyamide-based, polyurethane-based, polyester-based, or EVA-based hot melt, or attaching a double-sided tape type hot melt.

  When the adhesive layer 13 is formed on the foam sheet F, as shown in FIG. 4E, the foam sheet F is wound around a metal core 11 that has been heated to a predetermined temperature in advance. Is bonded and fixed to the core material 11. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4 (f), the base layer 12 b constituted by the foam sheet F can be formed on the core material 11.

  When the base layer 12b is formed on the core material 11, next, as shown in FIG. 4 (g), the woven fabric N previously formed into a predetermined size is woven as shown in FIG. 4 (h). An adhesive layer 14 is formed on the peripheral edge of the cloth N. As an adhesive means for forming the adhesive layer 14, for example, a double-sided tape (manufactured by Sumitomo 3M: SVG-25) in which an acrylic resin is used as a base material and an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied thereto can be used.

  When the adhesive layer 14 is formed on the woven fabric N, as shown in FIG. 4 (i), the woven fabric N is wound around the core material 11 on which the base layer 12b is formed, and the woven fabric N is applied to the base layer 12b. The surface layer 12a is formed by woven fabric N by adhesion and fixing. In this way, the cleaning roller 1 as shown in FIG. 2A can be manufactured.

  Thus, in the manufacturing method of the cleaning roller 1 of this embodiment, since the base layer 12b is formed without passing through the polishing step, the manufacturing efficiency can be improved by the amount that the polishing step is unnecessary. Further, since the surface of the base layer 12b is not polished, no polishing powder is adhered to the base layer 12b, and the adhesion between the surface layer 12a (woven fabric N) and the base layer 12b is improved. It is possible to prevent the surface layer 12a from being peeled off from the base layer 12b. Further, since the polishing powder does not adhere to the base layer 12b, the polishing powder does not appear on the surface of the surface layer 12a from the base layer 12b through the gap of the surface layer 12a. Can be prevented from being transferred to and adhered to. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the image quality from being adversely affected by the abrasive powder adhering to the charging roller 3.

  As described above, the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various improvements and modifications can be easily made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It can be guessed.

  In embodiment mentioned above, when forming the surface layer 12a with the woven fabric N, although the edge part of the woven fabric N was faced | matched and the case where the surface layer 12a was formed was demonstrated, the edges of the woven fabric N were up and down You may make it form the surface layer 12a so that it may overlap. In such a case, the joint T1 (slight gap) is not formed on the surface layer 12a, and it is possible to prevent fine particles from staying in the joint T1 (slight gap).

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the woven fabric N is bonded and fixed to the foam sheet F bonded and fixed to the core material 11 has been described. However, the woven cloth is bonded to the foam sheet F before being bonded and fixed to the core material 11. The laminated product may be bonded and fixed to the core material 11 so that the foam sheet F is on the inside. In this case, the manufacturing process of the present invention can be simplified. In this case, as an adhesive for adhering the foam sheet F and the woven fabric N, a latex / emulsion adhesive or a hot melt adhesive can be used, and further, the foam sheet F is subjected to a flame treatment. It can also be heat-sealed to the woven fabric N.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the foam sheet 12 is wound around the core material 11 to form the base layer 12b has been described. However, as described with reference to FIG. The base layer 12b may be formed in a cylindrical shape. If the base layer 12b is used, a layer having no joint T2 can be obtained.

  In the above-described embodiment, the charging roller 3 has been described as the member to be cleaned to be cleaned by the cleaning roller 1. However, the member to be cleaned is not limited to the charging roller 3. It may be a belt or the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an internal structure of an image forming apparatus equipped with a cleaning roller. (A) is a top view of a cleaning roller, (b) is an expanded sectional view of the cleaning roller in the IIb-IIb sectional line shown to Fig.2 (a). (A) is a figure which expands and shows typically the surface layer of the cleaning roller which is contacting the surface of the charging roller. (B) is a figure which shows the comparison object with respect to this embodiment shown to Fig.3 (a). It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of a cleaning roller. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the conventional cleaning roller.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning roller 2 Image forming apparatus 3 Charging roller (a part of member to be cleaned)
11 Core material 12 Coating layer 12a Surface layer 12b Underlayer 14 Adhesive layer B Fine particle F Foam sheet N Woven cloth P Recording paper

Claims (4)

A rod-shaped core material and a cylindrical coating layer that covers the core material are rotated and rotated while the coating layer is pressed against a member to be cleaned to which fine particles are adhered, thereby cleaning the member to be cleaned. In the cleaning roller,
The surface layer of the coating layer is constituted by a woven fabric in which fine fibers are arranged at high density.   The cleaning roller according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer includes a resin base layer having flexibility between the surface layer and the core member. The base layer is formed by winding a foam sheet formed in a sheet shape around the core material,
The cleaning roller according to claim 2, wherein the coating layer includes a contact layer that adheres the surface layer and the base layer between the surface layer and the base layer. In an image forming apparatus that includes the member to be cleaned and forms an image on a recording sheet.
An image forming apparatus comprising the cleaning roller according to claim 1.

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