JP2011186136A - Image forming apparatus and driving method of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology to uniformly apply a lubricant to the surface of an carrier, such as a photoreceptor or the like, while suppressing upsizing of an image forming apparatus to the utmost. <P>SOLUTION: A collection blade 60a is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor to scrape off the lubricant 82 remaining together with a toner 80 on the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor based on the rotation of the photoreceptor 24, and then, the lubricant 82 scraped off by the collection blade 60a is conveyed to the downstream side of the collection blade 60a based on the rotation of the photoreceptor 24 while reducing a force to separate or bring the collection blade 60a from or into contact with the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor, thereafter, an applicator blade 60b is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor, and the lubricant 82 conveyed based on the rotation of the photoreceptor 24 is caught by the applicator blade 60b, and also, the lubricant 82 caught by the applicator blade 60b is applied, by the applicator blade 60b, to the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor to form a thin layer of the lubricant 82. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a driving method thereof.

  In the field of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses using powder toner, a recovery blade is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of a photosensitive member as a carrier, and untransferred toner is recovered by this blade. Yes. In general, the blade is formed of an elastic member such as urethane resin, and the tip thereof is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member. Therefore, the blade tip is worn by frictional contact with the rotating photoreceptor. When the wear amount exceeds a certain allowable amount, the blade collection performance is greatly deteriorated.

  Therefore, a number of techniques have been proposed in order to extend the durable life of the blade by reducing the friction between the blade and the photoreceptor (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

JP 2008-122593 A JP 9-265250 A

    For example, in the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a means for supplying a lubricant for reducing friction between the carrier and the blade to the photoreceptor is provided on the downstream side of the blade in the rotation direction of the photoreceptor. Yes. However, the technique of Patent Document 1 requires a configuration for storing the lubricant and a configuration for supplying the lubricant to the photosensitive member, which causes a problem that the size of the image forming apparatus is increased. In the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, two blades are pressed against a photosensitive member, and even if one blade is worn, toner is collected by the other blade. However, the technique of Patent Document 2 has a problem that the surface of the photosensitive member (photosensitive member layer) is worn in a short period of time because the two blades are always in pressure contact with the photosensitive member. Further, since the wear of the two blades proceeds simultaneously, when the amount of wear of one blade reaches the allowable value, the amount of wear of the other blade may reach the allowable value.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve such problems. The object of the present invention is to carry a carrier such as a photoconductor while minimizing the size of the image forming apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of uniformly applying a lubricant to the surface of a metal.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention forms a toner image by electrostatically adhering powder toner to a rotatable endless support surface, transfers the toner image to another member, and transfers the toner image to the other member. In the image forming apparatus for scraping and collecting the toner remaining on the carrying surface without being transferred, the first contact member disposed in the vicinity of the carrying surface, the vicinity of the carrying surface and the rotation direction of the carrying surface. A second contact member disposed on the downstream side of the first contact member, a first mode for recovering the lubricant present on the support surface from the support surface based on rotation of the support surface, and the first mode A second mode in which the lubricant collected by the contact member is applied to the carrying surface by the second contact member to form a thin layer of lubricant.

  In the first mode, the first contact force collects the lubricant and the first contact force that prevents the lubricant from being conveyed to the downstream side of the first contact member is the first mode. While the second contact member is applied to the support surface, the second contact member is applied to the support surface with a second contact force that is separated or slightly in contact with the support surface. The contact member is separated or slightly in contact with the carrying surface, and based on the rotation of the carrying surface, the lubricant staying at the tip of the first contact member is separated from the first contact member and the carrying surface. The third contact force passing from the contact surface is applied to the support surface, while the lubricant that has passed from the contact surface between the first contact member and the support surface is subjected to frictional contact with the rotating support surface. And pass through the contact surface between the contact member and the support surface, and with respect to the support surface. It is preferable to impart fourth contact force for forming a thin film of the lubricant on the bearing surface.

  When the first contact force is F1, the second contact force is F2, the third contact force is F3, and the fourth contact force, the respective relationships are F1> F3 and F2 <F4. There may be.

  It is preferable that the first contact member and the second contact member are formed of plate members.

  The second contact member may be formed of a rotatable brush roller.

  The driving method of the image forming apparatus of the present invention forms a toner image by electrostatically attaching powder toner to a rotatable endless carrier surface, transfers the toner image to another carrier, This is a method of driving an image forming apparatus that scrapes and collects toner remaining on the carrying surface without being transferred to another carrier. The first contact member is brought into contact with the carrying surface, and the lubricant remaining together with the toner is scraped off based on the rotation of the carrying surface, and the first contact member is separated from the carrying surface or the first The contact force of the contact member with respect to the carrying surface is weakened, and based on the rotation of the carrying surface, the lubricant scraped off by the first contact member is conveyed to the downstream side of the first contact member, and a second surface is conveyed to the carrying surface. The contact member is brought into contact, the lubricant being conveyed based on the rotation of the support surface is captured by the second contact member, and the lubricant captured by the second contact member is supported by the second contact member. Apply to the surface to form a thin layer of lubricant.

  As is apparent from the above description, according to the image forming apparatus and the driving method thereof of the present invention, the lubricant is uniformly applied to the surface of the carrier such as the photoconductor while minimizing the enlargement of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to extend the durable life of the blade without increasing the cost.

1 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the collection | recovery apparatus of an image forming unit. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of a collection | recovery apparatus. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a recovery operation of untransferred toner and lubricant by a recovery blade. It is a figure which shows the application | coating collection | recovery operation | movement of the untransferred toner and lubricant by an application blade. It is a flowchart explaining the position switching drive operation in a collection | recovery apparatus. It is a figure which shows other embodiment in a collection | recovery apparatus. It is a figure which shows other embodiment in a collection | recovery apparatus. It is a figure which shows other embodiment in a collection | recovery apparatus. It is a figure which shows other embodiment in a collection | recovery apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, terms indicating relative positions (for example, “up”, “down”, “left”, “right”, and other terms including them, “clockwise direction”, “counterclockwise” However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited by the meaning of these terms.

[1. Image forming apparatus]
FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present invention. The illustrated image forming apparatus 10 is a so-called tandem type full-color image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus 10 may be any of a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine.

  An endless transfer belt 14, which is a toner image carrier, is disposed inside the housing 12 that forms the appearance of the image forming apparatus 10. In the embodiment, the transfer belt 14 is supported by a pair of rollers 16 and 18 arranged on the left and right in the drawing, and rotates in the counterclockwise direction based on the rotation of the roller 16 or the roller 18. is there. A plurality of image forming units 22 (22K, 22C, 22M, 22Y) are arranged in the vicinity of the belt portion 20 that moves from the roller 16 on the left side to the roller 18 on the right side of the drawing.

  In the embodiment, the image forming apparatus 10 includes four image forming units 22K, 22C, 22M, and 22Y corresponding to four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow from the right side to the left side of the drawing. In the drawing, the black image forming unit 22K at the right end has a size and shape different from those of the other image forming units 22C, 22M, and 22Y, but the basic configuration is the same. Therefore, the individual image forming units will be described below without distinction.

  The image forming unit 22 has a configuration necessary for well-known electrophotographic technology. Specifically, the image forming unit has an electrostatic latent image carrier. In the embodiment, the electrostatic latent image carrier is composed of a cylindrical photoreceptor 24, and a photoreceptor layer is provided on the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor 24. In the present invention, the electrostatic latent image carrier is not limited to a cylindrical photoreceptor, and may be an endless belt-shaped photoreceptor.

  The photosensitive member 24 can be rotated in the clockwise direction, and a charging device 28, an exposure device 30, a developing device 32, a transfer device (not shown) (primary transfer device), and a collection device 36 are sequentially arranged around the photosensitive member 24 in the rotation direction. Has been. The transfer device is disposed inside the transfer belt 14, and the other devices 24, 28, 30, 32, and 36 are disposed outside the transfer belt 14.

  In addition, a paper feeding device 38 is disposed below the image forming unit 22. Further, a transfer device (secondary transfer device) 40 is disposed to face the transfer belt portion supported by the roller 18 on the right side of the drawing, and is collected to face the transfer belt portion supported by the roller 16 on the left side of the drawing. A device 42 is arranged. Further, a fixing device 44 is disposed above the transfer belt 14 and the transfer device 40. A paper discharge portion 46 is formed on the upper portion of the housing 12.

  When an image is formed by the image forming apparatus 10 having the above configuration, a toner image of each color is formed by the image forming unit 22 corresponding to the color of the image to be reproduced. For example, in each image forming unit 22, the photoreceptor outer peripheral surface 26 is charged to a predetermined potential by the charging device 28. An image is exposed from the exposure device 30 on the charged outer peripheral surface 26 of the photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image is visualized by a powder developer (hereinafter referred to as “toner”) supplied from the developing device 32. The visualized toner image is transferred to the outer peripheral surface of the transfer belt 14 by a transfer device (primary transfer device) 34. At this time, the plurality of toner images formed by the plurality of image forming units 22 are transferred onto the transfer belt 14. The toner images superimposed in the above are transferred to a sheet 48 supplied from a paper feeding device 38 by a transfer device (secondary transfer device) 40. The sheet 48 carrying the toner image is conveyed to a fixing device 44 where the toner image is heated and fixed on the sheet 48. Finally, the sheet 48 on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to a paper discharge unit 46 disposed at the top of the housing 12.

  All of the toner adhering to the photosensitive member outer peripheral surface 26 is not transferred to the transfer belt 14, and a part of the toner remains on the photosensitive member outer peripheral surface 26 without being transferred to the transfer belt 14. The untransferred toner is recovered by the recovery device 36 as the photoconductor 24 rotates. The toner collected by each image forming unit 22 is collected by the collection unit 50. Similarly, all of the toner transferred to the outer peripheral surface of the transfer belt 14 is not transferred to the sheet 48, and some toner remains on the outer peripheral surface of the transfer belt without being transferred to the sheet 48. The untransferred toner is recovered by the recovery device 42 as the transfer belt 14 rotates.

[2. Collection device]
FIG. 2 shows the collection device 36 of each image forming unit 22. As illustrated, the collection device 36 has a housing 52. A toner collection chamber 54 is formed inside the housing 52, and a transport device 56 for transporting the collected toner to the collection unit 50 is accommodated therein. The housing 52 supports two blades-a recovery blade (first contact member) 60a and an application blade (second contact member) 60b-. The shape, size, and material of the blades 60a and 60b are not particularly limited. For example, the blades 60a and 60b are flat plate members made of an elastic material (for example, urethane resin) having a thickness of about 1 to 3 mm. It is fixed to the housing 52 by means 53 (for example, screws, adhesives, or combinations thereof). In particular, the recovery blade 60 a is arranged so that the direction from the base end (fixed end) to the front end (free end) is opposite to the rotation direction of the photoconductor 24. The coating blade 60 b is arranged so that the direction from the base end (fixed end) to the tip end (free end) is along the rotation direction of the photoconductor 24.

  The functions of these two blades are different. Specifically, the collection blade 60a collects untransferred toner from the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor. On the other hand, the application blade 60b applies the lubricant contained in the toner recovered by the recovery blade 60a to the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor. Therefore, the collection blade 60 a is disposed on the downstream side of the collection blade 58 with respect to the rotation direction of the photoconductor 24.

  The lubricant is a material (for example, zinc stearate ZnSt) having a particle size smaller than that of the toner (toner) in order to reduce friction between the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photosensitive member and the collecting blade 60a in contact therewith. The toner contained in the toner is contained together with other external additives. Therefore, when developing the electrostatic latent image, the toner is supplied to the photosensitive member 24 together with the toner, and a part of the toner is recovered together with the untransferred toner by the recovery blade 60a.

  In the embodiment, the housing 52 of the collection device 36 is supported so as to be able to rotate slightly forward and backward about an axis 62 parallel to the central axis of the photoconductor 24. The housing 52 is also connected to a swing mechanism 70 including a drive unit 64 made of, for example, a motor, a cam 66 connected to a drive shaft of the drive unit 64, and a spring 68 that biases the housing 52 in one direction. And a position rotated counterclockwise (first position: see FIG. 3A) and a position rotated clockwise by a predetermined angle from the position (second position) based on the drive of the drive unit 64. : See FIG. 3B).

Depending on whether the collection device 36 is in the first position or the second position, the position of the collection blade 60a and the coating blade 60b with respect to the photoconductor 24 and the contact state between the photoconductor 24 change. More specifically, when the recovery device 36 is in the first position, the front end surface 72 (see FIG. 4) of the recovery blade 60a comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor with a first contact force (hereinafter, this is referred to as “this”). The application blade 60b has a tip surface 74 (see FIG. 5) separated from the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photosensitive member 26 or slightly contacted with the outer peripheral surface 26 with a second contact force. (This position is hereinafter referred to as “non-application position”).

When the recovery device 36 is in the second position, the recovery blade 60a contacts the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor with a third contact force whose tip surface 72 is separated from or slightly in contact with the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photosensitive member. (Hereinafter, this position is referred to as “non-recovery position”), and the coating blade 60b has its tip end surface 74 in contact with the outer circumferential surface 26 of the photosensitive member with a fourth contact force (hereinafter referred to as “application position”). .)

  The first contact force to the fourth contact force will be further described. The first contact force is based on the rotation of the photosensitive member 24, and the tip of the collection blade 60a can collect the untransferred toner satisfactorily and is collected. The toner is set so as not to pass through the contact portion (first contact portion) 76 between the collection blade 60a and the photosensitive member 24 and be conveyed downstream. However, the first contact force does not prohibit a part or a part of the lubricant having a smaller diameter than that of the collected toner from passing through the first contact part 76.

  The second contact force is preferably as small as possible in order to minimize the load applied to the rotational drive system of the photoconductor 24. In that sense, the coating blade 60b is most preferably separated from the photoconductor 24 when in the first position, but the present invention is a mode in which the coating blade 60b in the first position is in slight contact. Is not to be excluded.

  According to the third contact force, the toner and lubricant staying at the tip of the collection blade 60 a, or at least the lubricant, causes the contact portion 76 between the collection blade 60 a and the photoconductor 24 based on the rotation of the photoconductor 24. It is set smaller than the first contact force so as to pass. In the present invention, it is not essential that the collection blade 60 a in the second position is in contact with the photoconductor 24, and may be separated from the photoconductor 24. In this case, the third contact force is zero.

  The fourth contact force is larger than the second contact force because the lubricant that has passed through the contact portion 76 between the recovery blade 60a and the photoreceptor outer peripheral surface 26 is applied to the photoreceptor outer peripheral surface 26 by the application blade 60b. However, the frictional contact with the rotating outer peripheral surface 26 of the photosensitive member 26 allows the lubricant to pass through the contact portion 78 between the coating blade 60b and the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photosensitive member 26, and the lubricant is applied by the contact force of the applying blade 60b. It is set so as to form a thin film of the lubricant by rubbing against the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoconductor.

  These contact forces can be appropriately set by adjusting the mounting angle and position (projection amount) of the blades 60a and 60b with respect to the housing 52, the rotation amount (angle) of the housing 52, or both. In that sense, the blades 60a and 60b are preferably attached to the casing 52 so that their positions can be adjusted.

  As described above, when the first to fourth contact forces are set, when the recovery device 36 is in the first position (hereinafter, this state is referred to as “mode 1”), the recovery blade 60a is in the recovery position. The application blade 60b takes the non-application position (FIG. 3A). Therefore, the untransferred toner 80 and the lubricant 82 conveyed toward the collection device 36 as the photoconductor 24 rotates are captured at the tip of the collection blade 60a as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the recovery blade 60 a formed of an elastic material is deformed by friction with the rotating photosensitive member 24, and the deformed blade tip surface 72 is substantially wedge-shaped between the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photosensitive member. A storage space 84 is formed, and the untransferred toner 80 and the lubricant 82 are stored in the first storage space 84. The untransferred toner 80 and the lubricant 82 overflowing from the first storage space 84 are dropped and collected in the toner collection chamber 54 along the surface of the collection blade 60a beyond the tip corner of the collection blade 60a. The recovered untransferred toner 80 and the lubricant 82 are transported to the recovery unit 50 by the transport device 56 and stored.

  As shown in the figure, since the lubricant 82 has a smaller diameter than the untransferred toner 80, the lubricant 82 is in the first storage space by the particle size selection action based on the movement of the outer peripheral surface of the photoreceptor and the vibration of the recovery blade 60a. 84, and untransferred toner 80 having a larger diameter is deposited on the top. The first contact force is such that part of the lubricant accumulated in the first storage space 84 passes through the contact portion 76 of the photoreceptor outer peripheral surface 26 and the collection blade 60a by frictional contact with the photoreceptor outer peripheral surface 26. It is not necessary to completely prohibit the movement to the downstream side.

  When the collection device 36 switches from the first position to the second position (hereinafter, the state of the collection device after switching is referred to as “mode 2”), the collection blade 60a takes the non-recovery position, and the coating blade 60b The application position is taken (FIG. 3B). As a result, the recovery blade 60a that has been in contact with the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoconductor with the first contact force is separated from the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoconductor or is exposed with the third contact force that is smaller than the first contact force. It contacts the outer peripheral surface 26 of the body. Further, the coating blade 60b that has been in contact with the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoconductor with the second contact force or separated from the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoconductor has a fourth contact force that is larger than the second contact force. It contacts the peripheral surface 26. As a result, the untransferred toner 80 and the lubricant 82 stored in the first storage space 84 move in the clockwise direction as the photosensitive member 24 rotates, and are captured by the tip of the coating blade 60b.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the coating blade 60 b has a surface facing the photoreceptor outer peripheral surface 26 in contact with the photoreceptor outer peripheral surface 26, and is formed between the coating blade 60 b surface and the photoreceptor outer peripheral surface 26. Accumulated in the wedge-shaped second storage space 86. The toner 80 and the lubricant 82 stored in the second storage space 86 are subjected to particle size selection in the same manner as the first storage space 84 described above, and the small-diameter lubricant 82 stays at the bottom, and the large-diameter toner 80. Stays at the top. Further, as described above, the fourth contact force of the coating blade 60 on the photosensitive member outer peripheral surface 26 in mode 2 is that the lubricant 82 stored in the second storage space 86 is different from the photosensitive member outer peripheral surface 26. It is allowed to enter the contact portion 78 with the coating blade 60b and pass through it. Accordingly, the lubricant 82 stored in the second storage space 86 passes through the contact portion 78 due to friction with the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor. At this time, the lubricant 82 is rubbed against the photosensitive member outer peripheral surface 26 by the contact force between the coating blade 60 b and the photosensitive member outer peripheral surface 26. As a result, a thin layer (film) 88 of the lubricant 82 is formed on the outer circumferential surface 26 of the photosensitive member that has passed through the second contact portion 78.

  As shown in FIG. 5, since a certain amount of lubricant is stored in the second storage space 86, the amount of stored lubricant is not uniform even in the direction parallel to the central axis of the photoreceptor 24. Even in this case, the stored lubricant is dispersed in the same direction, and the lubricant thin layer 88 (film) is formed uniformly over the entire outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoreceptor. As a result, the coefficient of friction between the outer circumferential surface 26 of the photoreceptor on which the lubricant thin layer (film) 88 is formed and the collection blade 60a is reduced, and wear of the collection blade 60a is reduced.

  The operation (switching between the first position and the second position) of the recovery device 36 having such a configuration is controlled by the control unit 90 shown in FIG. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 90 determines whether or not the collection device 36 is set to the first position (mode 1) (step S1). When the photosensitive member 24 starts rotating in a state where the recovery device 36 is set to mode 1 (step S2), the control unit 90 drives the drive unit 64 to place the recovery device 36 in the second position (mode 2). ) (Step S3), and a timer is started (step S4). The time set by the timer is preferably the time required for one rotation of the photoconductor 24 or more. As a result, a thin lubricant layer (film) 88 is uniformly formed on the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoconductor, the stress received by the recovery blade 60a due to friction is reduced, and the life of the recovery blade 58 is extended. Thereafter, when the timer expires (step S5), the mode 2 is switched to the mode 1 (step S6).

[Other Embodiments]
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made.

  For example, in the above description, the casing 52 of the recovery device 36 is rotatably supported, and the casing is moved between the first position and the second position based on the driving of the driving unit 64. However, the casing 52 may be fixed and the blades 60a and 60b may be switched independently. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the blades 60 a and 60 b are rotatably supported around shafts 681 a and 681 b extending in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the photoconductor 24. Further, the tips of the blades 60a and 60b are urged toward the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photosensitive member by the compression springs 660a and 680b. Further, eccentric cams 683a and 683b are arranged in the vicinity of the base ends of the blades 60a and 60b so as to be rotatable around shafts 620a and 620b extending in a direction parallel to the photosensitive member rotation axis. Then, the shafts 620 a and 620 b of the eccentric cams 683 a and 683 b are connected to the drive system 640. The drive system 640 includes, for example, shafts 642a and 642b connected to the shafts 620a and 620b, gears 641a and 641b fixed to the shafts 642a and 642b, and another gear 641c that meshes with these gears 641a and 641b. This gear 641c is connected to a drive source (not shown) such as a motor or a solenoid. According to such a configuration, the gear 641c rotates based on the drive of the drive source, and the blades 58 and 60 are moved to the first position via the gears 641a and 641b, the shafts 642a and 642b, and the eccentric cams 683a and 683b. Move between the second positions. In this embodiment, the first to third contact forces can be adjusted by adjusting the shapes of the eccentric cams 683a and 683b and their rotation amounts.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the casing 52 (not shown) is fixed in a non-rotating state, while the blades 60a and 60b are attached to a support member 530 attached to the casing 52 so as to be rotatable about the shaft 100. The blades 60a and 60b may be moved between the first position and the second position by fixing and rotating the support member 530 forward and backward based on driving of a drive source (not shown).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the blade and the support member may be configured as one integral part 600.

  Furthermore, the second contact member is not limited to the blade, and the second contact member may be formed by a brush roller 600 as shown in FIG.

  In the above description, the example in which the present invention is applied to the collecting device 36 that collects the untransferred toner from the outer peripheral surface 26 of the photoconductor is shown. However, the configuration of the collecting device described above is not applied from the outer peripheral surface of the transfer belt 14. The present invention can be similarly applied to the collecting device 42 that collects the transfer toner. In this case, there is an advantage that the life of the transfer belt 14 is extended.

  As mentioned above, although several embodiment was each demonstrated, these are illustrations and are not restrict | limited to this. The present invention is defined by the scope of the claims, rather than the scope described above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 12 Housing 14 Transfer belt 16 Roller 18 Roller 20 Belt part 22 Image forming unit 24 Photoconductor 26 Photoconductor outer peripheral surface 28 Charging device 30 Exposure device 32 Developing device 36 Collection device 38 Paper feed device 40 Transfer device (secondary) Transfer device)
42 Cleaning Device 44 Fixing Device 46 Paper Discharge Unit 48 Sheet 50 Collection Unit 52 Case 54 Toner Collection Chamber 56 Conveying Device 60a Collection Blade (First Contact Member)
60b Application blade (second contact member)
62 Shaft 64 Drive unit 70 Oscillating mechanism 72 Recovery blade tip surface 74 Application blade tip surface 76 First contact portion 78 Second contact portion 80 (untransferred) Toner 82 Lubricant 84 First storage space 86 Second storage Storage space 88 Thin layer (film)
90 Control unit

Claims (6)

Powder toner is electrostatically attached to a rotatable endless support surface to form a toner image, the toner image is transferred to another member, and the support surface is not transferred to the other member. In an image forming apparatus that scrapes and collects toner remaining in
A first contact member disposed in the vicinity of the carrying surface;
A second contact member disposed in the vicinity of the support surface and downstream of the first contact member with respect to the rotation direction of the support surface;
A first mode for recovering the lubricant present on the support surface from the support surface based on the rotation of the support surface;
An image forming method comprising: a second mode in which the lubricant collected by the first contact member is applied to the support surface by the second contact member to form a thin layer of the lubricant. apparatus. The first mode is:
While the first contact member collects the lubricant and applies a first contact force to the support surface to prevent the lubricant from being conveyed downstream of the first contact member;
Applying a second contact force to the support surface, wherein the second contact member is separated or slightly in contact with the support surface;
The second mode is:
The first contact member is separated or slightly in contact with the carrying surface, and the lubricant staying at the tip of the first contact member based on the rotation of the carrying surface is the first contact member. A third contact force that passes from the contact surface between the contact member and the support surface is applied to the support surface,
Passing the lubricant that has passed from the contact surface between the first contact member and the support surface from the contact surface between the second contact member and the support surface by frictional contact with the rotating support surface. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a fourth contact force for forming a thin film of the lubricant on the carrying surface is applied to the carrying surface.   When the first contact force is F1, the second contact force is F2, the third contact force is F3, and the fourth contact force, the respective relationships are F1> F3 and F2 <F4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image forming apparatus is provided.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first contact member and the second contact member are formed of plate-like members.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second contact member is formed of a rotatable brush roller. A powder toner is electrostatically attached to a rotatable endless carrier surface to form a toner image, the toner image is transferred to another carrier, and the toner image is not transferred to the other carrier. A method of driving an image forming apparatus that scrapes and collects toner remaining on a carrying surface,
The first contact member is brought into contact with the carrying surface, and based on the rotation of the carrying surface, the lubricant remaining together with the toner on the carrying surface is scraped off,
The first contact member is separated from the carrying surface, or the contact force of the first contact member with respect to the carrying surface is weakened, and scraped off by the first contact member based on the rotation of the carrying surface. Conveying the lubricant to the downstream side of the first contact member;
A second contact member is brought into contact with the carrying surface, and the lubricant being conveyed based on the rotation of the carrying surface is captured by the second contact member, and is captured by the second contact member. A driving method of an image forming apparatus, wherein a lubricant is applied to the carrying surface by the second contact member to form a thin layer of the lubricant.

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