JP2012108219A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus at a low cost that, while a stretching roller for stretching an image carrier belt is made to be obliquely moved to restrain a belt from meandering, supplies a cleaning roller with liquid to clean the image carrier belt.SOLUTION: In an image forming apparatus, a roller 34 is a steering roller among rollers for stretching an intermediate transfer belt 31, and the steering roller 34 is made to be obliquely moved by such a method that a steering cam 84 is made to be rotated by a steering motor to push a sub-frame 82 upwardly, thereby correcting meandering of the belt. As a result, though a cleaning roller 61 is also obliquely moved along with the oblique movement thereof, a liquid application part 9 is fixed and supported at a predetermined position by a transfer frame 80a, and is completely separated from the sub-frame 82. Therefore, it is prevented to impose a large load on the steering motor.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that cleans an image carrier belt while preventing meandering of the image carrier belt carrying an image developed by a liquid developer composed of toner and carrier liquid.

  Various wet image forming apparatuses have been proposed in which a latent image is developed using a liquid developer in which a toner composed of a solid component is dispersed in a carrier liquid to visualize the electrostatic latent image. For example, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the intermediate transfer belt is stretched and driven by a plurality of rollers including a driving roller and a driven roller. Further, a meandering adjustment member that tilts and moves the rotation shaft of the driven roller is provided, and the meandering of the intermediate transfer belt is suppressed by the meandering adjustment member.

  An intermediate transfer cleaning unit is disposed with respect to the driven roller that is inclined and moved in this manner. The intermediate transfer cleaning unit includes a cleaning roller and a cleaning blade that come into contact with the driven roller via the intermediate transfer belt, and executes a cleaning process for the intermediate transfer belt using these rollers. The intermediate transfer cleaning unit follows the inclined movement of the driven roller by the meandering adjustment member, and the cleaning roller and the cleaning blade are inclined and the contact positions of the cleaning roller and the cleaning blade with the intermediate transfer belt are maintained. The

JP 2009-186902 A

  By the way, even when the above-described cleaning roller is used, a sufficient cleaning effect may not be obtained due to various conditions. Therefore, a technology that improves the cleaning performance by installing an application mechanism on the frame that supports the cleaning roller and the cleaning blade and applying an application liquid such as a liquid developer or carrier liquid to the cleaning roller by this application mechanism. Proposed. That is, the application mechanism stores the application liquid in the storage member and applies the application liquid from the storage member to the cleaning roller by the application roller, and supplies liquid developer or the like to the intermediate transfer belt via the cleaning roller. Thus, the solid content of the toner is reduced to facilitate cleaning.

  However, in order to maintain the contact position of the cleaning roller to the intermediate transfer belt as described above, in the apparatus in which the coating mechanism is attached to the frame together with the cleaning roller as described above, the cleaning roller follows the inclined movement of the driven roller. In addition to the cleaning blade, it is necessary to move the coating mechanism configured as described above. For this reason, it is necessary to use a drive motor having a relatively large output in order to move the driven roller in an inclined manner, which is one of the factors increasing the apparatus cost.

  According to some embodiments of the present invention, an image forming apparatus that cleans an image carrier belt by suppressing a belt meandering by tilting and moving a tension roller that stretches an image carrier belt and supplying a liquid to a cleaning roller Is intended to be provided at low cost.

  One aspect of the present invention includes an image carrier belt that carries an image, a tension roller that stretches the image carrier belt, a cleaning roller that contacts the tension roller via the image carrier belt, and a coating liquid A liquid application part for applying the liquid to the cleaning roller, a first support part for supporting the liquid application part, and the tension roller in the axial direction with respect to the first support part when the cleaning roller is in contact with the tension roller And a meandering correction part for correcting meandering of the image carrier belt in response to the stretching roller being inclined in the axial direction.

  In the invention configured as described above, the meandering of the image carrier belt is corrected in accordance with the inclination of the tension roller that stretches the image carrier belt in the axial direction. The cleaning roller also tilts. On the other hand, the liquid application unit applies the application liquid to the cleaning roller while being supported at a predetermined position. As described above, the objects to be moved by the meandering correction unit are the stretching roller and the cleaning roller, and it is not necessary to move the liquid application unit. Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to improve the cleaning performance by supplying the coating liquid to the image carrier belt via the cleaning roller while correcting the meandering of the image carrier belt with a small driving force. Can do.

1 is a diagram illustrating a first embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The figure which looked at the cleaning part and the meandering correction mechanism from the axial direction side. The figure which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship between rollers. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 includes four image forming stations 2Y (for yellow), 2M (for magenta), 2C (for cyan), and 2K (for black) that form images of different colors. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a color mode in which four color toners of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) are overlapped to form a color image, and black (K). A monochrome mode in which a monochrome image is formed using only toner can be selectively executed. In this image forming apparatus 1, when an image forming command is given from an external device such as a host computer to a controller (not shown) having a CPU, a memory, etc., this controller controls each part of the apparatus and executes a predetermined image forming operation. Then, an image corresponding to the image formation command is formed on a sheet-like transfer material S such as copy paper, transfer paper, paper, and an OHP transparent sheet.

  Each of the image forming stations 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K is provided with a photosensitive drum 21 on which a toner image of each color is formed. The photosensitive drums 21 are arranged such that the rotation axis thereof is parallel or substantially parallel to the main scanning direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1), and a predetermined speed is indicated in the direction of arrow D21 in FIG. Is driven to rotate.

  Around each photosensitive drum 21, a charger 22 that is a corona charger that charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 to a predetermined potential and an electrostatic latent image by exposing the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 according to an image signal. An exposure unit 23 that forms an image, a developing unit 24 that visualizes the electrostatic latent image as a toner image, a first squeeze unit 25, a second squeeze unit 26, and the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 31. A primary transfer unit for primary transfer and a cleaning unit for cleaning the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 after the primary transfer are arranged along the rotation direction D21 (clockwise in FIG. 1) of the photosensitive drum 21 in this order. It is installed.

  The charger 22 does not come into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 21, and a conventionally well-known and commonly used corona charger can be used as the charger 22. When a scorotron charger is used as the corona charger, a wire current flows through the charge wire of the scorotron charger and a direct current (DC) grid charging bias is applied to the grid. When the photosensitive drum 21 is charged by corona discharge by the charger 22, the surface potential of the photosensitive drum 21 is set to a substantially uniform potential.

  The exposure unit 23 exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 with a light beam in accordance with an image signal given from an external device to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal. The exposure unit 23 can be constituted by a light beam from a semiconductor laser that is scanned by a polygon mirror, or a line head in which light emitting elements are arranged in the main scanning direction.

  Toner is applied to the electrostatic latent image formed in this manner from a developing roller 241 provided in the developing unit 24, and the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner. In the developing unit 24 of the image forming apparatus 1, toner development is performed using a liquid developer in which toner is dispersed in a carrier liquid in an approximate weight ratio of about 20%. The liquid developer used in this embodiment is a low-concentration (1 to 2 wt%) and low-viscosity volatility that is generally used in the past, using Isopar (trademark: Exon) as a carrier liquid. It is not an ionic liquid developer but a non-volatile liquid developer having a high concentration and high viscosity and having non-volatility at room temperature. That is, the liquid developer in the present embodiment is obtained by dispersing solid particles having an average particle diameter of 1 μm in which a colorant such as a pigment is dispersed in a thermoplastic resin in a liquid solvent such as an organic solvent, silicone oil, mineral oil, or edible oil. High viscosity with a toner solid content concentration of about 20% (HAAKE RheoStress RS600 is used, and the viscoelasticity at a shear rate of 1000 (1 / S) at 25 ° C. is 30 to 300 mPa · s. Liquid developer.

  A first squeeze portion 25 is disposed on the downstream side of the developing position in the rotation direction D 21 of the photosensitive drum 21, and a second squeeze portion 26 is disposed on the downstream side of the first squeeze portion 25. The squeeze rollers 25 and 26 are respectively provided with squeeze rollers. Each squeeze roller comes into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 to remove excess carrier liquid and fog toner from the toner image. In the present embodiment, the excess carrier liquid and fog toner are removed by the two squeeze portions 25 and 26. However, the number and arrangement of the squeeze portions are not limited to this, for example, one squeeze portion. May be arranged.

  The toner image that has passed through the squeeze portions 25 and 26 is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 31 by the primary transfer unit. The intermediate transfer belt 31 is an endless belt as an image carrier that can temporarily carry a toner image on its surface, more specifically, on its outer peripheral surface, and is stretched around a plurality of rollers 32 to 35. Among these, the roller 32 is mechanically connected to a belt drive motor (not shown), and functions as a belt drive roller that drives the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the direction of arrow D31 in FIG.

  Of the rollers 32 to 35 around the intermediate transfer belt 31, only the belt driving roller 32 is driven by the motor, and the other rollers 33, 34, and 35 are driven rollers having no driving source. is there. Further, the belt driving roller 32 winds the intermediate transfer belt 31 on the downstream side of the primary transfer position TR1 and the upstream side of the secondary transfer position TR2 described later in the belt moving direction D31.

  The primary transfer unit has a primary transfer backup roller 271, and the primary transfer backup roller 271 is disposed to face the photosensitive drum 21 with the intermediate transfer belt 31 interposed therebetween. At the primary transfer position TR1 where the photosensitive drum 21 and the intermediate transfer belt 31 are in contact, a primary transfer nip is formed by the contact, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 21 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt at the primary transfer nip. 31 is transferred to the outer peripheral surface (the lower surface at the primary transfer position TR1). By transferring the toner image at each of the image forming stations 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K, the toner images of the respective colors are sequentially superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 31 to form a full color toner image. On the other hand, when a monochrome toner image is formed, the toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 31 only in the image forming station 2K corresponding to the black color.

  The toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 31 in this way is conveyed to the secondary transfer position TR2 via the winding position around the belt driving roller 32. At the secondary transfer position TR2, the secondary transfer roller 4 is fixedly disposed opposite to the roller 33 around which the intermediate transfer belt 31 is wound, with the intermediate transfer belt 31 interposed therebetween. The surface and the peripheral surface of the transfer roller 4 (excluding the recess 41) are in contact with each other to form a transfer nip NP. That is, the roller 33 functions as a secondary transfer backup roller, and the rotation shaft 33a of the backup roller 33 is elastically applied to the intermediate transfer belt 31 by an urging portion 331 that is an elastic member such as a spring, for example. Are supported so that they can be moved close to and away from each other.

  At the secondary transfer position TR2, a single color or a plurality of color toner images formed on the intermediate transfer belt 31 is transferred from the gate roller 51 (a pair of rollers 51a and 51b) along the transfer path PT. Secondary transfer. A transfer material guide 52 for feeding the transfer material S to the secondary transfer position TR2 without contacting the secondary transfer roller 4 or the intermediate transfer belt 31 is provided between the gate roller 51 and the secondary transfer position TR2. It is arranged. In this embodiment, since the toner image is formed by a wet development method that forms a toner image using a liquid developer, an intermediate transfer belt is used in the secondary transfer nip NP in order to obtain good transfer characteristics. It is desirable that the transfer material S is pressed against the sheet 31 with a high pressing force. Further, since the liquid developer is interposed, there is a high possibility that the transfer material S sticks to the intermediate transfer belt 31 and is jammed. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 1, a secondary transfer roller 4 is used in which a concave portion is provided in a part of the peripheral surface, and a grip portion is provided in the concave portion.

  The secondary transfer roller 4 has a roller base 42 provided with a recess 41 formed by cutting out a part of the outer peripheral surface of a cylinder. In this roller base material 42, a rotation shaft 421 that is rotatable in the direction D 4 around the rotation shaft 4211 is disposed in parallel or substantially parallel to the rotation shaft 33 a of the secondary transfer backup roller 33. Then, it receives a rotational driving force from a motor (not shown) and rotates in the direction D4 about the rotation shaft 4211 at a fixed position.

  Further, an elastic layer 43 such as rubber or resin is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the roller base material 42, that is, on the surface region of the metal plate surface excluding the region corresponding to the inside of the recess 41. The elastic layer 43 forms a secondary transfer nip NP so as to face the intermediate transfer belt 31 wound around the backup roller 33. In the secondary transfer nip NP, the backup roller 33 is urged toward the secondary transfer roller 4 by the urging unit 331, and the secondary transfer roller 4 and the intermediate transfer belt 31 wound around the backup roller 33 are connected. A predetermined load is applied between them.

  A grip 44 for gripping the transfer material S is disposed inside the recess 41. The gripping portion 44 includes a gripper support member 441 erected on the outer peripheral surface of the roller base 42 from the inner bottom portion of the recess 41, and a gripper member 442 that is supported so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the distal end portion of the gripper support member 441. And a transfer material peeling member 449. The gripper member 442 is connected to a gripper driving unit (not shown). In response to an ungrip command from the controller, the gripper driving unit is actuated so that the leading end of the gripper member 442 is separated from the leading end of the gripper support member 441 and the transfer material S is gripped and released. On the other hand, when the gripper driving unit is activated in response to a grip command from the controller, the leading end of the gripper member 442 moves to the leading end of the gripper support member 441 and grips the transfer material S. By providing the grip portion 44 in this manner, the transfer material S can be reliably held, and after the toner image carried on the intermediate transfer belt 31 is transferred to the transfer material S, the transfer material S is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt. It becomes possible to peel from 31.

  Further, the transfer material peeling member 449 is appropriately disposed between the pair of the gripper member 442 and the gripper support member 441 along the axial direction of the secondary transfer roller 4. The transfer material peeling member 449 projects and moves outward in the radial direction of the secondary transfer roller 4, so that the transfer material S held by the gripper member 442 and the gripper support member 441 is transferred to the secondary transfer roller 4. It acts to push away from the direction. Therefore, after the gripper member 442 is separated from the tip of the gripper support member 441 to hold and release the transfer material S, the transfer material peeling member 449 is further acted on to transfer the transfer material S to the secondary transfer. The roller 4 can be reliably peeled off. In addition, about the structure of the holding part 44, it is not limited to this embodiment, You may employ | adopt other conventionally well-known holding mechanisms.

  The transfer material S on which the toner image is secondarily transferred is sent from the secondary transfer roller 4 to the fixing unit 7 provided on the transport path PT. In the fixing unit 7, heat or pressure is applied to the toner image transferred to the transfer material S to fix the toner image to the transfer material S.

  Of the four stretching rollers 32 to 35 that stretch the intermediate transfer belt 31, the roller 34 also functions as a steering roller that corrects the meandering of the intermediate transfer belt 31. A cleaning unit 6 is provided so as to face the steering roller 34 to remove residual deposits such as toner and carrier liquid remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 after the secondary transfer. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the mechanism for correcting the meandering of the belt and the cleaning unit 6 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram of the cleaning unit and the meandering correction mechanism as viewed from the axial direction side, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the positional relationship between the rollers, as viewed from the horizontal direction orthogonal to the axial direction. Reference numerals 80a and 80b in these drawings are a pair of transfer frames that are spaced apart from each other by a fixed distance and rotatably support a primary transfer backup roller 271 and the like disposed therebetween. One of the transfer frames 80a is provided with a guide member 81 that defines the tilting direction of the steering roller 34, and the sub frame 82 can reciprocate in the moving direction D82 along the guide member 81. ing. As shown in FIG. 2, the sub-frame 82 is a hexagonal plate-like member having a side portion parallel to the guide surface 81a of the guide member 81, and abutting bearings 83, 83 at each end portion of the side portion. Are attached, and the peripheral surfaces of both bearings 83, 83 are free to roll on the guide surface 81a.

  One end of the rotating shaft 34 a of the steering roller 34 is pivotally supported on the sub frame 82. Therefore, the sub frame 82 receives the tension of the intermediate transfer belt 31. In addition to the tension, the subframe 82 receives a pushing force from the steering cam 84. That is, the lower surface of the sub frame 82 is bent toward the transfer frame 80a as shown in FIG. 3, and the steering cam 84 is in contact with the bent portion 82a. The steering cam 84 is attached to the rotating shaft of the steering motor 85, rotates in accordance with the rotating operation of the steering motor 85, and applies a force that pushes it upward. Therefore, the position of the sub frame 82 along the guide surface 81a can be controlled by controlling the rotational drive of the steering motor 85 by a controller (not shown) that controls the entire apparatus.

  One end of the rotating shaft 34a of the steering roller 34 is pivotally supported with respect to the subframe 82 moving in this way, but the other end is pivotally supported on one end of the link member 86 as shown in FIG. ing. The other end of the link member 86 is connected to the transfer frame 80b, and is rotatably supported with the connection point JP as a rotation fulcrum. Therefore, by moving the sub-frame 82 by the rotational drive control of the steering motor 85 as described above, the steering roller 34 can be tilted with the connection point JP as a fulcrum, and the meandering of the intermediate transfer belt 31 can be corrected. Thus, in the present embodiment, the “meander correcting portion” of the present invention is configured by the steering cam 84, the steering motor 85, and the link member 86. Note that the configuration for tilting and moving the steering roller 34 is not limited to the above-described configuration, and a mechanism that has been frequently used can be used.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cleaning unit 6 includes a cleaning roller 61, a belt cleaning blade 62, and a roller cleaning blade 63 that contacts the roller circumferential surface of the cleaning roller 61 and cleans the roller 61. is doing. Among these, the cleaning roller 61 contacts the steering roller 34 via the intermediate transfer belt 31 on the upstream side of the belt cleaning blade 62. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning roller 61 is configured by a sponge roller or the like, and is disposed between the sub frame 82 and the transfer frame 80b. One end of the rotating shaft 61 a is pivotally supported by the subframe 82, and the other end is pivotally supported by one end of the link member 86, and is driven to rotate in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 31. Therefore, the cleaning roller 61 can be inclined and moved integrally with the steering roller 34 while being in contact with the steering roller 34 via the intermediate transfer belt 31. In this regard, the same applies to the belt cleaning blade 62 and the roller cleaning blade 63 as shown in FIG. 2 denotes a cleaning tank that collects and stores the liquid developer L and the like scraped by the belt cleaning blade 62 and the roller cleaning blade 63.

  In this embodiment, the liquid application unit 9 is fixedly attached to the transfer frames 80a and 80b, and the cleaning performance is improved by applying a liquid developer to the cleaning roller 61. The liquid application unit 9 includes an application roller 91, a liquid application head 92, a pump 93, and a leveling roller 94. For example, a sponge roller is used as the application roller 91, and both ends of the rotation shaft 91a of the application roller 91 are rotatably supported at predetermined positions with respect to the transfer frames 80a and 80b, respectively. Then, the roller circumferential surface of the application roller 91 comes into contact with the cleaning roller 61 and rotates following the cleaning roller 61.

  A liquid application head 92 is disposed immediately above the application roller 91, and is fixedly supported by a support frame 80c fixed to the transfer frames 80a and 80b. The liquid application head 92 has a box shape extending in parallel with the axial direction X of the application roller 91 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and inside the liquid developer head as shown in FIG. A storage space 921 for storing L is provided. A plurality of nozzles 922 are arranged in a row in the axial direction X of the application roller 91 on the bottom surface of the liquid application head 92. The liquid application head 92 is connected to the cleaning tank 64 by a pipe, and the liquid developer L stored in the cleaning tank 64 is sent to the liquid application head 92 by a pump 93 inserted in the pipe. The liquid developer L is dropped from each nozzle 922 and supplied to the application roller 91. When the liquid developer L is supplied to the application roller 91 in this way, the liquid developer L is made uniform by the leveling roller 94 and applied to the cleaning roller 61. Thus, in this embodiment, the liquid developer L can be uniformly applied to the cleaning roller 61 by providing the leveling roller 94.

  In addition, application of the liquid developer to the cleaning roller 61 reduces the toner solid content rate on the intermediate transfer belt 31 during cleaning by the cleaning roller 61, and cleaning removal of the toner solid content by the cleaning roller 61 is facilitated. In this embodiment, the liquid developer collected and stored in the cleaning tank 64 is used as the “coating liquid” of the present invention, but the toner solid content ratio of water, carrier liquid or the like is used instead of the liquid developer. It may be configured to supply a liquid capable of lowering as a coating liquid. This also applies to embodiments described later.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, among the rollers 32 to 35 that stretch the intermediate transfer belt 31, the roller 34 also functions as a steering roller, and the steering frame 85 is pushed upward to drive the steering by driving the steering motor 85. The belt 34 is tilted to correct the belt meandering. For this reason, the cleaning roller 61 is also tilted along with this tilting movement, but the liquid application unit 9 is maintained in a state of being supported at a predetermined position. Thus, since the liquid application part 9 is completely separated from the sub-frame 82, it is possible to prevent a great load from being applied to the steering motor 85. Therefore, the cleaning property can be improved by supplying the liquid developer to the intermediate transfer belt 31 via the cleaning roller 61 while correcting the meandering of the intermediate transfer belt 31 using the steering motor 85 having a relatively low output. As a result, the cost of the device 1 can be reduced.

  Further, since the liquid developer is temporarily stored in the storage space 921 of the liquid application head 92 and then dropped from the tip opening of each nozzle 922, the liquid in the storage space 921 is tilted when the liquid application head 92 is tilted. There is a possibility that the unevenness of the developer occurs and the uniformity of coating is impaired. However, in this embodiment, even if the steering roller 34 and the cleaning roller 61 are inclined as described above, the liquid application head 92 is fixed to the support frame 80c fixed to the transfer frames 80a and 80b. A problem does not occur, and the liquid application unit 9 can uniformly apply the liquid developer to the cleaning roller 61, and a good cleaning performance can be obtained.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, both the application roller 91 and the cleaning roller 61 are constituted by sponge rollers, and when both are in contact, both elastically deform. Therefore, regardless of the inclination movement of the cleaning roller 61, the application roller 91 can contact the roller peripheral surface of the cleaning roller 61 and uniformly apply the liquid developer. Of course, the same effect can be obtained when either the application roller 91 or the cleaning roller 61 is configured to be elastically deformable.

  Thus, in the first embodiment, the steering roller 34 corresponds to the “stretching roller” of the present invention, the transfer frames 80a and 80b and the support frame 80c correspond to the “first support portion” of the present invention, and the guide The member 81, the subframe 82, and the contact bearing 83 correspond to the “second support portion” of the present invention. The application roller 91 corresponds to the “application member” of the present invention, the liquid application head 92 corresponds to the “liquid storage member”, and the tip opening of the nozzle 922 corresponds to the “supply port” of the present invention.

  FIG. 4 is a view showing a second embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The second embodiment is greatly different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the liquid application unit 9, and other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment. The following description will be focused on the differences, and the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the liquid application unit 9 includes an application block 95 made of an elastic material such as sponge, an overflow tank 96, and a pump 93. This application block 95 replaces the application roller 91 of the first embodiment, and corresponds to the “application member” of the present invention. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the application block 95 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape extending in the axial direction X of the cleaning roller 61, and its lower end surface is in sliding contact with the roller peripheral surface of the cleaning roller 61. As described above, the transfer frames 80a and 80b are arranged at predetermined positions. Further, the overflow tank 96 is fixedly supported by a support frame 80c fixed to the transfer frames 80a and 80b at a position close to the coating block 95. The overflow tank 96 supports the application block 95 by connecting the storage box 961 capable of storing the liquid developer L, the vicinity of the opening of the storage box 961 and the application block 95, and liquid from the storage box 961 to the application block 95. A liquid circulation member 962 for guiding the developer L. That is, an opening is provided on the upper surface of the storage box 961, and when the liquid developer L is fed into the storage box 961 by the pump 93, the liquid developer L is substantially uniformly in the axial direction X from the opening of the storage box 961. Overflow. The overflowed liquid developer L is supplied to the application block 95 along the upper surface of the liquid flow member 962 and further supplied to the cleaning roller 61 via the application block 95.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, regardless of the tilt movement of the steering roller 34 and the cleaning roller 61, the liquid application unit 9 is transferred to the transfer frames 80 a and 80 b at a predetermined position. And it is comprised so that it may be maintained with the state supported by the support frame 80c, and it prevents that a great load is applied with respect to the steering motor 85. FIG. Therefore, the same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the first cleaning roller 61 is driven to rotate with respect to the intermediate transfer belt 31, but it may be configured to rotate counter.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 9 ... Liquid application part, 31 ... Intermediate transfer belt (image carrier belt), 34 ... Steering roller (stretching roller), 61 ... Cleaning roller, 64 ... Cleaning tank, 80a, 80b ... Transfer Frame, 80c ... Support frame, 82 ... Sub frame, 83 ... Bearing, 84 ... Steering cam, 85 ... Steering motor, 86 ... Link member, 91 ... Application roller (application member), 92 ... Liquid application head (liquid storage member) 92a ... Nozzle, 95 ... Application block (application member), 961 ... Overflow tank (liquid storage member), 962 ... Liquid flow member, L ... Liquid developer, X ... Axial direction

Claims (7)

An image carrier belt carrying an image;
A tension roller that stretches the image carrier belt;
A cleaning roller in contact with the tension roller via the image carrier belt;
A liquid application part for applying a coating liquid to the cleaning roller;
A first support part for supporting the liquid application part;
A second support portion having a support member that inclines the tension roller in the axial direction with respect to the first support portion when the cleaning roller is in contact with the tension roller;
A meandering correction unit for correcting meandering of the image carrier belt in response to the stretching roller being inclined in the axial direction;
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid application unit includes a liquid storage member that stores the application liquid, and an application member that applies the application liquid stored in the liquid storage member to the cleaning roller.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the application member includes an elastic layer that contacts the cleaning roller and elastically deforms.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the application member is an application roller.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the application member is an application block that is in sliding contact with the cleaning roller.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first support portion supports the liquid storage member above a vertical direction of the application member.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the liquid storage member has a plurality of supply ports arranged in an axial direction of the cleaning roller, and drops a coating liquid from the supply port onto the coating member.

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