JP2013195922A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which is capable of preventing waste of lubricant to be applied to an image carrier.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus comprises: a rotatable photoreceptor drum 1413 (an image carrier); lubricant 183; an application brush 182 which scrapes off the lubricant 183 and applies fine powder of the lubricant 183 which is scraped off to the photoreceptor drum 1413 by rotating while being in contact with the photoreceptor drum 1413 and the lubricant 183; a collection part 190 which collects the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 which flies off when the application bruch 182 scrapes off the lubricant 183; a supply part 191 which supplies the fine powder 186 collected by the collection part 190 to the application brush 182; and a control part 200 wich controls the supply part 191. Thus, the fine powder 186 which flies off when the application brush 182 scrapes off the lubricant 183 is used as supplement when the application brush 182 applies the lubricant 183 to the photoreceptor drum 1413.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is provided with a lubricant application device that applies a lubricant to an image carrier. As a result, the friction coefficient of the image carrier is reduced, and the life of the cleaning blade provided in the image carrier and the image carrier cleaning unit is extended. As such a lubricant application device, a device in which a rotating application brush is disposed so as to contact both the lubricant and the image carrier is known. For example, there is known a lubricant application device that presses a lubricant against an application brush by a pressing means such as a spring, scrapes the lubricant with an application brush, and rotates and applies the lubricant to an image carrier.

  As a technique related to the lubricant application device, a technique capable of efficiently using a lubricant has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-228867, the fine powder of the lubricant that could not be applied to the image carrier by the first brush is disposed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier from the first brush. This is applied to the surface of the image carrier with a brush.

JP 2010-191110 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, when the second brush applies fine powder of lubricant that cannot be applied by the first brush to the surface of the image carrier, the second brush and the image carrier. Flicking occurs at the point of contact with the lubricant, and the fine powder of the lubricant falls into the housing. That is, there is a problem that the lubricant is wasted even when applying to the surface of the image carrier using the second brush.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of preventing waste of a lubricant applied to an image carrier.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes:
A rotating image carrier;
A lubricant,
An application brush for scraping the lubricant by rotating while in contact with the image carrier and the lubricant, and applying the scraped lubricant to the image carrier;
A collecting portion that collects the lubricant that flies when the application brush scrapes the lubricant;
A supply unit for supplying the lubricant collected by the collection unit to the application brush;
A control unit for controlling the supply unit;
Is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can prevent the lubricant for applying to the image carrier from being wasted.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an image forming apparatus showing an embodiment according to the present invention. 1 is a control block diagram of an image forming apparatus showing an embodiment according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the lubricant application apparatus vicinity which shows embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the number of printed sheets, and lubricant consumption. It is a figure which shows the modification of the structure of the lubricant application apparatus vicinity which shows embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the structure of the lubricant application apparatus vicinity which shows embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the structure of the lubricant application apparatus vicinity which shows embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the structure of the lubricant application apparatus vicinity which shows embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the structure of the lubricant application apparatus vicinity which shows embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the structure of the lubricant application apparatus vicinity which shows embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the structure of the lubricant application apparatus vicinity which shows embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the structure of the lubricant application apparatus vicinity which shows embodiment which concerns on this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. An image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an intermediate transfer type color image forming apparatus using electrophotographic process technology. That is, the image forming apparatus 100 transfers (primary transfer) each color toner image of C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black) formed on the photosensitive member to the intermediate transfer member, An image is formed by superimposing four color toner images on the intermediate transfer member and then transferring (secondary transfer) to a sheet.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus 100 employs a tandem system in which photoconductors corresponding to four colors of CMYK are arranged in series in the running direction of the intermediate transfer member, and each color toner image is sequentially transferred to the intermediate transfer member in one procedure. Has been.

  As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming apparatus 100 includes an image reading unit 110, an operation display unit 120, an image processing unit 130, an image forming unit 140, a conveyance unit 150, a fixing unit 160, and a control unit 200. . Details of the lubricant application device 180 shown in FIG. 2 will be described later.

  The control unit 200 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, and the like. The CPU 201 reads a program corresponding to the processing content from the ROM 202 and develops it in the RAM 203, and centrally controls the operation of each block of the image forming apparatus 100 in cooperation with the developed program. At this time, various data stored in the storage unit 172 are referred to. The storage unit 172 includes, for example, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory (so-called flash memory) or a hard disk drive.

  The control unit 200 transmits and receives various data to and from an external device (for example, a personal computer) connected to a communication network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network) via the communication unit 171. Do. For example, the control unit 200 receives image data transmitted from an external device, and forms an image on a sheet based on the image data (input image data). The communication unit 171 includes a communication control card such as a LAN card, for example.

  The image reading unit 110 includes an automatic document feeder 111 called an ADF (Auto Document Feeder), a document image scanning device (scanner) 112, and the like.

  The automatic document feeder 111 transports the document D placed on the document tray by the transport mechanism and sends it to the document image scanning device 112. The automatic document feeder 111 can continuously read images (including both sides) of a large number of documents D placed on a document tray all at once.

  The document image scanning device 112 optically scans a document conveyed on the contact glass from the automatic document feeder 111 or a document placed on the contact glass, and reflects reflected light from the document to a CCD (Charge Coupled Device). ) An image is formed on the light receiving surface of the sensor 112a, and a document image is read. The image reading unit 110 generates input image data based on the reading result by the document image scanning device 112. The input image data is subjected to predetermined image processing in the image processing unit 130.

  The operation display unit 120 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) with a touch panel, and functions as the display unit 121 and the operation unit 122. The display unit 121 displays various operation screens, image status display, operation status of each function, and the like according to a display control signal input from the control unit 200. The operation unit 122 includes various operation keys such as a numeric keypad and a start key, receives various input operations by the user, and outputs an operation signal to the control unit 200.

  The image processing unit 130 includes a circuit that performs digital image processing on input image data according to initial settings or user settings. For example, the image processing unit 130 performs tone correction based on tone correction data (tone correction table) under the control of the control unit 200. Further, the image processing unit 130 performs various correction processes such as color correction and shading correction, a compression process, and the like on the input image data in addition to the gradation correction. Based on the image data subjected to these processes, the image forming unit 140 is controlled.

  The image forming unit 140 forms image with each color toner of Y component, M component, C component, and K component based on the input image data, and image forming units 141Y, 141M, 141C, 141K and intermediate transfer unit 142. Etc.

  The image forming units 141Y, 141M, 141C, and 141K for the Y component, M component, C component, and K component have the same configuration. For convenience of illustration and description, common constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and in order to distinguish them, Y, M, C, or K is added to the reference numerals. In FIG. 1, only the components of the image forming unit 141Y for the Y component are denoted by reference numerals, and the reference numerals are omitted for the components of the other image forming units 141M, 141C, and 141K.

  The configuration of the image forming unit 141 will be described using the image forming unit 141Y. The image forming unit 141Y includes an exposure device 1411, a developing device 1412, a photosensitive drum 1413, a charging device 1414, a drum cleaning device 1415, and the like. The photosensitive drum 1413 functions as an image carrier of the present invention.

  The photosensitive drum 1413 has, for example, an undercoat layer (UCL), a charge generation layer (CGL), a charge transport layer (CGL) on the peripheral surface of an aluminum conductive cylinder (aluminum tube). It is a negatively charged organic photoreceptor (OPC: Organic Photo-conductor) in which CTL (Charge Transport Layer) is sequentially laminated.

  The charging device 1414 uniformly charges the surface of the photoconductive drum 1413 to a negative polarity. The exposure device 1411 is composed of, for example, a semiconductor laser, and irradiates the photosensitive drum 1413 with laser light corresponding to the image of each color component. A positive charge is generated in the charge generation layer of the photosensitive drum 1413 and is transported to the surface of the charge transport layer, whereby the surface charge (negative charge) of the photosensitive drum 1413 is neutralized. An electrostatic latent image of each color component is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1413 due to a potential difference from the surroundings.

  The developing device 1412 contains a developer of each color component (for example, a two-component developer composed of a toner having a small particle diameter and a magnetic material), and causes the toner of each color component to adhere to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1413. Thus, the electrostatic latent image is visualized to form a toner image.

  The drum cleaning device 1415 has a drum cleaning blade that is in sliding contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 1413. Transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1413 after the primary transfer is scraped off and removed by a drum cleaning blade.

  The intermediate transfer unit 142 includes an intermediate transfer belt 1421 serving as an intermediate transfer member, a primary transfer roller 1422, a secondary transfer roller 1423, a driving roller 1424, a driven roller 1425, a belt cleaning device 1426, and the like.

  The intermediate transfer belt 1421 is an endless belt and is stretched around a driving roller 1424 and a driven roller 1425. Intermediate transfer belt 1421 travels at a constant speed in the direction of arrow A by the rotation of drive roller 1424. When the intermediate transfer belt 1421 is brought into pressure contact with the photosensitive drum 1413 by the primary transfer roller 1422, the respective color toner images are sequentially superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 1421 and primarily transferred. When the intermediate transfer belt 1421 is pressed against the sheet S by the secondary transfer roller 1423, the toner image primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 1421 is secondarily transferred to the sheet S.

  The belt cleaning device 1426 has a belt cleaning blade that is in sliding contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 1421. Transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 1421 after the secondary transfer is scraped off and removed by a belt cleaning blade.

  The fixing unit 160 fixes the toner image on the sheet S by heating and pressurizing the conveyed sheet S at the fixing nip portion. The fixing unit 160 is an air separation type fixing device configured to include a fixing unit 161 and an air separation unit 162. The fixing unit 161 causes the sheet S to pass through a fixing nip portion formed by pressing a pair of fixing members, and applies heat from a heat source to the toner image transferred onto the sheet S. The toner image is fixed to the toner image. The air separation unit 162 separates the paper S from the fixing member by blowing gas onto the paper S from the paper discharge side of the paper S in the fixing nip portion.

  The transport unit 150 includes a paper feed unit 151, a transport mechanism 152, a paper discharge unit 153, and the like. In the three paper feed tray units 151a to 151c constituting the paper feed unit 151, paper (standard paper, special paper) S identified based on the basis weight or size of the paper is accommodated for each preset type. Is done.

  The sheets S accommodated in the sheet feeding tray units 151a to 151c are sent out one by one from the uppermost part, and are conveyed to the image forming unit 140 by a conveying mechanism 152 including a plurality of conveying rollers such as a registration roller 152a. At this time, the registration unit in which the registration roller 152a is disposed corrects the inclination of the fed paper S and adjusts the conveyance timing. In the image forming unit 140, the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 1421 is secondarily transferred onto one side of the sheet S at a time, and a fixing process is performed in the fixing unit 160. The sheet S on which the image has been formed is discharged out of the apparatus by a discharge unit 153 provided with a discharge roller 153a.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a lubricant application device 180 that applies a lubricant 183 to a photosensitive drum 1413 that functions as an image carrier is provided with a drum cleaning blade with respect to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1413. 181 is provided on the downstream side.

  The lubricant application device 180 includes an application brush 182, a solid lubricant 183, a pressing spring 184, a collection unit 190, and a supply unit 191. The lubricant application device 180 is provided in each of the image forming units 141Y, 141M, 141C, and 141K.

  The application brush 182 is, for example, a metal shaft having an outer diameter of 14 mm, in which a bundle of acrylic fibers is woven into a loop shape having a height of 2.5 [mm] on a base fabric having a thickness of 0.5 [mm], and flocked. It is configured by winding. The coating brush 182 is formed in the depth direction in the drawing in the same length as the axial length of the photosensitive drum 1413, and the coating brush 182 is positioned so as to bite into the photosensitive drum 1413 by about 1.0 [mm]. Yes. The application brush 182 rotates at, for example, 220 [mm / sec] in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1413. The application brush 182 is rotationally driven by a control signal from the control unit 200.

  The lubricant 183 is formed by hardening a lubricant such as zinc stearate (ZnSt) having a pencil hardness of HB. The lubricant 183 is formed in the depth direction in the drawing in the same length as the axial length of the photosensitive drum 1413, and is pressed in the direction of the application brush 182 by the pressing spring 184. The right end of the pressing spring 184 in the drawing is fixed to the housing 185. A plurality of pressing springs 184 are arranged in a balanced manner in the axial direction of the application brush 182.

  The application brush 182 scrapes the lubricant 183 with the bristles of the rotating application brush 182, and applies the fine powder of the lubricant 183 to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1413.

  The collection unit 190 is provided below the application brush 182 and the lubricant 183. The collection unit 190 has an opening for receiving fine powder of the lubricant 183 facing the contact position between the lubricant 183 and the application brush 182, and the lubricant that flew when the application brush 182 scraped the lubricant 183. 183 fines 186 are collected.

  The supply unit 191 is provided between the application brush 182 and the lubricant 183 and the collection unit 190. The supply unit 191 supplies fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 collected by the collection unit 190 to the application brush 182. Specifically, the supply unit 191 has a long plate-like rotating member that supplies fine powder 186 collected in the collection unit 190 at the tip portion to the application brush 182 while scooping. The front end portion of the plate-like rotation member has a bent portion that is bent at a predetermined angle (for example, an angle greater than 0 degree and less than 90 degrees) forward in the rotation direction of the supply unit 191 on the rotation direction side of the plate-like rotation member. . The supply unit 191 rotates the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 accumulated in the bottom portion of the collecting unit 190 by rotating in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1413 at, for example, 220 [mm / sec]. Adhere to hair.

  In the present embodiment, the supply unit 191 supplies fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 collected by the collection unit 190 to the application brush 182 during non-image formation. Here, “at the time of non-image formation” means a time other than “at the time of image formation” in which an image for forming and outputting a toner image on the paper S is formed. For example, the timing of performing a resist correction operation for detecting the color misregistration amount of the toner image formed by the image forming units 141Y, 141M, 141C, and 141K and correcting the color misregistration of each color, and preventing so-called toner fogging. In order to achieve this, the timing of performing the preliminary stirring operation of the developer can be given.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of lubricant 183 consumed and the number of printed sheets. A curve L1 in FIG. 4 shows a conventional technique in which the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 that has flown when the coating brush 182 scrapes off the lubricant 183 is not supplied to the coating brush 182. The image forming unit 140 prints 600,000 pages. At that time, all the lubricant 183 was consumed. On the other hand, a curve L2 in FIG. 4 shows the embodiment in which the lubricant 183 scattered when the application brush 182 scrapes the lubricant 183 is supplied to the application brush 182, and the image forming unit 140 prints 800,000 pages. When done, all the lubricant 183 was consumed. That is, by adopting the configuration of the present embodiment, the life of the lubricant 183 could be extended by about 30% compared to the conventional technology.

  As described in detail above, in this embodiment, the rotating photosensitive drum 1413, the lubricant 183, and the lubricant 183 are scraped off by rotating while contacting the photosensitive drum 1413 and the lubricant 183. An application brush 182 that applies the fine powder of the lubricant 183 taken to the photosensitive drum 1413, a collecting unit 190 that collects the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 that flies when the application brush 182 scrapes the lubricant 183, A supply unit 191 that supplies fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 collected by the collection unit 190 to the application brush 182 and a control unit 200 that controls the supply unit 191 are provided.

  According to this embodiment configured as described above, the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 that has flown when the coating brush 182 scrapes off the lubricant 183 applies the lubricant 183 to the photosensitive drum 1413. It is used when supplementing. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lubricant 183 for applying to the photosensitive drum 1413 from being wasted.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment, the front-end | tip part of the supply part 191 (plate-shaped rotation member) has the bending part bent in the rotation direction front of the supply part 191 on the rotation direction side of the said plate-shaped rotation member. Accordingly, the supply unit 191 easily scoops the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 accumulated in the bottom portion of the collection unit 190, and supplies the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 collected by the collection unit 190 to the application brush 182. Work can be done smoothly.

  In the present embodiment, supply unit 191 supplies fine powder 186 of lubricant 183 collected by collection unit 190 to application brush 182 during non-image formation. The amount of the fine powder 186 supplied to the application brush 182 varies depending on the amount of the fine powder 186 accumulated in the bottom portion of the collecting portion 190 and is not always constant. That is, when fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 is supplied to the application brush 182 during image formation, the amount of the lubricant 183 applied to the photosensitive drum 1413 by the application brush 182 becomes uneven, which adversely affects image formation in the image forming unit 140. Effect. Therefore, in order to avoid such a problem, the lubricant collected by the collection unit 190 during non-image formation which is not easily affected by unevenness in the amount of the lubricant 183 applied to the photosensitive drum 1413. 183 fine powder 186 is supplied to the application brush 182.

  In addition, although the example which provides one supply part 191 was demonstrated in the said embodiment, this invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, four supply units 191a, 191b, 191c, and 191d may be provided at intervals of a predetermined angle (for example, 90 degrees) in the rotation direction. If comprised in this way, the frequency | count per unit time which scoops the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 and adheres to the hair of the application brush 182 will increase, and without increasing the rotational speed of supply part 191a, 191b, 191c, 191d, The amount of fine powder 186 supplied to the application brush 182 can be increased.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, it is the same shape as the storage part 192 which stores the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 collected by the collection part 190, and the supply part 191 shown in FIG. Yes, a second supply unit 193 that supplies fine powder 186 stored in the storage unit 192 to the collection unit 190 and a detection unit 194 that detects the amount of fine powder 186 stored in the storage unit 192 are newly provided. You may do it. The right end part of the collection part 190 and the left end part of the storage part 192 are connected to each other with a part of the arc part missing. The supply unit 191 rotates in the direction of the arrow to scoop the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 accumulated in the bottom portion of the collection unit 190 and supply the fine powder 186 to the storage unit 192. The detection unit 194 is an optical sensor that includes a light emitting unit that emits light and a light receiving unit that receives light reflected from the light emitted from the light emitting unit upon hitting the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183. The detection unit 194, for example, every time image formation for 1000 pages is performed by the image forming apparatus 100, the fine powder 186 stored in the storage unit 192 is based on the time until the reflected light reflected by the fine powder 186 is received. Detect the amount of. When the detection unit 194 detects a predetermined amount or more of the lubricant 183, the control unit 200 performs the second supply so that the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 stored in the storage unit 192 is supplied to the collection unit 190. The part 193 is rotated in the direction of the arrow. With this configuration, for example, when the image forming process is continuously performed for a long time as in the production print field, that is, even when the timing of the non-image forming process does not come easily, the lubricant scraped off by the coating brush 182 183 fines 186 can continue to accumulate.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example in which the supply part 191 is a elongate plate-shaped rotation member, this invention is not limited to this. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the supply unit 195 may be a brush rotating member that includes a support and a plurality of brush bristles provided in an inclined posture on the surface of the support. In this case, the bristle of the supply unit 195 exhibits the function of attaching the fine powder 186 only when rotating in one direction. That is, when the supply unit 195 rotates counterclockwise by a control signal from the control unit 200, the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 accumulated on the bottom portion of the collection unit 190 adheres to the brush bristles of the supply unit 195. On the other hand, when the supply unit 195 rotates in the clockwise direction by a control signal from the control unit 200, the fine powder 186 attached to the brush hair of the supply unit 195 when the brush bristles of the supply unit 195 come into contact with the bristles of the application brush 182. Moves to and adheres to the hair of the application brush 182.

  As a modification of the configuration shown in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 8, a pressing portion 196 that presses and hardens the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 collected by the collecting portion 190 may be provided. The pressing part 196 is a long plate-like member, and has a bent part that is bent toward the supply part 195 at the tip of the pressing part 196. The pressing unit 196 moves in the direction of a double arrow according to a control signal from the control unit 200. When the application brush 182 scrapes the lubricant 183, the control unit 200 positions the pressing unit 196 upward. In this state, when the scraping of the lubricant 183 proceeds to some extent, a predetermined amount of fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 accumulates in the region indicated by the dotted line 197. Thereafter, the control unit 200 moves the pressing unit 196 to a lower position and presses the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 to the bottom portion of the collecting unit 190. Thereby, the surface area of the pressed fine powder 186 is reduced, and the adhesion efficiency of the fine powder 186 to the brush bristles of the supply unit 195 can be improved.

  Further, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, an elastic scraper 199 is provided to scrape the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 adhering to the supply unit 198 toward the collecting unit 190. good. The supply unit 198 is a long plate-like rotating member, and rotates clockwise or counterclockwise according to a control signal from the control unit 200. By rotating the supply unit 198 in the clockwise direction, the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 accumulated in the bottom portion of the collection unit 190 can be scooped and attached to the hair of the application brush 182. In this case, a large amount of fine powder 186 that has not adhered to the hair of the application brush 182 may accumulate in the supply unit 198 and stick. In such a case, when the supply unit 198 is rotated counterclockwise, the fine powder 186 stuck to the supply unit 198 is scraped off toward the collecting unit 190 by the scraper 199. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the fine powder 186 from sticking to the supply unit 198. As a result, the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 collected by the collecting unit 190 is wasted when being supplied to the application brush 182. Occurrence can be prevented.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the supply part 195 shown in FIG. 7, the storage part 192 which stores the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 collected by the collection part 190, and FIG. The second supply unit 193 that supplies the fine powder 186 stored in the storage unit 192 to the collecting unit 190, and the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 attached to the supply unit 195 is the storage unit. For example, an elastic scraper 210 that is scraped off toward 192 may be provided. The right end part of the collection part 190 and the left end part of the storage part 192 are connected to each other with a part of the arc part missing. When the supply unit 195 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the scraper 210 makes fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 adhering to the brush bristles of the supply unit 195 when the tip of the scraper 210 and the brush bristles of the supply unit 195 come into contact with each other. Scrape off toward the reservoir 192. The second supply unit 193 rotates in the direction of the arrow in response to a control signal from the control unit 200, thereby scooping the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 stored in the storage unit 192 and supplying the fine powder 186 to the collection unit 190.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, when the supply unit 191 supplies fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 collected by the collection unit 190 to the application brush 182, the application brush 182 and the lubricant 183 are supplied. A separation portion 211 that separates the two may be provided. The separation unit 211 is a slide cam provided on the main body side of the image forming apparatus 100, for example, and can rotate around the shaft 212 by a control signal from the control unit 200. When the separation portion 211 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the lubricant 183 moves in a direction away from the application brush 182. FIG. 11 shows a state where the application brush 182 and the lubricant 183 are separated. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 (that is, the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 scraped off by the paint brush 182) from adhering to the application brush 182 during non-image formation. It is possible to prevent the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 from being applied to the photosensitive drum 1413 more than necessary. This also leads to preventing the lubricant 183 to be applied to the photosensitive drum 1413 from being wasted.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, you may make it provide the 2nd detection part 213 which detects the quantity of the lubricant 183 collected per predetermined time by the collection part 190. FIG. The second detection unit 213 is an optical sensor that includes a light emitting unit that emits light and a light receiving unit that receives light reflected from the light emitted from the light emitting unit against the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183. The second detection unit 213 receives the reflected light reflected by the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 accumulated on the bottom portion of the collection unit 190 and receives the reflected light by the collection unit 190 at a predetermined time. The amount of fine powder 186 collected is detected. When the second detection unit 213 detects the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 in a predetermined amount or more, the control unit 200 removes the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 attached to the application brush 182 when the lubricant 183 is scraped off. The supply unit 191 is controlled so as to be scraped off toward the collecting unit 190.

  The fact that the predetermined amount or more of the lubricant 183 is detected by the second detection unit 213 is presumed that the amount of the lubricant 183 scraped by the application brush 182 per predetermined time is larger than usual. In this case, the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 adheres to the application brush 182 more than necessary, and as a result, the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 more than necessary is applied to the photosensitive drum 1413. Therefore, when the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 of a predetermined amount or more is detected by the second detection unit 213, the control unit 200 rotates the supply unit 191 in the arrow direction (counterclockwise direction) to thereby apply the application brush 182. Then, the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 adhering more than necessary is scraped off toward the collecting portion 190. With this configuration, when the application brush 182 scrapes off the solid lubricant 183, it is possible to prevent the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 from being applied to the application brush 182 so that it does not adhere to the photosensitive drum 1413. It is possible to prevent the fine powder 186 of the lubricant 183 from being applied more than necessary. This also leads to preventing the lubricant 183 to be applied to the photosensitive drum 1413 from being wasted.

  In addition, each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of actualization in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist or the main features thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming apparatus 182 Application | coating brush 183 Lubricant 190 Collecting part 191,191a, 191b, 191c, 191d, 195,198 Supply part 192 Storage part 193 2nd supply part 194 Detection part 196 Press part 199,210 Scraper 200 Control Part 211 separation part 213 second detection part 1413 photosensitive drum

Claims (13)

A rotating image carrier;
A lubricant,
An application brush for scraping the lubricant by rotating while in contact with the image carrier and the lubricant, and applying the scraped lubricant to the image carrier;
A collecting portion that collects the lubricant that flies when the application brush scrapes the lubricant;
A supply unit for supplying the lubricant collected by the collection unit to the application brush;
A control unit for controlling the supply unit;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The collection part has an opening for receiving the lubricant facing the contact position between the lubricant and the application brush,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply unit includes a long plate-like rotating member that supplies the lubricant collected in the collection unit at the tip end to the application brush while scooping the lubricant.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the front end portion of the plate-like rotation member has a bent portion that is bent forward in the rotation direction of the supply portion on the rotation direction side of the plate-like rotation member. A storage section for storing the lubricant collected by the collection section;
A second supply unit that supplies the lubricant stored in the storage unit to the collecting unit;
With
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the second supply unit. A detection unit for detecting the amount of the lubricant stored in the storage unit;
With
The control unit may be configured to cause the second supply unit to supply the lubricant stored in the storage unit to the collecting unit when the detection unit detects the lubricant of a predetermined amount or more. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, which is controlled.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a brush rotating member having a support and a plurality of brush bristles provided in an inclined posture on the surface of the support is used as the supply unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the brush bristles exhibit a function of attaching the lubricant only when rotating in one direction. A pressing part for pressing and solidifying the lubricant collected by the collecting part;
Prepared,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit controls the pressing unit. A scraper that scrapes off the lubricant adhering to the supply unit toward the collecting unit;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. A scraper that scrapes off the lubricant adhering to the supply unit toward the storage unit;
An image forming apparatus according to claim 4.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply unit supplies the lubricant collected by the collection unit to the application brush during non-image formation. When the supply unit supplies the lubricant collected by the collection unit to the application brush, a separation unit that separates the application brush and the lubricant,
Prepared,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the separation unit. A second detection unit for detecting the amount of the lubricant collected per predetermined time by the collection unit;
Prepared,
When the predetermined amount or more of the lubricant is detected by the second detection unit, the control unit directs the lubricant attached to the application brush toward the collecting unit when the lubricant is scraped off. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply unit is controlled to be scraped off.

Images