JP2014170020A - Glossiness generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus that suppresses the situation in which: in a glossiness generating device, every time one glossy image is formed, a toner remains on a fixing belt even though paper jam is not generated, and when another glossy image is formed by using such a fixing belt, the remaining toner is attached to the glossy image, resulting in formation of defective image.SOLUTION: A glossiness generating device includes a recording medium conveying unit that conveys a recording medium having an image formed thereon, a heating unit that heats a portion of the recording medium conveying unit where the recording medium is not conveyed, and a toner removing unit that removes a toner attached to the recording medium conveying unit heated by the heating unit.

Description

  The present invention relates to a gloss generating device that generates gloss on an image formed on a recording medium.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apparatus that generates gloss on an image formed with toner is known. In Patent Document 1, the toner adhering to the recording material is softened or melted so that it can be deformed by an external force, and the recording material on which an image is formed with the toner on the outer peripheral surface of the endless belt is pressed. The technology is described. In this technique, the gloss of an image can be adjusted by bringing the recording material into pressure contact with an endless belt, transporting it for a predetermined distance, and then peeling it.

  In such an apparatus, when the recording material is pressed against the endless belt, a part of the toner may adhere to the endless belt. If gloss is generated on an image formed on another recording material while a part of the toner is attached to the endless belt, the toner remaining on the endless belt is attached to the image. . Therefore, Patent Document 2 describes a cleaning device for removing the toner remaining on the endless belt. In this technique, a fixing roller controlled to a predetermined temperature warms the fixing belt and performs a cleaning operation.

  However, the cleaning operation of the cleaning device described in Patent Document 2 is a recovery operation from a paper jam. The cleaning operation of the cleaning device described in Patent Document 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the fixing belt 91, the pressure roller 92, and the cleaning device 93 according to the technique described in Patent Document 2.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the toner attached to the fixing belt 91 is transferred to the pressure roller 92, and the toner transferred to the pressure roller 92 is transferred to the cleaning device 93 to remove the toner from the fixing belt 91. . The pressure roller 92 presses the recording material on which the image is formed with toner in the operation of forming the glossy image, and the cleaning operation cannot be performed during the formation of the glossy image.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 2, toner is removed from the fixing belt 91 during a recovery operation from a paper jam. Actually, every time a glossy image is formed even if no paper jam occurs. The toner remains on the fixing belt 91, and when another glossy image is formed using such a fixing belt, the remaining toner adheres to the glossy image and a defective image is formed. .

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a gloss generating device that generates gloss on an image formed with toner, a recording medium transport unit that transports the recording medium on which the image is formed, and the recording medium A heating unit that heats the portion of the recording medium that is not transporting the recording medium, and a toner removal unit that removes toner adhering to the recording medium transport unit heated by the heating unit. To do.

  According to the present invention, the recording medium transport unit that transports the recording medium on which the image is formed, the heating unit that heats the recording medium transport unit in a portion that is not transporting the recording medium, and the heating unit that is heated A toner removing unit that removes toner adhering to the recording medium conveying unit, so that the toner remaining on the belt is removed during the operation for generating gloss on the image, and no toner remains. It is possible to perform processing for generating gloss using a belt.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming system. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a control unit of the image forming apparatus 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a control unit of the gloss generating device 2. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a gloss generating device 2. FIG. FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram illustrating an overview of a process in which the image forming apparatus 1 forms an image. It is a processing flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the process in which the glossy generation apparatus 2 produces | generates glossiness to an image. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conventional glossiness generation apparatus and the cleaning apparatus.

<< Configuration of the Embodiment >>
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an image forming system in the present embodiment.

  The image forming system of the present embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 1 and a gloss generating apparatus 2 as shown in FIG. Further, the image forming apparatus 1 can transmit / receive information to / from the gloss generating apparatus 2.

<Hardware configuration of image forming apparatus>
The image forming apparatus 1 forms an image on a sheet P that is an example of a recording medium by copying, printing, or the like. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a scanner unit 11 is provided at the top of the image forming apparatus 1. The scanner unit 11 generates RGB image information by optically reading a document placed on the contact glass 111. Specifically, the scanner unit 11 reads RGB image information by irradiating the sheet P with light and receiving the reflected light by a reading sensor 112 such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices) or a CIS (Contact Image Sensor). The RGB image information is information representing an image formed on the paper P, and includes the brightness of each color of red (R), green (G), and blue (B).

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a driving roller 141, a driven roller 142, and a secondary transfer roller 145, and an intermediate transfer belt 143 is bridged between the driving roller 141, the driven roller 142, and the secondary transfer roller 145. Yes. Four photosensitive drums 122C, 122M, 122Y, and 122K are provided so as to be in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 143. Images are formed on the photosensitive drums 122C, 122M, 122Y, and 122K with toners of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K), respectively. The image formed on each photosensitive drum is transferred to the same portion of the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 143, so that a color toner image is formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 143.

  A secondary transfer counter roller 146 is provided at a position facing the secondary transfer roller 145. In order to transfer the toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 143 onto the sheet P (hereinafter referred to as secondary transfer), the secondary transfer roller 145 is interposed between the secondary transfer counter roller 146 and the intermediate transfer belt 143. And apply a secondary transfer bias. Note that the secondary transfer bias is a charge opposite to the electrostatic charge charged on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 143.

  A charging unit 123C is provided in the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 122C. The charging unit 123C uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 122C. An exposure unit 124C is provided in the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 122C. The exposure unit 124 </ b> C forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the charged photosensitive drum 122 </ b> C based on the C toner adhesion amount determined by the control unit described later. Further, a developing unit 125C is provided in the vicinity of the photoconductive drum 122C. The developing unit 125C attaches toner to the photoconductive drum 122C on which the electrostatic latent image is formed, and the toner on the surface of the photoconductive drum 122C. Form an image.

  A primary transfer roller 144C is provided to face the photosensitive drum 122C. The primary transfer roller 144C applies a primary transfer bias in order to transfer the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 122C to the intermediate transfer belt 143. The primary transfer bias is a charge opposite to the electrostatic charge charged on the surface of the photosensitive drum 122.

  In the following description, the one having the photosensitive drum 122C, the charging unit 123C, the exposure unit 124C, and the developing unit 125C is referred to as an image forming unit 12C. The image forming apparatus 1 includes image forming units 12M, 12Y, and 12K. The image forming apparatus 1 is the same as the image forming unit 12C except that images are formed using M, Y, and K color toners, respectively. It has a configuration.

  The paper supply unit 13 supplies the paper P between the secondary transfer roller 145 and the secondary transfer counter roller 146. The paper feed unit 13 includes a paper feed tray 131, a paper feed roller 132, a paper feed belt 133, and a registration roller 134. The paper feed tray 131 contains paper P. The paper feed roller 132 is provided to transport the paper P stored in the paper feed tray 131 toward the paper feed belt 133. The paper feed roller 132 provided in this way takes out the paper P at the top of the stored paper P one by one and places it on the paper feed belt 133.

  The paper feed belt 133 conveys the paper P taken out by the paper feed roller 132 toward the secondary transfer roller 145 and the secondary transfer counter roller 146. A registration roller 134 is provided on the paper feed belt 133 before the paper P reaches the secondary transfer roller 145. The registration roller 134 sends out the paper P at the timing when the portion of the intermediate transfer belt 143 where the toner image is formed reaches the position of the secondary transfer roller 145.

  The fixing unit 15 fixes the toner transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 143 to the paper P. Fixing means that the resin component of the toner is welded to the paper P when heat and pressure are simultaneously applied to the toner. In the fixing unit 15, a fixing roller 151 and a fixing counter roller 152 are provided to face each other. The fixing roller 151 presses the paper P while sandwiching the paper P onto which the toner has been transferred with the fixing facing roller 152. Further, a heat generating portion 153 is provided inside the fixing roller 151. The heat generating unit 153 generates heat, and heats the paper P via the fixing roller 151. In addition, a paper discharge port 10 for discharging the paper P is provided outside the image forming apparatus 1 in the vicinity of the fixing unit 15.

  A display / operation unit 18 is provided outside the image forming apparatus 1. The display / operation unit 18 includes a panel display unit 181 and an operation unit 182. The panel display unit 181 is a touch panel or the like on which setting values, selection screens, and the like are displayed and receives input from the user. The operation unit 182 is a numeric keypad for the user to input various information related to image formation, a start key for the user to input a start instruction, and the like.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a control unit for controlling the above-described units. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1011, a main memory (MEM-P) 1012, a North Bridge (NB) 1013, a South Bridge (SB) 1014, and an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 1015. , An ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 1016, a local memory (MEM-C) 1017, an HD (Hard Disk) 1018, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 1019, a PCI bus 1020, and a network I / F 1021.

  The CPU 1011 processes and computes data according to a program stored in the main memory 1012, and controls the operation of each unit described above. The main memory 1012 is a storage area of the control unit, and includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1012a and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 1012b. The ROM 1012a stores programs and data for realizing each function of the control unit. The program stored in the ROM 1012a is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, FD, CD-R, or DVD as a file in an installable or executable format and provided. May be.

  The RAM 1012b is used as a memory for drawing during development of programs and data and memory printing. The NB 1013 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 1011, the MEM-P 1012, the SB 1014, and the AGP bus 1015. The SB 1014 is a bridge for connecting the NB 1013 and peripheral devices. The AGP bus 1015 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card for speeding up graphics processing. The ASIC 1016 includes a memory controller that controls the MEM-C 1017, and a plurality of DMACs (Direct Memory Access Controllers) that rotate image data using hardware logic. The ASIC 1016 is connected to a network I / F 1021 such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface and an IEEE 1394 (Institut of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394) interface via a PCI bus 1020.

  The MEM-C 1017 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer. The HD 1018 is a storage for accumulating image data, accumulating font data used during printing, and accumulating forms. The HDD 1019 controls reading or writing of data with respect to the HD 1018 according to the control of the CPU 1011. A network I / F 1021 transmits / receives information to / from an external device such as an information processing apparatus via a communication network.

<Functional Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 1>
Next, the functional configuration of the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.

  The control unit controls the operation of the image forming apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 191, the input receiving unit 192, the image reading control unit 193, the image formation information generation unit 194, and the image formation control unit 196. A storage / reading processing unit 199 and a storage unit 1900. Each of these units is a function or means realized by operating according to a command from the CPU 1011 according to a program stored in the ROM 1012a shown in FIG. Further, the control unit has a storage unit 1900 constructed by the ROM 1012a or the HD 1018 shown in FIG.

  The transmission / reception unit 191 is realized by the network I / F 1021 illustrated in FIG. 2 and receives RGB image information from an information processing apparatus or the like via a communication network. The RGB image information is information representing an image formed on the paper P, and is indicated using the lightness of each color of red (R), green (G), and blue (B). The input receiving unit 192 receives information input by the user through the display / operation unit 18 shown in FIG. The image reading control unit 193 controls the scanner unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 to optically read an image described in a document and generate RGB image information.

  The image formation information generation unit 194 generates image formation information based on the RGB image information received by the transmission / reception unit 191 or the RGB image information read by the scanner unit 11. Specifically, the image formation information generation unit 194 performs color space conversion processing on the RGB image information, and each of the toner adhesion amounts Vc, Vm, C, M, Y, and K attached to the paper P Vy and Vk are calculated for each pixel. Note that the image formation information generation unit 194 may perform undercolor removal processing, shading correction, position shift correction, color space conversion, gamma correction, and the like in addition to the color space conversion processing. The image formation information is information representing the C, M, Y, and K toner adhesion amounts Vc, Vm, Vy, and Vk attached to each pixel to form an image on a sheet.

  The image forming control unit 196 includes an image forming control unit 1962 that controls the image forming units 12C, 12M, 12Y, and 12K, a paper feed control unit 1963 that controls the paper feeding unit 13, a primary transfer roller 144, a secondary transfer roller 145, The image forming apparatus includes a transfer control unit 1964 that controls the intermediate transfer belt 143 and the like, and a fixing control unit 1965 that controls the fixing unit 15.

<Hardware configuration of gloss generator>
Next, the hardware configuration of the gloss generating device 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the gloss generating device 2. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the control unit of the gloss generating device 2.

  The gloss generating device 2 generates gloss on the image by smoothing the surface of the toner adhering to the paper P. The paper P here is one on which the image forming apparatus 1 forms an image by attaching toner.

  An insertion port 22 for the gloss generating device 2 is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge port 10 of the image forming apparatus 1, and a paper discharge port 23 for discharging the paper P is provided on the opposite side of the insertion port 22 in the casing of the gloss generation device 2. It has been. Further, a glosser belt 201 is provided so that a part thereof is horizontal from the vicinity of the insertion port 22 of the gloss generating device 2 to the vicinity of the paper discharge port 23. It is preferable that at least one surface of the surface of the glosser belt 201 is smooth and the surface roughness thereof is 0.3 μm or less. When the toner that forms the image formed on the paper P contacts the smooth surface (hereinafter referred to as a smooth surface) of the glosser belt 201, the surface of the toner (hereinafter referred to as the toner surface) becomes smooth. Further, the glosser belt 201 has a horizontally provided portion at a speed of 50 to 700 mm / s from the vicinity of the insertion port 22 to the direction of the vicinity of the paper discharge port 23 (the direction indicated by the arrow (c) in FIG. 1). Moving.

  Further, a pressure roller 205, a pressure / heating roller 206, and a cooling unit 207 are provided so as to contact a horizontal portion of the glosser belt 201. The pressure roller 205 and the pressure / heating roller 206 are provided opposite to each other with the glosser belt 201 interposed therebetween. The pressure / heating roller 206 has a diameter of 50 to 70 mm and has a heat generator inside, and heats the paper P at a temperature higher than the melting point of the toner. As a result, the toner adhering to the paper P is melted. The pressure / heating roller 206 heats the paper P and simultaneously presses the paper P so that the toner surface of the paper P and the smooth surface of the glosser belt 201 are in contact with the pressure roller 205. The pressure roller 205 is composed of a fluororesin tube having a surface thickness of 30 to 200 μm.

In addition, a cooling unit 207 is provided to cool the glosser belt 201 in order to cool the paper P after passing between the pressure roller 205 and the pressure / heating roller 206. The cooling unit 207 is realized by a fan that sends air of 0 to 11 m ³ / min to the glosser belt 201, and cools the paper P heated by the pressure / heating roller 206 to a temperature below the melting point of the toner, for example, 40 ° C. . When the cooling unit 207 cools the glosser belt 201 to cool the paper P, the toner attached to the paper P is cured. The cooling device constituting the cooling unit 207 may be any of a liquid jacket, a liquid cooling method using a radiator, a refrigerant, and a heat pump in addition to the fan.

  Further, a pressure / heating roller 206 is provided in the vicinity of the insertion port 22 and a separation roller 203 is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge port 23 so as to bridge the glosser belt 201. Further, a driven roller 204 is provided so as to bridge the glosser belt 201 together with the pressure / heating roller 206 and the separation roller 203. The pressure / heating roller 206 is rotated by a driving source (not shown) so that the portion of the glosser belt 201 provided horizontally moves from the insertion port 22 toward the paper discharge port 23. Further, a paper discharge tray 25 for storing the discharged paper P is provided outside the paper discharge port 23.

  Further, the gloss generating device 2 includes a toner removing heating unit 208, a temperature sensor 2081, and a toner removing unit 209. The toner removal heating unit 208 uses a temperature sensor 2081 that measures the temperature of the glosser belt 201 to heat a part of the glosser belt 201 to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the toner. The toner removing heating unit 208 may be provided at any position after the glosser belt 201 passes through the separation roller 203 and before passing through the pressure / heating roller 206. As shown in FIG. It is preferable that the belt 201 is provided at a position where it passes immediately before passing through the pressure / heating roller 206 in the traveling direction of the belt 201. When the toner removing heating unit 208 is installed immediately before the pressure / heating roller 206 passes through the glosser belt 201, the glosser belt 201 is heated by the toner removing heating unit 208 and then immediately pressed and heated. The roller 206 is reached. Accordingly, since the pressure / heating roller 206 heats the glosser belt 201 that has already been heated and has a high temperature, the glosser belt 201 is heated to a predetermined temperature with less heat energy than to heat the glosser belt 201 that has not been heated to a high temperature. Can be. That is, it is possible to reduce the consumption of heat energy.

  The toner removing unit 209 includes a toner removing roller 2091, a cleaning sheet 2092, a cleaning roller 2093, a cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2094, and a cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2095. The toner removal roller 2091, the cleaning roller 2093, the cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2094, and the cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2095 are provided so that their axes are orthogonal to the traveling direction of the glosser belt 201.

  The toner removing roller 2091 is provided in contact with the glosser belt 201, and is made of a material having an arithmetic average of the surface larger than an arithmetic average roughness of the surface of the glosser belt 201, for example, 0.5 μm or more. Further, the toner removing roller 2091 rotates in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the glosser belt 201 at the contact point with the glosser belt 201.

  In addition, a cleaning sheet 2092 is provided so as to contact the toner removal roller 2091 on the opposite side of the contact point with the glosser belt 201. The cleaning sheet 2092 is stretched over a cleaning roller 2093, a cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2094, and a cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2095. As the cleaning roller 2093 rotates in the same direction as the cleaning roller 2093 while being in contact with the toner removal roller 2091, the cleaning sheet 2092 wipes off the toner removed from the glosser belt 201 by the toner removal roller 2091. As the toner removal roller 2091 moves, the cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2094 and the cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2095 are driven to rotate.

  Further, the gloss generating device 2 has a control unit. As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit includes a CPU 211 that controls the operation of the gloss generating device 2 as a whole, a ROM 212 that stores programs and data for realizing the functions of the control unit, a RAM 213 that is used as a work area for the CPU 211, HD (Hard Disk) 214 for storing data, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 215 for controlling reading or writing of various data to / from the HD 214 according to the control of the CPU 211, and network I / O for data transmission using a communication network F (Interface) 216 and a bus line 217 such as an address bus and a data bus for electrically connecting the above-described components are provided. Further, the ROM 212 stores a gloss generation processing control program for controlling the gloss generation device 2.

  The toner removing heating unit 208 is an example of a first heating unit, the glosser belt 201 is an example of a recording medium conveying unit, and the pressure / heating roller 206 is an example of a second heating unit.

<Functional configuration of gloss generating device 2>
Next, the functional configuration of the control unit of the gloss generating device 2 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the control unit of the gloss generating device 2 according to the present embodiment.

  The control unit controls the operation of the gloss generating device 2, and as shown in FIG. 5, the transport control unit 221, the first heating control unit 222, the pressurization control unit 223, the cooling control unit 224, and the second control unit. A heating control unit 225 and a rotation control unit 226 are provided. These units are functions or means realized by operating according to instructions from the CPU 211 in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 212 shown in FIG.

  The conveyance control unit 221 moves the glosser belt 201 by controlling and rotating the pressure roller 205. The first heating control unit 222 controls the heat generator of the pressure / heating roller 206 to generate heat. The pressure control unit 223 controls the pressure roller 205 and the pressure / heating roller 206 so as to press the paper P. The cooling control unit 224 controls the cooling unit 207 to cool the paper P. The second heating control unit 225 controls the toner removal heating unit 208 to generate heat. The rotation control unit 226 controls the toner removal roller 2091 and the cleaning roller 2093 to rotate.

<< Processing and Operation of Embodiment >>
Subsequently, processing of the image forming system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram illustrating an outline of a process in which the image forming apparatus 1 forms an image. FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram illustrating an outline of a process in which the gloss generation device 2 generates gloss on an image.

  As shown in FIG. 6, first, the transmission / reception unit 191 receives RGB image information from an external information processing apparatus or the like (step S21). When the transmission / reception unit 191 receives the RGB image information, the image formation information generation unit 194 generates image formation information based on the RGB image information (step S22).

  Specifically, the image formation information generation unit 194 calculates toner adhesion amounts Vc, Vm, Vy, and Vk by performing color space conversion processing on the RGB image information. Note that the image formation information generation unit 194 may execute known image processing such as under color removal processing, color correction processing, and spatial frequency correction processing in addition to color space conversion processing on RGB image information. Further, the image formation information generation unit 194 calculates toner adhesion amounts Vc, Vm, Vy, and Vk for all the pixels on the paper, and image formation information that is information indicating the position on the paper and the toner adhesion amount corresponding to the position. Is generated.

  When the image formation information is generated in step S22, the paper feed unit 13 performs a paper feed process under the control of the paper feed control unit 1963 (step S23). Specifically, the paper feed roller 132 of the paper feed unit 13 takes out the paper P stored in the paper feed tray 131 one by one and places it on the paper feed belt 133. The paper feed belt 133 moves in the direction of the arrow (A) shown in FIG. When the conveyed paper P reaches the registration roller 134, the registration roller 134 sandwiches the paper P and waits until the toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 143 reaches the secondary transfer roller 145. Then, at the timing when the toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 143 reaches the secondary transfer roller 145, the registration roller 134 feeds the paper P between the secondary transfer roller 145 and the secondary transfer counter roller 146.

  On the other hand, the image forming units 12C, 12M, 12Y, and 12K perform image forming processing for attaching each toner to the photosensitive drum 122 under the control of the image forming control unit 1962 (step S24). Specifically, the charging unit 123C uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 122C. Then, the exposure unit 124C irradiates the surface of the photosensitive drum 122C with laser light based on the toner adhesion amount Vc of the image formation information generated by the image formation information generation unit 194. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoconductive drum 122C for adhering the C color toner having the toner adhesion amount Vc to the sheet.

  When the electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 122C, the developing unit 125C develops the electrostatic latent image using C-color toner. In this way, a C-color toner image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 122C. Similarly, toner images of M, Y, and K toners are formed on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 122M, 122Y, and 122K, respectively. Since these image forming processes are the same as the processes for forming a C-color toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 122C, the description thereof is omitted.

  When a toner image is formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 122 with each toner, a transfer process is performed under the control of the transfer control unit 1964 (step S25). Specifically, first, the primary transfer roller 144 applies a primary transfer bias to the intermediate transfer belt 143. Then, the toner image on the surface of each photosensitive drum 122 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 143 (hereinafter referred to as primary transfer).

  The intermediate transfer belt 143 onto which the toner image has been transferred moves in the direction of the arrow (A) by the rotation of the driving roller 141 and the driven roller 142. Further, the registration roller 134 sends out the paper P at the timing when the portion of the intermediate transfer belt 143 to which the toner image is transferred reaches the secondary transfer roller 145. When the sheet P is sent out by the registration roller 134 and reaches the secondary transfer roller 145, the secondary transfer roller 145 sandwiches the sheet P and the intermediate transfer belt 143 between the secondary transfer counter roller 146, and the sheet P is subjected to the secondary transfer. Apply transfer bias. As a result, the toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 143 is transferred onto the paper P (hereinafter referred to as secondary transfer).

  As described above, when the toner image is transferred to the paper P, the fixing unit 15 performs a fixing process under the control of the fixing control unit 1965 (step S26). Specifically, first, when the conveyed paper P reaches a position where the fixing roller 151 and the fixing opposing roller 152 are in contact, the fixing roller 151 sandwiches the paper P between the fixing opposing roller 152. At this time, since the fixing roller 151 is heated by the heat generating portion 153, the paper P is heated at a predetermined temperature at the same time as being pressurized. The toner forming the toner image transferred onto the paper P is melted, and the toner is fixed to the paper P when the fixing roller 151 presses the paper P to which the melted toner is adhered.

  When the toner is fixed on the paper P by the fixing unit 15, the paper P is discharged out of the image forming apparatus 1 from the paper discharge port 10 (step S27). In step S <b> 27, the paper P discharged from the paper discharge port 10 of the image forming apparatus 1 is inserted into the gloss generating device 2.

  When the paper P is inserted, the gloss generating device 2 performs a process of generating a gloss on the image formed on the paper P. Details of this processing will be described with reference to FIG. The gloss generating device 2 receives the paper P discharged from the paper discharge port 10 of the image forming apparatus 1 as described above from the insertion port 22 (step S41). As a result, the recording surface of the paper P to which the toner is attached is placed in contact with the smooth surface of the glosser belt 201.

  When the sheet P is received in step S41, the glosser belt 201 conveys the sheet P under the control of the conveyance control unit 221. When the leading edge of the conveyed paper P reaches the positions of the pressure roller 205 and the pressure / heating roller 206, the pressure roller 205 and the pressure / heating roller 206 controlled by the pressure control unit 223 become the glosser belt 201. The sheet P conveyed by the above is sandwiched and pressurized (step S42). At this time, the heat generator generates heat under the control of the first heating control unit 222, and the pressure / heating roller 206 heats the paper P to 150 ° C. (step S42). As a result, the toner surface becomes smooth.

  When the paper P is heated and pressurized by the pressure roller 205 and the pressure / heating roller 206 in step S42, the cooling unit 207 controlled by the cooling control unit 224 cools the glosser belt 201, thereby causing the paper P to be 40. Cool to below ℃ (step S43). As a result, the toner fixed on the surface of the paper P is cured and stably held in a state where the surface is smooth. Finally, the paper P is separated from the glosser belt 201 at the position of the separation roller 203 (step S44), and is discharged out of the gloss generating device 2 from the paper discharge port 23. Then, the discharged paper P is stored in the paper discharge tray 25.

  After the paper P is separated from the glosser belt 201 in step S44, the toner adhered to the paper P may remain on the surface of the glosser belt 201. At this time, the glosser belt 201 continues to move in the advancing direction with the toner remaining on the surface attached.

  The second heating control unit 225 uses the temperature sensor 2081 to control the toner removal heating unit 208 to generate heat. When the glosser belt 201 moves in the traveling direction and reaches the position of the toner removal heating unit 208, the toner removal heating unit 208 heats the glosser belt 201 to 100 ° C., which is a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the toner (step S45). When the glosser belt 201 is heated, the toner adhering to the surface is melted. Although the temperature of the glosser belt 201 is 100 ° C., it is preferably set as appropriate based on the melting temperature of the toner used in the image forming apparatus 1.

  The glosser belt 201 to which the toner melted by the toner removing heating unit 208 is further moved in the traveling direction. When the portion of the glosser belt 201 to which the melted toner adheres reaches the position of the toner removal roller 2091, the rotating toner removal roller 2091 comes into contact with the toner adhered to the surface of the glosser belt 201, and the toner is transferred to the glosser belt 201. Remove from. (Step S46).

  The cleaning roller 2093 rotates with the cleaning sheet 2092 in contact with the toner removing roller 2091 and wipes off the toner from the toner removing roller 2091 to which the toner removed from the glosser belt 201 is attached. For this reason, the toner removing roller 2091 can continue to contact the glosser belt 201 in a state where no toner is attached, and the toner on the glosser belt 201 can be effectively removed.

  Further, the portion of the cleaning sheet 2092 that is in contact with the toner removal roller 2091 is separated from the contact point with the toner removal roller 2091 as the cleaning roller 2093 rotates. For this reason, the cleaning sheet 2092 comes into contact with the toner removing roller 2091 at a portion where the toner is not wiped off. That is, the cleaning sheet 2092 can effectively wipe off the toner adhering to the toner removing roller 2091 in a portion that is not a portion that is dirty with the wiped toner.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the toner removing heating unit 208, which is a member different from the pressure / heating roller 206, heats the glosser belt 201, and the toner removing unit 209 is attached to the glosser belt 201. Therefore, the glosser belt 201 can be cleaned even when the gloss generating device 2 is operating to generate gloss on the image.

  Further, the toner removal roller 2091 is configured to remove the toner adhering to the surface of the glosser belt 201 after the glosser belt 201 is heated in the traveling direction of the glosser belt 201. Therefore, the toner can be removed by the toner removing roller 2091 after being sufficiently melted to such an extent that it can be separated from the glosser belt 201. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the amount of toner remaining on the surface of the glosser belt 201 without being removed.

<< Supplement of Embodiment >>
In the embodiment of the present invention, the cleaning roller 2093 rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the toner removal roller 2091. However, the toner removal sheet does not move or the cleaning roller 2093 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation of the toner removal roller 2091. You may make it rotate. When the cleaning roller 2093 rotates in the same direction as the rotation of the toner removal roller 2091, the toner removal is smaller than when the cleaning sheet 2092 does not move or the cleaning roller 2093 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation of the toner removal roller 2091. The frictional force with respect to the toner adhering to the roller 2091 is increased, and the effect of removing the toner from the toner removing roller 2091 is increased.

  Although the cleaning sheet 2092 is stretched over the cleaning roller 2093, the cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2094, and the cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2095, these rollers may not be provided. In this case, the cleaning sheet 2092 does not move, and the toner removed from the toner removal roller 2091 is accumulated in the cleaning sheet 2092. That is, when the cleaning sheet 2092 moves, the toner removed from the toner removal roller 2091 is less accumulated than when the cleaning sheet 2092 does not move, so that the toner can be removed effectively.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 and the gloss generating device 2 are provided close to each other, but the paper discharge port 10 of the image forming device 1 and the insertion port of the gloss generating device 2 are provided. The image forming apparatus 1 and the gloss generating apparatus 2 may be placed at positions separated from each other by providing a conveyance belt or the like for conveying the paper P between the two. In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 1 and the gloss generating apparatus 2 are described as separate apparatuses. However, a single apparatus may include the functions of these apparatuses.

  In this embodiment, the transmission / reception unit 191 receives image information in step S21. However, the reading sensor 112 controlled by the image reading control unit 193 receives an RGB image from a document sheet or the like placed on the contact glass 111. Information may be read.

  In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 1 forms an image using C, M, Y, and K toners. However, the C, M, Y, and K toners are used. In addition, special toners such as clear toner and white toner may be used.

  In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 1 describes a process of forming an image based on RGB image information. However, the image forming apparatus 1 may form an image based on image information representing a monochrome image.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Gloss generating apparatus 10 Paper discharge outlet 11 Scanner part 12 Image forming part 13 Paper feed part 15 Fixing part 18 Display / operation part 22 Insertion opening 23 Paper discharge outlet 25 Paper discharge tray 111 Contact glass 112 Reading sensor 122 Photosensitive Body drum 123 Charging unit 124 Exposure unit 125 Development unit 131 Paper storage unit 132 Paper feed roller 133 Paper feed belt 134 Registration roller 141 Drive roller 142 Driven roller 143 Intermediate transfer belt 144 Primary transfer roller 145 Secondary transfer roller 146 Secondary transfer facing Roller 151 Fixing roller 152 Fixing counter roller 153 Heat generation unit 181 Panel display unit 182 Operation unit 191 Transmission / reception unit 192 Input reception unit 193 Image reading control unit 194 Image formation information generation unit 196 Image formation control unit 199 Storage / read processing unit 201 Glosser belt 203 Separation roller 2 04 driven roller 205 pressure roller 206 pressure / heating roller 207 cooling unit 208 toner removing heating unit 209 toner removing unit 211 CPU
212 ROM
213 RAM
214 HD
215 HDD
216 Network I / F
217 Bus line 221 Transport control unit 222 First heating control unit 223 Pressurization control unit 224 Cooling control unit 225 Second heating control unit 226 Rotation control unit 1011 CPU
1012 Main memory 1013 North bridge 1014 South bridge 1015 AGP bus 1016 ASIC
1017 Local memory 1018 HD
1019 HDD
1020 PCI bus 1021 Network I / F
1900 Storage unit 2091 Toner removal roller 2092 Cleaning sheet 2093 Cleaning roller 2094 Cleaning sheet auxiliary roller 2095 Cleaning sheet auxiliary roller

JP 2004-325934 A JP2011-81136

Claims (8)

A gloss generating device for generating gloss on an image formed by toner,
A recording medium transport unit for transporting the recording medium on which the image is formed;
A heating section that heats the recording medium transport section in a portion that is not transporting the recording medium; a toner removal section that removes toner adhering to the recording medium transport section heated by the heating section;
A gloss generating device comprising: The gloss generating device according to claim 1,
The gloss generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner removing unit is a roller, and a shaft of the roller is provided in contact with the recording medium conveyance unit perpendicular to a traveling direction of the recording medium conveyance unit. The gloss generating device according to claim 2,
The gloss generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller rotates in a direction opposite to a traveling direction of the recording medium conveyance unit at a contact point with the recording medium conveyance unit. The gloss generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A second heating unit for heating the recording medium conveyed by the recording medium conveying unit;
The gloss generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating unit is installed at a position where the recording medium transport unit reaches immediately before reaching the second heating unit. The gloss generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The gloss generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a surface roughness of the toner removing unit is larger than a surface roughness of the recording medium conveying unit. The gloss generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The gloss generating apparatus, wherein the heating unit heats the recording medium conveyance unit so that a temperature of the recording medium conveyance unit is equal to or higher than a melting point of the toner. The gloss generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The gloss generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium transport unit is moved across a plurality of rollers. An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium with toner;
The gloss generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
An image forming system.

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