JP2021135381A - Image forming unit and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent turn-up of a cleaning member.SOLUTION: An image forming unit 2 has: an image forming section 100 that forms a developer image on an image carrier; a developer storage section 200 that supplies developer from a developer supply port 220 to the image forming section 100 in an attached state in which it is attached to the image forming section 100; a seal member 300 that is included in the image forming section 100 and is in contact with the developer storage section 200 in the attached state; and a cleaning member 400 that is attached to the image forming section 100, is in non-contact with the developer storage section 200 in the attached state, and has a cleaning surface 410 that is in contact with the periphery of the developer supply port 220 of the developer storage section 200 in a take-out process for moving the developer storage section 200 in the attached state in a take-out direction D2. The cleaning surface 410 is inclined at an angle of inclination θ less than 90° with respect to the take-out direction D2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 14

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming unit and an image forming apparatus.

Conventionally, an image forming apparatus having an apparatus main body for forming an image with toner as a developer and a toner container for supplying toner attached to and detached from the apparatus main body has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The device main body has a cleaning member as a cleaning member attached to the structure on the device main body side, and a groove portion. The cleaning member comes into contact with the toner storage container and removes the toner adhering to the toner storage container when the toner storage container mounted on the apparatus main body is pulled out in the removal direction. The removed toner is collected in the groove.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-2146

However, in the above-mentioned conventional device, when the toner containing container is pulled out in the taking-out direction, the structure (for example, the shutter) on the lower surface side of the toner containing container hits the contact surface of the cleaning member facing the direction orthogonal to the taking-out direction for cleaning. Move while pressing the members. Therefore, the cleaning member is easily rolled up, and the cleaning performance may be deteriorated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming unit and an image forming apparatus capable of preventing the cleaning member from being rolled up.

The image forming unit according to one aspect of the present invention has an image forming portion for forming a developing agent image on an image carrier and a developing agent supply port, and the developing agent is attached to the image forming portion. A developer accommodating portion that supplies a developing agent from a supply port to the image forming portion, a seal member provided in the image forming portion and in contact with the developing agent accommodating portion in the mounted state, and the image forming portion. The developer accommodating in the taking-out process of moving the developing agent accommodating portion in the attached state in a predetermined direction, which is not in contact with the developing agent accommodating portion in the attached state. The part includes a cleaning member having a cleaning surface that comes into contact with the periphery of the developer supply port, and the cleaning surface is inclined at an inclination angle of less than 90 ° with respect to the take-out direction.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the cleaning member from curling up.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view schematically showing an image forming portion and a developing agent accommodating portion of the image forming unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view schematically showing an image forming unit according to an embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the 1st guide part of the image forming part of the image forming unit which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the 2nd guide part of the developer accommodating part of the image forming unit which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view which shows schematic the image formation part of the image formation unit which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view which shows schematic the image formation part (excluding a seal member) of the image formation unit which concerns on embodiment. It is a bottom view which shows the developer accommodating part of the image forming unit which concerns on embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the mounting process when the developer accommodating part is inserted into the image forming part in the mounting direction. It is sectional drawing which shows the mounting state (before the opening operation of a shutter) which the developer accommodating part is mounted on the image forming section. It is sectional drawing which shows the mounting state (the shutter open state) which the developer accommodating part is mounted on the image forming part. It is sectional drawing which shows the mounting state (when the development agent supply is completed) which the developer accommodating part is mounted on the image forming part. It is sectional drawing which shows the mounting state (in the middle of closing operation of a shutter) in which a developer accommodating portion is mounted on an image forming portion. It is sectional drawing which shows the mounting state (after the closing operation of a shutter) which the developer accommodating part is mounted on the image forming section. It is sectional drawing which shows the taking-out process (the 1) which pulls out a developer accommodating part from an image forming part in a taking-out direction. It is sectional drawing which shows the taking-out process (the 2) which pulls out a developer accommodating part from an image forming part in a taking-out direction. It is sectional drawing which shows the taking-out process (the 3) which pulls out a developer accommodating part from an image forming part in a taking-out direction. FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of part B in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows typically another example of the cleaning member of the image forming part of the image forming unit which concerns on embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic the structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment.

Hereinafter, the image forming unit and the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are merely examples, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

To facilitate understanding of the relationships between the figures, the figures show the coordinate axes of the xyz Cartesian coordinate system. In the present embodiment, the x-axis is the coordinate axis in the main scanning direction of the image carrier of the image forming unit, the y-axis is the coordinate axis in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, and the z-axis is the image forming unit. Is the coordinate axis in the height direction of. Further, in the figure, D1 indicates the mounting direction of the developer accommodating portion, and D2 indicates the taking-out direction of the developer accommodating portion.

<Image formation unit 2>
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view schematically showing an image forming unit 100 and a developing agent accommodating unit 200 of the image forming unit 2 according to the present embodiment. The image forming unit 100 is an image drum unit that forms a developer image (toner image) on a photoconductor drum as an image carrier using an electrophotographic method. The internal structure of the image forming unit 100 is shown in FIG. 19 described later. The developer accommodating unit 200 is also called a toner cartridge. FIG. 1 shows a state before the developer accommodating unit 200 is inserted along the mounting direction D1 and mounted on the image forming unit 100, or the developer accommodating unit 200 is pulled from the image forming unit 100 along the taking-out direction D2. Shows the state after being pulled out. The mounting direction D1 is also referred to as an insertion direction. The take-out direction D2 is also referred to as a pull-out direction. The mounting direction D1 and the taking-out direction D2 are opposite to each other.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the image forming unit 2 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a mounting state in which the developer accommodating section 200 is mounted on the image forming section 100.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a first guide portion 181 of the image forming portion 100 of the image forming unit 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming unit 100 is a long groove for guiding the developer accommodating unit 200 in a direction parallel to the mounting direction D1 and the taking-out direction D2, and the first guide portions 181 and 182 (first guides). Section 182 has (shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 described later).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second guide portion 280 of the developer accommodating portion 200 of the image forming unit 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the developer accommodating portion 200 is two second guide portions which are protrusions guided by the first guide portions 181 and 182 in the directions parallel to the mounting direction D1 and the taking-out direction D2. It has 280 (only one is shown in FIG. 4). The second guide portion 280 may be a long groove, and the first guide portions 181, 182 may be protrusions that move along the second guide portion 280.

FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing an image forming unit 100 of the image forming unit 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the image forming unit 100 has a developer intake port 120 which is an elongated hole extending in the x-axis direction. A sealing member 300 is provided around the developer intake port 120 of the image forming unit 100. The sealing member 300 is attached to the upper surface of the upper frame (upper frame 110 of FIG. 8 described later) of the image forming portion 100 by, for example, double-sided adhesive tape. The seal member 300 is an elastic member and is formed of, for example, a sponge. The seal member 300 is also called a "seal sponge". Further, a cleaning member 400 elongated in the x-axis direction is provided at a position separated from the seal member 300 of the image forming unit 100 in the y-axis direction. The cleaning member 400 is attached to the upper surface of the upper frame of the image forming portion 100 (support surface 150 in FIG. 8 described later) by, for example, double-sided adhesive tape. The cleaning member 400 is an elastic member and is formed of, for example, a sponge. The cleaning member 400 is also referred to as a "wipe member". In this way, the seal member 300 and the cleaning member 400 are separated from each other in the y-axis direction.

FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing an image forming unit 100 (a state in which the seal member 300 shown in FIG. 5 is removed) of the image forming unit 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the image forming portion 100 has a groove portion 140 which is a long groove extending in the x-axis direction. The groove portion 140 is a pocket portion for accommodating the developer (toner) (shown in FIG. 17 and the like described later) removed from the developer accommodating portion 200 by the cleaning member 400. Further, in the image forming unit 100, a member having a plurality of ribs 190 projecting toward the entrance of the groove portion 140 (projecting in the −y axis direction) is attached to the upper frame of the image forming unit 100. The groove portion 140 is formed in the upper frame of the image forming portion 100, and the upper portion of the groove portion 140 is composed of the seal member 300. The rib 190 has a role as a support structure for supporting a portion of the seal member 300 located above the groove 140.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view showing the developer accommodating portion 200 of the image forming unit 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the developer accommodating unit 200 has a developer supply port 220. The unused developer accommodating unit 200 accommodates the developer supplied to the image forming unit 100. The developer accommodating unit 200 supplies the developing agent from the developing agent supply port 220 to the inside of the image forming unit 100 through the developing agent intake port 120 in a mounted state while being attached to the image forming unit 100.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting process when the developer accommodating portion 200 is inserted into the image forming portion 100 in the mounting direction D1. FIG. 8 shows a cross section of the image forming unit 2 of FIG. 1 cut along the A1-A1 line.

As shown in FIG. 8, a seal member 300 is attached around the developer intake port 120 formed in the upper frame 110 of the image forming unit 100 so as to surround the developer intake port 120. Further, the image forming unit 100 includes a developing container 130 in which the developing agent supplied through the developing agent intake port 120 is housed. Further, the image forming unit 100 has a groove portion 140 for accommodating the developer (developer 271 shown in FIG. 15 and the like described later) removed from the developer accommodating unit 200 by the cleaning member 400 in the extraction process described later. There is. The groove portion 140 has an inlet for the removed developer between the portion of the seal member 300 on the cleaning member 400 side of the developer intake port 120 and the cleaning member 400. Further, the seal member 300 has a portion 310 that partially covers the upper side of the groove portion 140. The portion 310 is supported by a rib 190 (FIG. 6).

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the developer accommodating unit 200 includes an accommodating unit main body 210 accommodating the developer 260, a developer supply port 220 formed in the accommodating unit main body 210, and a developer supply port 220. It has a shutter 230 which is an opening / closing member that opens / closes. The opening and closing of the shutter 230 is performed, for example, by operating a manual lever for opening and closing the shutter 230 provided in the developer accommodating portion 200.

By moving the developer accommodating unit 200 toward the image forming unit 100 in the mounting direction D1, the lower surface of the developing agent accommodating unit 200 is cleaned in the mounting process in which the developing agent accommodating unit 200 is mounted on the image forming unit 100. Temporarily contacts the upper surface 420 of the member 400.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting state (before the opening operation of the shutter 230) in which the developer accommodating portion 200 is mounted on the image forming portion 100. FIG. 9 shows a cross section of the image forming unit 2 of FIG. 2 cut along the A2-A2 line. The periphery of the developer supply port 220 on the lower surface of the developer accommodating portion 200 in the mounted state is in contact with the seal member 300. In FIG. 9, the seal member 300 is drawn in an undeformed state, but in reality, the seal member 300 is compressed by the lower surface of the developer accommodating portion 200, and the seal member 300 and the developer accommodating portion 200 are drawn. It is in close contact with 200. Further, the cleaning member 400 is in non-contact with the developing agent accommodating portion 200 in the mounted state.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting state (opening state of the shutter 230) in which the developer accommodating section 200 is mounted on the image forming section 100. FIG. 10 shows a cross section of the image forming unit 2 of FIG. 2 cut along the A2-A2 line. When the user rotates the shutter 230 in the closed state clockwise (in the direction of the white arrow in FIG. 9), the developer supply port 220 is opened. At this time, the image forming unit 100) has a developer taking-in port 120, and the developing agent supply port 220 of the developing agent accommodating unit 200 in the mounted state is provided so as to face the developing agent taking-in port 120. The developer 270 supplied from the developer supply port 220 enters the developer storage unit 200 from the developer intake port 120. The developer supply port 220 of the developer accommodating portion 200 in the mounted state may be located directly above the developer intake port 120. That is, the developer 260 housed in the developer accommodating portion 200 falls through the developer supply port 220 and the developer intake port 120 due to its own weight (shown as the developer 270 in FIG. 10), and the image. It moves into the developing container 130 of the forming unit 100. In FIG. 10, the transferred developer is shown as developer 160.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting state (when the supply of the developing agent is completed) in which the developing agent accommodating portion 200 is mounted on the image forming portion 100. FIG. 11 shows a cross section of the image forming unit 2 of FIG. 2 cut along the A2-A2 line. At this time, the developer contained in the developer accommodating unit 200 has moved into the developing container 130, but some of the developing agents are used as the developing agent 271 shown in FIG. 10, and the developing agent accommodating unit 200 is used. It adheres to the periphery of the developer supply port 220 of the above.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting state (during the closing operation of the shutter 230) in which the developer accommodating portion 200 is mounted on the image forming portion 100. FIG. 12 shows a cross section of the image forming unit 2 of FIG. 2 cut along the A2-A2 line. The user manually operates the shutter 230 in the open state to rotate it counterclockwise (in the direction of the white arrow in FIG. 12), so that the developer supply port 220 is closed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 12, the developer 271 is adhered to the periphery of the developer supply port 220 of the developer accommodating portion 200.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting state (after the closing operation of the shutter 230) in which the developer accommodating portion 200 is mounted on the image forming portion 100. FIG. 13 shows a cross section of the image forming unit 2 of FIG. 2 cut along the A2-A2 line. As shown in FIG. 13, the developer 271 adheres to the periphery of the developer supply port 220 of the developer accommodating portion 200.

14 to 16 are cross-sectional views showing a take-out process (Nos. 1 to 3) of taking out the developer accommodating portion 200 from the image forming portion 100 in the take-out direction D2. 14 to 16 show a cross section of the image forming unit 2 of FIG. 1 cut along the A1-A1 line. FIG. 17 is an enlarged view of part B of FIG. In the taking-out process of moving the developing agent accommodating portion 200 in the mounted state to the taking-out direction D2 which is a predetermined direction, the lower surface of the developing agent accommodating portion 200, particularly around the developing agent supply port 220 of the developing agent accommodating portion 200. Contact or press contact with the cleaning surface 410 of the cleaning member 400. Further, the image forming unit 2 may be configured such that the periphery of the developer supply port 220 of the developer accommodating portion 200 is in contact with or pressure-contacted with a part of the cleaning surface 410 of the cleaning member 400.

As shown in FIG. 14, when viewed in a cross section cut along a plane parallel to the yz plane, the cleaning surface 410 is tilted at an inclination angle θ of less than 90 ° with respect to the take-out direction D2. Therefore, at least a part of the cleaning surface is an inclined surface that is inclined with respect to the taking-out direction D2. That is, the inclination direction D410 of the cleaning surface 410 intersects the take-out direction D2 at an inclination angle θ (where θ is an acute angle) of less than 90 °. Further, if the angle between the inclination direction D410 and the take-out direction D2 of the cleaning surface 410 is defined by the angle α (here, α = 180 ° −θ) which is a complementary angle of the inclination angle θ, the cleaning surface is cleaned. The inclination direction D410 of 410 intersects the take-out direction D2 at an angle α larger than 90 ° (where α is an blunt angle).

Further, it is desirable that the inclination angle θ is 50 ° or more and 70 ° or less. In other words, the angle α is preferably 110 ° or more and 130 ° or less. Table 1 shown below shows the results of confirming the angle α and the evaluation of superiority.

From the results shown in Table 1, it was confirmed that it is desirable to satisfy 110 ° ≤ α ≤ 130 °, that is, 70 ° ≥ α ≥ 50 °. That is, when the angle α is 110 ° or more (that is, the inclination angle θ is 70 ° or less), the desired scraping performance can be obtained. Further, when the angle α is 130 ° or less (that is, the inclination angle θ is 50 ° or more), the occurrence of curling can be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 14, when the developer accommodating portion 200 is pulled out in the extraction direction D2, the lower surface of the columnar developer accommodating portion 200 (that is, the portion corresponding to the side surface of the cylinder) becomes the cleaning surface of the cleaning member 400. Press-weld to 410. At this time, the lower surface of the developer accommodating portion 200 applies a force in the take-out direction D2 to the cleaning surface 410.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 17, when the developer accommodating portion 200 is further pulled out in the take-out direction D2, the cleaning member 400 enters the periphery (recessed portion) of the developer supply port 220 of the developer accommodating portion 200 and develops. The developer 271 adhering to the periphery of the agent supply port 220 is scraped off by the cleaning member 400 (that is, removed from the surface of the developer accommodating portion 200). The removed developer 271 falls toward the groove 140, and the developer 271 is moved to the back of the groove 140 and accommodated due to the inclination of the groove 140 (it becomes lower as it advances in the + y-axis direction). NS.

After that, as shown in FIG. 16, when the developer accommodating portion 200 is further pulled out in the taking-out direction D2, the developer accommodating portion 200 is removed from the image forming unit 100.

In FIG. 17, the cleaning member 400 is attached on the support surface 150 of the image forming portion 100, and the cross-sectional shape of cutting the cleaning member 400 on a surface parallel to the yz surface orthogonal to the cleaning surface 410 is trapezoidal. be.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing another example of the cleaning member of the image forming unit 100a of the image forming unit 2 according to the present embodiment. The cleaning member 400a is attached on the support surface 150a of the image forming portion 100, and the cross-sectional shape of the cleaning member 400a cut by a surface parallel to the yz surface orthogonal to the cleaning surface 410a is rectangular. In this case, the support surface 150a is inclined so as to become lower as it advances in the −y direction, and the angle β of the support surface 150a with respect to the take-out direction D2 is 90 ° −θ. Therefore, β is preferably 20 ° or more and 40 ° or less. In this case, the performance of the cleaning member 400a on the support surface 150a is equivalent to that of the cleaning member 400 of FIG. 17, and the cleaning member 400a can be easily processed.

As described above, according to the image forming unit 2 according to the present embodiment, the take-out direction D2 of the developer accommodating portion 200 and the direction D410 of the cleaning surface 410 of the cleaning member 400 are configured to be different from each other. Therefore, when the developer accommodating portion 200 comes into contact with the cleaning member 400, the pressure applied to the cleaning member 400 gradually increases. Further, when the contact is released, the pressure applied to the cleaning member 400 gradually decreases. Therefore, the cleaning member 400 is less likely to be curled or torn. That is, since the lower developer adhering surface of the developer accommodating portion 200 to be cleaned and the cleaning surface 410 of the cleaning member 400 face different directions, they come into contact with the developer adhering surface of the developer accommodating portion 200. By scraping off the adhered toner while doing so, it is possible to prevent the cleaning member 400 from being rolled up and torn. For example, even when the developer accommodating portion 200 is replaced a plurality of times, high cleaning performance by the cleaning member 400 can be ensured.

Further, the seal member 300 provided around the developer intake port 120 of the upper frame 110 on the image forming unit 100 side allows the developer supply port 220 of the developer accommodating unit 200 and the developer intake port 120 of the image forming unit 100. It is possible to prevent the developer from leaking from between.

Further, since the cleaning member 400 provided at one end of the upper frame 110 of the image forming portion 100 is not in contact with the developing agent accommodating portion 200 in the mounted state, the cleaning member 400 can be prevented from being deformed.

Further, by accommodating the scraped developer 271 in the groove 140 located in front of the cleaning member 400, it is possible to prevent the toner from scattering to the outside. Since the groove 140 is inclined, the scraped developer can be held in the back of the groove 140. Therefore, the risk due to the scattering of the developer can be suppressed.

<Image forming device 1>
FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 is an apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium (also simply referred to as “medium”) such as paper by an electrophotographic method. The image forming apparatus 1 is a color printer capable of forming a color image.

As shown in FIG. 19, the image forming apparatus 1 includes image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K that form images of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). doing. The image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K are detachably configured with respect to the main body structure of the image forming apparatus 1. The image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K are arranged in a row in order from the upstream side in the transport direction of the medium 90. Further, LED heads 6Y, 6M, 6C, 6K (also referred to as "LED head 6"), which are optical heads, are provided above the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K, and the image forming units 2Y, 2M, Transfer rollers 8Y, 8M, 8C, and 8K (also referred to as "transfer roller 8") are provided below the 2C and 2K.

Further, the image forming apparatus 1 is fed by a paper cassette 55 on which a plurality of media 90 are mounted, a paper feed roller 56 that feeds the media 90 one by one from the plurality of media 90 to the transport path, and a paper feed roller 56. It has a transport roller 57 that transports the paper 90 toward the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K.

Further, the image forming apparatus 1 has a transfer belt unit 22 that conveys the medium 90 in the direction of the arrow D64 under the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K. The transfer belt unit 22 is detachably configured with respect to the main body structure of the image forming apparatus 1. The transfer belt unit 22 has a drive roller 58, a driven roller 59, and an endless belt 64 stretched therein. The drive roller 58 is rotated by a driving force applied from the belt drive motor. The belt 64 electrostatically attracts the medium 90. As the belt 64 rotates, the medium 90 is conveyed. The transfer belt unit 22 has transfer rollers 8Y, 8M, 8C, and 8K arranged on the opposite side of the photoconductor drum with the belt 64 interposed therebetween. Further, the transfer belt unit 22 has a transfer cleaning blade 60 as a transfer cleaning unit that comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the belt 64 and removes the developer remaining on the outer peripheral surface of the belt 64, and the toner scraped off by the transfer cleaning blade 60. It has a waste toner accommodating portion 61 as a waste developing agent accommodating portion for accommodating the waste developer.

Further, the image forming apparatus 1 has a heating roller 20 and a heating roller 20 that fix the toner image, which is a developer image transferred from the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K to the medium 90, on the medium 90 by heating and pressurizing. It has a pressurizing roller 21, a discharge roller 62 for discharging the medium 90 on which the toner image is fixed to the outside of the image forming apparatus 1, and a stacker portion 63 for loading the discharged medium 90. The paper feed roller 56, the transfer roller 57, the transfer belt unit 22, the discharge roller 62, and the like constitute a medium transfer section.

The image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K have the same structure as each other except for the type of toner as a developing agent contained therein. The image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K have the same structure as the image forming unit 2. Therefore, the structure of one image forming unit 2 will be described below. The image forming unit 2 includes a photoconductor drum 3 as an image carrier, a charging roller 4 as a charging member, a developing roller 7 as a developing agent carrier, and a cleaning blade 9 as a cleaning unit for the photoconductor drum 3. It has a supply roller 16 as a developer supply member and a developing blade 17 as a developer regulation member.

The photoconductor drum 3 is rotated by a driving force applied by the drum driving motor 28. The photoconductor drum 3 has a cylindrical conductive support and a photosensitive layer arranged on the surface thereof. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 3. The charging roller 4, the LED head 6 as an optical head as an exposure means, and the developing roller 7 are arranged around the photoconductor drum 3. The charging roller 4 has a metal shaft and a semi-conductive elastic layer provided on the surface thereof. A predetermined bias voltage is applied to the charging roller 4 by the charging roller power supply. The charging roller 4 is driven to rotate with the rotation of the photoconductor drum 3, and uniformly charges the surface of the photoconductor drum 3.

The LED head 6 is attached to, for example, the main body structure of the image forming apparatus 1 or the lower surface of a cover member that opens and closes with respect to the main body structure. For example, by closing the cover member of the image forming apparatus 1 after the image forming unit 2 for each color of Y, M, C, and K is attached to the main body structure of the image forming apparatus 1, the LED head 6 is used for each color. The image forming unit 2 is arranged at a predetermined position facing the photoconductor drum 3. The LED head 6 is arranged between the LED array and the photoconductor drum 3 and an LED array having a plurality of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) arranged in the main scanning direction which is the rotation axis direction of the photoconductor drum 3. It has a rod lens array. The rod lens array is, for example, an upright 1x imaging lens array. The plurality of LEDs emit light and turn off according to the print data. The light emitted from the plurality of LEDs is imaged on the surface of the photoconductor drum 3 by the rod lens array. When the surface of the photoconductor drum 3 that is uniformly charged is exposed by the LED head 6, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 3.

The developing roller 7 has a metal shaft and a semi-conductive elastic layer arranged on the surface thereof. A predetermined bias voltage is applied to the developing roller 7 from the developing roller power supply. The supply roller 16 supplies toner to the surface of the developing roller 7. The developing blade 17 is arranged so as to be pressed against the surface of the developing roller 7. The developing blade 17 regulates the thickness of the toner layer as a developer layer supported on the surface of the developing roller 7 by the pressing force on the surface of the developing roller 7, and forms a thin toner layer on the surface of the developing roller 7. .. The cleaning blade 9 is in contact with the surface of the photoconductor drum 3 and removes the toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor drum 3 after transfer.

As shown in FIG. 19, in the mounting process of the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K, the developing agent accommodating portion 200 is inserted in the mounting direction D1, and in the taking out process, the developing agent accommodating portion 200 is inserted in the taking out direction D2. Pull out.

In the example of FIG. 19, since the image forming units 2 shown in FIGS. 1 to 18 are used as the image forming units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K, the development scattered to the outside of the image forming unit 2 after the removal process. The amount of the agent can be reduced, and the cleaning member 400 of the image forming portion 100 can be prevented from being rolled up and torn.

The image forming unit 2 of the present embodiment can be applied not only to a printer but also to a copying machine, a facsimile, and a multifunction device having these functions.

1 image forming device, 2, 2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K image forming unit, 3 photoconductor drum, 4 charging roller, 6Y, 6M, 6C, 6K LED head, 7 developing roller, 8Y, 8M, 8C, 8K transfer roller , 100, 100a Image forming part, 120 developing agent intake port, 130 developing container, 140 groove part, 190 ribs, 160 developing agent, 181, 182 first guide part, 200 developing agent containing part, 210 developing part main body, 220 developing Agent supply port, 230 shutter, 260 developer, 270 developer, 271 developer, 280 second guide, 300 seal member, 400, 400a cleaning member, 410 cleaning surface, 420 top surface, D1 mounting direction, D2 taking out direction , Θ tilt angle, α angle.

Claims (11)

An image forming portion that forms a developer image on the image carrier,
A developer accommodating portion having a developer supply port and supplying a developer from the developer supply port to the image forming portion in a mounted state while being mounted on the image forming portion.
A seal member provided in the image forming portion and in contact with the developing agent accommodating portion in the mounted state, and
In the taking-out process, which is attached to the image forming portion and is not in contact with the developing agent accommodating portion in the attached state, and moves the developing agent accommodating portion in the attached state in a predetermined direction. A cleaning member having a cleaning surface in contact with the periphery of the developer supply port of the developer accommodating portion, and
Have,
An image forming unit characterized in that the cleaning surface is inclined at an inclination angle of less than 90 ° with respect to the extraction direction. The image forming unit according to claim 1, wherein the inclination angle is 50 ° or more and 70 ° or less. The image forming portion has a developer intake port and has a developer intake port.
The developer supply port of the developer accommodating portion in the mounted state is provided so as to face the developer intake port.
The image forming unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the developer supplied from the developer supply port enters the developer accommodating portion through the developer intake port. The image forming unit according to claim 3, wherein the sealing member is arranged around the developing agent intake port of the image forming portion. The image forming portion has a groove portion for accommodating the developer removed from the developer accommodating portion by the cleaning member in the extraction process.
The image forming unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the groove portion has an entrance of the removed developer between the sealing member and the cleaning member. The image forming unit according to claim 5, wherein the seal member has a portion that partially covers the upper side of the groove portion. The image forming unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the upper surface of the cleaning member is located at a position higher than the upper surface of the sealing member at a position close to the cleaning member. Any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the developer accommodating portion comes into contact with the upper surface of the cleaning member in the process of moving the developer accommodating portion in the mounting direction and mounting the developer accommodating portion on the image forming portion. The image forming unit according to item 1. The image forming unit according to claim 8, wherein the mounting direction is opposite to the taking-out direction. The image forming portion has a first guide portion that guides the developer accommodating portion in the taking-out direction.
The image forming unit according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the developer accommodating portion has a second guide portion guided by the first guide portion. An image forming apparatus comprising the image forming unit according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

Images