JP2502970Y2 - Ozone removal device in image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ozone removing device in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile.

2. Description of the Related Art In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus as described above, a uniform charge is applied to a photoconductor by discharge from a charger, and a latent image is formed by exposing the photoconductor, and further development → transfer →
Recording is performed on paper in the process of fixing. In this process, a charger that uses corona discharge is used to uniformly charge the photoconductor, but during discharge from the charger, air reacts due to the high potential and ozone is generated. . If the ozone is left as it is, it deteriorates the photoreceptor, so it is necessary to discharge the ozone out of the apparatus. However, if ozone is discharged at a high concentration, it may adversely affect the human body. Therefore, an ozone removing device is usually provided in the recording device.

As an ozone removing device, for example, a process in which an ozone filter made of activated carbon or paper impregnated with activated carbon is detachably provided in an exhaust portion of a recording device, and air in the device is exhausted to the outside of the device through an ozone filter by an exhaust fan. Then, there is one in which ozone contained in the air is adsorbed by the ozone filter.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, since the ozone removing device described above removes ozone by adsorbing ozone with the ozone filter, the ozone removing device increases the ozone adsorption amount to the ozone filter. There is a problem that the performance is deteriorated, that is, the ozone filter has a short life.

Further, when the ozone filter has reached the end of its life, it needs to be replaced, but there is also a problem that the replacement time cannot be accurately grasped because there is no means for knowing the replacement time of the ozone filter. Furthermore, the air in the device is accompanied by dust such as paper powder and dust in addition to ozone, and the dust adheres to the surface of the ozone filter to reduce the ozone adsorption power and may cause clogging. However, it is difficult to know when to replace the ozone filter, and if the replacement of the ozone filter is delayed, there is a risk that ozone will be discharged to the outside of the device without being removed. Especially, in recent years, regulations on ozone concentration have become stricter. However, there is also a problem that it is not possible to deal with it.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional ozone removing device as described above, improve the ozone decomposition rate by the ozone filter, and thereby reduce the concentration of the volatile ozone decomposer. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ozone removing device capable of preventing leakage of a volatile ozone decomposing agent to the outside of the device, and easily replacing or replenishing a consumed volatile ozone decomposing agent.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention relates to a conventional ozone removing apparatus, in which an exhaust fan, an exhaust duct, an ozone filter are sequentially provided from an upstream side to a downstream side of an exhaust flow of an exhaust section. Are arranged in a straight line, an ozone decomposing agent container is detachably provided in the lower part of the exhaust duct, and a volatile ozone decomposing agent is arranged inside the ozone decomposing agent container. is there.

Action In the ozone removing device as described above, when the exhaust gas from the exhaust fan passes through the exhaust duct during image formation,
A volatile ozone decomposing agent is mixed with this, and when such a mixture passes through the ozone filter, the volatile ozone decomposing agent adheres to the ozone filter, and the ozone in the exhaust adheres to this ozone filter. When it is decomposed by the agent and the volatile ozone decomposer is exhausted in this way,
The ozone decomposing agent container is removed from the exhaust duct and replaced with a new ozone decomposing agent container, or the volatile ozone decomposing agent is supplied into the ozone decomposing agent container.

Embodiment In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the ozone filter 3 is sequentially arranged from the side of the exhaust hole 6 provided in the side cover 7 of the printer main body,
The exhaust duct 2 and the exhaust fan 1 are linearly arranged, a container 4 for storing a volatile ozone decomposing agent is arranged below the exhaust duct 2, and the exhaust duct 2 is provided with a small opening 5 communicating with the container 4. Has been. In the above-mentioned one, the exhaust fan 1 is preferably a DC fan having a wide driving voltage range, and the filter 3 may be formed by activated carbon or paper to which activated carbon is adhered and one having the same adsorptivity as that of the filter. It is preferably covered by a cover plate 8 made of an impermeable material. The container 4 is attachable to and detachable from the exhaust duct 2, and may be provided on the upper part of the exhaust duct 2 opposite to the above-mentioned position, and is provided with an opening / closing lid for replenishing the volatile ozone decomposer. There is. Further, as the volatile ozone decomposing agent, for example, Ausuriless (trade name) manufactured by Ricoh Techno Research Co., Ltd., which contains terpenoids as a main component, is suitable.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a control circuit diagram for the exhaust fan 1, wherein the relay 10 is of a contact switching type, the voltage is + 5V, + 15V, + 24V, and 11 is a trigger.

The operation of the above apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In the image forming apparatus, ozone is not generated when the image is not formed, but if the heat generated in the fixing unit is left as it is, it will remain in the apparatus and deteriorate the photoconductor. Since there is a problem of impairing safety, it is preferable that the exhaust fan 1 operates to discharge the internal air, that is, heat to the outside.

Therefore, in this invention, at that time, the trigger 11 is turned off and the driving voltage becomes 15 V, the exhaust fan 1 rotates at a low speed and a small amount of heated air in the device is discharged, but the volatile ozone decomposition Decrease the volatility of the agent.

When the print button is turned on for image formation, the trigger 11 is also turned on and the drive voltage is switched to 25V, the exhaust fan 1 rotates at high speed, and the exhaust amount increases.
The exhaust gas flowing through the exhaust duct 2 promotes the volatilization of the ozone decomposer in the ozone decomposer container 4, and the increased amount of the volatile ozone decomposer flows into the exhaust duct 2 through the small opening 5. Ozone that adheres to the ozone filter 3 and is contained in the exhaust gas is decomposed by the volatile ozone decomposer that adheres to the ozone filter 3, and clean air is discharged to the outside of the equipment. When the volatile ozone decomposer is consumed in this way, the ozone decomposer container 4 is removed from the exhaust duct and replaced with a new volatile ozone decomposer container, or the volatile ozone decomposer is replenished in the ozone decomposer container 4. To do.

When the last transfer paper is ejected in this way, trigger 11
Is turned off, and the exhaust fan 1 is switched to the low speed rotation as described above.

The air volume passing through the exhaust duct 2 in the above case,
The relationship of the consumption amount of the volatile ozone decomposer per unit time is shown in FIG. As can be seen from this drawing, when the air volume is large, a large amount of the volatile ozone decomposing agent is consumed, and when the air volume is small, the consumption of the volatile ozone decomposing agent is small.

The present invention is as described above, and in the conventional ozone removing apparatus, an exhaust fan, an exhaust duct provided with a volatile ozone decomposing agent, and an ozone in order from the upstream side to the downstream side of the exhaust flow of the exhaust section. Since the filters are arranged in a straight line, part of the exhaust air from the exhaust fan does not stay in the exhaust duct during image formation, and when the entire amount passes through it, the volatile ozone decomposer Mixed,
When such an air-fuel mixture passes through the ozone filter, the volatile ozone decomposing agent adheres to the ozone filter, and the ozone in the exhaust gas is decomposed by the volatile ozone decomposing agent adhering to the ozone filter. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the concentration of the volatile ozone decomposer, thereby preventing the leakage of the volatile ozone decomposer to the outside of the apparatus and reducing the malodor thereof. The volatile ozone decomposing agent is placed in the ozone decomposing agent container that can be attached to and detached from the exhaust duct, and the volatile ozone decomposing agent can be replenished in the ozone decomposing agent container. When the ozone decomposing agent is exhausted, the ozone decomposing agent container may be replaced, or the volatile ozone decomposing agent may be supplied to the ozone decomposing agent container.
There is an effect that the operation for that is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a control circuit diagram of the same as above, FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the same as above, and FIG. 4 is a correlation diagram of air volume and ozone decomposing agent. 1 ... Exhaust fan, 2 ... Exhaust duct, 3 ... Ozone filter, 4 ... Ozone decomposer container, 5 ... Through hole, 10 ... Relay, 11 ... Trigger

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. In an image forming apparatus, wherein an ozone filter is provided in an exhaust portion of the image forming apparatus and ozone in exhaust air discharged by an exhaust fan is removed by the ozone filter, from an upstream side of an exhaust flow of the exhaust portion. An exhaust fan, an exhaust duct, and an ozone filter are sequentially arranged in a straight line toward the downstream side, an ozone decomposing agent container is detachably provided below the exhaust duct, and a volatile ozone decomposing agent is provided inside the ozone decomposing agent container. The ozone removing device is characterized in that. 2. The ozone removing device according to claim 1, wherein the volatile ozone decomposing agent can be supplied into the ozone decomposing agent container.