JP2519292B2 - Image forming device cleaning mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [Table of Contents] Outline Industrial field of application Conventional technology (Fig. 6) Problem to be solved by the invention Means for solving the problem (Fig. 1) Action Example (a) Image Description of forming apparatus (Figs. 2 and 3) (b) Description of one embodiment (Figs. 4 and 5) (c) Description of another embodiment Effect of the invention [Outline] Electrophotographic apparatus, etc. The cleaning mechanism of the image forming device used in the image forming device to clean the residual toner of the image forming member and guide the collected toner to the collecting bottle, and to prevent the toner clogging and toner scattering and guide the toner to the collecting bottle. In order to achieve the above, an image forming apparatus including a cleaning unit that cleans residual toner of an image forming member, a discharge unit that discharges the cleaned collected toner to the outside, and a collection bottle that receives the toner discharged from the discharge unit Krini In the ringing mechanism, a lid member, which is attached to the discharge portion at an angle larger than the repose angle of the toner and is provided with a labyrinth, is provided.
The lid member is opened by engaging a part of the lid member with the recovery bottle.

[Industrial applications]

The present invention is used in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic apparatus,
The present invention relates to a cleaning mechanism of an image forming apparatus that cleans residual toner on an image forming member and guides collected toner to a collection bottle.

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic apparatus that forms an image using toner is widely used in printers, copiers, facsimile machines, and the like.

In such an image forming apparatus, since the image forming member after the toner image is transferred onto the sheet is reused, it is necessary to clean the image forming member, and a cleaning mechanism using a fur brush is used.

In this cleaning mechanism, it is required that the residual toner that has been cleaned and collected be guided to the collection bottle without the toner clogging or scattering.

[Conventional technology]

 FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

Below the cleaning mechanism (hereinafter referred to as a cleaner) 26, an ejecting section 263 for collecting toner is provided.
The 63 is provided with a lid 263a.

When the collection bottle 28 is set, the lid 263a opens due to the engagement and discharges the collected toner to the collection bottle 28.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

By the way, in the discharge unit 263, the collected toner falls into the collection bottle due to its own weight.

In the conventional technology, when the lid 263a is closed, since it is horizontal, there is a problem that the collection bottle 28 is engaged and the opening angle is not taken, toner does not drop smoothly, and toner jam occurs. Even in the state, there is a problem that the toner is likely to be scattered.

The present invention prevents toner clogging and toner scattering,
An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning mechanism for an image forming apparatus that can guide toner to a recovery bottle.

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a principle view of the present invention.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a cleaning unit 260 for cleaning the residual toner of the image forming member 20 and a discharging unit 263 for discharging the cleaned collected toner to the outside.
In the cleaning mechanism of the image forming apparatus including the collecting bottle 28 for receiving the toner discharged from the discharging unit 263, the discharging unit 263 is attached at an angle larger than the repose angle of the toner, and has a labyrinth. The lid member 263a provided is provided, and the lid member 263a is opened by engaging a part 263b of the lid member 263a and the recovery bottle 28.

[Action]

The present invention, the lid member 263a, as a labyrinth structure,
Prevented toner from scattering when closed.

Next, taking the repose angle of the toner into consideration, the lid member 263a is moved to the repose angle of the toner, that is, the inclination angle (about 30 degrees) at which the toner starts to fall.
Angle) larger than the angle, and attach it with the lid member 263a.
It made it easier for the toner to fall when was opened.

This solves the conflicting problems of toner clogging and toner scattering.

〔Example〕

(A) Description of Image Forming Apparatus FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, showing a laser printer as an example.

In the figure, the same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same symbols, 1 is a paper feeding unit, which feeds paper, and 2 is a printing unit, which is fed. What is printed by electrophotography, 3 is a discharge unit, which discharges printed paper, and 4 is a stacker which stores the discharged paper.

Reference numeral 10 is a paper cassette, which contains paper to be printed (cut paper) and is set from the outside, 11 is a pick roller for removing paper from the paper cassette 10, and 12 and 13 are feeding sheets. Reference numeral 14 is a roller for feeding the taken-out paper, and 14 is a medium guide.

Reference numeral 15 is a feeding path, a path through which the sheet PP is fed from the sheet cassette 10 to a feeding roller (referred to as a standby roller) 13, 16 is an insertion port, and a printing medium such as a sheet is manually fed from the outside. Is to be inserted into the feeding path 15 and the standby roller 13.

20 is a photosensitive drum (image forming medium), which rotates in the direction of the arrow to form an image on the photosensitive layer on the surface, 21 is a charger, which charges the photosensitive drum 20, 22 is an optical unit The laser light of the laser light source modulated by the video signal is scanned, the photosensitive drum 20 is irradiated with the laser light, and image exposure is performed.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a developing device, in which the paddle roll 230 rotates counterclockwise, agitates the toner and carrier of the developer, forms a magnetic brush of developer on the developing roller 231 which rotates clockwise, and is fixed by the blade 232. The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 20 is increased to a high level, the developer regulated by the blade 232 is returned to the paddle roller 230 by the flow path plate 233, and the toner replenisher 234
To replenish the toner consumed in.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a transfer device, which transfers the developed image of the photosensitive drum 20 onto the paper sent by the standby roller 13, and 25, a static eliminator, which statically charges the photosensitive drum 20 after the transfer.

A cleaning mechanism 26 cleans the surface of the photosensitive drum 20. The cleaning mechanism 26 rotates in the same direction as the photosensitive drum 20 and removes residual developing powder (toner) from the photosensitive drum 20. ) 260 and scraper 2 for scraping off the toner adhering to the fur brush 260
61 and a discharge screw 262 for discharging the dropped toner
And a discharge unit 263 including the toner discharge port and the lid 263a described above.
Is included.

27 is a fixing device for thermally fixing the paper after transfer, having a heat roller 27a and a counter roller 27b, 28 is the above-mentioned recovery bottle, and as shown in FIG. Is set to.

Denoted at 30, 31, 32 are ejection rollers for ejecting printed sheets to the stacker 4, and 33 is an ejection path for the printing unit 2.
A passage for guiding the sheet PP from the (fixing device 27) to the discharge roller 31.

In this laser printer, the path from the lower paper cassette 10 to the upper paper stacker 4 is formed in an S shape,
A configuration is adopted in which the sheet stacker 4, the printing unit 2, and the sheet cassette 10 are stacked in this order from just above.

Therefore, the device can be downsized, and the installation area slightly larger than the paper can be used.

Further, since the paper PP printed by the printing unit 2 is reversed by the discharge unit 3 and discharged to the paper stacker 4, the paper stacker 4
In, a sheet having a printing surface on the lower side of the drawing is accommodated in page order from the bottom.

Therefore, when printing a plurality of pages, the paper stacker 4 arranges the paper in page order.

To explain the operation of this printer, the paper feeding unit 1
Takes out the cut PP of the paper cassette 10 with the pick roller 11, feeds it to the feeding roller 13 with the feeding roller 12, and synchronizes with the writing to the photosensitive drum 20 of the printing unit 2,
The cut sheet PP is fed to the printing unit 2 by 13.

In the printing unit 2, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 20 is cut sheet PP.
The cut paper PP that has been transferred to and printed by the discharge rollers 30 and 31 of the discharge unit 3 is discharged to the paper stacker 4.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper frame can be opened with respect to the lower frame around the right side of the printer, and the discharge unit 263
Is provided in the upper frame together with the cleaner 26, and the recovery bottle 28 is provided in the lower frame.

(B) Description of an Embodiment FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an illustration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the same components as those described in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 6 are designated by the same symbols, and 263c, 26.
3d is a side wall, which constitutes the outlet of the outlet 263, 2
63e is a leaf spring, which is a return spring for closing the lid member 263a.

The lid member 263a is rotatably provided on the side wall 263d, has an engaging portion 263b at one end, and is biased in the closing direction by a leaf spring 263e.

The attachment angle θ of the lid member 263a is about 45 °, which is larger than the repose angle of 30 ° of the toner.

Further, a protrusion is provided on the discharge port side of the lid member 263a to form a labyrinth structure.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4 (A), when the upper frame is opened (see FIG. 3) and the discharge portion 263 and the recovery bottle 28 of the lower frame are not engaged, the lid member 263a moves to the side walls 263c and 263d.
And the labyrinth structure prevents toner from leaking and scattering.

When the upper frame is closed in this state, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the cleaner 26 is lowered, and the recovery bottle 28 enters the discharge portion 263.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the edge of the recovery bottle 28 pushes the engaging portion 263b of the lid member 263a, so that the lid member 263a opens against the leaf spring 263e.

Therefore, the toner falls on the collection bottle 28. After that, the residual toner scraped off by the fur brush 260 is scraped off by the scraper 261 to the collection screw 262, guided to the discharge section 263 by the rotation straight screw feeding operation of the collection screw 262, and falls into the collection bottle 28.

At this time, since the lid member 263a is attached at an angle larger than the repose angle of the toner, the toner easily drops on the lid member 263a even when the lid member 263a is in the closed state, and the toner is collected from the beginning of opening the lid member 263a. Can be reliably dropped.

This means that even if the opening angle of the lid member 263a is small, the toner can be dropped, and the opening angle for full opening can be small and small, and a large amount of toner is collected in the collecting bottle 28, and the lid Even if the member 263a becomes difficult to open, the toner can be dropped.

Also, the labyrinth structure described above causes the lid member to open when opened.
Even if the toner adheres to the 263a due to friction, the adhered toner is not likely to scatter when closed, and even if it is inclined, the toner scatter can be prevented.

In this way, the clogging of the toner and the scattering of the toner can be prevented.

(C) Description of Other Embodiments In the above-described embodiments, the fur brush is used for the cleaning unit, but it may be another one or may be a copying machine or the like without being limited to a printer.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention can be variously modified according to the gist of the present invention, and these modifications are not excluded from the present invention.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the present invention has the following effects.

Since the lid member is provided at the tip of the side wall, the engaging portion and the return spring are provided, and the lid member is directly opened and closed by the recovery bottle, the operation is reliable and the number of parts is small, so that the cost is low.

Since the labyrinth is formed between the lid member and the side wall by providing the protrusion, it is possible to prevent the toner from scattering when the lid member is closed.

Even in this case, since the lid member is provided so as to be inclined at a greater angle than the repose angle of the toner, it is possible to prevent toner clogging and to prevent toner scattering at the time when the lid member is opened and immediately before it is closed.

[Brief description of drawings]

 FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are overall configuration diagrams of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an embodiment of the present invention. An example explanatory diagram, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique. In the figure, 20 ... Photosensitive drum (image forming member), 26 ... Cleaning mechanism, 28 ... Collection bottle, 260 ... Fur brush (cleaning part), 263 ... Ejecting part, 263a ... Lid member.

Continuation of the front page (56) Bibliography Shown 62-74361 (JP, U) Shown 62-186163 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cleaning unit (260) for cleaning the residual toner of the image forming medium (20), a discharge unit (263) for discharging the cleaned collected toner to the outside, and a discharge toner of the discharge unit (263). Receiving collection bottle (2
In the cleaning mechanism of the image forming apparatus including 8), the discharging unit (263) is provided at the tip of the side wall (263c, 263d) formed by the discharging port and at an angle larger than the repose angle of the toner. A lid member (263a) attached to the lid member and having a protrusion for forming a labyrinth structure between the side wall and the lid member (263a), the lid member (263a) being engaged with the collection bottle (28); An engaging portion (26) for opening the lid member (263a)
3b), and a return spring (263e) for biasing the lid member (263a) in a direction to close the discharge port, a cleaning mechanism for an image forming apparatus.