JP2553040Y2 - Cleaning equipment for electrophotographic equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Application Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a cleaning brush for removing toner remaining on the surface of a photoreceptor, a cleaning roller for collecting toner adhered to the cleaning brush, and a cleaning roller for cleaning the surface of the cleaning roller. The present invention relates to a cleaning device for an electrophotographic apparatus having a blade member that abuts and removes toner adhered to a cleaning roller surface.

[Background of the invention]

Most of the toner image formed on the photoreceptor is transferred to a transfer material such as paper, but since a small amount of toner remains on the photoreceptor, a cleaning device is usually provided to remove the residual toner. Have been.

For example, the cleaning device mechanically or electrostatically removes the residual toner on the photoreceptor with a cleaning brush, and magnetically or electrically removes the toner adhering to the cleaning brush with a cleaning roller provided downstream of the cleaning brush. There is known a cleaning device in which toner on a cleaning roller is scraped off by a blade member after being attracted, and the toner is collected in the cleaning device.

In this type of cleaning device, the toner on the cleaning roller cannot be removed unless the blade member is replaced when the blade member reaches the end of its life due to wear or the like. As a result, the image quality is significantly reduced.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device for an electrophotographic apparatus in which the blade member can be easily mounted without removing the entire cleaning device from the main body of the electrophotographic device when replacing a blade member provided in the cleaning device. It is to provide a device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for moving a blade member in contact with the cleaning roller surface to a non-contact position and a mechanism for regulating the contact / non-contact position of the blade member with respect to the cleaning roller surface. Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized cleaning device for an electrophotographic apparatus.

[Outline of the invention]

The above object is to provide a cleaning brush for removing toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor, a cleaning roller for collecting toner adhered to the cleaning brush, and removing the toner adhered to the surface of the cleaning roller by contacting the surface of the cleaning roller. A cleaning member of an electrophotographic apparatus having a blade member to be rotated, a holder member rotatably supported on the surface of the cleaning roller,
The holder member is provided between the held blade member and the cleaning device housing so that the holder member can be moved in a direction parallel to a rotation axis of the holder member,
Regulating means for regulating the contact / non-contact position of the blade member with respect to the surface of the cleaning roller; and inserting / removing the blade member with respect to the cleaning device housing when the blade member is at the non-contact position with respect to the cleaning roller surface. An opening that enables the rotation of the holder member, and one end of a rotation shaft of the holder member is provided so as to protrude from a housing of the cleaning device located near the opening, and the rotation of the rotation shaft protruding from a position near the opening portion is provided. This is achieved by moving the blade member between the contact position and the non-contact position with operation.

[Example of the invention]

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part showing a state where the cleaning blade is retracted with respect to the cleaning roller, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part showing a state where the cleaning blade is brought into contact with the cleaning roller, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view of the entire cleaning device when the cleaning blade is in the state shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a cleaning device when the cleaning blade is in the state shown in FIG. It is the whole side view.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a photosensitive drum. The toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 is mechanically or electrostatically removed by the cleaning brush 2. In this state, toner is accumulated in the cleaning brush 2, which may cause clogging of the brush and reduce the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning brush. The cleaning roller 3 collects the toner magnetically or electrically. Subsequently, the toner adhered to the surface of the cleaning roller 3 is scraped off by the cleaning blade 4 in contact with the surface of the cleaning roller 3.

In the state shown in FIG. 5, the cleaning blade 4 is
As shown in the figure, it is positioned so as to contact the cleaning roller 3 by the latch mechanism. The cleaning blade 4 is supported by the holder member 5 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow C in FIG. The holder member 5 is provided with a latch member 6 constituting the latch mechanism and an operation lever 7 for rotating the holder member 5 integrally or fixedly. The holder member 5 and the operation lever 7 are connected to each other. The cleaning blade 4 can be moved to a position where the cleaning blade 4 is in contact with or not in contact with the cleaning roller 3 by rotatably supporting the shaft member 8 to be fixed to the housing of the cleaning device serving as a fixed member.

A latch member 9 to be engaged with the latch member 6 is provided with a shaft member 10 as shown in FIG. 3, and an end of the shaft member 10 is connected to an outside of the cleaning device through an elongated hole 11 provided in a housing of the cleaning device. By protruding and providing
It is provided so that the latch member 9 can be moved in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2 from outside the cleaning device.

Further, the rear end of the latch member 9 and the cleaning device housing, and the holder member 5 and the cleaning device housing are connected by springs 12 and 13, respectively, which constantly pull the respective members toward the housing.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 14 denotes a shutter member.
When the cleaning blade 4 is in contact with the cleaning roller 3, the opening 15 provided in the housing of the cleaning device is closed, but the operating lever 7 is moved backward so that the cleaning blade 4 is retracted from the cleaning roller 3. When the is rotated, the opening
It is configured to open 15.

In the above configuration, when removing the cleaning blade 4 from the cleaning device, the latch mechanism is released by slightly moving the shaft member 10 provided on the latch member 9 to the left in FIG. Is returned to the position shown in FIG.

In this state, as described above, the shutter member 14
Is open, so that the cleaning blade 4 can be removed from the opening 15.

When a new cleaning blade 4 is mounted on the holder member 5 and brought into contact with the cleaning roller 3 again, the operating lever 7 is moved to the arrow A in FIG. In the direction
If the shaft member 10 is released near the predetermined position, the cleaning blade 4 is regulated at the position where it contacts the cleaning roller 3.

As shown in FIG. 6, a spring 16 for pressing the side surface of the cleaning blade 4 may be provided on the inner surface of the holder member 5. In this case, loosening between the holder member 5 and the cleaning blade 4 is prevented.

Further, a cleaning blade wiping member made of a brush member or a felt material may be provided on the inner edge of the opening 15 to remove toner adhering to the cleaning blade at the same time as the operation of removing and inserting the cleaning blade 4.

Further, the latch mechanism is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the latch member 17 may be fixed to the housing of the cleaning device as shown in FIG.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when exchanging a blade member provided in the cleaning device or the like, the blade member can be mounted without removing the entire cleaning device from the electrophotographic apparatus main body. It is possible to provide a cleaning device for an electrophotographic apparatus, which can be easily performed in a simple manner.

In addition, since the blade member alone can be replaced, it is not necessary to replace the entire cleaning device, and the cost of consumables can be reduced.

Further, an operation unit for regulating the movement and the position of the blade member with respect to the surface of the cleaning roller can be provided close to the opening for removing the blade member, so that the movement and regulating mechanism is simple and small. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a main part showing a state in which a cleaning blade is retracted with respect to a cleaning roller in the cleaning device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram in which the cleaning blade is brought into contact with the cleaning roller in the cleaning device according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the cleaning blade mechanism, showing a cross-sectional side view of the main part showing
FIG. 4 is a side view of the entire cleaning device when the cleaning blade is in the state of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a side view of the entire cleaning device when the cleaning blade is in the state of FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a main part side view showing another embodiment of the holder member applied to the cleaning device of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a main part side view showing another embodiment of the latch mechanism applied to the cleaning device of the present invention. is there. In the figure, 3 is a cleaning roller, 4 is a cleaning blade, 5 is a holder member, 6 and 9 are latch members, 7 is an operation lever, 10 is a shaft member, 11 is a long hole, and 15 is an opening.

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A cleaning brush for removing toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor, a cleaning roller for collecting toner adhered to the cleaning brush, and removing toner adhering to the surface of the cleaning roller by contacting the surface of the cleaning roller. A holder member rotatably supported on the surface of the cleaning roller, and the holder so as to be movable in a direction parallel to a rotation axis of the holder member. A member provided between the held blade member, the holder member and the housing of the cleaning device, a regulating unit for regulating a contact / non-contact position of the blade member with respect to the cleaning roller surface; When the blade member is in the non-contact position, An opening that allows the holder member to be inserted into and removed from the cleaning device housing, and one end of a rotation shaft of the holder member is provided so as to protrude from the cleaning device housing located near the opening. A cleaning device for an electrophotographic apparatus, wherein a blade member is moved between the contact position and the non-contact position in accordance with a rotation operation of a rotation shaft protruding from a position.