JP2607540B2 - Image carrier unit - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image carrier unit applied as, for example, an electronic copier or a laser printer.

(Prior Art) In an electronic copying machine or the like, a photosensitive drum unit is provided in a main body thereof, and an image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum. However, the surface of the photosensitive drum is damaged when the electronic copying machine is shipped. To prevent this, the surface of the photosensitive drum is protected by a protective sheet. In use, the protective sheet is taken up by a take-up means and removed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the main body of the electronic copying machine, the above-mentioned protective sheet is in contact with the developing device or is installed with almost no gap. The toner tends to adhere to the contact surface, and the toner scatters during winding and re-adheres to a peripheral device, thereby contaminating the inside of the device. Was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image carrier unit in which a developer adhered to a protective member is not scattered during winding. Things.

[Constitution of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention forms a latent image on an image carrier and supplies the latent image with a developer to the image carrier. A first unit for covering and protecting the image carrier in an image carrier unit having at least the image carrier; Sheet material, a second sheet material provided on an outer surface side of the first sheet material when the image carrier is covered, a predetermined surface of the second sheet material, and the first sheet material. The opposite surface formed with the outer surface of the material is directed to the developing unit side when mounted on the image forming apparatus,
A holding unit configured to hold the second sheet material in a releasable manner; and receiving the driving force from the image forming apparatus after the second sheet material is mounted on the image forming apparatus. And a take-up means for taking up the second sheet material, peeling off the second sheet material from the holding means, and removing the first sheet material from the image carrier. When the first sheet material is wound up, the outer surface of the first sheet material and the predetermined surface of the second sheet material come close to each other to close the opposing surface, so that the development surface adheres to the opposing surface. An agent is sandwiched between the first sheet material and the second sheet material.

(Operation) The developer adhered to the protective member is wrapped by the first and second sheet materials so that the developer is not scattered at the time of winding.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings.

1 and 2 are a perspective view and a schematic vertical sectional side view showing an internal configuration of an image forming unit apparatus having a laser printer as an image forming apparatus of the present invention, and have the following configuration. .

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a laser printer as an image forming apparatus.
The envelope feeder 3 is installed on the upper side, and the envelope feeder 3 is installed on the rear side.

The laser printer 1 has the following configuration.

That is, in the drawing, reference numeral 5 denotes a main body of the laser printer. The upper rear portion of the upper surface of the printer main body 5 is one step higher, and a concave portion 6 as a paper discharge portion is formed at the center of the upper surface.
A paper discharge tray 8 movably supported by a jogger 7 is mounted in the recess 6 and
On the right side, an operation panel display section 9 and an operation panel switch section 10 are provided, and on the left side, three IC card insertion ports 11 are provided.

A drum-shaped photoreceptor 15 as an image carrier is provided substantially at the center of the printer main body 5, and a charging device 1 is provided around the drum as shown in FIG.
6, a laser optical system 17, a developing device 18 as a developing means, a transfer device 19, a peeling device 20, a cleaning device 21, and a charge removing device 22 are sequentially arranged.

Further, an image support transport path 24 extending forward through an image transfer section 23 between the photoreceptor 15 and the transfer device 19 is formed in the printer main body 5, and is stored at the bottom in the printer main body 5. Paper feed rollers 28 from paper cassettes 26 and 27
The paper P automatically fed through the transfer roller 29 and the paper P fed from the manual feed tray 13 are guided to the image transfer unit 23.

Further, an aligning roller pair 30 is disposed upstream of the image transfer section 23 of the image support transport path 24, and a fixing device 31, a sheet P sorted by a sheet discharge selector 32 is disposed downstream,
A branch conveyance path 35 having a paper discharge roller pair 34 is formed to guide the envelope A and the like to the concave portion 6 as a paper discharge part.

In FIG. 1, 40 is a lower cover, 41 is a front cover,
42 is the upper cover, 43 is the right cover (door), 44 is the left cover,
45 is a right cover opening / closing lever, 46 is an upper unit opening / closing lever, and 47, 48, and 49 shown in FIG. 2 are control boards constituting a control section.

Thus, in the image forming operation, the photosensitive member 15 is driven, and the surface thereof is uniformly charged by the operation of the charging device 16, and then, the laser optical system 17 corresponds to the image signal on the photosensitive member 15. Exposure is performed to form an electrostatic latent image. Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 15 is developed by a developing device 18 using a two-component developer D composed of a toner a and a carrier b, and is sent to the image transfer unit 23 as a developer image.

On the other hand, in synchronization with this developer image forming operation,
The paper P selectively taken out of the paper feeders 25, 26, 27, or the manually fed paper P or the envelope A requested from the envelope feeder 3 is fed through the aligning roller pair 30 and is preliminarily placed on the photoreceptor 15. The developer image formed on the sheet P or the envelope A is transferred by the transfer device 19.
Next, the sheet P or the envelope A is peeled off by the photoconductor 15 by the peeling device 20, passed through the image support transport path 24, and sent to the fixing device 31. Here, the developer image is
Alternatively, after the sheet is fused and fixed on the envelope A, the sheet ejection selector 32
And the paper is discharged onto the upper discharge tray 8 or the front discharge tray 12.

The residual toner remaining on the photoreceptor 15 after the transfer of the developer image onto the sheet P or the envelope A is cleaned by the cleaning device 21 so that the next copying operation can be performed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the photosensitive member 15, the cleaning device 21, and the developing device 18 are mounted on a guide frame 51 slidably supported via slide rails 50, 50, and the right cover 43 is opened. Thus, the guide frame 51 can be pulled out to the right side of the printer main body 5.

Further, the photosensitive member 15 and the cleaning device 21 are unitized so that they can be integrally attached to and detached from the guide frame 51 as the drum unit 36, and the developing device 18 can be attached and detached independently.

5 to 7 are a sectional view, a side view and a perspective view of the drum unit 36. FIG. This drum unit
36 includes a protective sheet (protective member) 52 for protecting the photoconductor 15;
A take-up shaft 53 having a screw portion 53a at a distal end thereof is provided as a take-up means for taking up the protection sheet 52, and the protection sheet 52 is sandwiched and wound when the protection sheet 52 is wound.
A holding claw 55 and a sheet metal 56 are provided as a pair of plate-like bodies that hold the nip so that the 52 is released.

The protective sheet 52 is wound up after the drum unit 36 is mounted in the apparatus main body 5.

By the way, the photoconductor 15 and the auger 14 in the drum unit 36 are driven by the driving means 71 on the main body side. The driving unit 71 is connected to the drum unit 36.
A coupling gear 57, an idler gear 58, a drum drive gear 59, and an auger drive gear 60, a drive motor 72 provided in the apparatus body 5, and a pulley 73 of the drive motor 72. And a cup rig 75 which is connected via a 74. On the other hand, a gear 61 as a power transmission means is attached to one end of the winding shaft 53, and the gear 61 is meshed with the coupling gear 57.

Next, the procedure in which the winding shaft 53 operates at the time of initial image forming operation will be described.

First, power is transmitted to the coupling gear 57 via the main body drive unit coupling 75 by the operation of the drive motor 72. This power is transmitted to the drum drive gear 59, the auger drive gear 60, and the take-up shaft gear 61 via the idler gear 58, and each of them rotates. The take-up shaft gear 61 and the take-up shaft 53 are connected, and the take-up shaft gear 61
As a result, the winding shaft 53 rotates, and the protection sheet 52 is wound.

Further, the operation of each part will be described. Screw on tip
The take-up shaft 53a with 53a is designed to operate only at the initial stage of the image forming operation, and has a shape as shown in FIG. 8 and is attached to the drum unit 36 as shown in FIG. Here, a diagram is drawn schematically for convenience). The distal end is threaded with a threaded portion 53a, the female thread is threaded on the drum unit 36 side, and at the same time as the shaft 53 rotates at the initial time, the entire shaft 53 is directed in the direction of the threaded portion 53a as shown in FIG. , The winding shaft gear 61 separates from the coupling gear 57 as a driving gear and does not rotate. At this time, the protection sheet 52 is completely wound around the winding shaft 53,
It is stored in the storage cover 62 while being wound on the winding shaft 53. FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing the winding process.

FIG. 11 (a) shows a state in which the protective sheet 52 is attached before the initial operation, and FIG. 11 (b) shows a claw 55 which fixes the protective sheet 52 by rotating the winding shaft 53 by the initial operation.
FIG. 11 (c) shows a state in which the protective sheet 52 has been pulled out from the sheet metal 56 and wound up, and FIG. 11 (c) shows a state in the middle of winding up. After the winding, the protective sheet 52 is stored in the storage cover 62 while being wound. Winded protective sheet 52
Is in the storage cover 62, and after the protection sheet 52 is wound, the rotation of the winding shaft 53 is stopped, so that the transfer sheet and the image are not adversely affected. The storage cover 62 is in a state where the wound protection sheet 52 does not prevent the transfer of the transfer paper.

 Next, the protection sheet 52 will be described.

FIG. 13 shows a state in which the protection sheet 52 is expanded,
The protection sheet 52 is a drum side sheet 52 as a first sheet.
a, and a toner adhesion preventing film 52b as a second sheet, and the toner adhesion preventing film 52b is bonded and fixed via an adhesive portion 52c. Reference numeral 52d denotes a peeling portion, and an adhesive that can be peeled with an arbitrary peeling force is applied to the peeling portion 52d.

The operation of the above-described toner adhesion preventing film 52b will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 11 (a) and 12, the protective sheet
Attach 52. The drum-side sheet 52a is wound around the drum 15. The toner adhesion preventing film 52b is adhered to a stay 63 serving as a holding means of the drum unit in a state in which a peeling portion 52d coated with an adhesive is folded and folded. This is to make it easy to peel off during winding. With the drum unit 36 attached to the main body 5, the developing device 18
As a result, the toner t adheres to the toner adhesion preventing film 52b that comes into contact with the developing device 18.

For easy understanding, FIG. 12 shows the toner t in a large scale. When the take-up shaft 53 rotates and the protection sheet 52 is taken up, the toner t attached to the toner attachment prevention film 52b also moves at the same time as the protection sheet 52 as shown in FIG. 11 (b). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 11 (c), the film 52 for preventing the toner
b is folded on the drum side sheet 52a, and the toner t adhered to the toner adhesion preventing film 52b is removed from the drum side sheet 5a.
It is held between 2a. Therefore, the protective sheet
At the time of the winding of the toner 52, the toner t is surely prevented from scattering or adhering to other parts.

Further, the drum-side sheet 52a of the protection sheet 52 is formed into a sheet shape by paper, polyethylene film, or the like, and is capable of blocking light rays that affect the photoconductor 15, and the toner adhesion preventing film 52b is formed of a toner t. It is made of a film that is difficult to adhere.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 14, the protective sheet 52 has a projecting portion 66 at the center of the end thereof, and step portions 64, 64 formed on both sides of the projecting portion 66 at right angles to the projecting portion 66. doing. Further, a slit portion 65 is formed in the winding shaft 53 along the axial direction thereof.
The projections 66 of the 52 are inserted, and the steps 64, 64 abut on the winding shaft 53, and the protection sheet 52 is wound and supported by rotating the winding shaft 53 once or twice.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given of the case where the developing is performed using the two-component developer D composed of the toner t and the carrier b. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a developing device using a one-component developer which does not use the toner.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be variously modified.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the developer adhered in contact with the developing device is wound up in a state of being wrapped by the first and second sheet materials, and may be scattered to the outside. Therefore, there is an effect that the inside of the apparatus main body and the transfer paper are not stained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram thereof, FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of a laser printer, and FIG. FIG. 5 (a) is a configuration diagram showing a drum unit, FIG. 5 (b) is an enlarged view showing a portion B in FIG. 5 (a), and FIG. Fig. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a driving unit of the drum unit, Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the drum unit, Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the winding shaft, Figs. 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing the operation of the winding shaft,
11 (a) to 11 (c) are explanatory diagrams showing a winding operation of the protective sheet, FIG. 12 is an enlarged view showing a portion A in FIG. 11 (a), and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view showing the protection sheet, and FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a state where the protection sheet is attached to the winding shaft. 5 ... main body, 15 ... photosensitive drum (image carrier), 52 ...
... Protective sheet (protective member), 63 ... Stay (holding means), 52a ... Drum side sheet (first sheet material), 52b
…… Film for preventing toner adhesion (second sheet material), 53…
... winding shaft (winding means).

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-217983 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa-62-81945 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a latent image formed on an image carrier; and a developing unit for developing the latent image by supplying a developer to the image carrier. An image carrier unit having at least an image carrier, comprising: a first sheet material for covering and protecting the image carrier; and a first sheet material for covering the image carrier. A second sheet material provided on an outer surface side, and an opposing surface formed by a predetermined surface of the second sheet material and an outer surface of the first sheet material, wherein the second sheet material is attached to the image forming apparatus. Holding means for facing the developing means side, and for holding the second sheet material in a releasable manner, by receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus after being mounted on the image forming apparatus, Winding the first sheet material and the second sheet material, Winding means for peeling off the second sheet material from the holding means and removing the first sheet material from the image carrier, wherein the winding means winds the first sheet material. When the outer surface of the first sheet material and the predetermined surface of the second sheet material are close to each other and the opposing surface is closed, the developer attached to the opposing surface is brought into contact with the first sheet material. An image carrier unit sandwiched between the second sheet material.