JP2643857B2 - Cleaning device for photosensitive drum - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device for a photosensitive drum, and more particularly to a cleaning device for a photosensitive drum having a cleaning blade.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electrophotographic printer, a toner image developed on a photosensitive drum is transferred to a sheet, and thereafter, residual toner (untransferred toner) on the photosensitive drum is removed by cleaning means and discarded. The toner is collected in a toner container. FIG. 2 shows a conventional example. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 51 denotes a photosensitive drum which is a main part of the electrophotographic printer. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 51 by an optical system (not shown). Reference numeral 52 indicates a developing roller.
The developing roller 52 has a function of sending toner sent via a toner supply roller (not shown) to the photosensitive drum 51 side, thereby developing the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 51 into a visible image.

The reference numeral 53 indicates a cleaning device. The cleaning device 53 is provided on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photoconductor drum 51, and is for removing toner (untransferred toner) remaining on the surface of the photoconductor drum 51.

[0004] On the other hand, in this type of cleaning device 53, if the toner storage volume in the waste toner container 53A is small, the waste toner container 53A becomes full immediately and the waste toner container 53A must be replaced frequently.

Therefore, as a countermeasure, conventionally, a method of applying mechanical pressure to the waste toner stored in the waste toner container 53A or applying vibration to the waste toner container 53A has been adopted. It is designed to pack as much waste toner as possible into the waste toner container 53A.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the amount of waste toner contained in the waste toner container can be increased to some extent, but since the toner remains in powder form, it is compressed too much. In addition, since the waste toner is stored in the form of powder, waste toner is scattered due to vibration or impact when the waste toner container is replaced.

[0007]

It is an object of the present invention to improve the disadvantages of the prior art and to effectively prevent the waste toner from scattering when the container for storing the waste toner is replaced. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a photosensitive drum cleaning device that can increase the amount of waste toner stored.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cleaning blade for scraping off untransferred toner adhering to the surface of a photosensitive drum after transfer, and a toner for accommodating the untransferred toner scraped off by the cleaning blade. In a cleaning device for a photosensitive drum having a storage case, a toner collection roller and a toner collection roller are provided in a toner storage case.
The toner fed through the toner collection roller is heated and
Equipped with a toner for hot-melt means solidify. Also this
Remove the toner collecting roller and the toner
It is installed on the inner bottom of the delivery case,
The fusing means is constituted by a heating roller . And this
The configuration is such that the heating roller is disposed substantially parallel to the toner collection roller . This aims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0009]

[Operation] The residual toner on the photosensitive drum 1 first passes through the waste toner storage blade 3b, and is thereafter scraped off by the cleaning blade 3a. The waste toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 3a is stored in the toner storage case 3.

[0010] The waste toner stored in the toner storage case 3 is heated by the heat roller 4 to form a toner mass, which is appropriately aggregated and sequentially deposited in the toner storage case 3. This substantially increases the amount of waste toner stored.
At the same time, even if a larger amount of waste toner is stored in the toner storage case 3 than before, inconveniences such as external scattering during removal can be effectively prevented.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a photosensitive drum which is a main part of an electrophotographic printer. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 by an optical system (not shown). Reference numeral 2 denotes a developing roller. The developing roller 2 has a function of sending toner sent via a toner supply roller (not shown) to the photosensitive drum 1 side, thereby developing the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 into a visible image.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a cleaning device.
The cleaning device 3 is provided on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1 and removes toner (untransferred toner) remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1.

The cleaning device 3 includes a cleaning blade 3a for scraping off untransferred toner adhering to the surface, and a toner storage case that supports the cleaning blade 3a and stores the toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 3a. 3A, and a waste toner storage blade 3b that is provided in the toner storage case 3A and guides the untransferred toner written by the above-described cleaning blade 3a into the toner storage case 3. Reference numeral 3B indicates a waste toner storage port provided in the toner storage case 3A.

The waste toner storage blade 3b is disposed below the cleaning blade 3a in FIG. 1, passes the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 without scraping, and is scraped off by the cleaning blade 3a. The residual toner is guided into the toner storage case 3A as described above.

The toner storage case 3A has an inner bottom
Is, as shown in FIG. 1, a toner collecting roller 4A and
The toner fed through the toner collecting roller 4A is added.
A heating roller 4 is provided as a heat melting unit for the toner to be heated and solidified . The toner collecting roller 4A for feeding waste toner to the heating roller 4 has a toner storage case 3
A is provided on the side of the waste toner storage blade 3b in A. The heating roller 4 is, as shown in FIG.
In, it is arranged substantially parallel to the toner recovery roller as described above
I have.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

First, when the entire system is set to the operating state, the photosensitive drum 1 and the developing roller 2 rotate, whereby the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 is moved by the action of the developing roller 2 as described above. Is developed with toner.

Next, the visible image developed with the toner on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred to a predetermined sheet by a transfer device (not shown) provided between the developing roller 2 and the cleaning device 3. . After the transfer process by the transfer device, the remaining toner on the photosensitive drum 1 is scraped off by the cleaning device 3 described above.

In this case, the residual toner on the photosensitive drum 1 first passes through the waste toner storage blade 3b, and is thereafter scraped off by the cleaning blade 3a. The waste toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 3a is received by the waste toner storage blade 3b disposed below, and guided by the waste toner storage blade 3b to be stored in the toner storage case 3A.

The waste toner stored in the toner housing case 3A is, by the toner recovery roller 4A of the toner housing case 3A is transmitted to the heating roller 4 side, it is heated in the heating low <br/> La 4 Toner It becomes a lump and forms an appropriate lump, and sequentially accumulates in the toner storage case 3A. This not only allows more waste toner to be stored in the toner storage case 3A than in the past , but also effectively prevents inconveniences such as external scattering at the time of removal.

[0022]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, according to this, during maintenance work such as replacement of a toner storage case, it is possible to reliably prevent waste toner from scattering outside. The inconvenience of soiling the inside of the printer can be effectively avoided, and at the same time, waste toner
Because over the sequentially solidified by the action of heat rollers, the actual capacity of this waste toner without increasing the volume of the housing part
The cleaning device can be qualitatively increased, and therefore, the replacement frequency can be reduced, and the handling efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photoconductor drum 2 Developing roller 3 Cleaning device 3A Toner storage case 3a Cleaning blade 4 Heating roller 4A as heat melting means for toner Toner collecting roller

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A cleaning blade for scraping off untransferred toner adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum after the transfer;
A photoreceptor drum cleaning device including a toner storage case for storing untransferred toner scraped off by the cleaning blade; a toner collection roller in the toner storage case ;
The toner fed through the toner collection roller is heated and
With equipped with a toner for hot-melt means to solidify, and the toner recovery roller and the toner for hot melt unit,
At the bottom of the toner storage case,
A cleaning device for a drum , wherein the heat-melting means for the toner is constituted by a heating roller, and the heating roller is provided side by side with the toner collecting roller .