JP2765260B2 - Cleaning equipment for electrophotographic equipment - 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 an image forming apparatus in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam, and more particularly to an improvement in handleability for color printing and user maintenance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electrophotographic apparatus, a recording medium on which a latent image is formed is developed with toner, and the visualized toner image is transferred to a transfer material such as paper. Therefore, when the above recording medium is used repeatedly, it is necessary to remove the residual toner in the transfer unit and the deposits such as paper powder adhering at the time of transfer. This type of apparatus requires cleaning of a fur brush, a magnet roll or a blade. There is a cleaning device used as a body, and has a transport member that transports the toner collected by the cleaning device to a collection container. Further, the cleaning body of the cleaning device has a function of contacting and separating from the surface to be cleaned at a predetermined timing in order to improve the function, but the cleaning body for collecting the toner is housed inside the case. It is configured. As such a cleaning device, there is a cleaning device as described in JP-A-61-62092.

[0003]

In this conventional apparatus, the toner collected by the cleaning body is transported in one direction by a transport member and transported to a recovery container. Therefore, the recovery container must be disposed outside the image forming section. In order to transport the toner to that point, only the transport member of the cleaning device is configured to be long in the transport direction. Therefore, it was necessary to largely escape the peripheral device in order to attach and detach the cleaning device. Further, the cleaning body of the cleaning device has a function of contacting and separating from the surface to be cleaned at a predetermined timing for improving the function, but has a complicated configuration in order to make the cleaning body housed inside the case movable. Or the inside of the case has a problem that the collected toner flies in a mist and the entire cleaning body is contaminated. In recent years, demands for user maintenance have increased, and it has been demanded that units having a short life can be easily replaced and that the units are not soiled at the time of replacement. In the past, it was necessary to replace the entire cleaning device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the problem of attaching and detaching the cleaning device, to simplify the movable structure of the cleaning body, and to improve the user-maintenance by making the structure easily replaceable. An object of the present invention is to provide a compact and low-cost cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic apparatus.

[0005]

[MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS] To achieve the object,
The cleaning device is configured so that it can be divided into a unit having a cleaning member such as a brush or a blade and a unit having a conveying member, and the unit having the conveying member is fixed to the main body, and the unit having the cleaning member is detachably configured. As a means for supporting the unit having the cleaning member and the unit having the transport member, the cleaning member rotatably supports a rotating shaft for a function of contacting and separating at a predetermined timing with respect to the surface to be cleaned.

[0006]

The cleaning device can be divided into a unit having a cleaning member and a unit having a conveying member, and the unit having the conveying member is fixed to the main body, and the unit having the cleaning member can be detachably mounted. The user can easily replace only the cleaning body having a short life. Here, the transport member is configured to be long in the transport direction to transport the collected toner to the collection container, and is connected to the collection device.
The attachment and detachment of this unit is very complicated, and it is very important to leave this unit in the main body. In addition, the unit of the transport member has a longer life than the cleaning body, and has conventionally been discarded in accordance with the life of the cleaning body. However, according to this method, only the cleaning body can be discarded, and there is a great cost advantage. Further, in order to attach and detach the cleaning device, it is necessary to largely escape the peripheral device.

As a means for supporting the unit having the cleaning body and the unit having the transporting member, the cleaning body rotatably supports a rotating shaft for a function of making contact with and detaching from the surface to be cleaned at a predetermined timing. The configuration provides a detachable configuration. In addition, this configuration has a complicated configuration in order to make the cleaning body housed inside the case movable, but the cleaning body is configured to be attached from the outside and can be rotated with a simple configuration, and the collected toner can be removed. There is very little contact with the inside of the case that flies over the fog, and there is no problem that the cleaning body is contaminated.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a recording medium such as a drum-shaped photosensitive member or an insulator as an image carrier;
Reference numeral 10 denotes a bias cleaning unit serving as a cleaning device. The cleaning device 10 is a device that cleans the residual toner 2 after transferring a toner image formed on the recording medium 1 by a developing device (not shown) to recording paper or the like, and enables the recording medium 1 to form an image again.

The detailed structure of the cleaning device 10 is such that a conductive brush 11 as a cleaning body and a collecting roller 12 are rotatably supported, and a blade 13 is provided with a case 14 so that a uniform contact pressure acts on the collecting roller 12. Attached to Reference numeral 15 denotes a cover which prevents the toner from blowing out of the cleaning device 10 during cleaning to contaminate the inside of the apparatus. Also, case 14
Is mounted with a pressing spring 14a. The above configuration is the unit 16 having the cleaning body.

The conveying member 1 for conveying the toner collected by the unit 16 having the cleaning body to the collecting container 40
7, transport guide 18, base 19, seal members 20, 2
Unit 2 having a transport member 17 constituted by 1 or the like
2 are fixed to the unit fixing side plates 38 and 39.

The conductive brush 11 and the collection roller 12 are connected to power supplies 23 and 24,
Are disposed on the recording medium 1 and the collection roller 12 with a press contact amount of about 1 mm each.

The roller 26 disposed on the rotating shaft of the brush 11 is pushed up by controlling the rotation of the eccentric cam 25 with the rotating shaft 12a of the collecting roller 12 as a fulcrum.
The unit 16 having the cleaning body moves like 16 ',
The brush 11 is detached from the recording medium 1.

The unit 16 having the cleaning body and the unit 22 having the transport member 17 are configured to be separable. The supporting structure is the unit 2 having the transport member 17.
The brush 11 serving as a cleaning body is provided on receiving portions 30 and 31 formed by supporting portions 18a provided on a part of the second transport guide 18 and supporting springs 28 and 29 provided on a supporting plate 27 fixed to the base, respectively. By fitting the metal 32, 33 provided on the rotating shaft 12a of the collecting roller 12, which is the center of rotation for contacting and releasing the unit, the unit 16 having the cleaning body and the unit 22 having the conveying member 17 are connected and connected. It is configured to be separable.

Further, the transport member driving gear 35 and the collection roller driving gear 36 are configured to engage with each other when the units are combined. Reference numeral 37 denotes a brush drive gear, which has been engaged with the collection roller drive gear 36 in advance. Numeral 34 denotes a driving gear, which is previously engaged with the conveying member driving gear 35. In the above configuration, the rotation of the drive gear 34 is controlled by a drive source (not shown).

Next, the operation will be described. Recording medium 1
The upper residual toner 2 is negatively charged,
By applying a positive charge from a power source 23 connected to the conductive brush 11, the residual toner 2 is attracted to the brush 11 and the recording medium 1 is cleaned. The residual toner 2 on the brush 11 is collected by the collection roller 1 by the rotation of the brush 11.
After being transported to the point of contact with the brush 2, the power supply 24 connected to the collection roller 12 applies a charge larger than the positive charge applied to the brush 11 so that the brush 11
From the toner to the collection roller 12 and the brush 1
1 is cleaned. A blade 13 is pressed against the collection roller 12, and the collection roller 12 is cleaned by the rotation of the collection roller 12. Thereafter, the residual toner 2 falls onto the transport member 17, is transported by the rotation of the transport member 17, and is deposited on the collection container 40. The above operation completes the cleaning operation.

Here, the residual toner 2 may be charged with a positive charge. In this case, the charge applied to the brush 11 and the collection roller 12 may be set to a negative value.

Here, according to the experiment, the brush 11 is about 100,000 sheets in terms of recording paper A4 due to loosening or falling down of the flock, and the blade 13 pressed against the collecting roller 12 is a wear-resistant material such as urethane. However, in printing on tens of thousands of sheets in terms of recording paper A4, poor cleaning due to abrasion of the edge portion occurs. On the other hand, if the attention is paid only to the bearing structure of the rotating part, about hundreds of thousands of conveyance members will operate normally. Conventionally, components having different lifespans are integrally formed as described above, and depending on the life of the blades 13, it is necessary to discard the entire cleaning device 10 or replace the blades by a specially trained service person.

According to the present invention, the unit 16 having the cleaning body and the unit 22 having the carrying member 17 are configured to be separable and can be replaced by the user with one touch, and only the unit 16 having the cleaning body having a short life is provided. Can be replaced, and the cost advantage is great.

The transport member 17 must be transported to the collection container 40. However, since the recovery container 40 must be disposed outside the unit fixed side plate 38, the transport member 1
7 is forced to straddle the unit fixed side plate 38. This transport member 17 does not need to be replaced even in terms of life,
On the other hand, the unit 16 having the cleaning body is provided with the fixed side plates 38, 3
9, the unit 16 having the cleaning body and the unit 22 having the conveying member 17 are configured to be separable as described above, so that only the unit 16 having the cleaning body having a short life is exchanged by the user with one touch. It becomes possible.

Further, during color printing, the brush 11 of the cleaning device 10 is always kept in contact with the print medium 1 when developing a plurality of times and then transferring and cleaning the residual toner 2 or when not operating. In this case, the flocking of the brush 11 may be deformed, so that the brush 11 may need to be retracted. Therefore, the unit 16 having the cleaning member is moved by the eccentric cam 25 as shown by 16 ', and the brush 11 is detached from the recording medium 1. Here, by supporting the unit at the center of rotation of this operation, the support can also be used as the axis of the collection roller 12 and the gears 35 and 36 can be positioned with high precision during the connection. In the related art, only the brush 11 inside the case 14 is driven, so that the configuration is complicated, or the entire cleaning device 10 is retracted. However, the configuration described above can be easily configured.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a blade cleaning unit which is a cleaning device, and has a structure in which a blade 50 of a cleaning body is brought into direct contact with the recording medium 1. 51 is a blade support plate, 51 'is a handle, and 52 is a rotation axis of the blade support plate. The above configuration is the unit 53 having the cleaning body. By the blade 50, the residual toner 2 on the recording medium 1 is scraped off, slides down on the film member for collection 54, and is conveyed to the collection container.
6, a unit 58 having a conveying member 55 constituted by a blade pressing spring 57 and the like.

The rotation of the eccentric cam 25 is controlled by using the rotation shaft 52 of the blade support plate 51 as a fulcrum.
The unit 53 having the cleaning body is moved as indicated by 53 ′ by being configured to contact and push up with the blade 1, and the blade 50 is separated from the recording medium 1.

The unit 53 having the cleaning body and the unit 58 having the conveying member 55 are configured to be separable. The supporting structure is the same as that of the supporting portion 5 provided on the transport case 56.
A cleaning member is provided by fitting a metal 61 provided on a rotating shaft 52 as a rotation center for contacting and detaching the blade 50 as a cleaning member with a receiving portion 60 constituted by 6a and a support spring 59. Unit 53 and transport member 5
The unit 58 having 5 is configured to be connectable or separable. 53 'is a unit 53 having a separated cleaning body.
Is shown.

Also in this configuration, as in the first embodiment, the unit 53 having the cleaning body and the transport member 5 are provided.
The unit 58 having the cleaning unit 5 is configured to be separable, can be replaced by the user with one touch, and only the unit 53 having the cleaning body having a short life can be replaced, which is a great cost advantage.

Further, the transport member 58 needs to be transported to the collection container, and the unit 53 having the cleaning body and the unit 58 having the transport member 55 can be easily separated from each other, similarly to the first embodiment. Configuration.

Further, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, during color printing, development is performed on the print medium 1 a plurality of times, and then transferred,
When the residual toner 2 is to be cleaned, or when the blade 50 of the cleaning device 10 is constantly brought into contact during non-operation, the blade 50 may be deformed. Therefore, the unit 53 having the cleaning member is moved by the eccentric cam 25 as shown by 53 ', and the blade 50 is detached from the recording medium 1. Here, by supporting the unit at the rotation center of this operation, the support can also be used as the rotation axis of the blade 50.
Conventionally, the blade 50 is disposed inside the transfer case 56, so that the cleaning device 10 is contaminated by the collected toner and the blade 50 is driven, or the cleaning device 10 is entirely evacuated. It has become possible to make the configuration simpler.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the cleaning device can be easily separated into a unit having a cleaning body and a unit having a transporting body, and only the unit having a short-life cleaning body can be replaced. Therefore, it is possible to achieve compactness and low cost with a simple configuration and to provide a cleaning device for an electrophotographic apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cleaning device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording medium, 2 ... Residual toner, 10 ... Cleaning device, 11
... Conductive brush, 12 ... Recovery roller, 13 ... Blade, 16 ... Unit having cleaning body, 17 ... Convey member,
22: unit having a conveying member, 25: drive cam, 4
0: collection container, 50: blade, 51: blade support plate, 52: rotating shaft, 53: unit having a cleaning body, 5
5: conveying member, 56: conveying case, 57: blade pressing spring, 58: unit having a conveying member.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 21/00 310-334 G03G 15/00 550-556

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bias cleaning device for rotating a conductive brush in contact with a surface to be cleaned, applying a voltage to the brush, and electrically attracting charged toner, wherein the toner on the brush is cleaned. Rotating roller and the rotating roller
And a conveying member for conveying the toner collected by over La to the collection container, the cleaning apparatus of an electrophotographic apparatus having a function in which the brush contact and leaving at a predetermined timing relative to the surface to be cleaned, said brush, said Rotating roller, toner on said rotating roller
From the blades that scrape and the cases that store them
Body unit having the cleaning member unit and the carrier member
The carrier unit is fixed to the main body.
The cleaning unit and the transport unit.
An electrophotograph that is detachably attached to the
Equipment cleaning device.