JP2930641B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a process cartridge (hereinafter simply referred to as a cartridge) in an image forming apparatus.

(Background of the Invention) In an image forming apparatus, a charger, a developing device, a toner box, and a cleaning device, if necessary, to be disposed around the image forming body for the purpose of easy maintenance, inspection and replacement. Recently, it has recently become common to configure each component as a cartridge that is detachable from the image forming apparatus.

 4 and 5 show examples of the configuration.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 100 denotes a cartridge, in which four components such as an image forming body 1, a charger 2, a developing device 3, and a cleaning device 4 are integrated, and are detachable from an image forming device (not shown). Housing as a cartridge 10
Are assembled with a predetermined relative positional relationship.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an arc-shaped protective cover for opening and closing an image forming body lower surface exposure opening 11 provided on the lower surface side of the housing 10, and a swing arm rotatable about a fulcrum 12 provided on a side plate of the housing 10. 13 and a protective cover 5 on its free end 14.
A pin shaft is provided at the front end so that the rear end of the
15 is an arc-shaped guide slot 16 provided on the side plate of the housing 10.
Is engaged and supported.

When the swing arm is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, the protective cover 5 moves rightward to open the lower surface exposure opening (hereinafter simply referred to as exposure opening) 11 of the image forming body, and conversely, rotates clockwise. It is closed when it is moved.

The protective cover 5 prevents the image forming body from being exposed to external light through the exposure opening 11 when the cartridge 100 is removed from the image forming apparatus, and also contacts with other objects to cause dust to adhere thereto or damage. Or to open and close it manually,
Alternatively, there is a type in which a member such as a pin, a spring, or a cam is used to automatically open and close at the time of attachment and detachment.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a slit-shaped window for image exposure. Reference numeral 7 denotes an opening / closing shutter member for the window 6, which is provided for the same purpose as the protective cover 5.

When the cartridge 100 is mounted on the image forming apparatus, the protective cover 5 and the opening / closing shutter member 7 are opened. The surface of the image forming body 1 exposed from the exposure opening 11 faces the transfer unit 8 provided on the image forming apparatus side.

When the operation button is pressed, the image forming body 1 and the developing sleeve 3a start rotating in the direction of the arrow at a predetermined rotation speed, and a predetermined voltage of each part is applied.

The image forming body 1 is uniformly charged by the charger 2 and is then image-exposed through the window 6 by the image exposure light L from the image exposing device on the image forming apparatus main body side. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the image forming body 1. The electrostatic latent image is then developed with toner by a developing unit 3b, and then transferred by a transfer unit 8 onto a recording sheet P that has passed through a feeding path from a sheet feeding mechanism on the image forming apparatus main body side. The recording paper to which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the surface of the image forming body 1, fed to a fixing device on the image forming apparatus main body side, fixed there, and discharged out of the apparatus. The portion where the transfer of the image forming body 1 has been completed is cleaned by removing the residual toner by the cleaning blade 4a of the cleaner 4 and charged again by the charger 2 to be used for the next image formation.

The developing device 3 includes a developing device 3b and a toner box 3c. A developing sleeve 3a is provided in the developing device 3b, and a toner t is stored in the toner box 3c. The toner t in the toner box 3c is supplied to the developing device 3b through the communication hole 3d and is used for development.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which another cartridge is mounted on a copying machine.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a glass document placing table which reciprocates in the direction of the arrow at the time of copying. The image on the original placed on the original placing table 17 is illuminated by an original illumination lamp 18, and is rotated in the direction of the arrow by a converging light transmitter (trade name: Selfoc lens) 19 in synchronization with the movement of the original. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the image forming body 1 charged on the entire surface by the charger 2 in advance.

 The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 3b.

The recording paper P is fed one by one by a paper feed roller 20,
The image on the image forming body is transferred to the image forming body 1 via the register roller 21 and transferred by the transfer device 8, separated from the image forming body 1 by the separation electrode 22, and advanced along the guide plate 23.
The sheet is discharged out of the apparatus via the fixing roller 24 and the sheet discharge roller 25. After the transfer of the image, the surface of the image forming body is erased of residual charges by the gradual charging electrode 26, and after the residual toner is removed by the cleaner 4, it is charged again by the charger 2 to enter the image forming process.

In this copying machine, an image forming body 1, a charger 2, a developing device 3, a transfer device 8, a separation electrode 22, a neutralizing electrode 26, a cleaner 4,
The illumination lamp 18, the guide plates 27, 28, and 29 are formed as an integral cartridge (indicated by a dashed line) 30, and are attached to the rail-shaped holding members 31 and 32 installed on the main body side so as to be detachably slid. ing. In use, the cartridge 30 is fixed at a predetermined position by a lock means (not shown).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional cartridge configuration described above has the following problems.

First, what can be said in common with the cartridge configuration of FIGS. 4 and 5 is that the main components incorporated in the cartridge are arranged around the image forming body 1 and only above the feeding path of the recording paper P. That is the point. That is, the charger 2, the developing device 3 b, the toner box 3 c, and the cleaner 4 are concentrated only on the upper side of the recording paper P feeding path around the image forming body 1.
Only the transfer unit 8 on the lower side (the separation electrode in FIG. 5)
It is. For this reason, there are restrictions on the dimensions of each component, but even if it is devised, the toner box alone has to increase the volume when trying to increase the storage amount,
There is a problem that the width becomes large when the balance of the shape is considered.

The second problem is that the toner image on the image forming body 1 is not recorded on the recording paper P because the recording paper feeding path is below the image forming body 1.
Is transferred to the upper surface of When this is fixed as it is by the fixing roller and discharged, the image surface is directed upward. Then, when a plurality of pages are printed out in order from the first page using a printer or the like, the first page is stacked at the bottom, that is, the page order is reversed. However, this requires re-alignment of the pages, which is troublesome. Therefore, in order to avoid this, it is necessary to provide a configuration in which the fixed recording paper is turned once and turned over.

Third, in the case of FIG. 4, the transfer device 8 and the guide plate 2
7. There is an inconvenience that the device 28 is left on the device main body side and the maintenance and inspection work is dispersed.

Fourth, in the case of FIG. 5, since the feeding path of the recording paper cannot be exposed, there is some difficulty in cleaning the feeding path and handling a paper jam.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a recording paper feeding path on the upper surface side of an image forming body and a toner box provided on the upper side of the feeding path, so that the dimension is increased in the vertical direction. The capacity of the toner box can be increased by extending
Lasers and LEDs that can align pages without using a folded-back configuration by making the transfer surface of the recording paper the lower surface
Provided is an image forming apparatus suitable for an optical printer having an image exposing device, and an image forming apparatus having a configuration in which a recording paper feeding path can be exposed on a plate, and a configuration in which a toner box and a transfer unit are detachable. The purpose is to:

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention has the following means configuration to achieve the above object.

That is, a first configuration of the image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a process cartridge detachably mounted to the apparatus main body, and at least an image forming body, a recording paper feeding path, Transfer means, charging means, developing device, having a toner box, based on the feed path,
The transfer means and the toner box are arranged above the feeding path, and the image forming body, the charging means, and the developing device are arranged below the feeding path.

The cleaner can be omitted by using a developing device that simultaneously performs development and cleaning with a magnetic brush.

The second structure is characterized in that in the above structure, the process cartridge can integrally lift the toner box and the transfer means so that the recording paper feeding path can be exposed.

A third configuration is characterized in that in the first or second configuration, a toner box and / or a transfer unit can be detached from the process cartridge.

Here, the charging means may be a non-contact charging means using a charger by corona discharge or a contact charging means using a brush or roller to which a bias is applied, and the transfer means may be a charger using corona discharge or a transfer means using a bias roller.

(Operation) Hereinafter, the operation of the image forming apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration will be described. Conventionally, all of a charging unit, a developing unit, a toner box, a cleaner, and the like are provided on one side of a recording paper feeding path around an image forming body except for a transfer unit (including a separation electrode). In contrast, in the present invention,
The feeding path is above the image forming body, and the transfer means and the toner box are provided on the feeding path. Therefore, when the capacity of the toner box is increased, it can be extended upward to increase the width dimension. You don't have to. Cartridges make replacement and maintenance easier. Further, since the transfer is performed on the upper surface side of the image forming body, the toner image is transferred to the lower surface side of the recording paper, fixed as it is, discharged, and stacked, so that the pages are arranged in order from one page.

In the second configuration, when the toner box and the transfer unit are lifted, that is, the feeding path is exposed, and it is easy to cope with a paper jam.

In the third configuration, replacement of only the toner box or the transfer unit from the cartridge is further facilitated.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

In the drawing, reference numeral 55 denotes a cartridge, which is shown in a state where it is mounted on the image forming apparatus. The recording paper is moved from the paper cassette 41 on the guide plate 43 by the paper feed roller 42 to
55, the toner image is transferred to the recording paper when passing between the image forming body 1, the transfer unit 45, and the charge removing bar 65, and is guided by the guide plate 49 to be between the upper fixing roller 52 and the lower fixing roller 53. The sheet is fixed here and discharged outside the apparatus.

As described above, the path through which the recording paper passes is the feed path. In the present invention, the transfer unit 45 and the transfer unit 45 are located above the feed path.
A static elimination bar 65 and a toner box 44 are provided. A cleaner 47, a charger 48, and a developing device 46 are provided below the feeding path.

The toner is sent from the toner box 44 to the developing device 46 via the cleaner 47. The route indicated by the dotted line in the figure indicates this.
A screw 58 is provided in the toner box 44,
The cleaner 47 is provided with a screw 59, and the toner is moved in the depth direction of the drawing, respectively, and is provided by a flexible screw pipe (not shown) provided on the other side or the front side. Will be fed.

The toner that has entered the developing unit 46 is agitated with the carrier by the stirrer 56 and then adheres to the developing sleeve 57 as a thin layer, and the electrostatic latent image on the image forming body 1 is reversely developed by a magnetic brush.

The upper cover 51 of the image forming apparatus is divided at a portion indicated by a dashed line and is rotatably connected by a hinge 54, so that it can be opened in the direction of arrow A as shown in FIG. . At this time, since the fixing upper roller 52 is provided on the upper cover 51, it is lifted up together with the upper cover 51.

With such a configuration, it is possible to easily cope with a paper jam in the fixing portion,
Can be attached and detached from above.

In this case, since the upper fixing roller 52 and the lower fixing roller 53 are exposed, it is preferable to provide a protective cover that covers the upper fixing roller 52 and the lower fixing roller 53 that opens and closes in conjunction with opening.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, as described above, the recording paper feeding path is formed on the upper surface side of the image forming body, and the toner box is provided above the recording paper feeding path. The capacity can be ensured by increasing only the dimension in the vertical direction. Supply of toner to the toner box or replacement of the toner box can be easily performed from above. In addition, since the transfer surface of the recording paper is on the lower side, even if the paper is fixed as it is and the discharged paper is stacked, one page remains.
It will be aligned from the page.

Since the width of the cartridge 55 used in the present invention is relatively narrow, it is easy to perform a paper jam treatment in the cartridge, but in order to make it easier and more reliable, the point B in FIG. By allowing the toner box 44 and the transfer device 45 to be lifted in the direction of the arrow C while keeping the toner box 44 and the transfer device 45 integral as shown in FIG. 3, the recording paper feeding path is exposed, and the treatment can be easily performed.

The opening of the toner box 44 and the transfer unit 45 in the direction of arrow C may be performed by opening the upper cover 51 in the direction of arrow A or by opening the upper cover 51 in conjunction with each other. It is also desirable to open the opening in order to protect the image forming body 1.

Also, regardless of whether the toner box 44 and the transfer unit 45 are structured to open up, the toner box 44 and the transfer unit
The structure in which the cartridge 45 can be attached to and detached from the housing of the cartridge makes maintenance in the field only simple replacement, which is more convenient.

In this embodiment, when the upper cover 51 is opened, the fixing upper roller 52 is opened.
The fixing upper roller 52 may be placed on the lower housing side. In this case, it is preferable to release the pressure contact between the fixing rollers when the upper cover 51 is opened.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the feeding path of the recording paper is arranged in the process cartridge detachable from the apparatus main body, and the transfer is performed based on the feeding path. The unit and the toner box are provided above the feed path, and the image forming body, the charging unit and the developing device are provided below the feed path, with the feed box interposed therebetween. The capacity can be secured by extending the dimension upward without increasing the dimension in the width direction, and since the transfer surface to the recording paper is the lower surface, the pages can be aligned without providing a folding mechanism.

Further, in the second configuration, since the toner box and the transfer unit can be lifted in one piece, the feeding path of the recording paper can be exposed, and it is easy to deal with paper jams and the like.

In the third configuration, the toner box and the transfer unit can be replaced, and there is an effect that the maintenance is convenient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure shows a state in which the upper cover of FIG. 1 is lifted up,
FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which an upper cover, a toner box and a transfer unit of a cartridge are lifted, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional cartridge. 1 image forming body, 2 charger, 3 developing device, 3b
... Developer, 3c ... Toner box, 4 ... Cleaner, 5
…… Protective cover, 8… Transfer unit, 10… Housing, 22
... Separating electrode, 30 ... Cartridge, 44 ... Toner box, 45 ... Transfer unit, 46 ... Developing unit, 47 ... Cleaner,
48 ... Charging device, 51 ... Top cover, 52 ... Fixing upper roller,
53: Lower fixing roller, 54: Hinge, 55,100: Cartridge.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shunji Matsuo 2970 Ishikawacho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation (56) References JP-A-62-201467 (JP, A) JP-A-62-102258 (JP) JP-A-63-15266 (JP, A) JP-A-63-75756 (JP, A) JP-A-61-165766 (JP, A) JP-A-63-199369 (JP, A) 63-24136 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 15/00 550 G03G 21/16-21/18 G03G 13/08 G03G 15/08

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An image forming apparatus includes a process cartridge detachably mountable to an apparatus main body. The process cartridge includes at least an image forming body, a recording paper feeding path, a transfer unit, a charging unit, a developing unit, and a toner. A transfer box and a toner box are disposed above the feed path with respect to the feed path, and the image forming and charging means and a developing device are disposed below the feed path. An image forming apparatus characterized in that: 2. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said process cartridge has a structure in which a feeding path for recording paper can be exposed by integrally lifting said toner box and transfer means. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a toner box and / or a transfer unit is detachable from the process cartridge.