JP3214635B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a laser beam printer, and more particularly, to a fixing device which uses a release agent when fixing a toner image on a recording material. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of an image forming apparatus, an outline of a four-color full-color laser beam printer 1 is shown in FIG.

The laser beam printer 1 has a photosensitive drum 3 as an image carrier almost at the center of the apparatus main body 2. The photosensitive drum 3 has a photosensitive layer formed on its surface, is rotatably supported by the apparatus main body 2, and is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow R1 by a driving device (not shown).

Around the photosensitive drum 3, a primary charger (charging device) 5 for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 in order along its rotation direction, and irradiating the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 with light to form an electrostatic charge. Laser beam exposure device (exposure means) for forming a latent image
6. A developing device 7 for forming a toner image by attaching toner to the electrostatic latent image is provided.

The developing device 7 shown in FIG. 9 is of a rotary type, and includes a rotating body 7a supported by the apparatus main body 2 and four developing devices mounted on the rotating body 7a, ie, magenta and cyan. , Developing units 7M, 7C, 7Y, 7B containing toners (developers) of respective colors of yellow, black
K. Each developing unit 7M, 7C, 7
Y and 7BK sequentially move to a developing position facing the photosensitive drum 3 by the rotation of the rotating body 7a, and form toner images of each color by attaching toner to electrostatic latent images corresponding to the respective colors. In order to perform four-color full-color copying, the electrostatic latent images on the photosensitive drums 3 are developed once each. Above the developing device 7, the developing devices 7M, 7C,
Four hoppers 7 for supplying toner to 7Y and 7BK
b is arranged.

A transfer drum (recording material support) 9 is disposed downstream of the developing device 7 along the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 3. The transfer drum 9 formed into a cylindrical shape as a whole is rotatably supported by the apparatus main body 2.
The photosensitive drum 3 rotates in the direction of arrow R2 while being in contact with the photosensitive drum 3.

FIG. 10 shows the details of the transfer drum 9.
The transfer drum 9 includes a base member 10 made of a conductive member such as a metal and a recording material carrying sheet 11 stretched over the base member 10. The base member 10 includes a pair of left and right annular cylinder portions 10a and 10b,
And a recording material gripper 10 attached along the connecting portion 10c.
d is integrally formed. Recording material gripper 1
In 0d, one side in the longitudinal direction slightly floats from the connecting portion 10c so that the leading edge of the recording material P can be gripped in this gap. The recording material carrying sheet 11 is, for example, a film-shaped dielectric sheet having good releasability such as polyethylene terephthalate or polyvinylidene fluoride resin (PVdF) film and having a thickness of 25 to 20.
The thickness is preferably 00 μm, preferably 70 to 200 μm.
The recording material carrying sheet 11 includes left and right cylinder portions 10a, 1
It is stretched so as to cover a portion between 0b except the connecting portion 10c in a substantially cylindrical shape. Recording material carrying sheet 11
Has its tip fixed on the connecting part 10c and makes a round with the glue along the left and right cylinder parts 10a and 10b,
The rear end is fixed on the connecting portion 10c near the front end in the same manner as the front end. Therefore, most of the outer peripheral surface of the transfer drum 9 is occupied by the recording material carrying sheet 11.

A transfer charger (transfer device) 12 is provided inside the transfer drum 9 at a position facing the photosensitive drum 3, as shown in FIG. An inner static elimination charger 13 is disposed adjacent to the downstream side, and an outer static elimination charger 15 and a separation charger 16 are disposed on the outer side opposite thereto. Further, a pressing member 17 is disposed inside the transfer drum 9 obliquely above the transfer charger 12 described above. The pressing member 17 has an elastic sheet 17b having a base end fixed to a mounting base 17a. The elastic sheet 17b
The recording material supporting sheet 11 is curved gently, and its leading end is disposed downstream of the transfer drum 9 in the rotation direction (the direction of the arrow R2). 11 is pressed against the surface of the photosensitive drum 3. Thus, the transfer efficiency of the toner image to the recording material P is improved, and a clear transfer image is obtained.

A cleaning device 18 (see FIG. 9) is disposed obliquely below the transfer drum 9. The cleaning device 18 includes a fur brush 18 a that removes residual toner on the surface of the recording material carrying sheet 11, and a cleaning auxiliary unit 1 that is disposed inside the transfer drum 9 so as to face the fur brush 18 a.
8b. The fur brush 18a is driven to rotate by a driving unit (not shown).

Rotation direction of photosensitive drum 3 (direction of arrow R1)
A cleaning device 19 is provided downstream of the transfer drum 9 along the line so as to be adjacent to the primary charger 5 described above. The cleaning device 19 has a cleaning blade 19 a made of an elastic material, and removes residual toner on the photosensitive drum 3 by pressing the tip of the cleaning blade 19 a against the surface of the photosensitive drum 3.

Next, the transport system for the recording material P will be described. As a whole, the transport path Ru of the recording material P is fed from the lower portion of the right side surface 2R of the apparatus main body 2 and is conveyed toward the transfer drum 9, where the toner image is transferred by the transfer drum 9 and the like. After that, the paper is discharged to the upper part of the right side surface 2R away from the transfer drum 9.

At the most upstream side of the conveyance path Ru, sheet feeding cassettes 20, which store recording materials P of different sizes, are provided.
It is detachably attached to the right side surface 2R of the apparatus main body 2. A paper feed roller 21 that supplies the recording material P from the paper feed cassette 20 toward the transport path Ru is provided above the leading end side of each paper feed cassette 20, and a transport roller 2 is provided downstream thereof.
2. A registration roller 23 is provided. The recording material gripper 10d of the transfer drum 9 described above
3 grasps the leading edge of the recording material P supplied to the transfer drum 9. When the transfer drum 9 rotates with the leading edge gripped by the recording material gripper 10d, the entire recording material P rolls.
The recording medium 9 is wound around the recording material carrying sheet 11 of the copying drum 9. On the upper right side of the transfer drum 9, the leading end is brought close to the surface of the transfer drum 9, and the recording material P after the transfer of the toner image is transferred.
A separation claw 25 for separating the recording material P from the transfer drum 9 is provided on the downstream side of the conveyance belt 2 for conveying the recording material P separated by the separation claw 25 to a fixing device 30 described below.
6. A paper discharge tray 27 for discharging the recording material P after fixing the toner image is arranged.

The fixing device 30 has a fixing roller 31 as a fixing member having a heater 33 housed therein, and a pressure roller 32 also having a heater 35 housed therein. When the toner image passes between the rollers 31 and 32, the toner image is heated and pressed to fix the toner image on the recording material P as a permanent image.

Next, a four-color full-color image forming process by the laser beam printer 1 having the above-described configuration will be briefly described.

The photosensitive drum 3 is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow R1, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 is uniformly charged by the primary charger 5. The charged photosensitive drum 3 is exposed by a laser beam exposure device 6. At this time, first, exposure corresponding to magenta image information is performed to form an electrostatic latent image. The magenta developing device 7M of the developing device 7 is opposed to the photosensitive drum 3, and the electrostatic latent image is developed and visualized to form a magenta toner image on the photosensitive drum 3.

On the other hand, the recording material P stored in the paper feed cassette 20 is moved by the rotation of the paper feed roller 21 to the transport path R.
u, and then to the transfer drum 9 via the transport roller 22 and the registration roller 23. The supplied recording material P is gripped at its leading edge by the recording material gripper 10d and wound around the surface of the transfer drum 9 as the transfer drum 9 rotates in the direction of arrow R2.

Next, in the area where the toner is brought into contact with the photosensitive drum 3, a corona discharge having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is received from the back surface of the recording material carrying sheet 11 of the transfer drum 9 by the transfer charger 12. The image is transferred onto the recording material P.

The recording material P is subjected to the necessary number of transfer steps (four in this embodiment), and then the separation charger 25 for preventing the action of the separation claw 25 and the influence of the peeling discharge at the time of separation.
6, while being discharged from the transfer drum 9,
The sheet is conveyed to the fixing device 30 by the conveying belt 26. The recording material P on which the toner image has been fixed by heat in the fixing device 30 is then discharged onto a discharge tray 27 outside the apparatus main body 2.

The recording material supporting sheet 11 is a recording material P
When is separated by the transfer drum 9, at the same time, the transfer charges remaining on the recording material carrying sheet 11 are removed by the charge removing chargers 13 and 15 to prepare for the next multiple transfer step.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 3 is subjected to the image forming process again after the residual toner on the surface is cleaned by the cleaning device 19.

[0021]

However, the above-mentioned conventional example can operate very well to form a four-color full-color image on only one side of the recording material P.
If an image is to be formed on both sides, there are the following problems. Before describing the problems, an apparatus capable of forming images on both sides of the recording material P will be described. FIG. 1 has almost the same configuration as the four-color full-color image forming apparatus (laser beam printer) 1 shown in the conventional example of FIG. 9, but is capable of forming images on both sides of the recording material P. For this purpose, a refeed unit 40 for duplex image formation is added. The refeed unit 40 includes a transport path 41 and a refeed tray 4.
Consists of two. When the user of the laser beam printer 1 selects double-sided image formation, the first surface of the recording material P (first surface to be copied. Is referred to as a “second side”. The same applies hereinafter.)
After the recording material P passes through the fixing device 30, the recording material P is not discharged to the outside of the apparatus main body 2, but is sent to the re-feeding conveyance path 41, and is temporarily stored in the re-feeding tray 42.

When the image formation on the first side is completed,
This time, from the re-feed tray 42, as in the above-described conventional example,
The recording material P on which an image is recorded on the first side is transferred to a registration roller 2.
3 and wound around the transfer drum 9 in the same manner as the first side.
Image formation is also performed on the second side by multiple transfer, and finally, fixing is performed by heat in the fixing device 30.
Discharge up.

However, when the double-sided image formation is to be performed in this way, when the recording material P is separated from the transfer drum 9 at the time of image formation on the second side, the outer static eliminator 1 is charged.
(5) There is a disadvantage that the unfixed toner image on the recording material P is disturbed due to contact with the separating charger 16 and an image defect occurs.

This can be seen with reference to FIG.
The recording material P to which the toner image has been transferred is used to remove electricity from the recording material carrying sheet 11 prior to separation from the transfer drum 9.
Along with the recording material carrying sheet 11, the charge removing chargers 13 and 1
At 5, the charge is removed. At the time of image formation on the first side, such a configuration does not cause any trouble, but on the second side, one side is provided on the side of the recording material supporting sheet 11 of the recording material P.
The toner image formed at the time of forming the image on the surface is fixed. Due to the fixed toner layer T, the recording material P
The stiffness is strengthened, and the image is separated in a tight posture as shown in FIG. 2, unlike the case where the image is separated along the upper surface of the separation claw 25 during the one-sided image formation shown in FIG. For this reason, the toner image is disturbed by contacting the outer charger 15 for separation and the charger 16 for separation, thereby causing image defects.

Further, if the thickness of the fixed toner layer formed on the recording material P is large, the recording material P is fixed due to the difference in the thermal shrinkage between the toner image and the transfer material P. Because the side with the shrink greatly, curl occurs,
At the time of separation, the outer charger 15 for separation and the charger 16 for separation
It was also found that the toner image contacted more strongly, the toner image was violently disturbed, and the image defect increased. Such a problem also occurs for the same reason at the time of so-called multiple image formation in which image formation is performed again on the surface on which image formation has been performed once.

Therefore, in the present invention, at the time of image formation on the second surface, after the recording material has been separated from the recording material support, the static elimination means is operated so that, for example, the waist during the image formation on the second surface is reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus in which when a recording material that has become strong is separated from a recording material support, it does not collide with static elimination means or the like to cause an image defect.

[0027]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image carrier, a recording material carrier for carrying and transporting a recording material, and a toner on the image carrier. Separating means for separating the recording material from the recording material carrier after the image is electrostatically transferred to the recording material carried on the recording material carrier; and a transfer position in the moving direction of the recording material carrier.
Downstream of the recording material and upstream of the recording material separation position.
And a fixing unit for fixing the toner image on the recording material to the recording material by heating and pressurizing the toner image on the recording material. A first mode in which a toner image is formed on a recording material on which an image has not been fixed, and the same recording material carried on the recording material carrier after the fixing unit performs image fixing on the recording material. In the image forming apparatus capable of selecting a second mode for forming a toner image on the image forming apparatus, when the first mode is selected, the charge elimination unit performs the recording material before the recording material is separated by the separation unit. start the static eliminating, when the second mode is selected, the charge removing means for neutralizing said recording material bearing member after the recording material is separated by the separating means open
It is characterized by starting .

[0028]

According to the above construction, the start of the operation of the charge removing means is delayed, and the recording material is attracted to the recording material support as long as possible. It is possible to prevent unfixed toner from being disturbed due to collision with a unit or the like.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1 The image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 has substantially the same basic configuration and operation as the laser beam printer 1 shown in FIG. That is, a cylindrical photosensitive drum 3 is used as an image carrier.
The transfer drum 9 is used as a recording material support (recording material support) , the transfer charger 12 is used as a transfer unit, the charge removal charger 16 and the separation claw 25 are used as a separation unit, and the charge is removed as a charge removal unit. Chargers 13 and 15 are provided.

In this embodiment, the diameter of the photosensitive drum 3 is, for example, 80 mm, and the diameter of the transfer drum 9 is 16 mm.
0 mm (twice the diameter of the photosensitive drum 3).

The photosensitive drum 3 is 160 mm / sec.
The surface of the photosensitive drum 3 is charged to -500 to -800 V by the primary charger 5 by being driven to rotate in the direction of arrow R1 at c. Each developing device of the developing device 7 has magenta, cyan, yellow, and black toners having negative charges, and visualizes a latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 3 by reversal development.

In the present embodiment, the transfer drum 9 is
0 and is formed in a cylindrical shape and rotatably supported. Transfer drum 9
Is the cylinder unit 10 connected by the connection unit 10c.
a recording material gripping sheet 10d which is formed by stretching a film-shaped recording material carrying sheet 11 on a base portion 10 composed of a and 10b, and grips a leading edge of a recording material P fed through a registration roller 23 or the like. ing. Further, inside the transfer drum 9, a transfer charger 12 and an inner static elimination charger 13 are provided.
On the outside, an outer charger 15 for static elimination and a charger 16 for separation are arranged.

The recording material carrying sheet 11 has a thickness of, for example, 1
00 to 175 μm, volume resistivity is 10 ¹⁴ to 10 ¹⁵ Ω · c
m polyvinylidene fluoride resin film or the like is used. The transfer charger 12 is, for example, a corona discharger.
A voltage of +6 to +9 kV is applied, and the transfer current is +25
＋+ 500 μA. The static eliminator for neutralizing the recording material P on which the toner image has been transferred is a DC bias (−0.7 kV to −3.7 kV, −50 μA to −265) during AC oscillation.
μA) can be applied to an AC charger (12 kV _PP , 800 μ
A) a corona discharge-type inner static elimination charger 13 comprising:
A corona discharge type outer static eliminator charger 15 composed of an alternating current charger (12 kV _PP , 800 μA). The phases of the AC components of the outer static eliminator 15 and the inner static eliminator 13 are opposite to each other. It is controlled so that The separation charger 16 is an AC charger (10 kV _PP , 600 μm).
m).

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, in addition to the main components such as a copy key 50, a copy number setting key 51, a reset key 52, a large liquid crystal display 53, etc. 55 are provided.
When the double-sided key 55 is not pressed, the recording material P
Select the first mode in which a toner image is formed only on the first side
When the double-sided key 55 is pressed, the same
Toner images are formed on the first and second sides (both sides) of recording material P
Is selected.

In such a configuration, the operation of the main part of the image forming apparatus based on the rotation of the photosensitive drum 3 and the transfer drum 9 when actually forming a double-sided image will be described.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

5 and 6 show that the user of the image forming apparatus 1 uses the touch panel type large liquid crystal display 53 on the operation panel shown in FIG. Select and double-sided key 55
Shows the operation sequence when double-sided image formation is performed by pressing.

The image forming operation on the first side is shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 6, as in the conventional example. Copy key 50
When is pressed, the image forming apparatus 1 starts the operation, and first starts the image formation on the first side. The photosensitive drum 3 and the transfer drum 9 start rotating, and corona charging is started by the primary charger 5 to uniformly charge the photosensitive drum 3. Then, a laser beam modulated according to the image information is irradiated, and a latent image of a magenta component (M image) of the original image is formed on the photosensitive drum 3. Magenta developing unit 7M at developing position
Moves, and the developing drive is started in accordance with the arrival of the latent image of the M image to visualize the M image. At the transfer position, the transfer charger 12 is activated in accordance with the movement timing of the recording material P, which is fed via the registration roller 23 and the like, and held on the transfer drum 9, and the movement of the connecting portion 10c of the transfer drum 9. Then, transfer charging is performed. In this way, M
An image toner image is formed.

The same process is performed for the cyan (C) image, the yellow (Y) image, and the black (BK) image, so that a full-color toner image is transferred onto the recording material P in multiples. At this time,
Almost simultaneously with the transfer of the fourth color black image, the recording material P
Since the toner is separated from the transfer drum 9, separation and static elimination are performed by the separation charger 16. Further, the recording material carrying sheet 11 on the transfer drum 9 is prepared for the next image formation.
Almost simultaneously with the start of the transfer charging of the BK image, the recording material carrying sheet 11 on which the transfer charging has been completed four times is operated at the same time as the recording material P by operating the inner discharging charger 13 and the outer discharging charger 15 to remove the charge. Is done. Subsequently, the recording material P is fed and held on the transfer drum 9 without the so-called idle rotation of the transfer drum 9, and the second image formation is started.

On the other hand, the recording material P separated from the transfer drum 9 is fixed on the toner image by heat in a fixing device 30 as a fixing unit, and then is placed on a discharge tray 27 outside the apparatus main body 2. Transport path 4 for re-feeding without being discharged
After that, the image is temporarily stored in the re-feed tray 42. In this embodiment, since the number of copies is set to two,
The first sheet of the image is completed by the above-described method, and two sheets of the recording material P on which the image formation of the first sheet is completed are placed in the re-feed tray 42.
When the sheets are accumulated, the image forming process for the second side is started. First, a message "Start the second copy (or back copy). Replace the original." Is displayed on the liquid crystal display 53, and when the copy key 50 is pressed again, the image forming operation of the second copy is performed. Be started. FIG. 5 shows the operation sequence. As can be seen from FIG. 5, since the operation sequence is almost the same in the image formation on the second side as in the first side, the description of the same parts will be omitted, and the different parts will be described in detail. At the time of image formation on the second side, the recording material P is separated from the transfer drum 9 while separating and charging by the separating charger 16 as soon as the transfer of the BK image of the fourth color is started. The timing at which the recording material carrying sheet 11 is neutralized is different. At the time of image formation on the second side, the recording material P is completely separated from the transfer drum 9, that is, after the transfer drum 9 is rotated substantially once after the separation is started, the sheet is discharged for a time corresponding to one rotation of the transfer drum 9. Is performed. Then, the transfer of the M image to the next recording material P is started immediately after the static elimination for one rotation of the transfer drum 9 is completed.

In short, the transfer drum 9 is configured to rotate one more turn for the purpose of sheet charge elimination when forming an image on the second side than when forming an image on the first side.

With such a configuration, image disturbance due to the recording material P colliding with the outer charging charger 15 and the separating charger 16 at the time of image formation on the second surface, which has been a problem in the prior art, is obtained. Can be prevented from occurring.

This is considered to be due to the following reasons. Once the image is formed again on the recording material P on which the toner image has been fixed and the stiffness has been fixed, and the recording material P is separated from the transfer drum 9, the timing of the sheet discharging is delayed. That is, when the recording material P is separated from the transfer drum 9, the transfer charge still exerts a strong attraction force between the recording material P and the recording material carrying sheet 11, so that the behavior of the recording material P at the time of separation is achieved. Is almost the same as when the waist is weak.

In this embodiment, the output value of the separation charger 16 is the same for the first and second image formations. However, the separation discharge may become strong on the second surface. It has also been found that more favorable results can be obtained when the charging output is made stronger on the second side than on the first side.

In this embodiment, the user of the laser beam printer 1 once exchanges the original image and presses the copy key again when the second-side image formation is started. Needless to say, the configuration may be such that the document is automatically replaced, and after the first-side image formation is completed, the second-side image formation operation is automatically started. <Embodiment 2> This embodiment is substantially similar in appearance to the conventional image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 9, but as shown in FIG. 7, a second surface (or a back surface) is provided on an operation panel thereof. A copy key 56 is provided.

In this embodiment, the first-side image formation is performed in the same operation sequence as that in the first embodiment or the conventional example, and the description is omitted.

In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which an image forming apparatus without the automatic double-sided paper feeding mechanism shown in FIG. 9 performs double-sided image formation. When forming a double-sided image, the user of the image forming apparatus 1 forms a first-side image in advance. Next, when the second side key 56 on the operation panel is pressed, a message "The second side is copied. Set the paper to be copied on the second side and press the copy key." Is displayed on the liquid crystal display 53. Then, when the copy key 50 is pressed, image formation on the second side is started in the same manner as described in the first embodiment. Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, when forming the second surface image, when the recording material P is separated, the recording material P and the recording material carrying sheet 1 are separated.
In this configuration, the recording material carrying sheet 11 is discharged at the next rotation of the transfer drum 9 without removing the charge of the recording drum 1, so that good image formation without image disturbance can be performed. <Embodiment 3> Embodiment 3 shown in FIG. 8 has substantially the same configuration as that of the image forming apparatus shown in Embodiment 2 above, except that a tray 29 for image formation on the second side (back side) is provided in the sheet feeding section. The points are different.

In this embodiment, when the recording material P on which an image is already formed on one side is set in the second-side image forming tray 29, the second surface is automatically set in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments. It is configured to enter the image forming operation sequence.

By adopting such a configuration, in the present embodiment, it is possible to form a second-side image without image disturbance similarly to the above-described embodiment.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the first mode is selected, the discharging unit starts discharging the recording material before the recording material is separated by the separating unit, and when the second mode is selected, the discharging unit switches the recording material to the separating unit. Starts the charge removal of the recording material carrier after being separated by
With this configuration, it is possible to satisfactorily eliminate the charge of the recording material prior to the separation, and to prevent the unfixed toner on the recording material from being disturbed due to the recording material colliding with the charge eliminating unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the vicinity of a separation portion when a recording material is separated during second-side image formation.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the vicinity of a separation portion when a recording material is separated when forming a first-side image.

FIG. 4 is a top view of an operation unit of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation sequence of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of one conventional image forming apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a top view of an operation unit of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a conventional image forming apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a transfer drum.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the vicinity of a separation portion when a conventional recording material is separated.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Image forming apparatus (laser beam printer) 3 Image carrier (photosensitive drum) 9 Recording material support (transfer drum) 12 Transfer unit (transfer charger) 13 Static eliminator (inner static eliminator) 15 Static eliminator (outer) (Charging device for static elimination) 16 Separation means (Charging device for separation) 25 Separation means (Separation claw) 30 Fixing device P Recording material

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FI G03G 15/16 G03G 21/00 372 (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 21/00 370-512 G03G 21/14 G03G 15/00 303 G03G 15/14 G03G 15/16 G03G 15/01 G03G 15/00 106

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An image carrier, a recording material carrier that carries and conveys the recording material, and a toner image on the image carrier is electrostatically transferred to a recording material carried on the recording material carrier. after separation means for separating the recording material from the recording material bearing member, the Symbol
Downstream of the transfer position in the direction of movement of the recording material carrier
A static eliminator provided upstream of the recording material separation position and provided on the side of the recording material carrier that supports the recording material; and fixing the toner image on the recording material to the recording material by heating and pressing. A first mode in which a toner image is formed on a recording material on which an image has not been fixed by the fixing unit; and An image forming apparatus capable of selecting a second mode for forming a toner image on the same recording material carried on a material carrier, wherein when the first mode is selected, the static elimination means is configured such that the recording material is Static elimination of recording material before separation by the separation means
And when the second mode is selected, the static elimination means starts static elimination of the recording material carrier after the recording material is separated by the separation means.