JP3317044B2 - Cleaning equipment - 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 an electrostatic copying machine or a printer, and more particularly to a method for transferring a toner image on an image carrier such as a photosensitive member or an intermediate transfer member onto a recording medium. The present invention relates to a cleaning device for removing toner remaining on the image carrier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers
A document scanning unit that optically scans a document image, and a photoconductor (photosensitive member) that forms a latent image based on document information scanned by the document scanning unit and carries a toner image developed by using the latent image with toner The toner image on the photosensitive drum or photoreceptor belt is transferred to a transfer medium, or the toner image on the photoreceptor is once transferred to an intermediate transfer member (transfer drum or transfer belt), and further transferred to a transfer medium. By transferring, a copy of the original image is obtained.

This type of image forming apparatus includes a cleaner device that removes toner remaining on the image carrier after transferring the toner image on the photosensitive member or the intermediate transfer member to the transfer medium. Have. As the cleaning device, there have been proposed various types of cleaning devices including a device for naturally depositing toner scraped by a blade on a toner collecting unit.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an essential part for explaining an example of a cleaning device provided in a conventional image forming apparatus, wherein 1 is a photosensitive drum, 8 is a cleaning device, 9 is a blade,
Reference numeral 10 denotes a collected toner, 11 denotes a toner collection unit, 12 denotes a rotary conveyance paddle, and 14 ′ denotes a flicking member. In the figure, the toner that has not contributed to image formation remains on the photoconductor 1 after the transfer of the toner image onto the transfer medium. This residual toner is removed by the cleaning device 8.

The cleaning device 8 has a rotary conveyance paddle 12 made of the same elastic material as the blade 9 made of an elastic material such as rubber and slidably in contact with the surface of the photoreceptor 1, and a flicking member 14 '. The toner from the photoconductor 1 is transported to the toner collecting unit 11 by the rotary transport paddle 12. The tip of the flicking member 14 ′ is located in the rotation locus of the rotary transport paddle 12, and the toner 1 scooped by the rotary transport paddle 12 is
0 is dropped to the toner collecting section 11.

[0006] Japanese Patent Publication No. 49948/94 discloses this kind of prior art.

[0007]

In the above-mentioned prior art, there is a problem that when the amount of the collected toner increases, the toner flows backward to the rotary transport paddle side, thereby lowering the collection efficiency. When the toner is collected in the toner collecting section, the load on the rotary transport paddle is increased, causing a problem that the rotary transport paddle is destroyed or the torque transmitting means to the rotary transport paddle is damaged.

Further, when the rotary transport paddle is flicked by the flicking member, the toner jumps again toward the photoreceptor 1, which also lowers the recovery efficiency. Further, there have been proposed ones in which the rotary transport paddles are decentered or a plurality of rotary transport paddles are combined. However, the transport efficiency is poor, and the number of parts increases, and the structure becomes complicated and the cost increases.

In the conventional method of naturally collecting the collected toner, there is a problem that the accumulated toner applies pressure to the contact point between the blade and the photosensitive member, thereby promoting cleaning failure and abrasion of the photosensitive member. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning apparatus which solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, efficiently conveys collected toner with a small number of parts, and suppresses cleaning failure and abrasion of an image carrier.

[0010]

An arrangement for achieving the above object will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, 1 is an image carrier (here, a photosensitive drum), 2 is a charger, 3
Is a laser beam, 4 is a developing device, 5 is a transfer device, 6 is a transfer sheet, 8 is a cleaning device, 9 is a blade, 10 is toner, 11 is a toner collecting unit, 12 is a rotary transport paddle, 13
Is a paddle tip trajectory, and 14 is a flicking member.

That is, in the first aspect of the present invention, the blade 9 for contacting the surface of the image carrier 1 and removing the toner attached to the surface of the image carrier 1 and the toner collecting section 11 are provided. A rotary transport paddle 12 having at least a cleaning device 8 provided, wherein the blade 9 is made of an elastic material, and transports the toner scraped off from the image carrier by the blade 9 to the toner collecting unit 11;
The rotation is provided above in the tip trajectory 13 of the transfer paddle 12, and a flicking member 14 'to fly the toner scooped by the rotary conveying paddles 12 in the toner recovery unit 11 direction, the paddles Tip
Is rotated to the upper position when the flicking member 14 '
, And the paddle tip rotates when the engagement is performed.
The direction is a direction toward the toner collecting unit 11,
When released from engagement with the flicking member 14 '.
The toner is elastically repelled by the rotary transport paddle 12.
It is characterized in that it is configured to fly in the direction of the toner collecting section .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the rotary transport paddle has a shape for holding the scooped toner at a tip end of the rotary transport paddle.

[0013]

In the construction of the first invention, the blade 9 provided in the cleaning device is made of an elastic material such as rubber.
The toner adhered to the surface of the image carrier 1 by the scraping effect accompanying the rotation of the image carrier is removed. The scraped-off toner is collected in the toner collecting unit 11 by the rotary transport paddle 12.

A flicking member 14 installed above the trajectory of the rotating tip of the rotary transport paddle 12 is disposed so as to protrude into the trajectory 13 of the tip of the rotary transport paddle 12,
By temporarily suppressing the rotation of the paddle, and then opening the paddle, the toner scooped by the rotary transport paddle 12 is skipped and transported toward the toner collection unit 11. Further, in the configuration of the second aspect of the present invention, the tip of the rotary transport paddle of the first aspect of the present invention is provided with a shape for holding the toner,
The scraped toner can be efficiently conveyed to the toner collecting section 11.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the photosensitive member 1 is uniformly charged by the charger 2 and then scanned by the laser beam 3 modulated by an image signal, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal is formed. It is formed. The electrostatic latent image is developed with toner in a developing device 4, and the toner image is transferred to a transfer sheet 6 passing between a transfer device 5 and the image carrier 1. The transfer paper onto which the toner image has been transferred is fixed by a fixing device (not shown). As a result, a copy reproducing a predetermined image is obtained.

The image bearing member includes a photosensitive member and an intermediate transfer member, and the present invention can be applied to any of these.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a main part of an image forming apparatus for explaining a first embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention, wherein the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 correspond to the same parts, 6a is a paper tray, 7 is a mylar material, etc. It is a seal.

In FIG. 1, a photosensitive drum 1 serving as an image carrier is made of, for example, an organic photosensitive member, and a charger 2, a developing unit 4, a transfer unit 5, and a cleaning device 8 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 1. In addition, a pre-transfer charger, a static elimination lamp, and the like are arranged outside of this, but are not shown. The photosensitive drum 1 is scanned by a laser beam 3 modulated by an image signal generated by an image signal generation device (not shown), and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal is formed.

This electrostatic latent image is developed by a toner in a developing device 4 to be visualized. The visualized toner image reaches a transfer unit 6 including a transfer roll, and is transferred to a transfer sheet 6 fed from a sheet tray 6a by applying a charge having a polarity opposite to that of the toner. The paper 6 on which the toner image has been transferred is fixed by heating or pressurizing or a combination of heating and pressurizing in the fixing device 7.

The toner that has not contributed to image formation and transfer remains on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 after the transfer. This residual toner is removed by the cleaning device 8 to prepare for the next image formation. The cleaning device 8 is scraped off by a blade 9 made of an elastic material such as rubber, which is in sliding contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 over the width thereof. The scraped toner is temporarily stored by the seal 7 so as not to return to the photosensitive drum 1, and is transported by the rotary transport paddle 12 toward the toner collection unit 11.

One or a plurality of wing-shaped rotary transfer paddles 12 made of a polymer film of about 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm such as polyethylene or a thin metal plate such as SUS, or an elastic material such as rubber or synthetic resin are provided. Photoconductor drum 1
And scrape off the scraped toner.
The flicking member 1 is disposed above the rotation path 13 of the rotary transport paddle 12 with a length equal to or greater than the width of the paddle, and the tip of the flicking member 1 projects into the rotation path 13.
The tip of the paddle, which has been rotated after scooping up the toner, comes into contact with the flicking member 14, and the rotation of the tip is temporarily suppressed. Thereafter, by further rotating the paddle, the tip end portion of the paddle is released from engagement with the flicking member 14,
Due to the elastic repulsion of the paddle, the toner is collected by the toner collection unit 1
Flyed in one direction.

The flicking member 14 is moved from the 10 o'clock position to the 12 o'clock position (about 3 o'clock) with respect to the rotary transport paddle 12.
0 degree), the effect of flying the toner increases. If it is arranged from the 12 o'clock position to the 1 o'clock position, the direction in which the toner flies is downward, and the toner collecting unit cannot be used effectively. As a result, the toner is effectively collected by the toner collecting unit 11 without being deposited near the rotary transport paddle 12, and the cleaning can be performed without applying unnecessary pressure to the blade 9 and the rotary transport paddle 12.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus for explaining a second embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention, and corresponds to the same portion as the above embodiment. In the figure,
The configuration and operation of image formation such as formation of an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 1, toner development, transfer, and fixing are the same as those in the first embodiment. That is, the photosensitive drum 1 is scanned by the laser beam 3 modulated by an image signal, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal is formed. This electrostatic latent image is developed with toner by the developing device 4 to be visualized. The visualized toner image reaches the transfer unit 6, is transferred to the transfer sheet 6 fed from the sheet tray 6 a, and is heated and pressed by the fixing unit 7 to be fixed.

The toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 after the transfer is removed by the cleaning device 8 to prepare for the next image formation. The cleaning device 8 is scraped off by a blade 9 made of an elastic material such as rubber, which is in sliding contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 over the width thereof. The scraped toner is transported by the rotary transport paddle 12 toward the toner collecting section 11.

The rotary transport paddle 12, which has elasticity and has a bent portion 12a at the tip thereof in the rotational direction, rotates in the opposite direction to the photosensitive drum 1 to scoop up and transport the scraped toner. Rotation locus 1 of this rotary transport paddle 12
A flicking member 14 is arranged above the inside of the rotation locus 13 so as to protrude into the rotation locus 13.
Is in contact with the flicking member 14, and the rotation of the tip is temporarily suppressed. Thereafter, by further rotating the paddle, the end of the paddle is released from engagement with the flicking member 14, and the toner is blown toward the toner collecting unit 11 by the elastic repulsion of the paddle.

As a result, the toner scooping amount is larger than that of the above-described embodiment, and the toner is more effectively collected by the toner collecting unit 11 without being deposited near the rotary transport paddle 12, and the blade 9 and the rotary transport paddle are collected. Cleaning can be performed without applying unnecessary pressure to the cleaning unit 12. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a rotary transport paddle for explaining a third embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, the rotary transport paddle 12 is
It has a groove-shaped portion 12b for accommodating toner at its tip. By forming the groove-shaped portion 12b, a large amount of toner scraped off by the blade can be conveyed.
The end of the groove 12b of the rotary transport paddle 12 abuts against the flicking member, and the toner contained in the groove 12b is sent to the toner collecting unit 11 and collected by the same repulsive action as in the previous embodiment.

According to this embodiment, a larger amount of toner can be collected more effectively, and the toner is
Collection unit 1 more effectively without accumulating in the vicinity of
The cleaning can be performed without applying unnecessary pressure to the blade 9 and the rotary transport paddle 12. FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a main part of an image forming apparatus for explaining a cleaning apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, and corresponds to the same parts as those in the above embodiment.

In this embodiment, the cleaning device 8 is installed at 3 o'clock on the photosensitive drum 1. Since the photosensitive drum 1 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow A in the figure, and the blade 9 slides in the direction opposite to the rotation of the photosensitive drum 1, the cleaning device 8 is installed at 3 o'clock as shown in the figure.

The flicking member 14 is the rotary transport paddle 1
2 and functions similar to those of the above embodiments. In each of the above embodiments, the arrangement position and the degree of the elastic deformation of the flicking member for elastically deforming the wing-shaped rotary transport paddle vary depending on the hardness and the tip shape of the paddle, and thus are optimized by experiments.

The flicking member only needs to have sufficient rigidity to deform the rotary transport paddle.
Polycarbonate, other resin materials, or metals can be used. In each of the above embodiments, the cleaning target of the toner is described as the photosensitive drum. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The belt-like photosensitive member and the intermediate transfer member (drum-like,
The present invention can be applied to a (belt-shaped) cleaning device.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to obtain a cleaning device that efficiently transports the collected toner with a small number of parts and suppresses cleaning failure and wear of the image carrier.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part illustrating a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus illustrating a first embodiment of a cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus for explaining a second embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a rotary transport paddle for explaining a third embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus illustrating a cleaning device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a main part of an example of a cleaning device provided in a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image carrier, 2 ... Charging device, 3 ... Laser beam, 4 ... Developing device, 5 ... Transfer device, 6
... Transfer paper, 7 ... Seal, 8 ... Cleaning device, 9 ... Blade, 10 ... Toner, 11 ... Toner recovery unit, 12 ... Rotary transport paddle, 13 ... Paddle tip trajectory, 14 ... Flicking member.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hideaki Oike 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shigeki Kaneko 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yuzo Ichikawa 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-60-250379 (JP, A) JP-A-59-30568 (JP, A) JP-A 63-213877 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 63-88865 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 21/10-21/12

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cleaning device having at least a blade that contacts a surface of an image carrier and removes toner adhered to the surface of the image carrier, and a toner recovery unit, wherein the blade is made of an elastic material. A rotary transport paddle configured to transport the toner scraped from the image carrier by the blade to the toner collecting unit; and a rotary transport paddle disposed above a path of a tip of the rotary transport paddle, and A flicking member for causing the scooped toner to fly in the direction of the toner collecting portion, and engaging the flicking member when the paddle tip rotates to the upper position, and the paddle tip at the time of the engagement. The rotational movement direction is a direction toward the toner collecting section, and the rotational conveyance paddle when released from engagement with the flicking member. Cleaning apparatus, characterized in that the toner in sexual repulsion configured to fly in the toner recovery unit direction. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1 , wherein the cleaning device has a shape for holding the scooped toner at the tip of the rotary transport paddle.