JP3717350B2 - Electrophotographic image forming apparatus cleaning device and electrophotographic image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, among image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a composite machine thereof, in particular, charging, writing, developing, transferring, cleaning, etc. are repeated to form a toner image on an image carrier sequentially, The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that sequentially transfers the toner images and records them on a recording medium. The present invention also relates to a cleaning device that removes toner adhering to a member to be cleaned by bringing a cleaning blade into contact with the rotating member to be cleaned in such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a cleaning device in order to remove untransferred toner still remaining on an image carrier after image transfer. Some cleaning apparatuses of this type scrape off untransferred toner from the surface of an image carrier by pressing a cleaning blade made of polyurethane or the like.
[0003]
In a cleaning apparatus using such a cleaning blade, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, an elongated plate-like cleaning blade 1 that presses the tip 1a against the member to be cleaned (not shown) is provided, and both sides of the blade 1 are provided. Side seals 2 are provided on both sides in order to prevent toner leakage from the toner.
[0004]
The side seal 2 includes a horizontal portion 2a along both side ends of the tip 1a of the cleaning blade 1 and a vertical portion 2b along both side end surfaces 1b. In particular, the untransferred toner blocked by the cleaning blade 1 is prevented from leaking from both sides of the horizontal portion 2a and the vertical portion 2b by running along the blade 1 at the horizontal portion 2a and the vertical portion 2b.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this type of cleaning device, when the paper dust or the like enters between the tip 1a of the cleaning blade 1 and the member to be cleaned, the cleaning blade 1 can be removed automatically. Reciprocation was made in the longitudinal direction (the direction of arrow a in FIG. 6).
[0006]
For this reason, a gap m is formed between the side end surfaces 1b of the blade 1 and the vertical portion 2b of the side seal 2 so that the cleaning blade 1 can freely reciprocate. In addition, the tip 1a of the blade 1 and the horizontal portion 2a of the side seal 2 are lightly contacted with each other, or the cleaning blade 1 may be deformed due to strong contact with the horizontal portion 2a. A gap n was also formed between them.
[0007]
Therefore, in actuality, the untransferred toner blocked by the cleaning blade 1 runs sideways along the blade 1, enters the gap n as indicated by the arrow b, and passes through the gap m as indicated by the arrow c. There was a problem leaking from.
[0008]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent toner leakage from both sides of the cleaning blade in the cleaning device using the cleaning blade as described above.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Therefore, according to the present invention, a cleaning blade is brought into contact with a rotating member to be cleaned to remove toner adhering to the member to be cleaned, and side seals are provided on both sides of the cleaning blade to prevent toner leakage from both sides. In a cleaning device of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a slit is formed on the side seal to increase the deflection of the side seal when the member to be cleaned rotates.
[0010]
And a slit is formed in the direction orthogonal to the rotation direction of a member to be cleaned . The interval between the slits is 0.5 to 2 times the thickness of the side seal.
[0011]
The side seal is preferably attached and held at a portion other than the slit forming portion, and is preferably formed by bonding a Teflon pile material to the member to be cleaned with foamed polyurethane as a base material. Further, the length from the fixed end to the free end of the portion divided by the slit is preferably at least twice the thickness of the side seal.
Another aspect of this invention is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a cleaning device as described above.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an essential part of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using a cleaning device according to the present invention.
[0013]
Reference numeral 10 in the drawing denotes a drum-shaped photoconductor that is an image carrier. Around the photoconductor 10, a charging device 11, a developing device 12, a transfer device 13, a cleaning device 14, and the like are provided.
[0014]
The developing device 12 includes a developing device main body 16 that includes stirring members 17 and 18, a developing roller 19, a thinning blade 20, and the like, and a toner replenishing device 21 attached thereto. The developing device main body 16 contains a two-component developer 22 composed of toner and carrier or a one-component developer 22 composed of only toner.
[0015]
Then, the toner is replenished from the toner replenishing device 21 into the developing device main body 16 by the rotation of the replenishing roller 23, and the developer 22 in the developing device main body 16 is conveyed to the developing roller 19 while being stirred by the stirring members 17 and 18. Then, the developer 22 on the developing roller 19 is thinned by the thinning blade 20, and the toner in the thinned developer 22 is attached to the photoconductor 10 in the developing nip region A.
[0016]
The transfer device 13 is provided with a driving roller 25, a driven roller 26, a conveying belt 27, a cleaning blade 28, a collected toner conveying member 29, and the like.
[0017]
Then, the conveyor belt 27 is rotated counterclockwise while the driving roller 25 is rotated and the driven roller 26 is driven to rotate. Toner adheres to the conveyor belt 27, but the toner adhered to the conveyor belt 27 is scraped off and collected by the cleaning blade 28 and conveyed toward the rear of the image forming apparatus main body by the collected toner conveying member 29.
[0018]
The cleaning device 14 is provided with a cleaning blade 31, a collected toner transport member 32, and the like.
[0019]
After the image transfer, the untransferred toner remaining on the photoreceptor 10 is scraped off and collected by the cleaning blade 31 and is conveyed toward the rear of the image forming apparatus main body by the collected toner conveying member 32.
[0020]
Now, when recording on a recording medium using this image forming apparatus, a sheet feeding device (not shown) is driven to feed out, for example, a recording medium p stored in a sheet feeding cassette (not shown), and between registration roller pairs 33. Stop by hitting. Then, the registration roller pair 33 is rotated and sent to the lower side of the photosensitive member 10 in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive member 10.
[0021]
On the other hand, the photosensitive member 10 is rotated clockwise in the figure, the surface thereof is uniformly charged by the charging device 11, and then the surface of the electrostatic latent image is irradiated with, for example, laser light L by an optical writing device (not shown). Form. Then, the toner is attached by the developing device 12 to visualize the electrostatic latent image, and the toner image formed on the photoreceptor 10 is visualized and sent to the lower side of the photoreceptor 10 as described above. Transfer is performed on the recording medium p using the transfer device 13 in the transfer region B.
[0022]
The recording medium p after the image transfer is transported by the transport belt 27, and after fixing the transferred image, for example, by applying heat and pressure by a fixing device (not shown), the recording medium p is discharged to a paper discharge stack unit (not shown). Further, after the image transfer, the photosensitive member 10 is cleaned with the cleaning blade 31 after the untransferred toner remaining on the surface thereof is removed by the cleaning device 14, for example, with a static eliminator (not shown), for the next image formation. Prepare.
[0023]
By the way, in the cleaning device 14 described above, the cleaning blade 31 is formed in an elongated plate shape, held by a holder (not shown) and arranged in parallel with the photoconductor 10, and the tip is placed on the surface of the photoconductor 10 as a member to be cleaned. It is pressed.
[0024]
Side seals 40 are provided on both sides of the cleaning blade 31 as shown in FIG. Although only one side of the side seal 40 is shown in FIG. 2, as can be seen from FIG. 2, the side seal 40 is made of, for example, a base material 41 made of polyurethane foam rich in elasticity. The excellent Teflon pile material 42 is joined, a plurality of slits s are provided, and a portion 40a divided by the slits s is formed in a comb-like shape inward.
[0025]
Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the front side Teflon pile material 42 is pressed against the surface of the photoconductor 10, and the entire back side is used with a double-sided tape 43 to form a structure 44 such as a case or a frame in the image forming apparatus. Paste to. At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the side seal 40 is provided with a horizontal portion 40b along both side ends of the tip 31a of the cleaning blade 31 and a vertical portion 40c along both side end surfaces 31b. The slits s are formed in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the photoconductor 10.
[0026]
Now, when the photoconductor 10 rotates and the surface of the photoconductor 10 moves in the direction of the arrow d in FIG. 3, the slits s cause each divided portion 40 a of the side seal 40 to be deformed flexibly by frictional force. As shown in FIG. 4, the deflection is large, and the cleaning blade 31 is pressed against the tip 31 a to eliminate the gap n shown in FIG. 3. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate toner that runs sideways along the tip 31 a of the cleaning blade 31 and leaks from both sides of the cleaning blade 31.
[0027]
Referring to FIG. 2, the interval h between the slits s is preferably 0.5 to 2 times the thickness t of the side seal 40. This is because if it is 0.5 times or less, it is difficult to mold the side seal 40, and the respective divided portions 40a are buckled, so that the sealing function cannot be exhibited. On the other hand, if it is twice or more, the degree of freedom of deformation of each divided portion 40a becomes small and cannot be flexibly deformed, and similarly, the sealing function cannot be exhibited.
[0028]
In the example described above, the entire back side of the side seal 40 is attached to the structure 44. However, if “parts other than the slit forming part” indicated by the diagonal lines in FIG. 5 are pasted, the degree of freedom of deformation on the free end side of each divided part 40a is increased and the flexibility is increased, as shown in the figure. It becomes possible to bend and deform greatly, and the sealing effect can be further improved.
[0029]
In this example, the length D (see FIG. 2) from the fixed end to the free end of the portion 40a divided by the slit s is set to be twice or more the thickness t of the side seal 40. If it does in this way, the deformation | transformation freedom degree of each division part 40a will become large, and a softness | flexibility will be increased, and the sealing effect can be improved more also from this point.
[0030]
By the way, in the above-described example, the back side of the side seal 40 is attached to the structure 44. However, the side seal 40 may be held by attaching not only the back side but also a side surface to a structure in the image forming apparatus.
[0031]
In the above-described example, the case where the present invention is applied to the cleaning device 14 that removes the untransferred toner on the photoconductor 10 has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to, for example, a cleaning device that cleans the developing roller 19 of the developing device 12 shown in FIG. 1, and the transfer device 13 uses the cleaning blade 28 to remove the toner adhering to the conveyance belt 27. It can also be applied to a cleaning device.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a slit is formed in the side seal to increase the deflection of the side seal when the member to be cleaned rotates, so that the flexibility of the side seal is increased and the member to be cleaned is rotated. Then, it can be deformed and pressed against the cleaning blade, and toner leakage from both sides of the blade can be prevented.
[0033]
Since it is not necessary to press the side seal against the cleaning blade in advance, the deformation of the blade can be reduced to prevent toner leakage from this point, and the deterioration of the cleaning performance can be prevented.
[0034]
Moreover, since the slit is formed in a direction orthogonal to the rotation direction of the member to be cleaned, the flexibility of the side seal can be further improved and the sealing effect can be enhanced.
[0035]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the portion other than the slit forming portion is attached and the side seal is held, the degree of freedom of deformation of the portion divided by the slit is increased, and the divided portion is rotated when the member to be cleaned is rotated. It is possible to improve the sealing effect by flexibly deforming the part and closely contacting the cleaning blade.
[0036]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the foamed polyurethane rich in elasticity is used as a base material, and the Teflon pile material having excellent slidability is joined to the member to be cleaned, a side seal is formed. The sealing effect can be enhanced with the elasticity of the base material without impairing the slidability with the member.
[0037]
According to the invention of claim 2 , since the slit interval is 0.5 to 2 times the thickness of the side seal, the sealing effect is effectively maintained without making the side seal molding difficult and maintaining flexibility. It can be demonstrated.
[0038]
According to the invention of claim 5 , since the length from the fixed end to the free end of the part divided by the slit is set to be twice or more the thickness of the side seal, the degree of freedom of deformation of each divided part is increased. It can be kept large to maintain flexibility and further improve the sealing effect.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the image forming apparatus includes the cleaning apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the cleaning apparatus having the effects described in the first to fifth aspects is provided. An image forming apparatus can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus including a cleaning device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a one-side perspective view of a cleaning blade in the cleaning device.
FIG. 3 is a side view seen from the direction of arrow e.
FIG. 4 is a side view when the rotating body is rotated.
FIG. 5 is a view of one side of another example of a cleaning blade as viewed from the photosensitive member side.
FIG. 6 is a view of one side of a cleaning blade in a conventional cleaning device as viewed from the photosensitive member side.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Photoconductor (member to be cleaned)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Developing device 13 Transfer device 14 Cleaning device 19 Developing roller 28 Cleaning blade 31 Cleaning blade 31a Tip 40 of cleaning blade Side seal 40a Part 41 divided by slit Base material 42 Teflon pile material 43 Double-sided tape 44 Structure h Slit spacing s Slit t Side seal thickness

Claims (6)

The member to be cleaned that rotates in contact with the cleaning blade, wherein to remove the toner adhering to the cleaning member, on both sides of the cleaning blade, electrophotographic image providing a side seal for preventing toner leakage from both sides in the cleaning apparatus of the forming apparatus, the side seal, a slit said the member to be cleaned to increase the deflection of the side seal when the rotation, made by forming the direction orthogonal to the direction of rotation of the member to be cleaned, an electronic A cleaning device for a photographic image forming apparatus. An electrophotographic image in which a cleaning blade is brought into contact with a rotating member to be cleaned to remove toner adhering to the member to be cleaned, and side seals are provided on both sides of the cleaning blade to prevent toner leakage from both sides. In the cleaning device of the forming apparatus, the side seal is formed with slits that increase the deflection of the side seal when the member to be cleaned is rotated, and the slit interval is set to 0.5 to 5 times the thickness of the side seal. A cleaning device for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that is doubled . The cleaning device for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the side seal is held by adhering a portion other than the slit forming portion. 4. The cleaning device for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the side seal is formed by bonding a Teflon pile material to the member to be cleaned with foamed polyurethane as a base material. . The length from the fixed end to the free end of the divided portion with the slit, becomes as twice or more of the side seal thickness, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, Cleaning device. Comprising a cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

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