JP4570387B2 - Cleaning device and image forming apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic or electrostatic recording image forming apparatus used for a copying machine, a printer, a FAX, and the like, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a cleaning device.

  In recent years, with the development of the information society, image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic copying machines and electrophotographic printers have been reduced in size and high-quality information from the viewpoint of increasing the image forming speed and efficient use of the office environment. From the viewpoint of further improving image quality for the purpose of transmission and protecting the global environment, it is required to extend the life of the device. For this reason, the electrophotographic image carrier used in the image forming apparatus is also required to have high-speed response, miniaturization, and high durability. Accordingly, an organic coating layer in which an inorganic substance is added is provided on the surface of the organic image carrier, or the life is extended by an amorphous-Si image carrier.

  On the other hand, in a cleaning device that may cause the most damage to the image carrier, there is a method of electrostatically adsorbing the residual toner on the image carrier by brush cleaning that is considered to cause little damage to the image carrier. Proposed. However, when electrostatically adsorbed in this way, it depends on the polarity of the toner after transfer and is greatly affected by the environment (temperature / humidity), so complete cleaning is difficult and image quality It was not possible to improve.

  In addition, it can be seen that toner particles' own small diameter and true spherical diameter contribute the most to the demand for higher image quality, and toner development and market trends are becoming the direction of smaller diameter / sphericalization. . However, it is inevitable that cleaning becomes difficult when the toner has a small diameter and high sphericity. That is, after the toner image is transferred to the transfer target, it is difficult to completely remove the residual toner adhering to the surface of the image carrier by the cleaning device, resulting in poor cleaning. In particular, in the blade cleaning system, the toner is close to the closest packed state between the contact portions of the image carrier and the cleaning blade during cleaning, so that the image carrier side having strong adhesion to the image carrier is used. There is a tendency for the toners to slip between the first layer toner and the second layer toner, which is higher than the first layer toner, and to remain on the image carrier due to poor cleaning.

  In order to cope with these problems, in the blade cleaning method, an increase in rubber hardness and an increase in contact pressure are inevitable. For this reason, the wear of the image carrier is promoted, and the wear of the rubber blade is accelerated, which causes a problem such as a reduction in blade life.

  Therefore, for example, a configuration is known in which a blade is covered with a CVD coating film of at least one resin selected from the group consisting of a styrene resin, an acrylic resin, and an ethylene resin (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to this configuration, it is said that by performing CVD treatment (chemical vapor deposition) on the blade, hydrolysis can be prevented and the friction coefficient can be reduced.

  In addition, a configuration is known in which mounting holes and convex portions are formed in a row for easy assembly, and are bonded by an adhesive member after being fitted by the holes and convex portions (for example, Patent Document 2). reference.). A configuration in which an elastic portion is provided between a plate-like rubber member fixing member that fixes the plate-like rubber member and a fixing member that fixes the entire cleaning member is known (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

  Furthermore, the structure which used the plate-shaped blade member as the laminated body which provided the resin layer on the metal plate is known (for example, refer patent document 4).

  Further, a configuration is known in which an ultrasonic cleaning auxiliary member that applies vibration to the blade is provided at the fixed end of the cleaning blade so that vibration energy is applied to the blade to float particles on the surface and remove the particles. (For example, refer to Patent Document 5). The cleaning device has a cleaning blade having a free end for cleaning the surface of the image carrier and a fixed end for positioning the cleaning means when performing cleaning, and is provided on the fixed end of the cleaning blade. This is an ultrasonic cleaning auxiliary device for applying vibrational energy to float and remove particles on the surface of the image carrier. According to this configuration, the vibration energy of the vibrator can be concentrated on the tip of the blade chip that is in contact with the surface of the image carrier, and the residual toner particles on the surface of the image carrier are levitated by vibrations, so that the image carrier of the residual toner particles Can weaken the adhesion. For this reason, it is said that the cleaning blade can efficiently remove residual toner particles having weakened adhesive force and can perform better cleaning.

In addition, a piezoelectric element that applies vibration to the cleaning blade is provided to eliminate problems such as toner loss, toner fusion to the surface of the image carrier, abnormal noise, abnormal vibration, and blade turning. A configuration that realizes high durability is known (for example, see Patent Document 6).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-259051 (pages 2, 3 and 1) Japanese Patent No. 0291926 (pages 2, 3 and 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-325659 (pages 2, 3 and 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-219082 (pages 2 to 4, FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-30938 (second page, FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-174992 (pages 2 to 4, FIG. 1)

  However, in the cleaning process for cleaning the residual toner after transfer, when the blade is cleaned, the blade is reversed due to friction on the surface of the image carrier, abnormal noise is generated so that the blade sounds, and wear of the blade member is accelerated. Or other problems occur. Further, the sliding action between the blade and the image carrier causes a filming phenomenon in which the resin component of the toner adheres to the surface of the image carrier, causing a significant deterioration in image quality.

  Further, a configuration has been already proposed in which the cleaning property is ensured by oscillating the blade against the deterioration of the cleaning property caused by the toner having a small diameter and a spherical shape. However, when the image carrier and the blade are rubbed with each other, it is inevitable that both of them wear. The amount of wear is greater when the blade member, which is a softer material than the image carrier, wears out faster, and the life of the blade is shorter than the life of the image carrier. . That is, particularly when an image carrier with improved wear resistance is used, the short life of the blade is more conspicuous than this image carrier. May not be enjoyed.

  In addition, the part that functions as a blade was replaced in units of a large part unit called a support part bonded to a plate-like rubber member, even though only a part of the edge part of the strip-like plate material was replaced. .

  That is, in the configuration of the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, since all the parts are joined by the adhesive, it is necessary to replace the cleaning parts in large unit units, resulting in an increase in cost. Further, in the configuration of Patent Document 3 described above, the elastic portion is formed by a leaf spring member. However, since it is necessary to replace the entire unit as a replacement unit, there is a disadvantage that the cost cannot be reduced.

  Furthermore, when a piezoelectric element or the like as a vibration source is attached to the blade unit, it is necessary to replace the entire unit, resulting in a significant cost increase. That is, in addition to the increase in cost for the piezoelectric element, there is a problem that even if the piezoelectric element has a sufficient life, it is discarded together with the worn blade.

  On the other hand, in the configuration of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, since the blade surface is coated with a resin CVD coating film, the original rubber adhesion effect is lost and the cleaning property is poor. Further, since the coating film is peeled off from the blade surface by rubbing, there is a disadvantage that the durability is inferior. In particular, when the coating film peels off even a small part, the peeling of the coating film spreads from the peeled part to the surroundings by rubbing, so that the tendency of low durability is promoted.

  In the configuration of the above-mentioned Patent Document 4, since the plate-like blade material is a resin, the adhesiveness with the image carrier is low, and a gap is generated between the two, and a cleaning failure is likely to occur. Furthermore, since the image carrier itself is a resin mainly composed of polycarbonate, there are problems such as scratching the surface.

  In the configuration of Patent Document 5 described above, standing waves are formed in a waveguide that propagates ultrasonic waves, so that the propagation state of sound waves varies greatly depending on environmental conditions, particularly temperature. For this reason, it is difficult to obtain a stable vibration state. In addition, in order to form a standing wave uniformly in the width direction of the image carrier, an extremely large vibrator is required, which makes it difficult to reduce the size of the apparatus. Further, in this configuration, the main focus is on weakening the adhesion between the image carrier and the residual toner particles, and the vibration application device is not responsible for cleaning itself, but auxiliary means for cleaning. It has become.

  In the configuration of Patent Document 6 described above, the vibration waveform applied to the blade is a standing wave. With this configuration, a standing wave is formed in the longitudinal direction of the blade and vibration is applied, so it varies depending on external factors such as environmental conditions, and the blade material is an elastic material, so vibration propagation efficiency is extremely low It has a configuration. Further, since vibration is applied in the blade length direction, vibration propagation is absorbed and vibration efficiency is low.

Therefore, the present invention solves the problems of the conventional ones as described above, and when using an image bearing member with improved wear resistance, the blade member is made into a chip, which can be reduced in size or replaced as a replacement part. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device that can be simplified and an image forming apparatus including the cleaning device .

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 has a substantially long plate-like rubber member for damming the developer, and the plate-like rubber member is aligned with both ends in the short direction. A blade chip in which a reinforcing plate having the same length and width as a plate rubber member is integrally joined; a support plate that supports the blade chip; and a holder that presses the blade chip against the support plate side. ,
A piezoelectric element is bonded to the support plate, and when a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element, vibration from the piezoelectric element is propagated to the plate-like rubber member via the support plate. and, the plate-like rubber member is made of synthetic rubber, the reinforcing plate is made of a metal, between the plate-like rubber member and the reinforcing plate, the specific acoustic resistance of the middle of these members It is characterized in that a different kind member is interposed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the corner portion of the plate-like rubber member to which the reinforcing plate is not joined has a straightness over the entire length direction .

According to a third aspect of the invention, according to claim 1 or 2, part or all of the plate-like rubber member, the surface treatment of the low friction treatment is performed.

The invention according to claim 4, in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the support plate has a structure for rotatably supporting a shaft provided on the support plate as a fulcrum.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects , the support plate to which the piezoelectric element is bonded is a metal member having a thickness smaller than any thickness of the plate-like rubber member and the reinforcing plate. Formed from.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge comprising the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, an image carrier, a means for charging the image carrier, and an electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier. Development means for developing the toner with a developer.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes a plurality of process cartridges according to the seventh aspect .

According to the invention of claim 1, the cleaning device has a plate-like rubber member, and the plate-like rubber member as the blade material is aligned at both ends in the short direction, and the length and width are the same as the plate-like rubber member. Since the reinforcing plates having the dimensions are integrally joined to form a blade chip as a single part, it is easy to attach and detach. Moreover, since the edge part of the blade material on the opposite side to the carrier also has a blade function, the life can be doubled as compared with the conventional blade material.
In addition, by vibrating the plate-like rubber member via the support plate, the frictional force between the plate-like rubber member as the blade material and the image carrier can be reduced. Lifespan can be improved. Further, since the turning of the blade can be eliminated, it is possible to avoid the tip shape of the blade material from being different, and as a result, it is possible to improve the cleaning performance.
Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the vibration propagation efficiency from being lowered by disposing different members between the reinforcing plate and the plate-like rubber member as the blade material. That is, after vibration is transmitted from the reinforcing plate to the dissimilar member, the vibration is transmitted from the dissimilar member to the plate-like rubber member. Compared to the directly transmitted configuration, the size can be reduced.

According to the invention of claim 2, in claim 1, since the corner portion of the plate-like rubber member to which the reinforcing plate is not joined has straightness over the entire longitudinal direction, the plate-like rubber member Can be in uniform contact with the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier over the entire longitudinal direction.

According to the invention of claim 3 , in claim 1 or 2 , by subjecting the plate-like rubber member as the blade material of the blade tip to surface treatment, the frictional force is reduced and the blade life is improved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the support is provided on the plate-like rubber member as the blade member so as to be rotatable. The outer peripheral surface can be uniformly contacted. For this reason, uneven cleaning is eliminated.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects , the vibration is propagated by making the thickness of the support plate thinner than the thickness of either the reinforcing plate or the plate-like rubber member. The characteristics can be improved. For this reason, the power consumption, that is, the driving voltage of the piezoelectric element that is the vibration generating source can be reduced. As a result, power saving can be achieved.

According to the invention of claim 6 , by using the image forming apparatus equipped with the cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , operability such as downsizing and detaching / replacement as the device is improved.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge having at least an image carrier and the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein each unit member is an integrated structure. As a result, operability such as downsizing and detachment / exchange is improved.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus including a plurality of process cartridges as the engine cartridge according to the seventh aspect can obtain the above-described effect, and the apparatus can be downsized and operated. It becomes easy. In particular, these process cartridges are most suitable for color image forming apparatuses using process cartridges with different colors.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus equipped with the cleaning device of the first embodiment.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a charging device 3 that uniformly charges the surface of an image carrier with a charging roller 3a and the like around an image carrier drum 2 that is an image carrier. An exposure apparatus (not shown) that forms a latent image on the uniformly charged surface of the image carrier 2 by a laser beam or the like, and a toner that is a developer charged to the latent image on the image carrier 2 is attached to the toner. A developing device 5 for forming an image, a transfer device 6 for transferring a toner image formed on the image carrier 2 to a recording paper (not shown) by a transfer belt or a transfer roller, a charger, etc., an image carrier drum 2 after the transfer of the toner image A cleaning device 7 for removing the toner remaining on the surface and a neutralizing device 8 for removing the residual potential on the image carrier drum 2 are sequentially arranged.

  In such an image forming apparatus 1, the image carrier drum 2 whose surface is uniformly charged by the charging roller 3 a of the charging device 3 is formed with an electrostatic latent image by the exposure 4 from the exposure device, and the developing device 5. Thus, a toner image is formed. The toner image is transferred from the surface of the image carrier drum 2 by the transfer device 6 to the recording paper conveyed along the conveyance path indicated by the broken line in the drawing from the paper feed tray 9. Thereafter, the toner image on the recording paper is fixed on the recording paper by the fixing device 14. On the other hand, the toner remaining on the image carrier drum 2 without being transferred is collected by the cleaning device 7. The image carrier drum 2 from which the residual toner has been removed is initialized as the above-described charging process by a neutralizing lamp (not shown) of the neutralizing device 8 and used for the next image forming process.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning device 7 is a developer whose tip on the image carrier side is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier drum 2 after the transfer and remains on the surface of the image carrier drum 2. A blade chip 12 that is a plate-like rubber member that blocks and removes toner; a blade chip 14 that integrally joins the blade material 12 and the reinforcing plate 13; a support plate 15 that supports the blade chip 14; And a holder 16 for pressing the blade chip 14 against the support plate 15 side. Note that the base end on the left side of the support plate 15 in the drawing is connected to a support mechanism (not shown), and this support mechanism allows the front end portion of the blade member 12 on the image carrier drum 2 side to transfer the image after transfer. The angle formed by the tip portion and the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier drum 2 is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the body drum 2 at a predetermined contact angle and with a predetermined contact pressure. Reference numeral 17 denotes a screw member for holding and securing the holder 16 attached to the support plate 15.

As shown in FIG. 3, the blade chip 14 includes a blade material 12 mainly composed of polyurethane rubber and a reinforcing plate 13 that is a metal member.

  The blade material 12 is formed in a substantially long plate shape, and it is ensured that the thickness is preferably 0.3 to 1 mm and the hardness is preferably JISA 65 to 90 degrees. The length of the blade member 12 is ensured so as to cover the entire region in the width direction with respect to the rotation direction of the image carrier drum 2 or the region where the surface of the image carrier is developed by the developing device 5. That is, for example, when the cleaning device 7 is mounted on a general image forming apparatus for OA use, the length of the blade material 12 is 300 to 360 mm.

  The width of the blade member 12 is ensured so that an appropriate pressing force is applied to the tip of the blade member 12 between the image carrier and the elasticity of the conventional blade itself (so-called blade waist). Residual toner is dammed up at the tip, removed from the image carrier drum 2 and cleaned. Therefore, the dimension in the width direction of the blade member 12 is required to be 10 mm or more in order to obtain the above action. However, when the blade material 12 is worn over time or when the blade edge is chipped or scratched to cause a cleaning failure, the blade material 12 is replaced with a member to which the blade material 12 is adhered. Was discarded.

In the first embodiment, the blade material 12 is bonded to the metal reinforcing plate 13 by bonding or the like to form a single part as the blade chip 14, thereby increasing the rigidity of the blade material 12 and handling it. In addition, the blade member 12 does not require other members. That is, the reinforcing plate 13 is formed of a metal material in the shape of a long plate having the same dimensions as the length and width of the blade material 12. Further, the reinforcing plate 13 is thick enough to maintain the shape of the long plate shape of the blade member 12, that is, the rigidity and strength are secured. Further, at least the corners of the A portion and the B portion shown in FIG. 3 of the blade member 12 are formed as blade edges that ensure a predetermined straightness and sharp corners. That is, when either the A part or the B part, which is the blade edge of the blade member 12, contacts the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier drum 2, the contact portion extends over the entire area in the longitudinal direction of the image carrier drum 2. The straightness necessary to uniformly contact at a predetermined pressure and the sharp and accurate shape accuracy necessary to obtain a high contact pressure capable of blocking the developer are ensured.

Therefore, since the blade tip 14 is symmetrical in the vertical direction in FIG. 3, that is, in the width direction of the blade tip 14, the blade tip 14 is worn out over time, and the blade edge B is chipped or scratched. As shown in FIG. 2 again, the holder 16 is removed, the blade tip 14 is removed, the top and bottom are easily inverted, and the blade tip 14 is attached again, and the part A on the opposite blade edge is used for cleaning. it can. As a result, the component life can be doubled. That is, the blade tip 14 can be used twice as a replacement part by the A part and the B part as the blade edges.

As described above, according to the cleaning device 7 of the first embodiment, the blade material 12 that is a plate-like rubber member and the reinforcing plate 13 are integrally formed by bonding together to form a blade chip. It becomes easy. That is, placing the reinforcing plate 13 on the back of the blade member 12 to perform a cleaning function engages interview as a cleaning blade, the reinforcing plate 13 as the backing member, to enhance the shape retention of the blade member 12, in particular cleaning The blade chip 14 is reinforced so that the blade shape related to performance can be maintained, and only this part needs to be replaced as a single part, and the blade chip 14 can be easily replaced. Further, for example, when the blade material 12 is 300 to 360 mm, the thickness is 0.3 to 1 mm, and the width is about 10 mm as described above, the blade material 14 is also removed in this manner. Since 12 is joined to the reinforcing plate 13, the long plate-like shape can be maintained without being bent or bent as a long member. For this reason, handleability can be improved. On the other hand, when the blade chip 14 is reversed and attached again, or when a new blade chip 14 is attached, the shape is maintained as described above, so that the direction can be easily changed.

On the other hand, the end of the blade member 12 on the side opposite to the image carrier drum 2 also has a blade function, so that the lifetime can be doubled compared to the conventional blade member. That is, if the direction in which the end portion of the blade material 12 (the B portion) and the blade tip 14 are attached to the holder 16 and the support plate 15 is changed by using over time, the end portion ( The above part A) can be used for cleaning. In particular, the unused blade edge A portion is located on the back side of the recess formed by the support plate 15 and the holder 16 when the blade tip 14 is mounted on the holder 16 and the support plate 15. In addition, the edge (A portion) can be protected because it is not exposed to the outside. That is, the edge shape can be maintained in a state in which the edge shape is as sharp and straight as in the new product. Accordingly, when the direction in which the blade tip 14 is mounted is changed as described above and such an unused edge (part A) is replaced to be used for cleaning, sufficient cleaning performance can be exhibited. It becomes possible. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the frequency of replacing and discarding the components when the blade material 12 is consumed while maintaining the cleaning performance by the cleaning device 7 sufficiently. That is, the blade member 14 that can be used as a conventional replacement part can be used once, whereas the blade tip 14 uses the two edges (part A and part B) alternately to double the number of times. It can be used. As a result, the cost can be reduced and the economy can be improved.

In addition, when the blade chip 14 is attached, the reinforcing plate 13 on the blade chip 14 side and the support plate 15 are in surface contact, and both of them are made of metal to ensure sufficient rigidity and strength. Therefore, the blade chip 14 can be attached stably and firmly, and the posture of the blade chip 14 can be set to the posture defined by the support plate 15. For this reason, the tip of the blade member 12 can be brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier drum 2 after the transfer with high accuracy with a designed contact angle and a predetermined contact pressure. As a result, the cleaning performance by the blade material 12 can be sufficiently and stably exhibited.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same component as said 1st Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

  In addition to the configuration of the first embodiment described above, the cleaning device 20 of the second embodiment has a configuration in which the blade material 22 is moved outward in the width direction from the support plate 15 in the blade chip 21 as shown in FIG. The protruding amount is set to a predetermined value to improve the cleaning performance.

That is, in order to clean the image carrier drum 2, the blade material 22 as a cleaning member needs to have a function of blocking residual toner on the image carrier drum 2. The weir due to the tip of the blade member 22 coming into contact with the image carrier drum 2 is determined by the rubber hardness of the blade member 22 and the force pressing the tip of the blade member 22 against the image carrier drum 2. Therefore, when the blade material 22 is joined to the reinforcing plate 13 and the blade material 22 is joined to the inside of the reinforcing plate 13 in the width direction, the blade material is in the direction approaching the image carrier drum 2. Since the entire surface on the back side with respect to the pressing direction 22 is supported by the reinforcing plate 13, there is no problem in rigidity, and the pressing force is maintained at a sufficient level. On the other hand, when the blade material 22 protrudes outward in the width direction from the reinforcing plate 13 in the above configuration, the function of forming the weir of the blade material 22 is inferior. In other words, the protruding portion of the blade material 22 is not supported on the back side by the reinforcing plate 13, so that the rigidity of this portion is reduced. As a result, the pressing force is reduced, and the contact pressure of the tip of the blade material 22 against the image carrier drum 2 is insufficient, so that the cleaning performance is deteriorated.

  That is, the image carrier drum 2 is cleaned using the blade material 22 in which the protrusion amount L is changed at a ratio based on the blade thickness T1, and each cleaning result is evaluated according to a predetermined five-step evaluation. Rated by cleaning rank. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the relationship between the protrusion amount L of the blade material 22 and the cleaning property tends to gradually decrease the cleaning rank as the protrusion amount L increases. The experimental result showing was obtained. As a result, when the protrusion amount L where the ratio between the protrusion amount L of the blade material 22 and the blade thickness T1 is not established is zero, the highest first is shown on the horizontal axis in FIG. When an evaluation rank of 5 is obtained and the protrusion amount L and the blade thickness T1 are the same, as shown by a scale of 1 on the horizontal axis, an evaluation between the fifth and fourth evaluation ranks is performed. Obtained. In particular, it has been found from this experimental result that when the protruding amount L is equal to or greater than the blade thickness T1, the rubber rigidity is reduced and it is difficult to make the weir, so that the cleaning performance is greatly reduced. In addition to this, it has been found that when the protruding amount L is extremely large, troubles such as turning up of the blade are likely to occur.

Therefore, the blade chip 21 is bonded to the entire surface of the reinforcing plate 13 with the entire surface of the blade material 22 that is a plate-like rubber member, and the protruding amount L of the blade material 22 from the reinforcing plate 13 is 0, or The protrusion amount L is the protrusion amount L equal to or less than the thickness T1 of the blade material 22. That is, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the protruding amount L of the blade material 22 is set so as to be the same as the thickness T <b> 1 of the blade material 22.

As described above, according to the cleaning device 20 of the second embodiment, the blade tip 21 ensures a predetermined protrusion amount L of the blade material 22 in the width direction from the reinforcing plate 13 toward the image carrier drum 2. Therefore, reliable cleaning properties can be obtained. In other words, the protrusion amount L is equal to or less than the thickness T1 of the blade material 22 including 0 as the protrusion amount L that can secure rubber rigidity enough to form a weir for damming the residual toner on the image carrier drum 2. The amount of protrusion L is set to L.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition to the configuration of the second embodiment, the cleaning device 25 of the third embodiment vibrates the blade chip 21, that is, the blade material 22 by a piezoelectric element as a vibration source as shown in FIG. It is trying to apply. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structural member as said 2nd Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the blade chip 21 is pressed against a support plate 26 provided in place of the support plate 15, and a piezoelectric element 27 is placed at the base end on the left side of the support plate 26 in the drawing. Are joined by bonding. The support plate 26 has the same width and length dimensions as the support plate 15 described above, is formed of a SUS (stainless steel) spring material, and vibrates with a thickness of 0.2 to 0.5 mm. Easy members have been selected as preferred.

Then, by applying a voltage that repeatedly changes, that is, a voltage that varies periodically and periodically, to the piezoelectric element 27, a vibration wave is generated from the piezoelectric element 27 at the base end of the support plate 26, and this vibration is generated. The support plate 26 is vibrated by the waves, and the blade chip 21 at the tip of the support plate 26 is also vibrated. Therefore, since the blade material 22 which is an elastic body is deformed by this vibration, the action of pushing back the toner remaining on the image carrier drum 2 does not occur and the blade edge of the blade material 22 is not turned up. The effect of entraining the toner and allowing the toner to pass therethrough can also be reduced. Further, since the vibration propagates to the residual toner adhering to the image carrier drum 2, the residual toner is also effective for the peeling action from the image carrier drum 2. For this reason, the scraping (scraping) action of the adhered toner by the blade edge is facilitated. As a result, the cleaning property can be improved.

  Furthermore, the contact frictional force between the blade edge and the image carrier drum 2 is reduced, and the sliding load on the blade material 22 is reduced. That is, the rotational torque of the image carrier drum 2 was measured depending on whether the blade was vibrated or not. As a result, as clearly shown in the graph of FIG. 7, when the former blade is vibrated, the rotational torque of the image carrier drum 2 is about 30 to 50% as compared with the case where the latter is not vibrated. It turns out that it falls to. Further, as shown in the figure, as the rotational speed of the image carrier drum 2 increases from 0 to V5, the rotational torque of the former tends to gradually increase slightly from around T2. On the other hand, the rotational torque due to the latter gradually decreases from T5 to around T3, but does not decrease to the rotational torque obtained by the former. That is, it has been found that even at V5 which is the maximum rotation speed of the image carrier drum 2, according to the former, a clear and significant effect of reducing the rotation torque can be obtained. This is because the load torque due to the friction generated between the blade and the image carrier is reduced. From now on, it can be seen that the blade life is greatly improved by the vibration. That is, since the frictional force can be reduced in this way, wear due to abrasion of the blade material 22 due to this friction can be reduced.

  As described above, according to the cleaning device 25 of the third embodiment, the friction force generated between the blade material 22 and the image carrier drum 2 can be reduced by vibrating the blade chip 21, that is, the blade material 22. For this reason, wear of both 22 and 2 can be reduced and the life can be prolonged and improved. Furthermore, since the frictional force is reduced in this way, it is possible to eliminate turning up of the blade. For this reason, it is possible to avoid the blade edge, which is the tip shape of the blade material 22, from having a different shape. As a result, the cleaning performance by the blade material 22 can be stabilized and sufficiently exhibited, and the cleaning performance can be improved. On the other hand, since the load on the rotational torque of the image carrier due to the frictional force generated between the two can be reduced, the image carrier can be stably rotated. For this reason, a series of image forming operations related to the rotation of the image carrier can be stabilized. As a result, the image quality can be improved.

  Next explained is the fourth embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the cleaning device 30 according to the fourth embodiment includes a blade member 32 that forms the blade tip 31 and an image carrier drum 2 (not shown) in addition to the configuration of the second embodiment. The contact portion or the entire contact portion is modified to reduce the coefficient of friction at the contact portion. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structural member as said 2nd Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the cleaning device 30 performs a modification process for reducing the friction coefficient at the contact portion of the blade material 32 of the blade tip 31 with the image carrier drum 2 or the whole. That is, at least the right lower portion and the left lower corner portion of the blade member 32 shown in FIG. 8, that is, the blade edge A portion and the B portion are subjected to the reforming process. As a conventional surface treatment for reducing the friction coefficient, there is a method of reducing the friction coefficient by applying an active powder such as graphite or molybdenum disulfide. However, this application method has a problem in durability such that the applied active powder is peeled off over time.

  Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, chlorine is added to the double bond portion of the rubber molecule by subjecting the entire contact portion of the blade member 32 to the image carrier drum 2 or the entire halogen treatment, particularly chlorination treatment. Thus, the material itself as the blade material 32 is modified. That is, the blade member 32 was placed in a chlorine gas atmosphere having a predetermined concentration for a predetermined time.

  In order to verify the effect of the reforming, the chlorine gas concentration is kept constant at 50 vol% (volume%), and the friction coefficient of the blade member 32 changes every time a predetermined time elapses from the start of the chlorination treatment. Was measured. As a result, a measurement result was obtained in which the untreated sample having a friction coefficient of μ = 2 decreased to μ = 0.5 after 10 minutes of treatment. As a result, the wear of the contact portion of the blade member 32 with the image carrier drum 2 is reduced, and the blade life can be improved.

  As described above, according to the cleaning device 30 of the fourth embodiment, the predetermined coefficient of the blade material 32 of the blade tip 31 is modified to reduce the friction coefficient of the surface. The frictional force generated when contacting the body drum 2 is reduced, and the blade life can be prolonged and improved. That is, a part of the blade member 32 itself that contacts at least the surface of the image bearing member by modifying at least the surface of the blade member 32 that is in contact with the image bearing member without additionally providing a new friction reducing member on the surface of the blade member 32. Since the frictional force is reduced, the above-mentioned friction reducing member peels off due to the use over time, and the durability problem such that the frictional force cannot be reduced does not occur.

  On the other hand, this reforming process is performed by placing it in a gas atmosphere, and since it is not processed by contacting with a physical solid material, the blade edge shape of the blade material 32 is changed by this reforming process. There is no loss. For this reason, while reducing the frictional force, the accuracy and precision of the blade edge shape can be maintained and ensured, and as a result, the cleaning property can be improved.

  Next explained is the fifth embodiment of the invention. In addition to the configuration of the second embodiment described above, the cleaning device 35 of the fifth embodiment can rotate in a direction in which the blade chip 21 is brought into contact with and separated from the image carrier drum 2 as shown in FIG. The blade chip 21 is urged in the direction in which the blade material 22 contacts the image carrier drum 2. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structural member as said 2nd Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

  That is, when the blade material 22 is made to be a highly rigid blade material 22, it is difficult to secure the amount of biting of the front end portion of the blade material 22 into the image carrier drum 2 as about 1 mm as in the conventional blade. This amount of biting in is necessary to absorb variations in the straightness of the blade itself and fluctuations in the deflection of the image carrier drum 2 when the image carrier drum 2 rotates.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the cleaning device 35 is provided with a holding plate 36 having a predetermined shape in which the support plate 15 is connected to the right end in the drawing, and the holding plate 36 is supported by a horizontal support shaft 37. Thus, the holding plate 36 is configured to rotatably support the blade chip 21 with the axis of the support shaft 37 as the center of rotation. That is, a rib portion 36a for a spindle that protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the holding plate 36 extends, that is, in the vertical direction in the drawing, is integrally provided at a substantially central portion of the holding plate 36. A shaft hole 36b having a predetermined diameter is formed at the approximate center of the rib portion 36a. A support shaft 37 that is horizontally supported by a fixing member such as a housing (not shown) on the cleaning device 35 side is inserted into the shaft hole 36b.

  Further, the holding plate 36 is urged by a spring 38 as an urging means with the axis center of the support shaft 37 as a fulcrum, so that the tip of the blade member 22 is always pressed against the image carrier at a predetermined level. To make contact. That is, the spring 38 is a spring-like spring member, and one end is fixed to a member on the cleaning device 35 (not shown), and the other end is connected to the base end side of the holding plate 36. It is installed in a stretched state. Therefore, the pulling force by the spring 38 is supplied to the base end side of the holding plate 36, the base end side is urged upward as shown in the figure, and the holding plate 36 rotates clockwise around the fulcrum, resulting in the result. The blade member 22 is constantly pressed against the image carrier drum 2. For this reason, it is possible to deal with respective error factors such as fluctuation due to part shape error, fluctuation due to assembly error, fluctuation due to movement, and the like. That is, even if these fluctuations occur, the blade material 22 is urged to rotate toward the image carrier drum 2 side, so that the blade edge is constantly pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier so as to follow the fluctuations. Can be kept in contact with each other.

  Reference numeral 39 denotes a shaft member that connects the holding plate 36 and the support plate 15 and rotatably supports the support plate 15 with the surface of the blade material 22 held by the support plate 15 as a rotation surface. In this way, by allowing the support plate 15 to rotate with the shaft member 39 interposed therebetween, the blade edge and the image by the blade material 22 can be obtained even when the relative position with respect to the image carrier drum 2 changes as a result. The parallelism with the outer peripheral surface of the carrier drum 2 is maintained by following the change by the rotation, and the contact property of the blade edge to the image carrier drum 2, that is, the cleaning property is ensured.

As described above, according to the cleaning device 35 of the fifth embodiment, since the support shaft 37 is provided on the holding plate 36 that is a member for holding the blade material 22, that is, the blade chip 21, the support shaft 37 is rotatably supported. Can be uniformly brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier drum 2. For this reason, uneven cleaning is eliminated. On the other hand, the range that can tolerate the above-mentioned parts shape error, assembly error, fluctuation due to movement, etc. can be expanded, so that while maintaining the performance, the shape accuracy of the parts can be reduced to reduce the manufacturing cost, or after assembly Inspection can be simplified and assembly costs can be reduced.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the invention will be described. In the cleaning device 40 of the sixth embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the third embodiment described above, the thickness of the support plate 41 is changed to the thickness of the reinforcing plate 13 and the blade constituting the blade chip 21, as shown in FIG. The vibration generated by the piezoelectric element 27 is easily propagated to the blade material 22 by setting it smaller than the plate thickness of the material 22. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structural member as said 3rd Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the cleaning device 40 sets the relationship between the thicknesses of the support plate 41 as the vibration transmission plate, the reinforcing plate 13, and the blade material 22 to T3 <T1 and T3 <T2. ing. That is, T1 indicates the thickness of the blade member 22, T2 indicates the thickness of the reinforcing plate 13, and T3 indicates the thickness of the support plate 41, respectively. Therefore, the support plate 41 is more easily bent than the reinforcing plate 13 and the blade material 22. For this reason, the vibration propagated to the support plate 41 is easily propagated faithfully to the blade member 22 through the reinforcing plate 13. As a result, the blade material 22 can be vibrated efficiently. The configuration of the support plate 41 other than the thickness, such as dimensions and materials, is the same as that of the support plate 26 described above.

As described above, according to the cleaning device 40 of the sixth embodiment, the thickness of the support plate 41 is made thinner than the thickness of each member such as the reinforcing plate 13 and the blade material 22 to improve the vibration propagation characteristics. Can do. That is, since the thickness of each of the members 13 and 22 is made thinner to facilitate the deformation of the support plate 41, the vibration energy consumed for the deformation can be reduced, and the vibration is more effective and more efficient than in the past. Is transmitted to the reinforcing plate 13. Therefore, vibration from the piezoelectric element 27 can be efficiently transmitted to the blade material 22. For this reason, the energy consumed by the piezoelectric element 27 as the vibration generating source, that is, the driving voltage can be reduced. As a result, power saving can be achieved. On the other hand, since the vibration output from the piezoelectric element can be small, the piezoelectric element 27 itself can be reduced in size and weight. In addition, the cost of the piezoelectric element 27 can be reduced by lowering the output.

Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. The seventh embodiment of the cleaning device 45, in addition to the configuration of the sixth embodiment described above, as shown in FIG. 11, a notch in an appropriate position is provided in the support plate 46, further transfer characteristic of the vibration We are trying to improve. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structural member as said 6th Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

That is, in the cleaning device 45, the support plate 46 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape between the portions where the piezoelectric elements 27 are provided in the direction in which the plurality of piezoelectric elements 27 are arranged in the longitudinal direction on the support plate 46. A notch 47 formed by notching is provided. Therefore, by reducing the section modulus of the support plate 46 as a beam, the structure is easily bent. In other words, since the path from the proximal end side where the piezoelectric element 27 of the support plate 46 is provided to the distal end side is formed and secured in a bridge shape, the section modulus of the beam is reduced. Therefore, the vibration from the piezoelectric element 27 on the base end side of the support plate 46 is propagated to the blade chip 21 on the front end side of the support plate 46 with good responsiveness and efficiency.

As a method of manufacturing the support plate 46 thus cut out, it can be removed without applying a load to the support plate 46 , such as press processing, etching processing, laser processing, wire cutting processing, and the internal stress is accumulated. A processing method that does not allow this is desirable.

According to the cleaning apparatus 45 of the seventh embodiment, by providing the notch portion of the support plate 46, also tends to easily deform the support plates 46 is longer plate-shaped member, and the vibration It becomes easy. Therefore, the kinetic energy necessary for vibrating the support plate 46 can be reduced. For this reason, the power consumption, that is, the driving voltage of the piezoelectric element 27 which is a vibration generating source can be reduced. As a result, power saving can be achieved.

In the seventh embodiment, the notch 47 is formed on the inner peripheral side as the surface of the support plate 46. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a notch reaching the periphery of the support plate 46 may be provided as appropriate. Instead of the notches reaching the front and back surfaces of the support plate 46, recesses provided on one or both of the front and back surfaces may be used.

Next, an eighth embodiment of the invention will be described. In addition to the configuration of the third embodiment described above, the cleaning device 50 of the eighth embodiment includes different members between the reinforcing plate 13 forming the blade tip 51 and the blade member 22 as shown in FIG. The vibration damping characteristics in the blade tip 51 are improved by interposing. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structural member as said 7th Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

As described above, the support plate 26 uses a metal member because of its propagation characteristics of vibration and ease of displacement (flexibility). As the blade material 22, polyurethane rubber is effective because of elastic rubber and shape stability and environmental resistance.

At this time, when vibration propagates from the support plate 26 serving as the vibration source to the blade member 12 made of synthetic rubber serving as a target member to be vibrated through the metal reinforcing plate 13, the reinforcement in the blade chip 51 is strengthened. Since there is a large difference in the specific acoustic resistance (ρc) between the plate 13 and the blade material 22, when the vibration propagates from the larger acoustic resistance to the smaller one, the vibration is greatly attenuated. Where ρ represents density and c represents the sound velocity of the material. That is, for example, in the conventional configuration, the specific acoustic resistance (g / s / cm 2) of both members 13 and 22 has the following value.
Reinforcement plate 13 (iron): 270 x 104 (g / s / cm2)
Blade material 22 (synthetic rubber): 1.4 × 104 (g / s / cm2)

As described above, there is a gap of about 190 times between the resistance values of the both 13 and 22, so that the attenuation of vibration propagating between the both 13 and 22 is large. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, both (such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate: this PET has a specific acoustic resistance: 44 × 104)) between the two 13 and 22 and the like. By interposing the synthetic resin material 52, which is a member of a different material having an intermediate specific acoustic resistance value between 13 and 22, the gap between the specific acoustic resistances of the reinforcing plate 13 and the synthetic resin material 52 can be reduced. This is greatly reduced from about 190 times due to the direct contact configuration to 6 times. For this reason, the attenuation when the vibration propagates from the reinforcing plate 13 to the synthetic resin material 52 becomes small, and similarly the attenuation when the vibration propagates from the synthetic resin material 52 to the blade material 22 becomes small. As a result, it is possible to obtain vibration transmission efficiency higher than that of the prior art.

As described above, according to the cleaning device 50 of the eighth embodiment, by inserting the synthetic resin material 52, which is a different member, between the reinforcing plate 13 and the blade material 22, the blade material 22 is removed from the reinforcing plate 13. It is possible to prevent a reduction in the efficiency of propagation of vibrations up to. For this reason, the kinetic energy required for vibration can be reduced, and the power consumption, that is, the drive voltage of the piezoelectric element 27 that is the vibration generation source can be reduced. As a result, power saving can be achieved.

  Next, a ninth embodiment of the invention will be described. In the ninth embodiment, a configuration mainly composed of an image carrier drum 62 as an image carrier and a cleaning device 61 for cleaning the image carrier drum 62 are stored in a predetermined cartridge case 60a and integrated. The engine cartridge 60 has a structure.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the cleaning device 61, which is one of the cleaning devices 7, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 of the first to eighth embodiments, the image carrier drum 62, A charging unit 63 for charging the image carrier drum 62 and a developing unit 65 for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier drum 2 with toner as a developer are stored in a cartridge case 60a and integrated. The engine cartridge structure is used, and the engine cartridge structure is left detachable from an image forming apparatus (not shown).

  As described above, according to the ninth embodiment, the process cartridge having the engine cartridge structure in which the members including the cleaning device 61 are integrated with each other can be reduced in size as the device, and the operation for attaching and detaching is performed. Improves.

  Next, a tenth embodiment of the invention is described. As shown in FIG. 14, the image forming apparatus 70 of the tenth embodiment uses process cartridges 60 </ b> A to 60 </ b> D having different colors in charge of the ninth embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structural member as said 9th Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the image forming apparatus 70 includes a plurality of engine cartridges 60 including a cleaning device 61. For example, magenta and cyan different from each other from the right cartridge to the left side in the figure. The engine cartridges 60A to 60D that are responsible for the four primary colors of yellow and black are mounted inside one by one in a replaceable manner.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus 70 of the tenth embodiment, the above-described effects can be obtained by providing the cleaning apparatus 61 and including the plurality of process cartridges 60A to 60D as engine cartridges. Therefore, the overall size of the apparatus can be reduced, and operability such as cartridge replacement work can be facilitated. Therefore, as described above, these process cartridges 60A to 60D are most suitable for a color image forming apparatus using process cartridges with different colors.

In each of the above embodiments, the reinforcing plate 13 is formed of a metal plate, but the present invention is not limited to the reinforcing plate being a metal. That is, it is clear that the above-mentioned effect can be obtained even if a reinforcing plate made of a material having a higher Young's modulus than the blade material 12 as a plate-like rubber member, such as a synthetic resin material such as hard rubber or plastic, is used. . Therefore, the case where the reinforcing plate 13 in a non-metallic material which can be secured in this way the stiffness strength, weight reduction is possible as compared with the metal reinforcing plate 13. For this reason, the weight of the blade tip 14 can be reduced, and the force required to support and press the blade tip 14 in a predetermined manner can be reduced. For this reason, it is possible to simplify the configuration of the support plate 15, the holder 16, and the support mechanism as members for supplying such force. In particular, in the configuration in which the blade material 12 is vibrated, the force necessary for the vibration can be reduced similarly, and the constitution of the support mechanism and the vibration mechanism comprising the support plate 26 and the piezoelectric element 27 can be simplified. At the same time, the power consumption required to generate vibration can be reduced. As a result, the cost can be reduced. On the other hand, when hard rubber or the like is used, the blade tip 14 can be made of the same kind of material system, so that the replaced used blade tip 14 does not require material separation, and high material recyclability and discardability are obtained. It is done.

  In each embodiment, an example is given in which the developer on the image carrier drum 2 that is a photosensitive member is removed. However, it is obvious that the present invention is not limited to this range. That is, of course, the configuration of each of the above embodiments may be employed in a cleaning device such as a charging roller, a transfer roller, or an intermediate transfer belt included in the image forming apparatus.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus equipped with a cleaning device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows this 1st Embodiment and shows the whole structure of a cleaning apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows this 1st Embodiment and shows the outline of a blade chip | tip. It is sectional drawing which shows 2nd Embodiment of this invention and shows the outline of a cleaning apparatus. It is a graph which shows this 2nd Embodiment and shows the relationship between the protrusion amount L from the support plate of a blade material, and cleaning property. It is sectional drawing which shows 3rd Embodiment of this invention and shows the outline of a cleaning apparatus. FIG. 10 is a graph showing the third embodiment and showing a change in rotational torque of the image carrier drum when the blade material is excited or not. It is sectional drawing which shows 4th Embodiment of this invention and shows the outline of a cleaning apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows 5th Embodiment of this invention and shows the outline of a cleaning apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows 6th Embodiment of this invention and shows the outline of a cleaning apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows 7th Embodiment of this invention and shows the blade chip | tip and diaphragm of a cleaning apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows 8th Embodiment of this invention and shows the outline of a cleaning apparatus. It is the schematic which shows 9th Embodiment of this invention and shows a cartridge. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus including a plurality of cartridges according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Image carrier drum (image carrier)
3 Charging device 5 Developing device 6 Transfer device 7, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 60 Cleaning device 10 Fixing device 12, 22, 32 Blade material (plate-like rubber member)
13 Reinforcing plate 14, 21, 31, 51 Blade chip 15 Support plate 16 Holder 26, 41, 46 Support plate 27 Piezoelectric element 47 Notch 52 Synthetic resin material (different member)
60, 60A to 60D Engine cartridge 70 Color image forming apparatus A part One blade edge B part The other blade edge L Projection amount

Claims (8)

It has a substantially long plate-shaped rubber member that dams up the developer, and the plate rubber member is aligned with both ends in the short direction, and the plate-shaped rubber member and the reinforcing plate having the same length and width are integrated. A blade chip that is joined; a support plate that supports the blade chip; and a holder that presses the blade chip against the support plate .
A piezoelectric element is bonded to the support plate, and when a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element, vibration from the piezoelectric element is propagated to the plate-like rubber member via the support plate. and,
The plate-like rubber member is made of synthetic rubber, and the reinforcing plate is made of metal,
A cleaning device, wherein a dissimilar member having a specific acoustic resistance value intermediate between these members is interposed between the plate-like rubber member and the reinforcing plate.   The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein a corner portion of the plate-like rubber member to which the reinforcing plate is not joined has a straightness over the entire longitudinal direction.   The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a part or the whole of the plate-like rubber member is subjected to a surface treatment for reducing friction.   The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the support plate is configured to rotatably support a support shaft provided on the support plate as a fulcrum. The cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the support plate to which the piezoelectric element is bonded is formed of a metal member having a thickness smaller than any of the thickness of the plate-like rubber member and the reinforcing plate. An image forming apparatus characterized in that comprises a cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Cleaning apparatus, the image bearing member according to any one of claims 1 to 5, means for charging the image bearing member, characterized in that it has a developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on an image bearing member with a developer Process cartridge. An image forming apparatus comprising a plurality of process cartridges according to claim 7 .

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