JP5064178B2 - Cleaning device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a cleaning device and an image forming apparatus having a mechanism for cleaning a transfer member.

  As a conventional intermediate transfer type image forming apparatus, for example, a photosensitive drum on which a toner image corresponding to an electrostatic replacement image is formed, and an intermediate transfer belt on which the toner image on the photosensitive drum is transferred intermediately, In addition, there is known a device including a secondary transfer device that collectively transfers a toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt onto a sheet. The toner image formed on the image carrier is primarily transferred to an intermediate transfer belt and then secondarily transferred onto a recording medium to obtain a color image. After the secondary transfer, the toner image remaining on the intermediate transfer belt or the photoreceptor is cleaned by a cleaning device. In the image forming apparatus having no intermediate transfer belt, the toner image formed on the photosensitive member is directly transferred onto the recording medium. Also in this case, the toner image remaining on the photoreceptor is cleaned by the cleaning device.

  Known cleaning devices include a method of physically scraping off toner with a cleaning blade and a method of electrostatically removing residual toner using a brush roller. Further, it is indispensable to replace the cleaning device at a predetermined maintenance interval. Generally, since the cleaning device is used in contact with the intermediate transfer belt, the cleaning device has an opening at a contact portion with the belt. For this reason, when the cleaning device is replaced, waste toner remaining in the cleaning device may spill out from the opening.

In view of this, there has been proposed a cleaning device that prevents leakage of residual toner by closing the opening as much as possible when replacing the cleaning device, and has high unit exchangeability (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Such a cleaning device includes a cleaning blade disposed in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member, a lubricant application device that applies a solid lubricant to the surface of the intermediate transfer member, and a conveying device that collects the removed residual toner or collects the toner. And a recovery container, and has a mechanism for closing an opening that is in contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer member when detaching from the surface of the intermediate transfer member. Since the cleaning device is applied to the side of the roller on which the intermediate transfer belt is stretched, the waste toner removed from the intermediate transfer belt by the cleaning blade naturally falls due to gravity, and the waste toner does not leak from the cleaning device. Hard to happen.
JP 2006-30417 A

  However, depending on the apparatus, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, there is a configuration in which a cleaning device is disposed above the intermediate transfer member 1. In the figure, reference numeral 2 is a cleaning device case, 3 is a waste toner conveying screw drive gear, 4 is a waste toner collecting duct, 5 is a waste toner conveying screw, 6 is a cleaning blade, 8 is a cleaning counter roller, 9 is a cleaner inlet seal, Reference numeral 14 denotes residual waste toner. In the case where the cleaning device is arranged on the upper portion of the intermediate transfer member 1 as shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, all the waste toner removed from the intermediate transfer member 1 by the cleaning blade 6 is conveyed by the conveying screw. The waste toner remains in a space sandwiched between the waste toner conveying screw 5, the intermediate transfer member 1, and the container inner wall of the cleaning device. When the residual waste toner 14 accumulates in the space and moves upstream in the transport direction of the waste toner transport screw 5, the waste toner leaks from the end gap of the cleaning device and flows out onto the intermediate transfer member 1 and onto the print medium. This causes a problem that waste toner stains occur.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that waste toner collected by a cleaning device is prevented from leaking.

The invention according to claim 1 is a cleaning device that collects residual toner on a transfer body by a blade member that is in contact with the transfer body and transports the toner to a waste toner collection container by a waste toner transport screw, the waste toner A waste toner leakage prevention member is provided at an upstream portion in the direction of the collection container , and the waste toner leakage prevention member is an impeller mounted so as to be freely rotatable with respect to the cleaning device casing, with the waste toner conveying screw orthogonal to the rotation axis. The cleaning device is configured to rotate by meshing with a screw structure provided on the upstream coaxial axis of the waste toner transport screw and in a phase opposite to the waste toner transport direction .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the first aspect, the waste toner leakage preventing member is provided coaxially with the waste toner conveying screw.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the first or second aspect, the waste toner leakage preventing member has an outer diameter larger than that of the waste toner conveying screw.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the blade member provided in the waste toner leakage preventing member is highly flexible and deforms along the shape of the contact target. It is characterized by that.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the waste toner leakage preventing member includes a plurality of blade-shaped members arranged on the same axis as the waste toner conveying screw. It is a structure arranged in the form of a helical tooth that conveys waste toner in the same direction as the waste toner conveyance screw.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the waste toner leakage preventing member has a brush-like configuration in which a fiber material is disposed coaxially with the waste toner conveying screw. It is characterized by being.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the waste toner leakage preventing member has a highly flexible plate-like blade member coaxial with the waste toner conveying screw. It is the structure arrange | positioned in.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising the cleaning device according to any one of the first to seventh aspects.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the waste toner collected by the cleaning device from leaking , and to further increase the waste toner conveyance capability of the additional waste toner leakage prevention mechanism, so that more waste is discharged into the cleaning device. It can cope with toner inflow .

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention, and thus various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention is particularly limited in the following description. As long as there is no description which limits, it is not restricted to these aspects.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 10 including a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although the image forming apparatus 10 includes the intermediate transfer belt 1 and the cleaning apparatus 11 cleans the intermediate transfer belt 1, the present invention is not limited to this, and an image having a configuration that does not include the intermediate transfer belt 1. It can also correspond to a cleaning device in the forming apparatus.

  The outline of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described below. The exposure unit 12 performs optical writing on the four image forming units 13, 14, 15, and 16. Each of the image forming units 13 to 16 forms a color toner image on the transfer belt 1 in contact with each image forming unit by the primary transfer rollers 18 to 21 of the transfer belt unit 17. The transfer belt 1 is stretched by a driving roller 23 and a tension roller 22. Further, it is driven by the driving roller 23 to move the toner image to the secondary transfer roller position. The transfer paper loaded on the paper feed cassette 24 is fed by the paper feed roller 25, passes through the registration roller 26, and the toner image is transferred to the transfer paper by the secondary transfer roller 27. Thereafter, the image is fixed as an image on the transfer paper by the fixing unit 28 and discharged by the paper discharge roller 29 to become an output image of the image forming apparatus. Further, the transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 1 is removed from the belt by the cleaning device 11 and accumulated in the waste toner collection box 30.

  Next, a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, means for transferring a toner image, such as a photosensitive member, an intermediate transfer member, or a transfer belt, is generally called a transfer member.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cleaning device case 2 provided on the upper portion of the intermediate transfer member 1 flows into the cleaning device 6 through the intermediate transfer member 1, which is in contact with the cleaning counter roller 8. A cleaner inlet seal 9 is fixed to prevent the waste toner from overflowing. Further, a waste toner transport screw 5 that transports waste toner that has flowed into the cleaning device to a waste toner collection bottle is rotatably attached to the cleaning device case 2 and is driven by a waste toner transport screw drive gear 3.

  A helical impeller-like toner leakage prevention member 7 is attached on the same axis upstream of the waste toner conveying screw 5 and rotates together with the waste toner conveying screw 5. A plurality of PET blade members are arranged in a helical shape on the helical impeller-like toner leakage prevention member 7 and conveys waste toner in the same direction as the waste toner conveyance screw 5. Since the outer diameter of the helical impeller-like toner leakage prevention member 7 is larger than that of the waste toner conveying screw 5 and the blade member is flexible, the intermediate transfer body 1, the inner wall of the cleaning device case 2, the cleaning blade 6. When contacting the cleaner inlet seal 9, it is freely deformed along the shape of the contact object. As a result, the waste toner remaining in the upstream gap in the cleaning device case 2 is pushed back downstream in the conveying direction, and the waste toner remaining in the clearance at the upstream end of the cleaning device can be prevented from leaking.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the residual toner that has moved upstream in the transport direction is pushed back downstream by the waste toner leakage prevention member, thereby preventing end leakage of the waste toner.

  Further, since the drive source of the additional waste toner leakage preventing member is shared with the existing conveying screw, it is possible to prevent the end leakage of the waste toner with only a minimal increase in the component cost.

  Further, it is possible to prevent leakage of residual toner on the surface of the intermediate transfer body and the vicinity of the inner wall of the cleaner device, which is outside the transportable area of the existing transport screw.

  Further, even if the spatial distance between the existing conveying screw and the cleaning device inner wall varies in the circumferential direction, residual toner leakage in the entire circumferential direction can be prevented.

  Moreover, an auxiliary conveyance mechanism can be added without adding complicated screw-shaped mold parts.

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a brush-like toner leakage preventing member 10 is attached upstream of the waste toner transport screw 5 in the transport direction, and rotates together with the waste toner transport screw 5. The brush-like toner leakage prevention member 10 is attached with a freely deformable fiber material, and by preventing waste toner from entering the upstream of the waste toner conveying screw 5, waste toner leaks from the gap at the upstream end of the cleaning device. Can be prevented.

  According to the above embodiment, waste toner can be prevented from flowing into the upstream end portion of the cleaning device, and end portion leakage can be prevented.

  Furthermore, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, an impeller-like toner leakage prevention machine member 11 is attached upstream of the waste toner transport screw 5 in the transport direction, and rotates together with the waste toner transport screw 5. The impeller-like toner leakage prevention machine member 11 is provided with a highly flexible member, for example, a plate-like blade member of urethane or felt, and prevents waste toner from entering upstream of the waste toner conveying screw 5. It is possible to prevent waste toner from leaking from the gap at the upstream end of the cleaning device.

  Furthermore, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, a worm wheel in which the waste toner conveyance screw 5 and the rotation axis are orthogonal to each other in the conveyance direction upstream of the waste toner conveyance screw 5 and is freely attached to the cleaning device case 2. A waste toner leakage preventing member 13 is disposed. The worm wheel-shaped waste toner leakage prevention member 13 meshes with a worm-shaped toner leakage prevention mechanism drive unit 12 having a screw shape provided on the upstream axis in the conveyance direction of the waste toner conveyance screw 5 and in a phase opposite to the waste toner conveyance direction. , And the waste toner remaining in the upstream gap in the cleaning device case 2 is pushed back downstream in the transport direction to prevent the residual waste toner from leaking from the clearance at the upstream end of the cleaning device.

  According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to increase the waste toner conveyance capability of the additional waste toner leakage prevention mechanism, and it is possible to cope with more waste toner inflow into the cleaning device.

  Further, even if the spatial distance between the existing conveying screw and the cleaning device inner wall varies in the circumferential direction, residual toner leakage in the entire circumferential direction can be prevented.

  The present invention is not limited to a cleaning device that cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer belt, but can also be applied to a cleaning device for a photosensitive belt or a conveyance belt that conveys transfer paper.

  Although the present invention has been specifically described above based on the preferred embodiments, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described ones and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

1 is an overall schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus including a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the cleaning device concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the cleaning apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the cleaning device concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the cleaning apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the cleaning device concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the cleaning apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the cleaning device concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the structural example of the conventional cleaning apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the structural example of the conventional cleaning apparatus. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a residual state of waste toner in a conventional cleaning device. It is a figure for demonstrating the waste toner leakage from the upstream edge part in the conventional cleaning apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 Intermediate transfer member (belt)
2 Cleaning device case 3 Waste toner conveying screw drive gear 4 Waste toner collecting duct 5 Waste toner conveying screw 6 Cleaning blade 7 Helical impeller wheel waste toner leakage prevention member 8 Cleaning counter roller 9 Cleaner inlet seal 10 Brushed waste toner leakage Prevention member 11 Impeller waste toner leakage prevention member 12 Warm toner leakage prevention mechanism drive unit 13 Warm wheel waste toner leakage prevention member 14 Residual waste toner

Claims (8)

A cleaning device that collects residual toner on a transfer body with a blade member in contact with the transfer body and transports it to a waste toner collection container with a waste toner transport screw,
A waste toner leakage prevention member is provided in the upstream portion in the direction of the waste toner collection container ,
The waste toner leakage preventing member is an impeller whose rotation axis is orthogonal to the waste toner conveying screw and is freely attached to the cleaning device casing, and is disposed on the upstream coaxial line of the waste toner conveying screw. A cleaning device that rotates by meshing with a screw structure provided in a phase opposite to a conveying direction .   The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waste toner leakage preventing member is provided coaxially with the waste toner conveying screw.   The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the waste toner leakage preventing member has an outer diameter larger than that of the waste toner conveying screw.   4. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the blade member included in the waste toner leakage preventing member has high flexibility and is deformed along a shape of a contact target. 5.   The waste toner leakage preventing member has a configuration in which a plurality of blade-shaped members are arranged in a helical shape on the same axis as the waste toner conveying screw, and the waste toner is conveyed in the same direction as the waste toner conveying screw. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning device has a tooth configuration.   4. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the waste toner leakage preventing member has a brush-like configuration in which a fiber material is disposed coaxially with the waste toner conveying screw. 5.   4. The cleaning according to claim 1, wherein the waste toner leakage preventing member has a configuration in which a highly flexible plate-like blade member is disposed on the same axis of the waste toner conveying screw. 5. apparatus. An image forming apparatus comprising: a cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 7.

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