JP5736843B2 - Lubricant supply apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lubricant supply device that supplies a lubricant onto an image carrier, and an image forming apparatus that includes the lubricant supply device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and a composite machine in which these are combined, a toner image is formed on an image carrier such as a photosensitive member or an intermediate transfer member. After the toner image is transferred onto the paper, the paper holding the toner image is fixed by fixing means. After fixing, the paper on which the image is formed is discharged from the image forming apparatus.

  After the toner image formed on the image carrier is transferred to a sheet, transfer residual toner is generated on the image carrier. For this reason, this transfer residual toner is cleaned using a cleaning blade or the like.

  In order to improve the cleaning performance and transfer performance of the cleaning blade, and to reduce the wear of the surface of the image carrier and the blade, a technique for supplying and applying a lubricant on the image carrier is known.

  In the application of the lubricant, when uneven application occurs and the application becomes uneven, a difference in the width of wear of the cleaning blade is caused locally, so that cleaning failure is liable to occur and durability is lowered. For this reason, in applying the lubricant, it is required to apply the lubricant uniformly on the surface of the image carrier. Moreover, since there will be a problem of accelerating the wear of the cleaning blade if the amount of lubricant applied is too large, it is required to apply uniformly and thinly.

  As a method for uniformly applying the lubricant, it is known that the lubricant is powdered and supplied to the surface of the image carrier.

  In this method, a brush-like rotating member (brush) carrying a lubricant (lubricant) is disposed at a position facing the image carrier in a non-contact manner and at a position where the carried lubricant does not naturally fall on the image carrier. In addition, it is disclosed that an electric field is formed between the brush and the image carrier, and that lubricant particles are conveyed to the image carrier using electrostatic force by applying an electric charge to the lubricant (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

JP 2007-310336 A

  In Patent Document 1, the lubricant particles are charged, an electric field is formed between the brush and the image carrier, and the lubricant particles are conveyed and adhered to the image carrier using electrostatic force. However, when an electric field is formed only by a DC bias, the lubricant particles having a charge are more susceptible to the electric field as the large-diameter particles, and the electric field is formed in a direction in which the lubricant particles are conveyed to the image carrier such as a brush. The larger the particle diameter, the easier it is to adhere to the image carrier.

  Here, as described above, it is important to apply the lubricant thinly and uniformly on the surface of the image bearing member in order to reduce the wear of the cleaning blade and the reduction of the cleaning failure caused thereby. Thus, in order to apply the lubricant thinly and uniformly, it is more effective that the powdery lubricant supplied to the image carrier has a smaller particle size.

  However, as described above, in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to selectively attach small-diameter lubricant particles to the image carrier. In addition, since the amount of lubricant scraping varies partially depending on the degree of contamination due to brush toner adhesion, uniform application of the lubricant is difficult.

  In Patent Document 1, an AC bias can be applied. However, particles having a weak non-electrostatic adhesion force such as toner can selectively attach small-diameter particles to the image carrier, but lubricant particles have a relatively high viscosity and are non-electrostatically attached. Since the adhesion force is often large, it is difficult to selectively adhere the small-diameter lubricant particles to the image carrier even when the AC bias is applied in this way.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a lubricant supply device that can apply a lubricant thinly and uniformly on the surface of an image carrier, and an image forming apparatus including the lubricant supply device. And

  The above object is achieved by the following configuration.

1. Wherein the image bearing member, a lubricant, a lubricant supply member carrying said lubricant with facing in a non-contact with respect to the image carrier, the lubricant carried in contact said lubricant supplying member to said lubricant supplying member has a contact member of flying the image carrier direction, and a leveling member for leveling the lubricant was in contact adhere to the image carrier,
Before SL abutment member is a rotating direction upstream side of the image bearing member contact position between the lubricant supply member relative to the counter position between the image bearing member and the lubricant supplying member, and the image bearing member in the space formed by the leveling member and the lubricant supplying member, reach of the lubricant to fly to the image bearing member direction, the lubricant as the particle size that is smaller increase distribution of the lubricant occurs by ejecting, and lubricant supply system, characterized in that the lubricant under a predetermined grain diameter or less obtained by flying a predetermined distance or more is disposed in a position to adhere to the image bearing member.

2. The lubricant supply device according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant supply member is disposed below the image carrier .

3 . 3. The lubricant supply device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the contact portion of the leveling member that contacts the image carrier is made of an elastic member.

4). An image carrier, a lubricant, a lubricant supply member that faces the image carrier in a non-contact manner and supports the lubricant, and a lubricant that contacts the lubricant supply member and is carried on the lubricant supply member. An abutting member that flies in the direction of the image carrier, and a leveling member that smoothes the lubricant that abuts against and adheres to the image carrier,
The contact member has a distribution in which an arrival distance of the lubricant flying in the direction of the image carrier becomes longer as a particle size of the lubricant is smaller, and is less than a predetermined particle size flying more than a predetermined distance. The lubricant is disposed at a position where it adheres to the image carrier,
An electric field is formed between the contact member and the image carrier so that the lubricant receives a force in a direction opposite to a direction in which the contact member causes the lubricant to fly to the image carrier. It is that smooth agent supply device.

5 . 5. An image forming apparatus comprising the lubricant supply device according to any one of 1 to 4 above.

  As described above, the lubricant can be thinly and uniformly applied to the surface of the image carrier. As a result, the durability of the cleaning blade can be improved, and the suppression of image deterioration due to wear of the cleaning blade can be improved.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the photosensitive drum according to the first exemplary embodiment. It is a schematic diagram showing the flight of the lubricant. 4 is a graph showing the particle size distribution of a lubricant attached to the photosensitive drum of Example 1. It is a figure which shows the evaluation result of Example 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a photosensitive drum according to a second exemplary embodiment. 6 is a graph showing the particle size distribution of a lubricant adhering to the photosensitive drum of Example 2. It is a figure which shows the evaluation result of Example 2.

  Embodiments relating to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but are not limited thereto.

  First, an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

  The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body GH and an image reading apparatus YS. The image forming apparatus main body GH is called a tandem type color image forming apparatus, and includes a plurality of sets of image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K, a belt-like intermediate transfer belt 5, a sheet feeding / conveying means and a fixing device 8. A reverse discharge unit 600, an ADU (Auto Duplex Unit) 700 that performs reverse conveyance, and the like are included.

  Moreover, it has control part AS which controls each part.

  An image reading device YS including an automatic document feeder 201 and a document image scanning exposure device 202 is installed on the upper part of the image forming apparatus main body GH. The document d placed on the document table of the automatic document feeder 201 is transported by a transport unit, and one or both images of the document are scanned and exposed by the optical system of the document image scanning exposure device 202 and read into the line image sensor CCD. It is.

  The signal formed by photoelectric conversion by the line image sensor CCD is subjected to analog processing, A / D conversion, shading correction, image compression processing, and the like in the image processing unit, and then the exposure units 3Y, 3M, 3C, 3K. Sent to.

  An image forming unit 10Y that forms a yellow (Y) image has a charging unit 2Y, an exposure unit 3Y, a developing unit 4Y, a cleaning unit 7Y, and a lubricant supply device 90Y arranged around a photosensitive drum 1Y that is an image carrier. Is done. The image forming unit 10M that forms a magenta (M) color image includes a charging unit 2M, an exposure unit 3M, a developing unit 4M, a cleaning unit 7M, and a lubricant supply device 90M around a photosensitive drum 1M that is an image carrier. Is done. An image forming unit 10C for forming a cyan (C) color image includes a charging unit 2C, an exposure unit 3C, a developing unit 4C, a cleaning unit 7C, and a lubricant supply device 90C around a photosensitive drum 1C as an image carrier. Is done. The image forming unit 10K that forms a black (K) color image includes a charging unit 2K, an exposure unit 3K, a developing unit 4K, a cleaning unit 7K, and a lubricant supply device 90K around a photosensitive drum 1K that is an image carrier. Is done. The charging unit 2Y and the exposure unit 3Y, the charging unit 2M and the exposure unit 3M, the charging unit 2C and the exposure unit 3C, and the charging unit 2K and the exposure unit 3K constitute a latent image forming unit.

  The developing units 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K contain a two-component developer composed of a toner having a small particle diameter of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) and a carrier. The toner is composed of a pigment or dye serving as a color former, a wax that helps the toner peel from the fixing member after fixing, and a binder resin that holds these.

  The intermediate transfer belt 5 is wound around a plurality of rollers and is rotatably supported.

  The fixing device 8 heats and presses the toner image on the paper P at a nip portion formed between a fixing belt 81 as a heated fixing member and a pressure roller 83 as a pressure member to fix the toner image.

  Thus, each color image formed by the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K is sequentially transferred to the rotating intermediate transfer belt 5 by the transfer means 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K (primary transfer), and color. A combined toner image is formed.

  After the toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 5, the remaining transfer toner is cleaned (cleaned) in the respective photosensitive drums (1Y, 1M, 1C, 1K) by the respective cleaning portions (7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K). Is called.

  The cleaning units (7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K) are each provided with a cleaning blade 71 that contacts the photosensitive drums (1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K) and scrapes off the adhered toner. As the cleaning blade 71, a resin such as nylon, polyester, or acrylic is preferably used.

  The paper P accommodated in the paper feed cassette 20 is fed by the paper feed means 21 and conveyed to the transfer means 6A through the paper feed rollers 22A, 22B, 22C, the loop forming roller 22D, the registration roller 23, and the like. A color image is transferred to the paper P (secondary transfer).

  The loop forming roller 22 </ b> D and the registration roller 23 perform skew correction and misalignment correction of the paper P.

  The sheet P on which the color image has been transferred is heated and pressurized by the fixing device 8 and the color toner image on the sheet P is fixed. Thereafter, the paper is nipped and conveyed by the paper discharge roller 24 and placed on a paper discharge tray 25 outside the apparatus.

  Further, by switching the position of the path switching member 601 of the reverse paper discharge unit 600, it is possible to discharge the paper P by reversing the first side and the second side.

  For example, in the reverse discharge of the paper P, the position of the path switching member 601 is switched so that the paper P is guided downward along the right side of the path switching member 601, and the paper P is conveyed in the direction of the roller pair 602. . Next, after the rear end is nipped by the roller pair 602, the roller pair 602 is rotated in the reverse direction to raise the paper P. Thereafter, the sheet P passes through the left side of the path switching member 601, reaches the sheet discharge roller 24, is nipped and conveyed by the sheet discharge roller 24, and is placed on the sheet discharge tray 25 outside the apparatus.

  In the double-sided print mode using the ADU 700, the sheet P after the fixing process on which the image is formed on the first side is guided downward along the right side of the path switching member 601, and the rear end of the sheet P is set to the roller pair. The conveyance is stopped in a state of being sandwiched by 605.

  Next, the roller pair 605 is rotated in the reverse direction, is raised along the guide plate G1, and is guided to the ADU 700 having a plurality of roller pairs 701, 703, 705, and the paper P is reversed.

  On the other hand, after the color image is transferred to the paper P by the transfer unit 6A, the residual toner is removed by the cleaning unit 7A from the intermediate transfer belt 5 from which the paper P is curved and peeled.

  The image forming apparatus for forming a color image has been described above. However, an image forming apparatus for forming a monochrome image may be used, or an intermediate transfer belt may or may not be used.

  The fixing device 8 may be a heat roller fixing method using a roller having a fixing member provided with heating means.

  Here, as described above, after transferring the toner image to the intermediate transfer belt 5, the photosensitive drum 1Y is cleaned (cleaned) by the cleaning blade 71 of the cleaning unit 7Y to remove the transfer residual toner. Is done.

  In order to improve the cleaning performance and transfer performance by the cleaning blade 71 and reduce the wear of the surface of the photosensitive drum 1Y and the cleaning blade 71, a lubricant is supplied onto the photosensitive drum 1Y for application.

  The supply and application of the lubricant are performed using a lubricant supply device 90Y.

  Next, the lubricant supply device (90Y, 90M, 90C, 90K) for supplying and applying the lubricant will be described. Since all the lubricant supply devices have the same configuration, the lubricant supply device 90Y disposed in the image forming unit 10Y will be described as an example.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the lubricant supply device 90Y and the photosensitive drum 1Y.

  The lubricant supply device 90Y is disposed downstream of the cleaning unit 7Y and upstream of the charging unit 2Y in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1Y.

  The lubricant supply device 90Y includes a brush 91 that is rotatably supported as a lubricant supply member, a flicker 92 that is a contact member that contacts the brush 91, and a leveling blade 95 that is a leveling member that contacts the photosensitive drum 1Y. And a solid lubricant 93, a spring 94 that presses the solid lubricant 93 against the brush 91, and the like.

  The brush 91 is rotatably provided at a position facing the photosensitive drum 1Y in a non-contact manner. Fiber brush bristles are provided around the brush 91. For the bristle, a material having flexibility and conductivity, for example, a conductive fiber obtained by mixing a resin and a conductivity-imparting agent such as carbon is used. As an example of this conductive fiber, an acrylic carbon fiber is mentioned, for example.

  A solid lubricant 93 is pressed against and in contact with the brush 91 by a spring 94. When the brush 91 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 by driving means (not shown), the solid lubricant 93 is scraped off to obtain a powdery lubricant. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, the lubricant refers to this powdery lubricant. This lubricant adheres to the surface of the bristle and is carried on the brush 91.

  The flicker 92 is disposed on the upstream side of the position where the brush 91 and the photosensitive drum 1 </ b> Y face each other in the rotation direction of the brush 91 and on the downstream side of the contact position of the solid lubricant 93. The flicker 92 is a plate-like member and is arranged so as to bite into the brush hair toward the rotation center of the brush 91.

  With such a configuration, the brush bristles of the brush 91 are flexibly restored (standing) at the same time as they slip through the position of the flicker 92 after being bent toward the upstream side in the rotation direction of the brush 91 at the position of the flicker 92. . When the brush hair is restored, a force for flying the lubricant carried on the brush 91 is generated. As a result, the lubricant carried on the brush 91 flies and the space between the brush 91 and the photosensitive drum 1Y is filled with the powdery lubricant. This powdery lubricant is supplied onto the photosensitive drum 1Y.

  The leveling blade 95 is supplied onto the photosensitive drum 1Y and leveles and thins the adhered lubricant. Thereby, the lubricant is applied to the photosensitive drum 1Y. Examples of the material of the leveling blade 95 include polyurethane rubber, silicone rubber, nitrile rubber, and chloroprene rubber.

  In the application of this lubricant, if uneven application occurs and the application becomes non-uniform, a difference in the width of wear of the cleaning blade is locally caused and cleaning failure is likely to occur, resulting in a decrease in durability. A cleaning defect causes image defects such as image streaks. For this reason, in applying the lubricant, it is required to apply the lubricant uniformly on the surface of the image carrier. Further, if the amount of the lubricant applied is too large, unevenness is likely to occur on the surface of the lubricant, which causes a problem of promoting the wear of the cleaning blade. Therefore, it is required to apply uniformly and thinly.

  However, the lubricant in which the brush 91 scrapes and supports the solid lubricant 93 often varies in the size (particle size) of the individual particles.

  Here, in this description, the particle diameter means the maximum diameter of individual particles of the lubricant.

  Since the particle size of the lubricant varies in this way, when the lubricant having a large particle size and a small particle size are mixed and adhere to the photosensitive drum 1Y, the unevenness of the adhering lubricant layer becomes large, and even if the leveling blade 95 is used, it is uniform. It was difficult to form a thin lubricant coating layer.

  In order to reduce this unevenness and form a uniform and thin lubricant coating layer, it is preferable to supply only the lubricant having a predetermined particle size or less to the photosensitive drum 1Y and adhere it.

  For this reason, in the lubricant supply device 90Y of the present invention, the flicker 92 has a shorter reach distance of the lubricant flying in the direction of the photosensitive drum 1Y due to the influence of gravity than the lubricant having a large particle diameter. In other words, the distribution is different depending on the particle size of the lubricant.

  Further, only the lubricant having a predetermined particle diameter or less is disposed at a position where it reaches and adheres to the photosensitive drum 1Y. That is, when the brush bristles move away from the flicker 92, the lubricant exceeding the predetermined particle size flies and reaches by the energy of the force applied to the lubricant, and the position of the flicker 92 and the photosensitive drum 1Y is higher than the position in the photosensitive drum 1Y direction. It arrange | positions so that the distance L1 (refer FIG. 2) may become long.

  Further, the brush 91 is disposed at a position where the carried lubricant does not fall on the photosensitive drum 1Y even if it naturally falls.

In this embodiment, it is arranged brushes 91 and flicker 92 in a substantially right under the photoreceptor drum 1Y. Thereby, the arrival and adhesion of the lubricant exceeding the predetermined particle diameter to the photosensitive drum 1Y can be suppressed. However, a negligible amount of lubricant exceeding a predetermined particle size may adhere.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the flight of the lubricant. The broken line in the figure represents the flight distance of the lubricant, which varies depending on the particle size. As described above, the brush 91 and the flicker 92 are arranged so that only the lubricant having a predetermined particle diameter or less reaches and adheres to the photosensitive drum 1Y.

  The lubricant adhering to the photosensitive drum 1Y is further leveled by a leveling blade 95 to form a thin layer. In this way, the lubricant is supplied and applied.

  The predetermined particle size is determined by the film thickness of the lubricant formed on the photosensitive drum 1Y, the leveling of the lubricant adhering to the photosensitive drum 1Y by the leveling blade 95, and the cleaning blade 71 set according to the specifications of the model. In consideration of the replacement time, etc., it is estimated based on experiments with actual existing lubricant supply devices and actual data, and further set by experiments with actual machines.

  As described above, the photosensitive drum 1Y, the brush 91, and the flicker 92 are disposed so that only the lubricant having a predetermined particle size or less adheres to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1Y, thereby thinly and uniformly on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1Y. It is possible to apply a lubricant to the surface.

  Thereby, the lifetime of the cleaning blade 71 can be extended.

  FIG. 6 is an example (Example 2) in which a bias voltage is applied to the flicker 92 and an electric field is formed between the photosensitive drum 1Y and the flicker 92 with respect to the embodiment (Example 1) shown in FIG. In the second embodiment, this bias voltage is set to -200V.

  Here, in Example 2, the bias voltage is set so that the lubricant flying by the flicker 92 receives a force in the direction opposite to the photosensitive drum 1Y (downward in FIG. 6). Therefore, the lubricant flying by the flicker 92 has a shorter distance to fly in the direction of the photosensitive drum 1Y than the first embodiment due to the influence of the bias voltage in addition to the influence of the gravity.

  In such a case, the powdery lubricant is more susceptible to the influence of bias voltage application when its particle size is larger. For this reason, the larger the particle size lubricant, the greater the extent to which the reach distance becomes shorter than the reach distance in Example 1 compared to the small particle size lubricant. That is, the larger the particle size, the shorter the reach.

  Therefore, compared with the first embodiment, even if the distance between the brush 91 and the photosensitive drum 1Y is reduced, it is possible to suppress the lubricant exceeding the predetermined particle size from reaching and adhering to the photosensitive drum 1Y. In addition, the powdery lubricant can be filled more in the space between the brush 91 and the photosensitive drum 1Y than in the first embodiment.

  As a result, the lubricant can be applied thinly and uniformly on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1Y. Further, in the second embodiment, the life of the cleaning blade 71 and the space saving of the apparatus can be further improved as compared with the first embodiment.

  Next, evaluation in Examples 1 and 2 will be described.

  The predetermined particle size of the lubricant in the model was estimated and set to about 25 to 26 μm based on the model specifications, experiments with similar existing lubricant supply devices, and actual data as described above.

<Example 1>
In the image forming apparatus provided with the lubricant supply device 90 (Y, M, C, K) shown in FIG. 2, the lubricant is applied to the photosensitive drum 1 (Y, M, C, K), printing is performed, and the cleaning blade The durability of 71 was evaluated.
<Evaluation specifications>
・ Process speed: 315mm / s
-Two-component development method-Developer: Carrier average particle size 33 μm, toner average particle size 6.5 μm
Lubricant: Material ZnSt (solid zinc stearate), size: 8 mm x 8 mm x 330 mm
Photoconductor drum: outer diameter φ60 mm, photoconductor film thickness 30 μm
・ Brush: Outer diameter φ12mm,
Brush hair material Acrylic carbon
Brush diameter 3 denier
Brush hair density 150,000 / inch ² (= 150kF / inch ² )
Brush hair length 2.75mm
Flicker bite amount 1.0mm
Brush surface speed 126mm / s
・ Flicker: Material SUS
・ Lubricant pressing force: 0.64N
・ Brush arrangement ... directly under the photoconductor <Evaluation method>
The distance L1 (see FIG. 2) between the flicker 92 and the photosensitive drum 1Y was changed, and the number of prints until an image streak occurred due to a cleaning failure was evaluated.

  As Example 1-1, the distance L1 = 10 mm was set so that the lubricant exceeding the predetermined particle size of 26 μm set in Example 1 did not reach the photosensitive drum 1Y.

  As Example 1-2 and Comparative Example 1-2, the distance L1 of Example 1-1 was set to be sequentially longer, and the adhesion of lubricants having a predetermined particle size or less was also decreased sequentially. In Example 1-2, the distance L1 = 25 mm, and in Comparative Example 1-2, the distance L1 = 30 mm.

As Comparative Example 1-1, the distance L1 = 5 mm was set so that the lubricant exceeding the predetermined particle diameter could reach the photosensitive drum 1Y.
<result>
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the particle size distribution of the lubricant adhered to the photosensitive drum 1Y. 4A shows Comparative Example 1-1 (L = 5 mm), FIG. 4B shows Example 1-1 (L = 10 mm), and FIG. 4C shows Example 1-2 (L = 25 mm). FIG. 4D is Comparative Example 1-2 (L = 30 mm). The particle size of the lubricant was aggregated every 2 μm.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the evaluation results.

  In Examples 1-1 and 1-2, image streaks due to poor cleaning were not generated up to 800,000 prints. When the wear width of the cleaning blade 71 was measured when printing 800,000 sheets, the variation in the axial direction of wear was smaller than that of Comparative Example 1-1 and Comparative Example 1-2. This is because a lubricant having a predetermined particle size or less mainly adheres to the photosensitive drum 1Y, and the amount of the adhered lubricant does not cause uneven coating, so that a uniform thin film of lubricant is applied to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1Y. This is because the layer could be formed. As a result, the life of the cleaning blade 71 is extended.

  In Comparative Example 1-1, image streaks due to poor cleaning did not occur until 400,000 sheets were printed, but image streaks were noticeable when 600,000 sheets were printed. Further, printing was continued, and the wear width of the cleaning blade 71 was measured when printing 800,000 sheets. As a result, the variation in the axial direction of wear was larger than in Examples 1-1 and 1-2. As shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, in Comparative Example 1-1, a lot of lubricant having a predetermined particle diameter of 26 μm was adhered to the photosensitive drum 1Y. This is because the lubricant layer adhering to the surface has irregularities larger than those of Examples 1-1 and 1-2, and even if the smoothing blade 95 is used, it is difficult to make the coating layer of the lubricant uniform and thin. Due to the unevenness, the variation in wear of the cleaning blade 71 is increased, and therefore the life is shortened.

  In Comparative Example 1-2, image streaks due to poor cleaning did not occur until 400,000 sheets were printed, but image streaks were noticeable when 600,000 sheets were printed. Further, printing was continued, and the wear width of the cleaning blade 71 was measured when printing 800,000 sheets. As a result, the variation in the axial direction of wear was larger than in Examples 1-1 and 1-2. This is because the lubricant adhering to the photosensitive drum 1Y was mainly smaller than or equal to the predetermined particle diameter, but the distance L1 was increased, so that sufficient adhesion of the lubricant to form a uniform layer of lubricant was found in Example 1-1. It is because it became difficult compared with 1-2. That is, the lubricant layer is thin and the portions where the layer could not be formed vary in thickness, thereby causing unevenness in the lubricant coating layer, increasing the wear variation of the cleaning blade 71, and thus shortening the life. .

  As shown in the above results, the effect of the present invention was confirmed.

<Example 2>
6 is an image forming apparatus provided with the lubricant supply device 90 (Y, M, C, K) shown in FIG. 6. The lubricant is applied to the photosensitive drum 1 (Y, M, C, K), printed, and then cleaned. The durability of 71 was evaluated.

Evaluation specifications and evaluation methods are the same as in Example 1 except for the application of bias voltage.
<Evaluation method>
The distance L1 (see FIG. 6) between the flicker 92 and the photosensitive drum 1Y was changed, and the number of prints until an image streak occurred due to a cleaning failure was evaluated.

  As Example 2-1, the distance L1 = 10 mm was set so that the lubricant exceeding the predetermined particle size of 26 μm set in Example 2 did not reach the photosensitive drum 1Y.

As Comparative Example 2-1, the distance L1 = 5 mm was set so that the lubricant exceeding the predetermined particle diameter reached the photosensitive drum 1Y.
<result>
FIG. 7 is a graph showing the particle size distribution of the lubricant adhering to the photosensitive drum 1Y. FIG. 7A shows Comparative Example 2-1 (L1 = 5 mm), and FIG. 7B shows Example 2-1 (L1 = 10 mm). The particle size of the lubricant was aggregated every 2 μm.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the evaluation results.

  In Example 2-1, image streaks due to poor cleaning were not generated up to 1,200,000 prints. When the wear width of the cleaning blade 71 was measured when printing 1,200,000 sheets, the variation in the axial direction of wear was smaller than that in Comparative Example 2-1. This is because a lubricant having a predetermined particle diameter or less adheres to the photosensitive drum 1Y, and the amount of the adhered lubricant does not cause uneven coating, so that a uniform thin coating layer of lubricant is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1Y. It depends on being able to form. As a result, the life of the cleaning blade 71 is extended.

  As described above, the powdery lubricant can be filled more in the space between the brush 91 and the photosensitive drum 1Y than in the first embodiment. Accordingly, the embodiment 2-1 can form a better uniform coating layer of a lubricant on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1Y as compared with the embodiments 1-1 and 1-2. As a result, the life of the cleaning blade 71 is further extended. Thereby, as shown in FIG.5 and FIG.8, the Example 2 was able to aim at the further improvement compared with Example 1 by the above.

  In Comparative Example 2-1, image streaks due to poor cleaning did not occur until 800,000 sheets were printed, but image streaks were prominently observed when 1,000,000 sheets were printed. Further, printing was continued, and the wear width of the cleaning blade 71 was measured when printing 1,200,000 sheets. As a result, the variation in wear in the axial direction was larger than that in Example 2-1. This is because a large amount of lubricant exceeding the predetermined particle size adhered to the photosensitive drum 1Y, so that the lubricant layer adhered to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1Y had larger irregularities than in Example 2-1, and the leveling blade 95 smoothed out. This is because it is difficult to make the coating layer of the lubricant uniform and thin. Due to the unevenness, the variation in wear of the cleaning blade 71 is increased, and therefore the life is shortened.

  The reason for the difference from Comparative Example 1-1 is the same as in Example 2-1.

  As shown in the above results, the effect of the present invention was confirmed.

GH Image forming apparatus main body YS Image reading apparatus 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1K Photosensitive drum 5 Intermediate transfer belt 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K Cleaning section 71 Cleaning blade 8 Fixing apparatus 10Y, 10M, 10C, 10K Image forming section 90Y, 90M, 90C, 90K Lubricant supply device 91 Brush 92 Flicker 93 Solid lubricant 94 Spring 95 Leveling blade AS Control unit P Paper

Claims (5)

Wherein the image bearing member, a lubricant, a lubricant supply member carrying said lubricant with facing in a non-contact with respect to the image carrier, the lubricant carried in contact said lubricant supplying member to said lubricant supplying member has a contact member of flying the image carrier direction, and a leveling member for leveling the lubricant was in contact adhere to the image carrier,
Before SL abutment member is a rotating direction upstream side of the image bearing member contact position between the lubricant supply member relative to the counter position between the image bearing member and the lubricant supplying member, and the image bearing member in the space formed by the leveling member and the lubricant supplying member, reach of the lubricant to fly to the image bearing member direction, the lubricant as the particle size that is smaller increase distribution of the lubricant occurs by ejecting, and lubricant supply system, characterized in that the lubricant under a predetermined grain diameter or less obtained by flying a predetermined distance or more is disposed in a position to adhere to the image bearing member. The lubricant supply device according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant supply member is disposed below the image carrier .   The lubricant supply device according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion of the leveling member that contacts the image carrier is made of an elastic member. An image carrier, a lubricant, a lubricant supply member that faces the image carrier in a non-contact manner and supports the lubricant, and a lubricant that contacts the lubricant supply member and is carried on the lubricant supply member. An abutting member that flies in the direction of the image carrier, and a leveling member that smoothes the lubricant that abuts against and adheres to the image carrier,
The contact member has a distribution in which an arrival distance of the lubricant flying in the direction of the image carrier becomes longer as a particle size of the lubricant is smaller, and is less than a predetermined particle size flying more than a predetermined distance. The lubricant is disposed at a position where it adheres to the image carrier,
An electric field is formed between the contact member and the image carrier so that the lubricant receives a force in a direction opposite to a direction in which the contact member causes the lubricant to fly to the image carrier. It is that smooth agent supply device.   An image forming apparatus comprising the lubricant supply device according to claim 1.

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