JP6041038B1 - Support member, image carrier, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To change the shape of the groove portion in the axial direction when the outer diameter on the central side in the axial direction becomes larger than the outer diameter on both ends in the axial direction due to variation in the shape of the product, or when the shape of the product varies. As compared with the case, a support member, an image holding body, and an image forming apparatus that can suppress vibration generated in the cylindrical body are obtained. In a support member, an outer diameter of a central portion in the apparatus depth direction is smaller than an outer diameter of a portion on both ends in the apparatus depth direction. Further, the groove 118 is elastically deformed in a state where the support member 116 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108, and at the groove bottom of the groove 118, the thickness of the central portion is made thicker than both ends. The elastic restoring force of the central portion in the apparatus depth direction 118 is made stronger than the elastic restoring force of the both end portions in the groove 118 apparatus depth direction. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a support member, an image carrier, and an image forming apparatus.

  Inside the photosensitive drum of the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, there is disposed a sliding contact member that slidably contacts the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum and presses the inner peripheral surface with a predetermined force. Yes.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-54804

  The slidable contact member (support member) has a C-shaped cross section in which a groove extending in the longitudinal direction (axial direction) is formed, and the longitudinal cross section of the slidable contact member is constant for design purposes. Then, the sliding plate is inserted into the photosensitive drum (cylinder) after the sliding member is bent by elastically deforming the bottom plate of the groove.

  Further, the outer peripheral surface of the sliding contact member presses the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum by the elastic restoring force of the elastically deformed groove. The outer peripheral surface of the sliding contact member presses the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum, so that the vibration of the photosensitive drum is suppressed.

  However, when the shape of the product varies and the outer diameter on the center side in the longitudinal direction becomes larger than the outer diameter on both ends, the inner part of the photosensitive drum at the both ends of the sliding contact member The pressing force that presses the peripheral surface becomes weaker than the pressing force that presses the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum at the central portion of the sliding contact member. For this reason, the attitude | position of a sliding contact member is not stabilized and the effect which suppresses the vibration which arises in a cylinder may fall.

  In addition, when the shape of the product varies and the shape of the groove changes in the longitudinal direction between the one end and the other end, the sliding contact member is the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum at the one end side in the longitudinal direction. And the pressing force with which the sliding contact member presses the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum at the other end portion in the longitudinal direction are different. For this reason, the attitude | position of a support member is not stabilized and the effect which suppresses the vibration which arises in a cylinder may fall.

  The subject of this invention is suppressing the vibration which arises in a cylinder compared with the case where the outer diameter of the axial direction center side is larger than the outer diameter of the both ends side of an axial direction.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, the support member is supported in the cylindrical body constituting the image holding body, and has an arc shape in which a part extending in the axial direction of the cylindrical body is formed in a part of the circumferential direction. A groove portion extending in the axial direction is formed, an outer diameter of the central portion is made smaller than both end portions in the axial direction, and a thickness of the central portion is made thicker than the both end portions at the groove bottom of the groove portion. The groove portion is elastically deformed while being supported inside the cylindrical body, and the elastic restoring force of the central portion is made stronger than the both end portions.

  An image holding body according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a cylindrical body having a cylindrical shape on which a toner image is formed, and a support member according to the first aspect, which is supported inside the cylindrical body. It is characterized by.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, a charging device for charging the image holding member, and exposing the charged image holding member to form an electrostatic latent image. An exposure device for forming, a developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier as a toner image, and a transfer device for transferring the toner image developed on the image carrier to a recording medium. It is characterized by that.

  According to the support member of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the vibration generated in the cylindrical body as compared with the case where the outer diameter on the center side in the axial direction is larger than the outer diameter on both end sides in the axial direction. Further, according to the support member of the first aspect of the present invention, the elastic restoring force of the central portion in the axial direction of the groove portion is compared with the case where the plate thickness of the bottom plate of the groove portion is the same in the axial direction. It can be strengthened as compared with the elastic restoring force at the both ends in the axial direction.

  According to the image carrier of claim 2 of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the quality of the toner image formed on the image carrier as compared with the case where the support member according to claim 1 is not provided. .

  According to the image forming apparatus formation of the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the quality of the output image as compared with the case where the image holding body according to the second aspect is not provided.

(A) (B) is the front view and bottom view which showed the supporting member which concerns on a reference example. (A) (B) is sectional drawing which showed the supporting member which concerns on a reference example. (A) (B) is sectional drawing which showed the supporting member which concerns on a reference example. It is the perspective view which showed the supporting member which concerns on a reference example. It is sectional drawing which showed the image holding body etc. which concern on a reference example. It is a block diagram showing an image forming unit provided in an image forming apparatus according to a reference example. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a reference example. (A) (B) is the front view and bottom view which showed the supporting member which concerns on the comparison form with respect to the supporting member which concerns on a reference example. (A) (B) is the front view and bottom view which showed the supporting member which concerns on the comparison form with respect to the supporting member which concerns on a reference example. (A) (B) is the front view which showed the supporting member which concerns on embodiment of this invention, and the S1-S1 sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 10 (A). (A) (B) is sectional drawing which showed the supporting member which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

<Reference example>
First, an example of a support member, an image carrier, and an image forming apparatus according to a reference example will be described with reference to FIGS. In the drawing, an arrow H indicates the vertical direction of the apparatus (vertical direction), an arrow W indicates the apparatus width direction (horizontal direction), and an arrow D indicates the depth direction of the apparatus (horizontal direction).

(overall structure)
As shown in FIG. 7, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present reference example includes an accommodating portion 14 that accommodates a sheet member P as a recording medium from below to above in the vertical direction (arrow H direction). , A conveyance unit 16 that conveys the sheet member P accommodated in the accommodation unit 14, an image forming unit 20 that forms an image on the sheet member P conveyed by the conveyance unit 16 from the accommodation unit 14, and an original that reads the read original G The reading unit 22 is provided in this order.

[Container]
The accommodating portion 14 includes an accommodating member 26 that can be pulled out from the apparatus main body 10 </ b> A of the image forming apparatus 10 to the near side in the apparatus depth direction, and the sheet member P is stacked on the accommodating member 26. Further, the accommodating portion 14 is provided with a delivery roll 32 that sends the stacked sheet members P to the conveyance path 28 that constitutes the conveyance portion 16.

[Transport section]
The transport unit 16 includes a plurality of transport rolls 34 that transport the sheet member P along the transport path 28.

[Original reading section]
The document reading unit 22 includes a light source 44 that emits light to the read document G conveyed by the automatic document conveyance device 40 that conveys the read document G or to the read document G placed on the platen glass 42. .

(Image forming part)
As shown in FIG. 6, the image forming unit 20 includes an image carrier 56 and a charging roll 58 as an example of a charging device that charges the surface of the image carrier 56. The image forming unit 20 includes an exposure device 60 (see FIG. 7) that exposes the surface of the image carrier 56 charged based on image data to form an electrostatic latent image, and develops the electrostatic latent image. And a developing device 62 that visualizes the toner image.

  Further, the image forming unit 20 includes a transfer roll 64 that transfers the toner image formed on the surface of the image holding member 56 to the sheet member P conveyed along the conveyance path 28. The image forming unit 20 includes a fixing device 66 (see FIG. 7) that heats and pressurizes the toner image on the sheet member P and fixes the toner image on the sheet member P.

  Details of the image carrier 56 and the charging roll 58 will be described later.

(Operation of the overall configuration)
In the image forming apparatus 10, an image is formed as follows.

  First, the charging roll 58 to which a voltage is applied comes into contact with the surface of the image carrier 56 and uniformly charges the surface of the image carrier 56 at a predetermined potential. Subsequently, the exposure device 60 irradiates the surface of the image carrier 56 charged by the exposure device 60 based on image data read by the document reading unit 22 or data input from the outside to form an electrostatic latent image.

  As a result, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data is formed on the surface of the image carrier 56. Further, the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 62 and visualized as a toner image.

  Therefore, the sheet member P sent out from the storage member 26 to the transport path 28 by the sending roll 32 is sent out to the transfer position T where the image carrier 56 and the transfer roll 64 come into contact. At the transfer position T, the sheet member P is nipped and conveyed between the image carrier 56 and the transfer roll 64, whereby the toner image formed on the surface of the image carrier 56 is transferred to the sheet member P.

  The toner image transferred to the sheet member P is fixed to the sheet member P by the fixing device 66. Then, the sheet member P on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to the outside of the apparatus main body 10A by the transport roll 34.

(Main part configuration)
Next, the image carrier 56, the charging roll 58, etc. will be described.

[Charging roll]
As shown in FIG. 5, the charging roll 58 has a shaft portion 58A that extends in the depth direction of the apparatus, is formed of a metal material (for example, stainless steel), and has a cylindrical shape through which the shaft portion 58A penetrates. The formed roll part 58B is provided.

  Further, both end portions of the shaft portion 58 </ b> A are exposed to the outside from the roll portion 58 </ b> B and are rotatably supported by the pair of bearing members 102. Further, a biasing member 104 that biases each bearing member 102 toward the image holding body 56 is disposed on the opposite side of the image holding body 56 with the shaft portion 58A interposed therebetween. With this configuration, when the roll portion 58B of the charging roll 58 is pressed against the image holding body 56 and the image holding body 56 rotates, the charging roll 58 is driven to rotate.

  Further, a superimposed voltage obtained by superimposing an AC voltage on a DC voltage is applied from the power source 106 to the shaft portion 58A.

(Image carrier)
As shown in FIG. 5, the image holding body 56 includes a cylindrical cylinder 108 extending in the apparatus depth direction, and one end side of the cylinder 108 in the apparatus depth direction (the same direction as the axial direction of the cylinder 108). And a transmission member 110 fixed to the upper side in the drawing. Further, the image holding body 56 includes a base material 112 that is fixed to the other end side (lower side in the drawing) of the cylindrical body 108 in the apparatus depth direction. Furthermore, the image holding body 56 includes a support member 116 that is disposed inside the cylinder 108 and suppresses the vibration of the surface of the cylinder 108.

  The cylindrical body 108 is obtained by applying a photosensitive layer to the outer surface of a base material in which a metal material is formed in a cylindrical shape. In this reference example, the base material of the cylinder 108 is an aluminum tube, and the thickness of the cylinder 108 is 1.0 [mm]. The outer diameter of the cylinder 108 is 30 [mm], and the length of the cylinder 108 in the apparatus depth direction is 340 [mm].

  The transmission member 110 is formed in a disk shape with a resin material, and is fixed to one end side of the cylinder body 108 by being partially fitted inside the cylinder body 108, and closes one end side of the opened cylinder body 108. Yes. Further, the transmission member 110 is formed with a cylindrical through hole 110 </ b> A that passes through the axial center F of the cylindrical body 108. A plurality of recesses 110B are formed on the outer surface of the transmission member 110 facing the outside in the apparatus depth direction so as to sandwich the through hole 110A.

  The base material 112 is formed in a disk shape with a resin material, and is fixed to the other end side of the cylinder body 108 by being partially fitted inside the cylinder body 108, and the other end side of the opened cylinder body 108 is closed. doing. Further, a columnar through-hole 112 </ b> A that passes through the axial center F of the cylindrical body 108 is formed in the base material 112. Details of the support member 116 will be described later.

[Others]
As shown in FIG. 5, a motor 80 that generates a rotational force transmitted to the image carrier 56 (transmission member 110) is disposed on one end side in the apparatus depth direction of the image carrier 56.

  The motor 80 is attached to a plate-like frame 84. Further, the motor shaft portion 80 </ b> A of the motor 80 is inserted into the through hole 110 </ b> A of the transmission member 110. In addition, a plate-like bracket 88 having a bent tip portion inserted into the recess 110B of the transmission member 110 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the motor shaft portion 80A. As a result, the transmission member 110 transmits the rotational force generated by the motor 80 to the cylindrical body 108.

  On the other hand, a stepped columnar shaft member 90 that rotatably supports the image carrier 56 (base material 112) is disposed on the other end side of the image carrier 56 in the apparatus depth direction. The shaft member 90 is attached to a plate-like frame member 92.

  The shaft member 90 has a shaft portion 90 </ b> C that extends on the shaft center F of the cylindrical body 108 and is inserted into the through hole 112 </ b> A of the base material 112. Further, a gap is provided between the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 112A and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 90C, and the base material 112 functions as a so-called slide bearing with respect to the shaft portion 90C.

  In this configuration, when the motor 80 is operated, the motor shaft 80A rotates. The rotation of the motor shaft 80A is transmitted to the cylinder 108 via the bracket 88 and a transmission member 110 fixed to one end of the cylinder 108. Then, the base material 112 fixed to the other end side of the cylindrical body 108 rotates with respect to the shaft portion 90 </ b> C, so that the image holding body 56 rotates about the axis center F.

(Support member)
Next, the support member 116 supported inside the cylinder 108 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the support member 116 is fitted inside the cylinder body 108 and disposed on the center side of the cylinder body 108 in the apparatus depth direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the arcuate outer peripheral surface 120 of the support member 116 contacts the inner peripheral surface 108A of the cylindrical body 108 and presses the inner peripheral surface 108A, so that the support member 116 is cylindrical. It is supported by the body 108.

  Specifically, the support member 116 is formed using ABS resin (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) which is a resin material. Then, with the support member 116 being supported inside the cylinder 108, the support member 116 is C-shaped with both ends facing each other along the inner peripheral surface 108 </ b> A of the cylinder 108 when viewed from the depth direction of the apparatus. (Arc-shaped). Furthermore, a space 116 </ b> A that is spaced apart in the circumferential direction is formed between the opposite ends. The separation space 116A is an example of a separation portion. Moreover, the support member 116 is extended in the apparatus depth direction, as FIG. 4 shows. In this reference example, as an example, the plate thickness of the general portion of the support member 116 (thickness T1 in FIG. 3A) is 4 [mm], and the length of the support member 116 in the apparatus depth direction is 100 [mm].

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, in a state where the support member 116 is supported inside the cylinder 108, the support member 116 on the opposite side of the separation space 116A across the axial center F of the cylinder 108 is sandwiched. A groove 118 extending in the apparatus depth direction is formed on the outer peripheral surface 120. And this groove part 118 is formed from the one end part of the supporting member 116 to the other end part in the apparatus depth direction.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3A, the support member 116 is separated from the separation space 116A when viewed from the depth direction of the apparatus in a state where the support member 116 is not supported inside the cylindrical body 108 (free state). The line C is formed symmetrically with respect to the line C passing through the groove 118.

  Specifically, the support member 116 is formed by connecting a circular arc portion 116C on the right side in the drawing and a circular hole portion 116D on the left side in the drawing with a bottom plate 118A of the groove 118. . Further, the radius R1 of the outer peripheral surface 120 in the arc portions 116C and 116D of the support member 116 in the free state is the same or larger than the radius R2 (see FIG. 3B) of the inner peripheral surface 108A of the cylindrical body 108. Has been.

  Further, the separation distance K (see FIG. 3A) in the separation space 116A of the support member 116 in the free state is the separation distance K (see FIG. 3 (FIG. 3 (A)) when the support member 116 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108. It is longer than (B).

  In the free state, the outer diameter (the outer diameter D1 in FIG. 1B and FIG. 4) of the center side portion of the support member 116 in the apparatus depth direction is the portion of both ends of the support member 116 in the apparatus depth direction ( In this reference example, both ends are made smaller than the outer diameter (the outer diameter D2 in FIGS. 1B and 4). In this reference example, it is reduced by about 0.2 [mm] as an example.

  The outer diameter is the maximum dimension in the direction orthogonal to the line C passing through the separation space 116A and the groove 118 when viewed from the apparatus depth direction.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the groove width of the groove 118 (the groove width E of FIG. 1A) is the groove width (FIG. 1B, FIG. 2 (B) is narrower than the groove width (groove width E2 in FIGS. 1 (B) and 2 (A)) at both ends in the apparatus depth direction. In other words, in the bottom plate 118A of the groove portion 118, the plate width of the center side portion in the device depth direction is narrower than the plate width of the both end sides in the device depth direction.

  In this reference example, as an example, the groove width E2 at both end portions in the apparatus depth direction is 4 [mm], and the groove depth is 3 [mm]. Further, the groove width E1 at the central portion in the apparatus depth direction is 3.6 [mm], and the groove depth is 3 [mm].

  Further, the thickness of the bottom plate 118A (T10 in FIG. 3A) is the same in the apparatus depth direction.

  With this configuration, in a state where the bottom plate 118A of the groove 118 is elastically deformed and the support member 116 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108, the elastic restoring force of the central side portion in the apparatus depth direction of the bottom plate 118A is It is designed to be stronger than the elastic restoring force at both ends in the apparatus depth direction (details will be described later).

(Function)
Next, the operation of the support member 116 will be described by a process of supporting the support member 116 inside the cylindrical body 108.

  When the support member 116 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108, the support member 116 is gripped, and the bottom plate 118A of the groove 118 is elastically deformed so that the separation distance K is shortened. Thereby, the support member 116 is bent, and the support member 116 is inserted into the cylindrical body 108 in the bent state. Further, the gripping force for gripping the support member 116 is released. When the gripping force is released, the outer peripheral surface 120 of the support member 116 presses the inner peripheral surface 108A of the cylindrical body 108 by the elastic restoring force of the elastically deformed bottom plate 118A. In this state, the support member 116 is pushed into the center side of the cylindrical body 108.

  Thereby, the outer peripheral surface 120 of the support member 116 contacts the inner peripheral surface 108A of the cylindrical body and presses the inner peripheral surface in the apparatus depth direction (the axial direction of the cylindrical body 108). Then, the support member 116 is supported inside the cylinder body 108.

  Next, the operation of the support member 116 will be described from the viewpoint of the support member 116 suppressing the vibration of the cylindrical body 108.

  When charging the surface of the image carrier 56, a superimposed voltage obtained by superimposing an alternating voltage (1 kHz to 2 kHz) on a direct current voltage is applied from the power source 106 to the shaft portion 58 </ b> A of the charging roll 58 (see FIG. 5). An alternating electric field is generated between the charging roll 58 and the image carrier 56 by the alternating voltage that forms the superimposed voltage. Thereby, a periodic (2 kHz to 4 kHz) electrostatic attraction force is generated between the image carrier 56 and the charging roll 58. Therefore, a force that periodically changes (vibrates) the cross section of the cylinder 108 acts on the cylinder 108.

  However, a support member 116 that presses the inner peripheral surface 108 </ b> A of the cylindrical body 108 with the outer peripheral surface 120 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108. Specifically, the outer peripheral surface 120 of the support member 116 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface 108A of the cylindrical body and presses the inner peripheral surface 108A over the apparatus depth direction (the axial direction of the cylindrical body 108). For this reason, even if the force which changes the cross section of the cylinder 108 periodically acts on the cylinder 108, the vibration of the cylinder 108 is suppressed.

  Next, the operation of the support member 116 will be described while comparing the pressing force with which the outer peripheral surface 120 of the support member 116 presses the inner peripheral surface 108 </ b> A of the cylindrical body 108 in comparison with the support member 310 according to the comparative form.

  First, the support member 310 according to the comparative embodiment will be described. The support member 310 will be described mainly with respect to the portions different from the support member 116.

  9A and 9B, in the support member 310 in the free state, the outer diameter of the support member 310 (the outer diameter D5 in FIG. 8B) is the same in the apparatus depth direction. .

  Further, in the groove portion 318 of the support member 310, the groove width E5 at the one end side (left side in the figure) in the apparatus depth direction is compared with the groove width E6 at the other end side (right side in the figure) in the apparatus depth direction. It is narrowed.

  The support member 310 is designed to have a constant cross-section in the longitudinal direction as a design target, but due to the variation in product shape, the groove width E5 at one end side in the apparatus depth direction is It is narrower than the groove width E6 at the other end side in the depth direction.

  For this reason, in a state where the bottom plate 318A of the groove 318 is elastically deformed so that the separation distance K is shortened, the elastic restoring force of the one end side in the apparatus depth direction in the bottom plate 318A is the other end in the apparatus depth direction in the bottom plate 118A. It becomes stronger than the elastic restoring force of the side part. Then, the inner peripheral surface 108 </ b> A of the cylindrical body 108 may not be pressed to the extent that the vibration of the cylindrical body 108 is suppressed at a portion on the other end side in the apparatus depth direction of the outer peripheral surface 120.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1B, in the support member 116, the groove width E1 at the center side in the apparatus depth direction is made narrower than the groove width E2 at the both ends in the apparatus depth direction. ing. In the state in which the bottom plate 118A is elastically deformed so that the separation distance K is shortened, the elastic restoring force of the center side portion in the apparatus depth direction of the bottom plate 118A is the elastic restoring force of the both end portions of the bottom plate 118A in the device depth direction. And stronger than

  Thereby, in the support member 116, compared with the case where the support member 310 is used, in the state where the support member 116 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108, it is similar to the portions on both ends in the apparatus depth direction of the support member 116. The pressing force is generated.

  Next, the posture of the support member 116 in a state where the support member 116 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108 will be described in comparison with the support member 300 according to the comparative form.

  First, the support member 300 according to the comparative embodiment will be described. Note that the support member 300 will be described mainly with respect to portions different from the support member 116.

  As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, in the support member 300 in the free state, the outer diameter (outer diameter D3 in FIG. It is made larger than the outer diameter (the outer diameter D4 in FIG. 8B) at the both end sides in the apparatus depth direction.

  The support member 300 is designed to have a constant cross-section in the longitudinal direction as a design target, but the outer diameter on the center side in the depth direction (axial direction) of the device is reduced due to the variation in the shape of the product. It is made larger than the outer diameter of both end sides in the depth direction. Then, the inner peripheral surface 108 </ b> A of the cylinder 108 may not be pressed to the extent that the vibration of the cylinder 108 is suppressed at portions on both ends in the apparatus depth direction of the outer peripheral surface 120.

  Further, the groove width E4 of the groove portion 308 of the support member 300 is the same in the apparatus depth direction.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1B, the outer diameter D1 of the central portion of the support member 116 in the apparatus depth direction is compared with the outer diameter D2 of the both ends of the support member 116 in the apparatus depth direction. Have been made smaller.

  Thereby, in the support member 116, compared with the case where the support member 300 is used, in a state where the support member 116 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108, the portions on both ends in the apparatus depth direction are in the apparatus depth direction. Compared with the central portion, the inner peripheral surface 108A of the cylinder 108 is strongly pressed. For this reason, in the support member 116, the posture in a state where the support member 116 is supported by the cylindrical body 108 is stabilized as compared with the case where the support member 300 is used.

(Summary)
As described above, in the support member 116, compared with the case where the support member 310 is used, the support member 116 is similar to the both end portions in the apparatus depth direction of the support member 116 while being supported inside the cylindrical body 108. A pressing force is generated. Further, in the support member 116, the posture of the support member 116 is stabilized in a state where the support member 116 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108 as compared with the case where the support member 300 is used.

  Thereby, in the support member 116, the vibration which arises in the cylinder 108 is suppressed compared with the case where the support members 300 and 310 are used.

  Further, in the image holding member 56, the vibration of the cylinder 108 is suppressed, so that the quality of the toner image formed on the image holding member 56 is suppressed from being lowered.

  Further, with respect to the image forming apparatus 10, the quality degradation of the output image is suppressed by suppressing the quality degradation of the toner image formed on the image holding member 56.

  Further, with respect to the image forming apparatus 10, the vibration of the cylinder 108 is suppressed, so that the generation of high-frequency sound that occurs due to the surface vibration of the cylinder 108 is suppressed.

<Embodiment>
Next, an example of a support member, an image carrier, and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, about the same member as a reference example, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected, the description is abbreviate | omitted, and a different part from a reference example is mainly demonstrated.

  The groove width of the groove portion 418 of the support member 416 according to the embodiment is the same in the apparatus depth direction. As shown in FIGS. 10B, 11 </ b> A, and 11 </ b> B, the thickness of the bottom plate 418 </ b> A of the groove portion 418 on the center side in the apparatus depth direction (plate thickness T <b> 2 in FIGS. 10 and 11) is the groove portion 418. The bottom plate 418A is thicker than the plate thickness at both ends in the apparatus depth direction (plate thickness T3 in FIGS. 10 and 11).

  As a result, in the state where the support member 416 is supported inside the cylindrical body 108, the elastic restoring force of the portion on the center side in the apparatus depth direction in the bottom plate 418A is the elastic restoring force of the portions on both ends in the device depth direction in the bottom plate 418A. Stronger than force. Other actions are the same as those of the reference example.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various other embodiments can be taken within the scope of the present invention. This will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, in the reference example and the embodiment, the groove portions 118 and 418 are formed on the outer peripheral surface 120 of the support members 116 and 416, but may be formed on the inner peripheral surface.

  In the reference example and the embodiment described above, the outer peripheral surface 120 of the support members 116 and 416 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface 108A of the cylindrical body 108 in the apparatus depth direction. It is only necessary that at least both end portions in the apparatus depth direction are in contact with the inner peripheral surface 108 </ b> A of the cylindrical body 108.

  In the reference example and the embodiment described above, one support member 116, 416 is supported inside the cylinder 108, but two or more support members 116, 416 may be supported.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 56 Image holding body 58 Charging roll (an example of charging device)
60 exposure device 62 developing device 64 transfer roll (an example of transfer device)
108 cylinder 116 support member 116A separation space (an example of separation portion)
416 Support member 418 Groove 418A Bottom plate

Claims (3)

Supported inside the cylinder constituting the image carrier,
It is an arc shape in which a spacing portion extending in the axial direction of the cylindrical body is formed in a part of the circumferential direction,
A groove extending in the axial direction is formed;
The outer diameter of the central portion is made smaller than both axial end portions,
In the groove bottom of the groove part, the thickness of the central part is thicker than the both end parts,
A support member in which the groove portion is elastically deformed and the elastic restoring force of the central portion is stronger than the both end portions in a state of being supported inside the cylindrical body. A cylindrical body having a toner image formed on its surface;
The support member according to claim 1, which is supported inside the cylindrical body,
An image carrier comprising: The image carrier according to claim 2,
A charging device for charging the image carrier;
An exposure device that exposes the charged image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image;
A developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier as a toner image;
A transfer device for transferring the toner image developed on the image carrier to a recording medium;
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images