JP6136555B2 - Lubricating member, lubricant supply device, process unit, image forming apparatus, and manufacturing method of lubricating member - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lubricating member, a lubricant supply device, a process unit and an image forming apparatus including the lubricant supply device, and a method for manufacturing the lubricant member.

  In image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, facsimiles, or composite machines thereof, a solid lubricant made of zinc stearate or the like is applied to a photoreceptor or an intermediate transfer belt by a lubricant supply member. Improvements in transferability, long life, and the like have been attempted. For example, as a lubricant supply device that supplies a solid lubricant to the surface of the photoreceptor, the one shown in FIG. 16 is known.

  The lubricant supply device 100 shown in FIG. 16 brings the solid lubricant 200, the lubricant supply brush 300, the lubricant holding member 400 that holds the lubricant 200, and the solid lubricant 200 into contact with the lubricant supply brush 300. And a guide member 600 that guides the solid lubricant 200 in a direction in which the solid lubricant 200 is brought into contact with and separated from the lubricant supply brush 300. The lubricant supply brush 300 is disposed so as to come into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor 700, and the solid lubricant 200 is scraped off by rotation of the lubricant supply brush 300, and the scraped lubricant is removed from the photoreceptor 700. It is designed to be applied to the surface. Further, since the solid lubricant 200 is pressurized toward the lubricant supply brush 300 by the pressure member 500, even if the solid lubricant 200 is scraped off and consumed, the solid lubricant 200 is always the lubricant supply brush 300. Maintained in contact with

  In this lubricant supply device 100, a mechanism for detecting that the solid lubricant 200 has been consumed and has reached the end of its life may be provided. As an example of this life detection mechanism, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-314346), as shown in FIG. 17, a regulating member 800 made of a conductive material is disposed on both sides of the solid lubricant 200, and solid lubrication is performed. When the lubricant 200 is consumed, the lubricant holding member 400 made of a conductive material is brought into contact with the restriction member 800 so that the two restriction members 800 are brought into conduction through the lubricant holding member 400, thereby the solid lubricant 200. Discloses a configuration for detecting that the replacement time has been reached.

  Further, in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-271665), as shown in FIG. 18A, when the remaining amount of the solid lubricant 200 is sufficient, the detection electrode 900, the lubricant holding member 400, As shown in FIG. 18B, when the solid lubricant 200 is consumed, the displacement of the detection electrode 900 is regulated by a regulating member 1000 made of an insulating material. Thus, there is disclosed an apparatus that detects that the solid lubricant 200 has reached the end of its life by separating the lubricant holding member 400 and the detection electrode 900 from each other to be in a non-conductive state.

  However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, since electrodes are arranged on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the solid lubricant, the space required in the longitudinal direction is large, and in the configuration of Patent Document 2, the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the solid lubricant ( The required space in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is increased because the electrodes are arranged in the pressure direction by the pressure member 500. Therefore, in any configuration, the peripheral structure of the lubricant supply device is enlarged and complicated, and the layout around the device is restricted and the degree of design freedom is problematic.

  Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to reduce the size of a lubricant supply device having a life detection function of a solid lubricant.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention is directed to a lubricant member containing a solid lubricant and a solid lubricant, which is brought into contact with the solid lubricant to scrape off the solid lubricant, and the shaved solid lubricant is removed from the image forming apparatus. A lubricant supply member to be supplied to the lubricant supply target, a pressing mechanism for pressing the solid lubricant against the lubricant supply member, a first electrode and a second electrode, and the first electrode and the second electrode accompanying the consumption of the solid lubricant In a lubricant supply device comprising a detection mechanism for detecting that the remaining amount of solid lubricant has reached a specified value from a change in the energized state between the two electrodes, the lubricant member is provided with a first electrode, and the lubricant supply member The second electrode is provided.

  According to the lubricant supply device of the present invention, the first electrode is provided on the lubricant member containing the solid lubricant, and the second electrode is provided on the lubricant supply member. There is no need to install it around the lubricant. Therefore, the lubricant supply device can be made compact, the layout around the lubricant supply device can be facilitated, and the degree of freedom in designing the image forming apparatus can be improved.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of a process unit. Fig. a is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a lubricant supply device (before consumption of solid lubricant) according to the first embodiment, and Fig. b is a sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. a. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the lubricant supply apparatus (after consumption of a solid lubricant) concerning 1st embodiment. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the principal part of a lubricating member. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the lubricant supply apparatus (before consumption of a solid lubricant) concerning 2nd embodiment. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the lubricant supply apparatus (after consumption of a solid lubricant) concerning 2nd embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the other example of a press mechanism, and represents before consumption of a solid lubricant. It is sectional drawing which shows after consumption of the solid lubricant of the mechanism of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows other embodiment of a lubricating member. Fig. 10a is a plan view of the lubricating member shown in Fig. 10, Fig. b is a front view thereof, and Fig. c is a front view of another lubricating member. FIGS. a and b are cross-sectional views of the lubricant supply device using the lubricating member shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. c is a cross-sectional view of the lubricant supply device using the lubricating member shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows other embodiment of a lubricating member. a figure is a top view of solid lubricant shown in Drawing 13, and b figure is the same front view. It is a top view of the lubricant supply apparatus using the lubricating member shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the conventional lubricant supply apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the conventional lubricant supply apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the conventional lubricant supply apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing for explaining the embodiment of the present invention, components such as members and parts having the same function or shape are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and once described. The description is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes four process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk as image forming units. The process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk have the same configuration except that they contain toners of different colors of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black corresponding to the color separation components of the color image. Specifically, each of the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk forms a toner image on the photosensitive member 2, the photosensitive member 2 as an image carrier, the charging device 3 that charges the surface of the photosensitive member 2, and the like. A developing device 4, a cleaning device 5 for cleaning the surface of the photoreceptor 2, and a lubricant supply device 6 for supplying a lubricant to the surface of the photoreceptor 2 are provided. The process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk are configured to be detachable integrally with the image forming apparatus main body 10.

  A toner bottle 7 filled with toner of each color is provided on the upper portion of the image forming apparatus main body 10. Each color toner in the toner bottle 7 is transferred to a corresponding developing device 4 via a toner transfer pipe (not shown). Under each process unit 1Y, 1C, 1M, 1Bk, an exposure device 8 for exposing the surface of each photoconductor 2 is disposed. From the exposure device 8, each photoconductor 2 is irradiated with laser light. A transfer device 9 is disposed above the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk. The transfer device 9 has an intermediate transfer belt 11 constituted by an endless belt as a transfer body. The intermediate transfer belt 11 is stretched around a plurality of support rollers 12, 13, 14, and 15. One of the plurality of support rollers 12, 13, 14, 15 is a drive roller, and when the drive roller rotates, the intermediate transfer belt 11 travels in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure. Yes.

  Four primary transfer rollers 16 as primary transfer means are disposed at positions facing the four photoconductors 2. A primary transfer nip is formed at a location where the intermediate transfer belt 11 is sandwiched between each primary transfer roller 16 and each photoconductor 2. Further, a secondary transfer roller 17 as a secondary transfer unit is in contact with the outer peripheral surface on the right side of the intermediate transfer belt 11 in the drawing. A secondary transfer nip is formed at a position where the intermediate transfer belt 11 is sandwiched between the secondary transfer roller 17 and the support roller 12 facing the secondary transfer roller 17. A belt cleaning device 18 for cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11 is disposed on the outer peripheral surface at the left end of the intermediate transfer belt 11 in the drawing.

  A lower part of the image forming apparatus main body 10 is provided with a paper feed tray 19 that stores recording paper P as a recording medium, a paper feed roller 20 that carries the recording paper P out of the paper feed tray 19, and the like. In addition, a conveyance path R for guiding the recording paper P upward from the paper feed tray 19 is formed in the image forming apparatus main body 10. In the transport path R, a pair of registration rollers 21 for measuring the transport timing of the recording paper P is disposed midway from the position where the paper feed roller 20 is disposed to the position where the secondary transfer roller 17 is disposed. Has been. A fixing device 22 for fixing the image on the recording paper P is disposed above the position where the secondary transfer roller 17 is disposed. Further, above the fixing device 22, a pair of paper discharge rollers 24 for discharging the recording paper P to a stock portion 23 formed by denting the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 10 is disposed.

The basic operation of the image forming apparatus will be described below with reference to FIG.
When the image forming operation is started, the photoconductors 2 of the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk are rotationally driven clockwise by a driving device (not shown), and the surface of each photoconductor 2 is predetermined by the charging device 3. It is uniformly charged to the polarity. The surface of each charged photoconductor 2 is irradiated with laser light from the exposure device 8 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of each photoconductor 2. At this time, the image information to be exposed on each photoconductor 2 is monochromatic image information obtained by separating a desired full-color image into color information of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black. As the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member 2 is supplied with toner by each developing device 4, the electrostatic latent image is developed (visualized) as a toner image.

  When the driving roller that stretches the intermediate transfer belt 11 is driven to rotate, the intermediate transfer belt 11 travels in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure. Further, a constant voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner or a voltage controlled by a constant current is applied to each primary transfer roller 16. As a result, a transfer electric field is formed in the primary transfer nip between each primary transfer roller 16 and each photoreceptor 2. Then, the toner images of the respective colors formed on the photoreceptors 2 of the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk are sequentially transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 11 by the transfer electric field formed in the primary transfer nip. The Thus, the intermediate transfer belt 11 carries a full-color toner image on its surface. Further, the lubricant is applied to the surface of each photoconductor 2 after the transfer of the toner image by the lubricant supply device 6, and then the toner remaining on the surface of each photoconductor 2 is removed by the cleaning device 5.

  When the image forming operation is started, the paper feed roller 20 starts rotating, and the recording paper P stored in the paper feed tray 19 is sent out to the transport path R. The recording paper P sent to the transport path R is temporarily stopped by the registration roller 21. Thereafter, the driving of the registration roller 21 is resumed, and the recording paper P is placed in the secondary transfer nip between the secondary transfer roller 17 and the intermediate transfer belt 11 in synchronization with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 11. send. At this time, a transfer voltage having a polarity opposite to the toner charging polarity of the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 11 is applied to the secondary transfer roller 17, thereby forming a transfer electric field in the secondary transfer nip. When the recording paper P and the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 11 reach the secondary transfer nip, the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 11 is transferred onto the recording paper P by the transfer electric field formed in the secondary transfer nip. Are collectively transferred. Further, the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 11 after the transfer is removed by the belt cleaning device 18. The recording paper P onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 22 where the toner image is fixed on the recording paper P. Thereafter, the recording paper P is discharged to the stock unit 23 by the paper discharge roller 24.

  The above description is an image forming operation when a full-color image is formed on a recording sheet. A single-color image can be formed using any one of the four process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk. Two or three process units may be used to form a two or three color image. In addition to plain paper, the recording paper P includes thick paper, postcard, envelope, thin paper, coated paper (coated paper, art paper, etc.), tracing paper, OHP sheet, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk. Hereinafter, the configuration of each of the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the charging device 3 includes a charging roller 30 as a charging member disposed so as to face the photoconductor 2, and a surface opposite to the surface on which the charging roller 30 faces the photoconductor 2. The charging cleaning roller 31 is disposed so as to be in contact therewith.

  The developing device 4 includes a developing case 40 that contains a developer, a developing roller 41 that is rotatably supported by the developing case 40, and that is disposed to face the photoreceptor 2 through an opening formed in the developing case. The developing blade 42 restricts the amount of developer on the developing roller 41, and the conveying screw 43 that conveys the developer in the developing case 40 to the developing roller 41. A two-component developer having a toner and a carrier is used as the developer.

  The cleaning device 5 includes a cleaning blade 50 that removes residual toner on the photoconductor 2 and a waste toner collection coil 51 that transports the removed toner to a waste toner bottle (not shown). The cleaning blade 50 is held by a holding member 52, and the pressing member 53 presses the holding member 52 to bring the cleaning blade 50 into contact with the photoreceptor 2.

  The lubricant supply device 6 includes a solid lubricant 60, a lubricant supply brush 61 as a lubricant supply member, a lubricant holding member 62 that holds the lubricant 60, and a solid lubricant 60 that is supplied with the lubricant supply brush 61. A pressing mechanism 63 that presses in the abutting direction and a guide member 64 that guides the solid lubricant 60 in a direction in which the solid lubricant 60 contacts and separates from the lubricant supply brush 61 are provided.

  The lubricant supply brush 61 is in contact with the surface of the photoconductor 2 to be supplied with the lubricant, and rotates in the trailing direction (forward direction) with respect to the rotation direction of the photoconductor 2. The solid lubricant 60 is fixed to the lubricant holding member 62 with a double-sided adhesive tape, an adhesive, or the like. The guide member 64 is configured by a rectangular parallelepiped frame having an opening on the lubricant supply brush 61 side, and the solid lubricant 60 is exposed from the opening of the guide member 64 and contacts the lubricant supply brush 61. doing. The pressing mechanism 63 includes an elastic member 65 made of a coil spring or the like disposed in a compressed state between the lubricating member holding member 62 and the guide member 64, for example. The elastic force of the elastic member 65 is transmitted to the solid lubricant 60 via the lubricant holding member 62, so that the solid lubricant 60 is pressed against the lubricant supply brush 61.

  The solid lubricant 60 may be made of a fatty acid metal salt, a fluororesin, or the like, but a fatty acid metal salt is particularly preferable because it has a large effect of reducing the friction of the photoreceptor 2. Examples of the fatty acid metal salt include fatty acid metal salts of linear hydrocarbons such as myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, and maleic acid. Examples of the metal include lithium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, zinc, cadmium, Aluminum, cerium, etc. are mentioned. As the solid lubricant 60, magnesium stearate, aluminum stearate, iron stearate and the like are preferable, and zinc stearate is particularly preferable.

Next, operations of the process units 1Y, 1C, 1M, and 1Bk will be described with reference to FIG.
When the image forming operation is started, the photosensitive member 2 is driven to rotate clockwise in FIG. 2, and at this time, the photosensitive member 2 is charged to a predetermined polarity by the charging roller 30 to which a charging voltage is applied. The charging roller 30 is cleaned by a charging cleaning roller 31. Thereafter, the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 2 formed by exposure from an exposure device (not shown) moves to a position facing the developing roller 41, and toner is supplied from the developing roller 41 to the electrostatic latent image. Specifically, after the developer carried on the developing roller 41 that rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2 is regulated to a predetermined thickness by the developing blade 42, the developer is placed in the developing region between the developing roller 41 and the photoreceptor 2. The toner in the developer is electrostatically transferred to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 2 and the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image. The toner image on the photoconductor 2 moves to an upper position of the photoconductor 2 and is transferred to an intermediate transfer belt (not shown).

  After the toner image is transferred, a lubricant is applied to the surface of the photoreceptor 2 by the lubricant supply brush 61 that rotates counterclockwise in FIG. Thereafter, the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor 2 is removed by the cleaning blade 50, and the removed residual toner is conveyed to a waste toner bottle (not shown) by a waste toner collection coil 51.

Hereafter, the characteristic part of this invention is demonstrated.
3A and 3B are diagrams showing a schematic configuration of the lubricant supply device 6 according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 3A is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3B is a diagram in FIG. It is AA sectional view.
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the lubricant supply brush 61 is composed of a shaft-shaped core material 61a formed of a conductive material such as metal, and a flocking body 61b covering the outer periphery thereof. Yes. The core member 61a is rotatably supported by the image forming apparatus main body via a bearing (not shown), and is driven to rotate in the forward direction and the forward direction of the photosensitive member 2 by a rotational drive source (not shown). In this embodiment, the core 61a of the lubricant supply brush 61 constitutes a second electrode that can be energized with a first electrode 67b described later.

The flocked body 61b includes, for example, a base material such as a lace base fabric that is bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the core material 61a with an adhesive or a double-sided adhesive tape, and short fibers (pile) that are flocked to the base material by weaving. Become. The short fiber is formed of a material adjusted to have a volume resistivity of 1 × 10 ³ Ωcm to 1 × 10 ⁸ Ωcm by adding a resistance control material such as carbon black to a resin such as nylon or acrylic. Yes.

  The solid lubricant 60 and the lubricant holding member 62 are each formed in an elongated shape along the axial direction (meaning the axial direction of the lubricant supply brush 61; the same applies hereinafter). The elastic members 65 are arranged at two locations separated in the axial direction, and press the lubricant holding member 62 and further the solid lubricant 60 toward the lubricant supply brush 61 with a uniform force in the axial direction.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing one end portions of the solid lubricant 60 and the lubricant holding member 62.
As shown in FIG. 5, the solid lubricant 60 incorporates an electrode member 67 made of a conductive material, and the solid lubricant 60 and the electrode member 67 constitute a lubrication member 66. The electrode member 67 integrally has a long connecting portion 67a and first electrodes 67b provided at both ends thereof, and the first electrode 67b faces the lubricant supply brush 61 with respect to the connecting portion 67a. Protruding. The free end of the first electrode 67b is formed in, for example, a conical shape in which the tip side is gradually reduced in diameter. The shape of the free end of the first electrode 67b is arbitrary, and for example, the tip surface can be formed as a flat surface without reducing the diameter (see FIG. 11A).

  In the lubricating member 66, at least the first electrode 67 b is embedded in the solid lubricant 60. In the drawing, the side of the first electrode 67b (the end face side of the solid lubricant) is also covered with the solid lubricant 60, but it may be exposed to the outside of the solid lubricant 60.

On the other hand, the connecting portion 67a of the electrode member 67 is exposed on the surface of the solid lubricant 60 opposite to the surface in sliding contact with the lubricant supply brush 61. As a result, the solid lubricant 60 is fixed to the lubricant holding member 62, and the lubricant holding member 62 is formed of a conductive material, so that the lubricant holding member 62 is used as a power supply path to the electrode member 67. Is possible. That is, a voltage is constantly applied to the electrode member 67 from an external power source. However, if the connecting portion 67a is in contact with the lubricant holding member 62 as described above, the power supply line is connected to the lubricant holding member 62. Thus, the wiring operation is completed, and power supply to the electrode member 67 is facilitated. Of course, a power supply line may be directly connected to the electrode member 67. In this case, the entire connecting portion 67 a of the electrode member 67 can be covered with the solid lubricant 60.

  The lubrication member 66 forms the solid lubricant 60 including a hole having a shape corresponding to the electrode member 67 (particularly, the first electrode 67b), and then places the electrode member 67 (first electrode 67b) in the formed hole. By fitting, it can be manufactured at low cost. In this case, a convex portion corresponding to the hole is formed in the mold in advance. In addition, the hole may be post-processed after the solid lubricant 60 is molded, and then the electrode member 67 may be fitted into the hole. Alternatively, the solid lubricant 60 may be molded (insert molding) with the electrode member 67 inserted in the mold.

  A detection mechanism 68 that detects energization between the first electrode 67 b and the second electrode 61 a is connected to the lubricant supply brush 61. The detection mechanism 68 includes a current collecting member 69 that contacts the core material 61 a of the lubricant supply brush 61, and a detection unit 70 that includes a control device such as a CPU that is electrically connected to the current collecting member 69. ing.

  When the lubricant supply brush 61 is rotated in the state shown in FIG. 3A, the lubricant supply brush 61 that is in sliding contact with the solid lubricant 60 scrapes off the solid lubricant 60, and the finely divided solid lubricant is removed from the photoreceptor 2. Apply to the surface. Thereafter, the lubricant applied by the contact between the surface of the photoconductor 2 and the cleaning blade 50 is spread to form a thin film. As a result, the coefficient of friction of the surface of the photoreceptor 2 is reduced. Note that the lubricant film adhered to the surface of the photoreceptor 2 is very thin and does not hinder charging by the charging device 3.

  At this time, since the first electrode 67b is covered with the solid lubricant 60, the first electrode 67b and the lubricant supply brush 61 are in an insulated state. Therefore, no current flows through the lubricant supply brush 61 and the detection mechanism 68.

  When the solid lubricant 60 is consumed, the first electrode 67b appears in the sliding contact area S of the solid lubricant 60 with the lubricant supply brush 61. When the solid lubricant 60 is further consumed, the first electrode 67b protrudes from the surface of the solid lubricant 60 and sinks into the flocked body 61b of the lubricant supply brush 61. Finally, as shown in FIG. One electrode 67b abuts on the core material 61a as the second electrode, the first electrode 67b and the second electrode 61a are energized, and a current flows through the detection unit 70. By forming the tip of the first electrode 67b in a reduced diameter shape, the first electrode 67b can be brought into point contact with the second electrode 61a, and current can be reliably supplied between the two electrodes.

  By detecting the energization between the electrodes 67b and 61a by the detection unit 70, it is possible to recognize that the remaining amount of the solid lubricant 60 is equal to or less than a specified value, and that the life of the solid lubricant 60 has reached the near end. The detection unit 60 notifies the user of this information by displaying it on the operation panel, or records the information together with a counter in the memory of the image forming apparatus.

  If the energization between the first electrode 67b and the core material 61a becomes insufficient due to the presence of the base material of the flocked body 61b, the base material of the flocked body 61b is omitted in the contact area with the first electrode 67b, or the base It is preferable to take measures such as forming the entire material from a conductive material.

With such a configuration, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
Since the detection mechanism 68 detects that the remaining amount of the solid lubricant 60 has reached the specified amount, it is possible to reliably detect that the solid lubricant 60 has reached the near end. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of toner filming and the like on the photoreceptor 2 due to the exhaustion of the lubricant.

  Further, since the first electrode 67 b is provided on the lubricating member 66 including the solid lubricant 60 and the second electrode 61 a is provided on the lubricant supply brush 61, a member for forming an electrode around the solid lubricant 60 is provided. There is no need to install a new one.

  Specifically, the first electrode 67b is embedded in the solid lubricant 60, and the first electrode 67b appears in the region S that is in sliding contact with the lubricant supply brush 61 when the solid lubricant is consumed. is there. Therefore, both side regions and upper and lower regions of the solid lubricant 60 can be made a space where no member such as an electrode exists, and the lubricant supply device 6 can be made compact. Therefore, the layout of the peripheral structure of the solid lubricant 60 can be facilitated, and the design flexibility of the image forming apparatus can be improved. In addition, since the first electrode 67b is always cleaned by the lubricant supply brush 61 and then comes into contact with the second electrode 61a, poor conduction due to contamination of the first electrode 67b can be prevented.

  Furthermore, the first electrode 67b and the second electrode 61a are normally in a non-contact non-conductive state, and the two electrodes are in contact and are in a conductive state only when the remaining amount of the solid lubricant 60 becomes a specified value or less. . Therefore, the detection mechanism 68 can be configured such that normally no current flows and the current flows only when the remaining amount of the solid lubricant 60 reaches the near end. Therefore, power saving can be achieved as compared with the configuration described in Patent Document 2 in which current always flows from the beginning.

  In addition, since the first electrode 67b is in contact with the second electrode 61a in a state where the pressing force is applied by the pressing mechanism 63, each part of the lubricant supply device 6 can be designed regardless of the direction of gravity. Therefore, the degree of freedom in designing the lubricant supply device 6 is increased as compared with the configuration described in Patent Document 2 in which the two electrodes are shifted from a conductive state to a non-conductive state by gravity.

  In addition, since the first electrode 67b is disposed at two locations separated in the axial direction of the lubricant supply brush 61, the solid lubricant 60 is not evenly consumed in the axial direction due to a manufacturing error or the like and is unevenly worn. In addition, since one of the first electrodes 67b contacts the second electrode 61a, it is possible to reliably detect that the remaining amount of the solid lubricant 60 is equal to or less than a specified value.

Next, a second embodiment of the lubricant supply device 6 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the second electrode that contacts the first electrode 67b is formed on the hair transplant body 61b of the lubricant supply brush 61b. Except for this point, the configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description of the common configuration is omitted in the following description.

  In this second embodiment, at least the region of the flocked body 61b of the lubricant supply brush 61 that is in contact with the first electrode 67b is formed as a current-carrying portion 71 that is conductive and can be energized with the first electrode 67b. Is done. The energization part 71 can be configured by, for example, forming short fibers and a base material with a conductive material. If the short fiber and the core material 61a are in an electrically conductive state, the base material may be formed of a non-conductive material. In addition, the whole flocked body 61b can also be comprised by the electricity supply part 71. FIG.

  In the configuration of the second embodiment, the energization unit 71 functions as the second electrode. When the solid lubricant 60 is consumed by the rotation of the lubricant supply brush 61, as shown in FIG. 7, the first electrode 67b comes into contact with the energizing portion 71 as the second electrode, and the first electrode 67b and the second electrode 71 are contacted. Is energized. By detecting this energization by the detection unit 70, it can be detected that the remaining amount of the solid lubricant 60 has reached the specified value, and the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, as the pressing mechanism 63, an example in which a compressed pressure spring 65 is disposed between the lubricant holding member 62 and the guide member 64 is illustrated, but the pressing mechanism 63 uses the solid lubricant 60 as a lubricant supply brush. Any configuration can be adopted as long as it can be pressed against 61, and for example, a pressing mechanism 63 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 can also be adopted. 8 and 9, the illustration of the electrode member 67 is omitted.

  The pressing mechanism 63 shown in FIG. 8 has two movable members 73 attached to a lubricant holding member 62 so as to be rotatable about an axis O, and the two movable members 73 are connected by a tensioned elastic member 74 (for example, a coil spring). The configuration is as follows. One end of the movable member 73 is in contact with the inner surface of the guide member 64. Due to the elastic force of the elastic member 74, each movable member 73 is always urged in a direction in which one end (abutting portion with the guide member 64) is separated from the lubricant holding member 62. Due to the urging force acting on the movable member 73, the solid lubricant 60 is pressed evenly toward the lubricant supply brush 61 via the lubricant holding member 62. When the solid lubricant 60 is consumed, as shown in FIG. 9, one end of the movable member 73 is erected with respect to the lubricant holding member 62 while sliding on the guide member 64.

  In the pressing mechanism 63 shown in FIG. 3 and the like, the pressure applied to the solid lubricant 60 gradually decreases as the consumption of the solid lubricant 60 proceeds. However, with the pressing mechanism 63 shown in FIGS. A decrease in the applied pressure can be suppressed, and an advantage can be obtained that fluctuations in the amount of lubricant supplied to the surface of the photoreceptor 2 from the initial stage until the lifetime of the solid lubricant 60 can be reduced.

  10 and 11 (a) to 11 (c) show another embodiment of the lubricating member 66. FIG. In this embodiment, the first electrode 67b is crossed between a plane orthogonal to the pressing direction (A direction in the drawing) by the pressing mechanism 63 and a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis O of the lubricant supply member 61. It extends in the line direction. This means that the first electrode 67b extends in parallel with the short side when the solid lubricant 60 is viewed from the front (upper side in FIG. 10). The first electrode 67 b is embedded in the solid lubricant 60 and its length is slightly shorter than the length of the short side of the solid lubricant 60. The connecting portion 67a of the electrode member 67 may be formed to have the same width as the first electrode 67b as shown in FIG. 11B, or a width smaller than the first electrode 67b as shown in FIG. 11C. You may form in. In FIG. 10, the tip of the first electrode 67b is sharpened, but FIG. 11A illustrates the case where the tip of the first electrode 67b is a flat surface.

  As shown in FIG. 12A, it is necessary to provide a gap t between the guide surface of the guide member 64 and the guided surface of the lubricant holding member 62 in order to reduce sliding resistance. Due to the presence of the gap t, the lubricant holding member 62 is allowed to tilt, so that the solid lubricant 60 may be partially worn as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, when the area of the tip of the first electrode 67b is small, the first electrode 67b does not contact the second electrodes 61a and 71 even if the remaining amount of the solid lubricant 60 is not more than a specified value ( 12B), there is a possibility that the near end detection of the solid lubricant 60 may be hindered. On the other hand, by extending the first electrode 67b in a predetermined direction as shown in FIG. 10, even if the solid lubricant 60 is unevenly worn as shown in FIG. The second electrodes 61a and 71 can be brought into contact with each other.

  13 and 14 (a) and 14 (b) show another embodiment of the lubricating member 66. FIG. In this embodiment, the first electrode 67b is formed of a plane orthogonal to the pressing direction (A direction in the drawing) by the pressing mechanism 63 and a plane that obliquely intersects the rotation axis O of the lubricant supply member 61. It extends in the direction of intersection. This means that the first electrode 67b extends obliquely with respect to the short side when the solid lubricant 60 is viewed from the front (upper side in FIG. 13). In FIG. 14B, the connecting portion 67a of the electrode member 67 has the same width as that of the first electrode 67b. However, similarly to FIG. 11C, the connecting portion 67a has a width smaller than that of the first electrode 67b. Also good.

  In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, when the solid lubricant 60 is consumed and the first electrode 67 b is exposed to the sliding region S as shown in FIG. 15, the portion in sliding contact with the first electrode 67 b is used. Since the amount of lubricant supplied is small, there is a risk that the amount of lubricant applied in the corresponding region of the photoreceptor 2 (shown as a dotted pattern in FIG. 15) may be reduced, leading to an abnormal image. However, as shown in FIG. By extending the electrode 67b with respect to the oblique direction, uneven application of the lubricant can be reduced and such a problem can be prevented.

  In each of the above embodiments, the case where the elastic force of the elastic members 65 and 74 is used as the pressing mechanism 63 is exemplified. However, for example, a solid lubricant 60 is provided with a weight and acts on the weight. A configuration in which the lubricant 60 is brought into contact with the lubricant supply brush 61 by gravity may be employed. Alternatively, the lubricant 60 may be configured to contact the lubricant supply brush 61 by its own weight.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the solid lubricant 60 is formed of a non-conductive material is exemplified, but the solid lubricant 60 may have some conductivity. Even in such a configuration, since the energization amount (current amount) changes between when the first electrode 67b and the second electrodes 61a and 71 are not in contact with each other, the contact between the first electrode and the second electrode can be reliably recognized. It becomes possible.

  In each of the above embodiments, the case where the configuration of the present invention is applied to the lubricant supply device 6 that supplies the lubricant to the photosensitive member has been described as an example. It is also possible to apply the configuration of the present invention to a lubricant supply device that supplies a solid lubricant. Alternatively, the configuration of the present invention can be applied to an apparatus that supplies a lubricant to a lubricant supply target other than the photosensitive member or the transfer member. The image forming apparatus provided with the lubricant supply device according to the present invention is not limited to the color image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, but may be a monochrome image forming apparatus, a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, or a complex machine of these. May be.

1Y, 1C, 1M, 1Bk Process unit 2 Image carrier (photoconductor)
3 Charging device 4 Developing device 5 Cleaning device 6 Lubricant supply device 60 Solid lubricant 61 Lubricant supply member (lubricant supply brush)
61a Second electrode (core material)
61b Hair transplant body 62 Lubricant holding member 63 Press mechanism 64 Guide member 65 Elastic body 66 Lubricating member 67 Electrode member 67a Connection part 67b First electrode 68 Detection mechanism 69 Current collecting member 70 Detection part 71 Second electrode (energization part)
A Pressing direction of the pressing mechanism O Rotating shaft S of the lubricant supply member S Sliding area

JP-A-8-314346 JP 2010-271665 A

Claims (12)

Lubricating member including a solid lubricant, and a lubricant supplying member that contacts the solid lubricant and slides against the solid lubricant, and supplies the scraped solid lubricant to the lubricant supply target of the image forming apparatus. And a pressing mechanism for pressing the solid lubricant against the lubricant supply member, a first electrode and a second electrode, and solid lubrication from the change in the state of conduction between the first electrode and the second electrode accompanying consumption of the solid lubricant In a lubricant supply device comprising a detection mechanism for detecting that the remaining amount of the agent has reached a specified value,
Rutotomoni the first electrode provided in the lubricating member, a second electrode provided on the lubricant supply member,
The first electrode is embedded in the solid lubricant, and when the solid lubricant is consumed, the first electrode appears in a region that is in sliding contact with the lubricant supply member, and the first electrode is brought into contact with the second electrode. A lubricant supply device. The lubricant supply apparatus according to claim 1 which is adapted scraped off the solid lubricant by rotating the lubricant supply member. The lubricant supply device according to claim 2 , wherein the first electrode extends in a direction of intersection between a plane orthogonal to the pressing direction of the pressing mechanism and a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis of the lubricant supply member. The lubricant supply device according to claim 2 , wherein the first electrode extends in a direction of intersection between a plane orthogonal to the pressing direction of the pressing mechanism and a plane that obliquely intersects with the rotation axis of the lubricant supply member. The lubricant supply device according to any one of claims 2 to 4 , wherein the first electrodes are arranged at a plurality of locations separated in a rotation axis direction of the lubricant supply member, and the first electrodes are connected by a connecting portion. The lubricant supply member includes a flocked body having a large number of short fibers on the surface and a conductive core material, the detection mechanism is electrically connected to the core material, and energization is performed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The lubricant supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a detection unit that detects the above. The lubricant supply device according to claim 6, wherein the second electrode is formed of a core material of a lubricant supply member. The lubricant supply device according to claim 6 , wherein the flocked body of the lubricant supply member is provided with a current-carrying part having electrical conductivity and electrically connected to the core material, and the second electrode is constituted by the current-carrying part. A lubricant supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1-8, bearing the image, comprising at least an image bearing member as the lubricant supplying target, integrally attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body Process unit configured as possible. An image forming apparatus including a lubricant supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1-8. A lubricating member mounted on an image forming apparatus having a solid lubricant and a first electrode, the lubricant supplying member being in sliding contact with the solid lubricant, and a second electrode capable of energizing the first electrode. ,
A lubricating member characterized in that the first electrode is embedded in the solid lubricant, and the first electrode appears in a region that comes into sliding contact with the lubricant supply member when the solid lubricant is consumed. Lubricating member manufacturing method to be mounted on an image forming apparatus having a solid lubricant and a first electrode, and having a lubricant supply member in sliding contact with the solid lubricant and a second electrode capable of energizing the first electrode Because
A lubricant characterized by forming a solid lubricant including a hole having a shape corresponding to the first electrode, inserting the first electrode into the formed hole, and embedding the first electrode in the solid lubricant. Manufacturing method of member.

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