JPH01277879A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To expand a toner recovery container according to the storage amount of a developer, and to store the developer up to the inner part of the toner recovery container and increase the storage amount by forming the toner recovery container by using a bellows which can be adjusted by expansion according to the storage amount of the developer. CONSTITUTION:The developer is stored in the toner recovery container installed so that its opening part 41 is coupled detachably with a discharge opening 35, and the bellows 43 which can be adjusted by expansion according to the storage amount of the developer is used for the toner recovery container. Thus, the toner recovery container is expanded according to the storage amount of the developer which is sent out of a device main body and discharged from the discharge opening 35 by a recovery auger 34, so the developer can be stored up to the inner part of the toner recovery container. Consequently, the storage amount of the developer can be increased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Purpose of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a cleaning device installed in an image forming apparatus such as an electronic copying machine, a laser printer, etc. The present invention relates to a cleaning device that has an improved means for cleaning and recovering developer remaining on the surface.

(Prior Art) In recent years, blade type cleaning devices, which are simple in structure and inexpensive, have been frequently used as cleaning devices incorporated in image forming apparatuses such as electronic copying machines and laser printers.

Conventionally, in this type of cleaning device, as shown in FIG. 6, a developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) T remaining on a photoreceptor a, which is an image carrier, after a developed image is transferred is removed.
The toner T is scraped off by a cleaning blade C made of an elastic body provided on the main body of the apparatus, and the scraped toner T is collected into the main body of the apparatus, and the collected toner T is further transferred to the photoconductor by a collecting auger d. a, and as shown in FIG.
The toner collection container f is configured such that it can be housed in a square box-shaped toner collection container f made of plastic that is removably connected to the toner collection container f.

In such a cleaning device, the discharge port e protruding from the device main body hangs down, and the mouth g of the toner collection container f connected to the discharge port e is also formed vertically. It is.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Therefore, the toner T falling from the discharge port e through the mouth g of the toner collection container f is transferred to the flat inner bottom surface 11 corresponding to the mouth directly below the mouth g of the toner collection container f. The toner T is accumulated in a pile and is not conveyed to the depths of the toner collection container f.
Not only is there a small capacity in the toner collection container f, but the toner detection means (not shown) is likely to cause a malfunction in which a "recovery toner full" alarm is displayed before the toner collection container f is full. .

The present invention has been made under the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a cleaning device that can reliably store collected toner deep inside a toner collection container. be.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method for removing the developer remaining on the image bearing member after image transfer by contacting and separating it from the surface of the image bearing member. A rotating cleaning blade scrapes and cleans the developer and collects it inside the apparatus main body, and the collected developer is conveyed along the axial direction of the image carrier with a collection auger, thereby sending it out of the apparatus main body. M! is discharged from the discharge port, and the mouth portion is removably connected to the discharge port. The developer is stored in two toner collection containers, and the toner collection container is formed into a bellows whose extension can be adjusted according to the amount of developer stored.

(Function) That is, by having the above configuration, the present invention has the following features:
The toner collection container is extended according to the amount of developer that is fed into the outside of the device body by the collection auger and discharged from the discharge port, so the developer can be stored deep inside the toner collection container. , it becomes possible to increase the amount of developer accommodated.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings shown in FIGS. 1 to 5.

FIG. 4 shows the internal structure of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus equipped with a cleaning device according to the present invention.
is the main body of the copying machine. A paper feed cassette 2 capable of automatic or manual paper feeding is mounted on the right side of the copying machine main body 1, and a paper discharge tray 3 is mounted on the left side.

A document table 4 that is movable back and forth in the left-right direction (direction of arrow a) is provided on an upper document placement plate on which a document (not shown) is placed.

A drum-shaped photoreceptor 10 serving as an image carrier is arranged approximately in the center of the copying machine main body so that it can be rotated in the direction of the arrow in synchronization with the document table 4 by a drive mechanism (not shown). The photoreceptor 10 is uniformly charged by a charging charger 11 and transmits an original image irradiated by an exposure lamp 12 to a focusing light transmitting member (product name: SELFOC lens array) 13 constituting an optical system device. to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 10.

A non-magnetic component toner T is supplied and adhered to this electrostatic latent image by a developing device 14 to develop it, and an image of this developer (hereinafter referred to as a toner image) is sent to a transfer charger 15 side.

The transfer charger 15 transfers a toner image onto copy paper P made of plain paper as a recording paper that is fed from a paper feed cassette 2 that is automatically or manually fed via a paper feed roller 16 and a pair of aligning rollers 17 and 17. The copy paper P after the transfer is peeled off from the photoreceptor 10 by a peeling charger 18 using AC corona discharge, passed through a conveying path 19, the toner image is melted and fixed by a fixing device 20, and then transferred to a discharge roller pair. 21.21, the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 3.

On the other hand, the residual toner on the photoreceptor 10 after the toner image is transferred to the copy paper P and peeled off is cleaned by a cleaning device 30, which will be described later, and the electric potential on the photoreceptor IQ is kept at a certain level by a static elimination lamp 22. The following procedure enables the next copy operation.

The copying machine main body 1 also includes an upper frame resistor (not shown), a photoreceptor 10, a charger 11, an exposure lamp 12, a focusing light transmitter 13, a cleaning device fi? 130, a static elimination lamp 22, a developing device 14, and other devices are assembled by appropriate means to form a two-part unit. On the other hand, a transfer charger 15, a peeling charger 18, and a fixing device 20 are mounted on a lower frame (not shown). The lower unit 1b is constructed by attaching devices such as a pair of ejection rollers 21 and 21, and other mechanisms such as a power supply unit (not shown), respectively, and both units are used to transport copy paper P as shown in FIG. They are pivotally supported so that they can be opened and closed at a desired angle (for example, 30 degrees) with the passage 19 as a boundary, thereby facilitating repairs, inspections, etc.

And, the cleaning device 30 according to the present invention is as follows.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cleaning blade 32 made of an elastic material such as urethane rubber is oscillated in the inner upper part 1 of the apparatus main body 31 that supports the photoreceptor 1o loaded in the copying machine main body 1. This main blade 32 is rotatably supported on a shaft.

A force is always applied toward the photoreceptor 10 so that it can be contacted,
While the toner T remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor 1o after transfer is scraped off, a recovery blade 33 is provided at the inner lower part thereof. This recovery blade 33 guides the toner T scraped off by the main blade 32 to be recovered to the inner bottom of the apparatus main body 31, and this recovered toner T is transferred to the apparatus main body 31.
By rotating a collection auger 34 disposed at the inner bottom of the photoreceptor 1, the photoreceptor 10 is transferred in the axial direction of the front side of the photoreceptor 10, thereby sending the photoreceptor 10 into a discharge port 35 protruding outside the main body 31 of the apparatus. .

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the discharge port 35 protruding outside the device main body 31 is provided with an inclination toward the lower right, and a connecting fitting groove 35 is formed on the opening edge of the discharge port 35. is formed in the shape of a flange, and a flange portion 42 of the mouth portion 41 of the toner collection container 40, which is detachably held on the side surface outside the device main body 31, is provided with a seal ring made of urethane or the like. 5o, they are force-fitted from the horizontal direction and are connected to each other.

That is, the mouth portion 41 of the toner collection container 40 is inclined downwardly and to the right at the same angle as the discharge port 35, and has a body portion 40a formed into a bellows 43, and a finger hook portion 44. Form 45.

As shown by the two-dot broken line in FIG. 2, the elongation: A adjustment is performed according to the amount of toner T that is accommodated, which is sent out of the apparatus main body 31 by the collection auger 34 and discharged from the discharge port 35.

This makes it possible to accommodate the entire area uniformly.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made to the WA without changing the gist of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the developer remaining on the image carrier after image transfer can be reduced.

Scraping and cleaning the surface of the image carrier with a cleaning blade that rotates toward and away from the surface of the image carrier, collecting the developer into the apparatus main body, and transporting the collected developer along the axial direction of the image carrier with a recovery auger. The toner is sent out of the apparatus main body and discharged from the discharge port, and the developer is stored in a toner collection container installed with its mouth removably connected to the outlet.

Since the toner collection container is formed into a bellows whose extension can be adjusted according to the amount of developer stored, the amount of developer that can be stored is sent out of the apparatus main body by the collection auger and discharged from the discharge port. Since the toner collection container is extended according to the toner collection container, the developer can be stored deep inside the toner collection container, and can be stored uniformly throughout the container, increasing the amount of developer that can be stored. It is possible to provide a cleaning method with excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional side view showing the connection state between the toner discharge port of the main body of the device and the mouth of the toner collection container. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the connection state between the toner discharge port of the apparatus main body and the mouth of the toner collection container, and FIG. 4 is the interior of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus equipped with a cleaning device according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the open and closed states of the upper and lower units of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the main parts of a conventional cleaning device. , and FIG. 7 are explanatory diagrams showing the connection state between the toner discharge port of the conventional apparatus main body and the section [ ] of the toner collection container. 1o... Image carrier (drum-shaped photoreceptor), 30... Cleaning device, 31... Apparatus main body, 32... Cleaning blade. 34...Recovery auger, 35...Discharge port, 36...Connection fitting groove, 10...Tonneau collection storage:::(, 40a...Body part, 41...Mouth part, 42...flange part, 43...
·bellows. T...Developer (toner). Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takeshi Suzue Industry 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] After image transfer, the developer remaining on the image carrier is scraped off with a cleaning blade that rotates toward and away from the surface of the image carrier, and collected into the main body of the apparatus. By transporting the image carrier along the axial direction, the toner is sent out of the apparatus main body and discharged from the discharge port, and is placed in a toner collection container installed with its mouth removably connected to the discharge port. 1. A cleaning device, characterized in that the toner collection container is formed into a bellows shape that accommodates developer and is adjustable in extension depending on the amount of developer accommodated.