JPH02120784A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive the prevention of agglutination of a toner by providing a vane-wheel consisting of an elastic body, and rotating it in the direction for carrying the toner, while bringing the tip of a vane into contact with a recovery roller and the bottom face of a housing. CONSTITUTION:A vane 8a of a vane-wheel 8 provided on a device 3 is formed by an elastic body of a polyester film, etc., brought to elastic deformation and comes into contact with a recovery roller 5 and the bottom plate of a housing 4, comes into contact lightly with or approaches the peripheral surface of a photosensitive drum 1 and rotates in the direction as indicated with an arrow. Accordingly, the greater part of a toner scraped down from the drum 1 by a cleaning blade 2 drops down onto the vane 8a, carried toward a contact part of the roller 5 and the vane-wheel 8, and the toner is discharged into a toner recovery chamber 3 and stored. In such a way, it is prevented that the toner leaks from between a seal member 7 and the drum 1 and scattered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for cleaning residual toner after transfer on a photoreceptor of an electrostatic recording device.

In electrostatic recording devices such as electrophotographic copying machines, laser printers, and facsimile machines, a toner image formed on a photoreceptor through an electrostatic photographic process is transferred to transfer paper and fixed, completing the recording. . However, after the transfer, untransferred toner remains on the photoreceptor, and the remaining toner is removed by a cleaning device provided in contact with the photoreceptor at the post-transfer position.

FIG. 7 shows a general configuration of a conventional cleaning device. In this cleaning device, a cleaning blade 2 made of an elastic material such as rubber is provided with its tip in contact with the photoreceptor drum 1, and residual toner scraped off from the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1 is removed by a toner collection chamber 3. The toner is transported into the toner collection chamber 3 by a collection roller 5 with a square or regular hexagonal cross section provided below the cleaning blade 2 in the housing 4 formed in the housing 4, and the toner adhering to the collection roller 5 is scraped off by a scraper 6. , the toner is stored in the toner collection chamber 3. A seal member 7 such as a polyester film is provided between the edge of the housing 4 of the toner recovery chamber 3 facing the photoreceptor drum and the surface of the photoreceptor drum. When pressed against the surface, the residual toner on the photoreceptor drum is scraped off and scattered into the machine, so the sealing member should be placed in such a way that the tip of the sealing member makes light contact with the surface so as not to obstruct the passage of the residual toner, or closes it at a small distance. It is set up to do so.

Therefore, the l scraped off by the cleaning blade 2
- If a part of the toner is not completely conveyed by the collection roller 5 and remains near the photoreceptor drum and accumulates, it leaks out of the housing 4 from between the tip of the sealing member 7 and the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 1 and enters the machine. There was a possibility of it being scattered.

In addition, the toner accumulated on the bottom surface of the housing 4 adheres due to the temperature and becomes difficult to remove from the surface of the housing 1, which prevents the toner from being conveyed to the toner recovery chamber and promotes accumulation of toner in the vicinity thereof. Toner also tends to adhere to the lower surface of the cleaning blade 2, and this L-toner may also adhere over time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems of conventional photoreceptor cleaning devices for electrostatic recording devices, the present invention provides a method for removing toner from between the edge of a waste toner collection chamber housing and the photoreceptor. Our first objective is to provide a cleaning device that can prevent toner from leaking and scattering inside the machine, and to prevent toner from adhering to the bottom of the housing of the waste toner collection chamber near the photoreceptor or to the bottom of the cleaning blade. A second object is to provide a cleaning device that can prevent the above problems.

In order to solve the above-mentioned first problem for the above-mentioned problem, the first invention provides a cleaning device having the above-mentioned structure, in which the tips of the blades are in contact with the collection roller and also in contact with the bottom surface of the housing of the toner collection chamber. The present invention is characterized in that a blade wheel is provided which cooperates with the collection roller and rotates between the two in a direction to transport the toner into the collection chamber, and has blades made of an elastic material.

In addition, in order to achieve the second problem, in the cleaning device having the above-described configuration, the collection roller is formed as a blade wheel having wings made of an elastic material, and the tips of the blades touch the bottom surface of the cleaning blade and the toner collection roller. It is characterized by being elastically in contact with the bottom surface of the housing of the chamber.

With the configuration of the first invention, most of the toner scraped off from the photoconductor by the cleaning blade falls onto the blades of the impeller, and the toner that falls onto the bottom of the housing falls on the blade of the impeller. The toner is scraped up by the blades, and as the impeller rotates, it is conveyed to the toner recovery chamber through the contact portion between the collection roller and the impeller, and is recovered in the toner recovery chamber. Therefore, toner is prevented from leaking between the housing and the photoreceptor and being scattered inside the machine.

According to the configuration of the second aspect of the invention, the blades of the first collection roller rotate resiliently in contact with the bottom surface of the cleaning blade and the bottom surface of the housing, so that the toner adhering to these surfaces is scraped off by the blades of the collection roller. Since the toner is transported toward the toner recovery chamber, the toner is prevented from adhering to the bottom surface of the cleaning blade and the bottom surface of the housing for a long period of time and being adhered due to heat. Furthermore, even if it adheres to the bottom surface of the housing, the elasticity and hardness of the blades will scrape it off, crush it, and transport it into the collection chamber by the blades.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the first invention is applied to the cleaning device previously explained with reference to FIG. 7. Therefore, members having the same function will be described with the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, a blade wheel 8 is provided which rotates in the same direction at the contact point with the collection roller 5, with the tips of the blades elastically contacting the collection roller 5 and the bottom surface of the housing 4. This is similar to the conventional cleaning device described above. The blades of the impeller 8 are made of an elastic material such as polyester film, and contact the recovery roller 5 and the housing bottom plate 4 with some elastic deformation, so as not to apply pressure to the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 1. , and rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow. The blade wheel 8 rotates in synchronization with the collection roller via gears provided at the shaft ends of the collection roller 5 and the blade wheel 8.

Therefore, most of the toner scraped off from the photoreceptor drum 1 by the cleaning blade 2 falls onto the gsa of the impeller 8, and as the impeller rotates, it is transferred to the contact area between the collection roller 5 and the impeller 8. The toner is conveyed, and the toner is discharged into the toner collection chamber 3 and stored therein by the cooperation of the collection roller 5 and the impeller 8.

Toner that falls between the blades of the impeller 8 and the photoreceptor drum 1 is picked up by the next blade, and even if it falls and accumulates on the bottom of the housing, it is removed by the rotating impeller in contact with the top surface of the housing bottom 4. Since the toner is conveyed by the blades toward the contact portion with the collection roller 5, the toner is prevented from leaking and scattering from between the seal member 7 protruding from the tip of the housing bottom 4 and the photosensitive drum 1.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the first invention, in which the collection roller 5 has a gear-like cross section, and the impeller 8 has rubber teeth shaped to mesh with the gear. Therefore, in this case, since the impeller 8 is driven by the recovery roller 5, no separate gear for transmitting the rotation of the recovery roller to the impeller 8 is required. Other operations are similar to those in FIG.

FIG. 3(a) is a diagram showing an embodiment of the second invention. In this embodiment, the collection roller 5 with a hexagonal cross section of the conventional cleaning device explained in FIG. 7 has a rubber impeller as shown in FIG. It is in resilient contact with the lower surface of the nigration blade 2 and the bottom surface of the toner collection chamber housing 4. Therefore, the toner scraped off the photoreceptor drum 1 by the cleaning blade 2 and falling onto the bottom surface of the housing 2 is crushed by being pressed by the tip of the blade 5a of the collecting roller 5, as shown in FIG.
As shown in Figure (b), the toner is wiped off by the blade 5a that presses against the bottom surface in the trailing direction, and the toner is recovered by the elastic restoring force when the tip of the blade 5a is separated from the housing bottom 4 as shown in No. 41M (C). It will be sent flying into the room and will definitely be recovered. As shown in FIG. 5, the toner adhering to the lower surface of the cleaning blade 2 is also wiped off by the tip of the blade 5a of the collecting roller 5 that is in pressure contact with the toner. This prevents toner from accumulating and adhering to those surfaces due to heat over time, and the toner can be reliably collected into the collection chamber.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, by making the shape of the blades of the collection roller 5 spiral, the contact with the bottom top surface of the housing can be kept constant, thereby eliminating load fluctuations on the photoreceptor drum, etc. Can be done.

East-1 As described above, according to the first invention, toner leakage from the cleaning device, scattering inside the machine, and toner falling on the image are prevented, and copy quality is improved, and the second invention According to the above, the life of the cleaning device is improved, resulting in stable quality and improved reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of an embodiment of the first invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of another embodiment of the first invention, and FIG.
a> is a sectional view showing the configuration of the embodiment of the second invention, and FIG.
b) is a perspective view showing a part of the collection port-ra; FIG.
), (b). (c) and FIG. 5 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation, FIG. 6 is a side view showing a modified embodiment of the collecting roller, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional cleaning device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Photoreceptor, 2...Cleaning blade, 3...Toner collection chamber, 4...Housing, 5...Collection roller, 5a...Blade, 8...Blade wheel, 8a. ...Wings (a) (b) (a) (b) (C)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A cleaning blade that contacts the photoreceptor on the downstream side of the transfer position, a collection roller located below the cleaning blade that conveys toner scraped off from the photoreceptor to a toner collection tank, and a housing that faces the photoreceptor. In a cleaning device for a photoconductor of an electrostatic recording device having a toner collection chamber whose edge is in contact with the photoconductor or is arranged with a slight gap, the tip of the blade is in contact with the collection roller and the toner collection chamber is A cleaning device comprising: a blade wheel made of an elastic material that contacts the bottom surface of the housing, rotates in a direction to transport toner into a collection chamber between the two in cooperation with a collection roller; (2) A cleaning blade that contacts the photoreceptor on the downstream side of the transfer position, a collection roller located below the cleaning blade that conveys toner scraped off from the photoreceptor to a toner collection tank, and a housing that faces the photoreceptor. In a cleaning device for a photoconductor of an electrostatic recording device having a toner collection chamber whose edge is in contact with the photoconductor or is arranged with a slight gap, the collection roller has a blade made of an elastic material. A cleaning device characterized in that it is formed as a wheel, and the tip of the blade resiliently contacts the lower surface of the cleaning blade and the bottom surface of the housing of the toner recovery chamber.