JPH02130576A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restrain the splash of toner from cleaner and developing parts by providing a developer splash preventing member almost parallel to a recording medium, and providing a magnet next to a cleaning means and above the splash preventing member. CONSTITUTION:In accompany with the movement of the recording medium 5, toner 1 is scraped by the rubbing of a conductive carbon brush 8' against the recording medium 5, and the scraped toner 1 drops onto a recording elec trode 4 and is again used for recording. Under the conditions, the splash preventing member 17 composed of flexible material is provided to prevent the toner 1 from splashing; additionally, a magnet 16 is placed a distance l1 away from the cleaning member 8 and a distance l2 away from the splash preventing member 17. And the splash preventing member 17 and the magnet 16 prevents the toner 1 from splashing. This minimizes the splash of toner from the cleaner and developing parts.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and in particular, a voltage is applied between a recording electrode consisting of a large number of recording elements and a recording medium, and multi-color The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a display device that attaches image forming particles (toner) to the recording medium.

(Prior art) Conventionally, as an image forming method for this type of device,
There is a method known from Publication No. 1-46707 and the like.

In this method, as shown in FIG. 7, conductive toner 1 is conveyed over a non-magnetic cylinder 3 by a rotating magnet 2 and passed over a recording electrode 4 made of a magnetic material. Then, a voltage is applied between the recording electrode 4 and the conductive layer 7 of the recording medium 5 having the insulating layer 6 on the surface thereof, and the toner 1 is attached to the recording medium 5 to form an image.

Further, as a further development of the above, a display device using the recording electrode 4 has been devised.

FIG. 8 shows the overall configuration of the device. In the same figure,
1 is a toner, 4 is a recording electrode, 5 is a recording medium, 8 is a cleaning member having a conductive carbon brush 8', 9 is a magnet, 10 is a toner container, 11 is a recording medium support member, 12
13 is a main body frame, and 13 is a recording control section.

The toner 1 may or may not adhere to the recording medium 5 depending on the signal voltage from the recording electrode 4, thereby forming an image. For example, if the signal voltage from the recording control section 13 is +
When 40V is applied, toner 1 adheres to recording medium 5,
An image is formed by the process of not adhering during OV.

After the image is formed and displayed, the recording medium 5 moves in the direction of the arrow, and the cleaning member 8 erases the image. The toner 1 scraped off from the recording medium 5 by the cleaning member 8 is supplied again onto the recording electrode 4 or the nonmagnetic cylinder 3 by free fall, and can be used for the next recording.

In this process, when the toner 1 falls from the cleaning member 8 or when the toner 1 is conveyed on the non-magnetic cylinder 3, the toner 1 scatters from near the end of the non-magnetic cylinder 3.

9 is a cross-sectional view of the developing device and its surroundings shown in FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a front view showing the same portion as shown in FIG. 8 with the recording medium 5 removed.

That is, when the toner 1 is conveyed, it is conveyed on the non-magnetic cylinder 3 along the direction of the arrow, and on the other hand, the flexible electrode substrate 19 is provided with through holes 15 necessary for the toner 1 to be conveyed. After passing through the through hole 15, it is carried onto the recording electrode 4.

Here, when the toner 1 is carried onto the recording electrode 4, the amount of toner that passes between the recording electrode 4 and the recording medium 5 is much smaller than the amount of toner supplied from the through hole 15, and the remaining amount The toner 1 stays near the recording electrode 4.

On the other hand, since the rotating magnet 2 is constantly rotating during recording, the toner remaining near the recording electrode 4
escapes into the gap under the influence of the conveying force of the rotating magnet 2.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 10, the toner 1 is often scattered in the lateral direction parallel to the non-magnetic cylinder 3 (the direction in which the belt 14 is located).

Further, the position of the cleaning member 8 and the developing section is such that after cleaning used toner, the toner is recovered to the developing section again under the influence of gravity. It is located higher up. In such a system, when the toner 1 falls from the cleaning member 8, the toner 1 scatters. While falling, some of the toner 1 floats and scatters, while others fall and collide with the toner 1 staying in the developing section and scatter.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Due to the mechanism described above, when the toner 1 scatters, it contaminates the drive system for conveying the recording medium 5 and rotating the rotating magnet 2 of the non-magnetic cylinder 3, and the toner 1 becomes clogged. There is also the problem that the electric resistance of the toner 1 is low, so if the scattered toner 1 adheres to the inside of the electric circuit, it may cause a short circuit and damage the electric circuit. There is.

The present invention attempts to solve these problems. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can prevent toner scattering as much as possible and that does not cause malfunction of the apparatus due to toner scattering.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a recording electrode comprising a large number of recording elements, a means for supplying a developer to the recording electrode, a drive circuit for applying a signal voltage to the recording electrode, and a drive circuit for applying a signal voltage to the recording electrode. In an image forming apparatus having a recording medium that moves relatively close to the recording electrode, and a cleaning means provided above the recording electrode, the developer scattering prevention member is disposed between the cleaning means and the recording medium at both ends of the developing device. The scattering prevention device is provided between the electrodes and is provided substantially parallel to the recording medium so as to be at the end on the recording electrode and the outer end of the cleaning device, and is adjacent to the cleaning device and prevents the scattering. A magnet was provided above the member.

(Function) According to the present invention, developer scattering prevention members are provided between the cleaning means at both ends of the developing device and the recording electrode, so that the developer scattering prevention members are provided at the ends above the recording electrodes and at the outer ends of the cleaning means. A magnet is provided almost parallel to the recording medium and adjacent to the cleaning means and above the scattering prevention member, so that it prevents toner from scattering from the cleaner part and the developing section. It can be suppressed as much as possible.

(Embodiment) FIGS. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention, that is, FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the area around the developing device, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the same portion with the medium 5 removed.

The image forming process of this first embodiment is as described above, and during cleaning, the toner 1 is removed by the rubbing between the conductive carbon brush 8° and the recording medium 5 as the recording medium 5 moves 8 times. It is scraped off and falls onto the recording electrode 4,
It will be used for recording again.

In such a situation, to prevent toner 1 from scattering,
A scattering prevention member 17 made of a flexible material (felt or sponge) is provided, and the magnet 16 is U, (O ~ 15 mm) from the cleaning member 8, and the scattering prevention member 1
It was installed 12 (o ~ 15 mm) apart from 7. If the u, JZ2 exceeds 15 ma+, the magnet 16 may not affect the toner 1, and the toner 1 will scatter from the gap.

Note that 18 shown in FIG. 1 is a motor, and 14 shown in FIG. 2 is a belt.

By doing as in the first embodiment, the scattering prevention member 17 and the magnet 16 can prevent the toner 1 from scattering.

3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the present invention. As mentioned above, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the area around the developing device, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the recording medium 5 of FIG. It is a front view showing the same part in a state where it is removed.

In this second embodiment, in order to further prevent the toner 1 from scattering above the cleaning member 8, the scattering prevention member 17
A scattering prevention member 17' made of the same material is provided above the cleaning member 8 and the magnet 16.

By doing so, it is possible to completely prevent the toner 1 from scattering.

5 and 6 show a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view around the developing device, and FIG.
The figure is a front view showing the same part of FIG. 5 with the recording medium 5 removed.

In this third embodiment, toner 1 is transferred from the recording electrode 4 to the lower part.
In order to prevent the scattering of the recording electrode 4, the scattering prevention member 17 and the electrode 4 are set to contact or overlap at the position indicated by P in FIG. 6, that is, at the end of the recording electrode 4.

By doing so, it is also possible to prevent the toner 1 from scattering downward from the recording electrode 4.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the developer scattering prevention member is provided between the cleaning means at both ends of the developing device and the recording electrode, and the developer is provided between the ends on the recording electrode and the cleaning means. Since the magnet is provided substantially parallel to the recording medium so as to be at the outer end of the member, and is provided adjacent to the cleaning means and above the scattering prevention member,
The scattering of toner from a part of the cleaner and the developing section can be suppressed as much as possible. Therefore, it is possible to prevent drive systems such as gears, conveyor belts, and motors from being contaminated by toner, and there is no need to clean the inside of the apparatus, and breakdowns of the machine body can also be prevented. Furthermore, stains on both sides of the displayed image are also prevented, allowing a high-quality image to be displayed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view showing the first embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is a front view with part of Figure 1 omitted, Figure 3 is a side sectional view showing the second embodiment of the invention, and Figure 4 is a side view of Figure 3 with part of it omitted. The front view shown in FIG. 5 shows the third aspect of the present invention.
6 is a front view with a part of FIG. 5 omitted, FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing an example of the conventional technology, and FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing the embodiment. 9 is a side sectional view showing another example, FIG. 9 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a part of FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a front view with part of FIG. 9 omitted. It is. 2...Rotating magnet 1...Toner 3...Non-magnetic cylinder 5...Recording medium 1...Recording medium support member 5...Through hole 16...Magnet 7.17°
...Scatter prevention member 4...Recording electrode 8...Cleaning member Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 1 Fig. 5 F, Toner 2.2 Magnet 3, Non-magnetic cylinder 4, Recording electrode 5.2 Recording medium 6 , dielectric layer 7.11 electric layer

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A recording electrode consisting of a large number of recording elements, means for supplying developer to the recording electrode, a drive circuit for applying a signal voltage to the recording electrode, and a In an image forming apparatus having a recording medium that moves cyclically and a cleaning means provided above the recording electrode, the developer scattering prevention member is provided between the cleaning means and the recording electrode at both ends of the developing device. The anti-scattering member is provided substantially parallel to the recording medium so as to correspond to an end on the recording electrode and an outer end of the cleaning means, and adjacent to the cleaning means and above the scattering prevention member. , an image forming apparatus characterized by being provided with a magnet.