JPH02157859A - Color image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate maintenance by constituting a device such that a color process unit is nearly horizontally supported when an upper enclosure is opened. CONSTITUTION:An image carrier 30, developing devices 36 to 38 and a cleaning device 39, all of which compose a picture forming part C, are housed in an integral container, and supported as the color process unit 3 by the upper enclosure 1. Conversely, a paper feeding part D and a fixing device 45 are housed in a lower enclosure 2, and all of them form a recording paper carrying system together with the unit 3. When the enclosure 1 is opened, the carrying surface of a recording paper is completely opened to remove the unit 3. Since the unit 3 is nearly horizontally supported at this time, handling a jam and maintenance such as cleaning and checking can be facilitated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus whose main body can be divided into upper and lower halves.

[Background of the invention]

In order to facilitate maintenance work such as recording paper jam removal and daily cleaning/inspection, the main body of the device is divided into two halves on the recording paper transport surface, with the upper housing housing the image forming section and the upper housing housing the image forming section; A so-called Taramsiel type color image forming apparatus has been provided which is configured to be able to freely open and close a lower housing using an end as a fulcrum.

With this structure, by opening the upper housing, the recording paper transport surface can be completely opened, and various equipment related to image formation can also be pulled out of the housing, such as the image forming body, developing device, cleaning device, etc. There are some features that make cleaning and inspection work extremely easy.

[The problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, with the clamshell structure, the upper housing is tilted at a considerable angle when the lid is opened, so in the developing unit and cleaning device, there is a risk that the developer and collected toner may be unevenly distributed or leaked, and in extreme cases, it may fall. There is a problem of contaminating the inside of the equipment.

Regarding this point, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-2054,
A structure has been proposed that keeps the developing device and cleaning device horizontal when the lid of the upper case is opened, but this proposal does not guarantee that they are held horizontally during the opening of the lid, so it is still difficult to solve the above-mentioned problem. That's not enough.

As a result of solving this problem and improving the present invention, the present invention provides a color image forming apparatus configured such that the image forming equipment always maintains a horizontal state and moves upward at any angle while the upper housing is opened. The purpose is to

[Means for solving problems]

The above object is to provide a color image forming apparatus that can be divided and opened into an upper housing and a lower housing using one end as a pivot.
A color process unit integrally constructed including at least an image forming body and a plurality of developing devices is attached to the upper housing, and the color process unit is supported substantially horizontally when divided or opened. This is achieved by a color image forming apparatus characterized by the following configuration.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the invention are shown in FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 1 shows a color image forming apparatus, which is the subject of the present invention, which has a talam shell structure and is constructed so that each image forming equipment can be attached and detached as a color process unit.

The device consists of an openable upper cylindrical body 1 and a lower casing 2 placed on the floor, which are held together by a hinge IA and a stopper IB.

A laser writing system unit 1-B and an image forming section C are housed in the upper housing 1, and an image reading system unit A is mounted and integrated on top of the unit 1-B.

Image forming body 30 and charger 35 that constitute the image forming section C
, each developer 36, 37 and 38, cleaning device 3
9 is housed in an integrated container and supported by the upper housing 1 as a color process unit 3.

On the other hand, the lower housing 2 includes a recording paper feed section D and a transfer pole. 10,
A separation pole 43, a fixing device 45, etc. are housed therein, and together with the color process unit 3, it forms a recording paper conveyance system. Therefore, when the upper housing l is opened, the recording paper transport surface is completely opened, and at the same time the color process unit 3 is opened.
It has a structure that allows it to be removed, making maintenance work such as jam removal, cleaning, and inspection easy.

In the color image forming apparatus, a color image is formed by a superposition method as described below.

In the image reading system unit A, reference numeral 11 denotes a document table, and the document placed on the document table 11 is illuminated by a halogen lamp 13 attached to a carriage I2 that slides in the horizontal direction. Mirrors I6 and 17 are attached to the movable mirror unit 15, which also slide in the horizontal direction, and in combination with the mirror 14 attached to the carriage 12, transmit the optical image of the document to the image reading section 22. Derive.

The carriage 12 and the movable mirror unit 15 are connected to a stepping motor by wires (both not shown).
They are driven through the motors and slid in the same direction at speeds of 1 and 1/2V, respectively.

When the image reading unit 22 reads a document placed on the document table 11, color separation is performed via the filter 9. The filter 9 includes, for example, a filter R1, a filter G1, a filter B1, and a filter ND.
When reading a document, reading is performed after passing any one of them. To select a filter, the filter 9 is moved in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1 by moving the filter selection device.

Note that filter R, filter G1, and filter B are filters that allow red light, green light, and blue light to pass through, respectively, and filter ND is a neutral filter that matches human vision and allows all three color lights to pass through.

The image signal outputted from the image reading section 22 is processed by the signal processing section, and outputted as a color signal separated into corresponding colors of l and ner, and inputted to the laser writing system unit B.

In the laser writing system unit L-B, a laser beam generated by a semiconductor laser (not shown) is rotated and scanned by a polygon mirror 32 rotated by a drive motor 31, passes through an fθ lens 33, and is bent in an optical path by a mirror 34. The light is projected onto the circumferential surface of the image forming body 30 to which a charge has been previously applied by the charger 35 to form a bright line.

On the other hand, when scanning is started, the beam is detected by the index sensor, modulation of the beam by the first color signal is started, and the modulated beam scans the circumferential surface of the image forming body 30. Therefore, a latent image corresponding to the first color is formed on the peripheral surface of the image forming body 30 by the main scanning by the laser beam and the sub scanning by the rotation of the image forming body 30.

This latent image is produced by the developer 3 loaded with yellow (Y) toner.
6 to form a toner image on the drum surface. The obtained toner image is separated from the surface of the image forming body 300 while being held on the drum surface by the cleaning device 3
9 and enters the next copy cycle.

That is, the image forming body 30 is charged again by the charger 35, and then the second color signal output from the signal processing section is input to the writing system unit) B, and in the case of the first color signal described above, Writing is performed on the drum surface in the same manner as described above, and a latent image is formed. The latent image is developed by a developer 37 loaded with magenta (M) toner as a second color.

This magenta (M) toner image is formed in the presence of the previously formed yellow (Y) toner image.

Reference numeral 38 denotes a developing device having a toner (C), which forms a toner image (C) on the drum surface based on a control signal generated by a signal processing section.

A bias with a direct current or an alternating current superimposed thereon is applied to the sleeves of these developing units 36, 378, and 38, and jumping development is performed using a two-component developer serving as a developing means, and the grounded image forming body 30 is Development is now possible without contact.

The color image thus formed on the circumferential surface of the image forming body 30 is transferred at the transfer pole 40 onto the upper surface of the recording paper conveyed from the paper feed section. Note that only one sheet of the conveyed recording paper is fed by the cutting roller 41 or via the paper feed roller 42 in synchronization with the timing of transfer.

Next, the recording paper onto which the color image has been transferred is separated from the drum circumferential surface at the separation pole 43 and transferred to the fixing device 4 via the conveyor belt 44.
5 and is ejected.

On the other hand, the image forming body 30 from which the recording paper has been separated is connected to the blade 39A of the cleaning device 39 and the cleaning roller 3.
The blade 39A comes into contact with the drum 9B to remove the remaining toner, and after waiting for the completion of the removal, the blade 39A separates from the drum surface again and begins a new color image forming process.

On the other hand, to explain the configuration of the apparatus, the color image forming apparatus is configured so that the upper housing 1 can be rotated with respect to the lower housing 2 via a hinge IA as shown in FIG. The color process unit 7 is connected through a plate, and the color process unit 7 is held by an upper housing l and a link plate. Thereby, the color process unit 3 can be moved upward while always being maintained in a horizontal state at any angle when the upper housing 1 and the lid are opened or at any angle during the opening.

FIG. 3 is a main part diagram showing changes in the position of the color process unit 3 due to the upper housing 1 and the link plate described above.

In the figure, 3A and 3B are support pins installed on the side surfaces of the color process unit 3, and IC is a U-shaped bottle holder installed inside the upper housing 1, and the support pins 3
The bearing supports A.

50 is a link plate, 50A is a guide wall protruding from the inner surface of the link plate 50, and 50B is a grooved cam surrounded by the guide wall 50A. It has a specific shape and slidably engages the support pin 3B.

51 is a rotating shaft that rotatably supports the upper end of the link plate 50, and is fixed to the inner side of the upper housing l, while 52 is a roller rotatably attached to the lower end of the link plate 50;
Further, reference numeral 2A denotes a grooved cam formed on the inner side of the lower housing 2, which has a specific shape similar to the grooved cam 50B, and the grooved cam 2A holds and supports the roller 52 in a rolling manner. .

The link plate 50, the grooved cam 2A, the support pins 3A and 3B, and the pin receiver IC are provided at symmetrical positions on both sides of the color process unit 3, respectively.

When the upper housing l is integrated with the lower housing 2 by locking with the stopper IB, the color process unit 3
is the position regulation of the support pin 3A by the pin receiver IC, and
By placing it on the stopper 2B, it is maintained at a predetermined setting position with high precision, and the above-described color image formation is executed.

When the locking by the stopper IB is released and the upper casing l is rotated counterclockwise, it is opened and held at the angle shown by the dashed line by the action of a support device (not shown), and the link plate 50 is The roller 52 at the lower end is moved to the right end of the grooved cam 2A to raise the grooved cam 50B and move it upward. Therefore, as shown by the dashed line, the color process unit 3 moves upward under the position regulation of the support pin 3A by the pin receiver Ic and the position regulation of the support pin 3B by the groove cam 50B, even when the lid is closed. It is kept in a similar horizontal position.

Further, in the open position of the upper housing 1, the color process unit 3 can be removed while maintaining a horizontal state by letting the support pins 3A and 3B escape from the pin receiver 1C and the notch 50C of the groove cam 50A, respectively.

Therefore, the developer in each developing device and the cleaning device 39 and 1
Jam removal and equipment maintenance work can be performed without causing unevenness of the henna or causing it to leak outside.

Furthermore, by selecting the respective shapes of the grooved cam 2A and the grooved cam 50B in a correlated manner, it becomes possible to maintain the horizontal holding of the color process unit 3 even while the upper housing 1 is being opened.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a transfer drum type color image forming apparatus.

As in the previous example, the upper housing 102 can be divided into two parts, and the upper housing 102 can be divided into two parts, which are connected by a link.The structure is such that the collar 70 access unit 103 is supported by the links and the upper housing 102. ing.

The lower housing 102 includes a paper feeding system, a paper ejection system, and a transfer drum 1.
60 and its peripheral equipment are incorporated, and the upper housing 10
When the lid of 1 is closed, the peripheral surface of the image forming body 130 housed in the color process unit 103 is in contact with the transfer drum 160, but when the top housing 101 is opened, the color process unit 103 changes its position upward while remaining horizontal, and the transfer drum +60
The peripheral surface of the can be opened.

In the case of this embodiment, the color process unit 103 is supported while being positionally regulated by the pin receiver 101C of the upper housing 101 and the groove cam 150B of the link plate 150 via support pins 103A and 103B, respectively. Always kept horizontal.

Note that the developing device may include a developing device containing black toner.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, jam removal and maintenance work can be easily performed, and as a result, the unevenness of developer that tends to occur during such work is prevented from leaking to the outside, and as a result, maintenance inspections are thorough and image quality is always maintained. A color image forming apparatus capable of producing excellent copies has now been provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are cross-sectional configuration diagrams of a color image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing its lid opening mechanism, and FIG. 4 is an outline of a transfer type color image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. figure. 1401... Upper casing IA, l0IA... Hinge 1B, l01B... Stopper 1c, 101. c・
...Pin receiver 2.102...Lower housing 2A, 102A, 50B, 150B...Groove cam 2B
, 102B...Stopper 3.103...Color process unit 3A, 3B,
103A, l03B...Support pin 30.130/Image forming body 50.150...Link board 160...Transfer drum

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a color image forming apparatus that can be divided and opened into an upper housing and a lower housing using one end as a pivot, a color process unit that is integrally configured and includes at least an image forming body and a plurality of developing devices is used. 1. A color image forming apparatus, wherein the color image forming apparatus is attached to an upper housing and is configured such that the color process unit is supported substantially horizontally when divided or opened.