JPH02165165A - Color image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To safely and surely attach and detach respective equipment and materials with an easy operation by constituting a processing unit so that it can be pulled out vertically to the axial direction of a photosensitive drum after opening. CONSTITUTION:The photosensitive drum 30, an electrostatic charger 35, respective developing devices 36-38 and a cleaning device 39 which constitute an image forming part C are housed in an integrated container and mounted in an upper housing 1 as the color processing unit 3. In such a case, the processing unit 3 can be pulled out vertically to the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 30 after opening. Namely, the color processing unit 3 slides obliquely downward by making a rail member 300 engage with a guiding member 200 and is housed in the upper housing 1. Then, it abuts on a stopper and is supported and locked at a specified position by making a notched part provided on one rail 300b of the rail member 300 engage with a hook member. By opening the cover of the upper housing 1, the conveying surface of a recording paper is opened and the respective equipment and materials of the image forming part C are safely and surely attached and detached.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus in which a main body of the apparatus is divided into upper and lower halves so that a recording paper conveying surface can be opened.

[Background of the invention]

This collar has a so-called clamshell structure, in which the main body of the device is divided into two upper and lower casings, and the upper casing can be opened and closed freely to facilitate maintenance and clearing jams of recording paper being transported inside the device. An image forming apparatus is provided.

In such devices, the equipment for the exposure light system and the image forming section is housed in the upper housing, and the equipment for the paper feed/delivery system and conveyance system is housed in the lower housing. Recording can be performed by opening the lid of the upper housing. The structure is such that the paper conveyance surface can be opened over a wide range.

Therefore, in such an apparatus, it is possible to easily clear the jammed recording paper by opening the upper housing, but each equipment such as the photoreceptor drum, developing unit, cleaning device, etc. that makes up the image forming section needs to be removed from the upper part during maintenance. It is removed from the casing.

For this reason, in order to handle the image forming section as a unit, and because each component of the image forming section requires precision in their relative position, they are usually housed in an integrated cartridge and can be installed and removed within the upper housing as a process unit. The format is such that it can be stored as much as possible.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, since the process unit is large and heavy, it is not easy to safely remove it from the upper case with the lid open without contacting other machines, and to reinstall it. When installing, it is necessary to pay attention to restoring it to the predetermined setting position.

The present invention solves this problem and improves the problem, and aims to provide a color image forming apparatus which can be safely and reliably attached to and detached from an upper housing with a process unit and a simple operation.

[Means for solving problems]

The purpose of L2 is to form a color image, which consists of an upper casing and a lower casing, which move a process unit containing a photosensitive drum and a plurality of developing units upward each time they are opened perpendicular to the axial direction of the photosensitive drum. This is achieved by a color image forming apparatus characterized in that the process unit is configured to be able to be pulled out perpendicularly to the axial direction of the photoreceptor drum after being opened.

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

FIG. 1 shows a color image forming apparatus which has a talam shell structure and which is the object of the present invention, and is constructed so that each image forming equipment can be attached and detached as a unit using Colorzo 11 Sesconite.

The device consists of a two-part casing 1 that can be opened and a lower casing 2 fixed on the floor, which are held together by a butterfly #lA and a stopper IB.

A laser writing system unit 1-B is housed in the upper casing 1, and an image reading system unit A is placed and integrated in the second part of the upper casing 1.

Photosensitive drum constituting the image forming section C::0, band [
The container 35, the developing devices 36, 37 and 38, and the cleaning device 39 are housed in a container 4.1 and attached to the upper housing 1 as the color processing unit 3.

On the other hand, the lower housing 2 includes a recording paper feeding section D1 turning η pole 40,
A separation pole 43, a fixing device 45, etc. are housed therein, and together with the lower surface of the color process unit 3 housed in the housing 1, it forms a recording paper conveyance system.

Therefore, when the upper housing l is opened, the recording paper conveying surface is opened.

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

In the image reading system UNISO 1-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 12 that slides in the horizontal direction. Mirrors 16 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).
, and are slid in the same direction at speeds of V and l/2V, respectively.

W placed on the document table 11 by the image reading unit 22;
When reading the product, color separation is performed via the filter 9. The filter 9 includes, for example, a filter R1, a filter G1, a filter B, and a filter ND.
When reading a document, one of them must be passed through17.1
& read line). To select a filter, move the filter selection device in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG.

Filter R, filter G, and filter B are filters that pass red light, green light, and blue light, respectively, and filter ND is a bicoatral filter that matches human vision and passes all three color lights. be.

The image signal output from the image reading section 22 is processed in a signal processing section and output as a color signal separated according to the color of the toner, and then sent to the laser writing system 1.
It is input to Nitsu l-B.

In the laser writing system unit B, a laser beam 1 generated by a semiconductor laser (not shown) is rotated and scanned by a polygon mirror 32 rotated by a drive motor 31, and an optical path is changed by a mirror 34 through an rθl-lens 33. The light is bent and projected onto the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 30 to which a charge has been previously applied by a charger '(i, 6; -1, -) 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 is transferred to the photoreceptor drum 30.
scan the circumferential surface of the Therefore, a latent image corresponding to the first color is formed on the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 30 by main scanning by the laser beam and sub-scanning by the rotation of the photoreceptor drum 300.

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 passes under the cleaning device 39, which is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 while being held on the drum surface, and enters the next copy cycle.

That is, the photosensitive drum 30 is charged again by the charger 35, and then the second
The color signal is input to the writing system unit B, and writing is performed on the drum surface to form a latent image in the same manner as in the case of the first color signal described above. 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.

A developing device 38 has cyan (C) toner, and forms a cyan (C) toner image 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, 37, and 38, and jumping development is performed using a two-component developer serving as a developing means. Development is now possible without contact.

The color image thus formed on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 30 is transferred at the transfer pole 40 onto the upper surface of the recording paper conveyed from the paper feed section. Note that the conveyed recording paper is passed through the separating roller 41 so that only one sheet is transferred to the paper feed roller 42.
The paper is fed with the transfer timing synchronized through the 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, on the photosensitive drum 30 from which the recording paper has been separated, the blade 39A of the cleaning device 39 and the cleaning roller 39B contact each other to remove the remaining toner, and wait until the blade 39A is separated from the drum surface again. A new color image formation process begins.

On the other hand, to explain the configuration of the apparatus, the color image forming apparatus rotates the upper casing l with respect to the lower casing 2 via the hinge IA to open the lid to the angle shown in FIG. 2 to convey the recording paper. It has a structure in which the surface is completely opened, and in this state, the color process unit 3 can be moved in parallel in the six directions of arrows to be separated and pulled out from the upper housing l.

As a result, the photoreceptor drum 30, the developing device 36.37.3
8. The cleaning device 39 etc. can be cleaned and inspected easily.

When drawing out the color process unit 3 from the upper housing 1, each developing device has its opening facing upward, so that it can be safely removed without the developer flowing out.

FIG. 3(a) shows a mechanism for storing and supporting the color process unit 3 in the upper housing 1, and FIG. 3(b) shows a side view thereof in the direction of arrow B.

The color process unit 3 has a rail member 300 with a symmetrical L-shaped cross section parallel to each other, a rail 300A and a rail 300B as shown in FIG. The guide member 200 is provided in correspondence with the rail member 300, with symmetrical guides 200^ and 200B having a U-shaped cross section arranged in parallel on the inner surface of the back.

A release lever 401 biased counterclockwise by a tension spring 403 is pivotally attached to the same inner surface, and the tip of a hook member 400 rotatably attached to one end of the release lever 401 guides one of the guide members 200. It engages with the hole 200B and its sliding surface protrudes. The release lever 4 is rotated by a knob 402 at the other end within a range sandwiched between a pair of stop bins 404.

The color process unit 3 engages the rail member 300 with the guide member 200, slides diagonally downward, is housed in the upper casing 1, and comes into contact with the stopper 2A [one rail 300B of the two-rail part shrine 300]. The notch 3 formed in the hook member 400 is engaged with the hook member 400 to be supported and locked in a predetermined position.

At this position 4, the gear G2 provided on the same axis of the photoreceptor drum 30 meshes with the drive gear G1 of the power system provided at a fixed position on the upper casing l [7] The power transmission system is connected and is shown at the same time. The connectors that are not connected are connected, power is connected, and power and electric power can be supplied to each of the equipment constituting the color process unit 3.

On the other hand, when the gap lever 401 is rotated clockwise by the knob 402, the hook member 400 is moved to the rail member 30.
0 is released, the color process unit 3 can slide diagonally to the upper left, that is, in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2, and move in parallel.
0 from the guide member 200, it becomes possible to separate and remove a portion of the color process unit 21 from the body 1. Note that the work can be made easier if two handles are provided on the top surface of the unit.

Figure 4 shows how the present invention is applied to the transfer Drano 5, Mr.'s color ~ image with 1 unit of color forming device. (1, -1 Part of the housing 1011 Kohagai Part 1
300 and a hook member (not shown) are provided to accommodate said force 2.
) - It is possible to remove the upper housing 1 (11) by sliding the brochure r7 sescott l-103 at an angle, thereby opening the recording paper conveyance surface on the circumference of the transfer module 160. I can do it.

Although each of the above embodiments has been described with reference to the case where the upper casing is opened clockwise, the present invention can also be applied to a color image forming apparatus where one part of the casing is opened counterclockwise. It is possible to apply .

Further, the present invention can also be applied as a colorab+7(*s unit) including four developing units by adding a developing unit having black 1, s, and -.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention provides a method for safely and reliably attaching and detaching each machine t'4 of the image forming section without causing developer to flow out, in addition to opening the upper housing to open the recording paper conveying surface. As a result, a color image forming apparatus has been provided which can be well maintained such as jam removal and maintenance, and can always fully demonstrate its functions and performance.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are cross-sectional configuration diagrams of a color image forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are explanatory diagrams of the attachment mechanism of the color process unit in the apparatus and its essential parts. 4 are schematic diagrams of a transfer drum type color image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. t, ioi...upper casing IA, 1olA...
Hinge 1B, l0IB...stop metal fitting 2.102・
・Lower housing 3.103・Color process unit 30.130・Photosensitive drum 200.1200・
...Guide members 20OA, 200B...Guide
300.1300...Rail member 30OA, 30
0B...Rail 301...Notch 400...
Hook member 401...Release lever G1. G2・
··gear

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a color image forming apparatus consisting of an upper casing and a lower casing, which are opened perpendicularly to the axial direction of the photoreceptor drum to move a process unit including a photoreceptor drum and a plurality of developing devices upward, A color image forming apparatus characterized in that the process unit is configured to be pulled out perpendicularly to the axial direction of the photoreceptor drum.