JPH02171762A - Color image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily attach/detach a process unit by constituting a device such that a photosensitive body can be pulled out in a drum shaft direction under a condition that the process unit including the photosensitive drum and plural developing units is opened. CONSTITUTION:After the photosensitive drum 30, the developing units 36 to 38, a cleaning device 39, etc., are integrally formed as a cartridge capable of housing all of them, a multi-color processing unit 3 is attached to an upper enclosure 24A, which is opened by using a turning shaft 2C provided on an inner part with respect to a lower enclosure 24B, as a fulcrum. Rails 4A are provided on both sides of the multi-color processing unit 3, while guide rails 4B corresponding to the rails 4a are provided inside an upper enclosure 2A. The rails 4A can be inserted in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 30 with respect to the guide rails 4B. Thus, the processing unit is easily attached/detached.

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]

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

Such devices generally have an upper casing and a lower casing connected by a hinge on either the left or right side, and the upper casing is opened by rotating the upper casing laterally.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

When such an apparatus is constructed, the opening of the side near the hinge is naturally small, so the opening angle of the upper casing must be made quite large in order to sufficiently open the conveying surface.

Furthermore, in order to facilitate maintenance work, color image forming apparatuses often use a format in which the photoreceptor and developing device are housed in an integrated cartridge that can be removably housed as a process unit, and in this case, the membrane is also safe and reliable. Since it is easy to operate, the process unit is inserted into and removed from the upper case parallel to the front using a guide rail. It needs to be large.

However, if the upper case lid is opened at an extremely wide angle, the process unit will be placed high and tilted significantly, making it difficult to attach and remove the process unit. The agent may leak out and stain the inside of the device or the recording paper.

As a result of solving this problem and improving the present invention, even if the opening of the upper housing is limited to a relatively small angle, the conveying surface can be sufficiently opened, and the process unit can be easily opened without causing developer leakage. The purpose of this invention is to provide a color image forming apparatus that can be inserted into and removed from a computer.

[Means for solving problems]

The purpose of the upper part is to have a structure in which the feeding direction of recording paper is left and right, and the upper housing is opened from the front side with the back side of the lower housing as a rotation axis, and includes at least a photoreceptor drum and a plurality of developing devices. This is achieved by a color image forming apparatus in which the unit is attached to an upper housing, and in an open state, the photoreceptor can be pulled out in the direction of the drum axis.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the invention are shown in FIGS. 1-5.

As a multicolor image forming method in this embodiment, a multicolor image forming method using a toner overlapping development method disclosed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-75850 and the like is used.

Figure 1 shows the main components of a color image forming apparatus, in which A is an image reading system, B is a laser writing system,
Further, C is an image forming section, D is a paper feeding section, and a color image is formed by the following process.

In the reading system A, 11 is a yK manuscript table;
1 is illuminated by a halogen lamp 13 attached to a carriage 12 that slides horizontally. 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 I4 attached to the carriage 12, transfer the optical image of the document to the image reading unit 22.
Derived into.

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 1/2V, respectively.

When the image reading unit 22 reads the document placed on the platen glass 11, color separation is performed via the filter 9. Filter 9 is, for example, filter R1 filter G, 74 Luther B1 filter N.
When reading a document, the document is read after passing through any one of filters R, filter 0, filter B, and filter ND.

The selection of filter R, filter G, filter B, and filter ND is achieved by moving filter 9 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1 using a filter selection device.

In addition, filter R5 filter G1 filter B is
They are filters that pass red light, green light, and blue light, respectively, and filter ND is a neutral filter that passes all three color lights.

The image signal outputted from the image reading section 22 is subjected to signal processing in a signal processing section. In the signal processing section, a color signal separated according to the color of the toner is output, and is input to the laser writing system unit B, which is an exposure means.

In the laser writing system unit 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 has an optical path bent by a mirror 34. The circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 3o to which a charge has been applied in advance by a charger 35 serving as a charging means is scanned.

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 3o by main scanning by the laser beam and sub-scanning by the rotation of the photoreceptor drum 3o. This latent image is developed by a developing device 36 loaded with yellow (Y) toner (developing medium) of the developing means, and a toner image is formed on the drum surface. The obtained toner image is separated from the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 30 while being held on the drum surface.A cleaning device 3 serves as a cleaning means.
9 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 an image signal generated by a signal processing section. Each of these developing devices 36.
A bias with direct current or alternating current superimposed thereon is applied to the sleeves 37 and 38, and jumping development is performed using a two-component developer, which is a developing means, and non-contact development is performed on the grounded photoreceptor drum 30. I'm doing J so that I can get caught.

The color image thus formed on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 30 is transferred to the transfer pole 40 provided as a transfer means.
The paper feed belt 41. The image is transferred onto recording paper, which is a recording medium, fed by the feeding roller 42. The recording paper onto which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the drum surface by a separation pole 43 and transferred to a fixing device 45 via a conveyor belt 44.
The image is then fixed.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 3 with the recording paper separated from the drum circumferential surface
At 0, the blade 39A of the cleaning device 39 comes into contact and removes the remaining toner, and after that, the drum is separated from the circumferential surface of the drum again and a new color image forming process begins.

Next, the layout of each of the main components mentioned above will be explained. As shown in FIG. There is.

The main body 2 incorporates an image recording system consisting of the writing system B1, image forming section C1, paper feeding section, etc., and receives data from the image reading system A via a group of flexible cables connected to the housing 1. It is designed to receive color signals.

In the main body portion 2, the photosensitive drum 30 is located approximately in the middle, and facing the right peripheral surface thereof, each of the developing units 36°37.3
8 are arranged horizontally, while the charger 35 and the cleaning device 39 are arranged on the left peripheral surface.

The main body 2 is divided into two upper casings and a lower casing 2B, and as shown in FIG. It has a so-called Talamusiel structure in which the lid is opened using 2c as a fulcrum.

Further, the photosensitive drum 30, the charger 35, each developing device 36°37.38, and the cleaning device 39 are all connected to the main body 2.
Instead of directly attaching the multicolor process unit 3 to the upper housing 2A, a method is adopted in which it is detachably attached to the upper housing 2A in an integrated state as a multicolor process unit 3, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, the multicolor process unit 3 is composed of a cartridge that can house the photoreceptor drum 30, each developing device 36, 37, 38, a cleaning device 39, etc. A pair of left and right guide members allows for easy removal and installation.

That is, the multicolor process unit 3 has rails 4A on the left and right sides, and an upper housing 2A corresponding to the rails 4A.
Guide rails 4B are provided inside the guide rails 4B, and the rails 4A are arranged so that the photosensitive drum 30
It is installed by inserting it along the axial direction.

When the multicolor process unit 3 is attached to the upper case 2A, it is locked by a member (not shown), and each piece of equipment to be accommodated is held at its respective set position, while at the same time the two upper cases are Connected to the built-in drive unit and power supply unit.

This drive member and power supply are driven by the control section of the apparatus in synchronization with the conveying system and fixing device 45 in the lower housing 2B, thereby operating the above-described color image forming process.

In this way, the various components constituting the image forming section, such as the photosensitive drum 30, are integrated as the multicolor process unit 3, and then attached to the upper housing 2A, and the upper housing 2A is further recessed relative to the lower housing 2B. The upper housing 2
Even if the opening angle of the cover A is not large, the conveyance path of the recording paper is sufficiently opened on average in the conveyance direction, so that the process of removing jammed paper can be performed extremely easily.

Therefore, the opening angle of the upper housing 2A is sufficient to provide a frontage of the opening 2D through which the multicolor process unit 3 can be inserted and removed. The opening angle of the lid can be made significantly smaller than that of an image forming apparatus. Also, lower housing 2B
If the above operation is performed after opening the front door 28a of the vehicle, the opening angle can be further reduced.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a transfer drum type color image forming apparatus.

In this case as well, the photosensitive drum 130 and other components constituting the image forming section are integrated as a multicolor process unit 103 and attached to the upper housing 102A, and the upper housing 102A is attached to the transfer drum. As shown in FIG. 5, which shows the direction of arrow B, the lower housing 102B containing the paper feed system and the paper ejection system is constructed so that the lid can be opened using a pivot shaft 102C provided on the back side as a fulcrum. I can do it.

The multicolor process unit described above may include a developer group containing black toner in addition to the developer group containing yellow, magenta, and cyan toners that constitute the multicolor process unit.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention realizes a tarram shell structure that widens the recording paper transport surface with a slight opening angle and also facilitates attachment and detachment of equipment.As a result, work for removing jammed paper and maintenance of equipment is realized. Thus, a color image forming apparatus is provided which can perform image processing functions easily and accurately and constantly develop stable image processing functions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 4 are cross-sectional configuration diagrams of a color image forming apparatus of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 5 are side views of the apparatus in the direction of arrows, and FIG. 3 is a multicolor process unit included in the apparatus. Configuration diagram. 1.101... Housing 2A, 102A... Upper housing 2B, 102B... Lower housing 2C, 102
c... Rotation axis 2D, l02D... Opening 3.103... Multicolor process unit 4A, l04A
...Rail 4B, 104B...Guide rail 30, 130...Photosensitive drum 35...Charger 36, 37.38...Developer 39...Cleaning device 160...Transfer drum A , 100A... Image reading system B, 100B... Laser writing system

Claims (1)

[Claims] The feeding direction of the recording paper is left and right, and the upper casing is opened from the front with the back side of the lower casing as the rotation axis, and the process unit, which includes at least a photoreceptor drum and a plurality of developing devices, is located in the upper casing. A color image forming apparatus that is attached to a body, and in an open state, the photoreceptor can be pulled out in the direction of the drum axis.