JPH03100566A - Electrophotographic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the discharge and charge-up of transfer material and to improve picture quality by forming a carrying path carrying an already transferred material with a member of medium resistance. CONSTITUTION:A transfer charger 20 transfers a visible picture onto the transfer material 12 fed to a photosensitive body 16 at a prescribed timing. The transfer material 12 transferring the visible picture is carried to a fixing device through the carrying path 21, and the picture is fixed with heat and pressure thereon. The carrying path 21 is formed with a member of medium resistance so that the medium-resistance carrying path 21 gradually removes charges 31 on the transfer material. Consequently, the discharge and charge-up of electric charges 31 of the transfer material 12 on the carrying path 21 are prevented to improve picture quality.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to an electrophotographic device that repeatedly performs an electrophotographic process to record on a transfer material such as paper, such as a printer, copier, or facsimile using a laser. .

This type of electrophotographic apparatus uses a transfer charger to transfer a toner image on a photoreceptor to a transfer material, and conveys the transferred transfer material to a fixing device through a conveyance path. The conveyance path for the transfer material is formed from a conductive member or an insulating member.

However, when the conveyance path is formed of a conductive member, as shown in FIG. There was a problem in that the toner image was disturbed due to the influence of the discharge. On the other hand, when the conveyance path is made of an insulating material (for example, with a resistance value of 10 Ω or more), the conveyance path 4 becomes charged up due to the charge 3 held by the transfer material 2, as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, there is a problem in that paper conveyance is disturbed, which also causes disturbances in the toner image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve image quality by preventing charge discharge or charge-up of a transfer material in the transport path of the electrophotographic apparatus described above.

Means for Solving the Problems Therefore, the present invention provides an electrophotographic apparatus that transports a transfer material 12 after transfer to a fixing device 22 through a transport path 21, for example, as shown in the illustrated embodiment below. It is characterized by being made of a medium resistance material.

也--1 After the transfer, the charge held by the transfer material 12 is gradually removed, and the transfer material 12 is transported to the fixing device 22 through the transport path 21 without causing discharge or charge-up.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to one drawing.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the entire internal mechanism of a laser printer which is an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 1o in the figure is the main body of the printer. Printer body 1
A paper feed tray 11 is removably attached to the right side of 0 in the figure. In the paper feed tray 11, there is a transfer material 12 such as paper.
Load and store. Then, the leading edge of the uppermost transfer material 12 is pressed against the paper feed roller 13. Then, the transfer material 12 is sent out in the direction of arrow A in the drawing by the paper feed roller 13, guided by the guide plate 14, and stopped by pressing the leading end between the registration rollers 15. The registration rollers 15 are driven in accordance with the rotation of the drum-shaped photoreceptor 16, and are sent out toward the photoreceptor 16 at a predetermined timing.

The photoreceptor 16 is driven by a drive device (not shown).
Rotates clockwise in the figure. At this time, the surface is uniformly charged by the charger 17, and then the surface is irradiated with laser light from the optical writing device 18 to form an electrostatic latent image there. Thereafter, when passing through the developing device 19 position, toner is applied by the developing device 19 to visualize the electrostatic latent image.

The visible image is transferred to the photoreceptor 16 at a predetermined timing as described above.
The transfer charger 20 transfers the image onto the transfer material 12 sent to the transfer material 12 . The transfer material 12 on which the visible image has been transferred is conveyed through a conveyance path 21 to a fixing device 22, where it is fixed by applying heat and pressure. Thereafter, the sheets are selectively sent out and stacked on the sheet discharge tray 25 or 26 by the sheet discharge rollers 23 and 24.

On the other hand, residual toner is removed from the photoreceptor 16 after the visible image has been transferred by a cleaning device 27 , and then the charge is removed by a charge removal brush 28 .

By the way, the printer main body 10, as shown in FIG.
It is composed of a lower body 10a and an upper body 10b.

Moreover, the upper body 10b can be opened and closed with respect to the lower body 10a. A conveyance path 21 is provided below the lower body 10a. As shown in FIG.
It is formed into a rib shape integrally with the frame of a. and,
The conveyance path 21 has a surface resistivity value of 10' to 1, for example.
It is made of a medium resistance material such as 013Ω evolimer alloy type ABS antistatic resin. In addition, Figure 3 Neutral No. 30
is a power-up for voltage application.

Now, after the toner image on the surface of the photoreceptor 16 is transferred to the transfer material 12 by the transfer charger 20, as shown in FIG. do.

At this time, since the conveyance path 21 is made of a medium resistance member, the electric charge 31 of the transfer material 12 is
is gradually eliminated, and as a result, the charge 31 is not suddenly discharged and the conveyance path 21 itself is not charged up. Therefore, the transfer material 12 is not affected by the discharge or charge-up of the charge 31. Therefore, the toner image is transported smoothly without any disturbance.

In the illustrated embodiment described above, it is preferable that the friction coefficient of the surface of the transport path 21 in contact with the transfer material 12 is, for example, 0.5 or less, to reduce the influence of charge-up due to friction with the transfer material 12. .

Incidentally, in the illustrated embodiment described above, the conveyance path 21 is formed of a medium-resistance material such as the above-mentioned antistatic resin. However, the conveyance path may be made of ordinary resin, and the surface may be treated with anti-static acrylate so as to have a medium resistance.

Effects of the Invention Therefore, according to the present invention, since the conveyance path is formed of a medium-resistance member, it is possible to prevent discharge or charge-up of the charge on the transfer material in the conveyance path, thereby improving image quality.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the conveyance state of the transfer material on the conveyance path in a laser printer that is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the internal mechanism of the laser printer, and FIG. A perspective view showing the lower body of the laser printer,
FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the conveyance state of a conventional transfer material whose conveyance path is formed of a conductive material, and FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the conveyance condition of a conventional transfer material whose conveyance path is formed of an insulating material. be. 12...Transfer material 21...Transport path 22...Fixing device

Claims (1)

[Claims] An electrophotographic apparatus in which a transfer material after transfer is conveyed to a fixing device through a conveyance path, wherein the conveyance path is formed of a medium resistance member.