JPH0312687A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve sealing ability by providing a holding member for attachably and detachably holding a sealing member which comes in contact with both end parts of a cleaning blade and an image carrier outside both end parts of the cleaning blade and the cleaning blade. CONSTITUTION:The holding member 17 for attachably and detachably holding the sealing member 20 which comes in contact with both end parts of the cleaning blade 24 and the image carrier 7 outside both end parts of the blade 24 and the cleaning blade 24 is provided. When a solenoid 33 is turned on, a tension spring 32 is pulled and an arm 30 is turned. The movement of the arm 30 is transmitted to a side seal holder 17 through a lever 29, a shaft 21 and a bracket 18 and the cleaning blade 24 is made to press-contact with the photosensitive drum 7 and the side seal 20 elastically contacts with the photosensitive drum 7, then toner is prevented from leaking. Thus, the sealing member 20 is easily exchanged and the sealing ability is excellently maintained, thereby preventing the splashing of the toner caused by the lowering of the sealing ability.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] 11 Intuitive skin experience! The present invention relates to a cleaning device that cleans an image bearing member after transfer of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, which transfers a toner image formed on a moving image bearing member onto a transfer material to form an image. .

I'm confused! In a cleaning device that cleans an image bearing member of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a side seal, which is a sealing member that prevents cleaned toner, etc. from scattering from both ends of a cleaning blade, has conventionally been generally used in a cleaning device. It was formed by protruding a part of the seal part glued to the side plate of the casing. In order to improve the sealing performance between the end of the cleaning blade and the side seal, it has been proposed that the cleaning blade is extended in the longitudinal direction beyond its holding member (JP-A-61
(Refer to Publication No.-205971).

However, such conventional cleaning devices do not have a structure that allows the side seals to be replaced.

For this reason, in conventional cleaning devices, the side seals made of sponge or the like deteriorate, deform, or wear out over time, resulting in poor toner sealing properties and toner leaking from the gap between the cleaning blade and the side seals. There was a problem with toner scattering.

In addition, in conventional cleaning devices, the sealing material of the side seal at the end of the cleaning blade was fixed to a member such as the frame of the device body, so it was difficult to set the amount of protrusion of the sealing material, and the amount of protrusion on both sides was fixed. However, there was a problem in that the sealing performance deteriorated on one side.

Furthermore, the problem of poor sealing performance as described above also occurs in the casing seals of both side casings.

The present invention, which is intended to be solved by the present invention, solves the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and claims
An object of the invention is to provide a cleaning device that does not cause toner scattering due to deterioration of sealing performance over time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device that does not cause any difference in
In addition to the above two problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device in which the sealing performance of the casing seal member is also improved.

To solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 provides an image forming apparatus that forms an image by transferring a toner image formed on a moving image carrier to a transfer material. In a cleaning device for cleaning the image carrier after the image transfer, a cleaning blade is brought into pressure contact with the image carrier, and an outer side of both longitudinal ends of the cleaning blade is in contact with both ends and the image carrier. In addition to the above, the invention further comprises: a sealing member; and a holding member that is detachably attached and holds the cleaning blade and the sealing member; The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the holding member is supported at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction so as to be rotatable in a direction in which the sealing member approaches and separates from the image carrier. In addition to the features of claim 1 or 2, the invention further includes: an inlet seal member that contacts the image carrier on the upstream side of the image carrier in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction, and an outer side of both ends of the cleaning blade. and a casing seal member that contacts the image carrier in the moving direction of the image carrier between the part and the inlet seal member, and the casing seal member is attached to the holding member. shall be.

Function In the invention of claim 1, since the sealing member is attached to the detachable holding member holding the cleaning blade, the sealing member can be easily replaced with a simple structure. In addition, since the holding member is supported by the rotatable part, both side seals come into uniform contact with the image carrier. Since the sealing member is attached to the holding member, the effect of claim 1 or 2 also occurs on the casing sealing member.

1-1 FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a laser printer that is an example of an image forming device equipped with this cleaning device. .

In the laser printer shown in Fig. 2, the electrostatic charger 8
An image is written by an optical writing unit 9 on a photoconductor drum 7, which is an example of an image bearing member, which is uniformly charged with electricity, and an electrostatic latent image of this image is developed as a toner image by a developing device 3. Under the action of the transfer charger 5, the toner image is transferred onto a transfer paper 15, which is a transfer material, which is mixed into a paper feed tray 1, which is sent out by a paper feed roller 2 and conveyed with timing by a pair of registration rollers 4. After the transfer, the transfer paper 15 is separated from the photoreceptor drum 7 by the separation charger 6, the toner image thereon is heated and fixed by the fixing device 11, and then the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 14 by the paper discharge roller 13. The image is completed.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 7 after the transfer is cleaned by a cleaning device W10.
After removing foreign substances such as residual toner and paper powder adhering thereto, the static electricity is removed by the static elimination lamp 12, and the image forming apparatus is prepared for the next image forming process.

Next, the cleaning device of the embodiment will be explained in detail based on FIG. 1, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the cleaning blade 24 of the cleaning device shown in FIG. 2 is in pressure contact with the photosensitive drum 7, and the fourth
The figure is a perspective view of a side seal holder 17 that is an example of a holding member.

Inside the casing 16 of the cleaning device, a cleaning blade 24 and a side seal 20 as a sealing member that seals both longitudinal ends of the cleaning blade 24 are attached to a side seal holder 17 that is an example of a holding member.

In this embodiment, the side seal holder 17 is pivotally supported by a stepped screw 19 on a bracket 18 to which a shaft 21 is fixed and rotated around the shaft 21.

A lever 29 is connected to the shaft 21 and has a tension spring 26 locked at one end and engaged with an arm 30 at the other end. The other end of the tension spring 26 is a casing! 6.

The arm 30 is rotatably supported at the center by a shaft 31,
The other end side is connected to a solenoid 33 via a tension spring 32.

With such a mechanism, when the solenoid 33 is turned on, the tension spring 32 is pulled and the arm 30 rotates, and this movement is transmitted to the side seal holder 17 via the lever 29, shaft 21, and bracket 1, and these changes from the state shown in Fig. 1 to the state shown in Fig. 3, and the cleaning blade 24
is pressed against the photoreceptor drum 7, and the side seal 20
The toner is also brought into elastic contact with the photoreceptor drum 7 to prevent toner leakage.

When the photoreceptor drum 7 stops, the solenoid 33 is turned off several seconds later, and the lever 29 is pulled by the tension spring 26, which connects the bracket 18 via the shaft 21 to the side seal holder! 7 is rotated, and the state shown in Fig. 3 is changed to the 1st position again.
The state shown in the figure is reached, and the cleaning blade 24 and side seal 20 are separated from the photosensitive drum 7.

The cleaning blade 24 is rotatably supported by a stepped screw 23 at the central portion of the blade holder 2 in the longitudinal direction.
2, attached to the side seal holder 17,
Its longitudinal edge portion is pressed against the photosensitive drum 7 with a uniform load in the longitudinal direction. cleaning blade 24
is made of polyurethane rubber with a thickness of approximately 3 rxm. By uniformly pressing the cleaning blade 24 against the photoreceptor drum 7, residual toner adhering thereto can be effectively scraped off.

Note that Mylar (not shown) is in contact with the lower surface of the cleaning blade 24 over its entire longitudinal direction, and when the cleaning blade 24 is in contact with the photoreceptor drum 7, the free end of the Mylar touches the cleaning blade 2.
The cleaning blade 24
The cleaning blade 24 has a mechanism in which the free end of the mylar projects outward from the free end of the cleaning blade 24 when the cleaning blade 24 separates from the photoreceptor drum 7, and the toner adhering to the end is scraped off when the cleaning blade 24 separates from the photoreceptor drum 7. That's what I do.

A fur brush 25 whose surface is electrically conductive is provided below the cleaning blade 24 (on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the photoreceptor drum 7), as shown by broken lines in FIGS. 1 and 3. The fur brush 25 is rotated clockwise in the figure so that the circumferential speeds are opposite to each other with respect to the photoreceptor drum 7, and the fur brush 25 contacts the photoreceptor drum 7 with a penetration depth of 2 to 3 inches, and then The cleaning blade 24 has the role of removing foreign matter and carrying the toner blown off by the cleaning blade 24 downward.

The toner removed by the cleaning blade 24 and the fur brush 25 falls downward and is discharged out of the apparatus by the collection roller 28. Reference numeral 27 denotes an inlet seal member for preventing toner from leaking out of the apparatus, and is made of an elastic material such as polyester film or urethane rubber.

The side seal 20 is attached to the side seal holder 17, and the opposite side thereof is in contact with both ends of the cleaning blade 24, and elastically contacts the photosensitive drum 7 to seal to prevent toner from leaking from both ends of the cleaning blade 240. ing. In this case a side seal holder! 7 is
Since its central part is pivotally supported by the bracket 18 by a stepped screw 19, it can rotate freely around the stepped screw 19, and the side seals 20 on both sides are in elastic contact with the photoreceptor drum 7 with a uniform load. will be done. As a result, there is an advantage that the setting of the amount of protrusion of the side seal 20 from the side seal holder 17, that is, the accuracy of its attachment does not need to be particularly strictly controlled. side seal 20
is made of an elastic material such as sponge.

The portions where the side seal 20 and the cleaning blade 24 contact the photoreceptor drum 7 are worn and deformed over time.

In contrast, the present invention facilitates these exchanges. That is, in this embodiment, the side seal holder 17 that holds these is fixed to the bracket 18 with a stepped screw 19, and by simply loosening the stepped screw 19, it can be removed from the bracket 18 and replaced with a new one. Figure 4 code! ? A is a hole through which a driver is inserted when operating the stepped screw 19, and 17b is a hole through which the stepped screw 19 can escape when the side seal holder 17 is slid toward the photosensitive drum 7.

Furthermore, flocks 34 are attached to the casing 16 as casing sealing members in order to seal between the casing 16 and the photosensitive drum 7 on both sides in the width direction. In this case, in this embodiment, the flock 34 is attached to the casing 16, but it can be attached to the side seal holder 17, which is a replaceable holding member. By doing so, the balance of contact pressure on both sides is improved, and the effect of facilitating replacement when worn or deformed over time can be obtained.

In the above embodiments, the case is shown in which a mechanism is provided for bringing the cleaning blade 24 into contact with and separating from the photoreceptor drum 7. Even in devices such as
The elastic contact forces of the side seals 20 on both sides can be balanced, and replacement over time can be facilitated.

Effects - As described above, according to the present invention, claim 1 (1) invention c;
In the case of =, since the sealing member is replaceable, it is possible to maintain good sealing performance by replacing the sealing member over time, and prevent toner scattering due to deterioration of sealing performance. In addition to the above, by supporting the holding member in a rotatable manner, the sealing members on both sides can be brought into uniform contact with the image carrier, improving sealing performance, without having to strictly control the mounting accuracy of the sealing member. According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effects of claim 1 or 2, the same effect as described above can be obtained for the casing seal member, and toner scattering can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a laser printer which is an example in which the cleaning device is used, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the cleaning device is in contact with the cleaning device, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the holding member portion of the cleaning device. ... Photoreceptor drum (image carrier) 7 ... Side seal holder (holding member) 0 ... Side seal (
Seal member) 4... Cleaning blade 7... Inlet seal member

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A cleaning device that cleans the image carrier after transfer of an image forming apparatus that transfers a toner image formed on a moving image carrier to a transfer material to form an image, in which the image carrier is pressed against the image carrier. a cleaning blade, a sealing member that contacts the image carrier at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning blade, and a holder that is removably attached and holds the cleaning blade and the sealing member. A cleaning device comprising: a member; (2) The sealing member is made of an elastic member, and the holding member is supported at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction so that the sealing member can rotate in a direction in which the sealing member approaches and separates from the image carrier. The cleaning device according to claim 1. (3) An inlet seal member that contacts the image carrier on the upstream side in the moving direction of the image carrier in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction, and a space between the outer side of both ends of the cleaning blade and the inlet seal member. and a casing seal member that contacts the image carrier in the moving direction of the image carrier, the casing seal member being attached to the holding member. cleaning equipment.