JPH04101165A - Electrophotographic copying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate maintenance and to reduce the unit price of a print by constituting an interchangeable unit, which can be freely attached to/detached from a device main body, of a developing unit, an electrostatic charging unit and a cleaning unit. CONSTITUTION:The developing unit 5, the electrostatic charging unit 3 and the cleaning unit 7 are integrated to constitute the interchangeable unit 10. This unit 10 is provided with an optical path for exposure 11 which leads radiated laser light L from a light irradiating unit 4 to a photosensitive body 2 and arranged below the photosensitive body 2, then it is attached to the device main body 8 so that it can be integrally attached/detached. Therefore, the interchangeable unit 10, that means, the developing unit 5, the electrostatic charging unit 3 and the cleaning unit 7 can be exchanged at one time separately from the photosensitive body 2 without adjusting the positions of the respective units 3-7. Thus, the maintenance is facilitated and the unit price of the print per sheet is reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus, and particularly to an electrophotographic apparatus applied to a copying machine or a printer.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, electrophotographic apparatuses include a photoreceptor, a charging unit, a light irradiation unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a cleaning unit, etc., which are detachably attached to the apparatus body to facilitate maintenance. There are many cases.

As such a conventional electrophotographic apparatus, for example, the one described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 18182/1982 is known.

This product integrates a photoreceptor, a developing unit, and a cleaning unit to form a process kit that can be attached to and removed from the main body of the device.When the parts in the process kit reach the end of their service life, the entire process kit is removed at once. It is designed to be replaceable, eliminating the need for complicated work such as installation and position adjustment for each unit.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in such conventional electrophotographic devices, the photoreceptor, developing unit, and cleaning unit are integrated into a process kit, so even when the expensive photoreceptor is still in a usable condition, When other parts in the process kit reach the end of their service life, the entire process kit has to be replaced, which poses a problem in that, for example, in printers, the print price per sheet increases.

[Purpose of the invention]

Therefore, the present invention aims to reduce the print unit cost while simplifying maintenance by configuring a replacement unit that is detachable from the main body of the apparatus using a developing unit, a charging unit, and a cleaning unit. It is an object.

[Structure of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, an electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention includes a photoconductor, a charging unit that charges the photoconductor, and a photoconductor that irradiates and exposes the charged photoconductor with light corresponding to image information. a light irradiation unit that forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor; a development unit that stores toner and develops the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor to form a toner image made of toner; A transfer unit that transfers the toner image on the surface to recording paper, a cleaning unit that removes and collects toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor after transfer, and a photoreceptor,
In an electrophotographic apparatus comprising an apparatus body supporting a charging unit, a light irradiation unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, and a cleaning unit, the developing unit, the charging unit, and the cleaning unit are integrated to form a replaceable unit; The replacement unit has an exposure optical path that guides irradiation light from the light irradiation unit to the photoreceptor,
It is characterized in that it is disposed below the photoconductor and is attached to the main body of the apparatus so that it can be attached and detached integrally, and the exposure optical path has an opening between the developing unit and the cleaning unit. defined by a through hole that allows the irradiation light from the light irradiation unit to pass linearly,
Alternatively, a mirror may be provided in the through hole so that the through hole reflects the irradiated light from the light irradiation unit by the mirror and bends the optical path to allow the light to pass through the cleaning unit. The image forming apparatus may include a toner transport mechanism that transports the collected toner to the developing unit.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained based on Examples.

FIG. 1.2 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, and is an example applied to a printer using an l-component developer.

First, I will explain the configuration.

In Figure 1.2, 1 is a printer, and printer l
has a photoreceptor 2, a charging unit 3, a light irradiation unit 4, a developing unit 5, a transfer unit 6, a cleaning unit 7, and an apparatus main body 8. The photoreceptor 2 is shaped like an endless belt and is driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The charging unit 3 includes a charger and charges the photoreceptor 2. The light irradiation unit 4 includes a laser optical system, and irradiates and exposes the charged photoreceptor 2 with laser light corresponding to image information, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor 2. The developing unit 5 has a developing roller 5a and a toner tank 5b, and stores toner 9 in the toner tank 5b.

Further, the developing unit 5 develops the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor 2 via a developing roller 5a, and forms a toner image made of toner. The transfer unit 6 includes a transfer charger, and transfers the toner image on the surface of the photoreceptor 2 onto the recording paper P.

The cleaning unit 7 has a cleaning brush 7a and a collection tank 7b, and the cleaning brush 7a removes toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor 2 after transfer, and collects the toner in the collection tank 7b. The apparatus main body 8 supports the above-described photoreceptor 2, charging unit 3, light irradiation unit 4, developing unit 5, transfer unit 6, and cleaning unit 7.

Here, the developing unit 5, the charging unit 7, and the cleaning unit 7 are integrated to form a replaceable unit 10. The replacement unit 10 is the light irradiation unit 4
Exposure optical path 11 that guides the irradiated laser light from the
It is disposed below the photoreceptor 2 and is attached to the device main body 8 so that it can be attached and detached integrally. The replacement unit 10 has a through hole 10a that opens between the developing unit 5 and the cleaning unit 7, and the exposure optical path 11 is defined by the through hole 10a. The through hole 10a extends substantially linearly in the vertical direction, and allows the irradiated laser light from the light irradiation unit 4 to pass linearly. Furthermore, the replacement unilateral eye O has a handle 12 and a drive input gear 13. The replacement unisolated eye 0 is attached to the main body 8 of the apparatus, and the operator supports the handle 12 when removing it. Driven by input. In addition, 14 is a paper feed unit, 15 is a registration roller pair, 16 is a fixing unit, 17 is a paper output tray, 18 is a static elimination lamp that removes unnecessary charges from the photoreceptor 2, 19 is a power supply, and 20 is an operation of the printer 1. This is a control PCB (printed circuit board) that controls the

Next, the overall operation of the printer 1 will be briefly explained.

First, the photoreceptor 2, which is driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Next, the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing unit 5, and a toner image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 2. Further, the recording paper P is fed from the paper feeding unit 14 to the registration roller pair 15, and the recording paper P is transferred to the photoconductor 2 and the transfer unit 6 by the registration roller pair 15 in synchronization with the toner image on the photoconductor 2. transported between. Next, the toner image is transferred onto the recording paper P by the transfer unit 6, and the toner image is transferred onto the recording paper P.
is conveyed to the fixing unit 6. Next, the transfer image is fixed on the recording paper P by the fixing unit 16, and the paper output tray 1
It is discharged at 7. On the other hand, after the unnecessary charge on the photoreceptor 2 after the transfer is removed by the discharge lamp 18, the toner remaining on the photoreceptor 2 is removed by the cleaning unit 7.

According to the above configuration, the replacement unit IO is composed of the developing unit 5, the charging unit 3, and the cleaning unit 7, and the replacement unit IO is attached to the apparatus main body 8 so that it can be attached and detached integrally. Therefore, the replacement unit 10, that is, the developing unit 5, the charging unit 3, and the cleaning unit 7 can be replaced at the same time separately from the photoreceptor 2 without adjusting the position between each unit. Therefore, for example, the expensive photoconductor 2 can be replaced only once, compared to 3 to 4 times for replacement unit 0, which reduces the print cost per sheet while simplifying maintenance. can do.

Furthermore, since the exposure optical path 11 that guides the irradiation light from the light irradiation unit 4 to the photoreceptor 2 is provided in the exchange unit IO,
The layout of each uni-nod can be made easier.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 3, the same members as those of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1.2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted.

In FIG. 3, a charging unit 3, a developing unit 5, and a cleaning unit 7 constitute a replacement unit 21, and the replacement unit 21 is disposed below the photoreceptor 2 as in the first embodiment described above, and is integrally It is attached to the device main body 8 so that it can be attached and detached. Note that the photoreceptor 2 and the main body 8 of the apparatus are not shown in FIG.

The replacement unit 21 also includes an L-shaped through hole 21 that opens between the developing unit 5 and the cleaning unit 7.
a, and an exposure optical path 11 is defined by the through hole 21a. A mirror 22 is provided in the through hole 21a, and the through hole 21a reflects the irradiated light from the light irradiation unit 4 by the mirror 22, bending the optical path and allowing it to pass through.

According to the second embodiment described above, since it is not necessary to vertically penetrate the exposure optical path 11, that is, the through hole 21a, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the toner tank 5b of the developing unit 5 and the cleaning unit 7 The volume ratio of the recovery tank 7b can be freely set.

FIG. 4.5 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, and is an example applied to a printer using a two-component developer. In Fig. 4.5, the same members as those of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1.2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 4.5, the developing unit 23 is the developing roller 2.
3a, toner tank 23b and paddle wheel 23c
have. The charging unit 3, the developing unit 23, and the cleaning unit 7 constitute a replacement unit 24, and the replacement unit 24 is disposed below the photoreceptor 2 as in the first embodiment, and can be attached and detached as a unit. It is attached to the main body 8 of the device so as to be able to do so.

Note that the photoreceptor 2 and the main body 8 of the apparatus are not shown in FIG. 4.5. Furthermore, the replacement unit 24 has a through hole 24a that opens between the developing unit 23 and the cleaning unit 7, and the exposure optical path 11 is defined by the through hole 24a. The replacement unit 24 is provided with a toner movement path 24b and a moving spring 25. The moving spring 25 is driven by inputting the driving force of the cleaning brush 7a of the cleaning unit 7 via a pulley and gears (none of which are shown), and moves the toner in the collection tank 7b to the toner tank 23b via the toner movement path 24b. transport. Therefore, the toner moving path 24b and the moving spring 25 constitute a toner conveying mechanism, and the replacement unit 24 has a toner conveying mechanism that conveys the toner collected by the cleaning unit 7 to the developing unit 23.

According to the third embodiment described above, the replacement unit 24 transfers the toner collected by the cleaning unit 7 to the developing unit 2.
In addition to the effects of the first embodiment described above, the toner can be used effectively.

〔effect〕

According to the present invention, since the developing unit, the transfer unit, and the cleaning unit constitute a replaceable unit that can be freely attached to and removed from the apparatus main body, the constituent units of the replaceable unit can be replaced at once, separately from the photoreceptor. This makes it possible to reduce the unit printing cost while simplifying maintenance.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1.2 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view thereof, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of its replacement unit, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention. 4.5 is a schematic sectional view of a replacement unit showing a second embodiment of the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. A schematic sectional view of the unit, FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view taken along the YY arrow in FIG. 4. 2...Photoconductor, 3...Charging knee'-soto, 4...Light irradiation unit, 5...Developing unit, 6...・Transfer unit, 7...Cleaning unit, 8...
Apparatus body, 9...Toner 1O121, 24...Replacement unit, 10a
, 21a, 24a --- Through hole, 11...
...-exposure optical path, 22...mirror agent

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A photoconductor, a charging unit that charges the photoconductor,
A light irradiation unit that irradiates and exposes a charged photoreceptor with light corresponding to image information to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor; A developing unit that develops the latent image to form a toner image made of toner, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image on the surface of the photoconductor to recording paper, and a removal of toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor after transfer. cleaning unit, photoreceptor,
In an electrophotographic apparatus including an apparatus main body supporting a charging unit, a light irradiation unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, and a cleaning unit, the developing unit, the charging unit, and the cleaning unit are integrated to form a replaceable unit; The replacement unit has an exposure optical path that guides irradiation light from the light irradiation unit to the photoreceptor,
An electrophotographic apparatus characterized in that the electrophotographic apparatus is disposed below a photoreceptor and is attached to a main body of the apparatus so as to be integrally attachable and detachable. (2) the exposure optical path is defined by a through hole that opens between the developing unit and the cleaning unit, and the through hole allows the irradiation light from the light irradiation unit to pass linearly;
Alternatively, the electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a mirror is provided in the through hole so that the through hole reflects the irradiated light from the light irradiation unit by the mirror and bends the optical path to pass through the through hole. . (3) The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the replacement unit has a toner transport mechanism that transports the toner collected by the cleaning unit to the developing unit.