JPH04174468A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent stay of ozone, and prevent a defective of an image or deterioration of an imagecarrier by ozone by providing a plural recesses along the width of a charge eliminating device so as to secure air flow passages from an aperture of a casing of the charging device. CONSTITUTION:A charge eliminating device 3 is formed of a printed board 3b installed at a holder 3a, a plural light sources of LED 3c disposed along the width for emitting light for charge elimination, and a transparent cover 3d covering these. The cover 3d has a plural recesses 3e recessed to a photosensitive body 2 at parts between the LED 3c along the width. A suction port 17a of a duct 17 is opened in a side part of the charge eliminating device 3, and an ozone filter 17c and a fan 18 are disposed at an exit part of it. In this constitution, ozone in a charging device 4 is sucked by the fan 18 with air through the recess 3e of the charge eliminating device 3 into the duct 17 to be discharged out.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Side l direct 夙剋月福! The present invention relates to electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, printers, and facsimiles.

In image forming devices such as copiers, ozone is generated due to discharge during the operation of the charger, but if this ozone is not efficiently discharged, image defects may occur or the photoreceptor may be damaged prematurely. Problems such as deterioration may occur.

For this reason, a device has been proposed in which a hole is provided in the side wall during charging, and a rectifying plate guides the internal air upward to efficiently discharge it (Utility Model No. 64-646).
(See Publication No. 48).

However, when the charging device and the static eliminator are placed close to each other, it is difficult to secure an air flow path for discharging ozone.Especially when trying to make the image forming apparatus more compact, It becomes difficult to secure space.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and even when a charging device and a static eliminator are disposed close to each other, the ozone ionizer can be removed without increasing the size of the device. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can secure an air flow path for evacuation.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a static eliminator that sequentially starts from the upstream side of a moving image carrier, and is provided near the surface of the image carrier in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement. and a charging device including a charging electrode and a casing surrounding the charging electrode. In the image forming apparatus, the image bearing member whose charge has been removed by the charge eliminator is charged by the charge remover and an image is formed by an electrophotographic process, wherein the casing of the charger has an opening that allows air to flow toward the charge remover. The cover of the static eliminator has a plurality of recesses recessed relative to the surface of the image carrier in a portion between the light sources in the width direction.

According to the present invention, since the structure is as described above, air can pass through the opening of the case of the charging device and the recess of the cover of the static eliminating device between the static eliminator and the charging device that are arranged in sequence. Since the conduction can be conducted in a flowing manner, an air flow path is secured. For example, by providing an air suction duct on one side of the static eliminator and on the opposite side of the charging device, ozone in the charging device can be exhausted. It becomes possible to do so.

In this case, the air flow path passing through the static eliminator is formed by using the unnecessary volume of the cover of the static eliminator, so there is no need to provide an air flow path above the static eliminator, making the device more compact. is achieved.

Figure 1 shows a schematic structure of an electrophotographic printer which is an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

First, the entire device will be explained.

A loop-shaped belt photoreceptor 2, which is an example of an image carrier, is provided inside the case 1, and a static eliminator 3, a charging bag W4, and an LED array are mounted on the circumferential surface of the belt photoreceptor 2 in the rotational direction indicated by the arrow. The optical writing device 5, developing unit 6, transfer charging unit 7, and cleaning unit 8 to be used are arranged.

The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor 2 by the charging device 4 and the optical writing device 5 is developed by the developing unit 6 and formed as a toner image.

On the other hand, the transfer paper P is fed out one by one from the paper feed tray 9 by a paper feed roller 10, and is fed by a pair of registration rollers 11.
The toner image is fed to the transfer section at a timing such that the toner image formed on the photoconductor 2 is aligned with the toner image formed on the photoconductor 2, and the toner image is transferred thereon by the transfer charger 7. After the transfer, the transfer paper is separated from the photoconductor 2 and conveyed to the fixing bag W12, the toner image thereon is heated and fixed to complete the image, and the paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 15 by the paper discharge rollers 13 and 14. Stacked or switching board! 6 is switched and discharged to the outside.

After the transfer, the photoreceptor 2 is cleaned of residual toner by a cleaning unit 8, and is prepared for the next image forming process.

A duct 17 for sucking air coupled to a fan 18 is provided on one side of the static eliminator 3 and opposite to the charging bag M4.

Next, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a path through which the air inside the charging device 4 is discharged via the static eliminator 3 by the duct 17 and the fan 18. Further, the cross-sectional structures of the charging device 4 and the static eliminating device 3 are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively.

The charging bag W4 has a charging electrode 4b stretched inside a casing 4a, and a grid 4C provided on the open surface of the charging electrode 4b. Further, a large number of holes 4d and 4e are provided in the side wall of the casing 4α as openings for eliminating ozone generated during operation of the charging bag W4.

The static eliminator 3 includes a plurality of light sources L, which emit light for static neutralization, on a printed circuit board 3b attached to a holder 3a.
已D3c are arranged in the radial direction, and these are covered with a transparent cover 3.
It is formed by covering it with d.

The cover 3d has a plurality of recesses 3e that are recessed relative to the photoreceptor 2 in a portion between the LE03C in the width direction. Reference numeral 3f is a connector for supplying power.

An inlet 17a of a duct 17 is open at the side of the static eliminator 3, a guide plate 17b for guiding the flow of air is provided inside the duct 17, and an ozone filter 17c and a fan 18 are provided at the outlet of the duct 17. is installed.

With such a structure, the ozone in the charging device 4 is
As shown in the figure, the static eliminator 3 is sucked together with air into the duct 17 via the concave portion 3C of the static eliminator 3 by the fan 8, and is discharged to the outside.

肱-11 As described above, according to the present invention, since a plurality of recesses are provided in the width direction of the static eliminator, an air flow path from the opening of the casing of the charging device can be secured, and the device can be made larger. This makes it possible to prevent ozone accumulation, and to prevent poor image quality and deterioration of the image carrier due to ozone.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electrophotographic printer, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of its charging device, static eliminator, and duct portion, Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the charging device, and Fig. 4 is a cross section of the static eliminator. It is a diagram. 2... Photoreceptor (image carrier) 3... Static eliminator 3C... LED (light source) 3d... Translucent cover 3C... Four parts 4. ...Charging device 4a...Casing 4b...Charging electrode 4d...Hole (opening) Nui 1 Agent Patent attorney Takehisa Ito M Figure 1 @ 2 animals a

Claims (1)

[Claims] Sequentially from the upstream side of a moving image carrier, a static eliminator includes a plurality of light sources arranged near the surface of the image carrier in the width direction, which is a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement. and a charging device including a charging electrode and a casing surrounding the charging electrode,
In an image forming apparatus that forms an image by an electrophotographic process by charging the image carrier, which has been neutralized by the static eliminator, with the charging device, the casing of the charging device has an opening that allows air to flow toward the static eliminator. An image forming apparatus, wherein the cover of the static eliminator has a plurality of recesses recessed relative to the surface of the image carrier in a portion between the light sources in the width direction.