JPH04278980A - Cleaning device for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively eliminate toner without attaching and retaining it in a cleaning brush. CONSTITUTION:A photosensitive body 1, the cleaning brush 5 disposed on the outside circumference of the body 1 and a flicker member 12 for beating down the toner attached and retained on the brush 5 are provided. Since the flicker member 12 consists of many disk-like members provided on a shaft and the tips of the disk-like members are arranged on the inside of the brush 5, the toner attached and retained on the inside of the brush 5 can be beaten down. It is good that the disk-like members are provided so as to be inclined with respect to the shaft. Besides, it is good that the flicker member 12 is rotated. Moreover, it is preferable that a wire or a rod is used as the flicker member.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device for removing toner adhering to a latent image carrier such as a photosensitive drum in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor such as a drum is developed with toner in a one-component or two-component developer, and the developed toner image remains on the photoreceptor after being transferred. The remaining toner is first scraped off by a cleaning brush, then scraped off by a cleaning blade disposed downstream of the cleaning brush, and the scraped toner is stored in a residual toner collection bin attached to the cleaning device. is common. A plate-shaped flicker bar is disposed in the axial direction of the cleaning brush so as to slightly penetrate into the brush, and is designed to knock off toner staying within the cleaning brush.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, it is impossible to make the plate-shaped flicker bar deeply penetrate into the brush because it creates resistance to the cleaning brush. Toner and toner external additives may gradually accumulate on the cleaning brush without being wiped off, and lumps of toner and toner external additives may adhere to the surface of the photoreceptor and be transferred, resulting in the formation of an image. There are problems in that black spots and white spots occur.

Another problem is that the toner knocked off the cleaning brush adheres to the inner wall of the flicker bar, and the cleaning brush causes the toner to adhere to the surface of the photoreceptor. Furthermore, since the flicker bar is plate-shaped, there is a problem in that the cleaning brush bristles break, and the bristles get caught in the cleaning blade, resulting in poor cleaning.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus that can effectively remove toner without causing the toner to adhere and remain inside the cleaning brush. shall be.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve this purpose, a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a photoreceptor, a cleaning brush disposed around the outer periphery of the photoreceptor, and a cleaning device that removes toner adhering to and staying on the cleaning brush. The flicker member is comprised of a large number of disk-shaped members provided on a shaft, and the tips of the disk-shaped members are disposed inside the cleaning brush. Note that the disc-shaped member may be provided so as to be inclined with respect to the axis, or the flicker member may be rotated. Furthermore, the flicker member may be a wire or a rod.

[0007]

[Function] In the present invention, since the flicker member is arranged so as to penetrate deeply into the inside of the cleaning brush, it is possible to knock off the toner that adheres and stays inside the cleaning brush. Toner knocked off from the brush does not adhere to the inner wall of the flicker bar, and the cleaning brush does not cause this toner to adhere to the surface of the photoreceptor. Further, since the flicker member obliquely contacts the fibers of the cleaning brush, the cleaning brush does not break, and cleaning defects can be prevented.

[0008]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a flicker member according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a photoreceptor 1 having a drum shape
is arranged to be drivable by a photoconductor motor, and is provided on the outer periphery of the photoconductor 1 so that the surface of the photoconductor 1 is uniformly distributed starting from the downstream side when the rotation direction of the photoconductor 1 is in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. A charger 2 for charging the toner, a cleaning blade 3, a cleaning brush 5, a film seal 6 for preventing toner from leaking to the outside, and a claw 7 for peeling off the transfer paper are provided. The cleaning blade 3 is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and one end thereof is fixed to the support member 8 via a sealing material 9, and the edge of the other end is in contact with the photoreceptor 1 at an acute angle with respect to its rotating direction. It is located. The cleaning brush 5 is rotatably provided in the opposite direction to the photoconductor 1, and by rotating in contact with the photoconductor 1, cleans the toner remaining on the photoconductor 1 without being transferred by the transfer device. It is arranged to be dropped.

On the opposite side of the cleaning brush 5 from the photoreceptor 1, a rotary paddle 10 for conveying toner is rotatably disposed as shown by the arrow in the figure. The remaining toner is transported toward the toner collection box. A flicker member 12 is provided on the side wall of the housing 11 to knock out toner that has adhered to and accumulated on the cleaning brush 5, and a flicker member 12 is provided on the support member 8 to scrape off toner that has adhered to the rotating paddle 10 and remove the toner. A toner scraping sheet 13 is provided to scrape out the toner toward the collection box.

As shown in FIG. 2, the flicker member 12 has a large number of disc-shaped members 16 and a shaft 17 formed integrally or separately, and the disc-shaped members 16 are formed at an angle of 1° to 60° with respect to the shaft 17. It is arranged so that it is slanted. As shown in Figure 1,
The tip of the disc-shaped member 16 is arranged so as to penetrate to about half the length of the bristles of the cleaning brush 5. The material of the disc-shaped member 16 is resin or metal, and the shape is circular.
Elliptical, semicircular, circular arc shapes, etc. are adopted. Note that the flicker member 12 may be rotated at a speed of 1 to 120 rpm.

To explain the operation of the image forming apparatus having the above structure, the photoreceptor 1, which is uniformly charged by the charger 2, undergoes image exposure in an exposure section (not shown).
An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 1. Next, in a developing device (not shown), toner charged to a polarity opposite to that of the electrostatic latent image is brought into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor 1, forming a toner image. This toner image is brought into contact with a sheet of paper conveyed at a speed equal to the circumferential speed of the photoreceptor 1 in a transfer device (not shown) provided at the next position, and is transferred onto this sheet of paper. The paper onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to a fixing device, the toner image is fixed on the paper, and the paper is discharged from the apparatus. On the other hand, the toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor 1 without being transferred by the transfer device is scraped off onto the bottom plate of the housing 11 by the cleaning brush 5 and the cleaning blade 3, and the residual toner accumulated at this position is removed. The toner is scraped out in the direction of the toner collection box by the toner transport rotary paddle 10 rotating at the toner position.

Toner adhering and staying inside the cleaning brush 5 is knocked off by the flicker member 12. At this time, since the disc-shaped member 16 is disposed so as to penetrate deeply to about half the length of the bristles of the cleaning brush 5, the toner adhering and staying inside the cleaning brush 5 can be knocked off. Furthermore, unlike in the prior art, there is no possibility that the toner knocked off from the cleaning brush 5 adheres to the inner wall of the flicker bar and the cleaning brush causes the toner to adhere to the surface of the photoreceptor. Further, since the disc-shaped member 16 of the flicker member 12 obliquely contacts the fibers of the cleaning brush 5, the cleaning brush 5 does not break, and cleaning defects can be prevented.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the invention. Note that the same components as those in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, a wire or rod 15 with a diameter of 1 to 3 mm is provided as the flicker member 12. Therefore, there is no possibility that the toner knocked off from the cleaning brush 5 adheres to the inner wall of the flicker bar and the cleaning brush causes the toner to adhere to the surface of the photoreceptor, as in the conventional case.

[0015]

As explained above, according to the present invention, there are provided a photoreceptor, a cleaning brush disposed around the outer periphery of the photoreceptor, and a flicker member for knocking off toner that adheres and remains on the cleaning brush. The flicker member is composed of a large number of disc-shaped members provided on the shaft, and the tips of the disc-shaped members are disposed inside the cleaning brush, so that the toner adhering and staying inside the cleaning brush can be knocked off. Furthermore, unlike in the prior art, the toner that has been knocked off from the cleaning brush does not adhere to the inner wall of the flicker bar, and the cleaning brush does not cause the toner to adhere to the surface of the photoreceptor. Therefore, toner can be effectively removed without causing toner to adhere and remain inside the cleaning brush.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a flicker member according to the present invention.

[Figure 3
]Cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention

[Explanation of symbols]

1... Photoreceptor, 5... Cleaning brush, 12... Flicker member, 15... Wire or rod (flicker member)
, 16...disk-shaped member, 17...shaft.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A photoreceptor, a cleaning brush disposed around the outer periphery of the photoreceptor, and a flicker member for knocking off toner adhering and staying on the cleaning brush, the flicker member being disposed on a shaft. 1. A cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, comprising a large number of disk-shaped members, the tips of which are disposed inside a cleaning brush. 2. The cleaning device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the disc-shaped member is provided so as to be inclined with respect to the axis. 3. The cleaning device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flicker member is rotated. 4. A photoreceptor, a cleaning brush disposed around the outer periphery of the photoreceptor, and a flicker member for knocking off toner adhering and staying on the cleaning brush, the flicker member being a wire or rod. 1. A cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, comprising: a cleaning brush disposed inside a cleaning brush.