JPH0434447A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent toner from being scattered to an outside from an opening part by providing an electret having the polarity reverse to the toner on an inner surface in the vicinity of the opening part of this device. CONSTITUTION:An air taking-in port 14 and a discharging port 15 are provided inside the device 1 for carrying out cooling and ventilating, and the ventilating is carried out by the rotation of a fan 16. The electret E having the polarity reverse of the toner T is provided on the opening part of the air taking-in port 14, the discharge port 15, etc., and inside the vicinity of the opening part of a paper feeding port 9, a paper ejecting port 12, etc. This electret is made of a macromolecule base material so that an electric polarizing state can be semipermanently maintained with a high voltage. Even if an electric power source circuit for applying a bias voltage is not connected, the material itself can maintain its polarity. Thus, the toner can be prevented from being scattered outside from the opening part.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, and more specifically, an image forming apparatus having openings such as a paper feed port, a paper discharge port, an air intake port, an air exhaust port, etc. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 2, in an image forming apparatus 1, a charging device 3 is mounted on the circumferential surface of a rotating photoreceptor drum 2.
The surface of the charged drum 2 is uniformly charged, and then the surface of the charged drum 2 is exposed to light corresponding to the image obtained by irradiating the surface of the document 6 on the contact crow 5 with the optical system 4. Form an image 1. Toner T for development is supplied from the developing device 7 to the peripheral surface of the tram 2 on which the latent image has been formed, and the latent image on the peripheral surface of the photoreceptor tram 2 is visualized.

The visualized toner-developed image is transferred from the surface of the photoreceptor tram 2 onto the paper P fed from the paper feed port 9 in a transfer section 8 adjacent to the photoreceptor drum 2 .

The transferred paper P is separated from the photoconductor tram 2 by a separating device 1O, and the toner image is fixed onto the paper P by heating and pressure with a fixing tube 11 on the paper.

The fixed paper P is discharged to the outside from the paper discharge port 12.

A small amount of toner T remains on the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor tram 2 even after the paper P is separated.

This remaining toner T is removed by a cleaning device 13.

In this way, the toner T is transferred to the developing device 7, the photoreceptor tram 2,
In the process of following and transferring to a rotating/moving device/medium such as the paper P, some of the particles are scattered, floated, etc. and diffused into the space inside the image forming apparatus 1 before being cleaned.

In addition, there is heat generated in the image forming apparatus 1 due to the irradiation by the optical system 4 and heating by a heater (not shown) of the fixing device 11, and the inside of the image forming apparatus 1 becomes high temperature. 14 and an exhaust port 15 for exhaust are provided, and the interior is configured to be air-cooled by ventilation by the rotation of a fan 16.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the toner scattered and floating inside the image forming apparatus is mainly discharged from the exhaust port 15 together with the air exhausted by the fan 16. Even when the image forming apparatus is not rotating, it is discharged to the outside through openings and gaps such as the air intake port 14, the paper feed port 9, and the paper discharge port 12, and is dispersed when the image forming apparatus is installed. There was also the issue of contaminating the surrounding environment.

The present invention aims to solve such problems.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following image forming apparatus. That is, the present invention is an image forming apparatus that includes an electret having a polarity opposite to that of toner on the inner surface near the opening of the image forming apparatus.

[Operation] In the above configuration, the toner contained in the air discharged from the opening of the image forming apparatus is absorbed by the electret of opposite polarity provided on the inner surface near the opening, and the toner is released from the opening to the outside. do not spread.

[Example] Regarding an example of the present invention, how the configuration of the present invention is actually embodied will be described below with reference to the drawings, along with its operation.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, and in the figure 1
1 is an image forming apparatus. Inside the image forming apparatus 1, a rotating photosensitive drum 2 is provided at the center, and a charging device 3 is provided near the circumferential surface of the drum 2 to uniformly charge the surface of the drum 2.
, an optical system 4 that forms a latent image by exposing the two charged drum surfaces with light obtained by irradiating the six surfaces of the original on the contact glass 5, and the two photoreceptor drum surfaces on which the latent image is formed. A developing device 7 supplies toner T for development to visualize the latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor tram 2, and the developed toner image is fed from a paper feed port 9. A transfer unit 8 that transfers the image onto the paper P; a separation device 10 that separates the transferred paper P from the photosensitive drum 2; and a separation device 10 that separates the transferred paper P from the photoreceptor drum 2;
There are a fixing device 11 that fixes the toner thereon, a cleaning device 13 that removes the toner T remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 2 after the paper P is separated from the surface of the photoreceptor drum 2, and the like.

The paper P that has been fixed by the fixing device 11 is discharged from the paper discharge section 12 to the outside.

Among the various devices mentioned above, during the process of following the rotating and moving devices and media such as the developing device 7, the photoconductor tram 2, and the paper P, some of the toner T may scatter or float before being cleaned. It is diffused into the image forming apparatus 1.

In addition, inside the image forming apparatus 1, there is heat generated due to the irradiation by the optical system 4 and heating by a heater (not shown) of the fixing device 11, and the inside of the image forming apparatus 1 becomes high temperature. Air intake 14 for cooling
, an exhaust port 15 are provided, and the ventilation is provided by rotation of a fan 16.

Inside the openings such as the air intake port 14 and the exhaust port 15, as well as near the openings such as the paper feed port 9 and the paper discharge port 12, an electret E having a polarity opposite to that of the toner T is formed as shown by diagonal lines. It is provided.

This electret is a polymer material that can semi-permanently maintain its electrically polarized state at high voltages.For example, the material itself can maintain its polarity without connecting a power supply circuit that applies a bias voltage, so It is said that the name electret was given to magnets because they are similar to magnets or magnetic poles that can be maintained for long periods of time.

Electret has an extremely simple structure and can be made lightweight and compact, so as technology advances in the polymer field, it has recently become a material commonly used in ultra-small microphones, speakers, and other audio equipment.

By providing such electrets (E) having a polarity opposite to that of the toner T on the inner surface near each opening of the image forming apparatus 1, the toner T scattered and floating within the image forming apparatus 1 can be removed by the fan. 16, the electret is adsorbed by the electret E before being discharged to the outside mainly through the exhaust port 15.

Furthermore, even when the fan 16 is stopped, when air flows out of the image forming apparatus 1 from various openings such as the air intake port 14, paper feed port 9, and paper discharge port 12, the air contained in the air may be The toner T is attracted by the electret E provided on the inner surface near each opening, and is prevented from flowing out from the various openings of the image forming apparatus 1.

Furthermore, this electret E is not limited to the above-mentioned openings, but can also be applied to openings and gaps other than those described above, as appropriate, on the inner surface near the location where air flows out.

As described above with respect to the embodiments, the present invention includes an electret having a polarity opposite to that of the toner T on the inner surface near each opening of the image forming apparatus. adsorbs on the inner surface near the opening and prevents it from diffusing to the outside. Therefore, by preventing toner contamination at the installation location of the image forming apparatus, the cleanliness of the installation environment can be maintained.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, since an electret having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is provided on the inner surface near the opening of the image forming apparatus, the scattered/floating toner near the opening is adsorbed and the toner is absorbed into the opening. This prevents contamination from being diffused to the outside, thereby making it possible to maintain a clean environment in which the image forming apparatus is installed.

Figure 1

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the prior art. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Image forming apparatus, 9... Paper feed port (opening), 12... Paper discharge port (opening), 14... Air intake port (opening), 15... Exhaust port (opening), E...electret, T...toner

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image forming device that includes an electret of opposite polarity to the toner on the inner surface near the opening of the image forming device.