JPH05224562A - Cleaner unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively remove toner sticking to a carrying screw, in a cleaner unit recovering residual toner on the photosensitive body of an image forming device. CONSTITUTION:The cleaner unit with the carrying screw 5 for carrying recovered toner is provided with a cleaning means 6 for cleaning the carrying screw 5. The cleaning means 6 is provided with a plurality of elastic projections 14 which elastically engage with the carrying screw 5 to scrape toner sticking to the carrying screw 5. In this case, by making the pitch P1 of the elastic projection 14 slightly different from the pitch P2 of the carrying screw, the maximum load is reduced and the effectiveness is improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaner unit for collecting residual toner on a photosensitive member of an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Residual toner on a photosensitive member is removed by a removing means such as a fur brush or a blade provided in a cleaner unit and is accumulated in the cleaner unit. The toner is a conveying screw provided in the cleaner unit. Is conveyed to the toner collector. As the conveying screw, conventionally, a screw provided with a spiral wing on the shaft, a coil spring, or the like is used, and the toner is conveyed by rotating these. The toner collected in the toner collector is regularly discarded.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, since no special cleaning measures are taken on the conveying screw, the toner is discharged to the discharged toner conveying screw due to the dew condensation inside the machine or the toner absorption in the high humidity environment. Adhesion, which grows over time and causes the screw to clog. The clogged conveying screw does not serve the purpose of toner conveyance, and the discharged toner accumulates in the cleaner unit and the cleaner unit is filled with the discharged toner. As a result, the cleaner unit does not work properly and, in severe cases, causes damage to the unit or device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaner unit which can effectively remove the toner attached to the conveying screw.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, in a cleaner unit for an image forming apparatus having a conveying screw for conveying the collected toner, a cleaning unit for cleaning the conveying screw is provided. A cleaning device is provided.

Further, in the cleaner unit of the first structure, the cleaning means is provided with one or more elastic protrusions that elastically engage with the carrying screw to scrape off the toner adhering to the carrying screw. The configuration is characterized by the following.

Further, in the cleaning unit of the second construction, a plurality of the elastic projection pieces are provided, and the pitch of each elastic projection piece is different from the screw pitch of the conveying screw. ..

[0008]

Since the cleaning means cleans the toner adhering to the carrying screw, the carrying screw does not become clogged and carries the toner to the collector and the like in a stable operation even in a high humidity environment. When the cleaning means is provided with the elastic protrusions, the elastic protrusions elastically engage with the conveying screw to scrape off the toner adhering to the conveying screw to effectively remove the toner. In this case, if a plurality of elastic protrusions are provided and the pitch of each elastic protrusion and the screw pitch of the conveying screw are made different, the engagement timing of each elastic protrusion and the conveying screw is shifted, and the maximum load is reduced, It is advantageous.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the structure of the cleaner unit 1 of the present embodiment (FIG. 2A is a front view, FIG. 2B is a side view), and FIG. 3 is an AA cross section arrow of FIG. 2A. As shown in the drawing, the cleaner unit 1 includes a cleaning blade 3, a receiving blade 4, a conveying screw 5, a screw cleaner (cleaning means) 6 provided in a cleaner case 2, a collector, and a toner discharge port 2 a of the cleaner case 2. Collector 7
And a conveyance path 8 connecting the toner inlet 7a of

The cleaner case 2 has thumb screws 9A, 9
It is attached to a device frame (not shown) by B and can be removed by pulling it out to the left in FIG. 2 (A). The cleaning blade 3 includes a shaft 10 and a screw 11
It is fixed by and is pressed against the photoconductor 12.
The shaft 10 can be rotated by operating a lever 16, and the shaft 10 can be rotated when the photoconductor is replaced or the cleaner unit is replaced.
By rotating the cleaning blade 3 from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the chain line in FIG.
Can be separated from. The receiving blade 4 is for receiving the toner scraped off the photoconductor 12 by the cleaning blade 3.

The conveying screw 5 is a hollow spring-shaped member formed by winding a strip-shaped spring material (stainless steel copper for spring, etc.) in a coil shape as shown in FIG. 15 (see FIG. 2A), the toner is rotated in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1 (A) and the toner received by the receiving blade 4 is moved in the direction of arrow C in FIG.
Propulsive force is applied in the left direction of (A). The toner receiving the propulsive force is guided to the collector 7 through the transport path 8. The conveyance path 8 is, for example, a rubber tube having a conveyance screw. As the conveying screw, in addition to the screw shown in FIG. 1, a coil spring-shaped screw may be used.

The screw cleaner 6 is the main component of the present invention, and as shown in FIG. 1, a large number of elastic projections 14 are integrally formed at the tip of an elastic plate 13 such as a polyester film at an equal pitch. .. The elastic plate 13 is attached to the inner wall of the cleaner case 2 by using a double-sided adhesive tape or the like (see FIG. 3), and in this state, the elastic protrusion 14 engages with the conveying screw 5. Next, the operation of the screw cleaner 6 will be described.

When the carrying screw 5 rotates during operation of the cleaner unit, the carrying screw 5 pushes up the elastic projection piece 14, and when the elastic projection piece 14 is disengaged from the carrying screw 5, it returns to its original position due to its own elasticity. At that time, the elastic protrusion 14 scrapes off the toner adhering to the conveying screw 5, and prevents the toner from adhering to the conveying screw 5 and clogging. When the same as the pitch P ₁ of the elastic key 14 and the screw pitch P ₂ of the conveyance screw 5, although the load for each of the elastic protrusion 14 is engaged with the conveying screw 5 simultaneously increases instantaneously, and P ₁ By making P ₂ slightly different, the engagement timing between each elastic protrusion 14 and the conveying screw 5 is shifted, and the maximum load is reduced, which is advantageous.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the toner adhering to the carrying screw is cleaned by the cleaning means, the carrying screw is not clogged even in a high humidity environment. Stable operation without raising it and damage to the cleaner unit and device can be prevented. Further, when using a cleaning means provided with a plurality of elastic protrusions, if the pitch of the elastic protrusions and the screw pitch of the conveying screw are slightly different, the maximum load can be reduced, which is advantageous.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are views for explaining the configuration and operation of a cleaning unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A being a perspective view and FIG. 1B being a plan view.

FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of a cleaner unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 (A) is a front view and FIG. 2 (B) is a side view.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cleaner Unit 5 Conveyor Screw 6 Screw Cleaner (Cleaning Means) 13 Elastic Plate 14 Elastic Projecting Piece

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cleaner unit for an image forming apparatus having a carrying screw (5) for carrying the collected toner, wherein a cleaning means (6) for cleaning the carrying screw (5) is provided. A characteristic cleaner unit. 2. Cleaning means (6) includes one or more elastic protrusions (14) that elastically engage with said conveying screw (5) to scrape off the toner adhering to said conveying screw (5). The cleaner unit according to claim 1, wherein the cleaner unit is provided. 3. A plurality of elastic projecting pieces (14) are provided, and the pitch P ₁ of each elastic projecting piece (14) is set to a conveying screw (5).
3. The cleaner unit according to claim 2, wherein the cleaner unit has a different screw pitch P ₂ .