JPH05257409A - Cleaning blade holder rotatable 180° - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To facilitate the insertion of a blade without generating the inclination of the blade by providing a blade holder, a fixing holder and an improved blade having cleaning edges. CONSTITUTION: A blade rib 65 is inserted into a gutter 40, and a blade body 60 is guided into the blade holder, so that the blade member 60 is aligned properly. The upper and lower members 90 and 95 of the blade holder are tightened together with a spring clamp, that is, a clip 20 at each end part of a blade holder assembly, to hold the blade body 60 at a right place. Further, the upper member 90 of the blade holder is provided with a groove 26 and the top end of the spring clamp is inserted into the groove 26 to make the impulse of the spring clamp free. Then, the blade body 60 is provided with four cleaning edges horizontally extended to the outside of the blade holder assembly, in all. When it is necessary that a blade edge is exchanged, the blade holder assembly is rotated to be in a second position and the second cleaning edge has a linear contact state with a light receiving surface, after that.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to electrophotographic printing, and more particularly to cleaning blades used to remove particles adhering to photoconductive members.

In a copying process of the type described above, it is inevitable that some residual toner will remain on the image surface (ie, the light receiving surface, the photoconductive surface) after the toner image has been transferred to a sheet of support material (eg, paper). There is no fact. In such a process, it is well known that the force for holding the toner particles on the image surface is stronger than the transfer force, so that some particles remain on the surface even after the transfer of the toner image. In addition to this residual toner, other particles, such as paper debris (ie, kaolin, fibers, soil), additives and plastics, remain on the surface after transfer of the image (hereinafter "residual particles" are Includes residual toner and other residual particles that remain after transfer). Since these residual particles stick firmly to the surface, these particles must be removed before the next printing cycle so that they do not interfere with the recording of the new latent image.

In another currently popular form of cleaning well known and disclosed in the art, vane cleaning, the drawbacks of brushes and webs have been eliminated. Vane cleaning typically involves a vane formed of a rubbery material (ie, polyurethane) that sweeps or wipes the entire surface of the image surface to remove residual particles. Due to its simple and inexpensive construction, vane cleaning is a highly desirable method of removing residual particles compared to other methods. However, this vane cleaning has certain drawbacks, primarily as a result of the friction seal contact that must occur between the vane and the surface. This frictional seal contact often results in vane failure and requires vane replacement.

In a typical xerographic copier, replacing the cleaning blade involves a customer service engineer (CSE) or the like completely removing the photoreceptor belt module for any blade replacement. Sometimes 24 steps have to be performed.

This method of mounting a cleaning blade (urethane slab of which the average size is about 37 cm x 1.8 cm x 0.2 cm) on its holder, until the blade has penetrated the most along its length. (About 1.1 cm) The CSE needs to push the blade into the holder channel. This is not an easy operation. The vane holds it in place within its holder by a friction fit. When the vane fits snugly, it clings snugly to the sides of the holder and resists pressure on the channel. The flexibility of the vane makes it difficult to work when the CSE pushes it into place, bending the vane.

Much training is required to perform the task of installing new blades in this manner. It is not clear if the vane is properly aligned with the cleaning edge even after it is finally inserted into the channel of the holder. Although the cleaning vane can be cleaned even when it is slightly mounted at an angle, such an obliquely mounted vane also creates photoreceptor tracking problems. These tracking problems result in premature damage to the photoreceptor and also other failures. If the cleaning blades are mounted diagonally, the wear will be uneven and the blades will break prematurely. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide means for easily inserting the blade so as not to cause the inclination of the blade.

Gordon US Pat. No. 4,202,437
The specification discloses a conveyor belt scraper assembly for removing foreign material from a conveyor belt. This allows the worn vanes to be replaced quickly and effectively. The scraper assembly is mounted on a pair of slide housings with adjustable vane angular orientation to compensate for substantial scraper edge wear.
The scraper core holds three blades, all located 120 ° apart and when one blade wears,
It can be used instead. The vanes consist of two working edge surfaces, so that when one edge surface is worn out and unusable, the installation is reversed to provide a new working surface.

Ellison US Pat. No. 4,311,094
The specification discloses a method and apparatus for removing extraneous foreign matter from a printing plate mounted on a cylinder. A pair of parallel spaced flexible vanes make contact with the surface of the plate, whereby one vane spreads and spreads ink on the surface, while the other vane draws ink from the surface. Remove. These vanes are supported by mounting members that extend across the width of the printing plate and parallel to the axis of the plate cylinder.

Luke US Pat. No. 4,328,888 discloses a conveyor belt scraper vane with one longitudinal axis in contact with the surface of the scooped conveyor belt. The vanes extend in opposite lateral directions around the perimeter of the metal reinforcing strip so as to include two scraper edges. The hard rubber blades adhered to the metal reinforcing strip come into contact with the conveyor belt and scoop foreign foreign matter therefrom. After one edge of the vane is worn, the worn vane is removed from the support structure and inverted so that the other edge appears on the belt surface.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a rotary blade holder.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a blade holder including a ribbed blade body.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the separate members of the blade holder.

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing the orientation of the blade holder and the blade angle during operation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a blade holder having another shape of the blade body.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another blade body configuration of FIG.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a rotatable clip holder having an upper member 90 and a lower member 95 held together at each end by spring clips or clamps 20. .. The lower member 95 has a channel through which the shaft 30 is inserted. The shaft 30 extends through a channel in the base of the lower member 95 into a bearing 97 which at each end of the shaft 30 secures a vane holder within a machine frame 96. The spring 10 is spirally wound around one end of the shaft 30 between the bearing 97 and the side edge of the lower member 95 of the blade holder. The spring 10 expands and contracts in the direction indicated by the arrow 14. The end of shaft 30 opposite the spirally wound spring 10 terminates in knob 80. This knob 80
Rotates the entire blade holder to the desired position,
Place the cleaning edge of 0 in line contact with the image surface,
Used to clean the surface of residual debris. The knob 80 is pushed forward in the direction indicated by arrow 13, after which the blade holder is rotated 180 ° to bring the other cleaning edge into contact with the image surface. When the knob 80 is pushed forward, the spring 10 contracts and the key 70 also moves in the direction of arrow 13.
Move forward in the direction of. FIG. 1 illustrates in dotted lines the forward movement of the key 70 and the knob 80 when pressed to rotate. When the knob 80 rotates the blade holder to the desired blade cleaning position, the knob 80 is released and the spring 10 extends to its initial position, thus the key 70 and the knob 8
Move 0 to its first position. A slot is formed in the key block 73, which allows the key 70 to
It can be placed in the locked position every 0 ° rotation and also in any desired locked position.

The upper part of the lower member 95 of the blade holder located above the channel of the shaft 30 is a gutter member, ie
It has a recess 40 in which a vane rib 65 fits.
The ribs 65 are inserted into the gutter member 40 and guide the blade body 60 in a proper alignment within the blade holder. The upper member 95 of the blade holder is located along the longitudinal centerline of the upper surface of the blade body 60 in this drawing. The upper member 90 and lower member 95 of the vane holder are clamped together by spring clamps or clips 20 at each end of the vane holder assembly to hold the vane body 60 in place.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a cross-sectional view of the blade holder of FIG. The spring clamp 20 has a pressure fit to hold the vane holder members 90, 95 together securely. The upper member 90 of the blade holder has a groove 26 into which the upper end of the spring clamp is slidably inserted. The bottom end of the spring clamp 20 has a fork shape, which forms a pressure fit around the neck of the screw 25 extending from the base of the lower member 95 of the blade holder. The screw 25 extends sufficiently from the base of the lower member 95 of the blade holder to allow the fork end of the spring clamp 20 to fit between the head of the screw 25 and the base of the lower member 25 of the blade holder. To do. The opposite end of the head of the screw 25 ends at the position of the shaft 30 to allow a secure hold between the shaft 30 and the lower member of the blade holder.

Rotating the cleaning blade attached to the blade holder is a simple task. When there is a problem with the quality of the copy and it is believed that the cause is the cleaning blade, the customer is instructed to rotate the blade.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the vane body 60 has a total of four cleaning edges 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d extending laterally outside the vane holder assembly. When the blade holder assembly is in its initial cleaning position (1), the cleaning edge 60a is in line contact with the light receiving surface (FIG. 4). When the blade edge 60a needs to be replaced, the blade holder assembly is 180 °
Rotate to the second position (2). The second cleaning edge 60b is then placed in line contact with the light receiving surface (ie, the image surface, or the light transmitting surface).

The fixed blade holder replaces the blade body 60 (the first two cleaning edges 60a,
60b) when it is no longer useful). Although it is necessary to remove the photoconductor to replace the blade, the replacement work is easy. This is because a) the upper member 90 of the blade holder can be completely separated from the lower member 95, and the edge 60d of the new blade can be easily fitted in place. When another new cleaning blade edge is needed, the spring clamp 20 is removed and the upper member 90 is separated. The vane body 60 is then removed, inverted, and then reinserted into the vane holder using ribs 65 to properly align the vane edges. After reassembling the blade holder assembly, the blade holder assembly is rotated back 180 ° to position (1) and the third new cleaning edge 60d makes line contact with the light receiving surface to clean it. When the blade assembly is rotated 180 ° to position 2, a fourth cleaning edge 60c is prepared to clean the light receiving surface. The vane body 60 and vane holder are designed with matching ribs 65 and grooves 40 (see FIG. 1) to aid in proper alignment of the vanes. The instructions for using the cleaning edges 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d and the rotation between the two parts of the blade holder for cleaning vary.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a blade holder and its separate members are shown. The upper member 90 of the blade holder can be removed from the rest of the blade holder assembly when the spring clip 20 is removed. So that the upper part of the spring clip 20 is slidably inserted,
The groove 26 is formed at each end of the upper surface of the upper member 90. The screw 25 extends from the base of the vane holder and secures the bottom portion of the spring clip 20. The blade body 60 is positioned horizontally between the upper member 90 and the lower member 95 of the blade holder. The blade main body 60 is arranged in line with the inside of the blade holder by inserting a rib 65 extending in the longitudinal direction downward from the center line of the blade main body 60 into the gutter member 40 formed in the lower member 95 of the blade holder. Hold (rib 65
Is molded or adhered to the bottom surface of the blade body). The gutter member 40 extends downward from the center line of the lower member 95 of the blade holder over the length of the blade body 60. The shaft 30 extends through a channel under the trough member 40 of the lower member 95 of the blade holder. A key 70 is shown in FIG. 3, which locks the blade holder after rotation of the knob 80 shown in dotted lines to rotate the blade holder and the machine frame 96.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown the orientation of the blade holder and blade angle during operation of the copier. Edges 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d of the cleaning blade
(Not shown) has an angle of 15 to 25 when operating the copier. FIG. 4 shows one of the four cleaning edges 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d in line contact with the light receiving surface 12. The blade body 60 has two cleaning edges 60 on each side of the edge of the blade body 60 protruding from the blade holder.
a, 60b, 60c or 60d. This drawing shows a cleaning blade edge operating in doctor mode. However, the cleaning blade edge operates in either wiper mode or doctor mode.

Referring now to FIG. 5, another vane holder in the form of another vane body is shown. This figure shows a vane body 61 with a series of openings or holes through which a nodule or piece 100 is inserted. The nodule 100 is located on the upper surface of the lower member 94 of the blade holder and extends upward through a matching hole formed in the blade body 61. The end of the nodule 100 ends at the location of a mating recess formed in the lower surface of the upper member 90 of the blade holder. The assembly and operation of the vane holder of FIG. 1 can also be applied to this FIG. 5, whereby some adjustments can also be made to the other vane body 61. The blade body 61 of this drawing has blade edges arranged in a line.
The rib 65 (FIG. 1) to secure the blade to the blade holder assembly.
Nodules 100 and openings instead of (as shown in FIG. However, the blade body 61 of FIG.
4 cleaning edges 61a, 61
b, 61c, 61d. These four cleaning edges make line contact with the light receiving surface in the same manner as the cleaning edges 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d of the ribbed blade body 60 shown in FIG.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a cross-sectional view of the blade holder assembly of FIG. Upper member 9 of blade holder
0 has a groove 26 in which the upper end of the spring clamp 20 is slidably inserted. The end of the strip 100 is received in a mating recess in the upper member 90 of the blade holder. The vane body 61 is held in place by a series of nodules 100 inserted through openings or holes formed in the vane body 61. The blade body 61 has four cleaning edges 61a, 61b, 61c, 61d. The lower end of the spring clamp 20 has a fork shape which forms a pressure fit around the neck of a screw 25 extending from the base of the lower member 95 of the blade holder. The screw 25 extends sufficiently from the base of the lower member 94 of the blade holder so that the fork end of the spring clamp 20 can fit between the head of the screw 25 and the base of the lower member 94 of the blade holder. .. Since the end of the screw 25 opposite the head ends at the position of the shaft 30, the shaft 30 is securely held in the lower member 94 of the blade holder.

It is not uncommon for the blades to not line up. Of all randomly extracted and used blades, 14% had magnetite ore, which showed oblique wear. This wear pattern is caused by a photoreceptor that is not properly locked in or by the cleaning blades not being properly attached. Conventionally, it can be assumed that most of these blades have not been properly installed, since the non-alignment of the blades is more likely to occur with a photoreceptor.

After the CSE has the vanes in its holder, the holder must be locked (in two places) to the bracket of the cleaning assembly inside the machine. Another error that CSEs tend to fall into is locking only one side of the holder in place. In this case, the holder appears to be properly installed at first glance. It should be noted that this error was also seen during operation of the copier, but it gives rise to the same problems as described above for the beveled blade.

It takes 1 time to replace the cleaning blade.
Reduced to less than a minute and required 2 steps to perform this work.
180 ° of the present invention to reduce from 4 to 6 steps
Equipped with a rotary cleaning blade holder. The vane holder has a stationary holder and an improved vane with four cleaning edges (see Figures 1-6). By using this holder, the cleaning vane will have twice the life of a normal vane before the vane actually needs to be replaced.

One of the most well known blade failures in the art is the ingress of particles that cause streaks on the photoreceptor. Particles that have become trapped on the surface of the photoreceptor have been allegedly removed by moving the cleaning blades from the photoreceptor and then returning it to its working position. When a streak failure is found, the customer, or CSE, easily cams the cleaning blade back, spins the holder, and then tests to see if the defect is still persistent.

In order for the cleaning blade to be sealed against the photoreceptor surface and to ensure proper cleaning, the blade holder must be sufficiently rigid to prevent bowing. Therefore, it is preferable to calculate the stiffness and select an appropriate material for the new holder so that a uniform vane load is applied across the photoreceptor.

A typical vane material for cleaning vanes is polyurethane. The typical manufacture of this polyurethane cleaning blade is done using a centrifuge.
For purposes of this invention, the mold release reduces the "mold side" reliability of the cleaning blade, so it is preferred that the cleaning blade be manufactured without the mold release. However, if the blade is manufactured in a centrifuge using mold release, it is preferable that the edge of the cleaning blade be on the air side and not the mold side. For cleaning,
Although it is possible to use the "mold side", it is not preferable to use the cleaning blade of the present invention on the "mold side" because its reliability is reduced (CSE sometimes uses the mold side). To). Get 4 cleaning edges, all on the air side 1
One method is to join two separate vane bodies together on their mold sides, exposing only their air side to the top and bottom surfaces of the composite vane body. The total thickness of the two laminated blades is equal to that of a conventional cleaning blade.

Cleaning blades made of various silicone materials are also envisioned. Those silicon blades are
Manufactured without the mold release, which is considered to be the main cause of "mold side" uncertainty problems.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a rotary blade holder.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a blade holder including a ribbed blade body.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing separate members of the blade holder.

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing the orientation of the blade holder and the blade angle during operation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a blade holder having another shape of the blade body.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another blade body shape of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 springs, 20 spring clips, 25,25 'screws, 26 grooves, 30,30' shafts, 40 recesses, 6
0,61 blade body, 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d
Cleaning edge, 65 ribs, 70 keys, 80
Knob, 90 Upper member, 94, 95 Lower member, 96
Machine frame, 97 bearings, 100 nodules

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for cleaning particles from an image surface, comprising: means for cleaning particles from an imaging surface, said cleaning means comprising at least two surfaces; A means for holding the means, the holding means moving to position one of the surfaces in contact with the image plane with the other of the surfaces remote from it.