JPH05273897A - Electrophotographic image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an electrophotographic image forming device provided with an elastic blade cleaning means having higher strength of adhesion. CONSTITUTION:This image forming device has a turnable moving body 1, an elastic blade 21 which is adapted to remove the residual matter on the moving body 1 by coming into contact with the moving body 1, a holding member 23 which adheres and holds the elastic blade 21 by an adhesive and the elastic blade cleaning means which has the stationary part side where the elastic blade 21 is adhered and held face to face to the holding member 23 via adhesive layers 24, 30 in the direction orthogonal with the longitudinal direction of the elastic blade 21 and the free part side where the elastic blade is not held and in which the adhesive layer 30 in the adhesive is provided from the elastic blade 21 to the front end of the holding member 23 on the free part side of the elastic blade 21 from the end of the holding member 23 in the direction orthogonal with the longitudinal direction of the elastic blade 21 and the adhesive layer 24 covers the entire area in the longitudinal direction of the elastic blade 21.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic apparatus, and an electrophotographic image having elastic blade cleaning means for contacting a moving body such as an image carrier to remove the residue thereof. Forming apparatus

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various adhering methods have been proposed for a cleaning device in which a cleaning member and a supporting member of this kind are adhered to each other.

However, as shown in FIG. 1, especially when the cleaning member 2 is attached to the image carrier 1 on the contact surface side of the image carrier 1 and has the adhesive layer 4 adhered to the support plate 3, the image carrier of the cleaning member 2 is carried out. The stress for applying the contact pressure to the body concentrates on the end portion m of the support plate 3 and becomes a force for separating the cleaning member 2 and the image carrier 1. Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, even if the end P of the adhesive surface of the support plate 3 does not have a curvature, it may peel off gradually. Especially, as shown in FIG. With some curvature R, the adhesive bonding point Q point of the adhesive 4 and the end plate bonding point Q of the support plate 3 are different in the longitudinal direction y, and there is a possibility that they may be peeled off more easily than in the case shown in FIG. Also, as shown in FIG.
When the surface opposite to the contact surface of the cleaning member 2 on the image carrier 1 is bonded to the support member 3 via the adhesive layer 4, the contact pressure of the cleaning member 2 on the image carrier 1 is longer than that of the free portion L. It fluctuates greatly depending on the size. Therefore, as shown in the drawing, when the end surface P of the adhesive surface has a curvature R, the length of the free portion L varies depending on the displacement amount a of the cleaning member 2, and the contact pressure varies, which may impair the cleaning performance. It was

The present invention provides an electrophotographic image forming apparatus which solves the problems of the conventional example.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention, which solves the above-mentioned problems, is directed to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, in which the movable body is rotatable, and the movable body remains in contact with the movable body. An elastic blade for removing objects, a holding member that adheres and holds the elastic blade with an adhesive, and the elastic blade is surface-bonded to the holding member via an adhesive layer in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the elastic blade. There is a fixed part side that is held and a free part side that is not held, and the adhesive layer in the adhesive is the free part side of the elastic blade rather than the end part of the holding member in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the elastic blade. And an elastic blade cleaning means that is provided from the elastic blade to the tip of the holding member, and the adhesive layer extends over the entire region in the longitudinal direction of the elastic blade. Conveying means for conveying the medium, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus characterized by having a.

[0006]

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

The embodiment described below is a cleaning device for removing adhered matters remaining on the image carrier,
A blade that comes into contact with the image carrier and scrapes off the remaining deposits, and a holding member that supports the blade, and the blade and the holding member are surface-bonded with a first adhesive, and a fixing portion of the blade. This is a cleaning device that bonds the boundary between the free part and the end of the holding member with a second adhesive.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example of a cleaning device to which the present invention is applied.

An image bearing member 1 is an example in which a photosensitive member having a photoconductive substance such as selenium (Se) or an organic photoconductor (OPC) is supported in a drum shape. The drum-shaped image carrier 1 rotates in the arrow direction. A corona discharger 6 uniformly charges the surface of the image carrier. Reference numeral 7 denotes an optical means such as an array of short-focus optical elements, which irradiates a light image on the image carrier. A developing device 8 develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the image bearing member in response to the light image irradiation. A timing roller 9 is a paper feeding means (not shown).
The transfer material (recording medium) 10 fed from the device is fed to the transfer position in synchronization with the development on the image carrier. 1
Reference numeral 1 is a transfer material guide, and 12 is a transfer corona discharger. Transfer corona is applied to the back surface of the transfer material 10 by the transfer corona discharger 12, and each transfer to the transfer material 10 is performed. Thirteen
Is a conveyor belt for guiding the transfer material after the transfer to a fixing means (not shown). Reference numeral 14 is a cleaning device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, 2 is an elastic cleaning blade formed of urethane rubber or plastic, and 16 is a sheet-shaped guide member which stores a substance to be removed such as residual developer removed by the blade. It leads into the box 15a.

FIG. 5A is a detailed sectional view of the cleaner 14 shown in FIG. Note that FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing a blade portion. In the figure, the toner remaining and adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 after the transfer step is scraped off by the rubber blade 21, and the scooping sheet 16 made of, for example, a polyester film having a thickness of about 75 μ is located below the toner. , Stored in the container 15a. The scooping sheet 16 is in light contact with the surface of the drum 1, and the extent to which the residual toner can pass through the sheet.

The toner scraped off by the blade 21 due to the contact of the sheet 16 with the drum is prevented from leaking from the inside of the container 15a to the outside. Also, 17 at the bottom of the cleaning device 14 is a magnet for collecting the toner that has fallen outside.

A part of the interior of the cleaning device 14 is partitioned by a fixed partition plate 18, and the toner dropped by the blade 21 as described above is rotated by the rotating scraping member 19 into the space 20 on the inner side of the container. Can be tucked into. By doing this, the apparent density of the toner increases,
Miniaturization of the container can be achieved. This scraping member 19
For example, it is made of an elastic body such as a polyester sheet or a cloth impregnated with rubber.

The blade 21 is adhesively fixed to the holding member 23 on the surface contacting the image carrier through the adhesive layer 24 forming the adhesive area. Further, the holding member 23 is positioned by the positioning pin 25, and is fixedly held to the outer frame 26 of the cleaning device 14 by screws or the like. Here, in this embodiment, the blade 21 and the holding member 23 are surface-bonded by the first adhesive layer 24, and the boundary c between the fixed portion a and the free portion b of the blade 21 and the tip portion 23a of the holding member 23 are provided. With the second adhesive layer 30.

That is, as also shown in FIG. 5 (b), the blade 21 is displaced with respect to the holding member 23 so that the end portion of the blade 21 uniformly projects in the longitudinal direction, and the surface adhesion is held. The second adhesive layer 30 is evenly filled over the entire length of the blade 21 from the surface of the blade 21 facing the holding member 23 to the free end of the holding member 23 from the end of the holding member 23 to the tip of the holding member 23. Is provided.

Further details will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A is a side view showing a bonded portion between the blade 21 and the holding member 23.

In the figure, the blade 21 is surface-bonded to the holding member 23 by the adhesive layer 24, and the boundary c between the fixed portion a and the free portion b of the blade 21 and the end portion 23 of the holding member 23.
The adhesive layer 30 adheres a. As a result, against the force in the peeling force acting direction u, which was conventionally held at the point P, in the present embodiment, the surface adhesion in the x region is obtained, and the x portion is the surface against the displacement in the u direction. Therefore, stronger adhesion can be obtained. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the curved portion R of the distal end portion 23a of the holding member 23 is effectively used and the adhesive layer 30 is provided between the curved portion R and the blade 21, the bonding is performed.
The variation of the z portion shown in (3) is reduced. This is the adhesive layer 30
By diluting the solution with a solvent to reduce its viscosity and flowing it, only the gap portion is filled, as in a kind of capillary phenomenon. As the solvent, toluene, monochlorobenzene, ethylene acetate, etc. can be used.
It is preferable to use an apolar solvent such as monochlorobenzene.

Further, oxidation and stain of the adhesive due to exposure of the end C of the adhesive surface on the opposing surface of the blade 21 and the holding member 23 to the air can be prevented and the end of the holding member is not easily peeled off.

A description will be given below using specific numerical values.

A rigid plate such as an iron plate or an aluminum plate is used as the holding member 23, urethane rubber is used as the blade 21, and the adhesive force in the u direction between the rigid plate and the blade 21 is 1. Double-sided adhesive tape consisting of 0 kg / cm styrene butadiene resin (SBR) and base cloth (adhesive layer 2
When 4) was used and an epoxy adhesive was used for the second adhesive layer 30, it had an adhesive strength of 1.5 kg / cm or more and did not peel due to the durability of the operation of the device.

In this embodiment (FIG. 6 (a)), the rigid plate 2 is used.
3 thickness 1.2 mm, blade 21 thickness 2.0 mm,
Adhesion width x to the rigid plate 23 = 0.2 mm or more and 1.2 mm or less, adhesion width z to the blade 21 z = 0.2 mm or more and 1.0
The experiment was performed with the thickness of the adhesive layer 24 being 0.1 mm or less. Further, it is preferable that z ≦ x in consideration of the thickness of the adhesive layer.

Further, as the adhesive used for the first and second adhesive layers, a rubber-like adhesive such as chloroprene, vinyl chloride, urethane, SBR, etc., or the urethane similar to the epoxy-based or UV-curable resin or the cleaning member as described above. It may be a curable type. Here, an experimental example was also obtained in which the cured type was more resistant to peeling than the rubber-like adhesive. It is considered that this is because even if the rubber-like adhesive is filled in the P portion, elongation is caused by the external force u although it is slight, and the strength becomes lower than that of the cured type. As the adhesive used for the first and second adhesive layers, either a curable adhesive or a rubber adhesive can be applied, but a curable adhesive is used for the second adhesive layer. Is preferred. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the second adhesive layer is adhered and held by using a curing type epoxy adhesive.

Even in the structure of the conventional example shown in FIG. 3, by filling the P portion with the second adhesive, the free portion L becomes constant and a uniform cleaning contact pressure is obtained.

Further, another embodiment is shown in FIG.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, an example in which the first adhesive layer and the second adhesive layer are separated is shown, but as shown in FIG.
An adhesive having fluidity or an adhesive 31 having fluidity by heat is used to extrude the adhesive by its own weight of the cleaning blade or the holding member or an appropriate pressure, and P is applied in the same manner as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. The part may be filled with an adhesive and then cured. The present invention is not limited to the case where the blade is adhered and held to the holding member by the surface that abuts on the image carrier, and the case where the blade is adhered and held by the non-contact surface, or the adhesive holding is performed by the contact surface and non-contact surface. It is also applicable when doing. Further, the blade is not limited to the plate-like body and may be a chip-shaped, claw-shaped, rectangular shape, or the like as long as it is capable of coming into contact with the image carrier to obtain sufficient cleaning performance, and the material thereof also has elasticity. If it is made of rubber, rubber such as urethane or plastic resin (elastomer) can be used. As the holding member,
An appropriate one can be applied as long as the blade can be sufficiently brought into contact with and held by the image carrier, such as an arm-shaped one or a plate-shaped one.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the adhesive layer is formed by filling the boundary between the fixed portion and the free portion of the cleaning member and the end portion of the supporting member with the adhesive to obtain a stronger adhesive strength. In addition, the present invention provides an electrophotographic image forming apparatus having effects such as uniformization of the free portion length L.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a blade portion of a conventional cleaning device.

FIG. 2A is a sectional view of a blade portion of a conventional cleaning device. (B) It is sectional drawing of the blade part of the conventional cleaning device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a blade portion of a conventional cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of an electrophotographic apparatus using an example of the cleaning apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a sectional view of a cleaning device using an embodiment of the present invention. (B) It is a perspective view of the blade part of the cleaning device using one example of the present invention.

FIG. 6 (a) is a side view of a blade portion using an embodiment of the present invention. (B) It is a side view of the blade part which used one Example of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Image Carrier 2.21, Blade 3.23, Holding Member 4.5 / 5/24/30/31 Adhesive Layer

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Watanabe 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Eiichi Yanagi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Within the corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, comprising: a rotatable movable body, an elastic blade for contacting the movable body to remove a residue of the movable body, and the elastic blade. A holding member that adheres and holds with an adhesive, and a fixed portion side where the elastic blade is face-bonded and held to the holding member via an adhesive layer in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the elastic blade and a free portion side that is not held. Having, the adhesive layer in the adhesive is provided from the elastic blade to the holding member tip on the free portion side of the elastic blade from the end portion of the holding member in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the elastic blade, The adhesive layer has elastic blade cleaning means extending over the entire length of the elastic blade in the longitudinal direction, and conveying means for conveying a recording medium. Electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim. 2. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movable body is a drum-shaped image carrier, and the elastic blade removes toner from the drum-shaped image carrier.