JPH05341695A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To set the dimension of the whole of a housing smaller by carrying toner while making scratching/sending parts profile the inner surface of the housing, and to increase the recovery efficiency of the toner by the scratching/ sending parts, and the recovery capacity of the toner by a scraper. CONSTITUTION:An elastic blade 12b is stuck to a rotary body 12a having a rotational center extending in the width direction of a photosensitive body D. Both end parts of the elastic blade 12b are projected in a direction perpendicular to the rotational center, than the rotary body 12a. Then, a pair of the scratching/sending parts b1 and b2 carrying the toner to the side of the scraper 13, are constituted of both end parts of the blade 126. On the other hand, a part of the scraper 13 enters the rotational locus of a carrying means 12, so that the scraper 13 is engaged with the scratching/sending part b1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a copying machine, a facsimile,
The present invention also relates to a cleaning device that is most suitable for an image forming apparatus such as a page printer, and more particularly to a cleaning device that collects residual toner on a photoconductor in a toner collecting unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an image forming apparatus visualizes a photoconductor carrying a predetermined optically formed image as an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image carried on the photoconductor into a toner image. A developing device for performing the above is provided, and a predetermined image forming process is performed by transferring the visualized toner image onto a transfer paper and further fixing by a fixing device (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-17453). (See the official gazette).

In order to repeat the above image forming process,
After the toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper, a cleaning device is required to remove and collect the toner remaining on the photoconductor. As such a cleaning device, a conveying unit for conveying the residual toner removed from the photoconductor, a scraper for scraping off the toner conveyed by the conveying unit, and a part of the scraper for partitioning the scraper In general, a housing is provided with a toner recovery unit for recovering the toner.

Further, as the conveying means, a rotating body having a center of rotation extending in the width direction of the photosensitive member, and a body integrally attached to the rotating body and rotated together with the rotating body,
It is widely known to integrally form an elastic blade for scraping the residual toner scraped off by the cleaning blade to the toner collecting portion side (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2440/1990).
No. 85). The rotating body is a plate-like member whose one end projects longer in the radial direction outward than the rotation locus of the elastic blade, and the one end part slightly vibrates the upstream toner guide member. Further, a scraper is fixed to the housing in order to scrape off the toner scraped by the elastic blade. Here, in the conventional device, the lower end of the scraper is spaced apart from the bottom surface of the housing by a considerably wide distance.

[0005]

In order to popularize the image forming apparatus having the above structure for home use and personal use,
It is desirable to reduce the size and weight as much as possible, and for that reason, it is required to reduce the size of the cleaning device. And in order to downsize the cleaning device,
It is essential to reduce the size of the housing that constitutes the outer shell.

However, in the rotating body of the above-mentioned prior art, one end of the rotating body is made to project more radially outward than the rotational locus of the elastic blade to vibrate the toner guide member on the upstream side. In order to prevent the body and the inner surface of the housing from interfering with each other, it is necessary to set the size of the housing to a large value, which causes a problem that the entire cleaning device becomes large.

Next, in order to reduce the size of the housing,
It is preferable to set the volume of the toner collecting unit to be small.
However, in the above-mentioned prior art example, since the lower end of the scraper is spaced apart from the bottom surface of the housing by a considerably wide space, there is a problem that the residual toner conveyed to the toner collecting portion flows back from between the scraper and the housing. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device capable of downsizing a housing.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the cleaning device according to claim 1 of the present invention conveys the residual toner removed from the photoconductor, and the conveyance device conveys the residual toner. In a cleaning device having a scraper for scraping off toner and a part of which is partitioned by the scraper, and a toner collecting section for collecting the toner scraped off by the scraper in a housing, the transporting means is provided in a width direction of the photoconductor. A rotating body having a rotation center extending in the direction of, and a pair of scraping-feeding portions for adhering the toner to the scraper side by the both ends are attached in a state in which both ends project in the direction orthogonal to the rotation center. Equipped with a flat elastic blade to configure, the scraper,
Among the pair of scraping parts, at least a surface opposite to the sticking surface of the elastic blade is partly inserted into the rotation locus of the conveying means so that it can be engaged with the one driven to the scraper side. I am trying.

Of the pair of scraping feed units, the one that is driven in the direction of peeling the sticking surface of the elastic blade during rotation is set to a size that can avoid engagement with the scraper and the housing. Good. Furthermore, a cleaning device according to another aspect of the present invention, a conveying means for conveying the residual toner removed from the photoconductor, a scraper for scraping off the toner conveyed by the conveying means, and a part of which is divided by the scraper, In a cleaning device provided with a toner recovery unit for recovering toner scraped off by a scraper in a housing, the lower end of the scraper is made to face the inner bottom surface of the housing in a state in which the transport means can be engaged, and It is characterized in that the distance between the lower end of the scraper and the inner bottom surface of the housing is narrowed to a size capable of preventing the backflow of the toner from the toner collecting portion.

[0010]

In the cleaning device having the structure according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the pair of scraping feed portions are constituted by the both ends of the flat elastic blade, each scraping feed is performed when the conveying means is rotated. The toner can be conveyed while the portion is made to follow the inner surface of the housing. Further, by forming the pair of scraping parts by the flat elastic blades, it is possible to scrape the toner to the scraper side every time the carrying means makes a half rotation. Furthermore, the scraper is
Of the pair of scraping parts, at least the surface opposite to the sticking surface of the elastic blade is engaged in the direction driven by the scraper so that part of the scraper feeds into the rotation locus of the conveying means. As a result, the amount of toner scraped off increases.

Further, in the cleaning device according to another aspect of the present invention, the distance between the lower end of the scraper and the inner bottom surface of the housing is narrowed to a size capable of preventing the backflow of the toner from the toner collecting portion. Even if the density of the toner in the toner collecting section becomes high, the backflow of the toner can be prevented.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, which is an enlarged cross-sectional schematic view of a main part of a cleaning device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, D is a photosensitive drum that is horizontally mounted on an image forming apparatus. The photosensitive drum D is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown).
As shown by arrow A1, it is driven to rotate clockwise in the drawing.

On the photosensitive drum D, the cleaning device 10 of this embodiment is arranged in close proximity. The cleaning device 10 includes a cleaning blade 11 for removing the residual toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor drum D, and a conveying unit 12 for conveying the residual toner removed from the surface of the photoconductor drum D by the cleaning blade 11. The housing 15 is provided with a scraper 13 for scraping off the toner conveyed by the conveying means 12, and a toner collecting section 14 for partitioning a part of the scraper 13 by the scraper 13 and for collecting the toner scraped off by the scraper 13. There is.

The cleaning blade 11 is made of a flat rubber material. The transport means 12 is the rotating body 1.
2a is provided. The rotator 12a is a sheet metal product having an L-shaped cross section, and is rotated in a predetermined direction (clockwise in the drawing in this embodiment) by a spindle a1 having a rotation center along the surface of the photosensitive drum D. It is rotatably supported. Elastic blades 12b are attached to the rotating body 12a in a state in which both ends thereof protrude from the rotating body 12a in a direction orthogonal to the rotation center. Elastic blade 12b
Is made of a resin or a metal sheet or the like, and both ends thereof form a pair of scraping-feeding parts b1 and b2 for carrying the toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 11 to the scraper 13 side. One of the pair of scraping parts b1 and b2 whose surface opposite to the sticking surface of the elastic blade 12b is driven to the scraper 13 side (in the present embodiment, the scraping part b1: hereinafter, b1 is referred to as " One of the scraping parts ") is long protruding from the rotating body 12a so as to come into contact with the scraper 13 during rotation. On the other hand, the one that is driven in the direction of peeling off the sticking surface of the elastic blade 12b (in the present embodiment, the scraping feed portion b2: hereinafter, b2 is referred to as "the other scraping feed portion").
However, the dimensions are set so that the engagement between the scraper 13 and the housing 15 can be avoided.

The scraper 13 is constituted by a wall portion as a plate member of a casing 16 arranged to partition the toner collecting portion 14 in the housing 15, and a lower end portion thereof is one scraping portion b1. The lower end portion enters the rotation locus L of the conveyance means 12 so that it can be engaged only with. A seal blade 17 is fixed to the housing 15 so as to seal between the housing 15 and the surface of the photosensitive drum D.

According to the construction of this embodiment, the pair of scraping feed portions b1 and b are formed by the both ends of the flat elastic blade 12b.
Since the second structure is configured, the toner can be conveyed while the scraping portions b1 and b2 are made to follow the inner surface of the housing 15 when the conveying means 12 is rotated, and the size of the entire housing 15 can be reduced accordingly. It has a remarkable effect that it can be set.

Further, since the flat elastic blade 12b constitutes the pair of scraping parts b1 and b2, the toner can be scraped to the scraper 13 side every half rotation of the conveying means 12, so that the toner is collected. There is an advantage that efficiency can be greatly improved. Further, since the scraper 13 is inserted in a state where the lower end portion is bent in the rotational locus of the conveying means 12 so as to be able to engage with the one scraping portion b1, the amount of scraped toner by the scraper 13 is increased. It is also possible to improve the toner collecting ability.

Further, in the present embodiment, the other scraping feed portion b2 is set to a size capable of avoiding the engagement between the scraper 13 and the housing 15, so that the elastic blade 12b and the rotating body are attached to each other. There is also an advantage that the condition can be maintained well for a long period of time. Next in FIG.
The embodiment shown in FIG.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the distance C between the lower end of the scraper 13 and the inner bottom surface of the housing 15 is narrowed to a size (for example, 2 mm) capable of preventing the backflow of the toner from the toner collecting section 14. .. According to the above configuration, the backflow of toner can be prevented even if the density of the toner in the toner collecting unit 14 becomes high. Therefore, the volume of the toner collecting unit 14 is set small, and the housing 15 is small in size accordingly. The remarkable effect that it can be achieved.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the scraper 13 is constituted by attaching an elastic plate to a wall portion of a casing 16 arranged to partition the toner collecting portion 14 in the housing 15. The lower end of the elastic plate is inserted into the rotation locus L of the conveying means 12 so that it can be engaged with only one scraping feed part b1. Also in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the distance C between the lower end of the elastic plate 13 as a scraper and the inner bottom surface of the housing 15
Is narrowed to a size capable of preventing the backflow of the toner from the toner collecting section 14.

According to the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 (A), one of the scraping and feeding parts b1 first rotates and abuts against the elastic plate 13 as a scraper as shown in (B). As a result, the elastic plate 13 is elastically deformed, the toner is scraped off as shown in FIG.
It is collected inside. Then, after the engagement with the one scraping portion b1 is released as shown in FIG.
3 returns to the initial state due to its elasticity.

It is needless to say that the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples of preferred embodiments of the present invention, and various design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Absent.

[0023]

As described above, in the cleaning device having the structure according to the first aspect of the present invention, the toner is conveyed while the conveying means is rotated while the respective scraping and feeding portions are made to follow the inner surface of the housing. As a result, the remarkable effect that the size of the entire housing can be set smaller accordingly. Further, since the toner can be scraped to the scraper side every time the conveying means makes a half rotation, there is an advantage that the toner recovery efficiency can be greatly improved. Moreover, since the amount of toner scraped off by the scraper increases, the toner recovery capability can be improved accordingly.

Further, of the pair of scraping-feeding portions, the one that is driven in the direction in which the sticking surface of the elastic blade is peeled during rotation is set to a size that can avoid engagement with the scraper and the housing. In this case, there is also an advantage that the adhered state between the elastic blade and the rotating body can be favorably maintained for a long period of time. Further, in the cleaning device according to another aspect of the present invention, the backflow of the toner can be prevented even if the density of the toner in the toner collecting section becomes high. Therefore, the volume of the toner collecting section is set small, and The remarkable effect that the housing can be downsized is achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic enlarged sectional view of an essential part of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a cleaning device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of a main part of a cleaning device according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a related diagram showing the operation of the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 D Photoconductor drum 10 Cleaning device 12 Conveying means 12a Rotating body 12b Elastic blade b1 Scraping feed part b2 Scraping feed part 13 Scraper 14 Toner collecting part 15 Housing

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A conveying means for conveying the residual toner removed from a photoconductor, a scraper for scraping off the toner conveyed by the conveying means, a part of which is divided by the scraper, and the scraper scrapes off the toner. In a cleaning device provided with a toner collecting unit for collecting in a housing, the conveying unit includes a rotating body having a rotation center extending in a width direction of the photoconductor, and both ends of the conveying body in a direction orthogonal to the rotation center. Is also attached in a projecting state, and is provided with a flat elastic blade that constitutes a pair of scraping-feeding portions that convey toner to the scraper side by the both end portions, and the scraper is at least one of the pair of scraping-feeding portions. A part of the elastic blade sticks to the rotation locus of the conveying means so that the surface opposite to the sticking surface can be engaged with the one driven to the scraper side. Cleaning device characterized by being embedded. 2. The one of the pair of scraping-feeding portions, which is driven in the direction of peeling the sticking surface of the elastic blade during rotation, is set to a size capable of avoiding engagement with the scraper and the housing. The cleaning device according to claim 1. 3. A conveying means for conveying the residual toner removed from the photoconductor, a scraper for scraping off the toner conveyed by the conveying means, a part of which is divided by the scraper, and the scraper scrapes off the toner. In a cleaning device provided with a toner collecting part for collecting inside a housing, the lower end of the scraper is made to face the inner bottom surface of the housing in a state in which the conveying means can be engaged, and the lower end of the scraper and the inside of the housing A cleaning device characterized in that a distance from the bottom surface is narrowed to a size capable of preventing backflow of toner from the toner collecting portion.