JPH0566681A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate rubbing sound and defect in electrical contact which are generated between the terminals of a feeding part connecting the heater of a photosensitive drum and the power source part of the device main body. CONSTITUTION:A generator 37 composed of a rotary part 37a and a fixed part 37b is provided in the photosensitive drum 12. The rotary part 37a fixed in the housing 38 starts rotation together with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 12 rotated and driven by a motor 42 and power is generated by the action with the fixed part 36b fixed on a shaft 36. This power is supplied to the heater 40 via the heater control circuit 39 according to the detection information of a temperature sensor 41. Therefore, since the need to separately provide a heater power source and the feeding part for the power supply is eliminated, the defect in an electrical contact generated between the terminals of the feeding part and unpleasant rubbing sound are eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus equipped with a photosensitive drum whose temperature is set by a heater or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a photoconductor drum used in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, when the temperature is low, moisture or the like is condensed on the surface of the photoconductor drum to cause image defects such as image deletion. The surface temperature is controlled by a heater. A power supply unit for supplying power to the heater installed in the photosensitive drum and a power supply unit for supplying the electric power to the heater are installed in the apparatus main body, and the photosensitive drum rotates during image formation. The electric power supply to the heater installed in the photoconductor drum is made possible by bringing the terminal of the power supply unit installed in the main body of the apparatus into contact with the terminal of the heater installed in the photoconductor drum so that the photoconductor drum during image formation can be slid. Even when rotating, the electric power is supplied from the power supply unit installed in the apparatus main body to the heater installed in the photosensitive drum.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the terminals of the power feeding section installed in the main body of the apparatus and the terminals for the heater installed in the photosensitive drum rotating during image formation are slid during the image formation. The rubbing causes problems such as electrical contact failure between the terminals and an unpleasant rubbing noise.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a generator for generating electric power by utilizing the rotational force of the photoconductor drum in the photoconductor drum. By supplying the generated electric power to the heater, it is not necessary to provide a power source for the heater and a power feeding section for supplying the electric power, and a rubbing noise and an electrical noise generated between the two terminals are eliminated. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus in which poor contact is eliminated.

[0005]

Means for solving the above-mentioned problems and applied to the embodiments described below are a power generator comprising a rotating part and a fixed part, and a heat generating means for generating heat by the power of the power generator. A photoconductor drum having the heat generating means, a holding member for rotatably holding the photoconductor drum, and a driving means for rotationally driving the photoconductor drum. It is characterized in that the rotating portion of the power generator is rotated relative to the fixed portion by the rotational force of the photoconductor drum that is rotationally driven by the driving means. The photoconductor drum also has a power storage unit for storing the electric power generated by the power generator.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the power generator having the rotating portion and the fixed portion is installed in the photosensitive drum, the power generator is driven by the rotational force of the photosensitive drum to generate power, and the power is supplied to the heat generating means. By supplying power, it is not necessary to separately provide a power supply for the heat generating means and a power supply section for supplying the power, and therefore, electrical contact failure due to the power supply section is prevented and the unpleasant rubbing thereof is performed. The sound is eliminated.

[0007]

EXAMPLE An example in which the above means is applied to an image forming apparatus will be described as an example.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a structure of a photosensitive drum in an image forming portion, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a schematic structure of an image forming apparatus main body. First, the outline of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 2. Reference numeral 1 denotes an apparatus main body whose power is turned on and off by a main switch (not shown), and an original table 2 made of a transparent glass plate or the like is mounted on the upper surface thereof. ing. The original O to be copied is placed on the original table 2 with the image surface facing downward, and is pressed and fixed by the original press plate 3.

An optical system including a light source 4, reflection mirrors 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and an imaging lens 11 is provided inside the apparatus body 1. The light source 4 irradiates the original O placed on the original table 2 with light, and the reflected light (optical image) passes through the reflection mirrors 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and the imaging lens 11. And is guided to the photosensitive drum 12 as an image forming unit. Here, the light source 4 and the reflecting mirrors 5, 6 and 7 respectively move in the direction of arrow a at a predetermined speed during image formation to scan the image surface of the original O.

A charging device 13, a developing device 14, a transfer charging device 15 and a cleaner 16 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 12, and rotate at a predetermined peripheral speed in the direction of arrow b in the figure during image formation. To do. First, the photosensitive drum 12 is the charger 1.
Since the surface is uniformly charged by 3 and then rotated in the direction of arrow b, electrostatic latent images corresponding to the original image are sequentially formed. Next, the developing device 14 that is movable in the direction of the arrow c and contains the toner is brought close to the photoconductor drum 12, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface thereof is visualized, so that a visible image (toner image ) Is formed. This image is transferred onto a transfer sheet by the transfer charger 15, and then the photoconductor drum 12 reaches the cleaner 16 to remove the residual toner on the surface thereof, and the process proceeds to the copying process again.

Next, the feeding of the transfer sheet and the transfer of the visible image to the transfer sheet will be described.
The transfer sheets P stacked and housed in a cassette 17 detachably attached to the lower part of the sheet are separated one by one by a pickup roller 18 and sent to a nip portion of a registration roller 20 via a guide plate and a slip roller 19 not shown. Be done. The registration roller 20 starts rotating at a timing so that the transfer sheet P coincides with the visible image (toner image) on the photosensitive drum 12, and the transfer sheet P is transferred to the photosensitive drum 12 and the transfer charger 15. Send in between. On the transfer sheet P, the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 12 is transferred by the transfer charger 15, and the sheet conveying unit 21
Is sent to a fixing device 22 having a heating roller and a pressure roller, is heated and pressed by the fixing device 22 to be fixed as a permanent image, and is discharged by a discharging roller 23 to the outside of the apparatus main body 1. It is discharged onto the tray 24.

Next, the structure of the photosensitive drum 12 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Photoconductor drum 12
Both ends thereof are fixed by flanges 31a and 31b, and a stay 32 and bearings 33a and 33b are fixed to the flanges 31a and 31b. The photosensitive drum 12 is connected to the frame 34 via the bearings 33a and 33b.
It is rotatably held by a shaft 36 which is a holding member fixed to the holders 35a and 35b of a and 34b.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a power generator, which comprises a rotating portion 37a and a fixed portion 37b. The rotating portion 37a is fixed to a housing 38 fixed to the flange 31b.
The fixed portion 37b is fixed to the shaft 36. A heater control circuit 39 fixed to the stay 32 is connected to the rotating portion 37a, and the heater control circuit 39 is connected to the heater control circuit 39.
A heater 40, which is a heat generating means fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 12, and a temperature sensor 41 fixed to the stay 32 and abutting on the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 12, are connected to. ..

Reference numeral 42 denotes a motor which is a driving means for rotationally driving the photosensitive drum 12, and is fixed to the frame 34b. A drive gear 43 is fixed to a shaft 42a of the motor 42, and the flange 31b
It is meshed with the drum gear 44 fixed to.

When the photosensitive drum 12 is rotated by the driving force of the motor 42, the rotating portion 37a fixed to the housing 38 starts to rotate due to the rotation, and the shaft 3
Electric power is generated by the action of the fixing portion 36b fixed to No. 6, and this electric power is supplied to the heater control circuit 39. The heater control circuit 39 detects the temperature of the photosensitive drum 12 by the temperature sensor 41,
The electric power is supplied to the heater 40 so as to maintain the set temperature.

[Other Embodiments] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of a photosensitive drum having a storage means for storing electric power generated by a power generator. Since the basic structure of the photosensitive drum in this embodiment is the same as that in the above embodiment, detailed description will be omitted. The same members are designated by the same reference numerals.

The photosensitive drum 12 according to this embodiment is shown in FIG.
A battery 45, which is a power storage unit for storing the electric power generated by the power generator 37 having the rotating portion 37a and the fixed portion 37b as shown in FIG. 3, is installed in the stay 32 fixed in the photosensitive drum 12. , The power generator 3
The electric power generated by 7 is once stored in the battery 45 and then supplied to the heater control circuit 39. Therefore, when the temperature sensor 41 detects that the set temperature of the photoconductor drum 12 is being held when the photoconductor drum 12 is rotating and it is not necessary to heat the photoconductor drum 12, the power generation device 37 generates power. Since the generated electric power is stored in the battery 45, the power generation device 3
7 becomes smaller, and when the photoconductor drum 12 is stopped, the electric power stored in the battery 45 is supplied to the heater 40 via the heater control circuit 39 to preheat the photoconductor drum 12. It becomes possible to make it into a state.

[0018]

As described above, a power generator having a rotating portion and a fixed portion for generating power as the photosensitive drum rotates is installed in the photosensitive drum, and the electric power generated by the power generator is By supplying power to the heat generating means of the photoconductor drum, it is not necessary to supply power from the apparatus body to the heat generating means in the photoconductor drum, and a power source for the heat generating means and a power supply unit for supplying the power are separately provided. Since there is no need to provide any, an electrical contact failure due to the power supply section is prevented, and an unpleasant rubbing noise is eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a photosensitive drum in an image forming unit.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus main body.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a photosensitive drum having a storage battery for storing electric power.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Device main body 2 ... Original platen 3 ... Original document pressure plate 4 ... Light source 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ... Reflecting mirror 11 ... Image forming lens 12 ... Photosensitive drum 13 ... Charger 14 ... Developer 15 ... Transfer charging device 16 ... Cleaner 17 ... Cassette 18 ... Pickup roller 19 ... Slip roller 20 ... Registration roller 21 ... Sheet conveying section 22 ... Fixing device 23 ... Ejection roller 24 ... Ejection trays 31a, 31b ... Flange 32 ... Stays 33a, 33b ... Bearing 34a, 34
b ... Frame 35a, 35b ... Holder 36 ... Shaft 37 ... Generator 37a ... Rotating part 37b ... Fixed part 38 ... Housing 39 ... Heater control circuit 40 ... Heater 41 ... Temperature sensor 42 ... Motor 42a ... Shaft 43 ... Drive gear 44 ... Drum gear 45 ... Battery

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A power generator comprising a rotating part and a fixed part, a heat generating means for generating heat by the power of the power generator, a photosensitive drum provided with the heat generating means, and a rotatably holding the photosensitive drum. A holding member; and a drive unit that rotationally drives the photoconductor drum. The power generation device is installed in the photoconductor drum, and the power generation device is rotated by the rotational force of the photoconductor drum that is rotationally driven by the drive unit. An image forming apparatus characterized in that a rotating portion is configured to rotate relative to a fixed portion. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive drum has a power storage unit for storing electric power generated by a power generation device.