JPH0585636A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image forming device in which a plural transport means can be cleaned easily in a simple constitution without reducing a work efficiency by providing a cleaning means capable of feeding and rewinding a cleaning sheet formed as a roll at the most upstream part of a sheet transport passage. CONSTITUTION:A cleaning sheet unit 40 is provided close to a third fixed cassette 25 of a copying machine main body 1, For this cleaning sheet unit 40, one end part of a cleaning sheet is fixed to a shaft and wound to be a roll in a case. The shaft is held to be rotatable normally and inversely by a motor 41, so the cleaning sheet is fed or rewoud by rotation of the shaft. A sheet feed aperture part of this cleaning sheet unit 40 is connected to a sheet transfer passage 22 upstream from a transport roller 25a of the third fixed cassette 25. In this constitution, all the transport rollers in the single sheet transport passage can be cleaned.

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 having means for cleaning roller conveying means in a sheet conveying path such as a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an apparatus for conveying sheets, such as an electrophotographic copying machine, the sheet conveying path has been complicated by adopting a multi-stage sheet feeding structure or a front loading structure for space saving. ..

If the sheet conveying path becomes complicated, the number of conveying means (conveying rollers) for conveying the sheet will increase.

On the other hand, as various functions have been improved, toner, oil, paper dust, etc. have increased in the machine, and the conveying rollers are also contaminated by these, and the conveying function may be deteriorated due to the contamination.

In such a case, it is necessary to clean the conveying roller to remove stains due to the toner, oil, paper dust, etc. adhering to the roller.

[0006] Conventionally, a serviceman has carried out cleaning of the carrying roller at the time of maintenance.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 55-180637 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-188674 disclose a structure in which a cleaning member is provided in the vicinity of the roller and the roller and the cleaning member are brought into contact with each other to clean the roller. ing.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-230441 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-247240, a dedicated cleaning paper formed in a predetermined size is fed from a paper feeding unit into a paper feeding path, A configuration is shown in which the rollers are cleaned while being transported by the transportation rollers.

[0009]

However, when cleaning by a service person, if the number of transport rollers is large, it takes time and labor, which causes a reduction in work efficiency.

Further, in the case where the cleaning members are provided in the vicinity of the rollers, there are disadvantages that the cleaning members have to be provided as many as the number of rollers, the cost is increased and the cleaning members cannot be easily replaced.

Further, in the case of cleaning using a dedicated cleaning paper formed in a predetermined size, since the cleaning paper is simply passed, the paper dust and the like lightly attached to the roller surface can be removed, but the roller surface can be removed. There is a drawback that the adhered toner and oil cannot be removed.

Further, although the dirt on the roller surface is different between the single-sided paper conveying path and the double-sided paper conveying path, they cannot be effectively removed.

[0013]

The present invention has been made to solve the above drawbacks and is characterized by the following constitution.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning sheet (4) formed in a roll shape in an image forming apparatus equipped with a means for cleaning a conveying means provided in a sheet conveying path.
0a) is provided at the most upstream part of the paper transport path so as to be capable of feeding and rewinding 0a).

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus having means for cleaning the conveying means provided in the sheet conveying path, the cleaning (40a) formed in a roll shape.
An image forming apparatus, wherein cleaning means (41) capable of feeding and rewinding is provided on each of a single-sided paper conveyance path and a double-sided paper conveyance path.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning apparatus according to the second aspect, the material of the cleaning sheet (40a) is made different between the single-sided sheet conveying path and the double-sided sheet conveying path.

[0017]

According to the cleaning device of the first aspect, since all the conveying means in one sheet conveying path can be cleaned, a plurality of conveying means can be easily constructed with a simple structure without lowering work efficiency. Can be cleaned.

According to the cleaning device of the second aspect, the cleaning sheet can be further cleaned separately in the single-sided paper transport path and the double-sided paper transport path, and at the same time, the cleaning operation can be performed efficiently. it can.

According to the cleaning device of the third aspect, it is possible to further perform cleaning in accordance with the sheet conveying path, so that effective cleaning can always be performed.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine provided with a cleaning device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing a state in which the cleaning sheet has been sent out into the paper transport path.

As shown in FIG. 1, the copying machine of this embodiment is
A desk portion 38 is provided below the copying machine body 1 as a sheet feeding device, a sorter 19 is provided on the paper discharge side of the copying machine body 1, and an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) is provided on the copying machine body 1.
3). In the desk section 38,
From the top, the double-sided synthesis unit 21, the first rotary cassette unit 26, the second rotary cassette unit 27, and the third
A fixed cassette 25 is provided. The first and second rotary cassette units 26, 27 have a rotatable cassette 32 in an outer box 31.

The above ADF 3 is provided on the original platen glass 2 of the main body 1 of the copying machine. ADF 3 document placing table 3a
Conveyance direction switches 5a and 5b for detecting the size of the document in the conveyance direction and guides 4 for restricting both sides of the document in the width direction are provided on the upper side.

The guide 4 is provided with a width direction switch (not shown) for detecting the size of the document in the width direction.

A plurality of reflection mirrors 6a and lenses 6b are provided below the original platen glass 2 to perform the basic operation of guiding the reflected light from the original document to the photosensitive drum 7, and to enlarge and enlarge the image in the same size. An optical system 6 is arranged to enable variable magnification copying such as reduction.

A cleaner 8 is provided around the photosensitive drum 7.
A charge removing charger 9, a charging charger 10, a developing device 11 having a toner for color copying, and a developing device 12 having a black toner are arranged. Below the photoconductor drum 7, a transfer charger 13 and a peeling charger 14 are provided. It is arranged. A conveying belt 17 and a fixing device 18 are provided in the sheet conveying direction of the photosensitive drum 7.

The paper that has passed through the fixing device 18 is basically discharged onto the paper discharge tray 19a through the sorter 19, but in the case of double-sided copying or composite copying, the double-sided composite unit 21 from the paper return path 20. Be led to.

In the case of double-sided copying, the sheet is fed to the sheet feeding / transporting path 22 via the first transporting path 21a in the double-sided composition unit 21, the intermediate tray 21c and the delivery roller 21d.
In the case of composite copying, the paper is fed to the paper feed transport path 22 through the second transport path 21b, the first transport path 21a, the intermediate tray 21c, and the delivery roller 21d in the double-sided synthesis unit 21. The end portion of the paper feed / transport path 22 reaches the paper top roller 15 near the photosensitive drum 7.

A plurality of sheet feeding means are connected to the sheet feeding / transporting path 22 so that the sheets are appropriately fed from these sheet feeding means. Specifically, in order to convey the sheet to the paper top roller 15 of the copying machine main body 1, the manual feed unit 30, the first fixed cassette 29 capable of accommodating 500 sheets, and the sheet accommodating 250 sheets in the order of the shortest sheet conveying path. Possible second fixed cassette 28, double-sided synthesis unit 21, first
A rotary cassette unit 26, a second rotary cassette unit 27, and a third fixed cassette 25 capable of storing 250 sheets are provided. Each fixed cassette 29.2 above
The 8.25 and the rotary cassette units 26 and 27 are detachably attached to the copying machine.

Further, the copying machine main body 1 has an operation panel (not shown). This operation panel has a copy button for instructing the start of copying operation, a ten-key for setting the number of copies, a copy number display section, a cassette operation section, a magnification display section, a magnification setting key, and a paper transport means cleaning mode selection key. Etc. are provided.

Further, a cleaning sheet unit 40 is provided near the third fixed cassette 25 of the copying machine main body 1. The cleaning sheet unit 40 has a shaft 40b at one end of a cleaning sheet 40a in a case.
It is fixed to and is wound into a roll.

As the material of the cleaning sheet 40a, resin, leather, paper sheet, adhesive sheet or the like capable of removing paper dust or the like is used.

The shaft 40b is held by a motor 41 so as to be rotatable in the forward and reverse directions, and the cleaning sheet 40a is sent out or rewound by the rotation of the shaft 40b.

The sheet feeding opening portion of the cleaning sheet unit 40 has the conveying roller 2 of the third fixed cassette 25.
It is connected to the paper transport path 22 on the upstream side of 5a. A sensor 42a for detecting the rewinding of the cleaning sheet 40a from the sheet conveyance path 22 is provided between the cleaning sheet unit 40 and the conveyance roller 25a.
However, the paper stop roller 15 has a sensor 42 for detecting the delivery of the cleaning sheet 40a.
b is provided.

As the sensors 42a and 42b, for example, reflection type or transmission type optical sensors are used.

On the other hand, the length of the cleaning sheet 40a is the same as that of the conveying rollers 25a, 27a, 26a, 21d, 28.
The length a and the paper stop roller 15 are of a length that allows cleaning.

The feeding of the cleaning sheet 40a into the sheet conveying path, the rewinding from the sheet conveying path, and the cleaning are controlled by the cleaning control means 45.

Specific operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. After the preset number of copies have been made in the copy mode (S1 to S4), a cleaning warning is displayed to inform that the cleaning time has come. When the user presses the cleaning key to set the cleaning mode (S5), the rollers 25a, 27a, 26a, 21a, 28a and 15 are set.
Is rotated.

Then, the motor 41 is rotated forward based on the signal from the cleaning control means 45, and the cleaning sheet 40a is sent out into the sheet conveying path 22.

When the sensor 42b detects that the cleaning sheet 40a having a predetermined length has been sent out, the rotation of the motor 41 is stopped, the timer T is set, and the counting of the preset time is started. (S9).

At this time, the rollers (25a, 27a,
Since the rotating operation of 26a, 21d, 28a, 15) is continued without being stopped, dirt such as paper dust adhered to the roller can be efficiently removed.

When the set time has elapsed and the cleaning is completed, the timer T is reset (S11), the motor 41 is stopped, and the rotation of each roller is stopped (S12).

Next, a signal is sent from the cleaning control means 45 to the motor 41 to rotate it in the reverse direction, and the motor 41 rotates in the reverse direction to rotate the shaft 40b in the reverse direction, so that the cleaning sheet 40a is rewound (S13). ..

When the completion of rewinding of the cleaning sheet 40a is detected by the sensor 42a (S14), the motor 4
The rotation operation of No. 1 is stopped (S15).

Subsequently, the timer T is reset in S16, and the cleaning mode is reset in S17.

In the above embodiment, the cleaning display is performed after the preset number of sheets are fed and the cleaning is performed by the user himself setting the cleaning mode. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead of this, for example, it may be automatically performed at the first warm-up when the power is turned on after a predetermined number of sheets have passed, or at the warm-up when the power is turned on every morning.

The cleaning means for the transport means in the single-sided sheet transport path from each paper feed cassette to the transfer portion has been described above. However, as shown in FIG. 1, the second paper from the fixing device 18 to the intermediate tray 28 is used. Transport rollers (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e, 20f) in the transport path 20
In order to be able to clean the sheet, a cleaning sheet unit 40 provided on the downstream side of the fixing device 18 and having the same sheet material as the one provided on the single-sided sheet conveying path is provided to clean the conveying means in the double-sided sheet conveying path to the intermediate tray. can do.

In this double-sided paper transport path, paper to which toner, oil, etc. have been transferred after transfer, fixing, etc. passes, so that the transport rollers are also heavily soiled. Therefore, for the cleaning sheet used for the double-sided sheet conveying path, it is better to select a material having a higher cleaning ability than that for the single-sided sheet conveying path. By doing so, effective cleaning can be performed according to the transport path.

Since the cleaning operation is the same as the case of cleaning the inside of the single-sided sheet conveying path, its explanation is omitted here.

Further, even if the cleaning sheet is in the same conveying path, the cleaning sheet is cleaned depending on the roller (dirt) to be cleaned.
You may provide the part from which a different material is provided in the same sheet | seat.

[0050]

According to the cleaning device of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to clean all the transporting means in one sheet transporting path. Therefore, it is possible to easily perform a plurality of cleaning operations with a simple structure without lowering work efficiency. The transport means can be cleaned.

According to the cleaning device of the second aspect, the single-sided sheet conveying path and the double-sided sheet conveying path can be cleaned separately and at the same time, so that the cleaning operation can be efficiently performed.

According to the cleaning device of the third aspect, the cleaning can be further performed according to the sheet conveying path, so that effective cleaning can always be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine provided with a cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing a state in which a cleaning sheet has been sent out into the paper transport path.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a cleaning operation according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 40a cleaning sheet 41 cleaning means 45 cleaning control means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having means for cleaning a conveyance means in a paper conveyance path, wherein cleaning means provided for feeding and rewinding a cleaning sheet formed into a roll is provided at the uppermost stream of the paper conveyance path. An image forming apparatus provided in a section. 2. An image forming apparatus having means for cleaning a conveying means provided in a sheet conveying path, wherein a cleaning means provided for feeding and rewinding a cleaning sheet formed into a roll is a single-sided sheet. An image forming apparatus provided on each of a transport path and a double-sided sheet transport path. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the material of the cleaning sheet is different between the single-sided sheet conveying path and the double-sided sheet conveying path.