JPH0651678A - Toner cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the clogging of a fur brush and defective cleaning from occurring by rotating/driving the fur brush and simultaneously, reciprocatively driving it in an axial direction. CONSTITUTION:A shaft 31 is provided projectively toward a side on both ends of the fur brush roller 22. On the outside of a case 21, a driving shaft 35 is arranged in parallel with the shaft 31 of the fur brush roller 22 and connected to a driving motor 36. When the driving shaft 35 is rotated, a driving side magnet gear 34 is rotated, the S-pole (N-pole) of a driven side magnet gear 33 of the side of the fur brush roller 22, attracted to the N-pole (S-pole) of the driving side magnet gear 34 is followed up, and the driven side magnet gear 33 is rotated in a forward direction with the driving side magnet gear 34. At this time, the driven side magnet gear 33 is inclinedly attached to the shaft 31 and simultaneously, the shaft 31 is freely slidably supported, so that the fur brush roller 22 is reciprocated in the axial direction while being rotated by the rotation of the driving side magnet gear 34.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner cleaning device, and more particularly to a toner cleaning device for removing toner from a photoconductor of a toner image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer is provided with a toner cleaning device for removing residual toner on a photosensitive drum. As this type of toner cleaning device, there is provided a device including a fur brush roller that rotates in a counter direction with respect to the photosensitive drum, a flicker bar, a collecting roller, and a blade.

In such a toner cleaning device,
The residual toner on the photosensitive drum is removed by the fur brush on the outer circumference of the fur brush roller. Here, a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to the fur brush roller. Part of the toner removed from the photoconductor drum and taken into the fur brush is scraped off by the flicker bar. Further, the toner in the fur brush is collected on the collecting roller. A voltage having an absolute value larger than that of the voltage applied to the fur brush roller and having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to the collecting roller. Further, the toner collected by the collecting roller is scraped off by a blade made of urethane rubber or the like. The toner scraped off by the flicker bar and the blade is conveyed to the recovery toner bottle by the recovery spiral.

[0004]

The flicker bar in the conventional toner cleaning device is provided to prevent clogging of the fur brush, and is usually formed in a plate shape. However, when the plate-shaped flicker bar is used, the resistance force when the fur brush roller rotates increases, and the rotation torque increases. In addition, the fur brush collapses. In order to prevent this, there is one in which the tip portion of the flicker bar that comes into contact with the fur brush is formed in a comb shape. However, when such a comb-shaped flicker bar is used, fur brush bristles occur along the comb shape, and it may not be possible to uniformly remove the residual toner on the photosensitive drum.

On the other hand, in the above conventional toner cleaning device, foreign matter such as paper dust mixed in the fur brush may be caught between the collecting roller and the edge of the blade. If such biting occurs, cleaning failure of the collection roller may occur, and the toner may be fused in a ring shape on the collection roller. When such toner fusion occurs, the amount of toner in the fur brush in the portion corresponding to the portion increases, and thus cleaning failure of the photosensitive drum occurs.

An object of the present invention is to prevent the fur brush from separating even when a comb-like flicker bar is used,
In addition, it is possible to perform stable cleaning even when toner fusion occurs on the collecting roller.

[0007]

A toner cleaning device according to the present invention is a device for removing toner from a photoconductor of a toner image forming apparatus, and includes a fur brush roller, a flicker bar, and a fur brush roller driving unit. It has and. The fur brush roller has an outer periphery that contacts the photoconductor. The flicker bar contacts the outer periphery of the fur brush roller. The fur brush roller drive unit rotationally drives the fur brush roller and reciprocally drives the fur brush roller in the axial direction.

[0008]

In the toner cleaning device according to the present invention, the fur brush roller comes into contact with the outer periphery of the photoconductor to remove the toner remaining on the photoconductor. A flicker bar is in contact with the outer circumference of the fur brush roller, and scrapes off the toner in the fur brush. Here, the fur brush roller is rotationally driven by the fur brush roller driving unit and is reciprocally driven in the axial direction. Therefore, even when the tip of the flicker bar is formed into a comb shape to prevent the fur brush from collapsing, it is possible to prevent the fur brush from separating.

When a collecting roller is provided to remove the toner from the fur brush, the fur brush roller reciprocates in the axial direction even if toner fusion occurs on the collecting roller. The toner amount can be prevented from locally increasing, and stable cleaning performance can be obtained.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a copying machine in which an embodiment of the present invention is adopted. In the figure, an original placing table 2 is fixed to the upper surface of a copying machine main body 1. A document retainer 3 is mounted on the document placing table 2 so as to be openable and closable. On the other hand, paper feed cassettes 5 and 6 are detachably mounted on the right side of the copying machine body 1 in the figure, and a paper discharge tray 7 for discharging copied paper is mounted on the left side. .

Inside the copying machine main body 1, an optical system 8 for reading a document is provided above the main body.
The optical system 8 is composed of a light source, a mirror and the like.
A photoconductor drum 9 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed is arranged in the center of the copying machine body 1. Around the photosensitive drum 9, a charging device 10, a developing device 11, a transfer device 1
2. A sheet cleaning device 13 and a toner cleaning device 14 for removing residual toner on the photosensitive drum 9 are arranged.

Above the paper feed cassettes 5 and 6, a paper feed roller 16 for feeding the paper from the paper feed cassettes 5 and 6 is provided.
a and 16b are arranged. Between the paper feed cassettes 5 and 6 and the image forming unit constituted by the photoconductor drum 9 and the like, a paper feeding and conveying device 1 for feeding paper to the image forming unit.
7 is provided. In addition, the image forming unit and the discharge tray 7
Between the image forming unit side and the sheet discharge conveyance device 1 in order.
8, a fixing device 20, and a discharge roller 19 are arranged.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the cleaning device 14. In the figure, the cleaning device 14 has a case 21 having an opening in a portion facing the photosensitive drum 9. In the case 21, a fur brush roller 22, a collecting roller 23, a collecting spoiler 24, a flicker bar 2 are provided.
5 and the blade 26 are arranged.

As shown in FIG. 3, the fur brush roller 22 includes a cylindrical roller body 22a and a roller body 22a.
The fur brush 22b is provided on the outer circumference of the fur brush 22b, and the fur brush 22b is in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 9 through the opening of the case 21. The fur brush roller 22 rotates in the counter direction with the photosensitive drum 9 as shown by the arrow in FIG. That is, in the portion where the fur brush 22b and the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 9 are in contact with each other, they rotate clockwise in FIG. Further, a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to the fur brush roller 22.

The collecting roller 23 is arranged so that its surface contacts the fur brush 22b of the fur brush roller 22, and rotates in the same direction as the fur brush roller 22.
A voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner and having a larger absolute value than the voltage applied to the fur brush roller 23 is applied to the collecting roller 23. The blade 26 is made of urethane rubber or the like, and is fixed to the blade holder 27. The tip of the blade 26 is in contact with the outer peripheral surface below the recovery roller 23.

The flicker bar 25 is arranged laterally of the fur brush roller 22 and below the collecting roller 23. The flicker bar 25 is formed of a plate-shaped member extending along the axial direction of the fur brush 22. The tip portion of the fur brush roller 22 that contacts the fur brush 22b is formed in a comb shape as shown in FIG. The recovery spiral 24 is arranged at the bottom of the case 21, and conveys the toner scraped off by the blade 26 and the flicker bar 25 to a recovery bottle (not shown).

FIG. 4 shows the fur brush roller driving unit 30. Shafts 31 are provided at both ends of the fur brush roller 22 so as to project laterally. The shaft 31 is rotatably and slidably supported by the case 21 via a bearing 32. The driven magnet gear 3 is attached to the tip of the shaft 31.
3 is fixed. The driven-side magnet gear 33 is formed in a disc shape, and is attached so as to be inclined with respect to the shaft 31.

On the other hand, outside the case 21, a drive shaft 35 is arranged in parallel with the shaft 31 of the fur brush roller 22. The drive shaft 35 is connected to a drive motor 36. The drive-side magnet gear 34 is attached to the tip of the drive shaft 35.
Is fixed. The drive-side magnet gear 34 is formed in a disc shape and is fixed so as to be orthogonal to the drive shaft 35.

As shown in FIG. 5, the magnet gears 33 and 34 are magnetized so that the S poles and the N poles are alternately arranged at equal intervals on the outer peripheral portion. The outer peripheral surfaces of both magnet gears 33 and 34 are parallel to each other and are not in contact with each other, and are magnetically coupled by transmitting mutually opposite polarities to transmit power. Next, the operation of the cleaning device 14 will be described.

The fur brush roller 22 in the cleaning device 14 rotates in the counter direction with the photosensitive drum 9. Further, since a voltage having a polarity opposite to the polarity of the toner is applied to the fur brush roller 22, the toner remaining on the outer peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 9 will be removed by the fur brush 22.
It is scraped by b. Part of the toner taken into the fur brush 22b is scraped off by the flicker bar 25. Further, most of the toner in the fur brush 22b is collected by the collecting roller 23 that contacts the fur brush 22b. The toner collected on the collecting roller 23 is scraped off by the blade 26.

In such a cleaning process, when the drive shaft 35 rotates, the drive-side magnet gear 34 rotates, and the driven-side magnet gear on the far brush roller 22 side attracting the N pole (S pole) of the drive-side magnet gear 34. The 33 S pole (N pole) follows, and the driven side magnet gear 3
3 rotates in the forward direction together with the drive-side magnet gear 34. Since the driven magnet gear 33 is attached to the shaft 31 in an inclined manner and the shaft 31 is slidably supported, the fur brush roller 22 is rotated by the rotation of the drive magnet gear 34. While reciprocating in the axial direction.

Therefore, even if the flicker bar 25 is formed in a comb shape, the fur brush 22b can be prevented from being separated. Further, even if ring-shaped toner fusion occurs on the collecting roller 23, it is possible to prevent the amount of toner in the fur brush 22b from locally increasing, and it is possible to prevent cleaning failure of the photosensitive drum 9. Also, in this example,
Since the fur brush roller 22 is rotationally driven and thrust driven by magnetically connecting the pair of magnet gears 33 and 34, the configuration is very simple and the pair of magnet gears 33 and 34 are non-contact. It is possible to suppress the noise by eliminating the meshing noise. Further, since the force for thrust-driving the fur brush roller 22 does not act on the driving side, it is possible to suppress an increase in driving torque.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiments, the pair of magnet gears 33 and 34 are used in the fur brush drive section, but the fur brush drive section is not limited to this. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a spur gear and a cam are used. In the figure, the shaft 3 of the fur brush roller 22
A driven gear 40 is fixed to one end. A cam 41 having a cam surface 41a inclined with respect to the shaft 31 is fixed to the outer side of the driven gear 40 in the axial direction. On the other hand, a drive gear 42 is fixed to the tip of the drive shaft 35, and a flange portion 43 having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the drive gear 42 is fixed to one side surface of the drive gear 42. Flange part 4
A circumferential protrusion 43 a is formed on the side surface of the drive gear 42 on the drive gear 42 side. The protrusion 43 a is provided on the cam surface 41 of the cam 41.
It can come into contact with a. In addition, a bearing 32 that supports the shaft 31
Between the driven gear 40 and the driven gear 40.
6, a spring 44 is arranged to bias it to the left. As a result, the cam surface 41a of the cam 41 is always in contact with the protrusion 43a of the flange portion 43.

In such an embodiment as well, the drive shaft 35
The rotation of the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 40
The fur brush roller 22 rotates via the. Further, since the flange portion 43 rotates and the projection 43a is in contact with the inclined cam surface 41a of the cam 41, the fur brush roller 22 reciprocates in the axial direction. The drive gear 42
Has a wide width so that the driven gear 40 does not disengage even when the driven gear 40 moves in the axial direction.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the fur brush is rotationally driven and is reciprocally driven in the axial direction, clogging of the fur brush can be prevented and defective cleaning can be prevented. Further, even when the tip of the flicker bar is formed in a comb shape, the fur brush can be prevented from separating.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional configuration diagram of a copying machine to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a fur brush driving unit.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a magnet gear.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a fur brush roller driving unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 9 photoconductor drum 14 toner cleaning device 22 fur brush roller 25 flicker bar 30 fur brush roller drive unit 33, 34 magnet gear 36 drive motor 40, 42 gear 41 cam 43 flange portion

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Koichi Baba 1-2-2, Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Yuuki Ito 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Ryuji Wataki 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Tetsutaka Okazaki 1-228 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Keio Fujita 1-22 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Engineering Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A toner cleaning device for removing toner from a photoconductor of a toner image forming apparatus, wherein a fur brush roller whose outer periphery contacts the photoconductor, and a flicker bar which contacts the outer periphery of the fur brush roller. And a fur brush roller driving unit that rotationally drives the fur brush roller and axially reciprocates the fur brush roller.