JPH07104602A - Fixing device provided with cleaning member - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently perform cleaning and the application of oil by arranging the contact surface of a cleaning member on a side where recording paper to which fixing should be performed is ejected so that the cleaning member always comes in contact with the peripheral surface of a roller for fixing. CONSTITUTION:The fixing device 24 is constituted by combining a press- contacting roller 20 press-contacting with the roller for fixing 2 in a carrying path P1 for the recording paper P, and the roller-like cleaning member 22 cleaning the surface of the roller 2 after finishing fixing and provided on a core material 22A. The oil is contained in the cleaning member 22 in order to apply the releasable oil to the surface of the roller 2. The cleaning member 22 is allowed to strongly press-contact with the surface of the roller 2 in order to sufficiently apply the oil and provided on the recording paper P ejecting side. As soon as the oil in the cleaning member 22 is applied to the roller 2, it is carried upward by the rotation of the roller 2 itself and does not drop downward.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning member for an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, a fixing device used in a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In particular, in order to transfer a toner image onto a recording paper in an image forming apparatus and fix the transferred toner image, the recording paper is pressure-bonded to a heated heat fixing roller by using a pressure roller. The image is fixed. As a method of fixing the toner image, the toner image transferred to the recording paper is thermally fixed by the heat fixing roller. At that time, most of the toner image is fixed on the recording paper, but a part of the toner adheres to the thermal fixing roller. Therefore, when the toner is adhered and the next fixing operation is performed, the adhered toner is removed. It will be transferred to the next recording sheet. Therefore, in order to prevent the retransfer as described above, after the fixing operation is performed, the surface of the heat fixing roller is immediately cleaned with a cleaning member formed in a roller shape. A large number of cleaning members for performing the above cleaning are known. In order to prevent toner particles from adhering to the surface of the heat fixing roller, the cleaning member contains oil having releasability, Oil is applied to. As a cleaning member containing oil, JP-A-56-83182 and JP-A-61-109084 are known.
JP-A-63-37369 and JP-A-63-37370 are known, each of which is provided with two layers of oil retaining layers, and the two layers of oil retaining layers allow the heat fixing of an appropriate amount of oil at all times. It is a means for applying to the roller.

Further, by applying oil and forcibly rotating the cleaning member, or by only forcibly rotating the cleaning member without containing the oil, the application of oil and the surface of the heat fixing roller are performed. As a means for improving the cleaning effect of JP-A-51-123419, JP-A-53-79855,
JP-A-56-116590 and JP-A-62-2284 are known.

[0004]

As described above, after the toner images formed on the recording paper by the image forming apparatus are sequentially fixed by the heat fixing roller, the roller-like cleaning member is forcibly rotated. Cleaning is performed, and oil for preventing toner from adhering to the surface of the heat fixing roller is applied by the cleaning member. 2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses, especially copying apparatuses, have recently become faster, and functions such as double-sided copying have been built in, and the number of recording sheets passing through a fixing device per unit time is increasing. Further, as for images, it is often the case that a photographic image having a solid black portion from a character image and a color image are fixed. When a wide variety of toner images are fixed at high speed in this way, the unfixed portion of the toner image increases and the unfixed toner is transferred to the next recording sheet. Further, when a part of the toner adheres to the normal heat fixing roller to reduce the thermal efficiency, and when the adhered amount of the toner further increases, the heat fixing roller must be replaced. However, the heat fixing roller is mounted in the fixing device together with the bearing or the bearing member at the mounting portion, and a lot of time is required for the replacement work. There is also a means for solving the problem by applying a large amount of oil to prevent the adhesion of the toner as described above, but the oil adheres to the recording paper to deteriorate the image quality, and a large amount of oil is applied to the cleaning member. Since it is included, the oil drops below the cleaning member via the heat fixing roller, and the amount of oil attached cannot be increased so much.

When a brush-like cleaning member 1 as shown in FIG. 7 is used as the cleaning member,
When the tip of the brush 1A of the cleaning member 1 comes into contact with the surface of the heat fixing roller 2 (hereinafter referred to as the fixing roller), the brush 1A is curved and the tip is changed as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b). The cleaning effect is poor because only the D surface, which is a part of The present invention was specifically devised to remedy the above drawbacks. That is, the present invention aims to increase the amount of scraping at the tip of the cleaning brush in order to increase the cleaning efficiency, and further perform the cleaning action and the application of oil at the same time to perform efficient cleaning and oil application. Is.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides claim 1 in which an image formed on a recording sheet by an image forming apparatus is pressure-bonded to a fixing roller to be fixed, and the fixing roller is also fixed. In a fixing device provided with a cleaning member for cleaning the fixing roller, a fixing roller, a pressure-contact roller that is in pressure contact with the fixing roller, and a peripheral surface of the fixing roller that is constantly in contact with the recording paper to be fixed on the discharge side. The contact surface of the cleaning member is arranged. As a second aspect, the fixing roller is a heating and fixing roller having a built-in heating member. As claim 3,
In a fixing device provided with a cleaning member for fixing an image formed on a recording sheet by an image forming apparatus to a fixing roller by pressing and fixing the fixing roller, the cleaning member includes a core material and the core material. It is composed of a brush provided on the outer surface, and the contact area of the cleaning tip of the brush is wide. As a fourth aspect, the tip of the brush is formed in an L shape. As a fifth aspect, the tip of the brush is formed in a U shape. Claim 6
As a fixing device provided with a cleaning member for fixing an image formed on a recording paper by an image forming device to a fixing roller by pressing and fixing the cleaning roller, the cleaning member includes a core member and a cleaning member. The member is formed into a roller shape, and the cleaning member is composed of a plurality of materials. According to claim 7, the cleaning member is made of a combination of a material having a good oil retaining property and a material having a good toner scraping property. According to claim 8, a material made of a heat-resistant resin having a small wire diameter and having a good oil retention property is combined with a material made of a heat-resistant resin having a large wire diameter and having good toner scraping properties. 10. The fixing device according to claim 9, further comprising a cleaning member for fixing the image formed on the recording paper by the image forming device to the fixing roller by pressing the fixing roller, and cleaning the fixing roller. And a driving unit that is formed into a roller shape by the cleaning member and that rotationally drives the cleaning member,
Rotating the cleaning member in the same direction as the rotation direction of the fixing roller before starting the rotation of the fixing roller by the driving unit. By the above, the above-mentioned object is achieved.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of an image forming apparatus 3 using the fixing roller 2. Reference numeral 4 designates a photosensitive drum rotatable in the direction of the arrow, and a belt electrode 5 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 4 for charging the photosensitive drum 4A and a charged photosensitive body 4A.
In order to expose the surface, the exposure document 6 and the reflection mirror 8 which irradiates the document 6 with the exposure lamp 7 and moves together with the exposure lamp 7, receives light from the reflection mirror 8 and is arranged at 90 °. The image of the original 6 is exposed from the reflecting mirrors 9 and 10 through the lens 11 and the reflecting mirror 12. The electrostatic latent image formed by the exposure is developed by the developing device 13, and the visible image 13A made of toner or the like is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 by the development. On the other hand, the recording paper P fed from the paper feed unit 14 is temporarily stopped by the second paper feed roller 15, the second paper feed roller 15 is started so as to match the visible image 13A, and the transfer pole 16 is used. The visible image 13A is transferred onto the recording paper P. After the transfer is completed, the recording sheet P is separated by the separation pole 17 and is conveyed to the fixing roller 2 by the conveying device 18. After the visible image 13A (hereinafter referred to as a toner image) is transferred onto the recording paper P, the toner remaining on the photoconductor 4A is cleaned by the cleaning device L1. A pressure roller 20 is provided on the fixing roller 2, and a heating means 21 is built in the fixing roller 2 to heat the fixing roller 2 to a constant temperature. The recording paper P is pressed against the fixing roller 2 by the pressure contact roller 20, and the transferred visible image 13A is fixed. After the fixing is completed, the surface of the fixing roller 2 is immediately cleaned by the cleaning member 22 formed in a roller shape, and the recording paper P is ejected to the paper ejection unit 23.

FIG. 2 shows a pressing roller 20 that presses against the fixing roller 2 in the conveying path P1 of the recording paper P, and a core material 22A that cleans the surface of the fixing roller 2 after fixing.
2 shows a fixing device 24 in which a roller-shaped cleaning member 22 provided in the above is combined. The cleaning member 22 is arranged on the paper discharge side of the conveyance path P1 with respect to the center line 25 of the fixing roller 2, and is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the fixing roller 2 as illustrated.

With the above-described structure, the toner image 13A is formed on the photosensitive surface 4A of the photosensitive drum 4 of the image forming apparatus 3, is transferred to the recording paper P, and is transferred by the conveying device 18 to the recording paper P. Is conveyed to the fixing device 24 shown in FIG. The recording paper P is conveyed on the conveyance path P1 and heated by the heating means 21 (2
The recording paper P is pressure-bonded by the pressure roller 20 by the fixing roller 2 which is set to about 00 °, and the toner image 13A on the recording paper P is fixed. The recording paper P on which the toner image 13A is fixed is ejected to the paper ejection unit 23 shown in FIG. On the other hand, since a part of the toner image 13A adheres to the fixing roller 2 on which the toner image 13A is fixed, cleaning is performed by the cleaning member 22.

The cleaning member 22 contains oil so as to apply releasable oil to the surface of the fixing roller 2, and the cleaning member 22 applies sufficient oil to the surface of the fixing roller 2. Strongly pressed to do
In addition, it is provided on the paper discharge side of the recording paper P, so that the cleaning effect is also good. Then, at the same time that the oil of the cleaning member 22 is applied to the fixing roller 2, the fixing roller 2 itself is rotated to be conveyed upward so that part of the oil is downward, particularly the recording paper P.
Do not fall into. As the cleaning member, a synthetic or natural fiber material that easily contains oil is formed into a brush shape, or a sponge-like member is used.

3A and 3B show the cleaning member 22.
Another embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the tip of the brush-like cleaning member 22 is bent as shown in FIG. 3 (b), and a cleaning portion 221 that widely hits the fixing roller 2 surface is formed as indicated by D1. And cleaning member 2
When 2 is rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 3 (a), the tip D 221 of the cleaning member 22 is efficiently cleaned by the surface D1 on which the tip end 221 widely abuts. It is also possible to impregnate the brush-like cleaning member 22 with oil and apply the oil to the fixing roller 2 at the same time.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show the cleaning member 22.
Core material in a spiral shape alternately and with different materials
22A, one cleaning member 22
2 is formed into a rough brush shape, and the other cleaning member 223
Is formed into, for example, a sponge that is easily impregnated with oil.
By cleaning the surface of the fixing roller 2 using such a cleaning member 22, the cleaning member 22 collects the toner adhering to the surface of the fixing roller 2.
2, and the oil can be efficiently applied by the cleaning member 223 at the same time.

5A and 5B show the cleaning member 22.
Is another embodiment in which the core material 22A is formed of different materials alternately and at arbitrary intervals in the longitudinal direction. Similar to FIGS. 4A and 4B, one cleaning member 224 is formed in a rough brush shape, and the other cleaning member 225 is formed in a sponge shape that is easily impregnated with oil. By cleaning the surface of the fixing roller 2 by using such a cleaning member 22, the cleaning member 224 collects the adhered toner on the surface of the fixing roller 2 and the other cleaning member 225 applies the oil in the same manner as described above. It can be done efficiently at the same time.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show the cleaning member 22.
Is another embodiment in which the core material 22A is formed of different materials. In the present embodiment, the different materials are randomly formed on the core material 22A. The one cleaning member 226 is formed in a rough brush shape, and the other cleaning member 227 is formed in a sponge shape that is easily impregnated with oil. By cleaning the surface of the fixing roller 2 by mixing the two types of cleaning members, the cleaning member 226 collects the toner adhering to the surface of the fixing roller 2 and the other cleaning member 227 simultaneously applies the oil. It can be done efficiently.

Of the cleaning members, the cleaning members 222 and 22 formed of a rough member having good cleaning performance.
4, 226 is made of PPS material and has a diameter of 100 μm. On the other hand, the cleaning parts 223, 225, and 227, which are formed of a material having a good oil retaining property, are formed with a product name Nomex (made by Daepon Co.) with a diameter of 10 μm.

FIG. 9 relates to the rotation control of the cleaning member 22. When the start button provided in the image forming apparatus 3 is turned on, copying is turned on, and the image forming apparatus 3 is turned on.
Start to start. At this time, copying is not started when the recording paper is jammed or warming up due to insufficient fixing temperature. When copy start is YES and copy is started,
The cleaning member 22 shown in FIG. 2 rotates, for example, in the reverse direction with respect to the rotation direction of the fixing roller 2, and substantially at the same time, the fixing roller 2 starts forward rotation in the paper discharge direction of the recording paper P. The cleaning member 22 also performs a cleaning operation by continuing to rotate together with the rotation of the fixing roller 2. In the image forming apparatus 3, copying is sequentially performed, and while the copying is being performed, the fixing roller 2 continues to rotate and the toner image 13 on the recording paper P is
Fix A. When the operation of the copying process is stopped, the fixing roller 2 is also stopped, and then the cleaning member 22 is also stopped to stop the copying operation.

By constantly rotating the cleaning member 22 in the reverse direction by the above operation, the cleaning member 22 is rotated.
Then, the contact portion of the surface of the fixing roller 2 changes, and the toner, oil, or the like attached to the fixing roller 2 at the time of stoppage is cleaned by the cleaning member 22 and prevented from adhering to the fixing roller 2.

[0018]

According to the present invention, since the cleaning member 22 for the fixing roller 2 is constructed as described above, after the toner image is fixed, a brush-like member for efficiently cleaning the toner adhering to the surface of the fixing roller 2 is formed. Since the cleaning member and the member that easily contains the oil for applying the oil are both provided in one cleaning member, the above-mentioned two actions can be performed extremely efficiently at the same time, so that the cleaning member 22 can be downsized. Furthermore, the tip of the cleaning member is formed wider to increase the cleaning effect, and
To prevent the toner and the oil from partially adhering to the fixing roller 2 when the cleaning member is stopped.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a front view in which a fixing device and a cleaning member of the present invention are combined.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a tip portion of a cleaning member of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the cleaning member of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the cleaning member of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the cleaning member of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a combination of a cleaning member and a fixing roller.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a cleaning state of a conventional cleaning member.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing rotation control of the cleaning member of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 22 cleaning member 2 fixing roller 3 image forming device 4 photoconductor drum 5 belt electrode 6 original 7 exposure lamp 13 developing device 13A visible image (toner image) 14 paper feeding device 16 transfer pole 17 separation pole 22A core material 24 Fixing device P Recording paper

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A fixing device provided with a cleaning member for pressing an image formed on a recording sheet by an image forming device to a fixing roller to fix the fixing roller and cleaning the fixing roller, and the fixing roller and the fixing member. A pressure-contacting roller that comes into pressure contact with a fixing roller and a peripheral surface of the fixing roller are always in contact with each other, and the contact surface of the cleaning member is arranged on the discharge side of the recording paper to be fixed. A fixing device equipped with a member. 2. The fixing device having a cleaning member according to claim 1, wherein the fixing roller is a heating fixing roller having a heating member built therein. 3. A fixing device provided with a cleaning member for fixing an image formed on a recording sheet by an image forming device to a fixing roller by pressing and fixing the image, and wherein the cleaning member is a core material. When,
A fixing device provided with a cleaning member, comprising a brush provided on the outer surface of the core material, and having a large contact area for a cleaning tip portion of the brush. 4. A fixing device having a cleaning member according to claim 3, wherein the tip of the brush is formed in an L shape. 5. The fixing device having a cleaning member according to claim 3, wherein the tip of the brush is formed in a U shape. 6. A fixing device comprising a cleaning member for fixing an image formed on a recording sheet by an image forming device to a fixing roller by pressing and fixing the image, and the cleaning member is a core material. A fixing device provided with a cleaning member, wherein the cleaning member is formed into a roller shape and the cleaning member is made of a plurality of materials. 7. The fixing device having a cleaning member according to claim 6, wherein the cleaning member is made of a material having a good oil retaining property and a material having a good toner scraping property. 8. A combination of a material made of a heat-resistant resin having a small wire diameter and having a good oil retention property, and a material made of a heat-resistant resin having a large wire diameter and having a good toner scraping property are combined. A fixing device equipped with a cleaning member. 9. A fixing device comprising a cleaning member for fixing an image formed on a recording sheet by an image forming device to a fixing roller by pressing and fixing the fixing roller and cleaning the fixing roller. And a cleaning member that is formed into a roller shape, and that drives the cleaning member to rotate. The cleaning member is arranged in the same rotational direction as the fixing roller before the fixing roller starts rotating by the driving unit. A fixing device provided with a cleaning member that is rotated in a predetermined direction.