JPH07219379A - Fixing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a fixing device capable of facilitating the exchange of a cleaning pad and the cleaning of a separating pawl. CONSTITUTION:In the fixing device composed of the thermal fixing roller 6, the pressure roller 7 and the case 16 for surrounding these rollers, the cleaning pad 5 or the separating pawl 3 is attached in freely attachably and detachably with respect to the attaching member 1 and 1a supported by the case, and the cleaning pad or the separating pawl 3 is constituted in freely attachably and detachably to and from the attaching member in the state that the attaching member is detached from the case.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fixing device having a heat fixing roller used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, etc., and particularly, it is easy to replace a cleaning pad and clean a separating claw. The present invention relates to a fixing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, recording apparatus, etc., such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, etc., after transferring toner onto recording paper, the toner image is provided with a heat fixing roller on the transfer paper. It is heat-fixed by the fixing device. Since the recording paper is wrapped around the fixing roller when this thermal fixing is performed, the fixing device is provided with a separating claw, and the wound recording paper is peeled off by the separating claw. Further, since the toner on the recording paper adheres to the fixing roller after the recording paper is peeled off, the fixing device is provided with a cleaning member that makes sliding contact with the peripheral surface of the fixing roller to remove the toner adhered on the fixing roller. Cleaning. Similarly, when recording with a recording material other than toner, such as ink, and then performing thermal fixing, a separating claw and a cleaning member may be provided.
The separation claw is regularly cleaned to maintain the separation performance, and since the dirt becomes severe while the cleaning member is being used, it is regularly replaced.

[0003]

However, in the prior art, the work efficiency for the periodical cleaning of the separating claw and the replacement of the cleaning member as described above has not yet reached a sufficiently satisfactory level, and there is room for improvement. I have left.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and to provide a fixing device capable of easily replacing the cleaning pad and cleaning the separating claw.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a fixing device comprising a heat fixing roller, a pressure roller, and a case surrounding these rollers, and a mounting member supported by the case. On the other hand, the cleaning pad is detachably attached, and the cleaning pad is detachable from the attaching member with the attaching member removed from the case. The heat fixing roller, the pressure roller, and these rollers are provided. In a fixing device including an enclosing case, a separation claw is detachably attached to an attachment member supported by the case, and the separation claw is detachable from the attachment member with the attachment member removed. It is configured such that a rail guide is provided on the mounting member, and the cleaning pad is attached and detached using the rail guide. The cleaning pad portion has a snap fit, and the cleaning pad is configured to be attached to and detached from the cleaning pad insertion portion opened on the upper surface of the attachment member by using the snap fit. The cleaning pad is integrated with the cleaning pad pedestal. The mounting member also serves as a guide plate that guides the recording paper passing through the nip portion between the heat fixing roller and the pressure roller to the discharge portion.

[0006]

In a fixing device including a heat fixing roller, a pressure roller, and a case surrounding these rollers, a cleaning pad is detachably attached to an attaching member supported by the case, and the attaching member is attached. Since the cleaning pad is configured to be detachable from the mounting member in the state of being removed from the case, the cleaning pad and the separation claw can be taken out together and the cleaning pad can be attached and detached. In the above, in the configuration in which the separation claw can be attached and detached with the mounting member removed, the separation claw can be taken out together and the separation claw can be attached and detached. With the configuration in which the mounting member includes the rail guide and the cleaning pad is attached / detached using the rail guide, or the configuration in which the cleaning pad portion has the snap fit and the cleaning pad is attached / detached using the snap fit, the cleaning pad can be easily attached / detached. . With the configuration in which the cleaning pad is integrated with the cleaning pad cradle, even a cleaning pad made of a soft material can be easily attached to and detached from the mounting member. Further, in the configuration in which the mounting member also serves as the guide plate, the number of parts of the guide plate can be reduced.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a heat fixing device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a mounting member for detachably mounting the cleaning pad 5 and separation claw 3, 2 is a spring for pressing the separation claw 3 mounted on the mounting member 1 against the fixing roller 6, and 4 is a double-sided adhesive tape or the like. The cleaning pad pedestal integrated with the cleaning pad 5 by 7 is a pressure roller that forms a nip portion with the fixing roller 6, and 8 is a recording sheet P discharged from the nip portion to a discharge roller (not shown) or the like. It is a guide plate for guiding. The cleaning pad support 4 and the cleaning pad form a cleaning member.

When such a fixing device is applied to, for example, an electrophotographic recording type image forming apparatus, a transfer unit (not shown) located on the upstream side (transfer device for electrostatically transferring a toner image on a photoconductor) ), After the transfer onto the recording paper P is completed, the recording paper P is inserted into the nip portion formed by the fixing roller 6 and the pressure roller 7 by a conveying unit (not shown) (recording paper conveying direction is indicated by an arrow). The toner transferred onto the recording paper P is fixed by the fixing roller 6 heated by the built-in heat source. Since the fixing roller 6 and the pressure roller 7 are rotating in the direction of the arrow in the figure,
Although the recording paper P advances due to this conveyance force, it adheres to the fixing roller 6 at the time of fixing, so the recording paper P advances while being wound around the fixing roller 6.

The wound recording paper has its tip peeled off by the separating claw 3 having its tip pressed against the fixing roller 6, and then peeled off from the fixing roller by its own weight, but the surface of the fixing roller 6 remains on the recording paper. Since the toner adheres and is soiled, the surface is rubbed against the cleaning pad portion to be cleaned. On the other hand, the fixing roller 6
The recording paper P peeled off is guided by the upper and lower guide plates 1A and 8 and advances. The lower guide plate constituting the upper and lower guide plates is the guide plate 8, and the upper guide plate is the end portion 1A of the mounting member 1.

In the above description, the pressure roller 7 is made of an elastic material. Further, the separation claw 3 is attached to the fixing roller 6
It is the action of the spring 2 that presses against. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, pins 9 project from both sides in the vicinity of the center of the separation claw 3, and the pins 9 are provided at two positions on the end 1A of the mounting member 1. V-shaped groove 12 (Fig. 2 (a)
(See (b)) The pin body 3 rides on the pin support groove 12a provided therein, and the lower portion of the claw body 3 projects from the through hole 12b. The claw 3 rotates about the pin 9 on the pin support groove 12a as a rotation fulcrum, and in the example of FIG. 1, the upper part of the separation claw 3 is pulled leftward by the spring 2, so that the tip of the lower end of the claw 3 becomes the right fixing roller. It is pressed. In addition, the pin support groove 12a has a shape with a narrow inlet and a wide inside so that the pin 9 can be supported not only on the pin 9 but also on the pin 9 while preventing the pin 9 from falling off and being rotatable after being fitted. May be In this case, after the pin 9 is press-fitted from the narrow inlet, the pin 9 is rotatably supported by the wide portion, and the claw can be easily attached and detached. Alternatively, the pin 9 may be covered with a drop prevention member (not shown) on the pin support groove 12a to prevent the pin from falling off.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cleaning pad 5 is adhered to the cleaning pad pedestal 4 with a double-sided adhesive tape or the like to form a rail-type (substantially H-shaped) integrated structure as a whole. The mounting member 1 includes a pad guide 4 and a rail guide 10 that can be fitted to the pad 5, and the recess 4A on the side surface of the pad holder 4 is fitted to the rail guide 10 to remove the cleaning pad 5. It is removably inserted into the mounting member 1.

As described above, since the separation claw 3 and the cleaning pad 5 are mounted on the mounting member 1 so that they can be easily attached and detached, the separation member 3 is removed from the fixing device as described later, and then the separation claw 3 is removed. And cleaning pad 5 can be efficiently replaced. The separation claw may be configured so as not to be detachable from the mounting member 1. In this case, the separation claw can be cleaned by detaching the mounting member from the fixing device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the fixing device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the cleaning pad portion has a snap fit 11. That is, as shown in the figure, the cleaning pad receiving base 4a integrated with the cleaning pad 5 is a resin member integrally provided with the snap fits 11 at both ends, and the mounting member 1a is the cleaning pad insertion portion 13 opened on the upper surface. The cleaning pad insertion part 13 has notches 14 at both ends to which the snap fits 11 are fitted. Snap fit 11 is reverse U
The character-shaped elastic piece is once drawn out upward, and then the hook portion 11a is formed at the lower end portion of the free end thereof. Insert 13
When inserting the pad cradle 4a and the pad 5 into the inside from above,
The hook portion of the snap fit 11 is elastically deformed and passes through the notch portion 14, and then is expanded and locked to the lower surface of the outer edge portion of the notch portion 14. In this way, the cleaning pad portion is easily attached to and detached from the mounting member 1a from above. At the time of removal, the hook portion 11a may be pressed so as not to be caught in the notch portion 14 and then removed from the insertion portion 13.

The mounting member 1a has screw holes 15 at both ends,
As shown in the figure, it is screwed from the upper side to the upper case 16 of the fixing device with screws 17. Case of the mounting member 1 shown in FIG.
Installation to 16 is performed in the same procedure. That is, FIG.
In this embodiment, the case 16 shown in FIG. 3 is omitted, but the mounting member 1 shown in FIG. 1 has screw holes 15 as shown in FIG.
By providing, it can be attached to the case 16.

In any of the embodiments, since the separating claw 3 and the cleaning pad 5 are arranged on the same mounting member 1, 1a, both the separating claw 3 and the cleaning pad 5 can be removed by removing only one mounting member. Since it can be taken out, the work of exchanging both at the same time becomes efficient. In the case of the embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, the mounting member 1 is
It is possible to attach and detach only the separation claw 3 and the cleaning pad 5 without removing a. The fixing roller 6 and the pressure roller 7 are supported by the upper case 16 and the lower case 18, respectively, as shown in FIG. When the mounting member 1 is mounted on the upper case 16, the maintainability can be further improved by using a snap fit or the like instead of screwing as described above.

In the above, the cleaning pad portion (cleaning pad member) is replaced by the cleaning pad 5.
Although the cleaning pad cradle 4 and the cleaning pad cradle 4 are shown as an integrated structure, if the material of the cleaning pad is a little harder than the sponge that is normally used, the cleaning pad part can be a single material cleaning pad. It is also possible to form. In the case of the cleaning pad portion in which the members of two kinds of materials are integrated as described above, even if the cleaning pad 5 is made of a soft material, the workability at the time of attachment / detachment can be improved by making the cleaning pad receiving base 4 a hard material. Can be improved.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The cleaning pad and the separating claw are arranged on the same mounting member, the mounting member is detachable from the fixing device, and the cleaning pad and the separating claw are detachable with the mounting member removed from the fixing device. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently replace the cleaning pad and clean the separation claw. In addition, in the configuration in which the mounting member includes the rail guide and the cleaning pad is attached / detached using the rail guide, or the configuration in which the cleaning pad portion has the snap fit and the cleaning pad is attached / detached using the snap fit, the cleaning pad can be easily attached. Since it can be attached and detached, the cleaning pad can be easily replaced.

In the structure in which the cleaning pad is integrated with the cleaning pad cradle, even a cleaning pad made of a soft material can be easily attached to and detached from the mounting member, so that the cleaning pad made of a soft material can be easily replaced. Further, in the configuration in which the mounting member also serves as the guide plate, the number of parts of the guide plate can be reduced, and thus the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a fixing device according to the present invention.

2 (a) and 2 (b) are a perspective view and an AA cross-sectional view showing a main part of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the fixing device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Mounting member, 2 ... Spring, 3 ... Separation claw, 4 ... Cleaning pad cradle, 5 ... Cleaning pad, 6 ...
Fixing roller, 7 ... Pressure roller, 8 ... Guide plate, 9 ... Pin, 10 ... Rail guide, 11 ... Snap fit, 12 ... Cross groove, 13 ... Cleaning pad insertion section, 14 ... Notch section, 15 ... Screw Hole, 16… upper case, 17… screw, 18… lower case.

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location G03G 21/10

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A fixing device comprising a heat fixing roller, a pressure roller, a case surrounding these rollers, and a cleaning pad slidably contacting the peripheral surface of one of the rollers, with respect to a mounting member supported by the case. The fixing device is detachably attached to the cleaning pad, and the cleaning pad is detachable from the attachment member with the attachment member removed from the case. 2. A fixing device comprising a heat fixing roller, a pressure roller, and a case surrounding these rollers, wherein a separation claw is detachably attached to an attachment member supported by the case, and the attachment is performed. A fixing device, wherein the separation claw is configured to be detachable from the mounting member with the member removed. 3. A rail guide is provided on the mounting member,
The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning pad is attached and detached using the rail guide. 4. The cleaning pad portion is provided with a snap fit, and the cleaning pad is configured to be attached to and detached from a cleaning pad insertion portion opened on the upper surface of the attachment member by using the snap fit. The fixing device described. 5. The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning pad is formed integrally with a cleaning pad cradle. 6. The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the mounting member also serves as a guide plate for guiding a recording paper passing through a nip portion between the heat fixing roller and the pressure roller to a discharge portion. apparatus.