JPH07325519A - Electrophotographic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an electrophotographic device where the lowering of the air quantity of a fan caused by an obstacle is stopped by preventing the obstacle from existing at a position proximate to the exhaust hole of a filter cover, so that ozone is prevented from being retained inside a device main body. CONSTITUTION:This device is equipped with the device main body 1 having an aperture part 9, an equipment which produces ozone at the time of forming an image, the fan 10 sending air to the aperture part 9, a filter 11 absorbing ozone included in the air sent by the fan 10, a filter cover 21 attachably/ detachably provided at the aperture part 9 of the device main body 1 and a member for attaching/detaching a cover 23 attaching/detaching the filter cover 21 to the aperture part 9 of the device main body 1. The member 23 has a projecting part 23a projecting to the outside of the device main body 1 along the discharging direction of the air discharged from the aperture part 9 and the projecting length of the projecting part 23a from the device main body 1 is long enough to hold the quantity of the air discharged from the aperture part 9 by the fan 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus equipped with a device for generating ozone during image formation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a charging device and a transfer device provided in an image forming process in an electrophotographic apparatus, there is a system utilizing a corona discharge. However, the corona discharge deteriorates surrounding parts and generates ozone which adversely affects the human body. Therefore, most electrophotographic devices equipped with a corona discharge type charger and transfer device are
By using a fan to forcibly discharge the ozone-containing air inside the apparatus main body to the outside of the apparatus main body through the filter, the ozone contained in the air is removed by the filter so that the ozone is not discharged to the outside.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic structure of a conventional electrophotographic apparatus of this type. In the figure, 1 is a main body of the apparatus, which is a casing. Reference numeral 2 denotes a photoconductor drum, which is an example of a photoconductor, and is rotated by a rotation drive device (not shown).
3 is a charger for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 1, 4 is an exposure device for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1, 5
Is a developing device for forming a toner image on the surface of the photoconductor drum 1, 6 is a transfer device for transferring the toner image of the photoconductor drum 1 onto recording paper, 7 is a cleaning device for removing the residual toner on the photoconductor drum 3, and 8 is A fixing device that fixes the toner image on the recording paper. The photosensitive drum 2, the charger 3, the exposure device 4, the developing device 5, the transfer device 6, and the cleaning device 7.
The fixing device 8 is provided inside the device body 1.

Here, a scorotron type charger 3 is used. The scorotron type charger 3 applies a voltage of several kilovolts to the metal wire 3a to generate corona discharge. The transfer device 6 is of the corotron type. Corotron type transfer device 6
Also applies a voltage to the metal wire 6a to generate corona discharge. These charger 3 and transfer device 6
Then, a large amount of ozone is generated in the air due to the corona discharge.

Reference numeral 9 is a rectangular opening formed in the wall of the apparatus main body 1, into which a filter cover 14 described later is fitted. Reference numeral 10 denotes a fan fixedly provided to a member (not shown) inside the apparatus main body 1, which sends air inside the apparatus main body 1 toward the opening 8 and discharges the air to the outside.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an ozone filter, which is constructed by attaching a filter 12 made of a material having a property of removing ozone contained in air to a frame body 11a. The ozone filter 11 is provided inside the apparatus body 1 between the opening 9 of the apparatus body 1 and the fan 10 so that the air sent by the fan 10 passes through. The ozone filter 11 is detachably held by a member (not shown) so that it can be loaded into the apparatus body 1 from the outside through the opening 9 of the apparatus body 1 and can be taken out from the apparatus body 1 to the outside. It has become.

Reference numeral 13 is a filter cover, which is formed in a shape and size that can be fitted in the opening 9 of the apparatus main body 1, and has a plurality of exhaust holes 14 in the form of slits, for example.
The filter cover 13 is detachably fitted into the opening 9 of the apparatus body 1 to cover the opening 9 and shield the ozone filter 11 provided inside the apparatus body 1 from the outside of the apparatus body 1. .

When the fan 10 is driven, the air inside the apparatus body 1 is sent toward the opening 9 and passes through the filter 12 of the ozone filter 11. Here, ozone contained in the air is removed, and clean air is discharged to the outside through the exhaust hole 14 of the filter cover 13.

Since the ozone filter 11 has a low ozone removal efficiency due to long-term use and the air volume of the fan 10 decreases due to clogging, the ozone filter 11 is cleaned and replaced. Therefore, the filter cover 13 is removed from the opening 9 of the apparatus main body 1 and the ozone filter 11 is taken out from the opening 9.
The filter 12 of No. 1 is cleaned and replaced, and the ozone filter 11 is again put into the inside of the apparatus main body 1 through the opening 9, and then the filter cover 13 is attached to the opening 9.

[0010]

However, such a conventional electrophotographic apparatus has the following problems. In order to remove ozone generated by corona discharge with the ozone filter 11 and prevent the ozone from accumulating inside the apparatus main body 1, a predetermined amount of air is sent by the drive of the fan 10 to pass through the ozone filter 11, Cover 13
It is necessary to discharge the gas from the exhaust hole 14 to the outside of the apparatus body 1.

However, when an article is placed near the apparatus main body 1 or the apparatus main body 1 is installed near a building, a position close to the exhaust hole 14 of the filter cover 13 in the front in the exhaust direction. When an obstacle W exists in the exhaust port 1, the obstacle W causes the exhaust hole 1 of the filter cover 13 to move.
The air flow from 4 is obstructed, and the fan air volume decreases, so that the required fan air volume cannot be secured. As a result, the air inside the apparatus body cannot be sufficiently sent to the ozone filter 11 to remove the ozone, and ozone may accumulate inside the apparatus body 1 to adversely affect image formation.

Further, when the fan 10 also serves to release the air heated by the heat generated from the heat fixing device 8 to the outside to cool the fan, the cooling capacity of the fan lowers as the fan air volume decreases. To do. Therefore, the temperature inside the apparatus main body 1 rises and the characteristics of parts such as the photosensitive drum are deteriorated.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and prevents an obstacle from being present at a position close to the exhaust hole of the filter cover to prevent a decrease in fan air flow due to the obstacle, and to prevent the inside of the main body of the apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic apparatus in which ozone is prevented from accumulating in the interior.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electrophotographic apparatus of the present invention is provided in a main body of an apparatus having a wall portion having an opening for communicating the inside and the outside with each other. A device that generates ozone during image formation, a fan that is provided inside the apparatus body and blows air toward the opening, and a fan that is provided inside the apparatus body facing the opening and is blown by the fan. A filter for absorbing ozone contained in the air, a filter cover detachably attached to the opening of the apparatus body, and a cover attaching / detaching member for attaching / detaching the filter cover to the opening of the apparatus body. The cover attaching / detaching member has a protrusion that protrudes toward the outside of the device body along the discharge direction of the air discharged from the opening, and the protrusion length of the protrusion from the device body. But it characterized in that it is sized to hold a volume of the air discharged from the opening portion by the fan.

The cover attaching / detaching member is provided on the filter cover or on the main body of the apparatus. Further, the protruding length of the protruding portion from the apparatus main body is 10 mm or more.

[0016]

For example, when the apparatus main body is installed close to the wall which is an example of an obstacle, or when an article which is an example of an obstacle is placed close to the apparatus main body, the cover attaching / detaching member is used. The tip of the protruding portion provided so as to protrude toward the outside of the apparatus main body along the discharge direction of the air discharged from the opening of the filter cover comes into contact with the obstacle. As a result, a space defined by the protrusion of the cover attaching / detaching member is formed between the device body and the obstacle. Since the protruding length of the protruding portion from the apparatus main body is a size that holds the air volume of the air discharged from the opening portion by the fan, the air volume of the fan does not decrease due to the presence of an obstacle. Therefore, it is possible to secure the air volume of the fan required to satisfactorily remove ozone from the inside of the apparatus body and prevent ozone from accumulating inside the apparatus body.

The length of the protruding portion is specifically 10 mm or more. When the cover attaching / detaching member is attached to the filter cover, the operation of attaching / detaching the filter cover to / from the opening of the apparatus body can be easily performed. When the cover attaching / detaching member is provided on the apparatus body, the cover fitted in the opening of the apparatus body can be stably held.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment is directed to the electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and is an improvement of this apparatus. In this embodiment, the filter cover is provided with a cover attaching / detaching member. 1 and 2, the same parts as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals.

That is, in the figure, 1 is a main body of the apparatus, 2 is a photoconductor drum, 3 is a charger, 4 is an exposing device, 5 is a developing device, and 6 is a developing device.
Is a transfer device, 7 is a cleaning device, 8 is a fixing device, and 9 is a fixing device.
Is an opening, 10 is a fan, and 11 is an ozone filter.

The characteristic part of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 21 shows a filter cover made of synthetic resin or metal, which has a size and shape that can be fitted into the opening 9 of the apparatus main body 1 and a plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes 22. In addition, the filter cover 21
The cover attaching / detaching members 23 are integrally formed on, for example, the upper part and the lower part.

The pair of cover attaching / detaching members 23 once extend toward the inside of the apparatus main body 1 and then are folded back toward the outside to extend from the opening 9 toward the outside. It has elastic force. The cover attaching / detaching member 23 is, for example, a protrusion 2 which is engaged with the edge portion of the opening 9 of the apparatus body 1 in the middle of the portion folded back toward the outside.
4 is cut and raised. Then, the cover attaching / detaching member 23 projects outward from the opening 9 in the portion folded back toward the outside, and the length L of the projecting portion 23a.
Has a size that holds the air discharged from the opening 9 by the fan without lowering it. The protrusion length L is specifically 10 mm or more as described later.

When the filter cover 21 is attached to the opening 9 of the apparatus main body 1, the user manually pushes the protrusions 23a of the pair of cover attaching / detaching members 23 to elastically move toward the center of the filter cover 21. The cover 24 is deformed so that the interval between the projections 24 of each cover attaching / detaching member 23 is smaller than the vertical interval of the opening 9. In this state, the pair of cover attaching / detaching member 23 and the filter cover 21 are fitted inside the opening 9. After that, the user releases the pair of cover attaching / detaching members 23. As a result, the pair of cover attaching / detaching members 23 are elastically opened upward and downward, and the projections 24 are internally engaged with the edges of the opening 9 of the apparatus body 1. In this state, the filter cover 21 blocks the ozone filter 11 from the outside.

As described above, when the apparatus main body 1 provided with the filter cover 21 having the cover attaching / detaching member 23 is installed near the wall portion which is an example of an obstacle, or when the apparatus main body 1 is installed close to the apparatus main body. When an article, which is an example of an obstacle, is placed on the apparatus main body 1 along the discharge direction of the air discharged from the exhaust hole 22 of the filter cover 21 in the cover attaching / detaching member 23 as shown in FIG. The tip of a protruding portion 23a that is provided so as to project toward the outside of the abuts on the obstacle W. As a result, a space defined by the protrusion 23a of the cover attaching / detaching member 23 is formed between the device body 1 and the obstacle W.

The protrusion length L of the protrusion 23a from the apparatus main body 1 is large enough to hold the air volume of the air discharged from the opening 9 by the fan 10. Does not decrease.

Here, the fan 10 is driven by setting the air volume so that ozone contained in the air can be satisfactorily removed by blowing the air inside the apparatus main body 1 and passing it through the filter 12 of the ozone filter 11. To be done. Therefore, the air volume of the fan 10 required to satisfactorily remove ozone from the inside of the apparatus body 1 can be secured, and ozone can be prevented from accumulating inside the apparatus body 1.

When the fan 10 also has a function of discharging the temperature-increased air inside the apparatus body 1 to suppress the temperature rise inside the apparatus body 1, the inside of the apparatus body 1 is Air whose temperature has risen can be satisfactorily discharged to reliably suppress the temperature rise inside the apparatus main body 1.

FIG. 3 shows the apparatus main body 1 (filter cover 21).
It is a diagram which shows the relationship between the distance between an obstacle and a fan, and the air volume of a fan. According to this diagram, when the distance from the device body 1 (filter cover 21) to the obstacle is 10 mm or more, the fan air volume is the same as when there is no obstacle.
It can be seen that when the distance is less than mm, the fan air volume gradually decreases as the distance decreases. Therefore, it is understood that the protruding length of the protruding portion 23a of the cover attaching / detaching member 23 needs to be 10 mm or more.

When the filter cover 21 is removed from the opening 9 of the apparatus body 1, the user manually pushes the protrusions 23a of the pair of cover attaching / detaching members 23 toward the center of the filter cover 21. By elastically deforming, the interval between the projections 24 of each cover attaching / detaching member 23 is made smaller than the vertical interval of the opening 9, and in this state, the pair of cover attaching / detaching member 23 and the filter cover 21 are removed from the opening 9.

Therefore, the filter cover 21 is provided with the cover attaching / detaching member 23 and the cover attaching / detaching member 23 is provided with the projecting portion 23a, so that the filter cover 21 can be attached / detached to / from the opening 9 of the apparatus body 1. It can be done easily. The shape, number and position of the cover attaching / detaching members are not limited to this embodiment.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment is directed to the electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and is an improvement of this apparatus. In this embodiment, a cover attaching / detaching member is provided on the apparatus main body. 4, the same parts as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals.

Reference numeral 31 in the drawing denotes a cover attaching / detaching member, which is provided near the opening 9 on the outside of the wall of the apparatus main body 1. The cover attaching / detaching member 31 is pivotally supported on the wall portion of the apparatus main body 1 by the pivot pin 32, and the A position for pressing the filter cover 34 fitted in the opening 9 and the filter cover 21 can be removed from the opening 9. The B position can be rotated. The device body 1
Is provided with a stopper 33 for holding the cover attaching / detaching member 31 at the A position.

The cover attaching / detaching member 31 has a protruding portion 31a protruding toward the outside of the apparatus main body 1 along the discharge direction of the air discharged from the opening portion 9. This protruding portion 31
The protrusion length of a from the apparatus main body is set to a size for holding the air volume required by the fan 10 without lowering it, specifically, 10 mm or more. Filter cover 3
Reference numeral 4 has a plurality of exhaust holes 35, and has a size and shape that can be removably fitted in the opening 9.

In this embodiment, the filter cover 34 fitted in the opening 9 of the apparatus body 1 is pressed by the cover attaching / detaching member 31. Then, when the apparatus main body 1 provided with the cover attaching / detaching member 31 is installed, for example, close to a wall portion which is an example of an obstacle, or when the apparatus main body 1 is close to the apparatus main body 1 and an article which is an example of an obstacle is placed. In some cases, the tip of the protruding portion 31a of the cover attaching / detaching member 31 contacts an obstacle. As a result, a space defined by the protrusion 31a of the cover attaching / detaching member 31 is formed between the device body 1 and the obstacle. Since the protruding length of the projecting portion 31a from the apparatus body 1 is a size that holds the air volume of the fan 10, the air volume of the fan does not decrease due to the presence of obstacles. To secure the necessary air volume of the fan 10 to remove ozone from the
It is possible to prevent ozone from accumulating inside the apparatus main body 1.

In this embodiment, the filter attaching / detaching member 31 allows the filter cover 34 fitted in the opening 9 to be easily operated.
Can be pressed by the cover attaching / detaching member 31. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be implemented with various modifications. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, both the charger and the transfer device provided in the image forming process perform corona discharge, and ozone is generated with the corona discharge. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only one of them may be of a type that performs corona discharge.
Further, the device that generates ozone is not limited to the charger and the transfer device provided in the image forming process, and other devices can be included.

[0035]

As described above, according to the electrophotographic apparatus of the present invention, when the apparatus main body is placed in the vicinity of the obstacle, the air exhausted from the opening of the filter cover in the cover attaching / detaching member is removed. The tip of the protrusion provided so as to protrude toward the outside of the apparatus main body along the discharge direction comes into contact with the obstacle, and the gap defined by the protrusion of the cover attaching / detaching member is provided between the apparatus main body and the obstacle. Form. Further, since the protruding length of the protruding portion from the apparatus main body is a size that holds the air volume of the air discharged from the opening by the fan, the air volume of the fan does not decrease due to the presence of the obstacle, For this reason, it is possible to secure the air volume of the fan required to satisfactorily remove ozone from the inside of the apparatus main body, and prevent ozone from accumulating inside the apparatus main body. Specifically, the length of the protrusion of the cover attaching / detaching member is 1
It can be 0 mm or more.

When the cover attaching / detaching member is attached to the filter cover, it is possible to easily attach / detach the filter cover to / from the opening of the apparatus body. When the cover attaching / detaching member is provided on the apparatus body, the cover fitted in the opening of the apparatus body can be stably held.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a filter and a filter cover in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the distance between the apparatus main body and an obstacle and the fan air volume in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a filter and a filter cover according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional electrophotographic apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Device main body, 2 ... Photosensitive drum, 4 ...
Charger, 6 ... Transfer device, 9 ... Opening part,
10 ... Fan, 11 ... Ozone filter,
21 ... Filter cover 23 ... Cover attaching / detaching member, 23a ... Projection part, 31 ... Cover attaching / detaching member, 31a ... Projection part.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A device main body having an opening communicating with the inside and the outside in a wall portion, a device provided inside the device main body for generating ozone during image formation, and an apparatus provided inside the device main body. A fan that blows air toward the opening, a filter that faces the opening inside the apparatus body and absorbs ozone contained in the air blown by the fan, and an opening in the apparatus body. A detachable filter cover; and a cover attaching / detaching member for attaching / detaching the filter cover to / from the opening of the apparatus body.
The cover attachment / detachment member has a protrusion that protrudes toward the outside of the device body along the discharge direction of the air discharged from the opening, and the protrusion length of the protrusion from the device body. Is a size that holds the air volume of the air discharged from the opening by the fan. 2. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover attaching / detaching member is provided on the filter cover. 3. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover attaching / detaching member is provided in the apparatus main body. 4. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion length of the protrusion from the apparatus main body is 10 mm or more.