JPH0736329A - Image forming material removing device from image holding body, which is provided with releasing means having smoothing means of release member surface - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a toner removing device from transfer paper provided with a toner releasing unit usable without lowering releasing performance over a long period. CONSTITUTION:A toner T released from the surface of a transfer paper 10 and adhered to the surface of a release roller 302 is uneven according to an image pattern on the transfer paper 10, and the uneven toner adhesion is smoothed by a pressing roller 209 for pressing the surface of the release roller 302. A pressing blade may be provided instead of the pressing roller 302. A release agent applying roller for applying a release agent such as silicone oil onto the surface of the pressing roller 309 may be provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image carrier for removing an image forming substance from an image carrier to which an image forming substance is stably attached by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer or a printing machine. The present invention relates to an image forming substance removing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are known various image forming substance removing methods and devices for removing an image forming substance such as toner from a sheet as a recorded image carrier. For example, as one using a solvent, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-10
In Japanese Patent No. 1576, a sheet on which toner is attached is immersed in a soluble solvent of a toner resin and ultrasonic vibration is applied to the sheet.
A method for removing an image-forming substance is disclosed in which the toner dissolved in a solvent is released from the paper surface. In addition, JP-A-4-3003
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 95, a solvent is attached to a printed portion of waste paper by a method such as dipping, spraying or coating to dissolve the toner,
An image forming substance removing method is disclosed in which the dissolved toner is removed by a method such as washing, air suction, contact with an adsorbent, mechanical peeling or electrostatic adsorption.

On the other hand, as one not using a solvent, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-255195, a heat-meltable ink or a heat-meltable ink placed on a printed material coated with a release agent on a support by an electrophotographic method or a thermal transfer method is used. A method for removing an image forming substance in which toner is adhered to the ink peeling body and removed by stacking the ink peeling body on the printed body and passing the toner between the heating roller and the pressure roller and cooling the peeled ink peeling body. Is disclosed. Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-64472, at least an endless sheet having a heat-melting resin on the surface, a heat roller and a cooling roller for supporting and rotating the endless sheet, and a paper having a release treatment on its surface (erasable paper) There is disclosed an eraser including a pressing roller that presses against a softened or melted heat-melting resin, and a drive unit that moves these in conjunction with each other. In addition, JP-A-4-829
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 83, 83, two rollers provided in parallel to rotate in pressure contact with each other to pass the paper through the pressure contact point, a heater for heating at least one of the two rollers, and a roller passing through the pressure contact point A scraper for separating the paper from the roller,
An image forming substance removing device is disclosed, which comprises a peeling device that removes the image forming substance attached to the roller from the roller.

By the way, when the above-mentioned solvent-free method and apparatus are used to remove an image-forming substance from a recorded image carrier on which an image is recorded on an ordinary paper having paper fibers exposed on the surface, for example, Since the image-forming substance is firmly fixed to the fibers on the surface of the image-holding member by fusing the image-forming substance containing a heat-meltable resin as a main component to the image-holding member in the fixing step of the electrophotographic method, When the image-forming substance is removed, the paper fibers on the surface are peeled off together with the image-forming substance and the paper quality is damaged.
In particular, in order to improve the removability of the image-forming substance, when heat or pressure is applied to the above-mentioned ink peeling body, endless sheet or roller, depending on various conditions, the space between the image-forming substance and the image carrier may be reversed. In some cases, the fixability of the above is increased, which makes removal difficult.

Therefore, the present applicant has previously proposed that the recorded image carrier contains water as a destabilizing agent, an aqueous solution containing a surfactant, an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble polymer, and a surfactant and a water-soluble polymer. Containing at least one kind of water or aqueous solution selected from the group consisting of aqueous solutions containing, and interposing a peeling member, heat-bonding or pressure-bonding the image-forming substance to the peeling member to peel it from the image carrier. An image forming substance removing method has been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-255).
916). According to this, only the image-forming substance can be removed without relatively damaging the paper quality of the image carrier.

[0006]

However, in the conventional image forming substance removing device for an image carrier, when the peeling member is repeatedly used, the image formed on the surface of the peeling member is removed from the image carrier. There is a possibility that the substance may be attached in an uneven shape to cause unevenness in the peeling performance of the peeling member, resulting in local peeling failure or the like.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for removing an image-forming substance from an image carrier, which is equipped with a peeling means that does not cause uneven peeling for a long period of time. Is to provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is an image carrier for removing an image forming substance from an image carrier having an image forming substance stably attached to the surface thereof. In the image forming substance removing apparatus from 1), a peeling member having an adhesive force larger than the adhesive force between the surface and the image forming substance to the image forming substance is provided on the surface side to which the image forming substance is attached. It is characterized in that at least peeling means arranged so as to come into contact with the image-forming substance on the surface and smoothing means for smoothing the surface of the peeling member to which the image-forming substance adheres are provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming substance removing device for an image carrier according to the first aspect, the peeling member is in contact with or is attached to the image carrier immediately before contact. It is characterized in that a softening means for softening the image forming substance is provided.

The invention of claim 3 is the same as claim 1 or 2.
In the apparatus for removing the image forming substance from the image carrier, as the smoothing means, a pressing member for pressing the surface of the peeling member to which the image forming substance is attached is provided, and the surface of the pressing member is provided with the image forming substance. On the other hand, a release agent applying means for applying a release agent having releasability is provided.

[0011]

According to the invention of claim 1, the peeling member of the peeling means arranged on the surface side of the image carrier on which the image forming substance is adhered is arranged so as to contact at least the image forming substance on the surface, By having an adhesion force larger than that of the surface and the image-forming substance with respect to the image-forming substance,
After the peeling member is brought into contact with the surface, when the peeling member and the image holding member are separated from each other, the image forming substance can be surely separated from the image holding member and adhered only to the peeling member. become able to. Then, by smoothing the surface of the peeling member to which the image forming substance is adhered by the smoothing means,
The surface of the uneven peeling member having the image-forming substance adhered to it corresponding to the image pattern is smoothed, and uneven contact of the peeling member with the image carrier can be prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the softening means softens the image forming substance adhering to the image holding body which is in contact with the peeling member or immediately before the peeling member is in contact with the peeling member. The adhesive force between the holder and the image forming substance can be made smaller, and the adhesive force between the image forming substance and the peeling member can be increased.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the pressing member presses the surface of the peeling member having the image forming substance attached thereto, whereby the uneven peeling member having the image forming substance corresponding to the image pattern is attached. The surface of is peeled off, and uneven contact of the peeling member with the image carrier can be prevented. Then, by applying a releasing agent having a releasing property to the image forming substance to the surface of the pressing member by the releasing agent applying means, the image forming substance on the surface of the pressing member is coated. Can be prevented from adhering.

[0014]

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the image holding method for removing a heat-melting toner (hereinafter, referred to as a toner) as an image forming substance from a transfer paper as an image holding member on which an image is formed by a transfer type electrophotographic copying machine. An embodiment applied to a device for removing an image forming substance from a body (hereinafter referred to as a toner removing device) will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a toner removing device to which the present invention can be applied. First, a general description will be given of the toner removing device. The toner removing device includes a paper feeding unit 1 for separating and feeding the transfer papers 10 on which toner images are formed, which are accommodated in a stacked state, one by one, and the paper feeding unit 1. A liquid applying unit 2 that supplies liquid to the transferred transfer paper 10, a toner peeling unit 3 that removes toner from the transfer paper 10 that has been supplied, and a drying unit that dries the transfer paper 10 from which toner has been removed. 4 and a paper receiving unit 5 that receives the transfer paper 10 discharged from the drying unit 4. The transfer paper 10 conveyed from the paper feeding unit 1 is a liquid destabilizing agent (hereinafter referred to as a processing liquid) 20 that makes the adhesion state of the transfer paper 10 and the toner in the liquid applying unit 2 unstable. And the treatment liquid 20 is applied to at least the transfer paper 1
Permeate into the interface between 0 and toner. Then, the treatment liquid 20 is removed by the peeling roller 302 of the toner peeling unit 3.
After the toner is peeled off from the transfer paper 10 at the interface where the ink has penetrated, the transfer paper 10 is dried by the drying roller 402 of the drying unit 4 and discharged to the paper receiving unit 5.

Here, as the treatment liquid 20, water, an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble polymer, an aqueous solution containing a surfactant,
At least one kind of water or an aqueous solution selected from the group consisting of an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble polymer and a surfactant can be used. Further, the water or the aqueous solution may contain a predetermined organic solvent. Moreover, as the processing liquid 20, only an organic solvent can be used.

Examples of the water-soluble polymer include starchy substances (branch starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, wheat starch, corn starch, etc.),
Mannan (konjac, etc.), seaweed (Funori, agar, sodium alginate, etc.), plant mucilage (troloois,
Gum tragacanth, gum arabic, etc.), mucilage by microorganisms (dextran, levan, etc.), protein (glue,
Gelatin, casein, collagen, etc.) natural polymers, cellulose-based (viscose, methylcellulose, ethylcellulose, hydroxyethylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, etc.), starch-based (soluble starch, carboxymethyl starch, dialdehyde starch) semi-synthetic polymers, Examples thereof include synthetic polymers, but are not limited thereto.

Examples of the above-mentioned surfactant include, for example,
Anionic (carboxylic acid salt, sulfonate, sulfuric acid ester salt, phosphoric acid ester salt, phosphonate, etc.), cationic (amine salt, quaternary ammonium salt, benzalkonium salt, verzethonium chloride salt, pinidinium salt, Imidazolinium salt, sulfonium salt, polyethylene polyamine, etc.), amphoteric system (amino acid, carboxybetaine, sulfobetaine, aminosulfate, aminocarboxylate, imidazoline derivative, etc.), nonionic (ether type, ether ester type, ester) Type, nitrogen-containing type, polyhydric alcohol, aminoalcohol, polyethylene glycol, etc.) and fluorochemical surfactants, but not limited thereto.

As the organic solvent contained in the water or the aqueous solution, turpentine, dipentene, butyl acetate, carbon tetrachloride, cellosolve acetate, xylene, toluene, ethyl acetate, diacetone alcohol, methyl cellosolve acetate, benzene, methyl ethyl ketone, Examples thereof include, but are not limited to, methyl acetate, methylene chloride, ethylene dichloride, cyclohexane, cellosolve, dioxane, acetone, methyl cellosolve, cyclohexanol, butanol and the like.

As the organic solvent used alone, carbon-hydrogen solvents such as hexane, heptane, octane, nonane, spirit, naphtha N01-6 (trade name of Shell Petroleum Co.), Isopar E, L, K, V (trade name of Exxon), IP Solvent (trade name of Idemitsu Oil Co., Ltd.), Shell-sol 70, 71, Solvesso 100,
150 (trade name of Shell Oil), Ascom OMS,
460 (trade name of Spirits), Vegasol 103
0,2130,3040 (trade name of Mobil Oil Co., Ltd.) and the like. Further, Fluorinert FC40, 43, 70, 77 (trade name of Sumitomo 3M), which is a fluorine-based solvent,
Aflude E10, 16, 18, etc., Shin-Etsu Silicone KF96 (trade name) which is a silicone solvent, Toray Silicone SH200, 344 (trade name), Toshiba Silicone T
SF431 (trade name) and the like are included, but the invention is not limited thereto.

Next, the respective units 1, 2, 3, in the illustrated example
4, 5 will be described. The sheet feeding unit 1 feeds the transfer sheets 10 stacked on the bottom plate 101 from the lowermost one by a sheet feeding roller 102, separates the double feed by a separation mechanism (not shown), and forms one sheet of the transfer sheet 10. Only the registration roller pair 104 for timing adjustment and skew correction is sent out. The specific configuration and operation are the same as those of the paper feeding mechanism in the electrophotographic copying machine, and therefore detailed description will be omitted.

The liquid applying unit 2 contacts the liquid container 201 filled with a predetermined amount of the processing liquid 20 and one surface (the upper surface in the drawing) of the transfer paper 10 while the processing liquid 20 in the liquid container 201 is being contacted.
The submerged conveying roller 202 that conveys the medium to guide the inside, the driving unit (not shown) of the submerged conveying roller 202, and the other surface (the lower surface in the drawing) of the transfer paper 10 into the processing liquid 20 of the liquid container 201. A submerged guide plate 203 for guiding, a pair of squeezing rollers 204 also functioning as a holding and conveying means, a squeezing rod 205 that is arranged to bite into the lower squeezing roller 204, and the like are provided.
In this unit 2, the transfer paper 10 fed from the paper feeding unit 1 is guided into the treatment liquid 20 in the liquid container 201 by the submerged conveying roller 202 and the submerged guide plate 203, and immersed in the treatment liquid 20. After being squeezed, the squeezing roller pair 204
The excess processing liquid 20 is removed by the above and is conveyed to the next toner peeling unit 3.

The toner peeling unit 3 includes a pair of peeling rollers 302 each having a built-in heating lamp 301 as a means for softening the toner T and arranged in pressure contact with each other, and a peeling roller 302 near the pressure contact portion on the transfer paper discharge side. Separation claw 303 and peeling roller 30 arranged so as to contact the surface
A cleaning device 304 for cleaning the surface of 2.
A drive unit (not shown) and the like are provided. A specific example of the toner peeling unit 3 will be described later in detail.

The surface of the peeling roller 302 is made of a material having an adhesive force greater than that of the transfer paper 10 and the toner to at least the softened toner. Specifically, the same or similar toner component resin as the above toner, component resin of an adhesive, or the like can be used,
In addition, aluminum-based, copper-based, nickel-based, and other metal materials can be used, but are not limited thereto. The resin may be water-soluble or water-insoluble.

Examples of the toner component resin include, but are not limited to, polystyrene resin, acrylic resin, methacrylic resin, styrene-butyl acrylic copolymer, styrene-butadiene copolymer, polyester resin and epoxy resin. Not a thing.

As the component resin of the adhesive, protein adhesives such as glue, gelatin, albumin, and casein, and carbohydrate-based adhesives such as starch-based, cellulose-based, complex polysaccharide-based (acacia gum, tragacanth gum, etc.) Agents, vinyl acetate polymers and copolymers, acrylics,
Heat-soluble adhesives such as ethylene copolymers, polyamides, polyesters, polyurethanes, polychloroprene-based, nitrile rubber-based, recycled rubber-based, SBR-based, rubber-based adhesives such as natural rubber-based, rubber-based, acrylic-based, etc. Polyethylene terephthalate (PE) with pressure-sensitive adhesive and titanium oxide dispersed
T), etc., but not limited thereto.

When the above resin is used, it is desirable to have a multi-layer structure of at least two layers of a support and a surface layer from the viewpoints of preventing elongation due to tension and heat, durability and the like. That is, when a roller-shaped peeling member is used as in the illustrated example, it is desirable to form a peeling member by forming a surface layer made of the above resin or the like on a base roller as a support.

As a support for supporting the above-mentioned resins,
For example, rubber rollers, sheets, cellophane tapes, kraft paper adhesive tapes, polyvinyl chloride tapes, acetone tapes, tapes such as filament reinforcing tapes, and the like can be used, but are not limited thereto.

The heating lamps 301 of the upper and lower peeling rollers 302 are in close contact with the front and back surfaces of the transfer paper 10 to heat and soften the toner adhered to the transfer paper 10.
The toner is easily separated from the fibers of the transfer paper 10. It is desirable to perform this heating to such an extent that the toner on the transfer paper 10 does not melt at the pressure contact portion. This is because if the toner melts, it will be difficult to transfer the toner on the transfer paper 10 to the peeling roller 302 side without dividing the toner between the paper side and the peeling roller 302 side. If it is heated too much, the transfer paper 1 is transferred while passing through the pressure contact portion of the pair of peeling rollers 302.
0 is too dry, and the fixing force of the toner to the transfer paper 10 is stronger than that when the transfer paper 10 is wet, and the transfer paper 10 is attached to the roller 302 through the toner and is separated by the separation claw 303. There is a risk that they will not be separated. Therefore,
It is desirable to heat the transfer paper 10 after passing through the heating unit to such an extent that a little damp air remains and the re-adhesion of the toner can be prevented.

The cleaning device 304 removes the toner T on the surface of the peeling roller 302, the scraper blade 306 that scrapes off the toner T on the cleaning roller 305, and the toner T scraped off by the scraper blade 306. A toner receiver (toner container) 307 for containing the toner is provided.

A belt having the same surface characteristics as the peeling roller 302 is used instead of the peeling roller 302, or the cleaning roller 305 of the cleaning device 304 is replaced with a cleaning blade or a scraper that directly contacts the surface of the peeling roller 302. You may use such as. These modifications will also be described in detail later.

The drying unit 4 is for drying the transfer paper 10, and is composed of an upper drying roller 402 made of, for example, aluminum and having a built-in heating lamp 401, and a lower drying roller 404 pressed against the upper drying roller 402. . The lower drying roller 404 is provided with a surface layer made of a liquid-supplying member, and a diaphragm blade 405 for squeezing the liquid on the surface layer is in contact therewith. Instead of or in addition to the pair of drying rollers 404, 404, a belt-shaped member may be used, or a hot air fan or an infrared lamp may be used. These modifications will also be described in detail later.

The paper receiving unit 5 has a paper discharge tray 501 for receiving the transfer paper discharged from the drying unit 4.

Although not shown in the figure, the toner removing device includes a detecting means for detecting whether or not the transfer paper 10 is present on the paper feed table, a double feed detecting means for the transfer paper 10 by the paper feed unit 1, Liquid remaining amount detecting means in liquid container 201, liquid container 201
Means for automatically replenishing liquid to the transfer paper, means for detecting jam of the transfer paper 10 inside the apparatus, means for controlling lighting of each heating lamp, and toner receiving container 3
A means for filling the inside of 07 is provided.

In the above-mentioned structure, the transfer paper 10 sent from the paper feeding unit 1 is uniformly supplied with the liquid on the toner image surface by the liquid applying unit 2, and is sent to the toner peeling unit 3. In the toner peeling unit 3, the toner adhered to the paper is softened by heating from the peeling roller 302 and adheres to the surface of the peeling roller 302. When the paper is separated from the peeling roller 302 around the small-diameter roller 43, the toner adhering to the surface of the peeling roller 302 is peeled from the paper, whereby the toner is removed from the paper. The paper from which the toner has been removed is dried by the drying unit 4 and discharged to the paper receiving unit 5.

As described above, according to this toner removing device, since the liquid is supplied to the paper on which the toner adheres and the liquid is permeated into the interface between the paper and the toner, the toner is peeled off, so that the paper fiber is damaged. Without, the toner can be removed.

Further, the surface of the peeling roller 302 is contacted with the peeling roller 302 while the surface of the paper is wet and heated to such an extent that the paper can be kept wet even when the paper is separated from the peeling roller 302. Even when it is made of an adhesive material, it is possible to prevent the paper surface itself from adhering to the surface of the peeling roller 302 to cause separation failure, and the separated paper portion re-contacts with the peeling roller 302 to re-use the toner. Can prevent metastasis.

In this toner removing device, the transfer paper 10 is held by the two peeling rollers 302 to remove the toner from both sides of the transfer paper 10. Therefore, the toner is removed from the bottom plate 101 of the paper feeding unit 1. It is not necessary to consider the front and back sides when setting the transfer paper 10 to be removed. Further, when it is desired to remove the toner on both sides of the transfer paper used on both sides, it is only necessary to pass the inside of the apparatus once. (Hereafter, margin)

Next, a specific example of the toner peeling unit 3 applicable to the above toner removing device will be described in detail.
In the overall configuration of the toner removing device of FIG. 1, the transfer paper 10 is held by the two peeling rollers 302.
0 is configured to remove toner from both sides,
In the following, a case of the toner peeling unit 3 that removes toner from one surface of the transfer paper 10 with one peeling roller 302 will be described. Of course, the following configuration can also be applied to the toner peeling unit 3 configured to hold the transfer paper 10 between the two peeling rollers 302 as shown in FIG. 1 and remove the toner from both surfaces of the transfer paper 10.

A specific example of the toner peeling unit 3 having a smoothing means for smoothing the non-uniform toner adhered on the peeling roller 302 will be described with reference to FIG. The toner peeling unit 3 includes a hollow peeling roller 302 containing a heating lamp 301 as a softening unit for the toner T, a backup roller 308 arranged so as to contact the surface of the peeling roller 302, and a surface of the peeling roller 302. It is provided with a pressing roller 309 as a pressing member of the smoothing means, which is arranged so as to press while rotating, a drive unit (not shown), and the like.

The backup roller 308 and the drive section constitute a peeling member moving means for moving the surface of the peeling roller 302 in contact with the surface of the copy paper 10. The transfer paper 10 having the toner T adhered to the upper surface is sandwiched between the backup roller 308 and the peeling roller 302 and is conveyed to the left. The drive unit is a peeling roller 30.
2, only the backup roller 308, or both of them may be configured to be driven in the arrow direction. Here, when the backup roller 308 is driven and the peeling roller 302 is configured to follow the backup roller 308, the toner adhesion amount increases due to repeated use of the peeling roller 302, and the diameter of the peeling roller 302 increases. However, the moving speed of the surface of the peeling roller 302 and the conveying speed of the transfer paper 10 at the holding portion can be kept constant.

The material of the surface of the pressing roller 309 is preferably a material having excellent releasability from the toner T, and a specific example thereof is Teflon.

Although the heating lamp 30 is used as the softening means in this example, a pressure device or the like for softening the toner by pressure may be provided instead. In addition, the heating lamp, the pressurizing device, and the like include the peeling roller 302 and the transfer paper 10.
It may be provided on the upstream side of the contact portion with.

In this example, the transfer paper 10 having the toner T adhered to the upper surface thereof is sandwiched between the peeling roller 302 and the backup roller 308 and conveyed leftward. In this holding section, the surface of the transfer paper 10 and the toner T are
Peeling roller 302 having an adhesive force greater than that of
The surface of the transfer paper 10 on which the toner T is adhered is pressed against the surface,
After that, when the transfer paper 10 passes through the holding section, the toner T remains attached to the surface of the peeling roller 302,
It is peeled from the surface.

At this time, the peeling roller 302 is heated by the heating lamp 301, and the toner T on the transfer paper 10 held by the peeling roller 302 and the backup roller 308 is held.
Is softened, the adhesive force between the toner T and the transfer paper 10 is further reduced, and the toner T and the peeling roller 302 are
The adhesive force with the surface is increased, and the toner T is removed by the peeling roller 3
02 It is easy to peel from the surface.

The toner T peeled from the surface of the transfer paper 10 and adhering to the surface of the peeling roller 302 has unevenness corresponding to the image pattern on the transfer paper 10, but this uneven uneven toner. The adhesion is smoothed by the pressing roller 309 pressing the surface of the peeling roller 302.
The surface of the peeling roller 302 whose toner adhesion is smoothed contacts the surface of the transfer paper 10 to which the toner T is adhered, and is used for the next peeling process.

Further, another specific example of the toner peeling unit 3 having the smoothing means will be described with reference to FIG. The toner peeling unit 3 is provided with a pressing blade 310 arranged to press the surface of the peeling roller 302 instead of the pressing roller 309 as a pressing member of the smoothing means. In this example, the peeling roller 3 has an uneven shape corresponding to the image pattern on the transfer paper 10.
The toner non-uniformly attached on the surface 02 is smoothed by being pressed by the pressing blade 310. The surface of the peeling roller 302 whose toner adhesion is smoothed contacts the surface of the transfer paper 10 to which the toner T is adhered, and is used for the next peeling process.

As described above, by providing the smoothing means,
The uneven toner adhesion corresponding to the image pattern on the peeling roller 302 is smoothed, and the contact state of the surface of the peeling roller 302 with the surface of the transfer paper 10 is eliminated, so that peeling unevenness such as local peeling failure occurs. The peeling roller 302 can be repeatedly used.

In the toner peeling unit 3, as shown in FIG. 4, a releasing agent applying roller 311 as a releasing agent applying means for applying a releasing agent such as silicone oil to the surface of the pressing roller 309, and a pressing roller. A scraper blade 312 may be provided as an image forming substance removing unit that scrapes off the toner T on the surface 309. In this case, the toner T on the surface of the pressing roller 309 is applied by applying the releasing agent to the surface of the pressing roller 309 by the releasing agent applying roller 311.
The toner T adhering to the surface of the pressing roller 309 can be scraped off by the scraper blade 312, so that the pressing roller 309 can be removed.
It is possible to prevent the toner from adhering to the surface, and it is possible to surely smooth the toner T that is adhering irregularly on the peeling roller 302.

Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a specific example of the toner peeling unit 3 having a toner removing device 304 as an image forming substance removing means for removing the toner T adhering to the surface of the peeling roller 302 will be described. The toner peeling unit 3 has the same configuration as that of FIG. 1 and is arranged so as to come into contact with the surface of the peeling roller 302 and the hollow peeling roller 302 having the heating lamp 301 as a softening means for the toner T built therein. A backup roller 308, a drive unit (not shown) and the like are provided. As the toner removing means, the cleaning roller 305 and the cleaning roller 305 that remove the toner T on the surface of the peeling roller 302.
A scraper blade 306 that scrapes off the upper toner T and a toner receiver (toner container) 307 that stores the toner T scraped off by the scraper blade 306 are provided.

At least the surface of the cleaning roller 305 has the toner T adhering to the peeling roller 302.
Of the peeling roller 302 is inferior in releasability to the toner. Specific examples of the material include, but are not limited to, aluminum-based, copper-based, nickel-based metal materials, and polymer materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in which titanium oxide is dispersed. is not.

In this example, the toner T peeled from the surface of the transfer paper 10 and attached to the surface of the peeling roller 302.
Are removed by the cleaning roller 305. The toner T adhering to the cleaning roller 305 is scraped off by the scraper blade 306 to receive the toner (toner container).
It is housed in 307.

The toner removing device 304 is shown in FIG.
The toner T on the peeling roller 302 may be directly scraped off by the scraper blade 313 as shown in FIG. Toner T scraped off by scraper blade 313
Are stored in a toner receiver (toner container) 307. Here, the scraper blade 313 is formed of, for example, a metal, and is coated with Teflon or the like so as to have a good releasing property with respect to the toner T, so that the toner adhesion to the surface can be prevented. it can. Further, the upper part of the toner receiver (toner container) 307 is configured to be movable along a guide rail 314 provided on the apparatus main body side, and the toner receiver (toner container) 307 is provided as necessary.
Take out 307 to the outside of the device and receive the toner (toner container)
The toner in 307 can be discarded.

The toner removing device 304 is shown in FIG.
The toner T on the peeling roller 302 may be removed by a web (belt) 315 stretched so as to come into pressure contact with the peeling roller 302 as shown in FIG. Web 31 supplied from unused web roll 316
5 is driven with a speed difference with respect to the moving speed of the surface of the peeling roller 302 while being in pressure contact with the surface of the peeling roller 302 to which the toner T is attached, and after removing the toner T, it is taken up by a take-up roll 317. .

As described above, by providing the toner removing device 304, the toner T adhering to the surface of the peeling roller 302 can be removed at all times or when necessary, and it becomes possible to prevent excessive toner adhesion. The peeling performance of 302 can be maintained and used for a long period of time.

A toner collecting device, which is a collecting means for collecting the toner T removed by the toner removing device 304, may be provided. As a specific example of this toner collecting device,
As described in FIG. 6, the toner receiver (toner container)
The upper part of 307 can be moved along a guide rail 314 provided on the apparatus main body side.
As a result, the toner receiver (toner container) 307 can be taken out of the apparatus and the toner in the toner receiver (toner container) 307 can be discarded as necessary.

Further, a toner collecting device as shown in FIGS. 8A to 8C can be provided. In this toner collecting device, the backup roller 308 also serves as a transfer paper transporting body that sucks and transports the transfer paper 10, and the screw 3
Toner transport path 319 and toner transport path 31 with built-in 18
Heater 320 and toner container 30 provided at the end of
7, a compression member 321 as a compression unit that compresses the toner T in the toner container 307, a drive unit (not shown) of the screw 318, a heater power supply (not shown), and the like. The compression member may be manually driven or may be provided with a drive unit that is automatically driven. In this example, as shown in FIG. 8A, the toner T adhering to the surface of the peeling roller 302 is the scraper blade 31.
At 3, the toner is scraped into the toner transport path 319. Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, the toner T in the toner carrying path 319 is carried to the end portion of the toner carrying path 319 by the screw 318 and heated by the heater 320.
While being melted in 9, the toner is stored in the toner container 307. Then, as shown in FIG. 8C, the toner container 30
The toner T contained in the toner 7 is compressed by the compression member 321, the density of the toner T is increased, and the toner T is solidified. The toner T in the toner container 307 is discarded at any time.

As described above, by providing the toner collecting device, the toner T in the toner container 307 can be collected and discarded, so that the toner peeling unit 3 can be used for a long time. Further, since the density of the toner T in the toner container 307 can be increased and the volume of the toner T can be reduced, the toner accommodating efficiency can be increased and the apparatus can be made compact. Furthermore, since the collected toner can be easily discarded, maintenance and maintenance of the apparatus can be facilitated, that is, operability and serviceability of the apparatus can be improved.

Next, the toner adhesion amount on the peeling roller 302 is detected, and the peeling roller 302 is detected based on the detection result.
The toner peeling unit 3 having a control means for controlling the use of the toner will be described. A specific example of the toner peeling unit 3 having the control means will be described with reference to FIG. The toner peeling unit 3 includes a peeling belt 323 as a peeling member stretched around the conveying rollers 322a, 322b, and 322c, and an elastic member 324 such as a spring.
23 a pressing roller 30 urged to press against the surface
9, a backup roller 308 that is urged by an elastic member 324 such as a spring to come into pressure contact with the conveying roller 322a via the peeling belt 323, a toner adhesion amount detection device 325 that detects the toner adhesion amount on the peeling belt 323, a CPU ，
It is provided with a control unit (not shown), which is the above-mentioned control unit, including a RAM, a ROM, an I / O unit, and the like. The toner adhesion amount detecting device 325 irradiates light to the reflecting plate 327 and the reflecting plate 327 which have the light reflecting surface 327a and are urged by the elastic member 324 such as a spring so as to come into contact with the surface of the peeling belt 323. Reflective photo sensor 3 for detecting the intensity of reflected light
28 and the like.

In this example, the transfer paper 10 having the toner T adhered to the upper surface is nipped between the peeling belt 323 and the backup roller 308 and conveyed in the left direction in the drawing. When the transfer paper 10 passes through the holding portion, the toner T
Are peeled off, adhere to the surface of the peeling belt 323, and are laminated. The toner layer is smoothed by the pressing roller 309, and then the left end portion of the reflection plate 327 contacts with the toner layer. At this time, the reflection plate 327 moves in the left-right direction in accordance with the thickness of the toner layer on the peeling belt 323, and the intensity of the reflected light from the reflection surface 327a fluctuates.
The output voltage Vsp of No. 8 varies depending on the toner layer thickness on the peeling belt 323. Output voltage V of the photo sensor 328
sp is input to the control unit and can be used for various controls described below.

In an example of the control based on the output voltage by the photo sensor 828, the output voltage V1 of the photo sensor 328 corresponding to the toner layer thickness requiring the replacement of the peeling belt 323 is set as a reference value and stored in the control unit in advance. Keep it. Then, the output voltage Vsp of the photo sensor 323 is compared with the reference value V1, and when it is determined that the peeling belt 323 needs to be replaced or when it is determined that the time for replacement is approaching, the display on the display panel or a warning sound is generated. It is possible to control so as to notify the operator by, for example.

In another example of the above control, the transfer paper 10
The output voltage V2 of the photo sensor 328 corresponding to the toner layer thickness at which it is impossible to hold and convey the toner is set as a reference value,
It is stored in the control unit in advance. Then, the photo sensor 32
When the output voltage Vsp of No. 3 becomes substantially the same as the reference value V2, the driving of the entire device can be controlled to be stopped. As a result, it is possible to prevent the transfer paper 10 from being jammed. Further, the entire apparatus may be stopped after the peeling belt 323 has rotated a predetermined number of times. In that case, for example, a convex detection mark is formed on the peeling belt 323, and the photo sensor 323 is used.
After the output voltage Vsp of the toner has become substantially the same as the reference value V2, the toner adhesion amount detection device 3 is caused to pass the detection mark.
25, the number of rotations of the peeling belt 323 is counted, and the count result is used for control.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the transfer paper 10 on which an image is formed by the transfer type electrophotographic copying machine. However, other image forming such as a paper such as a facsimile, a printer, a printing machine, etc. It can also be applied to an image carrier such as recording paper used in the apparatus. Further, the present invention is not limited to an image carrier having a fibrous structure, but can be applied to an image carrier capable of forming an image. The image carrier to which the present invention can be applied may be, for example, a laminate in which the surface layer of the base sheet such as a plastic layer is a material layer having a liquid absorbing property and elasticity such as paper.

[0063]

According to the invention of claim 1, the peeling means is arranged so as to be in contact with at least the image-forming substance on the surface of the image-holding member on the surface side to which the image-forming substance is attached. The member has an adhesive force with respect to the image-forming substance that is greater than the adhesive force between the surface and the image-forming substance, so that the peeling member and the image-holding member are brought into contact with the peeling member after the contact with the surface. When separating the body, the image forming substance can be reliably separated from the image holding member and can be attached only to the peeling member, so that only the image forming substance is surely removed from the image holding member. The effect is that you will be able to. Further, by smoothing the surface of the peeling member having the image forming substance attached thereto by the smoothing means, the surface of the uneven peeling member having the image forming substance attached corresponding to the image pattern is smoothed, Even when the peeling member is repeatedly used, there is no uneven contact of the peeling member with the image carrier, and local peeling defects can be prevented. Therefore, the peeling performance of the peeling member is maintained for a long period of time. The effect is that you can.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the softening means softens the image forming substance adhering to the image holding body which is in contact with the peeling member or immediately before the peeling member is brought into contact with the peeling member. Since the adhesive force between the image carrier and the image forming substance can be made smaller and the adhesive force between the image forming substance and the peeling member can be increased, only the image forming substance can be further removed from the image carrier. The effect is that it can be reliably removed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the pressing member presses the surface of the peeling member to which the image forming substance is adhered, whereby the uneven peeling in which the image forming substance is adhered corresponding to the image pattern is formed. The surface of the member is smoothed, there is no uneven contact of the peeling member with the image carrier, and local peeling failure can be prevented, so that the peeling performance of the peeling member can be maintained for a long period of time. There is an effect. Further, by applying a releasing agent having a releasing property to the image forming substance on the surface of the pressing member by the releasing agent applying means, the image forming substance on the surface of the pressing member is coated. Since it is possible to prevent the adhesion of the peeling member, it is possible to reliably smooth the surface of the peeling member for a long period of time. There is an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a toner removing device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a toner peeling unit of the toner removing device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a toner peeling unit according to a modification.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a toner peeling unit according to another modification.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a toner peeling unit according to still another modification.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a toner peeling unit according to still another modification.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a toner peeling unit according to still another modification.

FIG. 8A is a schematic configuration diagram of a toner peeling unit according to still another modification. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the toner recovery unit of the toner peeling unit. (C) is an explanatory view of a compression member of the toner recovery unit.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a toner peeling unit according to still another modification.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Toner Peeling Unit 10 Transfer Paper 20 Treatment Liquid 301 Heating Lamp 302 Peeling Roller 309 Pressing Roller 310 Pressing Blade 311 Release Agent Applying Roller 312 Scraper Blade T Toner

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Miyashita 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Satoshi Shingu 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo In stock company Ricoh (72) Inventor Shinichi Kuramoto 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh stock company (72) Inventor Yoshiyuki Kimura 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Ando 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Tadashi Saito 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Tokyo Ota-ku, Ricoh Company

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for removing an image-forming substance from an image-holding member, which removes the image-forming substance from an image-holding member having an image-forming substance stably attached to the surface thereof, wherein And a peeling member having an adhesion force larger than the adhesion force between the image forming substance and the image forming substance, the peeling means being arranged so as to come into contact with at least the image forming substance on the surface on the surface side to which the image forming substance is attached, An image forming substance removing apparatus from an image carrier, comprising: a smoothing unit that smoothes the surface of the peeling member to which the image forming substance is attached. 2. The image holding device according to claim 1, further comprising softening means for softening the image forming substance adhering to the image holding member which is in contact with the peeling member or immediately before coming into contact with the peeling member. A device for removing image-forming substances from the body. 3. As the smoothing means, a pressing member for pressing the surface of the peeling member to which the image forming substance is attached is provided, and the surface of the pressing member has a releasing property with respect to the image forming substance. An apparatus for removing an image forming substance from an image carrier according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a release agent applying means for applying a mold releasing agent.