JPH0749496Y2 - Ozone removal device in image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ozone removing device in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile.

2. Description of the Related Art In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus as described above, a uniform charge is applied to a photoconductor by discharge from a charger, and then a latent image is formed by exposing the paper, and then a process of development → transfer → fixing is performed to form paper Has been recorded. In this process, a charger that uses corona discharge is used to uniformly charge the photoconductor, but during discharge from the charger, air reacts due to the high potential and ozone is generated. . If this ozone is left as it is, it deteriorates the photoconductor, so it is necessary to discharge it to the outside of the apparatus. However, if ozone is discharged at a high concentration, it may adversely affect the human body. Therefore, an ozone removing device is usually provided in the recording device.

As an ozone removing device, for example, a process in which an ozone filter made of activated carbon or paper impregnated with activated carbon is detachably provided in an exhaust portion of a recording device, and air in the device is exhausted to the outside of the device through an ozone filter by an exhaust fan. Then, there is one in which ozone contained in the air is adsorbed by the ozone filter.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, since the ozone removal device described above removes ozone by adsorbing ozone with the ozone filter, the ozone removal amount increases as the ozone adsorption amount increases. There is a problem that the removal performance is deteriorated, that is, the ozone filter has a short life.

Also, when the ozone filter reaches the end of its life, it needs to be replaced, but since there is no means to know when to replace the ozone filter, it is difficult to accurately grasp the replacement period. If it is delayed, there is a risk that ozone will be discharged to the outside of the apparatus without being removed. Especially, in recent years, regulations on ozone concentration have become strict, and there is also a problem that it cannot be dealt with.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional ozone removing device as described above, to prolong the life of the ozone filter, and to ensure that high-concentration ozone gas flows out of the image forming apparatus. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ozone removing device which can be stably prevented over a long period of time and can be easily handled and adjusted in volatilization amount by using a granular ozone decomposing agent.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an ozone filter in an exhaust portion of an image forming apparatus, and exhausts air in the apparatus through an ozone filter by an exhaust fan, In the image forming apparatus in which ozone contained in air is adsorbed by the ozone filter, the ozone filter is composed of two ozone filters that are spaced apart in the exhaust flow direction so as to form a small space, Attach a container containing a volatile ozone decomposer,
The container is characterized by having a small opening communicating with the small space.

Action In the ozone removing device as described above, when ozone in the exhaust air from the image forming apparatus passes through the exhaust portion, it is stored in the container installed at the upper part, and the small downward opening of this container The volatile components of the ozone decomposing agent flowing down from the air are decomposed by those adhering to the ozone filter, and the air purified in this way is discharged to the outside, and ozone does not remain adsorbed on the ozone filter.

Embodiment FIG. 1 schematically shows an image forming apparatus equipped with an ozone removing device 1 according to the present invention.

In this image forming apparatus, the drum-shaped photoconductors 21B, 21C,
Endless transfer material transport belt 2 with four 21M and 21Y arranged side by side
2 is stretched between the driving roller 23 and the driven roller 24 so as to come into contact with those photoconductors. Transfer material transport belt
22 is, for example, a dielectric film belt. Since the transfer paper is used as the transfer material in this image forming apparatus, hereinafter, the transfer paper will be capped for convenience of the member to which the transfer material is capped.

First, the surface of each photoconductor 21B, 21C, 21M, 21Y is a charger 25B, 25C, 25M, 25 connected to a high voltage power source (not shown).
Each is uniformly charged by Y by corona discharge.

On the other hand, the laser light modulated by the recording signal is applied to each photoconductor by the laser writing unit 26, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of each photoconductor accordingly. The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing devices 27B, 27C, 27M and 27Y for black, cyan, magenta and yellow, and toner images corresponding to those colors are formed on the photoconductors.

The transfer paper is sent from any one of the paper feed units 28, 29, 30 and, when reaching the registration roller pair 32, the presence or absence of the transfer paper is detected by the paper detection switch 33. After the leading edge of the transfer paper reaches the registration roller pair 32, the roller pair starts to rotate at a predetermined timing, and accordingly, the transfer paper is sent onto the transfer paper transport belt 22. .

The transfer paper sent on the transfer paper carrying belt 22 is carried by the same belt and passes through a portion in contact with the photoconductor.

When the transfer paper passes through the photoconductor 21B, the block toner image is transferred to the transfer charger 34, which is an example of the transfer means.
By B, it is transferred to the transfer paper. Then, on the transfer paper, a cyan toner image is formed at the photosensitive member 21C, a magenta toner image is formed at the photosensitive member 31M, and a yellow toner image is formed at the photosensitive member 21Y.
Transcribed by Y.

After this transfer, the transfer paper is destaticized by the transfer paper decharging charger 36 and passes through the fixing roller pair 37 to form a fixed color image. On the other hand, each photoconductor has its surface cleaned by each cleaning device 38B, 38C, 38M,
38Y cleans each to remove residual toner. On the other hand, the transfer sheet conveying belt 2 is destaticized by the belt destaticizing charger 19 and cleaned by the belt cleaning device 21.

In the image forming apparatus as described above, the chargers 25B, 25C,
Ozone is generated at the time of discharge from 25M, 25Y, transfer chargers 34B, 34C, 34M, 34Y, charge removal charger 36, and belt charge removal charger 39.

Particularly in a color image forming apparatus having a plurality of photoconductors as in this embodiment, a large amount of ozone is generated.

The air containing a large amount of ozone is removed in the process of being discharged to the outside through the ozone removing device 1 as shown in the figure.

In the ozone removing apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, 2 denotes an exhaust duct, and an exhaust fan 3 is provided at the tip of the exhaust duct 2.
In addition, an ozone filter 5 is arranged on the upstream side of the exhaust duct 2 with a gap 4 at a distance s from the exhaust port, and an ozone filter 5'on the upstream side with a gap s'. The ozone filters 5 and 5'are respectively guide plates 6 and 6'provided above and below the exhaust duct 2.
Is installed slidably in the lateral direction, and one side thereof is projected to the outside of the exhaust duct 2 as shown in FIG. 3 and can be replaced.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a container for the ozone decomposing agent 10. This container 7 is composed of a container body 8 having a downward opening and a bottom lid 9, and the bottom lid 9 is provided with a small opening 11 located between the ozone filters 5 and 5 '. The
The guide plate 6 is also attached to the bottom cover 9. The container body 8 is inserted into a guide plate 11 provided on the exhaust duct 2 via a sealing material 12, and can be detached from the lateral direction like the ozone filters 5 and 5 '.

In this case, the ozone decomposing agent 10 is preferably made of a terpenoid compound, for example, the product name Ausleyless, and the ozone filters 5 and 5'are formed in the same manner as conventional ones, and the upstream filter 5 is used. ′ May be omitted.

In the removing device 1, the ozone decomposing agent 10 contained in the container 7 is volatilized, and since the volatile component is larger than the specific gravity of air, it flows down from the small opening 11 and adheres to the ozone filters 5, 5 '.

In such a structure, when the image forming apparatus starts to operate, the exhaust fan 3 also rotates, and the ozone-containing air in the image forming apparatus is installed in the exhaust duct 2 by the exhaust fan 3 and the ozone filters 5, 5 '. And then discharged to the outside.

At that time, ozone in the air is decomposed by contacting the ozone decomposing agent adhering to the ozone filters 5, 5 ', and clean air is discharged to the outside. Adsorption and residue are prevented, and as a result, the life of the ozone filters 5, 5'is extended.

In the above-described embodiment, the exhaust fan 3 is provided on the downstream side of the ozone filters 5, 5 ', but it may be considered to provide the exhaust fan 3'on the upstream side as shown in FIG. To be However, in such a case, the exhaust gas from the exhaust fan 3'reversely flows partially as shown by the arrow a due to the resistance of the ozone filters 5 and 5 ', so that the ozone to be removed is diffused into the device. It is desirable to adopt the configuration as in the above-mentioned embodiment.

Further, in the above embodiment, the exhaust fan 3 and the ozone filter 5 are
A gap 4 is formed between the ozone filter 5 and the air conditioner. However, if such a gap 4 is not provided, the air flows only in the portion of the ozone filter 5 corresponding to the opening of the exhaust fan 3 and in the other portion. Because the air will stop flowing. In the first place, in order to effectively remove ozone with the ozone filters 5, 5 ',
(A) Increase the passage lengths l, l'in the ozone filters 5, 5 ', (b) Increase the numerical aperture per unit area of the ozone filters 5, 5', or (c) the ozone filters 5, 5 '. However, increasing the passage length l, l'or the area as in (a) and (c) increases the overall size of the device, and increasing the numerical aperture as in (b) increases the pressure. The disadvantage that the loss is increased and the flow rate is decreased,
This can be avoided by providing the gap 4 as described above, and this state is shown by the arrow in FIG.

The present invention is as described above, and an ozone filter is provided in the exhaust portion of the image forming apparatus, and in the process of exhausting the air inside the apparatus through the ozone filter by the exhaust fan, the ozone contained in the air is removed. In an image forming apparatus that adsorbs with a filter, the ozone filter is composed of two ozone filters that are spaced apart in the exhaust flow direction so as to form a small space, and a volatile ozone decomposer is stored in the exhaust portion. Since a small opening communicating with the small space is provided in the container, the life of the ozone decomposing agent can be extended because the volatilized ozone decomposing agent is constantly filled in the small space. In addition, most of the air containing ozone decomposer in the small space passes through the filter in front when the exhaust fan is operating, and the exhaust fan is operating. When not in use, the ozone decomposing agent can be efficiently attached to both ozone filters by passing through both the front and rear filters. In this way, ozone is efficiently removed by the ozone decomposing agent attached to the ozone filter. Thus, it is possible to reliably and stably prevent the outflow of ozone for a long period of time, and when the ozone decomposing agent is consumed, it is possible to remove the container from the device and easily replenish it. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus equipped with an ozone removing device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical front view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view seen in the direction of the arrow, and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part of a comparative example in which the arrangement of exhaust fans is different. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ozone removing device, 2 ... Exhaust duct 3, Exhaust fan, 5, 5 '... Ozone filter 7 ... Ozone decomposing agent container, 8 ... Container body 9 ... Bottom lid, 10 ... Ozone decomposing agent 11 ... Small opening

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An image forming apparatus in which an ozone filter is provided in an exhaust portion of an image forming apparatus, and ozone contained in the air is adsorbed by the ozone filter in the process of exhausting air in the apparatus through an ozone filter by an exhaust fan. The ozone filter is composed of two ozone filters spaced apart in the exhaust flow direction so as to form a small space, and a container containing a volatile ozone decomposer is attached to the exhaust part. The ozone removing device of the image forming apparatus, wherein a small opening communicating with the small space is provided in the. 2. The ozone removing device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the container is detachably attached to the exhaust portion. 3. The utility model registration claim 1 wherein the container is arranged above the ozone filter with the small opening facing downward, and the ozone decomposer contained in the container flows down from the small opening toward the ozone filter. An ozone removing device for an image forming apparatus according to item 1.