JPH0764428A - Electrophotographic image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate maintenance and replacement and to enable a cleaning life to be extended by making a fixing cleaning member detachable with an upper unit open. CONSTITUTION:An upper unit 3 has an optical system 1, a developing portion 2 and a cleaning roller member 8. A lower unit 4 has a fixing unit. The upper and lower units 3, 4 are connected to each other by a shah 9, and the upper shaft 3 turns about the shaft. With the upper unit 3 closed, the cleaning roller member 8 is inserted into an opening 7 in the upper portion of the fixing unit and pressed into contact with an upper heating roller 6. The cleaning roller member 8 is driven by the upper heating roller 6. The cleaning roller member 8 is thus detachable with the upper unit 3 open, facilitating maintenance and replacement.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a general apparatus having a fixing roller such as a copying machine and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a conventional apparatus and shows a relationship between a fixing unit 72 and a cleaning pad 71. More specifically, the fixing unit 72 including the upper heat roller 73 and the lower heat roller 74 is attached to a lower unit (not shown), and the cleaning pad 7
1 is positioned and semi-fixed by a method of fitting it in the upper opening of the fixing unit 72. When the upper unit (not shown) is closed, the upper part of the cleaning pad 71 is pressed,
The upper heat roller 73 is pressed. A felt is used for the portion of the cleaning pad 71 that contacts the heat roller 73.

Similarly, FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of a conventional device,
The winding type cleaning structure is shown. Cleaning is performed by the winding cleaning unit 76 that is in contact with the upper heat roller 73. The cleaning paper 77 is supplied from the cleaning paper roll 75.

As a publicly known material, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-120573
Is mentioned. In the clamshell type electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the fixing cleaning member is similar in that the upper unit has a fixing cleaning member and the fixing unit is provided in the lower unit. Not disclosed. Also, when the cleaning roller is fixed (when it is not driven by the rotation of the upper heat roller), the pressure contact part (between the cleaning roller and the upper heat roller) is automatically moved (by the rotation of the upper heat roller). Not disclosed.

[0005]

If the fixing roller cleaning member of the conventional machine is of the roller type, it is necessary to ask a service person to replace it, and if it is of the user replaceable type other than the conventional roller type, the cleaning portion is cleaned. Felt was used, and the cleaning life was short. After all, the cleaning life and the convenience of maintenance / replacement were in an inverse relationship. Further, there is no idea to improve the life by using a roller for the fixed cleaning system and automatically rotating the roller.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above problems. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1 has a fixing cleaning member in an upper unit and a fixing cleaning member in a lower unit. A fixing device is provided, the both units are connected by a common supporting shaft, and the upper unit is rotated around the supporting shaft with respect to the lower unit, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a clamshell structure, The electrophotographic image forming apparatus is characterized in that the fixing cleaning member is detachable when the upper unit is opened.

According to a second aspect of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus,
The fixing cleaning member includes a roller portion and a holder portion. When the upper unit is opened, the fixing cleaning member is held movably in the roller longitudinal direction with respect to the upper unit, and when the upper unit is closed, the roller portion is The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is held so as to be pressed against a fixing roller of a fixing unit in the lower unit so as to be driven by the fixing roller.

The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 3 is
When the upper unit is closed, the roller portion of the fixing cleaning member is pressed against the fixing roller of the fixing device in the lower unit so as not to be driven, and automatically moves the portion pressed against the fixing roller. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is capable.

[0009]

With the above construction, according to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the first aspect, the cleaning member is provided in the upper unit and the fixing device is provided in the lower unit in the clamshell structure.
In addition, the cleaning member can be detached for maintenance.
Easy to replace.

According to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the second aspect, since the deflection of the roller holder is used for pressurizing the fixing roller and the cleaning roller, pressurizing parts are not required, and the pace and cost can be reduced. .

According to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the third aspect, the entire circumference of the cleaning roller can be used uniformly and the cleaning life can be extended.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details will be described below based on the embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to these examples.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the device of the present invention, showing a state in which the upper unit is closed. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which the upper unit is also opened. More specifically, 3 is an upper unit, which has an optical system 1, a developing unit 2, and a cleaning roller member 8. The lower unit 4 has an upper unit 3 having a fixing device 5. The lower unit 4 is connected by a support shaft 9, and the upper unit 3 rotates about the shaft. When the upper unit 3 is closed, the cleaning roller member 8 is inserted into the opening 7 in the upper portion of the fixing device 5 and pressed against the upper heat roller 6. In this embodiment, the cleaning roller is driven by the upper heat roller 6.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention, showing a method of inserting a cleaning member, and FIG. 4 also shows a state at the time of insertion. The cleaning roller 10 is present in the holder 32 with the shaft 11 thereof being held by the bearing 35. By moving the holder 32 integrated with the cleaning roller 10 in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the cleaning roller 10, the leaf spring 3 provided in the upper frame 3 is moved.
3 is inserted into the gap between the roller 34 attached to the guide 3 and the guide 31 provided in the upper frame 3. Since the position where the pressure is applied to the holder 32 with respect to the pressure contact between the cleaning roller 10 and the upper heat roller is near the bearing 35 of the cleaning roller 10, the influence of the deflection of the holder 32 can be minimized. Next, another example of a method for pressing the cleaning roller 10 onto the heat roller 6 will be described.
In FIG. 5, the cleaning roller 11 and the upper heat roller 6 are provided by providing the holder 32 with the pressure contact protrusion 37 and contacting (pressing) the upper guide 36 attached to the upper unit 3.
Is to be pressed. In the case of FIG. 5, bending may occur depending on the material of the holder 32, but as shown in FIG.
The amount of deflection can be adjusted by adjusting the dimension A between the bearing 35 parts.

FIG. 7 is an external view of the vicinity of the drive gear of the semi-fixed type cleaning roller.
Motor gear 52 of the cleaning roller gear 53 is connected to the cleaning roller gear 53, and the driving of the stepping motor 51 is associated with the replacement of the toner cartridge, which is a consumable component similar to the cleaning roller 10, for example, so that the cleaning roller 10 and the upper heat roller 6 are automatically connected. The contact surface of is changed. That is, rotation of the stepping motor 51 is stopped by a signal for toner cartridge replacement, and the cleaning position is held. For example, a toner cartridge life (1
Book) / Cleaning roller life (1) x 360 °
It is rotated and once it is rotated, it is detected and the device is stopped. Assuming a toner cartridge life of 4k and a cleaning roller life of 40k, one toner will make three rollers.
It rotates 6 ° and the first cleaning roller is replaced when the eleventh toner is replaced. The rotation detection is performed by the photo detection plate 54 attached to the cleaning roller 10 and the photo sensor 55 attached to the upper unit 3.

FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10 each show another example of the semi-fixed cleaning method, which will be described in detail. The shaft 11 of the cleaning roller 10 has a conventional gear. Ratchet 56 is attached instead. When the upper unit is closed, the pressure lever 60 pushes down the rotation lever 61, and the variable fulcrum 58 (rotation lever 61
(Attached to) is moved along the guide hole 59 for the variable fulcrum so that the engagement between the ratchet 56 and the rotary lever 61 is displaced by a predetermined angle θ. Next, when the upper unit 3 is opened, the pressure lever 60 separates from the rotary lever 61, so the rotary lever 6
1 returns to the top dead center of the variable fulcrum 58 by the spring 57. At that time, the cleaning roller 10 rotates by θ. This θ is set to 7 °, 13 °, 17 °, etc., that is, 3
If it is not a divisor of 60 °, the entire roller cylinder can be used without waste.

Others The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be appropriately modified and carried out without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0018]

With the above construction, according to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the first aspect, the cleaning member is provided in the upper unit and the fixing device is provided in the lower unit by the clamshell structure, and the cleaning member is provided. Since it is removable, it can be easily held and replaced.

According to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the second aspect, since the deflection of the roller holder is used for pressurizing the fixing roller and the cleaning roller, pressurizing parts are not required, and the pace and cost can be reduced. .

According to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the third aspect, the entire circumference of the cleaning roller can be used uniformly and the cleaning life can be extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the upper unit of the device of the present invention when it is opened.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a method of inserting a cleaning member.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the embodiment of the present invention, and is a view showing a state when the cleaning member is inserted.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a pressure state of the cleaning member.

FIG. 6 is an external view of a cleaning member.

FIG. 7 is an external view of the vicinity of a drive gear of a semi-fixed cleaning roller.

FIG. 8 is an external view of a cleaning roller.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram of a method of rotating a cleaning roller.

FIG. 10 is an external view of a ratchet type cleaning roller.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional device.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Optical System 2 Developing Unit 3 Upper Unit 4 Lower Unit 5 Fixing Unit (Fixing Unit) 6 Upper Heat Roller 7 Opening 8 Cleaning Roller Member (Cleaning Roller Unit) 9 Spindle (Rotating Shaft) 10 Cleaning Roller 11 Shaft 31 Guide 32 Holder 33 Leaf spring 34 Roller 35 Bearing part 36 Upper guide 37 Pressure contact protrusion 38 Pressure contact protrusion 51 Stepping motor 52 Motor gear 53 Cleaning roller gear 54 Photo detection plate 55 Photo sensor 56 Ratchet 57 Spring 58 Variable fulcrum 59 Variable fulcrum guide Hole 60 Pressure lever 61 Rotation lever 71 Cleaning pad 72 Fixing unit 73 Upper heat roller 74 Lower heat roller 75 Cleaning paper roll 76 Winding cleaning section

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

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A fixing cleaning member is provided in the upper unit, and a fixing device is provided in the lower unit. The both units are connected by a common supporting shaft, and the upper unit supports the lower unit. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a clamshell structure that rotates about an axis, wherein the fixing cleaning member is detachable when the upper unit is opened. 2. The fixing cleaning member is composed of a roller portion and a holder portion, is held movably in the roller longitudinal direction with respect to the upper unit when the upper unit is opened, and is closed when the upper unit is closed. 2. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller portion is held in pressure contact with a fixing roller of a fixing device in the lower unit so as to be driven by the fixing roller. 3. The roller portion of the fixing cleaning member is a portion that is pressed against the fixing roller of the fixing unit in the lower unit so as not to be driven when the upper unit is closed, and that is pressed against the fixing roller. 2. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrophotographic image forming apparatus can be automatically moved.