JPH079157Y2 - Optical writing image forming device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a so-called shell open type optical writing image forming apparatus in which an upper part of a base body is vertically rotated, and a part of an image forming member is unitized. The present invention relates to an optical writing image forming apparatus which is detachable from the apparatus.

[Prior art]

In some image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic copying machines and various printers, in order to facilitate maintenance, the main body of the apparatus is composed of an upper body and a lower body, and an image is formed by a shell open mechanism in which the upper body rotates up and down. The device has been put to practical use. Among the image forming apparatuses as described above, for example, a photosensitive drum, a cleaner or the like, which is a part of the image forming member, is integrated with the upper machine body, and is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the image forming apparatus via a guide. Generally, in the image forming apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, the integrated (unitized) image forming member is slid on the kit rail and is attached to and detached from the apparatus.

In the image forming apparatus including the unitized image forming member as described above, when the unit is mounted on the apparatus main body, the exposure image is formed on the photosensitive drum in the unit and the photosensitive drum arranged in the apparatus main body. It is necessary to accurately align the position with the imaging lens array for the purpose. In particular, when a gradient index rod lens array (trade name: SELFOC lens array, SLA) is used as the imaging lens array, the focal depth is extremely shallow, and therefore high alignment accuracy is required.

[Problems of conventional technology]

In the conventional optical writing image forming apparatus as described above, positioning of the imaging lens array and the photosensitive drum is performed by precisely processing the kit rail on which the unit is mounted, the mounting bracket of the imaging lens array, and the like. Positioning is on the order of a few mm.

However, improving the processing accuracy and the mounting accuracy as described above not only increases the cost, but also increases the size of the entire apparatus, which significantly covers the degree of freedom in designing the apparatus.

[Purpose of device]

In view of the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, the present invention makes it possible to rough the processing accuracy and the mounting accuracy by directly pressing the casing of the unit to the head base on which the imaging lens array is mounted, and the optical writing without increasing the cost. An object is to provide an image forming apparatus.

[Key points of device]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an upper body including an optical writing head including an imaging lens and a photoconductor on which an optical image emitted from the optical writing head is formed. An optical writing image forming apparatus configured to be rotatable with respect to a lower body provided so as to be movable via a support shaft, comprising a first reference surface for maintaining a predetermined distance from an image forming surface of the photoconductor. A photosensitive member supporting member whose relative position is displaceable with respect to the optical writing head, and a second member capable of abutting on the first reference surface.
And a supporting member of the optical writing head having a reference surface of (1) and the upper body provided on the lower body and the upper body are engaged with the lower body.
And a push-up member that is brought into pressure contact with the reference surface of.

[Example of device]

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a liquid crystal shutter type optical writing printer 11 as one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the photoconductor drum 12 is rotatably supported at a substantially central portion, and is indicated by an arrow E.
Direction is driven and rotated at a predetermined speed. In the vicinity of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 12, along the rotation direction thereof, a charger 13 for uniformly charging the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 12 to a predetermined polarity, a liquid crystal shutter described later, etc. are installed. The optical writing head 14 for forming an electrostatic latent image by irradiating the surface of the photosensitive drum 12 with an optical signal corresponding to the image information to be formed, and a developing device for supplying toner to the formed electrostatic latent image to form a toner image. 15, a transfer device 16 for transferring a toner image onto a transfer paper, a cleaner 17 for removing toner remaining without being transferred, and the like are sequentially arranged, and a one-cycle image forming process is formed. Further, the photoconductor drum 12, the charger 13, and the cleaner 17 described above are integrated so that the copy kit 10 can be attached to and detached from the optical writing printer 11.

Further, in the lower part of the machine body, the transfer sheet is moved to the transfer position in order to align the toner images on the sheet cassette 18 in which the transfer sheets T are stacked and housed, the sheet feed roller 19, the turn guide 20 and the photoconductor drum 12 with the transfer sheet. A pair of registration rolls that takes the transfer timing of the transfer paper T
21 and the like are provided, and a transfer paper carry-in path is formed. Further, on the opposite side of the transfer position, a separation mechanism (not shown) that separates and conveys the transfer paper T on which the toner image is transferred from the surface of the photosensitive drum 12, a conveyance guide 22, a fixing device 23, and a toner image are fixed. A pair of discharge rolls 24 for unloading the transfer paper T from outside the machine is provided, and a discharge path for the transfer paper T is formed.

The optical writing printer 11 configured as described above uses the optical writing head with the shell open line S indicated by the alternate long and short dash line as a boundary.
It can be divided into an upper body 25 having the 14 and the copy kit 10 mounted thereon and a lower body 26 having the other components mounted therein. That is, the upper body 25 is connected to the lower body 2 via the hinge 26c.
It is rotatably connected to 6, so that the upper body 25 can be opened clockwise as shown in FIG. 3 by rotating the upper body 25 by a predetermined angle in the clockwise direction in the figure for internal inspection. it can.

On the other hand, when the upper body 25 is closed,
The configuration shown in the figure is obtained. FIG. 1 is a view for explaining the arrangement of the optical writing head 14, the copy kit 10, the transfer unit 16 and the spring 26b, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line BB 'in FIG.

Here, the configuration of the optical writing head 14 will be described. The optical writing head 14 of the present example is covered with a cover 14a and a head base 14b on which an irradiation port F is formed in a protruding manner, and a lamp unit 14c is formed in a substantially central portion inside thereof. On the inner surface of the head base 14b facing the opening G provided as a light irradiation window at the bottom of the lamp unit 14c, a liquid crystal shutter panel 14d formed by arranging a number of micro shutters in parallel is arranged in the array direction (longitudinal direction). It is installed corresponding to. A selfoc lens array (SLA) 14e, which is formed by arranging a large number of imaging lenses in an array corresponding to the liquid crystal shutter panel 14d, is mounted in the irradiation port F. Further, the liquid crystal shutter panel 14d is connected at its both ends to a pair of drive circuit boards 14f arranged along the side wall of the cover 14a via heat seals (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 4, the optical writing head 14 having the above-described configuration has bent portions 25a 'and 25b' formed by bending a part of the front frame 25a and the rear frame 25b of the upper machine body 25. It is fixedly installed. Also, SLA14e is a head base
Mounting plate 14g (first
Fixed). Therefore, the arrangement position of the SLA 14e is determined by the lower surfaces D and D'of the head base 14.

The photosensitive drum 12 is fixed to a drum shaft 12a, and the drum shaft 12a is rotatably supported by the casing 10a of the copy kit 10 described above. The drum shaft 12a is fixed to the coupling 12b. On the other hand, a sprocket 29 driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) is fixed to a coupling shaft 28, and the coupling shaft 28 is rotatably supported by the rear frame 25b and the drive frame 27 via bearings 30 and 31, respectively. ing. Further, the coupling shaft 28 and the above-mentioned drum shaft 12a are coupled to each other by the coupling 12
It is configured so that it can be engaged and disengaged by b and 12c. Then, the rotational force of the coupling shaft 28 is transmitted to the drum shaft 12a via the couplings 12b and 12c.

On the other hand, the transfer unit 16 provided in the lower body 26 is
It is supported by springs 26b and 26b 'provided on the main body base 26a of 26, and the shield case 16a of the transfer unit 16 is provided with a front electrode block 16b and a rear electrode block 16b'.
A corona wire 16c is stretched between the blocks 16b and 16b '.

In the optical writing printer 11 configured as described above, the copy kit 10 can be attached to and detached from the upper machine body 25 by moving along the rails (not shown) of the upper machine body. Especially the copy kit 10
When it is mounted on the upper body 25, the upper body 25 is opened upward as shown in FIG. 3, and the copy kit 10 is set on the upper body 25 through the above-mentioned rails. At this time, the upper surfaces C and C'of the casing 10a and the lower surfaces D and D'of the head base 14b face each other without abutting. But this interval is small. After that, when the upper body 25 is closed to the lower body 26 side, the lower surfaces H and H'of the casing 10a and the front electrode block 1 described above are closed.
6b and the upper surfaces I and I'of the rear electrode block 16b 'come into contact with each other, and the copy kit 10 is pushed upward by the upward biasing force of the springs 26b and 26b', and the upper surfaces C and C'of the casing 10a are The lower surfaces D and D'of the head base 14b are brought into contact with and in close contact with each other.

Therefore, when the casing 10a and the base member 14b are in close contact with each other and brought into contact with each other, the photosensitive drum 12 attached to the casing 10a via the drum shaft 12a.
And the interval between the SELFOC lens array 14e attached to the head base 14b is determined only by the tolerance of the casing 10a and the head base 14b, and is set accurately.

Similarly, the lower surfaces H and H'of the casing 10a and the upper surfaces I of both blocks 16b and 16b 'on which the corona wire 16c is stretched,
Since I ′ also comes into close contact with and abuts, the distance between the photosensitive drum 12 and the corona wire 16c is also accurate.

As described above, in this embodiment, in order to accurately set the distance between the photosensitive drum 12 in the copy kit 10 configured to be detachable from the apparatus body and the SLA14e attached to the apparatus body, the SLA14e By attaching a part of the copy kit 10 to a mounting member, the distance between the photosensitive drum and the SLA 14e explained in the copy kit 10 is accurately positioned.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an optical writing image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention when the shell is opened. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line AA 'in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a view showing the main part of FIG.

This embodiment is different from the above-mentioned embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 in that a spring 2 is provided with a member for pushing up the copy kit when the upper body is mounted on the bottom of both blocks 16b, 16b '.
6b, 26b 'has changed to a drum roller which is pressed against the lowest part of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum by the urging force of the spring. Therefore, the other structure is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, and the same members are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

The drum chassis roller 8 in the lower machine body 26 is biased upward by a spring 8b via a roller receiver 8a (in the above example, the drum roller 8 is arranged only near one end of the photosensitive drum 12). , And a configuration in which a drum roller is arranged at the other end).

Therefore, when the upper body 25 is closed by the upward biasing force of the drum roller 8, the photosensitive drum 12 receives upward pressure, and the above-mentioned copy kit 10 including the photosensitive drum 12 is pressed. The upper brightness C, C'of the casing 10a abuts the lower surface D, D'of the head base 14b, and when the upper body 25 is completely closed, both surfaces C ', C and D, D'are in close contact. Therefore, the positions of the photoconductor drum 12 and the SLA 14e are the same as those in the head base.
It is determined only by the tolerance of 14b and the tolerance of the casing 10a, and is set accurately.

[Effect of device]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, since the casing of the copy kit is brought into direct pressure contact with the head base, extremely good positioning accuracy can be obtained. Further, in order to accurately position the distance between the photoconductor drum and the optical writing head, it is not necessary to provide another member, so that the device can be downsized,
Cost reduction is possible.

Further, since the transfer device is directly pressed against the casing of the copy kit, the distance between the photosensitive drum and the corona wire can be set accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part of an optical writing image forming apparatus of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an optical writing image forming apparatus of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an optical writing of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the image forming apparatus when the shell is open, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a schematic view of another embodiment when the shell is open, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an optical writing image forming apparatus of another embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a main part configuration diagram of an optical writing image forming apparatus of another embodiment. 8 ... drum roller, 8b ... spring, 10 ... copy kit,
10a …… Casing, 11 …… Optical writing printer, 12 ……
Photoconductor drum, 14 ... Optical writing head, 14b ... Head base, 14e ... Selfoc lens array, 16 ... Transfer device, 26b ... Spring.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An upper body including an optical writing head including an imaging lens and a photoconductor on which an optical image emitted from the optical writing head is formed is provided so as to be engageable with the upper body. An optical writing image forming apparatus configured to be rotatable with respect to a lower body via a support shaft, and includes a first reference surface that maintains a predetermined distance from an image forming surface of the photoconductor, and is relative to the optical writing head. A photosensitive member support member whose position is displaceable, a support member of the optical writing head having a second reference surface that can abut against the first reference surface, and a lower body provided with the lower body And a push-up member that pushes up the photosensitive member support member and presses the first reference surface and the second reference surface into pressure contact with each other.