JPH0820833B2 - Method for applying powder lubricant to cleaning blade of cleaning device for image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (1) Object of the Invention (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus utilizing an electrostatic recording process such as an electrostatic copying machine and a printer, and particularly to a cleaning blade of a cleaning device thereof. The present invention relates to a lubricant application method.

(Problems to be Solved with Prior Art) A step of transferring a toner image onto a transfer material by contacting a transfer material such as paper with an image carrier that forms and runs an electrostatically formed toner image on the surface. In a known image forming apparatus that repeats itself, it is essential to remove the toner that has not transferred to the transfer material during transfer from the image carrier each time, and as a cleaning means for this purpose, an elastic material such as urethane rubber is used. In general, one of the cleaning blades composed of 1 is usually put into pressure contact with the running direction of the image carrier in the counter direction to remove the untransferred toner.

The precision of the pressure contact edge of such a cleaning blade to the image carrier is suppressed to 1 μ or less, and the surface roughness is controlled to 1 μ or less.

Further, the surface of the image carrier on which the blade is in pressure contact is also formed by coating a photosensitive material such as plastic, and the surface also has a good surface property on the order of submicrons.

For this reason, when the two are pressed against each other and the image carrier is run, the edge of the cleaning blade may be turned over due to friction and the cleaning may be impossible.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are schematic views showing how the blade is turned up. One of the edges of one of the cleaning blades attached to the cleaning device (not shown) is attached to the photoconductor 1 traveling in the direction of arrow A. Edge 3e is pressed against the counter.

If there is no lubricant, frictional resistance will increase and
As shown in FIG. 3B, the edge portion is dragged by the photoconductor and deformed into a curved shape as indicated by reference numeral 3f. Once in such a state, the contact area between the photoconductor and the edge of the blade becomes large, so the frictional resistance increases and the blade, which is relatively flexible, promptly completely reverses the blade edge as shown in the figure. The cleaning becomes practically impossible.

Such a situation is likely to occur at the time of initial movement of the photoconductor after manufacturing the image forming apparatus or when the cleaning blade is replaced with a new one. In such a case, the cleaning blade, especially the edge portion, has good fluidity. , For example
Fine particles of PVdF, silica, toner, etc. (submicron to 20
It is performed by applying powder of about (μ).

By doing this, as shown in FIG.
Since the fine powder passes through the blade edge and exerts a lubricating action, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of blade swelling as described above.

However, since such a lubricant is a powder, even if the lubricant is applied at the time of making the blade, it takes a considerable amount of time for the lubricant to be incorporated into the image forming apparatus and operate in the hands of the user. Since it is unavoidable that vibration is applied during transportation and storage, the lubricant peels off and scatters by the time of initial movement, and blades are turned over with a certain probability.

Further, as a practical matter, it is a reality that the powder can be applied only to about 5% of the area to be applied, and the powder is sparsely adhered to the powder. The adhesion is also small, and this kind of situation also promotes the occurrence of blade flipping.

Furthermore, in the case of a so-called cartridge type image forming apparatus in which a photosensitive member and a peripheral image forming member including a cleaning device are integrated, which is becoming widely used in recent years, the actual image formation is performed. In order to guarantee the product without doing the above, the substitute characteristic is measured, and the cleaning blade also optically measures the mounting position, so the blade manufacturer applies the lubricant beforehand and delivers it to the assembly process. I can't do it.

Therefore, since lubricant is applied during the manufacturing process, the scattering of the lubricant may affect the human body, cause differences in the amount applied by workers, and cause uneven coating conditions. The fact is that even the application of lubricant to the entire body is practiced.

Further, since the image forming apparatus of this type is shipped without displaying an image, it is unavoidable that the blade is turned over at a certain frequency after it has been on the market, and further, such scattering occurs. It is undeniable that the lubricant may contaminate the primary charger inside the cartridge or cause troubles due to adhesion to the developing sleeve.

The present invention has been made to cope with the above situation, and by applying a liquid lubricant to the blade edge, the application amount is stable, there is no application unevenness, and the once applied lubricant is transported. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device capable of preventing a situation such as peeling due to internal vibration or the like as much as possible and obtaining a stable cleaning function from the initial movement.

(2) Configuration of the Invention (Technical Means for Solving the Problem and Its Function) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, which removes residual toner on an image carrier by a cleaning blade. After the application of a volatile liquid in which a powder lubricant is dispersed, to the area near the edge where the cleaning blade contacts the image carrier,
This is a method of applying a powder lubricant to a cleaning blade of a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, in which the volatile liquid is volatilized and only the powder lubricant remains attached to the edge vicinity region.

With this configuration, it is possible to reliably and firmly adhere the powder lubricant to the blade edge of the cleaning blade and to evenly coat the edge.

(Description of Embodiments) FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of a copying machine suitable for applying the present invention.

The surface of the photoconductor 1 that extends in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface and rotates in the direction of arrow A is uniformly charged by the primary charger 3, and the reflected light from the original MS by the ramp L is transferred to the charged surface via the lens array 4. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor 1 by being projected. Then, when this latent image reaches the position of the developing device 5,
The toner stored in this is supplied to the latent image via the sleeve 5a to form a toner image. After that, when this toner image reaches the transfer portion provided with the transfer charger 7, the transfer material (not shown) supplied from the conveying path 6 comes into contact with the photoconductor at the transfer portion and is transferred at the same timing. The toner image is transferred to the transfer material by the action of the charger. It is assumed that the transfer material carrying the toner image is separated from the photoconductor 1 by the action of the separation charging device 8 and is fed to the fixing portion (not shown) via the conveying path 9.

During the transfer, the residual toner that does not contribute to the transfer and remains on the photoconductor reaches the cleaning device 2 as the photoconductor rotates, and is scraped off by the cleaning blade 2a arranged therein.

In such an image forming apparatus, in the present invention, a liquid lubricant is applied to the cleaning blade 2a, particularly to an edge portion of the cleaning blade 2a which is in pressure contact with the photosensitive member.

As the lubricant, a fine powder of Tospearl, PVdF, toner, phenol or the like is dispersed in an appropriate amount in a volatile liquid such as CFC 113, alcohol or ethanol.

As the coating means, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the blade 2a
The above-mentioned lubricant is applied to the edge portion of the above by the brush B, and as shown in FIG. 1B, the container V is filled with the above-mentioned lubricant, and the edge portion of the blade 2a is dipped and coated therewith, FIG. 1C. As shown in FIG.
The drawing roller 10a and the coating roller 10b are disposed in the coating roller, and the coating roller 10b is contacted with the blade 2a for coating.Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1D, the portion other than the coating region of the blade is covered with the mask 10. The lubricant can be attached to the blade edge by an appropriate means such as applying the lubricant to the edge portion with the spray S.

Then, by volatilizing the aforementioned liquid in the lubricant, a cleaning blade having only the powder lubricant adhered to the edge portion can be obtained.

Since the powder is attached to the blade edge by such means, a certain degree of tackiness is generated between the lubricant particles which are powder, and 90% or more of the application area can be reliably attached to the blade surface.

For this reason, there is no possibility of being easily peeled off or scattered from the blade due to vibration or air flow, and in the coating step, it is the same as applying white paint.
Uneven coating can be easily determined, and work efficiency is significantly improved.

(3) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, in the cleaning device in which the elastic cleaning blade is pressed against the surface of the image bearing member to remove the residual toner, the edge portion of the cleaning blade can be securely attached. In addition, the lubricant can be applied without causing unevenness of application, and it can be firmly maintained.Therefore, under any condition such as when manufacturing the image forming apparatus or when replacing the blade, the blade will be turned up due to lack of lubricant. It is possible to operate the device reliably from the beginning without doing so.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A to 1D are perspective views showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of a copying machine suitable for applying the present invention, and FIGS. 3A to 3C are blade turning ups. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the occurrence, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a means for preventing the blade from turning over. 1 ... Photoconductor, 2 ... Cleaning device, 2a ... Cleaning blade, 10a ... Pumping roller, 10b ... Coating roller, 11 ... Mask, B ... Brush, V ... Container, S ...
…spray.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, wherein a cleaning blade removes residual toner on an image carrier, wherein a powder lubricant is dispersed in a region near an edge where the cleaning blade contacts the image carrier. A method of applying a powder lubricant to a cleaning blade of a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, which comprises applying a volatile liquid and then volatilizing the volatile liquid to leave only the powder lubricant remaining on the edge vicinity region.