JPH0827584B2 - Recording device cleaning device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device for a recording device, and more particularly, to a cleaning device for an electrophotographic recording device that cleans toner remaining on a photoconductor with a conductive brush.

In a conventional electrophotographic recording apparatus, after charging a photoconductive photosensitive member, exposure is performed according to an image to be recorded,
Form an electrostatic latent image. Then, after developing with the charged toner, the toner is transferred to the recording paper by the transfer device.

The toner remaining on the photoconductor without being transferred to the recording paper is cleaned with, for example, a conductive brush. That is, the conductive brush is charged with an electric charge having a polarity opposite to that of the toner to adsorb the toner. Further, if necessary, the residual toner on the photoconductor is cleaned by a rubber blade that is in sliding contact with the photoconductor.

In such a cleaning device, a large amount of toner adheres to the outside of the image area of the photoconductor and is not transferred to the recording paper, and the photoconductor and the toner are charged to the same polarity by the transfer charger in the transfer section. After
Since the charge of the recording paper and the photoconductor is neutralized by the separation charger, there is a case where they are attracted to each other with the polarity opposite to that of the photoconductor.

Moreover, at this time, since the charge amount of the photoconductor is larger than the charge amount of the toner, the charge induced in the conductive brush has a polarity opposite to the charge charged on the photoconductor, that is, the charge having the same polarity as the toner. Therefore, the conductive brush repels the toner, and the toner cannot be sucked and cleaned.

Therefore, install a charger before the conductive brush,
It was necessary to make the charge polarities of the photoconductor and the toner the same by the discharge from the charger, and to make the charges sufficient to induce charges of opposite polarities in the conductive brush. By doing so, electric charges having a polarity opposite to that of the photoconductor and the toner are induced in the conductive brush, and the toner can be sucked and cleaned.

However, when the charging device is provided in this way, a high-voltage power supply for performing corona discharge is required, and the device becomes expensive. Further, there is a risk of leakage due to the charger, and unevenness in discharge may occur due to dirt, so the reliability is not necessarily high.

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a cleaning device for a recording device, which can obtain a sufficient cleaning property by a conductive cleaning means.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a conductive cleaning means and sucks the residual toner on the surface of the toner image forming member by an electric charge having a polarity opposite to that of the residual toner generated in the cleaning means. In the cleaning device of the recording device for cleaning the residual toner by
A conductive member different from the toner image forming member, which is disposed at a position opposed to the toner image forming member by the cleaning unit, is connected to the conductive member and the cleaning unit, and the conductive member and the cleaning unit are provided. And a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the residual toner, and a voltage having the same polarity as the residual toner to the conductive member. It is what Hereinafter, a specific description will be given based on an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic recording apparatus.

The dielectric belt 2 used as a photoconductor is moved in the direction of arrow A. After the dielectric belt 2 is uniformly charged by the charger 4, an electrostatic latent image is formed by the recording electrode 6 in accordance with the image information, and toner is attached by the developer 8.
It is developed.

The toner image formed on the dielectric belt 2 is transferred onto the recording paper 12 moving in the arrow B direction by the transfer unit 10 including the transfer device 102 and the separator 104. Toner (not shown) remaining on the surface of the dielectric belt 2 is cleaned by the cleaning unit 14. The cleaning unit 14 includes a conductive brush 142 and a back electrode 144 that are opposed to each other with the dielectric belt 2 interposed therebetween, and a bias power supply 146 that is connected to the conductive brush 142 and the back electrode 144 and applies a voltage between them. ing.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bias power source 146 is a conductive brush 1.
A voltage is applied between 42 and the back electrode 144, and in this embodiment, the conductive brush 142 is positively charged and the back electrode 144 is negatively charged. The dielectric belt 2 is positively charged, and the toner 16 attached to the surface of the dielectric belt 2 is negatively charged and attracted to the dielectric belt 2. Since the conductive brush 142 is positively charged by the bias power source 146, the negatively charged toner 16 can be attracted and cleaning can be efficiently performed.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG.
No voltage was applied between 2 and the rear roller 148. The dielectric belt 2 used as a photoconductor and the toner 16 adsorbed on the dielectric belt 2 are charged with different polarities, and the dielectric belt 2 is positively charged as shown in FIG. 6, for example.
Toner 16 is negatively charged. Moreover, since the charge amount of the dielectric belt 2 is larger than the charge amount of the toner 16, negative charges having the opposite polarity to the dielectric belt 2 are induced in the conductive brush 142. Therefore, the repulsive force F1 is generated between the conductive brush 142 and the toner 16, and the repulsive force F1 is generated.
Cannot be suctioned for cleaning.

Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIG.
A charger 18 is provided in front of 14, and the discharge from the charger 18 causes the dielectric belt 2 and the toner 16 to be discharged as shown in FIG.
Have the same charge polarity, and have a sufficient charge amount so that charges of opposite polarity are induced in the conductive brush 142.
It was necessary to generate a suction force F2.

On the other hand, according to this embodiment, since the conductive brush 142 is positively charged by the bias power source 146 as shown in FIG. 2, the negatively charged toner 16 can be sucked and cleaned. it can.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a recording apparatus of a full-color electrophotographic system.

The cylindrical photosensitive drum 20 is rotated in the direction of arrow C, and the transfer drum 22 slidingly contacting the photosensitive drum 20 is rotated in the direction of arrow D.

The photoconductor drum 20 is charged by the charger 4 and exposed by the exposure unit 24 through the three RGB filters 242 according to image information. After that, the photosensitive drum 20 is cyan in the developing unit 26,
The toner developed on the magenta and yellow toners and attached to the photoconductor drum 20 is transferred by the transfer charger 28.
The image is transferred onto a recording paper (not shown) wound around the transfer drum 22.

The toner attached to the portion of the transfer drum 22 where the recording paper is not wound or the toner which is attached to the portion of the transfer drum 22 where the recording paper is wound due to an accident is applied by the bias power supply 146 connected to the conductive brush 142 and the back electrode 144. By the applied voltage, the conductive brush 142 is attracted and cleaned. A bias power supply 146 is connected between the conductive brush 142 and the back electrode 144, as shown in FIG.
The conductive brush 142 is positively charged and the back electrode 144 is negatively charged. The transfer drum 22 is positively charged, and the toner 16 attached to the transfer drum 22 is negatively charged. Therefore, the toner 16 is sucked by the conductive brush 142 and cleaned.

Then, the transfer drum 22 is discharged by the charge eliminator 30, and the toner is transferred from the photosensitive drum 20 again.

After the transfer of the toner to the transfer drum 22, the photoconductor drum 20 is cleaned by the blade 322 of the cleaning unit 32 and discharged by the discharge lamp 34.

According to the above-described embodiment, the bias power source 146 applies the voltage of the opposite polarity to the toner 16 to the conductive brush 142,
Since the toner 16 is sucked, the cleaning property can be improved. Further, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to provide the charger 18 before cleaning, so that a high voltage power source is not required and there is no risk of leakage. In addition, uneven charging due to dirt does not occur.

Therefore, an inexpensive and highly reliable cleaning device using the conductive brush 142 can be obtained.

Effects According to the present invention, a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to the conductive cleaning means, and a voltage having the same polarity as the toner is applied to the conductive member, so that only the area necessary for cleaning is concentrated. Since a cleaning bias can be applied to, the cleaning property can be improved.

Further, since it is not necessary to provide a charging device before cleaning, there is no need for a voltage power source, and there is no danger of leakage.
In addition, uneven charging due to dirt does not occur.

Therefore, it is possible to obtain an inexpensive and highly reliable cleaning device using the conductive cleaning means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic recording apparatus, FIG. 2 is a conceptual enlarged view of a cleaning unit in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a full-color electrophotographic image of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment applied to a recording apparatus of a system, FIG. 4 is a conceptual enlarged view of a cleaning unit of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional electrophotographic recording apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a conceptual enlarged view of the cleaning unit in the apparatus of FIG. 5 when charging before cleaning is not performed, and FIG. 7 is a conceptual enlarged view of the cleaning unit of FIG. Explanation of symbols of main parts 2 …… Dielectric belt 4 …… Charger 6 …… Recording electrode 8 …… Developer 10 …… Transfer section 14 …… Cleaning section 16 …… Toner 20 …… Photosensitive drum 22 …… Transfer drum 142 …… conductive brush 144 …… rear electrode 146 …… bias power supply

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A conductive cleaning means is provided, and the residual toner on the surface of the toner image forming member is attracted by a bias having a polarity opposite to that of the residual toner generated in the cleaning means to clean the residual toner. In the cleaning device of the recording apparatus, a toner image forming member is provided at a position opposed to the toner image forming member by the cleaning means, and a part of the toner image forming member is in contact with the toner image forming member. Is a separate conductive member, and is connected to the conductive member and the cleaning means,
Power supply means for applying a voltage between the conductive member and the cleaning means is provided, and a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the residual toner is applied to the cleaning means by the power supply means to apply the voltage to the conductive member. A cleaning device for a recording apparatus, wherein a voltage having the same polarity as that of the residual toner is applied. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning means is a conductive brush. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner image forming member is a dielectric belt. 4. The cleaning device for a recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner image forming member is a transfer drum.