JPH0980884A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact color image forming device in which a developing unit is prevented from being clogged by developer and the plurality of thin developing units with good developer stirring performance are arranged. SOLUTION: This image forming device develops a latent image formed on an image carrier 10 by means of the developing device having, in its developer storing housing 130K, a developing roller 131K which holds developer and carriers it to a developing area, a supply means which stirs and supplies developer toward the developing roller 131K, and a scraping member 134K which scrapes developer, subjected to a developing process, sticking onto the developing roller 131K. The device is provided with a developer carrying mechanism 33 which stores the developer scraped from the surface of the developing roller 131K by the scraping member 134K, carries the developer above the carrying means, on the upstream side from the developer supply means, and throws it to a developer stirring part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus equipped with a developing device and a cleaning device for use in electrophotographic copying machines, printers and the like.
The electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image by supplying the powder developer to the photoconductor which is the electrostatic latent image carrier, and the developer not used for toner image formation is reused in the developing device. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided with a developing device and a cleaning device that removes a transferred developer remaining on an image bearing member by a removing unit and conveys the developer to a collecting unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a constitutional device such as a copying machine and a printer by an electrophotographic method, a developer device which visualizes an electrostatic latent image formed on an image bearing member (photoreceptor) as a toner image, There is known a cleaning device that removes the transferred developer remaining on the image bearing member and conveys it to the collecting unit.
In the developing device, a developing roller that carries the developer and conveys it to the developer area, a supply roller that supplies the developer toward the developing roller, and a developer that moves toward the supply roller while stirring the developer. There is provided a rotatable stirring member, a scraper for scraping off the developer after the development processing, which adheres to the developing roller, and a toner supply means for supplying a new toner.

Further, in the cleaning device, a removing member such as a blade or a brush for removing the transferred developer remaining on the image carrier, and the developer removed by the removing member is guided and dropped by gravity. A guide member, a recovery screw that collects the developer and conveys the developer to a developer recovery unit at a predetermined position, and the like are provided.

[0004]

However, in the developing device, the developer scraped from the developing roller by the scraper after the development processing is stagnated near the developing roller and sufficiently stirred with the supplied developer. If not, the toner adheres to the surface of the developing roller again and is sent to the developing area. Further, the vicinity of the developing roller is clogged, causing problems such as poor development and developer leakage. Further, in a color image forming apparatus in which a plurality of developing devices are arranged on the peripheral surface of the image carrier, it is necessary to make each developing device as thin as possible. In such a developing device, the developer after the development processing scraped off the developing roller by the scraper easily causes the developer clogging in the thin developing device main body.

Further, in the above cleaning device, the developer remaining on the image bearing member after transfer is removed by the removing member and then gravity falls to be collected by the recovery screw. When the flattened thin member is used, the developer removed by the removing member does not easily reach the recovery screw, overflows from the opening of the cleaning device to fall and scatter, and contaminates the transfer paper and the inside of the image forming apparatus.

[0006]

An image forming apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above-mentioned first object is a developing roller for carrying the developer in a housing for containing the developer and conveying the developer to a developing area. Formed on the image bearing member by a developing device having a supply means for agitating and supplying the developer toward the developing roller, and a scraping member for scraping off the developer after the development processing adhered on the developing roller. In the image forming apparatus for developing a latent image, the developer scraped from the surface of the developing roller by the scraping member is stored, and the developer is conveyed to an upper part of the supply means upstream of the developer supply. The present invention is characterized in that a developer transporting mechanism for charging the developer into the developer stirring section is provided (first invention).

The image forming apparatus of the present invention which achieves the above second object is provided with a cleaning device for removing the transferred developer remaining on the image bearing member by a removing means and conveying it to a collecting portion. In the above, a movable developer transport mechanism is provided for collecting the developer removed by the removing unit, transporting the developer in a direction away from the removing unit, and sending the developer to the collecting unit. This is done (second invention).

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Prior to the description of the present invention, the general structure of a color image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a color printer showing an example of a color image forming apparatus applied to the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming unit around a photosensitive drum.

In these figures, reference numeral 10 denotes a photosensitive drum which is a drum-shaped image bearing member, and a transparent conductive layer and an organic photosensitive layer are provided on the outer periphery of a cylindrical substrate formed of a transparent member such as optical glass or transparent acrylic resin. A layer (OPC) is applied. The photosensitive drum 10 is driven and rotated clockwise in the figure in the installed state.

In this embodiment, in the photoconductive layer of the photoconductor drum 10 which is the image forming point of the exposure beam for image exposure,
It suffices to have an exposure light amount of a wavelength that can provide an appropriate contrast with respect to the light attenuation characteristics (generation of photocarriers) of the photoconductor layer. Therefore, the photosensitive drum 1 in this embodiment
The light transmittance of the transparent substrate of 0 does not need to be 100%, and may have a characteristic that some light is absorbed when the exposure beam is transmitted. As the material of the translucent substrate, various translucent resins such as soda glass, Pyrex glass, borosilicate glass and fluorine, polyester, polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate used for general optical members can be used. Further, as the translucent conductive layer, indium, tin oxide (ITO),
Tin oxide, lead oxide, indium oxide, copper iodide, Au, A
A metal thin film of g, Ni, Al, etc. that maintains transparency is used, and the film forming method is a vacuum vapor deposition method, an active reaction vapor deposition method, various sputtering methods, various CVD methods, dip coating methods, spray coating methods. Are used. As the photoconductor layer, an amorphous silicon (a-Si) alloy photosensitive layer, an amorphous selenium alloy photosensitive layer, or various organic photosensitive layers (OPC) can be used.

A scorotron charger 11 as a charging means
Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K are used in the image forming process for each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black, and have a predetermined amount with respect to the above-described organic photoconductor layer of the photoconductor drum 10. The control grid held at the electric potential and the corona discharge by the discharge wire or the sawtooth electrode perform the charging action to give the photosensitive drum 10 a uniform electric potential.

Exposure optical systems 12Y and 12 which are image exposure means
M, 12C, and 12K are linear FLs in which light emitting elements arranged in the axial direction of the photoconductor drum 10 are arranged in a line in an array.
(Fluorescent emitter), EL (electroluminescence),
PL (plasma discharge), LED (light emitting diode),
An exposure element such as a linear LISA (magneto-optical effect optical shutter array), PLZT (transmissive piezoelectric element shutter array), LCS (liquid crystal shutter) in which elements having an optical shutter function are arranged, and an equal magnification imaging element The light-condensing fiber lens array (selfoc lens) 125 is configured as a unit, and is attached to a support member 20 provided inside the photosensitive drum 10. The image signals of the respective colors read by the separate image reading device are sequentially taken out from the memory, and the exposure optical systems 12Y, 12M,
The electric signals are input to 12C and 12K, respectively. The emission wavelength of the light emitting element used in this embodiment is 600 to 90, which is long wavelength in consideration of the light advancing property of the toner.
It is in the range of 0 nm.

A developing device 13 which is a developing means using a non-contact developing method for accommodating each of two-component developers of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K).
Each of Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K includes a developing sleeve 131Y, 131M, 131C, and 131K that rotates with a predetermined gap with respect to the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10.

The developing devices 13Y, 13M, 13C, 1
3K is the scorotron charger 11Y, 11M,
Charging and exposure optical systems 12Y and 12 by 11C and 11K
The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 10 formed by image exposure with M, 12C, and 12K is reversely developed in a non-contact state by applying a developing bias voltage.

As the original image, an image read by an image reading apparatus which is separate from the image forming apparatus is used.
The image signals for each color of M, C and K are temporarily stored and stored in the memory.

By the start of image recording, the drive gear 40G is rotated by the start of the photoconductor drive motor to rotate the photoconductor drum 10 in the clockwise direction, and at the same time, the charger 11Y.
The application of the electric potential to the photoconductor drum 10 is started by the charging action.

After a potential is applied to the photosensitive drum 10, the exposure optical system 12Y starts exposure by an electric signal corresponding to the first color signal, that is, an image signal of yellow (Y), and the drum is rotationally scanned. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the yellow (Y) image of the original image is formed on the photosensitive layer on the surface thereof.

The latent image is reversal-developed by the developing device 13Y with the developer on the developing sleeve in a non-contact state, and a yellow (Y) toner image is formed according to the rotation of the photosensitive drum 10.

Next, the photosensitive drum 10 is further provided with a scorotron charger 11 on the yellow (Y) toner image.
A potential is applied by the charging action of M, and the exposure optical system 12M
Exposure is performed using an electrical signal corresponding to the second color signal, i.e., the magenta (M) image signal, and the magenta (M) is formed on the yellow (Y) toner image by non-contact reversal development by the developing unit 13M. The toner images of (1) and (2) are sequentially superposed.

By the same process, a toner image of cyan (C) corresponding to the third color signal is further obtained by the charging device 11C, the exposure optical system 12C and the developing device 13C, and a scorotron charger 11K, the exposure optical system 12K and the developing device. A black (K) toner image corresponding to the fourth color signal is sequentially superposed and formed by the device 13K.
Within one rotation, a color toner image is formed on the peripheral surface.

Each of these exposure optical systems 12Y, 12M, 12
The exposure of the organic photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 10 with C and 12K is performed from the inside of the drum through the transparent substrate. Therefore, the exposure of the images corresponding to the second, third, and fourth color signals is performed without any influence from the previously formed toner image, and the same exposure as the image corresponding to the first color signal is performed. It is possible to form an electrostatic latent image. In order to stabilize the temperature inside the photoconductor drum 10 and prevent the temperature rise due to the heat generated by each of the exposure optical systems 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K, a material having good thermal conductivity is used for the optical system support 20, When the temperature is low, a heater is used, and when the temperature is high, heat is radiated to the outside through a heat pipe.

Further, the developing devices 13Y, 13M, 13C, 1
During the developing operation by 3K, a developing bias in which a direct current or an alternating current is applied to the developing sleeves 131Y, 131M, 131C, 131K is applied, and the developing device 13 performs non-contact developing by the one-component or two-component developer accommodated therein. The non-contact reversal development is performed in which a DC bias having the same polarity as that of the toner is applied to the photoconductor drum 10 having the transparent conductive layer grounded so that the toner is attached to the exposed portion.

The color toner image thus formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 15 in the transfer unit 14A and is fed in synchronization with the driving of the timing roller 16. Transcribed to P.

The transfer paper P on which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the peripheral surface of the drum by removing the charge in the static eliminator 14B, and after the toner is fused in the fixing device 17, it is passed through the discharge rollers 18A and 18B. Are discharged onto the tray above the device.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 1 from which the transfer paper P is separated
0 removes residual toner in the cleaning device 19,
The cleaning is continued to form the toner image of the original image, or the toner image is temporarily stopped to form a new toner image of the original image. The waste toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 191 which is a removing unit is conveyed by a developer conveying mechanism 193, which will be described later, and the toner collecting screw 19 is conveyed.
9 and is discharged to a developer recovery container (not shown). After cleaning, the cleaning blade 191
The shield roller 192 is kept in a state of being separated from the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 10 in order to prevent damage to the photoconductor drum 10.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the developing device used in the present invention.

Since the developing devices 13Y, 13M, 13C and 13K have the same structure and function, the developing devices 13K will be described below.
Will be described as a representative.

The fixed magnet 132K is the developing sleeve 131.
Enclosed in K, N and S magnetic poles are alternately arranged, and fixed concentrically with the developing sleeve 131K, a magnetic force is applied to the peripheral surface of the non-magnetic developing sleeve 131K. The thin layer forming rod 133K as a thin layer forming member is provided with the developing sleeve 13
A member that regulates the layer thickness of the two-component developer on the peripheral surface of 1K, is made of a metal material having a circular cross section of a magnetic material having a diameter of 3 to 10 mm, and is biased by an elastic member 139K such as a foam material to develop the developing sleeve. It is evenly pressed against the peripheral surface of 131K with a predetermined load.

The scraper 134K, which is a scraping member for scraping and removing the two-component developer from the developing sleeve 131K, has one end of the long side of the belt-shaped developing sleeve 131K.
It is made of a plate-shaped elastic member such as a stainless steel plate or urethane rubber, which is provided in pressure contact with K in parallel.

The conveying screws 136K and 137K rotate at the same speed in mutually opposite directions, agitate and mix the toner and the carrier in the housing 130K of the developing device 13K, and the two components uniformly containing a predetermined toner component. Use as a developer. The agitated and mixed two-component developer is supplied to the supply roller 1.
It is supplied to the developing sleeve 131K by 35K, and is further conveyed to the pressure contact portion between the developing sleeve 131K and the thin layer forming rod 133K. Further, one end of the toner replenishing roller 138K is replenished with new toner from the toner container by a detection signal from a toner concentration detection sensor (not shown). The supply roller 135K, the conveying screw 136
The K and 137K and the toner replenishing roller 138K form a developer supplying unit.

A developer recovery chamber 30 for accommodating and transporting the developer scraped from the surface of the developing roller by the scraper 134K is provided above the housing 130K of the developing device 13K. The developer recovery chamber 30 is a flat space formed between a lid member 31 of the developing device 13K and a fixing member 32 fixedly provided in the middle of the housing 130K. The developer transport mechanism 3 is provided in the developer recovery chamber 30.
3 are provided. The developer transport mechanism 33 moves the developer scraped from the surface of the developing roller by the scraper 134K to the upper portion of the transport screw 137K and the toner replenishing roller 138K on the upstream side of the developer supply in the developing device 13K, It is dropped from here and charged into the developer stirring section.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the developer transport mechanism 33, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view thereof.

The developer transport mechanism 33 includes two support members 34A, 34B arranged in the vicinity of the side wall of the developer recovery chamber 30 and extending in the front-rear direction, and the support members 34A, 34B.
Arranged in a direction orthogonal to the both ends of the support members 34A, 3A.
It has a rectangular frame shape composed of a plurality of feeding members 35 fixed to 4B.

Long holes 37a and 37b extending in the vertical direction are formed in the front and rear portions of the support members 34A and 34B, respectively. The crankshafts of the rotary shafts 38 and 39 that cross the developer recovery chamber 30 are inserted into the elongated holes 37a and 37b. One of the rotating shafts 38 is a crankshaft portion 38.
a and a rotation center shaft portion 38b at both ends thereof. The rotation center shaft portion 38b is the bearing 4 on both side plates of the fixing member 32.
It is rotatably supported at 0a. Similarly, the other rotating shaft 39 also includes a crank shaft portion 39a and rotation center shaft portions 39b at both ends thereof. The rotation center shaft portion 39b is rotatably supported by bearings 40b on both side plates of the fixing member 32. One end of the rotation center shaft portion 38b of the rotation shaft 38 is connected to a motor 41 as a drive source and driven and rotated. The rotation center shaft portion 39b of the other rotation shaft 39 is driven and rotated by the motor 41 via drive transmission means 42 including a pulley, a belt and the like.

6 (a) to 6 (d) are sectional views showing the operation process of the developer transport mechanism 33. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 6A shows a state in which the crankshaft portions 38a, 39a of the rotary shafts 38, 39 are located above in the movement locus. At this time, the crankshaft portions 38a, 3
9a abuts the upper ends of the long holes 37a and 37b,
The transport member 36 is in a state of being entirely lifted horizontally.

FIG. 6B shows the crankshaft portion 38 based on the rotation of the rotation center shafts 38b and 39b of the rotation shafts 38 and 39.
The rotational movement of a and 39a shows a state in the middle of the movement locus. At this time, the crankshaft portion 38
a and 39a abut on the vicinity of the middle portion of the elongated holes 37a and 37b, respectively, and the conveying member 36 is close to the fixing member 32 in the middle and closest to the tip end side of the scraper 134K.

In FIG. 6 (c), the rotation center shafts 38b and 39b of the rotation shafts 38 and 39 are further rotated and the crankshaft portion 3 is rotated.
By the rotational movement of 8a and 39a, each crankshaft 38
The state where a and 39a are at the bottom of the movement locus is shown. During this movement process, the conveying member 36 moves downward while moving to the right in the drawing, and the crankshaft portions 38a and 39a.
Reach the vicinity of the lower ends of the elongated holes 37a and 37b, the leading ends of the plurality of feeding members 35 of the transport member 36 contact the bottom surface of the fixing member 32 by their own weight. During the above moving process, the scraper 134K is fixed on the tip portion and the fixing member 32.
The collected developer on the bottom surface of is moved rightward in the figure.

FIG. 6 (d) shows that the rotation center shafts 38b and 39b of the rotation shafts 38 and 39 are further rotated and the crankshaft portion 3 is rotated.
By the rotational movement of 8a and 39a, each crankshaft 38
Symbols a and 39a show the state when the movement locus is in the middle. During this movement process, the transport member 36 moves upward in the right direction in the drawing, and during this movement process, the collected developer on the bottom surface of the fixing member 32 is moved in the right direction in the drawing to move to the developing device 1.
The toner drops from the opening in 3K onto the conveying screw 137K and the toner replenishing roller 138K below, is then mixed with the developer in the developing device 13K, is agitated, and is fed again to the supply roller 135K.

An elastic body such as rubber, sponge, or film is provided below the feeding member 35 and the supporting member 34, so that the conveying member 36 shown in FIG. 6C contacts the bottom of the fixing member 32. It is preferable to soften shocks and sounds.

FIG. 7 shows a cleaning blade 1 which is means for removing the developer remaining on the photosensitive drum 10 after transfer.
9 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning device showing an example of a cleaning device having a flat structure that is removed by 91 and is conveyed to a recovery unit. FIG. The developer transport mechanism 193 provided in the housing 190 of the cleaning device 19 collects the developer removed by the cleaning blade 191, and transports the developer away from the cleaning blade 191. It is a movable mechanism that is fed into the toner recovery screw 199.

The developer transport mechanism 193 is provided in the developing device 13
Developer transport mechanism 3 for Y, 13M, 13C and 13K
It has the same mechanism as 3. That is, the developer transport mechanism 193 is provided with two support members 194 extending in the front-rear direction, which are arranged in the vicinity of the side wall of the housing 190 of the cleaning device, and is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the support members 194 to support both ends thereof. It has a rectangular frame shape composed of a plurality of feeding members 195 fixed to the member 194. Long holes 196a and 196b extending in the vertical direction are formed in the front and rear portions of the support member 194, respectively. Crankshaft portions 197a and 198a of the rotary shaft that traverse the housing 190 are inserted into the elongated holes 196a and 196b. One of the rotating shafts is a crankshaft portion 197a,
It is composed of a rotation center shaft portion 197b at both ends thereof. The rotation center shaft portion 197b is rotatably supported by bearings on both side plates of the housing 190. Similarly, the other rotary shaft also has a crank shaft portion 198a and rotation center shaft portions 19 at both ends thereof.
8b and. The rotation center shaft portion 198b is rotatably supported by bearings on both side plates of the housing 190.
One end of the rotation center shaft portion 197b of the rotation shaft is connected to a drive source (not shown) and is driven and rotated. The rotation center shaft portion 198b of the other rotation shaft is driven and rotated by the drive source via the drive transmission means.

When the developer transport mechanism 193 is reciprocally driven by a drive source and moves in a direction away from the cleaning blade 191, the housing 19 is moved.
0, the developer is conveyed in the direction of the toner recovery screw 199 to move toward the cleaning blade 191, and the developer is moved away from the bottom of the housing 190 during the backward movement.

FIG. 8 shows a developer transport mechanism 3 according to the present invention.
It is a front view which shows another Example of the moving means of 3,193. E is a fixed frame, the first moving frame D slides up and down in the inside, and the second moving frame C slides left and right in the inside. The rotation of the cam B gives a square or rectangular motion to an arbitrary point F on the moving frame C. As a mechanism for giving such a rectangular motion, it is also used in an 8 mm photographing machine, a sewing machine, and the like.

The flat developer transport mechanism according to the present invention can be applied to a system other than the color image forming apparatus shown in FIG. That is, a method of forming a single-color toner image on the photosensitive drum 10 and sequentially transferring the toner image to the image support (this method is called a sequential transfer method and is shown in FIG. 9A), or a plurality of toner images are formed on the photosensitive drum 10. Any of the methods in which a single-color toner image is developed and then collectively transferred to a transfer sheet (this method is referred to as a batch transfer method and is shown in FIG. 9B) is applicable.

An image forming method by the image forming apparatus of the sequential transfer method shown in FIG. 9A will be described. A scorotron charger 11 for applying an electric charge to the surface of the photoconductor drum 10 by corona discharge in the vicinity of the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 10 having a photosensitive layer for forming an electrostatic latent image on a conductive substrate.
An exposure optical system 12, developing devices 13Y, 13M, 13C and 13K in which a plurality of developing devices storing a single color developer are arranged, and a cleaning device 19 for cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 10 are arranged. On the other hand, a transfer unit 2 for supplying the transfer paper P to the transfer drum 1 is arranged on the transfer drum 1 side composed of a conductive substrate, a conductive elastic layer and an insulating layer, and the transfer paper supplied from this transfer unit 2 is arranged. P is conveyed to the transfer portion where the transfer pole 4 is arranged, and the toner image of the photoconductor drum 10 developed with toner of different color is transferred onto the transfer paper P, and this is repeated several times to transfer a multicolor image to the transfer paper. The transfer paper P is formed on the surface of P, transferred to the peeling section, and the charge of the transfer drum 1 is removed by the peeling electrode 6 to obtain the transfer paper P.
Is separated from the transfer drum 1 and discharged. A multicolor image is formed by fixing the transfer paper P with a melt pressure type fixing device.

An image forming method by the batch transfer type image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 9B will be described. In this image forming method, transfer of each color to the transfer drum is not performed, but multicolor toner images are superposed on the photoconductor drum 10 and finally transferred onto the transfer paper P once. The same as the sequential transfer method described above.

In both the sequential transfer method and the batch transfer method described above, a plurality of developing devices 13Y, 13M, 13 are used.
C and 13K are arranged close to the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10. By making the developing units 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K thin, the photosensitive drum 10 can be downsized, and the image forming time can be shortened. Moreover, the thinned developing devices 13Y, 13
For the M, 13C, and 13K, the developer that has undergone the development processing is transported and collected by the developer transport mechanism having a flat configuration,
The developer supply stirring efficiency can be improved. A thin cleaning device is also very effective in reducing the size of the color image forming apparatus.

[0050]

In the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the developer scraped from the developing roller by the scraper after the development processing is carried out by the developer transport mechanism which is thin from the vicinity of the scraping member. Since the toner is forcibly conveyed and is returned to the developer stirring section, problems such as clogging of the developer in the vicinity of the scraping member in the developing device and poor developer stirring can be solved. It is possible to eliminate clogging of the developer, leakage of the developer, defective stirring of the developer, and the like.
Further, in a color image forming apparatus in which a plurality of developing devices are arranged on the peripheral surface of an image carrier, by providing a flat developer transport mechanism for each thin developing device, The clogging of the developer is eliminated, and the downsizing of the color image forming apparatus is achieved.

Further, in the cleaning device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the flatness and thinness of the cleaning device eliminates the defective conveyance of the developer in the cleaning device, thereby enabling downsizing of the image forming apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram showing an example of a color image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an image forming unit around a photosensitive drum.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a developing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a developer transport mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the developer transport mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an operation of a carrying member of the developer carrying mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing another embodiment of the moving means of the developer transport mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of each color image forming apparatus of a sequential transfer system and a batch transfer system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Photosensitive drum (image bearing member) 13Y, 13M, 13C, 13K Developing device 130K, 190 Housing 131K Developing sleeve (developing roller) 134K Scraper (scraping member) 136K, 137K Conveying screw 138K Toner supply roller 19 Cleaning device 30 Developing Agent recovery chamber 31 Lid member 32 Fixing member (frame) 33,193 Developer transport mechanism 34,194 Support member 35,195 Feed member 36 Transport member 37a, 37b, 196a, 196b Slot 38a, 39a, 197a, 198a Crankshaft Parts 38b, 39b, 197b, 198b Rotation center shaft part 191 Cleaning blade (removing means) 192 Shield roller 199 Toner recovery screw

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A developing roller that carries the developer in a housing that contains the developer and conveys the developer to a developing area, and a supply unit that agitates and supplies the developer toward the developing roller.
An image forming apparatus for developing a latent image formed on an image bearing member by a developing device having a scraping member for scraping off the developer after development processing attached on the developing roller, wherein the developing roller is provided by the scraping member. A developer transport mechanism for accommodating the developer scraped from the surface, transporting the developer to the upper part of the developer supply upstream side of the supply means, and feeding the developer into the developer stirring section is provided. Image forming apparatus. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the developer transport mechanism is provided on an upper portion of the housing. 3. The developer transport mechanism is provided in a flat developer collecting chamber, and the developer scraped from the developing roller by the scraping member is reciprocated by the reciprocating motion to develop along the bottom of the developer collecting chamber. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the image forming apparatus is conveyed to an upper portion on the upstream side of the agent supply and is introduced into a developer stirring section. 4. The developer transport mechanism is reciprocally driven to move in a direction away from the scraping member,
The developer is moved along the bottom surface of the developer recovery chamber to convey the developer in the direction of the developer agitating portion, and is moved away from the bottom surface of the developer recovery chamber at the time of returning to move toward the scraping member. 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 5. The developing device is a plurality of developing devices that accommodate toners of different colors, and the image forming device is a color image forming device in which the plurality of developing devices are arranged around an image carrier. Claim 1 characterized by the above.
5. The image forming apparatus according to any one of items 4 to 4. 6. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a cleaning device that removes a developer remaining on an image bearing member after transfer by a removing means and conveys the developer to a collecting section, and collects the developer removed by the removing means. Then, the image forming apparatus is provided with a movable developer transport mechanism that transports the developer in a direction away from the removing unit and sends the developer to the collecting unit. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the developer transport mechanism is provided in a flat housing of the cleaning device. 8. The developer carrying mechanism is reciprocally driven to move along a bottom surface of the housing to carry the developer toward a collecting portion when the developer is moved forward in a direction away from the removing means. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image forming apparatus moves away from the bottom surface of the housing when returning to the removing unit.