JPH10143052A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress temperature rising and to prevent toner from being firmly stuck to the inside of an image forming unit by preventing air warmed by a fixing unit from staying near the toner carrying part of the image forming unit in an image forming device. SOLUTION: A duct X is formed so that air may flow on the outside of the side surface on the fixing unit 5 side of a cleaning unit 7 where toner scraped by a cleaning blade 8 is carried by a carrying fan 3 provided near the image forming part on the downside of a carrying guide 4. When the fan 3 is rotated and transfer paper does not exist at the upper part of the fan 3, the flow of air along the duct X is generated and the air flows on the outside of the side surface on the fixing unit 5 side of the cleaning unit 7. Thus, a situation that the warmed air makes the temperature of the toner carrying part rise and the toner is stuck inside the toner carrying part is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-119577, ozone generated in a transfer charger or a separation charger is suctioned and eliminated by using a transport fan. An image forming apparatus having such a configuration is known.

However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, the air flow does not flow directly on the side surface of the toner conveying section of the image forming unit. Therefore, the toner conveying section is affected by the heat of fixing the image to the paper in the fixing device. However, there is a problem that the temperature of the inner wall rises and the toner adheres.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides an image forming apparatus capable of preventing warm air from staying in the apparatus, suppressing a rise in temperature, and preventing toner from sticking in an image forming unit. With the goal.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, wherein an air flow path is formed in a side surface portion of a toner conveying section on a side near a heating element of an image forming section, A conveyance fan for sucking a sheet is arranged near the lower portion of the air flow path, and air flows through a flow path on a side surface of the toner conveyance section by an air current generated by rotation of the conveyance fan. I do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an inlet and an outlet for an air flow generated by the rotation of the transport fan are provided.
It is characterized in that it is arranged at a position in contact with the outside air.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a main part of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming unit in FIG. 1 does not show some components and elements, but attaches toner from a developing roller of a developing unit (not shown) to an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 1. The toner image is transferred to transfer paper by a transfer roller 2, and the transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred is sucked by a transport fan 3, and is sent over a transport guide 4 to a fixing unit 5 on the left side in FIG. To apply heat and pressure to fuse the toner image onto the transfer paper and discharge it as copy paper out of the apparatus. In the figure, 6 is a charging roller, 7
Is a cleaning unit, 8 is a cleaning blade,
9 is a toner conveying screw. The transfer residual toner adheres to the photoreceptor 1 after the transfer, is scraped off by the cleaning blade 8, and is conveyed out of the unit by the toner conveying screw 9. In the figure, 10
Denotes a static elimination needle, 11 denotes a fan, and 12 denotes a duct. The fan 11 sucks air inside the device through a duct and discharges the air outside the device.

The conveying fan 3 provided below the conveying guide 4 and near the image forming unit is a side surface on the fixing unit 5 side of the cleaning unit 7 to which the toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 8 is conveyed as described above. A flow path X is formed on the outside of the device so that air flows. As a result, when the transport fan 3 is rotating and the transfer paper is not above the transport fan 3, air flows along the flow path X, and the air flows outside the side surface of the cleaning unit 7 on the fixing unit 5 side. Flows. As a result, the toner is heated by the heat of the fixing heater in the fixing unit 5, the warmed air stagnates in the apparatus, the temperature of the toner conveying unit in the cleaning unit 7 rises, and the toner adheres to the toner conveying unit. Can be prevented.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of another embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment,
The inlet 13 and the outlet 14 of the airflow created by the transport fan 3 are
As shown in the figure, it is provided at a position where it comes into contact with air outside the machine,
As a result, the cooling effect is further improved, and the occurrence of toner sticking in the toner conveying section in the cleaning unit 7 can be completely prevented.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, an air flow path is formed in a side surface portion of a toner conveying unit on a side of an image forming unit near a heating element, and a sheet is sucked. Is arranged in the vicinity of the lower side of the air flow path, and the air flow generated by the rotation of the conveyance fan causes the air to flow through the flow path on the side surface of the toner conveying section. There is an effect that air is prevented from stagnating in the vicinity of the toner conveying section, temperature rise in the toner conveying section is suppressed, and occurrence of toner sticking can be prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, as described above, the suction port and the discharge port of the flow of air generated by the rotation of the transport fan are arranged at positions where they come into contact with the outside air, respectively. By using the air flowing on the side surface as outside air, the cooling effect is further enhanced, and there is an effect that the occurrence of toner sticking in the toner conveying section can be completely prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a main part of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of another embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 photoconductor 2 transfer roller 3 transfer fan 4 transfer guide 5 fixing unit 6 charging roller 7 cleaning unit 8 cleaning blade 9 toner transfer screw 10 static elimination needle 11 fan 12 duct 13 suction port 14 discharge port X air flow path

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An air flow path is formed in a side portion of a toner transport unit on a side near a heating element of an image forming unit, and a transport fan for sucking a sheet is disposed near a lower portion of the air flow path. An image forming apparatus, wherein air flows through a flow path on a side surface of the toner conveying unit by an air current generated by rotation of the conveying fan. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inlet and an outlet for an air flow generated by rotation of the transport fan are arranged at positions respectively in contact with outside air.