JPH10312138A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device which prevents waste toner from soiling a toner-image carrier and the inside of the device. SOLUTION: The image forming device holds a toner image 7c on the toner- image carrier 1, in the form of a closed-loop belt, stretched by oppositely- disposed first and second toner-image-carrier rollers 2a and 2b, respectively, in a direction perpendicular or parallel to the direction in which printing paper 9 is carried. The device transfers the toner image 7c, held on the toner-image carrier 1, to the printing paper 9 by means of a transfer opposite-roller 8 in the direction perpendicular or parallel to the direction in which the printing paper 9 is carried. Further, it removes residual toner on the toner-image carrier 1 by means of a cleaning unit 3 after the transfer, and stores the toner, removed by the cleaning unit 3, into a waste-toner recovery container 11. In the device, the cleaning unit 3 is disposed outside the second toner-image-carrier roller 2b and in contact with the toner-image carrier 1, and the waste-toner recovery container 11 is disposed below the cleaning unit 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of transferring a toner image carried on a toner image carrier to a printing paper in a direction perpendicular or parallel to a conveying direction of the printing paper and transferring the toner image to the printing paper. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for fixing a toner image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, toner-type image forming apparatuses capable of forming clear images with high resolution, such as laser printers, have become widespread. Among such toner-type image forming apparatuses, as proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 7-328600, the toner image carrier is moved while moving the toner image carrier in a direction orthogonal to the printing paper conveyance direction. An orthogonal transfer type image forming apparatus that rubs on a printing paper and transfers a toner image in small steps one by one is very suitable for promoting miniaturization of a product due to its configuration. Hereinafter, a conventional image forming apparatus using the orthogonal transfer method will be described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional image forming apparatus of the orthogonal transfer type, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a conventional image forming apparatus of the orthogonal transfer type. 2 and 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a toner image carrier formed of a photoreceptor belt, 2a denotes a first toner image carrier roller, 2b denotes a second toner image carrier roller, 3 denotes a cleaning device, and 4 denotes a static eliminator. Reference numeral 5 denotes a charger, 6 denotes an exposure device, 7 denotes a developing device, 7a denotes a toner, 7b denotes a developing roller, 7c denotes a toner image, 8 denotes a transfer opposing roller, 9 denotes printing paper, 10 denotes a transfer plate, and 11 denotes waste toner. It is a collection container.

The arrangement, operation, and the like of the image forming apparatus configured as described above will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, around the toner image carrier 1 whose surface is coated with a layer of an organic photoconductive material, the charger 5, the rotation direction of the toner image carrier 1 (the direction of arrow A), A developing device 7, a cleaning device 3, a static eliminator 4 and the like are arranged, and the toner image carrier 1
An exposing device 6 for irradiating a laser beam 6a is disposed above the.

When the toner image carrier 1 is rotated in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the print paper 9 (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 2 and the transport direction X of the print paper in FIG. 3) as indicated by an arrow A, the charger 5 is turned on. The portion that has passed is charged, and the laser beam 6
An electrostatic latent image is formed on the portion irradiated with a. When the toner 7a is pressed against the portion where the electrostatic latent image is formed by the developing roller 7b, visible toner images 7c appear on the toner image carrier 1 one after another. Next, when the transfer opposing roller 8 is moved in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction X of the printing paper 9, the toner image 7 c is transferred to the printing paper 9.

As described above, an image can be formed on the printing paper 9 with the toner 7a. However, during the transfer operation, the toner image 7c on the toner image carrier 1 is not transferred to the printing paper 9 and the toner image is not transferred. Since the toner may remain on the body 1, there is a problem that the remaining toner becomes stained at the next development, and the stain adheres to the printing paper at the time of transfer. As a countermeasure, it is necessary to attach a cleaning device that comes into contact with the toner image carrier 1 to remove the toner remaining on the toner image carrier 1. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a cleaning device 3 is provided above the toner image carrier 1 to perform cleaning.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional image forming apparatus, since the cleaning device 3 is disposed above the toner image carrier 1, the cleaning device 3 and the waste toner collecting container 11 are accumulated inside the cleaning device 3. Waste toner is removed, the cleaning device 3 and the waste toner collecting container 11 are removed.
When the toner image carrier 1 is filled with waste toner and overflows with waste toner, the waste toner may spill on the toner image carrier 1, and the spilled waste toner may deteriorate the print quality. Had the problem that

In this image forming apparatus, it is required that the toner image carrier is not stained by waste toner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of eliminating contamination of a toner image carrier by waste toner.

[0010]

In order to achieve this object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention comprises a first and an oppositely disposed image forming apparatus.
By bringing the first toner image carrier roller into contact with the developing roller on a closed loop belt-shaped toner image carrier stretched by the second toner image carrier roller in a direction perpendicular or parallel to the transport direction of the printing paper. A toner image is carried, and the toner image carried on the toner image carrier is pressed perpendicularly to the conveyance direction of the printing paper while pressing the toner image carrier against the printing paper by a transfer opposing roller provided in a loop of the toner image carrier. An image forming apparatus that transfers the toner to the printing paper in a parallel direction, removes the toner remaining on the toner image carrier after the transfer is completed by a cleaning device, and stores the toner removed by the cleaning device in a waste toner collecting container; A position outside the second toner image carrier roller disposed at a position facing the first toner image carrier roller and in contact with the toner image carrier. Place a leaning device has a structure of arranging the waste toner collection container below the cleaning device.

As a result, an image forming apparatus capable of eliminating contamination of the toner image carrier by waste toner can be obtained.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the first aspect of the present invention, the first and second toner image bearing rollers disposed opposite to each other in a direction perpendicular or parallel to the transport direction of the printing paper. A first closed loop belt-like toner image carrier
The toner image is carried by bringing the toner image carrier roller into contact with the developing roller, and the toner image carried by the toner image carrier is carried by the transfer opposing roller provided in the loop of the toner image carrier. The toner is transferred to the printing paper in a direction perpendicular or parallel to the transport direction of the printing paper while pressing the body against the printing paper.After the transfer is completed, the toner remaining on the toner image carrier is removed by a cleaning device, and the toner removed by the cleaning device is removed. An image forming apparatus accommodated in a waste toner collecting container, wherein the image forming apparatus contacts a toner image carrier outside a second toner image carrier roller disposed at a position facing a first toner image carrier roller. The cleaning device is disposed at the position, and the waste toner collecting container is disposed below the cleaning device. By arranging the cleaning device on the side, even when removing the waste toner accumulated in the cleaning device or when the cleaning device is full of the waste toner, the toner does not spill on the toner image carrier or inside the apparatus. Further, by disposing the waste toner collecting container below the cleaning device, the toner image carrier can be removed even when the waste toner collected in the waste toner collecting container is removed or when the waste toner collecting container is full of waste toner. This has the effect that toner does not spill on the top.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a toner image carrier 1, a first toner image carrier roller 2a, a second toner image carrier roller 2b, a cleaning device 3, a static eliminator 4, a charger 5, an exposure device 6, a laser beam 6a, The developing device 7, the toner 7a, the developing roller 7b, the toner image 7c, the transfer opposing roller 8, the printing paper 9, the transfer plate 10, and the waste toner collecting container 11 are the same as those in FIG.
Description is omitted.

The difference between the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
b, it is arranged at a position in contact with the toner image carrier 1, and the waste toner collecting container 11 is arranged below the cleaning device 3.

The operations of charging, exposing, developing, and transferring in the image forming apparatus configured as described above are the same as those of the conventional image forming apparatus. I do.

During the transfer operation, a substantial portion of the toner image 7c formed on the toner image carrier 1 during development is transferred onto the printing paper 9, but remains on the toner image carrier 1 after the transfer operation. The remaining toner is removed by the cleaning device 3 by rotating the toner image carrier 1 during the next development. The removed waste toner falls into a waste toner collecting container 11 provided below the cleaning device 3 and is collected.

Next, the arrangement of the developing device 7 and the cleaning device 3 will be described. First, the arrangement of the developing device 7 will be described. The toner 7a stored in the developing device 7 is
b, the toner image carrier 1 is rubbed, but if the roller is not disposed on the opposite side of the developing roller 7b across the toner image carrier 1, the contact between the developing roller 7b and the toner image carrier 1 becomes weak. This makes it difficult to uniformly apply the toner on the toner image carrier 1. A new roller may be provided on the opposite side of the developing roller 7b with the toner image carrier 1 interposed therebetween. However, an increase in the number of parts causes an increase in cost, and as shown in FIG. 2 in favor of 1
It is better to arrange the developing device 7 at the position of one of the two toner image carrier rollers 2a.

Next, the arrangement of the cleaning device 3 will be described. Since the transfer opposing roller 8 moves inside the toner image carrier 1 to transfer the toner image formed on the toner image carrier 1 to the printing paper 9, the cleaning device 3 is moved between the toner image carrier 1 and the printing paper 9. 9 cannot be arranged. If the waste toner is not removed by dropping it to the lower side of the toner image carrier 1, the toner image carrier 1 is contaminated by the waste toner. In this way, it is necessary to arrange the toner image carrier 1 at the other roller 2b among the plurality of toner image carrier rollers that support the toner image carrier 1. That is,
This is a position outside the second toner image carrier roller 2b and in contact with the toner image carrier 1. In addition, as described above,
The waste toner collecting container 11 is disposed below the cleaning device 3.

By arranging the developing device 7 and the cleaning device 3 in this manner, the waste toner can be removed so as to drop below the toner image carrier 1, so that the toner image carrier 1 is Dirty can be prevented.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the toner image is held outside the second toner image bearing roller 2b disposed at a position facing the first toner image bearing roller 2a. By disposing the cleaning device 3 at a position in contact with the body 1 and disposing the waste toner collecting container 11 below the cleaning device 3, it is possible to remove waste toner accumulated in the cleaning device 3 or the waste toner collecting container 11. When the cleaning device 3 and the waste toner collecting container 11 are full of the waste toner, the waste toner does not spill on the toner image carrier or the inside of the apparatus. Dirt can be prevented.
In the first embodiment, the toner image carrier 1 is rotated in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the printing paper 9, and the transfer opposing roller 8 is moved in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the printing paper 9, so that the toner image 7c is transferred to the printing paper 9, but the toner image carrier 1 is rotated in a direction parallel to the conveying direction of the printing paper 9, and the transfer opposing roller 8 is moved in a direction parallel to the conveying direction of the printing paper 9. The same operation and effect can be obtained in such a configuration.

[0021]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the toner image is formed on the outer side of the second toner image bearing roller disposed at the position facing the first toner image bearing roller. A cleaning device is disposed at a position in contact with the carrier, and a waste toner collecting container is disposed below the cleaning device to remove waste toner accumulated in the cleaning device or the waste toner collecting container. When the waste toner collection container is full of waste toner, the waste toner does not spill on the toner image carrier, so that the advantageous effect that contamination of the toner image carrier by waste toner can be prevented can be achieved. can get.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional image forming apparatus of the orthogonal transfer type.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part showing a main part of a conventional image forming apparatus of an orthogonal transfer system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 toner image carrier 2a first toner image carrier roller 2b second toner image carrier roller 3 cleaning device 4 static eliminator 5 charger 6 exposure device 6a laser beam 7 developing device 7a toner 7b developing roller 7c toner image 8 Transfer facing roller 9 Printing paper 10 Transfer plate 11 Waste toner collection container

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masashi Ogawa 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 72) Inventor Shinichi Kizu 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Pref.Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yukinori Hara 1006 Kadoma Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Pref.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A closed-loop belt-shaped toner image carrier stretched in a direction orthogonal or parallel to a printing paper transport direction by first and second toner image carrier rollers disposed opposite to each other. The toner image is carried by bringing the toner image carrier roller into contact with the developing roller, and the toner image carried on the toner image carrier is transferred by a transfer opposing roller provided in a loop of the toner image carrier. The toner image carrier is transferred onto the printing paper in a direction orthogonal or parallel to the transport direction of the printing paper while pressing the printing medium against the printing paper. After the transfer is completed, the toner remaining on the toner image carrier is removed by a cleaning device, and the cleaning is performed. An image forming apparatus of an orthogonal transfer type for storing toner removed by a container in a waste toner collecting container, wherein the image forming apparatus is located at a position facing the first toner image carrier roller. The cleaning device may be disposed at a position outside the second toner image carrier roller and in contact with the toner image carrier, and the waste toner collecting container may be disposed below the cleaning device. Characteristic image forming apparatus.