JPH1063158A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make an image forming device compact, to facilitate the maintenance work thereof and to simplify the driving source of the discharge mechanism and the carrying means of waste toner by coupling a first discharge means and a second discharge means and discharging the waste toner to a waste toner housing container from the coupling part by a third discharge means. SOLUTION: The waste toner accumulated in an intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 140 is carried by the rotation of a carrying spring screw 144 arranged on the inside of a discharge pipe 143 being the second discharge means and discharged to a coupling member 310. The waste toner accumulated in a cleaning device 100 is carried by the rotation of a carrying spring screw 104 arranged on the inside of a discharge pipe 103 being the first discharge means and discharged to the coupling member 310. Then, the waste toner discharged to the coupling member 310 is carried by the rotation of a carrying spring screw 304 arranged on the inside of a discharge pipe 303 being the third discharge means and discharged to the common waste toner housing container 300 through the pipe 303.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile or the like, and a plurality of charging means, image exposing means, developing means, intermediate transfer means, cleaning apparatus, etc. around an image forming body. And an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus that forms a color image by superposing a toner image during one rotation of an image forming body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one method of forming a multi-color image, image formation of an image corresponding to each color is sequentially repeated during one rotation of an image forming body to form a toner image of each color. 2. Description of the Related Art A color image forming apparatus that forms a color image by superimposing on a body is known.

However, in such an apparatus, a plurality of charging means, image exposing means, and developing means are arranged on the peripheral surface of the image forming body, and a space is also required for a transfer material transport area and a cleaning apparatus. Insufficient peripheral space,
Therefore, there are drawbacks that layout is difficult, a large-sized image forming body having a long peripheral surface is required, and the balance is poor.

As one method for solving this shortage of space, the present inventors have made the base of the image forming body transparent, accommodated each image exposure means inside the image forming body, and A transfer surface of a transfer material conveyed from a tangential direction to a transfer area by using an intermediate transfer unit at a position away from a peripheral surface of the image forming body. The above-mentioned apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-765.
No. 60, for example.

[0005]

However, in the image forming apparatus proposed above, since the toner image is carried on both the image forming body and the intermediate transfer means, a cleaning means for cleaning the transfer residual toner after the transfer is provided. A container is required to be provided on both sides and accommodating waste toner from each of the cleaning means.

In order to solve this problem, it is considered to provide a common waste toner storage container and store the waste toner from each cleaning unit in the common waste toner storage container. Although the simplification is achieved, a discharge mechanism using a waste toner discharge unit (discharge pipe) for discharging waste toner to a common waste toner storage container from each cleaning unit, and a conveyance for conveying waste toner through the discharge unit This necessitates a driving unit for the transporting means and the transporting means, which causes a problem that the apparatus becomes complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has been made to reduce the size of the apparatus, simplify the maintenance work, and simplify the waste toner discharging mechanism, the conveying means, and the driving source of the conveying means. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a charging means for charging an image forming body around a rotating image forming body, and an image exposure for forming a latent image by exposing the charged image forming body to an image. Means and a developing means for developing a latent image formed on the image forming body to form a toner image are arranged, and during one rotation of the image forming body, the charging means is used for the image forming body. A plurality of toner images are superimposed on the image forming body by sequentially repeating formation of a toner image by charging, image exposure by the image exposure unit, and development by the development unit,
In the color image forming apparatus for temporarily transferring the superimposed toner image to an intermediate transfer unit and then transferring the toner image to a transfer material, and fixing the toner image transferred to the transfer material, a first method for cleaning the image forming body is provided. Cleaning means,
A second cleaning unit that cleans the intermediate transfer unit; and a common waste toner storage container that collects waste toner from the first cleaning unit and waste toner from the second cleaning unit. A first discharge unit for discharging waste toner from the first cleaning unit to the waste toner storage container, and a second discharge unit for discharging waste toner to the waste toner storage container from the second cleaning unit are provided. Connecting the first discharging means and the second discharging means at a connecting portion provided in the middle of a discharging path;
The image forming apparatus is characterized in that waste toner is discharged from the coupling portion to the waste toner storage container by a third discharge unit.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The description of the present application does not limit the technical scope of the claims and the meaning of terms. Also, the following assertive description in the embodiment of the present invention indicates the best mode, and does not limit the meaning of the terms of the present invention or the technical scope.

An image forming process and configuration of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a color image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating a coupling unit and a conveying unit, and FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a support structure of the image forming body, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a support structure of the image forming body.
FIG. 7 is a front view showing a support structure of the intermediate transfer belt, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing a support structure of the intermediate transfer belt.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a photosensitive drum 10, which is a drum-shaped image forming member, has a cylindrical light-transmitting resin base formed of a light-transmitting member made of a light-transmitting acrylic resin, for example. A transparent conductive layer and an organic photoreceptor layer (OP
C) is formed on the outer periphery of the substrate, and is rotated counterclockwise as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1 with the conductive layer grounded.

In the present embodiment, it is sufficient that the photoconductor layer of the photosensitive drum has an exposure sensitivity capable of generating an appropriate contrast with respect to image exposure light. Therefore, the light transmittance of the translucent resin substrate of the photosensitive drum in this embodiment is 100
%, And may have such a characteristic that a certain amount of light is absorbed when the exposure beam is transmitted. As a material of the light-transmitting substrate, an acrylic resin, particularly one polymerized using a methyl methacrylate monomer, is preferably used because it is excellent in transparency, strength, precision, surface properties, and the like, but is used for other general optical members and the like Various light-transmitting resins such as fluorine, polyester, polycarbonate, and polyethylene terephthalate used can be used. Further, if the substrate has a light-transmitting property with respect to the exposure light,
It may be colored. The refractive index of these resins is approximately 1.
5

As a method of manufacturing the base, a high-precision element cylinder can be manufactured by a centrifugal polymerization method. This production method is to synthesize a plastic material monomer, add a catalyst for polymerization, pour it into a cylindrical mold, seal and fix it with side plates, rotate it, and heat it moderately Promotes uniform polymerization. After completion of the polymerization, the mixture is cooled, the obtained transparent resin substrate is removed from the mold, cut, and if necessary, a finishing process is performed to produce a light-transmitting resin substrate for the photosensitive drum of the image forming apparatus (centrifugal weight). legal).

As the material of the light-transmitting resin substrate of the light-transmitting plastic molded by centrifugal polymerization, as described above, a material obtained by polymerizing a methacrylic acid methyl ester monomer is used to obtain transparency, strength, precision, surface properties, etc. In addition, polyethyl methacrylate, polybutyl methacrylate, polyethyl acrylate, polybutyl acrylate, polystyrene, polyimide, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, or the like, or a copolymer thereof can be used. In the centrifugal polymerization method, since the roundness is determined by the mold used for molding, a highly accurate substrate can be obtained. Also,
The uneven thickness changes due to uneven rotation and viscosity during polymerization and heating conditions during polymerization.

By using a plastic cylindrical light-transmitting resin substrate produced by the above-described production method, a photosensitive drum having a uniform thickness and excellent cylindricality and circularity of the cylindrical substrate can be obtained. Provided.

Next, as a method for forming the light-transmitting conductive layer, a vacuum evaporation method, an active reaction evaporation method, various sputtering methods, and various CVD methods are used to form indium tin oxide (IT).
O), alumina, tin oxide, lead oxide, indium oxide, copper iodide, or a thin film of a light-transmitting material such as Au, Ag, Ni, or Al is used. Preferably, a conductive resin layer or the like made of the above-mentioned light-transmitting conductive (for example, ITO) fine particles and a binder resin is used by a dip coating method or a spray coating method. In this case, in order to enhance the translucency, the fine particles constituting the layer are controlled to be about 500 Å or less in the Rayleigh scattering (scattering by fine particles having a size of 1/10 or less of the exposure wavelength) region where there is almost no light scattering. Is preferred. In particular, it is preferable to use conductive fine particles having a primary particle diameter of 400 angstroms or less and a distribution of particle radius controlled to ± 100 angstroms or less as a main constituent material.

As the photoconductor layer, various organic photoconductor layers (OPC) having a two-layer structure including a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer or a single layer structure can be used.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a scorotron charger as a charging means for corona discharge, which is charged by a grid maintained at a predetermined potential with respect to the above-mentioned organic photoreceptor layer of the photoreceptor drum 10 and corona discharge by a discharge electrode. Do
A uniform potential is applied to the photosensitive drum 10.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an image exposure means, that is, the photosensitive drum 1
This is an exposure optical system composed of LEDs arranged in the 0 axis direction and a SELFOC lens that is an equal-magnification image forming system. Image signals of each color read by a separate image reading device are sequentially taken out from a memory. Each of the exposure optical systems 1
2 are respectively input as electric signals.

Each of the exposure optical systems 12 is mounted on a support member 20 provided as an optical system support means, and is housed inside the base of the photosensitive drum 10.

Reference numerals 13Y to 13K denote developing units as developing means for accommodating developers of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K), respectively. A developing sleeve 130 that rotates in the same direction as the photosensitive drum 10 in the developing area while maintaining a predetermined gap.

Each of the above-mentioned developing units makes the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 10 formed by the charging by the scorotron charger 11 and the image exposure by the exposure optical system 12 non-contact by applying a developing bias voltage. Develop reversely in the state.

An original image is temporarily stored in an image reading apparatus separate from the present apparatus by using an image read by an image sensor or an image edited by a computer as an image signal for each of Y, M, C and K colors. And stored.

When the image recording starts, the photosensitive drum driving motor starts to rotate the photosensitive drum 10 in a counterclockwise direction, and at the same time, the application of a potential to the photosensitive drum 10 starts by the charging action of the scorotron charger 11 (Y). Is done.

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

The latent image is reversal-developed by the developing device 13 (Y) in a state where the developer on the developing sleeve is not in contact, and a yellow (Y) toner image is formed in accordance with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 10.

Next, the photosensitive drum 10 further includes a scorotron charger 11 on the yellow (Y) toner image.
The potential is given by the charging action of (M), and the exposure optical system 1
Exposure is performed with an electric signal corresponding to the second color signal of 2 (M), that is, the image signal of magenta (M), and the developing device 1
The magenta (M) toner image is sequentially superimposed on the yellow (Y) toner image by non-contact reversal development by 3 (M).

By the same process, the scorotron charger 11 (C), the exposure optical system 12 (C) and the developing device 13
(C) further produces a cyan (C) toner image corresponding to the third color signal, and the scorotron charger 11
(K), exposure optical system 12 (K) and developing unit 13 (K)
As a result, a black (K) toner image corresponding to the fourth color signal is sequentially superposed, and a color toner image is formed on the peripheral surface within one rotation of the photosensitive drum 10.

Exposure of the organic photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 10 by each of the exposure optical systems 12 is performed from the inside of the drum through a substrate transparent to the above-mentioned exposure wavelength.
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. To stabilize the temperature in the photosensitive drum 10 and prevent the temperature from rising due to the heat generated by each exposure optical system 12, a material having good thermal conductivity is used for the support member 20. In the case of (1), measures such as radiating heat to the outside through the heat pipe can be suppressed to a level that does not cause any trouble. Further, at the time of the developing operation by each developing device 13, a developing bias in which a direct current or further alternating current is applied to the developing sleeve 130 is applied, and a jumping development is performed by a one-component or two-component developer contained in the developing device. Non-contact reversal development is performed on the photosensitive drum 10 that grounds the translucent conductive layer.

The color toner image formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is once transferred onto the peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 provided as an intermediate transfer means.

The intermediate transfer belt 14 has a thickness of 0.5 to 2.0.
mm, an endless rubber belt having a resistance of 10 ⁸ to 10 ¹² Ω · cm of silicon rubber or urethane rubber, and a resistance value of 10 ¹⁰ to 10 ¹⁶ Ωcm, thickness 5
It has a two-layer structure with a 50 μm fluorine coating. This layer also preferably has a similar semiconductivity. Instead of the rubber belt substrate, semiconductive polyester, polystyrene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate or the like having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.5 mm can be used. Intermediate transfer belt 14 has rollers 14A, 14B, 14C and 14D
And is circulated clockwise in synchronization with the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 10 by the power transmitted to the roller 14D.

The intermediate transfer belt 14 has a roller 14A.
The belt surface between the roller 14B and the roller 14B is in contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10, while the belt surface on the outer periphery of the roller 14C is in contact with the transfer roller 15, which is a transfer member. Has formed.

The color toner image adhered to the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is first transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 14 described above.
At a contact point between the intermediate transfer belt 14 and the intermediate transfer belt 14 by applying a bias voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner to the roller 14B.
Is transferred to the peripheral surface side of. That is, the color toner image on the drum is conveyed to the transfer area without scattering the toner by the guidance of the grounded roller 14A, and is efficiently transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 14 side by applying a bias voltage of 1 to 3 kV to the roller 14B. .

On the other hand, the transfer paper P is carried out by the operation of the paper feed roller 17 of a paper feed cassette (not shown) and fed to the timing roller 18, and synchronized with the transport of the color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 14. The paper is fed to the transfer area of the transfer roller 15.

The transfer roller 15 is connected to the intermediate transfer belt 14.
The transfer paper P fed in the counterclockwise direction is synchronized with the peripheral speed of the intermediate transfer in the transfer area formed by the nip portion between the transfer roller 15 and the roller 14C in the ground state. The color toner images are successively transferred onto the transfer paper P by applying a bias voltage of the opposite polarity to that of the toner of 1 to 3 kV to the transfer roller 15 in close contact with the color toner image on the belt 14.

The transfer paper P to which the color toner image has been transferred is neutralized, conveyed to the fixing device 91 via the conveyance plate 19, sandwiched and conveyed between the heat roller 91A and the pressure roller 91B, and heated. After the toner is fused and fixed, the toner is discharged to the outside of the apparatus via a discharge roller 92.

For example, a box-shaped waste toner container 30
Numeral 0 is disposed on the lower surface of the transport plate 19 at the bottom of the image forming apparatus.

The toner remaining on the peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 after the transfer is transferred to a cleaning blade 1 provided in an intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 140 as a cleaning means (second cleaning means) for the intermediate transfer belt.
Cleaning is performed by 41. The waste toner accumulated in the intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 140 is discharged by a screw 142 to a discharge pipe 143 as a second discharge unit.
Is conveyed by the rotation of a conveying spring screw 144 as a second conveying means provided inside the discharge pipe 143, and is discharged to the connecting member 310 which is a connecting portion.

Further, the toner remaining on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10 after the transfer enters the cleaning device 100 as cleaning means (first cleaning means) for the photosensitive drum, or contacts the photosensitive drum 10. The cleaning blade 101 made of the rubber material is scraped into the cleaning device 100. Cleaning device 1
The waste toner accumulated in 00 is conveyed by a screw 102 through a discharge pipe 103 as a first discharge means, by rotation of a conveyance spring screw 104 as a first conveyance means provided inside the discharge pipe 103,
It is discharged to the connecting member 310 which is a connecting portion.

The waste toner conveyed by the conveying spring screws 104 and 144 and discharged through the discharge pipes 103 and 143 to the connecting member 310 as a connecting portion is provided inside the discharge pipe 303 as a third discharge means. The toner is conveyed by rotation of a conveying spring screw 304 as a third conveying means, and is discharged through a discharge pipe 303 to a common waste toner container 300 for collecting waste toner.

The connecting member 310 is mounted on a mounting plate 75 fixed to the rear plate 71 of the apparatus main body. The gear GM fixed to the drive shaft of the drive motor M is rotated by receiving the drive of the drive motor M as a drive source attached to the rear side plate 71, is connected to the gear GM, and is rotatably attached to the coupling member 310. The gears G1, G2, G3 are driven to rotate.

The above-mentioned transport spring screw 104 has a gear G
1 and rotated by the rotation of the gear G1. The transport spring screw 144 is connected to the gear G2,
It is rotated by the rotation of the gear G2. The transport spring screw 304 is coupled to the gear G3, and is rotated by the rotation of the gear G3. The drive motor M is used as a common drive source.

Conveying spring screws 104, 144, 30
4 rotates the waste toner to discharge pipes 103, 143,
303 is conveyed. The transport direction is gears G1, G2,
It is determined by the rotation direction of G3 and the winding direction of the springs of the conveying spring screws 104, 144, 304 attached to the gears G1, G2, G3, and is discharged as shown by the solid arrow in FIG. 2 and the dotted arrow in FIG. The conveying direction of the waste toner inside the pipes 103 and 143 is from the first and second cleaning means toward the connecting portion, and the conveying direction of the waste toner inside the discharge pipe 303 is from the connecting portion to the waste toner container 3.
It is transported in the direction of 00.

With the above configuration, the size of the apparatus can be reduced and maintenance work such as replacement of a waste toner storage container can be simplified, the discharge mechanism using a waste toner discharge pipe can be simplified, and waste toner can be removed. The simplification of the transport means and the drive source of the transport means can be achieved.

The photosensitive drum 10 from which the residual toner has been removed by the cleaning device 100 is uniformly charged by the Y scorotron charger 11, and enters the next image forming cycle.

According to FIG. 4 and FIG.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a pair of front and rear members fixed to the support shaft 30 of the photosensitive drum 10. Each exposure optical system 12
Both ends are adjusted so as to have a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the photosensitive surface via a wedge-shaped attaching member 21, and are fixed to the adjusted position by bonding.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 10 has flange members 10A and 10B provided at both ends thereof rotatably supported by the support member 20 via bearings B, respectively, and is driven by a gear 10G provided in the flange member 10B. The support shaft 30 in the fixed state is rotated around the rotation center.

The photosensitive drum 10 and each exposure optical system 12 are integrated coaxially as a unit with the support shaft 30 as the center, and are formed in a U-shape with the support shaft 30 supporting the unit. The image forming unit 400 is supported by bearings between the symmetrical front and rear drum support plates 40 that are integrally connected.

The drum support plate 40 has a rail member 50 as a suspending means using a metal member such as iron or aluminum at the front and rear connection portions. The rail member 50 is provided in the main body of the apparatus. The support shaft 3 is inserted into and engaged with the guide member 60 to be in a suspended state.
0, therefore, the photosensitive drum 10 and each exposure optical system 1
2 is placed in a substantially predetermined setting position.

Further, when the support shaft 30 is inserted to a regular position, the shaft end 30B protruding from the rear drum support plate 40 from the suspended state described above has a seat provided on the rear plate 71 as an apparatus substrate. 72, and a shaft end 30A protruding from the front drum support plate 40 is supported by a screw member 82 taperedly fitted to a receiving seat 81 provided on the drum support substrate 80, so that the photosensitive drum 10
Is precisely regulated to a regular set position, and the gear 10G meshes with the drive gear, while each exposure optical system 12 further forms a through pin P1 provided on the shaft end 30B in the receiving seat 72. By being engaged with the V-shaped groove, it is accurately regulated at a predetermined angular position with respect to the apparatus main body, and becomes a fixed state.

After that, the lead wire 1 of each exposure optical system 12
2A is connected from the hole 20B of the support member 20 on the front side and each of the windows 20A to the power supply unit through the notch 40A of the drum support plate 40. Each window 20A through which the lead wire 12A passes
Is sealed so that toner and the like do not enter inside.

The upper and lower reference holes H1 of the drum support substrate 80 are engaged with a pair of reference pins P2 of the front side plate 70 as a front device substrate, and the mounting positions thereof are determined. The scorotron charger 11 having a plurality of windows 80A and having the above-mentioned rod shape is inserted from the outside of the drum supporting substrate 80, and the photosensitive drum 10 Is set at a predetermined interval position, and is fixed and supported by screwing with the electrodes connected.

Therefore, when the screw member 82 is removed in a state where the scorotron chargers 11 are removed through the windows 80A, the drum supporting substrate 80 only releases the screw holes at a plurality of positions. 70.

From this state, the drum support plate 40
Is pulled out by sliding the rail member 50 under the guidance of the guide member 60, the image forming unit 400 in which the photosensitive drum 10 and each of the exposure optical systems 12 are integrated moves in the horizontal direction, and the front side plate 70 as an apparatus substrate is moved. It is possible to take it out of the apparatus main body from the opening 70A serving as the image forming body opening.

Prior to the start of the operation of attaching and detaching the photosensitive drum 10 supported by the drum support plate 40 to and from the apparatus main body, each press-contact operation of the intermediate transfer belt 14 and the blades arranged around the photosensitive drum 10 is performed. Is already released, the cleaning device 100 is 1 to 10 m
m, and the photosensitive drum 10
Are retracted to a position of about 30 to 50 mm at which the developing device 13 can be pulled out in the same direction as a pulling-out direction of the photosensitive drum 10, which will be described later. Shall be attributed to the state.

According to FIG. 6 and FIG.
Reference numerals 4A to 14D denote each of the front and rear belt support plates 4 formed integrally in a U-shape while the intermediate transfer belt 14 is stretched by the bias of the tension roller T.
5 between the bearings.

The belt support plate 45 is formed in a U-shape and sandwiched together with the intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 140 between each of the asymmetrical front and rear belt support substrates 85 integrally connected. It is one.

The front belt support board 85 has a reference hole H2 as a suspending means at the upper and lower rising portions 85A, while the rear belt support board 85 has a pair of reference pins P4 as the suspending means at the back. And a reference pin P provided with the reference hole H2 of the front plate 70 on the front side.
On the other hand, the intermediate transfer belt 14 is set at a predetermined position by fixing the above-mentioned reference pin P4 with an upper screw engaged with a reference hole H3 provided in a rear side plate 71 as a rear device board. A first transfer area for transferring a toner image from the photosensitive drum 10 to the intermediate transfer belt 14 by pressing against the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10, and further pressing the intermediate transfer belt by pressing the transfer roller 15. A second transfer area for transferring the toner image to the transfer material is formed from 14.

The above-mentioned belt supporting substrate 85 is provided on the front and rear side plates 7.
0 and 71 are supported on a front side of the apparatus main body via a pair of guide rails 200 which can be extended and contracted in two steps called an accuride rail (trade name).

The belt support substrate 85 has a pair of front and rear guide plates 86 provided on the left and right sides, respectively, sandwiching the movable portion 200A of the guide rail 200 in a vertically slidable manner. The movable part 200A
However, in the vertical direction, the abutting plate 87 can be lowered until it abuts against the movable portion 200A.

The above-mentioned belt support substrate 85 is released from engagement with the above-described reference pins and the respective reference holes by slightly pulling out the entire surface of the apparatus main body after releasing the screw fixing member, and is slightly lowered. Therefore, in a state where each of the abutting plates 87 is mounted on the movable portion 200A, the guide rail 200 is extended to a large extent from the opening 70A serving as the image forming body opening of the front side plate 70 to the front surface of the apparatus main body. .
As a result, the intermediate transfer belt 14 is retracted from the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10 and is pulled out in a state where the pressure contact is released. Even when the belt is re-mounted, the guide rail 200 returns from the extended state and guides the tapered portion of each reference pin. As a result, the photosensitive drum 10 is slightly moved upward, and the operation of returning to the state of being pressed against the photosensitive drum 10 is automatically and reliably performed.

Accordingly, the photosensitive drum 10 is attached to the intermediate transfer belt 14 by an extremely simple attachment / detachment operation of the belt support substrate 85.
It is possible to remove the jammed paper remaining in the conveyance path by pulling out the belt support substrate 85, and to easily perform maintenance such as replacement and inspection of the intermediate transfer belt 14 without interfering with the belt support substrate 85.

Prior to the operation of pulling out the belt support substrate 85 from the apparatus main body, the pressing action of the transfer roller against the roller 14C for stretching the intermediate transfer belt 14 is released in advance, and after returning to the predetermined set position, the belt support substrate 85 is returned again. Placed in pressure contact.

Another example of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 8, FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another example of the image forming apparatus. Members having the same functions and structures as those described in the image forming apparatus are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Rollers 14A, 14E, 14C and 14D
The intermediate transfer belt 14 as an intermediate transfer unit stretched between the rollers is rotated about the axis of the roller 14C to the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. 8 and separated from the photosensitive drum 10a in the following image. The formation takes place.

The photosensitive drum 10a, which is an image forming body, has a cylindrical base provided inside and a photosensitive layer such as a conductive layer, an a-Si layer or an organic photosensitive layer (OPC) formed on the outer periphery of the base. And rotated counterclockwise as shown by the arrow in FIG.

Scorotron charger 11 as charging means
Is charged with the same polarity as the toner by the control grid maintained at a predetermined potential and the corona discharge by the discharge electrode with respect to the above-mentioned organic photoconductor layer of the photoconductor drum 10a. give.

After the photosensitive drum 10a is uniformly charged on the peripheral surface by the scorotron charger 11, an image is exposed by an exposure optical system 12 as image exposure means similar to that described in the image forming apparatus of FIG. Image exposure based on the signal is performed, and a latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 10a.

Developing means in which the periphery of the photosensitive drum 10a is filled with a developer composed of a toner such as yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K) and a carrier, respectively. A developing unit 13 for each color is provided. First, development of the first color (for example, yellow) is performed by the developing sleeve 130 of the Y developing unit 13.

The developing device 13 is a non-contact developing method for applying the developing bias voltage to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 10 a formed by the charging by the scorotron charger 11 and the image exposure by the exposure optical system 12. To develop by reversal development in a non-contact state.

After the development of the first color is completed, the image process for the second color (for example, magenta) is started, and the photosensitive drum 10
a is uniformly charged by the scorotron charger 11, and a latent image based on image data of the second color is formed by the exposure optical system 12. The second color magenta developer is developed by the developing sleeve 130 of the M developing unit 13. The development is performed by non-contact reversal development by applying an AC bias and a DC bias in a superimposed manner between the developing sleeve 130 and the photosensitive drum 10a.

For the third color (cyan) and the fourth color (black), the same image forming process as that for the second color is performed, and the four color toner images are superposed and developed on the photosensitive drum 10a. In the developing operation of each developing device 13, a developing bias to which a direct current or a further alternating current is applied is applied to the developing sleeve 130, and a jumping development is performed by a one-component or two-component developer accommodated in the developing device, and the developing sleeve 130 is subjected to a jumping development. Non-contact reversal development is performed on the photosensitive drum 10a that grounds the photoconductive layer.

The intermediate transfer belt 14 is rotated about the axis of the roller 14C to the position shown in the practice of FIG. 8, and is brought into contact with the photosensitive drum 10a.

The color toner image formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10a is
During the rotation, the toner image is temporarily transferred to the peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 provided as an intermediate transfer unit by a roller 14A to which a bias voltage of 1 to 3 kV is applied.

The intermediate transfer belt 14 has a thickness of 0.5 to 2.0
mm, an endless rubber belt having a resistance of 10 ⁸ to 10 ¹² Ω · cm of silicon rubber or urethane rubber, and a resistance value of 10 ¹⁰ to 10 ¹⁶ Ωcm, thickness 5
It has a two-layer structure with a 50 μm fluorine coating. This layer also preferably has a similar semiconductivity. Instead of the rubber belt substrate, semiconductive polyester, polystyrene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate or the like having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.5 mm can be used. Intermediate transfer belt 14 has rollers 14A, 14B, 14C and 14D
And is circulated clockwise in synchronization with the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 10a by the power transmitted to the roller 14D.

On the other hand, the transfer paper P is carried out from a paper feed cassette (not shown) and fed to the timing roller 18, and is transferred to the transfer area of the transfer roller 15 in synchronization with the transfer of the color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 14. Paper is fed.

The transfer roller 15 is connected to the intermediate transfer belt 14.
The transfer paper P fed in the counterclockwise direction is synchronized with the peripheral speed of the intermediate transfer in the transfer area formed by the nip portion between the transfer roller 15 and the roller 14C in the ground state. The color toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper P by applying a bias voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner of 1 to 3 kV to the transfer roller 15 in close contact with the color toner image on the belt 14.

The transfer paper P to which the color toner image has been transferred is neutralized, conveyed to the fixing device 91 via the conveyance belt 19A, and the toner image on the transfer paper P is fixed by heat and pressure to the outside of the device. Is discharged.

For example, a box-shaped waste toner container 30
0 is disposed on the bottom of the image forming apparatus on the lower surface of the conveyor belt 19A.

As described in the image forming apparatus,
The toner remaining on the peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 14 after the transfer is cleaned by a cleaning blade 141 provided in an intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 140 as a cleaning unit (second cleaning unit) of the intermediate transfer belt. The waste toner accumulated in the intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 141 is passed by a screw 142 through a discharge pipe 143 as a second discharge unit.
It is conveyed by rotation of a conveying spring screw 144 as a second conveying means provided inside the discharge pipe 143, and is discharged to a connecting member 310 which is a connecting portion.

Further, the toner remaining on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10a after the transfer enters the cleaning device 100 as a cleaning means (first cleaning means) for the photosensitive drum or contacts the photosensitive drum 10a. The cleaning blade 101 made of the rubber material is scraped into the cleaning device 100. The waste toner accumulated in the cleaning device 100 is passed by a screw 102 through a discharge pipe 103 as a first discharge unit.
It is conveyed by the rotation of a conveying spring screw 104 as a first conveying means provided inside the discharge pipe 103, and is discharged to a connecting member 310 which is a connecting portion.

The waste toner conveyed by the conveying spring screws 104 and 144 and discharged to the connecting member 310 as the connecting portion through the discharge pipes 103 and 143 is provided inside the discharge pipe 303 as the third discharge means. The toner is conveyed by rotation of a conveying spring screw 304 as a third conveying means, and is discharged through a discharge pipe 303 to a common waste toner container 300 for collecting waste toner.

As described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mounting plate 75 fixed to the rear plate 71 of the apparatus main body is
The coupling member 310 is attached. The gear GM fixed to the drive shaft of the drive motor M is rotated by receiving the drive of the drive motor M as a drive source attached to the rear side plate 71, is connected to the gear GM, and is rotatably attached to the coupling member 310. The gears G1, G2, G3 are driven to rotate.

The above-mentioned transport spring screw 104 has a gear G
1 and rotated by the rotation of the gear G1. The transport spring screw 144 is connected to the gear G2,
It is rotated by the rotation of the gear G2. The transport spring screw 304 is coupled to the gear G3, and is rotated by the rotation of the gear G3. The drive motor M is used as a common drive source.

Conveying spring screws 104, 144, 30
4 rotates the waste toner to discharge pipes 103, 143,
303 is conveyed. The transport direction is gears G1, G2,
It is determined by the rotation direction of G3 and the winding direction of the springs of the conveying spring screws 104, 144, 304 attached to the gears G1, G2, G3, and is discharged as shown by the solid arrow in FIG. 2 and the dotted arrow in FIG. The conveying direction of the waste toner inside the pipes 103 and 143 is from the first and second cleaning means toward the connecting portion, and the conveying direction of the waste toner inside the discharge pipe 303 is from the connecting portion to the waste toner container 3.
It is transported in the direction of 00.

With the above configuration, the size of the apparatus can be reduced and maintenance work such as replacement of a waste toner storage container can be simplified. In addition, a discharge mechanism using a waste toner discharge pipe can be simplified, and waste toner can be removed. The simplification of the transport means and the drive source of the transport means can be achieved.

The intermediate transfer belt 14 is connected to the photosensitive drum 10a.
The photosensitive drum 10a, which has been further separated and from which the residual toner has been removed by the cleaning device 19, is uniformly charged by the scorotron charger 11, and enters the next image forming cycle.

[0088]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the size of the apparatus can be reduced and the maintenance work can be simplified, and the discharging mechanism using the waste toner discharging pipe can be simplified.

According to the second aspect, the waste toner conveying means and the drive source of the conveying means can be simplified.

According to the third aspect, good conveyance of waste toner is performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a color image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a connecting portion and a conveying means.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a support structure of the image forming body.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a support structure of the image forming body.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a support structure of the intermediate transfer belt.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a support structure of the intermediate transfer belt.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another example of the image forming apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 10a Photoreceptor drum 11 Scorotron charger 12 Exposure optical system 13 Developing device 14 Intermediate transfer belt 15 Transfer roller 91 Fixing device 100 Cleaning device 101, 141 Cleaning blade 103, 143, 303 Discharge pipe 104, 144 , 304 Conveyor spring screw 140 Intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 300 Waste toner storage container 310 Coupling member P Transfer paper

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masayasu Onodera 2970 Ishikawacho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation (72) Inventor Kuki Nagase 2970 Ishikawacho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation (72) Inventor Toshihide Miura 5-14-14 Midoricho, Koganei-shi, Tokyo

Claims (3)

[Claims] A charging unit configured to charge the image forming body around the rotating image forming body; an image exposing unit configured to perform image exposure on the charged image forming body to form a latent image; And developing means for developing the formed latent image to form a toner image, wherein during one rotation of the image forming body, the image forming body is charged by the charging means and the image is formed by the image exposing means. A plurality of toner images are superimposed on the image forming body by sequentially repeating formation of a toner image by exposure and development by the developing unit. In a color image forming apparatus for transferring a toner image transferred to a transfer material and fixing the toner image transferred to the transfer material, a first cleaning unit for cleaning the image forming body and a second cleaning unit for cleaning the intermediate transfer unit are provided. Cleaning means, and a common waste toner storage container for collecting waste toner from the first cleaning means and waste toner from the second cleaning means, wherein the first cleaning means stores the waste toner. A first discharging unit that discharges waste toner to a container; and a second discharging unit that discharges waste toner to the waste toner storage container from the second cleaning unit. An image forming apparatus, wherein the second discharging means is connected to a connecting portion provided in the middle of a discharging path, and waste toner is discharged from the connecting portion to the waste toner storage container by a third discharging means. 2. A first conveying means for conveying waste toner into the first discharging means, a second conveying means for conveying waste toner into the second discharging means, and the third discharging means. A driving unit for driving the first conveying unit, a driving source for driving the second conveying unit, and the third conveying unit. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a common driving source is used for driving the image forming apparatus. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first, second, and third conveying units are conveying spring screws.