JPH1078717A - Fixing device for image forming machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fixing device for an image forming machine capable of easily attaching/detaching a fixing roller to/from a fixing housing and stably holding the fixing roller. SOLUTION: This fixing device for the image forming machine is equipped with a lower housing 10, an upper housing 20 supported on one side of the housing 10 and turnably constituted between a closed position and an opened position, a pressure roller 50 rotatably attached to the housing 10, and a heating roller 40 where a bearing member 43 is attached at both ends and which is attachably/detachably attached to the housing 20; and the housing 20 is provided with a nearly semicircular mount recessed part 221 for fitting the member 43 of the roller 40. A holding member 30 constituted to move to a 1st position where it allows the attachment/detachment of the member 43 to/from the recessed part 221 and a 2nd position where it abuts on the member 43 fit in the recessed part 221 so as to hold the fitting state of the member 43 in the recessed part 221 is attached to the housing 20, which is provided with a fixing means fixing the holding member 30 at the 2nd position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fixing device which is mounted on an image forming machine such as an electrostatic copying machine, a facsimile, a laser printer, and heats and fixes a toner image transferred onto a sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming machine is equipped with a fixing device for heating and fixing a toner image transferred to an appropriate sheet.
This type of fixing device includes a pair of fixing rollers including a heating roller and a pressure roller. The heating roller is configured by incorporating a heater inside a roller body made of, for example, an aluminum alloy whose outer peripheral surface is coded with a fluorine resin or the like. The pressure roller is configured by externally fitting a cylindrical roller portion formed of silicon rubber or the like to a roller body made of an aluminum alloy. Both the heating roller and the pressure roller configured as described above are consumables,
When used for a predetermined period, it is replaced with a new one. For this reason, the fixing device is configured as a unit and is detachably mounted on a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus main body.

In a unitized fixing device, a fixing housing for mounting a fixing roller pair consisting of a heating roller and a pressure roller is constituted by a lower housing and an upper housing, and the upper housing is attached to the lower housing on one side. It is configured to be openable and closable using the side as a rotation fulcrum. In the fixing housing configured as described above, a pressure roller is generally detachably mounted on the lower housing, and a heating roller is detachably mounted on the upper housing. For example, the following two types of mounting structures for mounting a heating roller on an upper housing configured to be openable and closable with respect to a lower housing are conventionally implemented.

One is to set a heating roller in an upper housing, insert a bearing member such as a bush or a bearing from the outside of the upper housing, and fix the bearing member to the upper housing in a circumferential direction by means of screws or the like. It is a structure fixed by. The other one, as shown in FIG.
Bearing members 3 are mounted on both ends of the heating roller 2, and a semicircular mounting recess 8 is provided on a side plate 7 of an upper housing 6 rotatably supported by a support shaft 5 on a lower housing 4. The bearing member 3 is fitted in the mounting recess 8, and the outer peripheral surface of the bearing member 3 that is not fitted in the mounting recess 8 is supported by a leaf spring 9 mounted on the upper housing 6.

[0005]

However, in the above-described heating roller mounting structure, the operation of inserting the bearing member into the heating roller previously set in the upper housing is troublesome, and the removal of the heating roller is difficult. At times, it is necessary to remove the bearing member first, and the attaching and detaching work is very troublesome.

On the other hand, in the latter heating roller mounting structure shown in FIG. 9, the bearing members 3 mounted on both ends of the heating roller 2 are fitted into the semicircular mounting recesses 8 provided on the side plate 7 of the upper housing 6. In doing so, the fitting operation must be performed while displacing the leaf spring 9 against the spring force to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
The work is very troublesome and difficult. Also, when removing the heating roller 2 attached to the upper housing 6, the leaf spring 9 must be displaced against the spring force to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. There is the same problem as when mounting.

[0007] If the workability of attaching and detaching the heating roller is not good as in the above-mentioned structure for attaching both heating rollers, there may be a problem that the peripheral surface of the heating roller is inadvertently scratched during the operation. In particular, in the latter heating roller mounting structure shown in FIG. 9, it is difficult to design so that the leaf spring 9 does not interfere with the mounting and dismounting of the heating roller 2, and the elastic force of the leaf spring 9 is changed due to aging. Is reduced, the function of supporting the heating roller 2 is reduced, and rattling occurs. If the rattling becomes severe, the heating roller 2
In some cases, this may cause damage to the heater disposed inside the heater.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its main technical problem is that a fixing roller can be easily attached to and detached from a fixing housing, and that the fixing roller is stably held. It is another object of the present invention to provide a fixing device for an image forming machine that can perform the above-described steps.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned main technical problems, according to the present invention, a lower housing,
An upper housing supported on one side of the lower housing and configured to be rotatable between a closed position and an open position; a pressure roller rotatably mounted on the lower housing; and bearing members at both ends And a heating roller detachably mounted on the upper housing. The upper housing has a substantially semicircular shape with an open lower portion for fitting the bearing member mounted on the heating roller. A fixing device for an image forming machine, wherein a mounting recess is provided, and the heating roller is detachably mounted on the mounting recess in a state where the upper housing is positioned at an open position. A first position in which the bearing member mounted on the mounting member is allowed to be attached to and detached from the mounting concave portion, and a fitting state of the bearing member with the mounting concave portion in contact with the bearing member fitted in the mounting concave portion. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a holding member configured to be movable to a second position for holding the holding member; and fixing means for fixing the holding member at the second position. Is provided.

According to the present invention, when the holding member is located at the first position in a state where the upper housing is located at the open position, a part of the holding member is provided at the lower housing. Are provided, and the rotation of the upper housing from the open position to the closed position is restricted in a state where the holding member is located at the first position. Provided.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a fixing device for an image forming machine constructed according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a fixing device of an image forming machine constructed according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the fixing device shown in FIG. The fixing device of the image forming machine includes a lower housing 10 and an upper housing 2.
0 is provided for the fixing housing. The lower housing 10 includes a lower case plate 11 and the lower case plate 1.
1 comprises side plates 12, 12 attached to both ends. In the center of each side plate 12, a recess 1 with an open upper end
Further, a support portion 123 having a shaft hole 122 is provided at an upper end on one side of the side plate 12 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the upper housing 20 includes an upper case plate 21 and side plates 22 attached to both ends of the upper case plate 21. A semicircular mounting recess 221 having an open lower end is provided at the center of each side plate 22, and a support portion 223 having a shaft hole 222 as shown in FIG. Is provided. The support portion 223 of the upper housing 20 configured as described above is positioned outside the support portion 123 provided on the lower housing 10, and the support shaft 25 is inserted into the shaft holes 122 and 222 formed on both support portions. The upper housing 20 is attached to the lower housing 10 as shown in FIG.
4 and rotatably supported between a closed position shown in FIG. 4 and an open position shown in FIG. In a state where the lower housing 1 is positioned at the open position shown in FIG.
The side plate 2 constituting the upper housing 20 is provided with a stopper 124 bent at one end of the side plate 12 constituting the upper housing 20.
The two side edges are in contact with each other, and the rotation of the upper housing 20 is restricted.

The side plate 2 constituting the upper housing 20
An elongated hole 224 is formed at a lower end of the second member 2 so as to be substantially perpendicular to the mounting recess 221. Screw 26 in this long hole 224
Is inserted from the outside of the side plate 22, and the side plate 2 is
The holding member 30 provided inside 2 is screwed.

The holding member 30 includes a bottom side 301 and a holding side 30.
The screw 26 is formed in a substantially triangular shape having the rotation prevention side 2 and the rotation preventing side 303, and a screw hole 304 into which the screw 26 is screwed is provided at a central portion on the bottom side 301 side. Therefore, the holding member 3
Reference numeral 0 denotes a first position (see FIG. 6) in which the heating roller 40 is attached to and detached from the upper housing 20 by moving the elongated hole 224 with the screw 26 loosened.
It can be positioned at a second position (see FIGS. 1 and 4) for holding a later-described heating roller 40 mounted in the mounting recess 221 of the upper housing 20 in a mounted state. Then, the holding member 30 is slightly rotated by tightening the screw 26 at the second position, and a part of the holding side 302 comes into contact with an outer peripheral surface of a bearing member 43 mounted on the heating roller 40 described later. , Bearing member 43 attached to heating roller 40
Of the mounting recess 221 is maintained. on the other hand,
When the holding member 30 is located at the first position (see FIG. 6), the tip of the rotation preventing side 303 is
, The rotation of the holding member 30 about the screw 26 is regulated. In a state where the holding member 30 is located at the first position shown in FIG. 4, the locking portion 305, which is the vertex of the bottom side 301 and the rotation prevention side 303, is located on the lower side.

On the other hand, an engagement recess 125 is provided at an upper end of a support portion 123 provided on the side plate 12 constituting the lower housing 10, and the holding member 30 is provided with a first holding member.
6, the locking portion 305 is engaged with the engagement recess 125 as shown in FIG.

The heating roller 40 mounted on the upper housing 20 includes a roller body 41 made of an aluminum alloy whose outer peripheral surface is coated with a fluorine resin or the like, and a roller body 4 made of aluminum alloy.
1, a heater (halogen lamp) 42, and bearing members 4 fitted to both ends of the roller body 41, respectively.
3 and 43. This double bearing member 43 includes:
Positioning rings 44 protruding from the outer peripheral surface 431 are respectively mounted. An input gear 45 is mounted on the outer side (left end in FIG. 2) of the roller member 41 on the rear side of the roller body 41, and the input gear 45 is transmitted to a drive mechanism provided in the image forming machine. It is configured to be connected.

In order to mount the heating roller 40 configured as described above on the upper housing 20, the upper housing 20
Is rotated clockwise about the support shaft 25 in FIG. At this time, when the screw 26 screwed into the screw hole 304 of the holding member 30 is loosened, the screw 2
6 and the holding member 30 fall along the elongated hole 224 by their own weight, and are positioned at the first position. Next, the positioning rings 44 mounted on the bearing members 43 of the heating roller 40 are connected to the side plates 2 forming the upper housing 20 respectively.
The bearing members 43, 43 are fitted into the mounting recesses 221, 221 while being in contact with the outsides of the bearings 2, 22. In this way, the bearing members 43 of the heating roller 40 are
21 and 221, a screwdriver is engaged with the head of the screw 26 to insert the screw 26 and the holding member 30 into the elongated hole 2.
24 and move upward along the second line 24 shown in FIGS.
The holding member 30 is slightly rotated by tightening the screw 26 as a fixing means, and a part of the holding side 302 comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the bearing member 43 mounted on the heating roller 34. The holding member 30 is fixed at the second position. By performing this operation on both the front side holding member 30 and the rear side holding member 30, the heating roller 40 can be held at a predetermined position of the upper housing 20. In the holding state of the heating roller 40, the holding member 30 is stably fixed and held by the screw 26, so that there is no play in fixing the bearing member 43 due to a change over time. If the screw 26 is loosened, it can be easily dealt with by retightening.

When the heating roller 40 is mounted on the upper housing 20 in this manner, when the upper housing 20 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 6 about the support shaft 25, the holding member 30 is moved to the second position. , The locking portion 305 of the holding member 30 as shown in FIG.
Is provided on the side plate 12 of the lower housing 10.
It can rotate without engaging with the engagement concave portion 125 formed in 23, and is positioned in the closed position shown in FIGS. The bearing member 4 of the heating roller 40
After fitting the holding members 30 to the mounting recesses 221 and 221 in the second position without fastening the screws 26 in the second position, the upper housing 20 is positioned in the closed position without tightening the screws 26 in FIG. At this time, when the holding member 30 is to be rotated in the counterclockwise direction, the holding member 30 is positioned at the first position (see FIG. 6) by its own weight, and
5 is engaged with the engagement recess 125, so that it cannot rotate to the closed position. Therefore, forgetting to fix the heating roller 40 by the holding member 30 can be prevented.

On the other hand, when removing the heating roller 40 mounted on the upper housing 20, FIGS.
Then, the upper housing 20 is rotated clockwise about the support shaft 25 from the state of the closed position shown in FIG. When the screw 26 fastening the holding member 30 is loosened, the screw 26 and the holding member 30 fall along the elongated hole 224 by their own weight, and are positioned at the first position. By positioning the holding member 30 at the first position in this manner, the heating roller 40 can be easily removed from the mounting recesses 221 and 221.

As described above, according to the illustrated embodiment, by loosening the screw 26 and positioning the holding member 30 at the first position, the upper housing 20 of the heating roller 40 is provided.
Since the operability of attaching and detaching the roller body 41 is improved, troubles such as flaws on the surface of the roller body 41 during the operation are reduced. In addition, by positioning the holding member 30 at the second position and tightening the screw 26, the bearing member 43 mounted on the heating roller 34 can be stably held at the mounting position. There is no backlash in fixing the 43, and therefore, the breakage of the heater 42 built in the heating roller 40 caused by the backlash can be prevented. Further, the heating roller 40
After the bearing members 43 are fitted into the mounting recesses 221 and 221, the holding member 30 is positioned at the second position and the screw 2 is positioned.
If the upper housing 20 is positioned at the closed position without tightening the fixing member 6, the locking portion 305 engages with the engagement recess 125 and the upper housing 20 cannot rotate. Thus, the heating roller 40 can be prevented from falling.

Next, the pressure roller 50 mounted on the lower housing 10 will be described. The pressure roller 50 is provided at the center of the roller body 51, which is configured by externally fitting a cylindrical elastic roller portion formed of silicon rubber or the like to an aluminum alloy roller body. It is composed of a support shaft 52 and is rotatably supported by roller support members 60, 60 disposed inside the side plates 12, 12 constituting the lower housing 10. The roller support members 60, 60 are provided with bearing recesses 601, 60 in the center.
1 are provided, and the bearing recesses 601 and 601 are provided.
Both ends of the support shaft 52 of the pressure roller 50 are rotatably supported. One end of the roller supporting member 60 is rotatably supported by the side plate 12 of the lower housing 10 by a pivot 62, and the other end thereof includes a coil constituting a pressure roller pressing mechanism 63 as shown in FIGS. One end of the spring 64 is engaged. The other end of the coil spring 64 is connected to a support portion 11 provided on an upper end of a lower case plate 11 of the lower housing 10.
5 is engaged with an engagement hole 651 provided at a lower end of the adjustment screw shaft 65 inserted through a hole (not shown) provided in the hole 5. Adjustment nuts 66 and 67 are screwed on the upper and lower sides of the support portion 115 to an adjustment screw shaft 65 inserted into a hole provided in the support portion 115.
By adjusting the positions of 6 and 67, the adjustment screw shaft 65 can be fixed at an arbitrary position. Thus, by adjusting the position of the adjusting screw shaft 65, the tension of the coil spring 64 can be adjusted, and the pressing force (fixing pressure) of the pressing roller 50 against the heating roller 40 can be adjusted.

An E-ring 68 is attached to the upper end of the adjusting screw shaft 65 to prevent it from falling off. This E-ring 68 is, in the illustrated embodiment, an upper adjustment nut 6.
An outer diameter smaller than the outer shape of No. 6 is used. For example, when the adjustment nut 66 is an M size (the opposite side: 7 mm), the E-ring 68 is E2.5 (outer diameter d: 6 mm).
Is adopted. Thereby, when adjusting the fixing pressure, E
Since the adjusting nut 66 can be rotated by the hexagonal screwdriver 70 as shown in FIG. 8 without removing the ring 68, the operation of adjusting the fixing pressure can be facilitated. Further, since it is not necessary to remove the E-ring 68 when adjusting the fixing pressure, loss due to removal can be prevented beforehand. Conventionally, a pin or retaining ring is used as a retaining member, so that when adjusting the fixing pressure, a hexagonal screwdriver cannot be used unless the pin or retaining ring is removed, and the adjustment work is troublesome. However, these problems can be solved in the illustrated embodiment.

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, an upper cover plate 21 constituting the upper housing 20 has an upper portion for removing toner adhered to the peripheral surface of the heating roller 40. Cleaning blade 7
1 and a heating roller 4
A transfer paper separating blade 72 for preventing the transfer paper passing between 0 and the pressure roller 50 from winding around the heating roller 40 is provided. A cover 73 made of synthetic resin is mounted on the upper surface of the upper cover plate 21 by a fixing means such as a screw.

[0024]

Since the fixing device of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is constructed as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, in the fixing device of the image forming machine according to the present invention, the upper housing provided with the substantially semicircular mounting recessed part which is open at the lower side for fitting the bearing member mounted on the heating roller is provided. A first position in which the bearing member is allowed to be attached to and detached from the mounting concave portion, and a state in which the bearing member is fitted to the mounting concave portion by contacting the bearing member fitted in the mounting concave portion. A holding member configured to be movable to the second position is mounted, and fixing means for fixing the holding member at the second position is provided. Positioning at the position 1 improves the workability of attaching and detaching the heating roller to and from the upper housing. Therefore, the occurrence of troubles such as flaws on the surface of the heating roller during the attaching / detaching operation is reduced. Also,
By positioning the holding member at the second position and tightening the fixing means, the bearing member mounted on the heating roller can be stably held at the mounting position. This does not occur, and therefore, it is possible to prevent the heater built in the heating roller from being damaged due to the play.

According to the present invention, when the holding member is positioned at the first position with the upper housing positioned at the open position, a part of the holding member engages with the lower housing. The holding member is located at the first position, and the rotation of the upper housing from the open position to the closed position is restricted in a state where the holding member is located at the first position. After the bearing member is fitted into the mounting recess, if the holding member is positioned in the second position and the upper housing is to be positioned in the closed position without tightening the fixing means, the locking portion engages with the engaging recess and the upper housing is engaged. Since the housing cannot rotate, forgetting to fix by the holding member can be prevented, so that the heating roller can be prevented from falling.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an embodiment of a fixing device of an image forming machine configured according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which an upper housing constituting the fixing device shown in FIG. 1 is positioned at an open position.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of essential parts showing components of an upper housing and a heating roller of the fixing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state in which an upper housing constituting the fixing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the fixing device shown in FIG. 1, in which a heating roller mounted on the upper housing is fixed by a holding plate, and then the upper housing is rotated from an open position to a closed position, with a main part cut away. .

FIG. 6 is a side view of the fixing device shown in FIG. 1, with a main part broken away, showing a state in which the heating roller mounted on the upper housing is forgotten to be fixed by the holding plate and the upper housing is rotated from the open position to the closed position; FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating a pressing mechanism of a pressing roller mounted on a lower housing of the fixing device illustrated in FIG. 1;

8 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion A of the pressing roller pressing mechanism shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view of a main part of a fixing device having a conventional heating roller mounting structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Lower housing 20: Upper housing 11: Lower case plate 12: Side plate 123: Support portion 124: Stopper 125: Engagement recess 21: Upper case plate 22: Side plate 221: Mounting recess 222: Shaft hole 223: Support portion 224: slot 26: screw 30: holding member 40: heating roller 43: bearing member 41: roller body 42: halogen heater 44: positioning ring 45: input gear 50: pressure roller 51: roller body 52: support shaft 60: Roller support member 601: Bearing recess 63: Pressure roller pressing mechanism 64: Coil spring 65: Adjustment screw shaft 66: Adjustment nut 67: Adjustment nut 68: E-ring for retaining 71: Cleaning blade 72: Transfer paper separation blade 73 ： Synthetic resin cover

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A lower housing, an upper housing supported on one side of the lower housing and rotatable between a closed position and an open position, and rotatably mounted on the lower housing. A pressure roller, and a heating roller having bearing members mounted on both ends thereof and being detachably mounted on the upper housing, for fitting the bearing member mounted on the heating roller to the upper housing. Is provided with a substantially semi-circular mounting recess whose lower side is open, and the heating roller is detachably mounted to the mounting recess when the upper housing is positioned at the open position. A first position for allowing the bearing member mounted on the heating roller to be attached to and detached from the mounting recess, and the upper housing abutting on the bearing member fitted to the mounting recess; A holding member configured to be movable to a second position for holding the fitting state of the receiving member with the mounting recess is mounted, and fixing means for fixing the holding member at the second position is provided. A fixing device for an image forming machine. 2. The lower housing is engaged with a part of the holding member when the holding member is positioned at the first position while the upper housing is positioned at the open position. 2. A joint portion is provided, and rotation of the upper housing from an open position to a closed position is restricted in a state where the holding member is located at the first position.
The fixing device of the image forming machine according to the above.