JPH11143323A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device never affecting the image quality of an electrostatic recorder by reducing the fluctuation of the load imposed on a raising up roller by a scraper and causing the decrease of the recovery efficiency of residual toner, even if a cleaner case is warped. SOLUTION: The cleaning device is constituted of a cleaning blade, the raising up roller 22 for raising up the residual toner scraped by the cleaning blade to a carrying part, the scraper 23 for scraping the raised up residual toner from the raising up roller 22, a screw for carrying the residual toner into a recovering part, a toner receiving blade for preventing the dropping of the recovered residual toner and the cleaner case. The scraper 23 is made of stainless steel with a thickness of 15 μm and abutted on the raising up roller 22 formed so that one end (the top end) has an equilateral triangular cross-sectional shape. This top end is formed to incline in the axial direction of the raising up roller 22, so that the top end does not stick out from one side of the equilateral triangle of the raising up roller in length.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a laser printer,
The present invention relates to a cleaning device for collecting residual toner used in an electrostatic recording device such as a copying machine and a laser fax.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electrostatic recording apparatus, toner is applied to an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor and developed, and this toner image is transferred to transfer paper or the toner image is once transferred. Recording is performed by transferring the image onto a body, transferring the image onto a transfer sheet, and fixing the image.At this time, a small amount of residual toner remains on the photoreceptor. Cleaning is required.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-223773, a cleaning device for cleaning the residual toner includes a cleaning blade for scraping the residual toner on the photosensitive member, and a scraped waste toner (residual toner). And a collection blade that contacts the toner collection rod and scrapes off waste toner attached to the toner collection rod.

[0004] The collecting blade is made of an elastic film such as a polyester film having a large thickness and a thin and soft elastic film. The film is stacked and integrated so as to protrude by an appropriate length from the end of the film. The thin and flexible elastic film is divided into a plurality in the longitudinal direction. On the side of the collecting blade that is attached to the toner collecting case, the two are attached to the toner collecting case in a superposed state.

As described above, the portion adhered to the toner collecting case is formed by laminating the elastic film of the thick polyester film and the thin elastic film so that the collecting blade has a stiffness to prevent the toner from flowing backward. In addition, since the tip of the collecting blade is flexible, it is easily deformed following the rotation of the toner collecting rod, and the load applied to the toner collecting rod is reduced.

As shown in FIG. 5, a conventionally used toner collecting rod has a rectangular cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the toner collecting rod. It was pressed in parallel to the direction. In some cases, a toner collection rod is formed in a hexagonal shape.

[0007]

In the prior art described above, one end of the collecting blade is pressed against the toner collecting rod in parallel with the axial direction thereof, and the collecting blade is rotated every time the toner collecting rod rotates. In this case, a periodic load is applied to the toner collecting rod, and this load fluctuation causes jitter and banding. Also, if the sticking surface of the toner collecting case to which the collecting blade is stuck is warped or the tip is wavy at the time of sticking, a gap is created between the collecting blade and the toner collecting rod, resulting in poor collection of the residual toner. Was occurring.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks in the conventional cleaning apparatus, the fluctuation of the load applied to the scraping roller by the scraper is reduced, and the cleaning apparatus does not affect the image quality of the electrostatic recording apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device that does not cause a reduction in the recovery efficiency of the residual toner even if the cleaner case is warped.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning apparatus, wherein a residual toner on a photosensitive member or a transfer member is scraped by a cleaning blade, and the scraped waste toner is scraped. In the cleaning device that is conveyed to the collection unit by a roller and a scraper that contacts the lifting roller, the tip of the scraper that contacts the axial direction of the lifting roller is formed obliquely with respect to the axial direction of the lifting roller. I have.

The scraper of the cleaning device according to the present invention has a notch groove formed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the lifting roller from the tip thereof.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the scraper is made of stainless steel.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the roller of the scraping roller is formed in a triangular shape.

In the cleaning device according to the fifth aspect, the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axial direction of the roller of the scraping roller is formed in an equilateral triangle.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a laser printer using the cleaning device of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the laser printer includes a paper feed unit 1 for stocking and supplying recording paper on which an image is formed, a transfer unit 2 for transferring a toner image to a recording paper, and a developing unit 3 for forming a toner image. And a fixing unit 4 for fixing the toner image transferred to the recording paper.

The paper feed unit 1 includes a paper feed cassette 5 for storing recording paper, a pickup roller 6 for feeding out the recording paper one by one, a PF roller 7 for transporting the recording paper sent out by the pickup roller 6, Pre-curl roller 8 for curling the recording paper conveyed by PF roller 7
Is installed.

The transfer section 2 is provided with a transfer member 9 around which a recording paper conveyed by a pre-curl roller 8 is conveyed to and adhered to the transfer member 9, and a transfer member 9 is adsorbed on the transfer member 9. A peeling claw 11 for peeling the removed recording paper is provided.

The developing section 3 is provided with a photoreceptor 12, around which developing units 13, 14, 15, and 15 containing yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners, respectively.
A toner image is formed on the photoreceptor 12 for each toner, and the toner image is transferred to recording paper one color at a time when the transfer body 9 makes one rotation.

Further, around the photoreceptor 12, there are provided a static eliminator 17 for eliminating the charged electric charge and a cleaning device 18 for scraping residual toner on the surface of the photoreceptor. Further, an optical system 19 is provided on the upper part.

In the fixing section 4, the recording paper peeled by the peeling claw 11 is fixed by the fixing device 20, and the recording paper is discharged outside the laser printer main body.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the cleaning device 18 in detail.

The cleaning device 18 includes the photosensitive member 1
Cleaning blade 2 for scraping residual toner on 2
1. A scraping roller 22 for scraping the scraped residual toner to a transport unit, a scraper 23 for scraping off the scraped residual toner from the scraping roller 22, and transporting the residual toner scraped off by the scraper 23 to a collection unit. Screw 28, toner receiving blade 29 for preventing spilling of collected residual toner, cleaner case 2
6.

The cleaning device 18 is formed integrally with the photoconductor 12, and the cleaning operation is performed on the photoconductor 1.
2 is started at the same time as the rotation operation of the photosensitive member 1 is started.
The process ends at the same time as the end of the rotation operation 2.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the scraping roller 22 of the cleaning device 18 and the scraper 23. The scraper 23 is made of stainless steel and has a thickness of 15 μm.
One end is fixed to the cleaner case 26, and the other end (tip) is in contact with the lifting roller 22 having a regular triangular cross section, and the entire width thereof is substantially equal to the entire width of the lifting roller 22 in the axial direction. The roller is formed to have the same length, and the tip is formed oblique to the axial direction of the roller 22 as long as the tip does not protrude from the length of one side of the regular triangle of the roller 22.

The scraper 23 has a notched groove 2 for bisecting a portion abutting on the scraping roller 22 from a tip end thereof to one end fixed to the cleaner case 26.
7 are formed.

The scraper 23 may be divided into three equal parts or more depending on the size of the cleaning device, or may be divided into arbitrary widths instead of equal parts. Also,
In the present embodiment, the thickness of the scraper 23 is 15 μm.
Was optimal, but this is a value that varies depending on the cleaning device, and is not limited to this. In the present embodiment, the width of the scraper 23 is slightly shorter than the width of the scraping roller 22. However, even if the scraper 23 is slightly longer, or the length of the scraper 23 is the same. Good.

FIG. 4A shows the rotation trajectory of the scraper, FIG. 4B shows the load variation according to the rotation trajectory of the scraper, and the solid line in FIG. 4B shows the load variation of the conventional cleaning device. The broken line in (B) indicates the load fluctuation of the cleaning device of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 4A, the rotation of the scraping roller and the change of the scraper associated therewith are shown in FIGS.
FIG. 4B shows the variation of the load applied to the scraping roller by the scraper when the scraping roller rotates.

FIGS. 4A to 4E show FIGS. 4A to 4E.
(A) to (e), and the load becomes maximum near the point (d). However, the load of the cleaning device of the present embodiment indicated by a broken line is the conventional cleaning device indicated by a solid line. , The load of the present embodiment is reduced as a whole.

The point at which the load changes from an increase to a decrease is sharply changed in the conventional one, but is smoothly changed in the present embodiment. The sudden change in the load at this point most affects the image quality, but in the present embodiment, the adverse effect on the image quality is reduced by the smooth change.

[0031]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the tip of the scraper abutting in the axial direction of the scraping roller is provided.
By forming the scraper obliquely with respect to the axial direction of the scraper, fluctuations in the load applied to the scraper by the scraper can be reduced, and a decrease in image quality can be prevented.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the scraper has a plurality of cutout grooves formed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the scraping roller from the tip of the scraper, so that a plurality of sides of the scraper that come into contact with the scraping roller are formed. This makes it possible to substantially stabilize both ends of the scraping roller and the load applied therebetween, thereby preventing deterioration in image quality.

In the cleaning device according to the third aspect, since the scraper is made of stainless steel, sufficient elasticity can be obtained, and the undulation of the tip of the scraper on the side that comes into contact with the scraping roller can be reduced. Thus, the recovery efficiency of the residual toner can be improved, and the backflow of the residual toner can be prevented.

In the cleaning device according to the present invention, the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axial direction of the roller of the pick-up roller is formed in a triangular shape, so that the cleaning roller has a polygonal cross-sectional shape of a quadrangle or more. With the same rotation locus size, the length of one side of the scraper in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the scraping roller can be increased, and the load exerted on the scraping roller by the scraper can be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axial direction of the roller of the lifting roller is formed as an equilateral triangle, the fluctuation of the load applied to the lifting roller by the scraper is further reduced. And can be stabilized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a laser printer using a cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cleaning device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a scraping roller and a scraper of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 (A) is an explanatory diagram showing a rotation locus of a scraper,
(B) is an explanatory view showing a load variation according to the rotation locus of the scraper.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a toner collecting rod (a scraping roller) and a collecting blade (scraper) of a conventional cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 9 transfer body 12 photoreceptor 18 cleaning device 21 cleaning blade 22 scraping roller 23 scraper

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device for scraping residual toner on a photoreceptor or a transfer member with a cleaning blade, and conveying the scraped waste toner to a collection unit by a scraping roller and a scraper in contact with the scraping roller. A cleaning device, wherein the tip of the scraper that contacts the axial direction of the lifting roller is formed obliquely with respect to the axial direction of the lifting roller. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the scraper has a notch groove formed in a direction perpendicular to an axial direction of the lifting roller from a tip thereof. 3. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein said scraper is made of stainless steel. 4. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the roller of the lifting roller is formed in a triangular shape. 5. The cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axial direction of the roller of the lifting roller is formed as an equilateral triangle.