JPH11305613A - Electrophotographic image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the attachment/detachment of ozone filters and to prevent ozone filters from falling when the outer cover of a device main body is opened, in an electrophotographic image forming device which carries transfer paper, after image transfer, to a fixing unit while sucking it to a carrying guide by means of exhaust fans. SOLUTION: The transfer paper 32, after image transfer, passing between a roller 27 and a transfer roller 31 is carried to the fixing unit 37 through a transfer-paper carrying path 54. On the transfer-paper carrying path, a transfer-paper carrying unit 55 is provided. In the unit, the exhaust fins 57 are attached interspatially, on the right and left, onto a unit case 56 disposed across the transfer-paper carrying path, and an ozone filter 58 is mounted on the exhaust side of each exhaust fan. Each ozone filter is provided with an engagement part for preventing it from coming off and a handle for attaching/ detaching it, which are made of the same material as that of the filter member. By holding the handle and fitting the engagement part into an engagement hole made in the case for the exhaust fan, it is freely detachably attached.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention can be applied to a copier, a facsimile, a printer, and a multifunction peripheral thereof. In detail, an image is formed sequentially on an image carrier by repeating charging, writing, development, transfer, cleaning, and the like, and the image formed on the image carrier is sequentially transferred to a transfer paper, thereby forming an electrophotographic image. The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that forms an image on transfer paper using a forming technique.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of electrophotographic image forming apparatus, an image formed on an image carrier is transferred to a lower surface of a transfer sheet, and the transfer sheet after the image transfer is transferred to a fixing device. In some cases, the unfixed image on the transfer sheet is conveyed to fix the unfixed image on the transfer sheet, and then discharged, for example, onto a discharge stack outside the image forming apparatus main body in a so-called face-down manner.

In this type of image forming apparatus, as is often done, a transfer guide is provided below a transfer sheet transfer path between an image carrier and a fixing device, and transfer paper after image transfer passing over the transfer guide is transferred to the transfer guide. If the conveyance guide is used to guide the sheet to the fixing device, the unfixed image on the lower surface of the transfer paper is disturbed by rubbing with the conveyance guide, and an abnormal image is generated.

For this reason, some conventional image forming apparatuses include:
A transfer guide is provided on the transfer paper transfer path between the image carrier and the fixing device, and a suction fan is provided for sucking the transfer paper passing under the transfer guide onto the transfer guide, and the transfer guide is suctioned by the suction fan. And transfer the transfer paper after the image transfer to the fixing device.

[0005] In this case, since the suction fan sucks the transfer paper, the transfer paper can be reliably conveyed along the conveyance guide without bending even when the transfer paper is weak or extremely thin. Since there is no need to worry about rubbing the image surface of the transfer paper with the conveyance guide, there is no risk of disturbing the unfixed image on the lower surface of the transfer paper, and occurrence of an abnormal image can be prevented.

[0006] Since the cost increases if a dedicated suction fan is provided, some conventional image forming apparatuses include an exhaust fan that discharges air inside the image forming apparatus main body to the outside of the apparatus main body. Is also used as a suction fan for adsorbing the liquid onto the conveyance guide.

[0007]

However, in such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, when the outer cover of the apparatus main body is opened at the time of maintenance such as jam clearance, replacement of a built-in cartridge, replacement of internal parts, etc. There is a problem that an ozone filter provided before and after may drop.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an exhaust fan for discharging air from the image forming apparatus main body to the outside of the apparatus main body. In a photographic image forming apparatus, an object of the present invention is to prevent the ozone filter from dropping when an external cover of the apparatus body is opened, while facilitating attachment and detachment of the ozone filter.

[0009]

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, air in an image forming apparatus main body 100 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus main body 100 as in an embodiment described with reference to the following drawings. The transfer paper 32 conveyed to the fixing device 37 after the image transfer is transferred by the exhaust guide 57
In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the engaging portions 71 are formed in the ozone filter 58, and the engaging portions 71 are formed in, for example, the engaging holes 74.
4, the ozone filter 58 is detachably attached.

[0010] In the first aspect of the present invention,
When attaching / detaching the ozone filter 58, the ozone filter 58
The ozone filter 58 is attached or detached by engaging or disengaging the engaging portions 71 for preventing the ozone filter 58 from coming off.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, for example, as in an embodiment described with reference to the following drawings,
1 and 71 are formed by one or a plurality of protrusions.

In the invention according to claim 2,
When attaching / detaching the ozone filter 58, the ozone filter 58
The ozone filter 58 is attached and detached by engaging or disengaging one or more of the projections.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, for example, an ozone filter 58 is attached to and detached from the ozone filter 58 as in an embodiment described with reference to the following drawings. It is characterized in that the handle 72 is provided.

In the invention according to claim 3,
When attaching / detaching the ozone filter 58, the ozone filter 58 is attached / detached by holding the handles 72/72.

[0015] The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claims 1, 2,
Or, in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus described in 3, the ozone filter 58 is provided with the engaging portions 71, 71 of the same material as the filter member 70, as in an embodiment described with reference to the following drawings, for example. Removable handle 72
-It is characterized by forming 72.

In the invention according to claim 4,
An ozone filter 58 is formed by forming engaging portions 71, 71 and attaching / detaching handles 72, 72 with the same material as the filter member 70.
Create

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claims 1, 2,
The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to item 3 or 4, wherein the engaging portions 71 are formed on the front and back of the ozone filter 58, for example, as in the embodiments described below. And

In the invention according to claim 5,
At the time of mounting the ozone filter 58, the ozone filter 58 is mounted by engaging the engaging portions 71 regardless of front and back.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 shows an overall schematic configuration of an internal mechanism of the electrophotographic multicolor image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes an image forming apparatus main body, in which a belt-shaped photoconductor 10 as a first image carrier and a belt-shaped intermediate transfer body 11 as a second image carrier are provided. Be prepared.

The belt-shaped photoreceptor 10 includes rollers 12.1
3 and is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow a. Then, the surface is first uniformly charged to a predetermined polarity by the charger 14. Next, the optical writer 15 irradiates a laser beam L corresponding to the write information of each color to form an electrostatic latent image on the charged surface of the photoconductor 10.

In the optical writer 15, a laser beam L from a laser light source (not shown) is reflected by a polygon mirror 17 rotated by a motor 16, and emitted outside through an optical component such as an fθ lens 18 and a mirror 19. .

The electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 10 is transferred to a cyan developing unit 21 provided in a multicolor developing unit 20.
・ Magenta developing unit 22 ・ Yellow developing unit 2
3 and then developed by a black toner developer 24 to visualize. The multicolor developing device 20 is rotated by a driving device (not shown) so that a developing unit of a desired color faces the photoconductor 10. Further, the black toner developing device 24 is moved toward and away from the photoconductor 10 by rotating the cam 25.

On the other hand, the belt-shaped intermediate transfer member 11 is wound around rollers 27 and 28 and driven to rotate in the direction of arrow b.
Then, the monochromatic toner image formed on the photoconductor 10 is sequentially transferred to the intermediate transfer body 11 by the action of the bias device 30 at a position where the monochrome toner image comes into contact with the photoconductor 10.

In the case of full color, toner images of cyan, magenta, yellow and black are superimposed and transferred to form a composite color image on the intermediate transfer member 11, which is transferred by the transfer roller 31. Batch transfer onto the transfer paper 32 from above.

The transfer paper 32 is stacked and stored in a paper feed cassette 33. Then, the sheet is fed out in order from the top by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 34, conveyed by a pair of conveying rollers 35, abuts against a pair of registration rollers 36, and is stopped. The registration roller pair 36 is driven in time with the composite color image on the intermediate transfer body 11, and sends the transfer paper 32 toward the intermediate transfer body 11.

The transfer paper 32 after image transfer is conveyed to a fixing device 37, where heat and pressure are applied to fix the transferred image. Then, the sheet is discharged onto a discharge stack section 39 by a discharge roller pair 38 in a so-called face-down state with the image recording surface facing down, and is stacked in page order.

As shown in FIG. 6, the fixing device 37 is provided with a fixing roller 40 having a built-in heater 41 and a pressure roller 42 for pressing the transfer paper 32 against the fixing roller 40. Oil supply rollers 43 and 44 for applying oil are provided. And the oil supply roller 4
By applying a thin film of oil to the surface of the fixing roller 40 in 4, the toner on the surface of the transfer paper 32 is melted without adhering to the fixing roller 40, and is fixed on the transfer paper 32.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the toner is transferred from the photosensitive member 10 to the intermediate transfer member 11, the toner remaining on the photosensitive member 10 is scraped off by the cleaning blade 47 of the cleaning device 46. On the other hand, from the intermediate transfer body 11 to the transfer paper 32
The toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body 11 when transferred to
It is scraped off by the cleaning blade 49 of the cleaning device 48.

A cleaning blade 47 for cleaning the photoreceptor 10 always contacts the photoreceptor 10 to perform a cleaning operation. A cleaning blade 49 for cleaning the intermediate transfer body 11 transfers a composite color image to the transfer paper 32. Thereafter, the operation timing is controlled so as to come in contact with the intermediate transfer member 11 so as to remove the residual toner, and then the photosensitive member 10 is brought into contact with or separated from the intermediate transfer member 11.

The discharging lamp 50 irradiates a discharging light after the cleaning process to make the residual potential on the photoreceptor 10 regular, and prepares for the next image forming process.

Incidentally, on the right side in FIG.
A manual sheet feeding device 52 is provided. In the figure, it is shown in the open use state, but when not in use, it rotates counterclockwise in the figure,
Closed and folded.

In the illustrated multi-color image forming apparatus, as shown in FIG. 6, the transfer paper 32 after image transfer, which has passed between the roller 27 and the transfer roller 31, in the apparatus main body 100.
Is transported to the fixing device 37 through the transfer paper transport path 54. A transfer paper transport unit 55 is provided on the transfer paper transport path 54.

As shown in FIG. 5, the transfer paper transport unit 55 has an exhaust fan 57 mounted on a unit case 56 disposed so as to cross the transfer paper transport path 54, and an ozone filter is provided on the exhaust side of the exhaust fan 57. A duct 58 is mounted thereon, and a duct 63 is further placed thereon, and the duct 63 is attached to the unit case 56 (not shown).

On the lower surface of the unit case 56, a transport guide 59 for guiding the transfer paper 32 passing through the transfer paper transport path 54 to the fixing device 37 is provided. A notch 56a as shown in FIG. Then, the transfer paper transport unit 55 is attached to each of the notches 56a. The duct 63 provided in the transfer paper transport unit 55 guides the air that has exited the ozone filter 58 to an exhaust path 62 between the case 60 and the outer cover 61 of the fixing device 37 shown in FIG.

The exhaust fan 57 is connected to the main body 10 of the image forming apparatus.
In addition to discharging the air in the outside of the apparatus main body 100, the transfer paper 32 conveyed to the fixing device 37 after the image is transferred is attracted to the conveyance guide 59. The case 65 of the exhaust fan 57 has an engagement hole 74 as shown in FIGS.
・ Provide 74.

The ozone filter 58 is made of a paper material containing activated carbon in a honeycomb shape and is made of a filter member 70.
Is formed, and ozone in the air exhausted by the exhaust fan 57 is removed by the filter member 70. As shown in FIG. 3, the same paper material as that of the filter member 70 is used to form engaging portions 71, 71 for retaining, and handles 72, 72 for attaching and detaching.

The retaining portion according to the present invention is formed by, for example, one or a plurality of projections. In the illustrated example, the engaging portions 71 are formed by providing two protrusions along one edge on the back side of the filter member 70.

On the other hand, the handles 72 for attachment and detachment are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. Then, when attaching the ozone filter 58, the handle 72 is held and the ozone filter 58 is inserted into the unit case 56 as shown in FIG.
Then, the engaging portions 71 for retaining are fitted in the engaging holes 74 of the case 65 as shown in FIG. 1, and the ozone filter 58 is detachably attached.

At the time of image formation of the apparatus main body 100,
By driving the exhaust fan 57, the transfer paper 32 after the image transfer is sucked and guided along the transport guide 59, guided by the transport guide 59, and guided to the fixing device 37.

Further, by driving the exhaust fan 57, the air in the apparatus main body 100 is sucked to remove the ozone through the ozone filter 58, and then guided by the hood 63 to fix the fixing device 37.
To the exhaust path 62 between the case 60 and the outer cover 61, and is discharged out of the apparatus main body 100.

In the illustrated multi-color image forming apparatus, the engaging portions 71, 71, which are formed by protrusions, are attached to the case 65.
Are inserted into the engagement holes 74, 74, even if the outer cover 61 of the apparatus main body 100 is opened at the time of maintenance such as jam clearance, replacement of a built-in cartridge, or replacement of internal parts.
There is no danger that the ozone filter 58 will fall.

When removing the ozone filter 58 by replacement or the like, lift the handles 72, slightly, remove the engaging portions 71, 71 from the engaging holes 74, 74 to release the engagement. And take it out of the unit case 65.

In the illustrated example described above, two projections are provided on the back side of the filter member 70 of the ozone filter 58 to form the engaging portions 71, 71.
The two projections are provided to form an engagement portion, and the ozone filter 58
If the ozone filter 58 can be attached by engaging the engaging portion regardless of the front and back when attaching the ozone filter, it is possible to reduce a user's attachment mistake and further facilitate the attachment of the ozone filter 58.

[0044]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ozone filter is detached by engaging or disengaging the engaging portion for preventing the ozone filter from being pulled out, for example, by inserting and pulling out. The ozone filter can be easily attached and detached in a limited direction in the limited space, and the ozone filter can be prevented from dropping when the outer cover of the image forming apparatus main body is opened, while the ozone filter can be easily attached and detached. .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the ozone filter is attached or detached, one or more projections of the ozone filter are engaged or disengaged to attach or detach the ozone filter. While making it easier
The ozone filter can be prevented from dropping when the outer cover of the image forming apparatus main body is opened.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when attaching and detaching the ozone filter, the user attaches and detaches the ozone filter by holding the handle. It is possible to prevent the ozone filter from falling when it is opened.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the engaging portion and the handle for attachment and detachment are formed in the ozone filter using the same material as the filter member, so that the ozone filter can be disposed of in a lump without disassembly and separation. And the same effect can be achieved.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the engaging portion is formed on the front and back of the ozone filter, it is possible to mount the ozone filter by engaging the engaging portion regardless of the front and back when the ozone filter is mounted. Thus, the same effect can be achieved by reducing installation mistakes by the user and facilitating the installation of the ozone filter from that point.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state after an ozone filter is mounted in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory perspective view when the ozone filter is attached.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ozone filter itself.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of a transfer paper transport unit to which the ozone filter is attached.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view along the line AA.

FIG. 6 is a partial schematic configuration diagram of the inside of an image forming apparatus main body including the transfer paper transport unit.

FIG. 7 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of an internal mechanism in an image forming apparatus main body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 32 Transfer paper 37 Fixing device 54 Transfer paper transport path 55 Transfer paper transport unit 57 Exhaust fan 58 Ozone filter 59 Transport guide 70 Filter member 71 Engagement part 72 for retaining 72 Handle 74 Engagement hole 100 Image forming apparatus main body

Claims (5)

[Claims] In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, an exhaust fan for discharging air inside the image forming apparatus main body to the outside of the apparatus main body and adsorbing a transfer paper conveyed to a fixing device after image transfer to a conveyance guide, the ozone An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising: a filter having an engaging portion for retaining the ozone filter; 2. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said engagement portion is formed by one or a plurality of projections. 3. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ozone filter is provided with a detachable handle. 4. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ozone filter is formed of the same material as a filter member, and the engaging portion and a handle for attachment and detachment are formed. 5. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said engaging portion is formed on both sides of said ozone filter.