JPH11327313A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image forming device capable of reducing the whole size of the device, without making the bottom area large by a photoreceptor, an intermediate transfer body and a cleaning means for removing tonel remaining on the intermediate transfer body. SOLUTION: The image forming device is provided with a photoreceptor 1 on which electrostatic latent images of plural colors are formed, a developing means 2 for attaining development with developers of plural colors corresponding to the electrostatic latent images, an intermediate transfer body 3 for successively superimposing developed images of each color on the developed photoreceptor 1, a transfer means 4 for transferring the superimposed colored images to a recording medium, a fixing means 6 for fixing the colored images after being transferred to the recording medium and a cleaning means 10 for removing the developer remaining on the intermediate transfer body 3. The photoreceptor 1 and the intermediate transfer body 3 are constituted of an endless belt extended on plural holding rollers 8 in the vertical direction and the cleaning means 10 is formed to come into contact with/to be separated from the intermediate transfer body 3 and disposed above from the center of one in the top part out of holding rollers 9 of the endless belt.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a copying machine,
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of image forming apparatus,
There is such as disclosed in JP-A-6-289666,
Since this has the same parts as the embodiment of the present invention, it will be described with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings of the present invention. That is, a plurality of electrostatic latent images are formed, and the holding roller 8
A developing unit 2 for sequentially developing a colored image with a plurality of developers corresponding to each of the electrostatic latent images on the photosensitive member 1;
The colored images of the respective colors on the photoreceptor 1 developed by the developing means 2 are sequentially superimposed, and the intermediate transfer body 3 composed of an endless belt held by the holding roller 9 and the colored development superimposed on the intermediate transfer body 3 A transfer unit 4 for transferring the image to the transfer paper P, a fixing unit 6 for fixing the colored image transferred to the transfer paper P by the transfer unit 4, and a developer after the transfer remaining on the intermediate transfer body 3 is removed. Cleaning means 7
And The developing means 2 has, for example, developing means 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 and 2-4 for four colors of black, cyan, magenta and yellow.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional image forming apparatus, since the intermediate transfer member is suspended obliquely with respect to the photosensitive member, the bottom area occupied by the photosensitive member and the intermediate transfer member is reduced. In addition to the fact that the cleaning means for removing the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body after the transfer is provided on the lower side of the intermediate transfer body, the bottom area is further increased. There is a problem that the size of the entire apparatus cannot be reduced and the installation area increases.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional image forming apparatus, and not only does the bottom area occupied by the photoreceptor and the intermediate transfer member not be large, but also provides an image on the intermediate transfer member. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing the size of the entire apparatus without increasing the bottom area by a cleaning unit for removing the remaining toner.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a photoconductor on which a plurality of electrostatic latent images are formed, and an electrostatic latent image on each of the photoconductors. Developing means for sequentially developing the colored images with the corresponding plural-color developers, an intermediate transfer body for sequentially overlaying the colored images of the respective colors on the photoreceptor developed by the developing means, and an intermediate transfer body for superimposing on the intermediate transfer body Transfer means for transferring the colored image to the recording medium, fixing means for fixing the colored image transferred to the recording medium by the transfer means, and cleaning means for removing residual developer remaining after transfer remaining on the intermediate transfer member. In the image forming apparatus, the photosensitive member and the intermediate transfer member are formed by an endless belt suspended vertically in a vertical direction by a plurality of holding rollers, and the cleaning unit is configured to be able to contact and separate from the intermediate transfer member. It is formed in a, and is characterized in that it is disposed above the center of the holding rollers located in the uppermost portion in the holding rollers for suspending the endless belt.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the cleaning unit is configured to contact the blade that scrapes the residual developer on the intermediate transfer member by the edge and the edge of the blade. And a driving means for driving the brush roller.

[0007] The invention described in claim 3 is the first or second invention.
Wherein the cleaning means comprises a conductive brush and a metal roller to which a voltage is applied, and a blade for scraping off the metal roller, and electrostatically removes the residual developer on the intermediate transfer member. It is characterized by the following.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the cleaning means can be detachably attached to the apparatus main body integrally with the intermediate transfer member. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the width of the intermediate transfer member is within a range of the width of the intermediate transfer member with respect to the pull-out direction.
To 3).

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings, the description of the above-mentioned portions will be omitted, and different portions will be mainly described.

In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the photosensitive member 1 is charged to a predetermined potential by a charging roller 11, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive member 1 by a writing device 12. After the colored image of the first color is developed on the photoconductor 1 by the developing unit 2-1, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 1 is intermediate-transferred by the primary transfer roller 5. The toner transferred to the body 3 and remaining on the photoreceptor 1 thereafter is removed by a cleaning unit 10 provided on the upstream side of the charging roller 11.
In the same manner as described above, the toner images of the second and lower colors are developed on the photosensitive member 1 by the developing means 2-2, 2-3, and 2-4, and then sequentially transferred to the intermediate transfer member 3 and superimposed. Thus, a colored image is formed.

When the superimposed colored developed image is formed on the intermediate transfer body 3 in this way, the recording medium P fed from the paper feeding means 13 via the registration rollers 14
The recording medium P transferred by the transfer roller 16 of the transfer unit 4 and transferred with the color image is conveyed to the fixing unit 6, and the unfixed color image transferred onto the recording medium P by the fixing unit 6 is fixed. Then, the fixed recording medium P is discharged onto a discharge tray 18 via a discharge roller 17.

After the transfer of the toner image, the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member 3 is removed by the cleaning means 7. This cleaning means 7
As shown in FIG. 1, it is disposed above the center O of the holding roller 9 'located at the uppermost position in the holding roller 9 for suspending the intermediate transfer member 3, and as shown in FIGS. And a housing 21.

The housing 21 is rotatable about an axis of rotation 26 in a direction indicated by an arrow a shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, and is mounted on the housing 21 via a support frame 20.
And a brush roller 24 installed so as to be in contact with the edge 23 of the blade 22 and driven to rotate by a driving unit (not shown), and a waste toner storage unit provided at the opposite end.
27, and a transport screw 25 disposed in the waste toner storage section 27 and rotated by a rotating shaft 26.

As shown in FIG. 5, the housing 21 as described above is detachably mounted integrally with the intermediate transfer member 3 as shown in FIG.
The width dimension W1 is smaller than the width dimension range W in the pull-out direction X when the intermediate transfer body 3 is detached, and is positioned so as to fall within the width dimension range W. Then, as shown in FIGS.
The edge portion 23 of the intermediate transfer member 3 can be moved away from the intermediate transfer member 3.
After the upper colored image is transferred onto the recording medium P, the edge portion 23 of the blade 22 comes into contact with the intermediate transfer member 3, and when the first color developed image comes to the cleaning position of the blade 22, the intermediate transfer is performed. It is controlled so as to be separated from the body 3.

The blade 22 is configured to scrape residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member 3 by bringing the edge portion 23 into contact with the intermediate transfer member 3. The brush roller 24, by its rotation, brushes the blade 22 and constantly transports the waste toner deposited on the edge portion 23 upward, and the waste toner falls into a waste toner storage portion 27 formed in the housing 21. Then, the toner is conveyed by a conveying screw 25 into a waste toner storage box (not shown) and is discharged.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, only the cleaning means 30 is different from that of the first embodiment, and the other parts are the same. Therefore, such a portion is omitted from the drawing, and a different portion will be described. This cleaning means 30
As shown in FIG. 6, the housing 31 and the conductive brush 32
A bias roller made of a metal roller 33 to which a potential is applied so as to be brought into contact with the conductive brush 32 to adsorb the toner; a blade 34 for scraping off the toner adsorbed on the bias roller; It has a waste toner storage part 35 for storing waste toner scraped off by the blade 34, and a transport screw 36 provided in the waste toner storage part 35, and the housing 31 has a rotating shaft 37 of the transport screw 36. 7 and 8, the surface of the conductive brush 32 with respect to the intermediate transfer member 3 can be brought into contact with and separated from the intermediate transfer member 3. As shown in FIG.

In such a case, the surface of the conductive brush 32 is given a potential reverse to that of the toner on the intermediate transfer member 3 by the cleaning bias applied to the bias roller 33 at the time of use, and the intermediate transfer is performed. The remaining toner on the body 3 is electrostatically attracted and removed. At this time, the cleaning bias is applied even during the contact / separation operation.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0019]

According to the present invention, as described above, a photosensitive member on which a plurality of colors of electrostatic latent images are formed and a plurality of colors of developer corresponding to each of the electrostatic latent images on the photosensitive member are provided. Developing means for sequentially developing the colored images, an intermediate transfer member for sequentially superimposing the colored images of the respective colors on the photoreceptor developed by the developing means, and transferring the colored images superimposed on the intermediate transfer member to a recording medium An image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer unit; a fixing unit configured to fix a colored developed image transferred to a recording medium by the transfer unit; and a cleaning unit configured to remove a residual developer after transfer remaining on an intermediate transfer body. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the photosensitive member and the intermediate transfer member are formed by an endless belt suspended vertically in a vertical direction by a plurality of holding rollers, and the cleaning unit is configured to be able to contact and separate from the intermediate transfer member. And the cleaning unit is disposed above the center of the holding roller positioned at the uppermost position in the holding roller that suspends the endless belt, and the cleaning unit is not positioned on the side surface of the intermediate transfer body. It is possible to prevent an increase in the bottom area of the device, and it is possible to save the installation area.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the cleaning means includes a blade for scraping the residual developer on the intermediate transfer member by the edge, a brush roller provided to contact the edge of the blade, and a brush. And a driving means for driving the roller, so that the scraped developer accumulated on the edge of the cleaning blade can be always conveyed upward by the brush roller. The developer remaining on the intermediate transfer member does not remain on the intermediate transfer member, which has the effect of preventing problems such as toner scattering.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the cleaning means comprises a conductive brush and a metal roller to which a voltage is applied, and a blade for scraping off the metal roller, and removes the residual developer on the intermediate transfer member. Since the developer is electrostatically removed, the residual developer is electrostatically attracted to the conductive brush by the cleaning bias at the time of contact / separation. There is an effect that can be prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the cleaning means can be detachably attached to the apparatus main body integrally with the intermediate transfer member, and a width dimension range of the intermediate transfer member with respect to a pull-out direction at the time of detachment. The intermediate transfer member can be easily attached and detached and exchanged, and the opening formed in the apparatus main body for attaching and detaching the intermediate transfer member can be minimized. There is an effect that the overall size can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing an entire configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a cleaning unit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement state when the cleaning unit is separated.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an arrangement state of the cleaning unit at the time of contact.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the intermediate transfer body and the cleaning unit according to the first embodiment are attached to and detached from the apparatus main body.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a cleaning unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an arrangement state when the cleaning unit is separated.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement state of the cleaning unit at the time of contact.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photoconductor 2 Developing means 3 Intermediate transfer body 4 Transfer means 6 Fixing means 7 Cleaning means 8 Holding roller 9 Holding roller 10 Cleaning means 11 Charging roller 12 Writing device 13 Paper feeding means 14 Registration roller 16 Transfer roller 17 Discharge roller 18 Discharge Paper tray 20 Support frame 21 Housing 22 Blade 23 Edge part 24 Brush roller 25 Conveying screw 26 Rotating shaft 30 Cleaning means 31 Housing 32 Conductive brush 33 Metal roller 34 Blade 35 Waste toner storage unit 36 Conveying screw 37 Rotating shaft O Center P Recording Medium

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A photoconductor on which a plurality of electrostatic latent images are formed, and developing means for sequentially developing a colored image on the photoconductor with a plurality of developers corresponding to each of the electrostatic latent images; An intermediate transfer member for sequentially superimposing the colored images of the respective colors on the photoreceptor developed by the developing device; a transfer device for transferring the colored image superimposed on the intermediate transfer member to a recording medium; In an image forming apparatus having a fixing unit for fixing a transferred colored image and a cleaning unit for removing a developer after transfer remaining on an intermediate transfer member, the photosensitive member and the intermediate transfer member may include a plurality of holding rollers. The cleaning means is formed so as to be able to contact and separate from the intermediate transfer member, and the uppermost one of the holding rollers for suspending the endless belt. An image forming apparatus provided above a center of a holding roller located at a site. 2. A cleaning device comprising: a blade for scraping residual developer on an intermediate transfer member by an edge portion; a brush roller provided so as to contact the edge portion of the blade; and a driving device for driving the brush roller. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. A cleaning means comprising a conductive brush and a metal roller to which a voltage is applied, and a blade scraped off from the metal roller, and electrostatically removes residual developer on the intermediate transfer member. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 4. The cleaning means is capable of being detachably attached to the apparatus main body integrally with the intermediate transfer body, and is within a width dimension of the intermediate transfer body in a pull-out direction at the time of attachment and detachment. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: