JPH1138855A - Cleaner for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To uniformly apply a lubricant to the surface of the image carrier of an image forming the device and to surely prevent a part of the surface of the image carrier from being uncoated with the lubricant and wearing further. SOLUTION: After an image forming operation, the photoreceptor 11 is reversely rotated, and the lubricant 34 stored in the upper part of a cleaning blade 32 is dragged along the surface of the photoreceptor 11, thereby forming a thin layer of the lubricant 34 and coating the surface of the photoreceptor 11 with the small amount of it are executed. The photoreceptor 11 is rotated at least only an amount equivalent to the length of the circumference of it. The applying operation the lubricant 34 is carried out for each one job of the image forming device or at predetermined intervals according to, for example, the number of prints, the number of copies, or the length of time that the device is operated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device which uses a lubricant for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a laser printer, and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, a cleaning blade for removing residual toner (transfer residual toner) on a photoconductor as an image carrier and a photoconductor are used. If the frictional force is high, it causes wear of the cleaning blade and abrasion of the film on the surface of the photoreceptor, which is a factor determining the life of each member.
Therefore, in order to prolong the service life, a technique has been proposed and implemented in which a lubricant is applied to the surface of the photoconductor using a cleaning blade to reduce the friction coefficient of the surface of the photoconductor.

In a conventional example in which such a lubricant is applied, a lubricant is mixed with a developer so that a certain amount is applied to the surface of a photoreceptor in a developing process. The addition of an agent causes problems such as accelerated deterioration of the developer and deterioration of the image quality.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3182, a lubricant supply unit is provided on the upstream side of the cleaning blade (downstream in the rotation direction of the photoconductor), and the photoconductor is intermittently reversely rotated to apply the lubricant onto the photoconductor. Things have been suggested. That is, in this technique, the lubricant is applied to the photoreceptor by a cleaning device to solve the above-mentioned problem. However, this technique is intended to reduce the frictional force with the photoreceptor by applying a lubricant to the cleaning blade itself, and it is insufficient for uniformly applying the lubricant to the surface of the photoreceptor. Further, since the cleaning blade itself is almost in a state of linear contact with the photoconductor, there is a problem that the amount of the lubricant applied is too small, and the frictional force with the photoconductor increases immediately. Therefore, this type of technology has a new problem that the lubricant must be frequently supplied to the cleaning blade. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-1
Although not considered in the technology of Japanese Patent No. 13182, the timing of applying the lubricant becomes important in order to control the amount of the applied lubricant because the supply of the lubricant is performed by rotating the photoconductor in reverse. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus that can solve the problems of the conventional technology.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning blade for removing untransferred toner on an image carrier in order to achieve the above object. A lubricant supply section downstream of the cleaning blade in the rotation direction of the image carrier, and a lubricant supply section configured to supply a lubricant onto the image carrier from the lubricant supply section. In the cleaning device for an image forming apparatus that rotates the image carrier in the reverse direction when the lubricant is supplied from the section, the image carrier is rotated at least one rotation when the lubricant is supplied to the image carrier. It is characterized by the following.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the lubricant is supplied to the image carrier after one job is completed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the lubricant is supplied to the image carrier at a predetermined interval in a continuous image forming mode.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, one circumferential length of the surface of the image carrier is at least a distance between sheets of paper passing for image formation. And

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the overall configuration of an internal mechanism of a laser printer as an example of an image forming apparatus that can include a cleaning device according to the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a printer main body, and a drum-shaped photoconductor 11 is provided substantially at the center of the printer main body 10. Around the photoconductor 11, a charging device 12, a developing device 13, a transfer device 14, and a cleaning device 15 are arranged in a driving direction indicated by an arrow in the drawing. An optical writing device 17 is disposed above the charging device 12, the cleaning device 15, and the developing device 13. Then, the printer body 10
On the right side of the figure, a sheet feeding cassette 18 containing sheets P is detachably attached.

When an image is recorded on the paper P using this laser printer, the paper feed roller 20 is driven to rotate and the paper P is fed out of the paper feed cassette 18 toward the image forming section, and the paper P is output at the timing. And transported to the lower side of the photoconductor 11 by the pair of registration rollers 19. The photoconductor 11 is driven to rotate in the clockwise direction indicated by the arrow. At this time, the surface of the photoconductor 11 is uniformly charged by the charging device 12, and then the photoconductor 11 is irradiated with laser light from the optical writing device 17.
To form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the substrate. This electrostatic latent image is visualized by toner when passing through a position facing the developing device 13. The image information visualized by the toner is transferred onto the upper surface of the sheet P conveyed below the photoconductor 11 by the transfer device 14.
Transcribe by The paper P after the image transfer is applied to the fixing device 16.
The fixing device 16 fixes the transferred image. Thereafter, the sheet P exiting from the fixing device 16 is transported through the transport path 21, discharged to the outside of the apparatus by a pair of discharge rollers 22, and stocked on a discharge tray 23.

On the other hand, the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor 11 after image transfer is removed by a cleaning device 15. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views showing the cleaning device 15 and the photoconductor 11 in an enlarged manner. Cleaning device 15
Has a cleaning blade 32 and a lubricant blocking member 33 in a case 31, stores a lubricant 34 between the cleaning blade 32 and the lubricant blocking member 33, and stores a lower portion of the case 31 in a collected toner storage section 35. There is.

During a normal image forming operation, the photosensitive member 11 is driven to rotate in a direction indicated by an arrow in the drawing (clockwise). The toner remaining on the photoreceptor 11 without being transferred to the sheet P during the above-described transfer process is scraped off by the cleaning blade 32 and collected in the collected toner storage unit 35. The collected toner is stored as it is or returned to the developing device by means (not shown) for reuse. The cleaning device of the present invention may be any device. Cleaning blade 3
During normal rotation, the lubricant 34 stored in the upper portion of the cleaning device 2 is blocked by the lubricant blocking member 33 and does not leak out of the cleaning device 15.

Next, the operation of applying the lubricant 34 on the photoreceptor 11 will be described with reference to FIG. When the image forming operation is completed, the rotation direction of the photoconductor 11 is reversed. That is, the photoconductor 11 is driven to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing (counterclockwise). Then, the lubricant 34 stored in the upper part of the cleaning blade 32 is dragged by the surface of the photoconductor 11 and starts to move to the cleaning blade 32 side. As shown in the drawing, the cleaning blade 32 is in a direction opposite to the normal rotation direction of the photoconductor 11, that is, is in contact with the counter, so that when the photoconductor 11 rotates in the reverse direction, the cleaning blade 32 tends to escape. For this reason, the lubricant 34 is thinned by the cleaning blade 32,
A small amount is applied to the surface of the photoconductor 11. The photoreceptor 11 rotates at least by one circumference, receives a small amount of the lubricant 34 uniformly applied over the entire peripheral surface, and stops.

Next, the operation timing of the photoconductor 11 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows a case where the lubricant 34 is applied to the photoconductor 11 for each job of the laser printer. In the laser printer, the operation of the image forming mode is started, and the photoconductor 11 rotates forward until one job is completed, and enters the lubricant supply mode when one job is completed. Then, the photoreceptor 11 reversely rotates by at least one circumference as described above, receives the application of the lubricant 34, and then stops, and enters a standby state for the next image forming operation.

FIG. 5 shows that when the lubricant 34 is applied for each job, the difference in the number of prints (in a copying machine or the like, the number of copies) causes a difference in the interval of application of the lubricant 34. Indicates the mode. In this mode,
It is intended for continuous printing. Instead of entering the lubricant supply mode for each job as shown in the figure, the lubricant supply mode is entered at predetermined intervals such as the number of prints and operation time. Periodically apply the lubricant 34 to the photoconductor 11
Apply to the surface of. Photoreceptor 1 with rotation, stop, reverse rotation
The operation 1 itself is the same as in FIG.

In this example, if the circumference of the photoconductor 11 is set to correspond to the interval between the sheets P to be fed, a mode in which the lubricant 34 can always be applied to each sheet can be set. It is.

[0016]

As described above, the cleaning device for an image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention lubricates the rotation side of the image carrier downstream of the cleaning blade for removing residual toner on the image carrier. A lubricant supply unit, and when the lubricant is supplied from the lubricant supply unit onto the image carrier, the image carrier is rotated at least one turn or more, so that the lubricant is applied on the surface of the image carrier. It is possible to apply evenly, and it is possible to reliably prevent a part of the surface of the image carrier from being worn without the lubricant being applied.

In the cleaning device for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, as described above, the lubricant is supplied to the image carrier after one job is completed. In the non-image forming area after the completion of one job, the lubricant can be applied to the photoreceptor without any influence on the printing operation, the friction coefficient of the photoreceptor surface can be reduced, the life of the cleaning blade can be extended, There is an effect that the abrasion of the photoconductor can be prevented.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus which supplies a lubricant to an image carrier when a predetermined number of images are formed and an operation time reaches a predetermined interval in a continuous copy mode. Therefore, in addition to the above-mentioned common effect, there is an effect that the increase in the friction coefficient of the surface of the image carrier can be reliably suppressed, and the life of the cleaning blade and the image carrier can be extended.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning apparatus for an image forming apparatus, comprising:
Since the perimeter is at least the inter-paper distance of the paper passing for image formation, in addition to the above-described common effects, in the continuous image formation mode or in the image formation mode of only one sheet, Even if the lubricant is applied to the image carrier for each sheet, the speed of the image forming operation is not reduced, and the lubricant can be more reliably and regularly applied to the image carrier in a stable manner. Becomes

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an entire configuration of an internal mechanism of a laser printer.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a cleaning device and a photoconductor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the cleaning device and the photoconductor of FIG. 2 at the time of applying a lubricant;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of applying a lubricant to a photoconductor for each job of the laser printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation example of applying a lubricant to a photoconductor at predetermined intervals of the number of prints and operation time of the laser printer of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Printer main body 11 Photoreceptor 12 Charging device 13 Developing device 14 Transfer device 15 Cleaning device 16 Fixing device 17 Optical writing device 18 Paper feed cassette 19 Registration roller pair 20 Paper feed roller 21 Conveying path 22 Paper discharge roller pair 31 Cleaning device case 32 Cleaning Blade 33 Lubricant Damping Member 34 Lubricant 35 Collected Toner Storage P Paper

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Kei Yasutomi Ricoh Co., Ltd. 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo

Claims (4)

[Claims] A cleaning blade for removing transfer residual toner on the image carrier; a lubricant supply unit downstream of the cleaning blade in a rotation direction of the image carrier; A cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, wherein a lubricant can be supplied from the lubricant supply unit to the image carrier, and when the lubricant is supplied from the lubricant supply unit, the image carrier is rotated in the reverse direction. A cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, wherein the image carrier is rotated at least one or more times when the agent is supplied. 2. The cleaning device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant is supplied to the image carrier after one job is completed. 3. The cleaning device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a lubricant is supplied to the image carrier at a predetermined interval in a continuous image forming mode. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one circumferential length of the surface of the image bearing member is at least a distance between sheets of paper passed for image formation. Cleaning equipment.