JPH1165347A - Web device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To continue working, without causing the stop and failure of a copying machine, etc., by recovering the contamination of a fixing member through a pressing member, even if the webbing of a web device is completed. SOLUTION: An unwinding member 7, a winding member 8, the pressing member 9 and a cleaning member 11 are arranged in the cover 10 of the web device 3 which is opened on the side of a fixing roller 1. One end of a web 6 is wound on the unwinding member 7 and goes along the cleaning member 11, to pass through between it and the pressing member 9, to be wound thereon and the other end part is fixed on the winding member 8. When the webbing 6 is completed, the pressing member 9 comes into direct contact with the fixing roller 1, to be reversely rotated and the cleaning member 11 becomes a counter blade, to remove the contamination such as toner and paper powder stuck to the pressing member 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a web device used for cleaning a heat fixing device provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, a printing machine, or for applying oil.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a thermal fixing device provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a web device for cleaning the surface of a fixing member such as a fixing roller and applying oil is used. The greatest advantage of using a web device is that the new web surface always contacts a surface such as a fuser roller. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a heat roller fixing device using this type of web device. 1 in the figure
Is a fixing roller, 2 is a pressing roller, and 3 is a web device. A pressing roller 2 having an elastic surface is pressed against a heated fixing roller 1 and a transfer paper 5 having an unfixed image 4 is passed between the pair of rollers. The image is thermally fixed. In the illustrated web device 3, the web 6 for cleaning or oil application is a heat source 1a.
Is in contact with the side of the fixing roller 1 having the built-in. Of course, it is also possible to arrange on the pressure roller 2 side.

FIG. 2 shows details of the web device 3. One end of the web 6 is wound around the unwinding member 7 and the other end is fixed to the winding member 8. Then, the winding member 8 is rotated by a motor (not shown), and the web 6 is rotated.
Is gradually wound up from the unwinding member 7 to the winding member 8. During this winding, the web 6 is pressed against and contacts the fixing roller 1 by the pressing member 9 to perform cleaning to wipe off dirt on the surface of the fixing roller 1 or apply oil to the surface of the fixing roller 1. For the purpose of oil application, a web impregnated with some offset preventing liquid such as silicone oil is used. The web 6 is gradually wound on the winding member 8 side over time, and finally the web 6
Ends away from the unwinding member 7. For this reason, the force which fixes the end of the web 6 to the unwinding member 7 is set within the allowable torque of the motor so that the motor does not break down. In this apparatus, when the web 6 is wound by the winding member 8, the surface of the new web 6 always comes into contact with the surface of the fixing roller 1, so that the cleaning performance of the web 6 does not decrease with time. The feed speed and feed interval need to be determined based on the number of copies, image density, and the like.

Although it is known that the end of the web 6 is not separated from the unwinding member 7, the amount of use (winding amount) of the web 6 is limited. The advantage of the above-described web device that the new web surface contacts the fixing roller 1 is not utilized, and conversely, the contact surface between the web 6 and the fixing roller 1 is not updated, and the same dirty surface is always in contact. Failure occurs.
In order to solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-214 is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 885 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-276080 disclose techniques that employ a means for detecting the remaining amount of web. However, these technologies have another problem that copying cannot be performed when a warning that the remaining amount of web is exhausted is issued, and when the apparatus is operated ignoring the warning, a web winding motor or the like may be damaged. Occurs. If the copy operation is prohibited at the end of the web as in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-241583, destruction of components such as a motor can be prevented, but in this case, downtime occurs in which the apparatus cannot be operated. The problem described above occurs.

In view of the above problems, it is desirable that the end of the web 6 be separated from the unwinding member 7 at the end of the web 6, and the toner used in the image forming apparatus and the like is
Wax etc. is blended, even if cleaning and oil application are not done, the device will not break down immediately,
According to an experiment, it is possible to pass about 50,000 sheets. However, the paper dust and toner originally cleaned by the web 6 gradually accumulate on the fixing roller 1 and the pressing member 9 (when the web 6 is lost, the paper dust and the toner come into direct contact with the fixing member). An offset phenomenon of reverse transfer occurs, and a failure occurs because dirt cannot be removed from each member. In addition, since the end of the web 6 that has left the unwinding member 7 is not supported anywhere, there is a possibility that the web 6 may be wrapped around a surrounding member or may hinder the transfer path of the transfer paper 5.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a web apparatus capable of collecting dirt on a fixing member via a pressing member even when the web is completed, and keeping the copier or the like running without stopping or breaking down. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a web apparatus for achieving the above object.
A web device for cleaning or applying oil by bringing a web into contact with a fixing member of an image forming apparatus, wherein the web is wound by a winding member via a pressing member from an unwinding member, and the web is wound by the pressing member. In the web device in which the web is brought into contact with the fixing member to clean the fixing member or apply oil, and the end of the web leaves the unwinding member at the end of the web, the pressing member is used at the end of the web. And a cleaning member that comes into contact with the cleaning member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the cleaning member is a plate-shaped member, and when the web is used, the cleaning member is placed in a tray in a traveling direction of the web. The arrangement is such that the contact is made in the ring direction, and at the end of the web, the contact is made in the counter direction to the rotation direction of the pressing member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a contact width of the cleaning member with the web or the pressing member is wider than a maximum paper passing width of the fixing member. I do.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the cleaning member also serves as an urging means for bringing the pressing member into contact with the fixing member.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, portions common to the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of the web apparatus according to the present invention. In the web device 3 of the present embodiment, the unwinding member 7, the winding member 8, the pressing member 9 and the cleaning member 11 are arranged in a cover 10 having the fixing roller 1 side opened, and one end of the web 6 is wound. The pressing member 9 is wound around the feeding member 7 and passed along the cleaning member 11 while passing between the pressing members 9, and the other end is fixed to the winding member 8.

That is, the web 6 is sandwiched between the contact portions of the pressing member 9 and the cleaning member 11 and wound up. For this reason, the web 6 is pressed against the pressing member 9 by the cleaning member 11, and is stable until the end leaves the unwinding member 7 until it separates from the pressing member 9. By properly setting the distance between the pressing member 9 and the winding member 8, the end of the web 6 does not wind around other members.

The material of the cleaning member 11 is a metal (generally a spring material,
For example, a thin stainless steel plate) is suitable, but a resin having heat resistance and elasticity, silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, or the like can also be used. Various materials coated with a fluororesin or the like on the surface may be used. FIG. 4 shows that the cleaning member 11 is the pressing member 9.
Indicates that the web 6 is in sliding contact with the movement of the web 6 in the trailing direction. The cleaning member 11 is in smooth contact with the operation direction of the web 6. In this direction, the web 6 is damaged or broken during operation,
There is no increase in the load of the motor or the like that winds the reel. Further, the web 6 is finished, and the pressing member 9 is moved to the fixing roller 1.
When the cleaning member 1 is in direct contact with
Reference numeral 1 denotes a counter blade, which can efficiently remove dirt 12 such as toner and paper dust attached to the pressing member 9. When the cleaning member 11 slides against the web 6 in the counter direction when the web 6 is present (see FIG. 4B), the contact resistance is large, and the web 6 is damaged, broken, and the load increases. Occurs.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of the web device 3 according to the present embodiment, as viewed obliquely from below. Fixing roller 1
Is slightly longer than the width w of the transfer paper 5 (for example, 5 mm
Above). The width dimension of the web 6 is the width w of the transfer paper 5
Must be equal to or greater than In a normal copying machine, transfer paper 5
Since the lateral deviation varies from 0 to 2 mm, it is preferably more than 0 mm. The width of the pressing member 9 is also made larger than the width w of the transfer paper 5. Further, the width W of the cleaning member 11 is substantially the same as the width of the pressing member 9, and is therefore larger than the width w of the transfer paper 5. In this way, when the web 6 has run out, the cleaning member 1 extends over substantially the entire length of the pressing member 9.
1 comes into direct contact, and the dirt 12 can be collected.

The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
When the end of the web 6 leaves the pressing member 9 as shown,
The pressing member 9 directly contacts the fixing roller 1, and
Following the rotation of the web 6, the web 6 starts to rotate in a direction opposite to that when the web 6 is present. The cleaning member 11 directly contacts the pressing member 9. Then, dirt 12 such as paper dust and toner adhered to the fixing roller 1 moves to the pressing member 9 and the cleaning member 1
Scraped by 1. The scraped dirt 12 collects in the lower part of the web cover 10.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the web apparatus according to the present invention.
An embodiment will be described. The shape of the cleaning member is not limited to a plate shape, but may be a roller shape like the cleaning roller 20 of the present embodiment, and may be configured to follow the movement of the web 6 or the rotation of the pressing member 9. Such a shape does not affect the holding of the web 6 on the pressing member 9 at all. When such a cleaning roller 20 is used, the position of the cleaning roller 20 is adjusted so that the pressing member 9 can be fixed at a slightly deformed position as shown in FIG.
As a result, it is possible to press the fixing roller 1 without using a special pressing mechanism in the pressing member 9. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the previous embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment of the web apparatus according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, a plate-like cleaning member 22 made of a spring material is deformed and brought into contact with the pressing member 9 as in the first embodiment. The deformed cleaning member 22 tends to return to its original state due to the spring property, and the pressing member 9 is pressed against the fixing roller 1 by this force. Therefore, similarly to the embodiment of FIG. 9, the pressing member 9 can press the fixing roller 1 without a special pressing mechanism. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the previous embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

[0018]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, the cleaning member collects the dirt on the fixing member via the pressing member even when the web is completed. There is an effect that the operation can be continued without causing a failure.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned common effects, the cleaning member does not apply a load to the feeding of the web during the usage period of the web, and the pressing device is driven by the fixing member after passing the end of the web. Since the counter is in contact with the rotating direction of the member at the counter, there is an effect that the dirt scraping property can be further improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-described common effects, the cleaning member does not apply a load to the feeding of the web during the life of the web, and the web can be stably brought into contact with the pressing member. After the completion of the web, there is an effect that dirt attached to the pressing member can be removed over the entire length.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned common effects, the mechanism for pressing the pressing member against the fixing member can be simplified, and the size and cost of the apparatus can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual cross-sectional view of a heat roller fixing device using a web device.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing details of the web device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of a web device according to the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a contact state of a cleaning member, a web, and a pressing member of the web device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of the web device of FIG. 3 as viewed from the lower right side of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an operation of the web device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the web device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the web device of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified arrangement example of the web device of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a third embodiment of the web device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fixing roller 1a Heat source 2 Pressure roller 3 Web device 4 Unfixed image 5 Transfer paper 6 Web 7 Unwinding member 8 Rewinding member 9 Pressing member 10 Cover 11, 22 Cleaning member 12 Dirt of toner, paper dust, etc. 20 Cleaning roller

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A web apparatus for cleaning or applying oil by bringing a web into contact with a fixing member of an image forming apparatus, wherein the web is wound by a winding member from a unwinding member via a pressing member. A web device in which the web is brought into contact with the fixing member by the pressing member to clean the fixing member or apply oil, and the end of the web leaves the unwinding member at the end of the web; A web device comprising a cleaning member that comes into contact with the pressing member at the time of termination. 2. The cleaning member is a plate-like member,
When the web is used, the cleaning member comes into contact with the traveling direction of the web in a trailing direction, and when the web ends, the cleaning member comes into contact with the counter direction with respect to the rotation direction of the pressing member. The web device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The web device according to claim 1, wherein a contact width of the cleaning member with the web or the pressing member is wider than a maximum paper passing width of the fixing member. 4. The web apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning member also functions as an urging means for bringing said pressing member into contact with said fixing member.