JPS58182678A - Cleaning device of copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform the maintenance inspection of a cleaning device efficiently by constituting attachably and detachably the upper side part of a case which forms a duct along a path from a brush to a filter and an air regulator plate. CONSTITUTION:The lid 50 of a filter taking-out opening provided to the case 4 is detached and a set screw 51 is loosened to take out the filter 37 together with a case 38. Then, a rotary catch 31 is drawn out and a groove 29 is detached from a pin 30 to remove a cover 26 from the case 4. Further, the rotary catch 25 of the air regulator plate 7 is drawn out and rotated upwardly around a shaft 20. The brush 3 or the inside surface of the air regulator plate 7 are cleaned. When a ''Teflon'' tape 8 stuck to the inside surface of the air regulator plate 7 should be replaced, a knob 24 is rotated to detach the shaft 20 engaged threadably with a screw hole 22, so that the air regulator plate 7 is taken out easily. Thus, the maintenance inspection is carried out efficiently.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to cleaning of residual toner remaining after a toner image on an electrostatic latent image holding member is transferred to recording paper in a dry electrostatic copying machine.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view of an example of a conventional cleaning device for a dry electrostatic 11 copying machine.

] is a photoreceptor drum that is energized by a known electrophotographic process.
The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum through exposure and development is transferred onto recording paper. 8 indicates residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum after being transferred.

3 is a brush, for example, III# made by flocking 800 denier, 80 filament fibers made of rayon at a density of 11,000 per square.
6011m+, hair length 14w (7) cylindrical shape 1f
flL.

The brush obtained in the above is rotated at a rotational speed of m goo rpm+. Reference numeral 4 denotes a case surrounding the cleaning device, forming a duct for sucking the residual toner dusted off by the brush 8. b is a rod body made by passing a metal rod through a Teflon tube, which has the role of supplying Teflon to the brush 3 and brushing off toner that has settled on the bristles of the brush 8; By rubbing, a Teflon layer is formed on the surface of the bristles of the brush 8. The reason for forming this Teflon layer is that, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 66-118186, toner filming on the photoreceptor drum 1 is performed by taking advantage of Teflon's special characteristics of non-adhesiveness, lubricity, and releasability. The object of the present invention is to prevent the toner from mechanically adhering to the non-image area, thereby improving the transfer effect due to the weakening of the adhesion of the toner image, and further preventing the toner from mechanically adhering to the non-image area, resulting in fog. Especially the static IIIW formed by one exposure! In the 11F machine, which uses a method to obtain multiple vI images by repeatedly developing and transferring an I image, charge is injected onto the photoreceptor drum through the recording paper during transfer, which causes fog. . Further, when the recording paper is peeled off from the photoreceptor drum, the transfer electric field must be weakened to prevent black spots from being generated on the screen due to discharge, resulting in a decrease in transfer performance. Furthermore, since a magnetic two-component developer with a high toner concentration is used to prevent latent charge from discharging through the developer during development, fog tends to occur in non-image areas.

Coating the photoreceptor drum with Teflon has a significant effect on these problems. However, since Teflon has low abrasion resistance, it is necessary to replenish the photoreceptor drum with Teflon.

For this purpose, the metal rod is covered with a Teflon tube, thereby adhering Teflon to the brush 8, and at the same time brushing off the toner adhering to the brush 8, Teflon is replenished onto the photoreceptor drum.

As described above, since the brush 8 strongly rubs against the Teflon tube or the like, the brush 8 tends to be strongly charged due to frictional charging. When the charge on the brush 8 is of opposite polarity to that of the residual toner, the cleaning action is enhanced, and when the charge is of the same polarity, the IJ-ning action is increased. It has the effect of - The residual toner on the photoconductor drum is not necessarily limited to one polarity, and sometimes the charge on the toner may be reversed to the opposite polarity due to the charge injected onto the toner during transfer. Toners of both polarities are often mixed,
Generally, it is not preferable for the brush 8 to be strongly charged.

6 is a grounding plate for dissipating the electric charge of the brush 3. Reference numeral 7 denotes a plate S, which is provided in contact with the brush on the side where the brush δ rotates and enters the photosensitive drum 1, and is used to prevent toner from scattering outside the cleaning device housing. . Teflon tape 8 is pasted on the inner surface of the air baffle plate 7 that contacts the brush. The role of this Teflon tape 8 is to supply Teflon to the brush δ in the same way as the Teflon tube described earlier, and at the same time, toner adheres to the air baffle plate 7, which causes Teflon to be removed from the brush 8. The purpose is to prevent the toner from being contaminated by toner and causing toner filming.

The ground plate 6 has one end fixed to a wind regulating plate 7, and the wind regulating plate 7 has both ends fixed to a case 4 constituting a duct.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a filter, for example, a filter material made of polyurethane foam is integrated with a resin frame so that it can be taken in and out in the direction of the arrow. The filter 9 is constructed so that the frame of the filter 9 serves as a lid so that there are no gaps. Further, reference numeral 10 denotes a fan, which directs the toner removed by the brush 8 to the filter 9 in the direction of arrow B.
It is for collecting by. Note that 11 is a motor that rotates the fan 0.

FIG. 3 is an external view of the conventional cleaning device shown in FIG. 1, in which the same parts as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals. The brush 8 is supported by the side plate 12 and ]8,
A motor 4 for rotating the brush is attached to the side plate of 12. The side plates 12, 18 are connected and fixed to each other by an arm 15, and swingably supported by a shaft 16 on the II manuscript body frame (not shown). That is, the brush 8 is capable of swinging around the shaft 6, and can be moved away from the photosensitive drum 1 (see FIG. 1) by a swinging mechanism using a solenoid (not shown). The side plate 8 consists of a portion 18a fixed to the arm 16, and a portion 1δb which is detachable from this portion 18& and supports the brush δ. 17
The cover 1 is an opening for inserting and removing the brush 8, and is removably attached to the case 4. When replacing the brush 8, first remove the part 18b of the side plate 18, then remove the lid 17.
By removing it, you can take out the brush δ. Case Shizu consists of a lower case shown as 4a and an upper case shown as 4b.
The upper and lower cases 4a and 4btt are integrally connected by 18 screws. Reference numeral 9 is a lid of an opening through which the filter is taken in and taken out, and is a part of the frame of the filter.

In a copying machine equipped with a cleaning device as described above, as copies are repeated, the filter becomes clogged with toner, and it becomes necessary to periodically replace the filter. When replacing the filter, it is preferable to clean the surface of the Teflon tape attached to the inner cover 1 of the air baffle plate 7 from the viewpoint of maintaining the device. Furthermore, since toner adheres to the ground plate 6 and the Teflon tube of the metal rod S, it is desirable to clean these as well. It depends on the size of the device, but in the conventional case it is about 5,000 sheets! Periodic inspection is required for each product. In addition, the Teflon tape and Teflon tube also wear out, so they need to be replaced periodically, and this is necessary every approximately 80,000 to 80,000 copies.

For maintenance and cleaning, remove the lids 9 and ]7 and use a vacuum cleaner or brush to open the filter inlet/outlet and the brush 8 inlet/outlet, and then touch the brush 8 to the photoreceptor drum and use a vacuum cleaner or brush to clean it. Remove the toner that has accumulated on the Teflon tube or Teflon tape using absorbent cotton or the like, or remove the toner that has adhered to the Teflon tube or Teflon tape with an organic solvent using absorbent cotton or the like.Since the entrances of each opening are narrow, this work is not easy and takes time. Met. In particular, when replacing the Teflon tape 8 attached to the inner surface of the air conditioning plate 7, since the air conditioning plate 7 is fixed to the upper nurse 4b, it is necessary to remove the screws shown at ]8. Furthermore, the air regulating plate 7 is attached to the upper case 4b.
Since it is difficult to apply the Teflon tape with the Teflon tape still attached, there are problems such as having to remove the air baffle plate γ from the upper case 4b, resulting in poor workability and time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device for a copying machine that eliminates the above-mentioned problems during maintenance work and facilitates maintenance.

*The original gluing IJ-ning device of the present invention is a dry electrostatic IJ-ning device.
The electrostatic latent image holding member is used in the cleaning process, in which the residual toner remaining after the toner image on the electrostatic latent image holding member of the V machine is transferred to recording paper is brushed off with a brush, and the residual toner is sucked and collected by a filter. By configuring the upper part of the case, which forms the duct from which the brush is transferred to the filter, and the plate member in contact with the brush, to be removable, the upper part of the part from which the latent image holding member passes through the brush to the filter is opened. The special feature is that it is obtained.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing an example of the structure of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a photosensitive drum;
8 is a brush, and the support mechanism for this brush 8 is the same as the conventional one shown in FIG. 2, but in this embodiment,
By positioning the shaft 16 below the brush 8 and supporting the brush 8 in a rocking manner around the shaft 6, the brush 8 is connected to the surface of the photoreceptor drum using a driving mechanism (not shown). I try to tighten it or let it open. Reference numeral 6 denotes a grounding plate, and one end of this is also fixed to the air regulating plate 7 as in the conventional case. Further, as shown in detail in FIG. 4, the air baffle plate 7 is partially bent on both sides near the photoreceptor drum, and provided with a through hole through which the shaft 2o can be inserted.
It is removably attached to the case by means of a shaft 2o through which this support portion 21.21' is inserted. The shaft 20 is inserted into the support part 2], 21' through an insertion hole provided in the side plate of the case 4 (not shown), and is inserted into a threaded hole 2 formed in the side plate of the other case 4 facing the side plate.
The threaded portion 28 at the end of the shaft 20 is screwed onto the shaft 20 to fix it. 2
Reference numeral 4 denotes a knob conveniently provided to perform the screwing from the outside of the case 4.

Since the wind baffle plate 7 is installed in this way, the shaft 20
Can be rotated around 17 degrees.

On the other hand, on the opposite side of the axis so, there is a rectified wind 1t17'rt
For fixing, for example, an o-tally catch 211, which is widely available on the market, is provided. That is, the insertion side member 25a1 and the receiving side member gab of the rotary catch are respectively attached to the case 4 on the side of the air baffle plate, thereby regulating the rotation of the air buff plate 7 and preventing backlash during use. Note that this portion may be fixed by screws or by a click mechanism using a spring member to fix the air baffle plate 7 to the case plate.

26 is a cover that covers the upper part of the air regulating plate, and forms part of the case 4 that covers the outer circumference of the cleaning device. As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the cover 26 is bent on both sides, but there is no bending at the tip on the side close to the photoreceptor drum, and the L-shaped member 27 and its L-shaped member 27 are bent.
A fold-back groove 29 is formed by a spacer 28 for fixing the cover 26 at an appropriate distance from the cover 26.

This U-shaped @go is attached to the pin 8 on both sides of the case.
0 to fix the photoconductor tram side end of the cover 26, and the other end is fixed by a suitable removable means such as a rotary catch 81 or screws in the same way as the air baffle plate. There is.

The details of the L-shaped member 27 are as shown in FIG. That is, the L-shaped member 27 is connected to the screw 88 via the spacer 28.
1 to the cover 26, thereby forming a suction passage 88 between the cover 26 and the L-shaped member 27. This L-shaped member 27 is made of gold N@84 bent into an L-shape.
A rubber layer 85 is formed on the bent portion. This 2
The rubber layer 85 is intended to prevent the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1 from being scratched even if it is touched when the L-shaped member 27 is attached or detached. It's out on the 1st side. Further, the cross section of the rubber layer 85 is not limited to a triangle as shown in the figure;
The surface facing the surface may be an elastic member. In this embodiment, an L-shaped metal plate 84 and a rubber layer 85 are integrally formed with a triangular cross section to prevent the elastic member from peeling off.

On the opposite side of the L-shaped metal plate 84 from the side on which the rubber layer 85 is provided, an elastic member 86 is attached to a portion facing the rectilinear plate 7 . This is because the photoreceptor drum 1 side of the air baffle plate 7 is only held by passing the shaft 20 through the through hole of the supporting portion 2], so that the air baffle plate 7 is pressed from above with the elastic member δ6 to avoid looseness. It is for holding down. Also,
The elastic member 86 also plays the role of filling the space between the L-shaped member 8 and the air regulating plate 7 without any gap.

The function of this L-shaped member 27 will be explained next.

The function of the air baffle plate 7 is to prevent toner from scattering and to supply Teflon to the brush 8. For this purpose, in the stationary 'a'e fur brush, two wraps are provided at the tip of the air baffle plate 7. In this embodiment, the brush δ is a conventional one with an outer diameter of 60-1 and a length of 14 bristles in a stationary state, and is rotated.

I try to clean at ~2 Itoo rpm. The position of the brush 8 is determined so that the brush 8 wraps around the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1 so that it is approximately 2 folds in a non-rotating state. If there is not a certain distance between the tip of the air conditioning plate 7 and the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1 at this time, the brush bristles will not stand up enough from the time they leave the tip of the air conditioning plate 7 until they contact the drum 1. Because there is no cleaning, sufficient cleaning is not carried out.

A cleaning effect can be obtained if the l is about fJm or more, but preferably 8 is good. However, the wind regulating plate 7
Providing such a relatively wide gap between the tip of the photosensitive drum 1 and the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is not preferable in terms of preventing toner from scattering. Therefore, in this embodiment, an L-shaped member 2 is attached to the tip of the air baffle plate 7.
7 is provided to narrow the gap between the photosensitive drum 1 and the rubber layer 86 of its L-shaped member 27, and a small amount of toner leaking from this gap is absorbed by the suction passage formed by the L-shaped member 27 and the cover 26. By suctioning the toner and collecting it with a filter, the toner is prevented from scattering outside the cleaning device. According to experiments, if the distance j between the circumferential surface of the brush 8 and the rubber layer 86 is too short, it will affect the cleaning effect of the brush 8 on the photoreceptor drum 1. If j was approximately 2.5 passes or more as measured from , the cleaning effect was not affected. In addition, the gap between the bent portion of the L-shaped member s7 along the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum and the surface of the photoreceptor drum is reduced to 0.
．． 5 to 1.15 wm, width 1 extending in the circumferential direction
If the gap is set to 5 squares or more, together with the action of the toner sucker 1 by the suction passage 8δ formed by the cover 86 and the L-shaped member 27, the scattered toner leaking from the gap can be almost completely eliminated. Ta.

The material of the brush may be any commonly used rayon, acrylic, nylon, polyester, etc., with a thread diameter of 5 to 20 deniers, and a bristled length of lθ to
860, the outer peripheral speed of the fur brush is 6,000 to 11,000 ml.
If the j is 2.6 or more, the l is 6 or more, and the rotational speed is 5,000 to 2,500 rpm, the same effects as those of the above embodiments can be obtained.

The air baffle plate 7 has a filter 87 as shown in FIG.
It extends until it approaches the case 88 of.

An elastic member 89 is provided at the end of the air regulating plate 7 close to the filter 87 as shown in FIG. 4, and an eaves 4 formed by protruding a part of the filter case 88 as shown in FIG.
0, the air regulating plate 7 is attached to the elastic member 89 between them.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are a sectional view and an exploded view showing an example of the configuration of the filter 87. FIG.

In these figures, 88 is a filter case,
It is molded from synthetic resin. On the brush side of the filter case 88 (opposite to the suction direction indicated by arrow A), guides 4 are shaped along both sides and the bottom edge, and are attached to the IJ-ning device. At this time, the guide is inserted into a guide groove provided in the nurse of the cleaning device. The inside of the case 88 is partitioned into an upper and lower part by a partition plate 42, and the eaves 4o described above are formed to protrude from the partition at a position corresponding to the brush side. The upper and lower filter units 44 and 4IStt, each consisting of a coarse filter 8a and a fine filter 48b, are housed in each chamber divided into upper and lower chambers, and are covered with a back cover 46.

Upper filter unit 44 and lower filter unit 4b
The filters 43a, 48t)rlIi are arranged in series so that the brush side is the coarse filter 48&, and the filters 43a, 48t) are immediately placed in a frame 47.48 made of approximately 1-inch thick paper or the like, and the surrounding area is surrounded by the frame 47.48.
It has a structure in which it is glued to 48. In addition, each filter unit) 44.4 in the filter case 88 and the training lid 46
A groove 49 is provided so as to fit around the entire circumference of the leading and trailing edges of the frame 47 and 48 of No. 15.

Conditions for the filter unit include improving the sealing of the filter 8@4 and lowering the filter cost. The former is important when handling toner particles with a particle size of several microns, as there is a risk of them scattering outside the copying machine if there is an obstruction to the toner. The latter is about 5000 pieces? Since it is necessary to replace the filter unit every time a photo is taken, the high cost of the filter unit increases the running cost, which is not economically desirable.

According to this embodiment, for airtightness, the guide 41 provided on the brush side fits into a groove (not shown) provided in the case of the cleaning ha, so there is no gap around the filter case 88. There is no problem with the upper side of the filter case 88 if the lid of the filter opening shown at 60 in FIG. 8 is made of a strong material.

In addition, regarding the gap between the filter nurse δ8, the upper filter unit 44, and the lower filter unit 45, the i
1!49, each filter unit) 44.45 green fits into the renote, which can be completely sealed. On the other hand, each of the coarse and fine filters 4δa and 48b in each filter unit) 44 and 45 has a structure that is bonded to each frame 47 and 48, so that there is a gap between each filter element 48a and 48b and the frame 47 and 48. There is no problem with the airtightness of the filter 87 (see FIG. 8). Therefore, the airtightness of the filter 87 (see FIG. 8) is ensured.

Next, regarding cost, each filter unit has coarse,
Since it is composed of dense filters and a frame made of cardboard, the cost can be kept relatively low.

If the filter 87 were constructed with only a cardboard frame without using a filter case, considering only cost, paper has hygroscopic properties, so it would absorb moisture and expand, and it would also become stiff.
Whether there is a problem with sealing performance, according to the embodiments of the present invention as described above, a filter unit with excellent sealing performance can be obtained at low cost.

Next, a case in which periodic inspections and maintenance are performed in the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention as described above will be explained.

In FIG. 8, the cover 50 of the filter insertion/extraction opening provided in the case number of the cleaning device is tightened with its setscrew 5].
Loosen and remove the filter 8 along with the filter case 88.
Take out the f.

Next, remove the cover 26 of the case 4. Kakku-26 is
As explained with reference to FIG. 4, it is held by a rotary catch 8 and can be easily removed by simply pulling it out.

Next, since the air baffle plate 7 is held by the rotary catch 25 on the filter side, it can be pulled out and rotated upward about the shaft 20. If only the inner surface of the brush 8 or the air baffle plate 7 is to be cleaned, it may be done in this state.

In addition, if the Teflon tape 8 attached to the inner surface of the air regulating plate 7 is worn out and needs to be replaced, insert the knob shown at 24 in FIG. 4 and screw it into the screw hole 22. Since the air baffle plate 7 can be easily taken out by removing the shaft 20 and pulling it out, the Teflon tape 8 can be replaced very easily.

On the other hand, as explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the filter 87 taken out as described above can be assembled into the upper filter unit 44 and the lower filter unit 4B by removing the back cover 46. Each can be easily taken out, so all you have to do is replace them with new ones and close the back cover 46. After completing the periodic inspection of all the elements in this way, you can assemble them by reversing the procedure.

As described in detail above, according to the cleaning device of the present invention, the upper part of the case and the air baffle plate, which form a duct along the path from the brush to the filter of the cleaning device, are configured to be removable. Since the upper part of the path from the latent image holding member to the filter via the brush can be opened, cleaning and work that had previously been done through a tricky opening becomes extremely easy, and maintenance and inspection work can be carried out efficiently. effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional cleaning device in a LS1 diagram, FIG. 2 is an external view thereof, and FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing an example of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a detailed structural view of the installation of the wind regulating plate 7 in Figure 8 and the case cover that covers its upper part, and Figure 5 is a detailed view of the structure.
FIG. 6 is a detailed view showing the structure of the L-shaped member, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an example of the structure of the filter, and FIG. 7 is an exploded view thereof. 1... Photoreceptor drum 8... Brush 4... Case 5... Metal body covered with Teflon tube 6... Earth plate F... Air conditioning plate 8... Teflon tape ] 2...・Side plate 15...Arm 1
6.20...Shaft 21.21'...Support part 22.
...Screw hole 2δ...Threaded part 24...Knob 25, δ1...Rotary catch 25a...Rotary catch insertion side member 2sb
...The receiver of the rotary catch is the side member 26...The cover 27 that constitutes a part of the case...L-shaped member 2
8... Spacer 29... F-shaped groove 80...
- Bottle 82... Set screw 38... Suction passage 84... L-shaped metal plate 85... Rubber layer 86...
・Air regulating plate holding elastic member 87...Filter 88...Filter case 89...Elastic member 40...Eaves 41...
・Guide 42... Partition plate 4a &... Coarse filter +ab... Fine filter 44.45...
Filter unit 46...Back cover 47.48...Frame 4g of filter unit...Groove 50...Lid 51 for opening for filter insertion and removal...Set screw. Patent Applicant: Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. Figure 5 Procedural Amendment lf I) June 24, 11, 1999], Case Indication 11.77 W 1957 Patent Application No. 3'f [i'1733]
No. 2. Name of the invention Cleaning device for copying machine tL 3. Person making the amendment (Relationship between -) Patent applicant (037) Olympus Optical] Nigyo Co., Ltd. Drawing 7, Contents of the amendment (as attached) l In the eighth line of page 2 of the specification, the phrase "-per square inch" is corrected to "-per square inch." Figure 8 of the 2 drawings is corrected as shown in the attached corrected drawing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] L A cleaning device that uses a brush to brush off the residual toner remaining after the toner image on the electrostatic latent image holding member of a dry electrostatic II copying machine is transferred to recording paper, and then sucks it and collects it with a filter. The upper part of the case forms a duct from the latent image holding member to the filter via the brush, and the upper part of the part from the electrostatic latent image holding member to the filter via the brush by removably configuring the plate member in contact with the brush. A leaning device for a duplex aircraft, characterized in that it can be opened.