JPS587671A - Cleaning device for fixing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To clean and exchange a cleaning member by a simple operation, by providing a means for separating a cleaning unit provided with a cleaning member from a fixing roller. CONSTITUTION:A cleaning unit 10 provided with a cleaning member is combined with a moving means 24 through a holding means 16 guiding and holding the unit in an axial center direction of a fixing roller 2. When a copying machine is turned off, the unit 10 is lifted up by the means 24 and the member 11 is separated from the roller 2. In this state, the unit 10 is taken out from a fixing device 1 and the member 11 is cleaned and exchanged. When the copying machine is turned on, the unit 10 is pushed down by the means 24 and the member 11 is brought into contact with the roller 2. By such a way, the cleaning member is cleaned and exchanged by a simple operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cleaning device for a fixing device that cleans toner adhering to the surface of a fixing roller.

A fixing device is known in which a recording paper carrying an unfixed toner image is passed between a pair of fixing rollers, and the toner image is fixed by the action of pressure or heat between the rollers. Used in electronic recording devices, etc. In this type of fixing device, toner adheres to the fixing roller that contacts the toner image due to offset, etc., so a cleaning device is attached to the roller to clean the adhered toner by bringing a cleaning member into contact with the surface of the roller. This is already well known.

In this type of conventional cleaning device, a cleaning member such as a cleaner pad is provided within the fixing device and fixed to the fixing device. Therefore, when cleaning or replacing a cleaning member whose efficiency has decreased due to usage over time, it is necessary to remove the fixing device itself from the main body of the recording machine, remove the cover of the fixing device, and then clean or replace the cleaning member. The work had become time consuming and expensive. and,
In this way, since the work is dependent on the operator, it is not possible for the operator to clean or replace the cleaning member, and the work is left to technicians such as service personnel.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device for a fixing device that allows cleaning and replacement of the cleaning section H with simple operations.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied as a cleaning device for a fixing device of an all-electrophotographic copying machine will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a fixing device, and the fixing device is unitized. The entire layer of the pair of fixing rollers constructed above is applied to the pressure roller 3, which is pressed against the heating roller 2 by the action of a pressure contact means (not shown). A heating means configured as a heater 4 is provided within the heating roller 3 . This heating means is directly connected to the heating roller 3 from outside instead of the heater 4.
It is also possible to use a type that heats the surface.

The heating roller 2 and the pressure roller 3 are rotatably mounted on a side plate 5.6 of the fixing device 1 shown in FIG. 2, and are rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1 by a drive device (not shown).

When a copying operation is started, a recording sheet configured as a copying sheet 7 carrying an unfixed toner image 8 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A to a fixing device l after a predetermined copying process. When the copy paper 7 passes between the heating roller 2 and the pressure roller 3, it receives heat 9 from the heater 4, and the toner image 8 is fixed on the copy paper 7. At this time, toner is prevented from adhering to the heating roller 2 that is in pressure contact with the toner image bearing surface of the copy paper 7 due to offset of the toner image, etc. Such adhering toner is cleaned by the cleaning device 9. The cleaning device 9 is a cleaning unit l configured as a cleaner vat 11 and having a cleaning member.
O, a holding means 15 for removably guiding and holding the cleaning unit lO in substantially the axial direction of the heating roller 2, and a cleaning device via the holding means 15).
1 (l) Moving means 2 for moving between a cleaning position in contact with the heating roller 2 and a separated position away from the heating roller 2
In FIGS. 1 and 2, the cleaner pad 11 according to the present example is made of felt, flannel, etc., and the heating roller 2 can be brought into contact with the entire width of the roller 2. The pad holder 12, on which the cleaner pad 11 is wound, is formed into a rectangular shape with a length and a width that allows a pad holder 12, which will be described later, to be wound thereon. It has a U-shaped cross section, and a plurality of protrusions 12a are provided on the side opposite to the opening surface, that is, on the top side in the figure. This protrusion 12
The cleaner bud IIK is formed with a t portion 11a corresponding to the hole 11a, which is fitted into the protrusion 12a when the cleaner bud 11 is wound around the bat holder 12.
Note that a pad support plate 13 is provided above the O pad holder 12, in which a portion of the cleaner pad 11 stretched over the opening of the bat holder 12 is elastically pressed against the heating roller 2. This pad support plate 13 is clamped to the cleaner pad ll' by the pad holder 12, and the pad holder 1
The pad holder 11 fixed to the pad holder 11 and the pad support plate constitute a support means for supporting the cleaner pad 11 in this embodiment, and the cleaning unit 1O is composed of this support means and the cleaner pad 11. Note that reference numeral 15 designates a guide plate formed integrally with the pad support plate 13 at both ends in the lateral direction, and the guide f
The holding means 16 for guiding and holding the cleaning unit configured in this manner has an L-shaped cross section facing each other, and can be inserted into a guide member to be described later. , arm members 18 provided at both ends of the guide member in the longitudinal direction, and the guide member 1
7 and the arm member 18 are integrally formed or fixed to each other, so that the two members are integrated. This guide member 1
The above-mentioned guide plates 15 are inserted into both lateral ends of the cleaning unit 7, and the cleaning unit 10 can be attached and detached by sliding in the direction of arrow B with respect to the holding means 16. In this case, since the guide member 17 extends parallel to the axis of the heating roller 2, the cleaning unit 10 is attached and detached approximately parallel to the axis of the heating roller 2. In this example, F is the side of two square springs 19.
One end of each is spot welded or screwed together, and the bulge 19 is curved downward and the other end is free. On the other hand, the pad support plate 13 has a leaf spring 1.
A hole 13a is formed in which the curved portion of the leaf spring 19 can be held, and the curved portion of the leaf spring 19 is engaged with the hole 13a when the cleaning unit IO is inserted into a predetermined position of the holding means 16.
The reference numeral 20 indicates a handle provided on the cleaning unit IO, and the reference numeral 21 indicates a take-out hole formed in the side plate 5.
It is removed from the fixing device through the ejection hole 21 by holding it.

The arm member 18 is formed to stand up from the guide member 17, and the arm member 18 is formed with a U-shaped guide groove 22, as clearly shown in FIG. Further, each arm member 18 is provided with two ears 23, respectively.

The moving means 24 has a shaft 26 rotatably attached to the side plates 5 and 6 via bearings 25, and an eccentric cam 27 fixed to the shaft 25, and the shaft 26 is connected to a half-rotation clutch (not shown). It is drivingly connected to a drive device (not shown) via.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the bearing 25 has a surface 25 in which part of the circumferential surfaces on both sides in the diametrical direction are substantially parallel to each other.
a, and the guide groove 220 is formed on this parallel surface 25a.
The arm members 18 are engaged so that both sides are in sliding contact.

In this case, as clearly shown in FIG. 4, the bearing 25 is attached to the side plate 5.
6, the shaft 26 is fixed in position, whereas the holding means 16 is movable in the extending direction of the guide groove 22, that is, in the vertical direction in the drawing. The moving means 24 that has been moved is the coil spring 2
It is connected to the holding means 16 by elastic means configured as 8. That is, the coil spring 28 is anchored at both ends to each ear portion 23 of the arm member 18, and the coil spring 28 is deformed into a chevron shape by contacting the upper circumferential surface of the shaft 26. Therefore, since the coil spring 28 tries to return to the horizontal state, an elastic action is applied to the holding means 16 so that it tends to move upward. Due to this action,
The bearing 25 and the guide groove 22 are fully engaged and the cam surface of the eccentric cam 27 is always pressed against the upper part of the guide member 17. In this case, the eccentric cam 27 has its maximum diameter and minimum diameter. are arranged so as to alternately come into pressure contact with the guide member 17 by the above-mentioned half-rotation clutch.

The operating mode of the cleaning device 9 configured as described above is as follows.0 When the copying machine is in the OFF state, the eccentric cam 27 is
The smallest diameter portion of the cleaning unit 10 contacts the guide member 17, and the holding means 16 and the cleaning unit 10 connected thereto are lifted upward by the action of the coil spring 28. Next, when the main switch (not shown) is turned on, the copying machine starts warming up, the heater 4 heats the heating roller 2, and the heating roller starts rotating. When the surface temperature of the heating roller 2 reaches a predetermined temperature, or before reaching that temperature, the drive device is driven by a signal from a timer, temperature detector, etc., and this drive is applied to the shaft 26 via a half-rotation clutch. This causes the shaft 26 to rotate half a rotation.

When the shaft 26 is rotated half a rotation, the maximum diameter part of the eccentric cam 27 comes into pressure contact with the guide member 17, and accordingly, the holding means 16 and the cleaning unit 10 are guided by the guide groove 22 and move downward, The cleaning unit 10 moves from the separated position to the cleaning position where the cleaner bud 11 comes into contact with the heating roller 2.

Here, when the copying operation is started, the copy paper 7 carrying the unfixed toner image 8 passes between the heating roller 2 and the pressure roller 3 as described above, and the toner image 8 is fixed on the copy paper 7. be done. Further, although some toner adheres to the surface of the heating roller 2, this adhered toner is wiped off with the cleaner bud 11.

Now, it is inevitable that the cleaner bud 11 will gradually accumulate toner that has been cleaned as described above, and its cleaning function will gradually deteriorate. In the case of a cleaner pad, the cleaning function generally reaches its limit when approximately 20,000 copies are fixed. When the cleaning function is limited in this way, the cleaner bud 1
It becomes necessary to replace 1. At this time, conventionally, the fixing device was removed from the machine body as described above, and the cover of the fixing device was also removed.

The cleaning device according to the present invention is first applied to a copying machine.
When it is FF, the half-rotation clutch works and the shaft 26 rotates half a rotation. This rotation causes the cleaning device to open again).
10 returns to the initial state where it is the separated position. That is, the smallest diameter portion of the eccentric cam 27 comes into contact with the guide member 17, and the holding means 1
6 and the cleaning unit 10 are coil springs 2
8 returns to the state shown in FIG.

Thus, the cleaning unit l moved to the separated position.
O can be removed from the main body of the copying machine by pulling out the handle 20 to the right as shown in Figure 2.

Remove the set screw 14 from the removed cleaning unit 10, take out the cleaner pad, and attach a new pad in its place. The cleaning unit 1O in which the cleaner pad 11 has been replaced is inserted from the right side in FIG. 2 with the guide plate 15 engaging the guide member 17. When the inserted cleaning unit reaches a predetermined position, the curved portion of the leaf spring 19 is engaged with the hole 13a. This plate spring 19 serves as a stopper when the cleaning unit 1O is inserted and prevents shaking when the cleaning unit 10 is held by the holding means 16.

In the fixing device cleaning device according to the present invention, the cleaning member can be replaced with a simple operation as described above. Therefore, this replacement can be easily performed not only by technicians such as service personnel but also by operators.In the present invention, when replacing the cleaning member, the cleaning member is separated from the fixing roller. If the cleaning unit remains pressed against the cleaning unit, it will be difficult to pull it out because the load has changed, and if you force it out, not only will the adhering toner spill, but the fusing roller will be damaged. . Further, in the case where the fixing roller in the above embodiment is a heating roller, if the surface temperature of the roller decreases, the cleaned toner may harden and stick to the heating roller and the cleaning member. In addition, since the cleaning unit is located at a separate position not only when the recording apparatus is OFF, the above-mentioned problem does not occur.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be modified in various ways.

For example, the cleaning member may be an endless cleaner pad, and in this case, when the cleaner pad loses its cleaning function, it is not replaced, but simply rotated so that the clean part contacts the fixing roller. Furthermore, when an endless cleaner pad is used, the holes in the pad and the protrusions on the pad holder 12 are not necessarily required. Furthermore, the cleaning member is not limited to a cleaner pad, but may also be a roll whose surface is completely wound with felt or the like, or a blade.

Further, the elastic member is not limited to the coil spring 28, but may be a rubber band, a plate spring, etc., and the guide groove 22 of the holding means 16 engages with the bearing 25, and the eccentric cam 27
It is also possible to use a tension spring disposed so as to bias the guide member 17 in a direction in which the guide member 17 comes into pressure contact with the guide member 17.

Note that the cleaning device according to the present invention can be applied not only to a heating type fixing device but also to a pressure type fixing device that crushes and fixes an unfixed toner image. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied not only to the fixing device of the machine but also to the fixing device of other recording devices such as electrostatic recording devices.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the fixing device attached with the cleaning device according to the present invention and the cleaning unit of the device is in the cleaning position, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. The figure and FIG. 4 are cross-sectional views taken along the lines ■--■ and It/-IV in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is the first drawing. l... Fixing device 2... Heating roller (fixing roller) 3... Pressure roller (fixing roller) 7... Copying paper (recording paper) 8... Toner image 9... Cleaning device lO ...Cleaning unit 11...Cleaning member 16...Holding means 483-1 August 6, 1982 F (Japanese Patent Office Commissioner Island 1) Haruki Tono 1 Incident Display 1981 Patent Application No. 105674 ) 2 Cleaning device for the name fixing device of the invention 3 Relationship with the case of the person making the amendment Patent Applicant address (residence) 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Name (name)
674) Ricoh Co., Ltd. 4 Agent Address 5 Kaji Kogyo Building, 2-32-4 Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Date of amendment order (voluntary) 6 Detailed explanation of the invention in the specification to be amended 7 Contents of the amendment (1) Line 18 of page 3 of the specification and line 20 of the same page
"Heating roller 3" written in the first line of page 4 is corrected to "heating roller 2." (2) Corrected to "Pad holder llj k r hat holder 12" written on page 6, lines 5 and 6. (3) The description on page 8, line 4 of the same page, “the axis 25” has been changed to “the axis 2”.
6”. (4) The heating roller heats the surface temperature of [by means of a signal from a temperature sensor, etc.] until the surface temperature reaches a predetermined temperature. ,at the same time]
and correct it. (5) "Limitation" written in the third line of page 11 is amended to "limit". (6) "Clutch ga" written on page 11, line 9 of the same document is corrected to "clutch no". (7) Change “to the member” from page 12, line 18 of the same document to “
"Buri," he corrected. (8) 10-ra written in the second line of page 13 of the same book” all 1
Correct it as 0-ra. (9) Amend "without limitation" to "necessarily" in line 7 of page 13 of the same.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A fixing device that passes a recording paper carrying an unfixed toner image between a pair of fixing rollers, and fixes the toner image by applying pressure or heat between the rollers, and the toner image adheres to the fixing roller that is in contact with the toner image. In a cleaning device for a fixing device, the toner is cleaned by a cleaning member brought into contact with the roller. holding means for removably guiding and holding in substantially the axial direction;
The cleaning device is characterized in that it has a moving means for moving the cleaning unit between a cleaning position in which it contacts the fixing roller and a separation position in which it separates from the fixing roller via the holding means.