JPS59151165A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use no overall cleaner, to prevent deterioration of a drum, and to regenerate a toner by providing a cleaning roller consisting of a porous elastic body at every color of the toner, and collecting the residual toner on the drum at every color. CONSTITUTION:A cleaning device 20 of a black toner is constituted of a cleaning roller 20a having an independent foamed shape, which is a porous elastic body, a magnetism collecting part 22 consisting of a magnet roller and a non- magnetic sleeve, and a scraper 23, and as to a red toner, too, a similar cleaning device 21 is provided. In case of copying by the black toner, only the roller 20a contacts by pressing with a drum 10, the residual toner is collected by the scraper 23, and it is separated from the drum at the time of other color. Therefore, an overall cleaner which contacts by pressing at all times and gives a large load to the drum 10 is not used, deterioration of the drum is prevented, and also the toner is rengenerated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an improvement in a cleaning device for cleaning toner remaining on a photoreceptor after completion of transfer in, for example, a color electrophotographic apparatus.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In recent years, due to the diversification of electrophotographic equipment,
Two-color electrophotographic equipment that uses black toner and red toner, or cyan and agenta.

Color electrophotographic devices that use yellow toner have been developed, but in color electrophotographic devices that include two-color printing, the following conventional methods have been used to make it possible to recycle each toner that has been cleaned. A leaning device is used.

That is, in the first device, in addition to a plurality of cleaning blades as cleaners for each toner color, a cleaning blade as a general cleaner is provided around the photoreceptor, and a cleaning blade corresponding to each toner is attached to the photoreceptor. In addition, a cleaning blade as a general cleaner is constantly in contact with the photoconductor to remove the linear residual toner that is generated when the cleaning blade corresponding to each toner is separated from the photoconductor. . The second device includes a single magnetic brush device, a blade for each toner that comes into contact with the magnetic brush device, and a general blade, and the magnetic brush removes residual toner from the photoreceptor. Then, the toner on the magnetic brush is removed using a blade corresponding to each toner, and a general blade is used to remove the linear toner that is generated when the blade corresponding to each toner is separated from the magnetic brush. It is to be removed.

However, in such an apparatus, in the first apparatus, cleaning blades corresponding to each toner are brought into direct contact with the surface of the photoconductor alternately, and a cleaning blade as a general cleaner is always brought into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor. As a result, the cleaning blade imposes a large load on the photoreceptor, which causes the expensive photoreceptor to deteriorate and shorten its lifespan. In addition, in the second device, the load on the photoconductor is small compared to the cleaning blade, and the life of the photoconductor can be extended. When the printer bends, residual toner is adhered to the photoreceptor due to strong electrostatic force, so a magnetic brush alone cannot completely remove all of the residual toner, resulting in poor cleaning and reduced image quality. .

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention was developed based on the above circumstances, and is intended to prevent deterioration of the surface of a photoreceptor that occurs during cleaning in a color electrophotographic device, to extend the life of the photoreceptor, and to prevent residual toner even with high-resistance toner. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device that can completely remove toner, prevent deterioration in image quality, and regenerate toner, thereby improving economic efficiency.

[Summary of the invention]

This invention removes residual toner by sliding a cleaning roller made of a porous elastic material against the photoconductor during cleaning, and further collects the toner on the cleaning roller for each toner color using a toner collecting member. As a result, even with high-resistance toner, there is no deterioration of the photoreceptor surface.
The purpose is to completely remove residual toner on the photoreceptor and to regenerate the toner.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Photosensitive drum 00 as an electrostatic latent image carrier
) Surroundings are a charging device U and an exposure device H.

Black toner (13a), a one-component magnetic toner, which is a developer
A first developing device 09. which forms a magnetic brush and performs development. One-component magnetic toner red toner (1
a second developing device (14) which performs development by forming a magnetic brush using a transfer charger (16a); are sequentially provided, and then a cleaning device u7) and further a static eliminator (a country is provided. Here, a cleaning device σ7) ij
:, photosensitive drum (In) with black toner (13a)
A first cleaning device (2) for removing residual toner on
0) and a second cleaning device (consisting of 2υ, each cleaning device C2f) for removing residual toner caused by the red toner (14a), (provided in 2i+ so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the photoreceptor drum (10), It is made of a closed-cell mold plane that is a porous elastic material and has a density of approximately 20 [K].
~] is provided with a first cleaning roller (2oa>l) and a second cleaning roller (21a).Furthermore, in the first cleaning device (20), magnets with different polarities are arranged alternately on the circumference. The magnetic roller provided (
22a) and a non-magnetic sleeve (22b) provided around the magnet roller (22a), and a first scraper (22b) that comes into contact with the non-magnetic sleeve (22b). ) Furthermore, black topoo (
1, 3a) to the first developing device outlet side.
26) is provided. Also, in the second cleaning device (21), there is a second magnetic recovery section (27) configured similarly to the first magnetic recovery section (2), a second magnetic recovery section (27), and a second magnetic recovery section (27). A second toner collection member OB consisting of a toner box (7) is provided.In each cleaning device i!i+20, (21), each cleaning roller (zoa), (2ta) is connected to a photoreceptor drum ( 10) for O/(lap (a) is about 1-.
5 (threshold), each magnetic collection unit (22), and the overlap (b) for 'f2 odor is approximately 0 [threshold]. This is a transport device that

Next, we will discuss the effect. When copying starts, the photoreceptor drum (10) is rotated in the direction of arrow S, and an image forming process is first performed on a black portion of a black and red two-color original (not shown). In the photoreceptor drum (10), parts other than the black part of the original are exposed through a filter (not shown)'lr:, and an electrostatic latent image of the black part is formed on the photosensitive drum (10). Next, in the developing section, only the first developing device (131) is driven, a magnetic brush made of black toner (i3a) is formed, and the photosensitive drum +10) is developed with the black toner (13a). While the toner image of the black toner (13a) reaches the transfer device (16), the sheet paper (not shown) is transferred to the transport device (3) and the sheet paper transport drum (L6b).
), and the toner image is transferred onto a sheet of paper (not shown). At this time, the peeling claw (16c) is attached to the sheet paper conveying drum (16c).
b), and after transfer, the sheet paper is rotated once by the sheet paper transport drum (16b). On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 00 on which the black toner (1, 3 &) remains reaches the cleaning device αη. This cleaning device (1
At η, only the first cleaning roller (20a) is brought into contact with the photoreceptor drum (10) by a drive device (not shown) and rotated in the direction of the arrow, and the first magnetic collection section (20a) is rotated in the direction of the arrow. The magnet roller (22a) of
direction, and the non-magnetic sleeve (22b) is rotated in the direction of arrow V. and the first cleaning roller (2
Due to the sliding contact of 0a), the black toner (13a) remaining on the photoreceptor drum (10) is mechanically scraped off. The scraped black toner is attracted by the first magnetic collecting section (2) by magnetic force, and is collected into the first toner box (24) by the first scraper (c). Further, the collected toner in the first toner box is discharged from the discharge port (z4b) by a helical coil (not shown),
The first developing device (photosensitive drum 00, which is conveyed once and regenerated by a chain (not shown) or the like after cleaning is completed) is neutralized, and the image forming process for the black portion of the document is completed. Next, an image forming process for the red part of the document is performed in the same way, but at this time, a filter (not shown) that transmits parts other than the red part is used in the exposure bag f (1), and a developing process is performed. In the section, the first developing device (131) is stopped and only the second developing device a (1) is driven. Furthermore, in the cleaning device (17), the first cleaning roller (20a) is As shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2, it is separated from the photoreceptor drum (0), only the second cleaning device (2I) is driven, and the second cleaning roller (21a) is attached to the photoreceptor drum (10). At the same time, the second magnetic collection unit (27) is also rotated.Therefore, as the photosensitive drum (10) rotates in the direction of the arrow S, an electrostatic latent image of the red part is formed, and the red part is rotated. Developed with toner (], 4a), this red toner image is
After the black toner image is transferred onto the sheet paper on which the image has already been transferred, the second cleaning device (21) mechanically scrapes off the remaining red color (14a)' (i = static electricity removal). 5 to complete the image forming process for the red part of the document.Meanwhile, after the red toner image is transferred, the sheet paper is moved to a peeling claw (1
-6C), and then transported to the fixing unit (not shown) side.

Further, the red toner (t4a) scraped off by the second cleaning roller (21a) is collected by the second magnetic collection unit (
27), the second scraper (mark 2) and the second toner box (:!A), the second developing device (14
) side to be regenerated, and after this, the photoreceptor drum (IQ1 second developing device (I→, etc.) is stopped and the second
In the cleaning device (2t+), the second υ-ning roller (21a) is separated from the photosensitive drum (10) and stopped.

With this configuration, the black toner (13a) and the red toner (14a) can be regenerated, and each toner (13a) can be recycled.
), (14a) At the end of each cleaning, unlike conventional cleaning blades, toner does not remain in a line on the photoreceptor drum (land), and there is no need for a comprehensive cleaner that always comes into contact with the photoreceptor drum (ldl). The load on the photoreceptor drum 00) due to the cleaning device α7) IIC is reduced, the deterioration of the photoreceptor drum QOI can be prevented, and the life of the photoreceptor drum (II) can be extended.
Cleaning roller (20a), (
21a) and mechanically remove residual toner, the residual toner can be reliably removed without causing deterioration of the photosensitive drum (10) even when high resistance toner is used. This can prevent deterioration in image quality due to poor cleaning.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be modified in various ways. For example, the cleaning roller may be made of urethane, silicone, or other materials, and its density may be within a range that does not adversely affect the electrostatic latent image carrier. Although it is optional, if the cleaning roller is made of a closed foam material as in the embodiment, it is possible to prevent toner from penetrating into the interior of the cleaning roller and maintain its elasticity, unlike an open foam material. Furthermore, the amount of overlap between the cleaning roller and the electrostatic latent image carrier and the toner collecting member can be varied depending on the material of the cleaning roller, the rotation speed of the electrostatic latent image carrier, etc., and magnetic recovery as in the embodiment is possible. In the case where the cleaning roller and the toner collecting member are used, the cleaning roller and the toner collecting member may be separated from each other to some extent as long as the magnetic force is within the range. Further, the toner collecting member is not limited, and even if magnetic force is used, it is also possible to collect all the toner on the cleaning roller only with a magnetic roller without using a non-magnetic sleeve, but it is possible to collect all the toner on the cleaning roller without using a non-magnetic sleeve. By using the magnetic collection unit, the rotation speed of the heavy magnet roller can be slowed down, reducing the load on the drive source, and since the collected toner is rotating on a non-magnetic sleeve, the scraping of the toner by the scraper can be reduced. It also becomes easier to drop.

Furthermore, the toner collecting member may be collected using a mechanical device such as a suction device, or may be collected electrostatically by sliding a P-edge drum, etc. In this way, the toner collecting member may be cleaned mechanically or electrostatically. By collecting all the toner on the mouth to the mouth, even if the toner is non-magnetic, it can be collected. or,
In the embodiment, two-color printing of black and red has been described, but the color of this toner is not limited, and it may be used in a color device using cyan, magenta, or yellow toner. The material of the electrostatic latent image carrier may be arbitrary, and its shape may be belt-like or the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, all residual toner on the electrostatic latent image carrier is recovered mechanically using a cleaning roller made of a porous elastic material and provided for each toner color. In addition to being able to regenerate toner, there is no constant heavy load on the electrostatic latent image carrier unlike conventional cleaning blades, completely preventing deterioration of the electrostatic latent image carrier and extending its lifespan. It is possible to plan. or,
Compared to devices using conventional magnetic brushes, it is far superior to high-resistance toner, and even high-resistance toner can be completely removed, completely preventing image quality deterioration due to poor cleaning.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the image forming process, and FIG. 2 is a partially omitted sectional view showing the cleaning device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Photosensitive drum 13... First developing device 14... Second developing device 17... Cleaning device 20... First cleaning device 20a... First cleaning roller 21 ...Second
cleaning device 21a...second cleaning roller 22...first
Magnetic collection unit 26...First toner collection member 27...
Second magnetic collection unit 31...Second toner collection member agent Patent attorney Inoue -Male

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an apparatus for obtaining a color image by repeatedly performing a latent image forming step, a developing step, and a transfer step for each developer color on the same electrostatic latent image carrier, after the transfer is completed, a rotatable porous elastic body for scraping off residual developer from the electrostatic latent image carrier; and a collection member disposed adjacent to the porous elastic body for recovering the developer scraped off by the porous elastic body. A cleaning device characterized by being fully equipped with the following. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the porous elastic body is provided in the same number as the number of colors of the developer; 3. The cleaning device is characterized in that the developer is a one-component magnetic toner. A cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein the collection member collects the one-component magnetic l-ner from the porous elastic body using magnetic force. 5. Claim 4, characterized in that the collection member includes magnet rollers arranged alternately on the entire circumference of magnets having different polarities, and a non-magnetic sleeve provided around the magnet rollers. cleaning equipment.