JPS5984280A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent toner from falling from a conveyance exit when a unit is attached or detached and to prevent staining in a machine by providing an opening/closing valve which opens and closes the conveyance exit for recovered toner associatively with the attachment and detachment of the unit. CONSTITUTION:When the drawing-out operation of a cleaning unit 2 from a set position is started, a holder 18 is pressed by a compression spring 17 and a pipe 1 is shunted into the holder 18. Then, the opening/closing valve 19 is lowered to close the conveyance exit 12. Thus, the conveyance exit 12 is blocked by the opening/closing valve 19 in the start of the drawing-out operation of the cleaning unit 2, and the cleaning unit 2 is drawn out in said state, so toner banking at the conveyance exit 12 never falls into the machine even when a shock, oscillation, etc., occur to prevent staining, thereby obtaining invariably stable copy quality.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cleaning device for a copying machine or the like.

Generally, this type of cleaning device collects and removes the toner remaining on the photoreceptor using a cleaning member such as a blade or fur brush, but in order to process the collected toner, it is equipped with a means for transporting it outside the unit. There are many things. However.

During maintenance of the cleaning device, when the unitized cleaning device is attached to and detached from the main body of the machine, shock and vibration may cause the toner accumulated at the conveyance outlet of the recovered toner to fall downward, contaminating the inside of the machine. In some cases, dropped toner may not adversely affect copy quality.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device that can prevent toner from falling from a conveyance outlet of collected toner when a cleaning unit is attached or detached.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

First, a cleaning unit (2) is provided facing the photoreceptor (1) rotating in the direction of the arrow at a post-transfer stage position. This cleaning unit (2) is detachable from the machine body in the front direction.

Here, the cleaning unit (2) is equipped with a fur brush (
3) and a blade (5) attached to a support plate (4), and is covered by a unit case (6), and a part of this unit case (6) includes a fur brush (3). Flicker (7) is formed. Further, a conveyance path (8) is formed using a part of the unit case (6), and a toner conveyance coil (9) is formed on this conveyance path (8).
A link is provided. As shown in FIG.
), a pipe αη, and a toner conveying coil (9) constitute a conveyance means, and the rear end of the pipe αη is a conveyance outlet (6).

The conveyance exit α of this pipe aη is 3 to the rear plate of the machine body.
It passes through the opening 04 and faces the joint α9 attached to the rear side plate C1'3, and a toner collection coil Q is provided inside the joint.

Therefore, the unit frame a1 is placed on the outer periphery of the pipe 0η.
A holder α is provided which is biased toward the rear side by a compression spring αη provided between the holder α and the holder α and can be slid freely.

The upper rear end of this holder is left open, and the opening/closing valve (191) is fixed by caulking at the upper part of the holder to open and close the conveyance outlet (6).
is provided.

In this configuration, the residual toner (2) on the photoconductor (1) is scraped off and collected by the fur brush (3) and the blade (5), and the toner adhering to the fur brush (3) is removed by flickering ( 7), and is transported to the rear side of the machine by the toner transport coil (9) on the transport path (8) below. The conveyance of the collected toner continues through the pipe αη, and is sent out of the conveyance outlet (6), thereby exiting the cleaning unit (2). The collected toner coming out from the conveyance outlet (6) is transferred to the joint part α.
The toner is then transferred to a predetermined position by the toner collection coil αQ.

Here, the operation of setting the cleaning unit (2) to a predetermined position within the machine body will be explained. First, as the cleaning unit (2) is inserted further and the tip of the holder α mark comes into contact with a part of the joint part, the advancement of the holder α is stopped. However, the pipe αη side can move forward, and when the cleaning unit (2) is pushed further, the compression spring αη contracts and at the same time the rear end of the pipe α
The trowel is pushed upward and its conveyance outlet (6) is opened. Figure 2 shows this set state.
The toner conveyed through the pipe can be transferred to the joint portion αυ from the conveyance outlet (6).

Therefore, the movement of the opening/closing valve α when the cleaning unit (2) is pulled out is completely opposite to that when it is set. That is, when the cleaning unit (2) starts to be pulled out from the set position, the holder a mark is pressed by the action of the compression spring αη, and the pipe αη is retracted into the holder α barrel, so the on-off valve (to) is lowered. This will block the conveyance outlet (6). FIG. 3 shows this state.

In this way, when the cleaning unit (2) starts to be pulled out, the conveyance outlet (b) is closed by the on-off valve (6), and the cleaning unit (2) is pulled out in this state, which may cause shocks, vibrations, etc. Even when the toner accumulates at the conveyance outlet (6), it does not fall into the machine, and while preventing the toner from becoming dirty, stable copy quality can always be obtained.

As described above, the present invention is provided with an opening/closing valve at the conveyance outlet of the collected toner, which opens and closes the conveyance outlet in conjunction with attachment/detachment of the unit. As a result, toner does not fall from the conveyance outlet, preventing the inside of the machine from becoming dirty, and making it possible to stabilize copy quality.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an enlarged view of the main parts, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional side view when the drawer is drawn out, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an enlarged view of the main parts. The figure is a perspective view of the holder. 1... Photoreceptor, 2... Cleaning unit, 3.
... Fur brush (cleaning member), 5... Blade (cleaning member), 12... Conveyance exit, 19
...On-off valve applicant: Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a cleaning device that is removably unitized and equipped with a means for collecting and removing residual toner on the photoreceptor by a cleaning member and transporting the collected toner outside the unit, a cleaning device is provided at the transporting outlet for the collected toner for mounting and removing the unit. A cleaning device characterized by being provided with an on-off valve that opens and closes the conveyance outlet in conjunction with each other.