JPS6055367A - Separating device of form - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To hold a separation pawl for forms clean for a long period without any deterioration in cleaning performance by providing the separation pawl rotatably between its separation position and a cleaning position on the opposite side across a form conveyance path, and using a conductive material for the brush of a cleaning means. CONSTITUTION:When a form 2 is separated and its rear end passes through the conveyance path B corresponding to the separation pawl 6, a solenoid 11 as an energizing means is turned off at the timing. Namely, the separation pawl 1 which is so held that its front edge contacts a photosensitive body 1 is rotated around a shaft 7 by the weight of the separation pawl 6 and displaced to the position of the cleaning means 15 on the opposite side across the conveyance path B. The separation pawl 6 facing the cleaning position has stains of toner cleaned up by the cleaning means 15. In this case, the fur brush 14 of the cleaning means 15 is made of the conductive material to prevent deterioration in cleaning performance due to long-period use.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention Technical Field> The present invention relates to a device that transfers a toner image formed on a photoconductor onto a sheet of paper and separates the transferred paper from the photoconductor. The present invention relates to a separating device that separates sheets of paper while facing each other.

<Prior art> An electrophotographic copying device charges a photoreceptor having a photoconductive layer.
Through each process of exposure and development, a toner image corresponding to the image on the original is formed, and the toner image is appropriately transferred to a sheet of paper that is being conveyed, and after separating this sheet from the photoreceptor, it is passed through a fixing section. Copies are obtained by employing a configuration that fixes the toner image on the paper. When transferring the toner image on the photoreceptor to paper, electrostatic transfer is generally performed.
The transfer paper is in close contact with the photoreceptor electrostatically. Therefore,
Separating means is provided to separate the sheets after transfer.

Separation means for separating the paper from the surface of the photoreceptor include mechanical separation means, electrostatic separation means, and the like. Mechanical separation means include a method in which a separation belt is interposed between one side end of the photoreceptor and the paper, and the paper is separated from the side end of the photoreceptor, thereby forcibly separating the paper; There is a method in which paper is separated by lightly bringing a separating claw into contact with a photoreceptor. .

In addition, the electrostatic separation means performs alternating current corona discharge from the back side of the paper that is electrostatically in close contact with the photoreceptor after transfer, weakening the electrostatic adhesion force and reducing the paper's own weight and stiffness. It is used to separate naturally. According to this separation method, differences in surface potential on the photoconductor surface due to differences in documents, type and size of photoconductor, circumferential speed, paper type, environmental conditions, etc. have an internal influence on separation performance, and separation lack of certainty. Therefore, separation claws, which are mechanical separation means, are sometimes used together as separation auxiliary means to improve separation performance.

However, the use of separation claws has the disadvantage that the separation claws get dirty with toner and leave claw marks on the leading edge of the paper. In other words, as shown in FIG.
When the toner image is transferred by the action of the transfer corona discharger 3, all of the toner image is not transferred to the transfer paper but remains on the photoreceptor l. Therefore, the residual toner on the photoreceptor 1 is scraped off by the separation claw 5 which is brought into contact with the photoreceptor 1 via the AC corona discharger 4 for separation, and the separation claw 5 is smeared with the toner.

This reaches the leading edge of the paper 2 and forms a claw mark on the paper 2,
This results in an unsightly copy.

In addition, if the separation claw 5 is used, the photoconductor l may be damaged.
It becomes necessary to consider prevention. If the separating claw 5 is in constant contact with the photoreceptor 1, damage can be prevented by changing the material of the separating claw, the spring pressure, etc. However, if the photoreceptor 1 is always in contact with the photoreceptor 1, it becomes impossible to prevent the above-mentioned scratch marks from being formed on the leading edge of the paper. That is, when the separation claw 5 is soiled with toner, it is necessary to clean the toner, but it is difficult to perform cleaning when the separation claw 5 is in contact with the photoreceptor 1.

<Objective of the Invention> The present invention provides a separation claw as a means for separating paper, and an object of the present invention is to keep the separation claw always in a clean state in order to prevent the separation claw from staining the copy line.

<Embodiment> In the present invention, a cleaning means is provided to clean the separating claw so that the leading edge of the paper is not contaminated by the separating claw.

The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a separation device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof. In this figure, the same parts as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals. The photoreceptor 1 has a photoconductive layer on its surface, for example, and is formed into a drum shape. Although not shown, charging, exposure, and development steps are arranged around the photoreceptor 1, thereby forming a toner image on the photoreceptor 1-1. The toner image is electrostatically transferred onto a paper 2 which is sent to a transfer process via a conveying means (not shown). A transfer corona discharger 3 is provided which performs corona discharge with a polarity opposite to the charge of the attached toner. Also,
An AC corona discharger 4 is installed in parallel with this transfer corona discharger.
is provided.

The alternating current corona discharger 4 performs an alternating current corona discharge on the back surface of the paper 1 after the transfer, thereby weakening the adhesion of the paper 2 to the photoreceptor 1.

In the above configuration, a separating claw 6 made of, for example, urethane rubber is provided in contact with the photoreceptor l behind the corona discharge action of the AC corona discharger 4 so as not to damage the photoreceptor 1. The separating claw 6 is attached to a separating claw mounting plate 8 that is fixed to a shaft 7 that is rotatably held, and the tip thereof is configured to lightly come into contact with the photoreceptor 1. This is because the separation claw 6 is rotatably supported on the tip of the mounting plate 8, and a spring 9 is interposed between the separation claw 6 and the mounting plate 8 as shown in FIG. The separation claw 6 is biased clockwise. This rotation is regulated by the separation claw 6 coming into contact with the regulating portion 8-1 of the mounting plate 8, and the separation claw 6 is brought into contact with the photoreceptor l under a pressure of, for example, about 31 cm by the force of the spring 9. let

The separation claw 5 as described above has a shaft 7, which is a rotating means, and a mounting plate 8.
By rotating this rotating means, the upper separating claw 5 is moved to the cleaning position as shown in the figure. In other words, a lever 10 is fixed to one end of the shaft 7, which is a rotating means.
A lever 1o is connected via a connecting rod 12 to a solenoid 11, which is a suction means shown in FIG. When the solenoid 11 is energized (ON), the connecting rod 12 is attracted, the lever 10 is pulled down in the direction of arrow A, and the separating claw 6 is brought into contact with the photoreceptor 1 about the shaft 7. When the solenoid 11 is deenergized (OFF), the separation claw 6 is separated from the photoreceptor 1 due to its own weight or the force of a spring, and is positioned on the opposite side of the conveyance path B of the paper 2. In other words, separation claw 6
is rotatably provided with the transport path B as a boundary between a separation position and an opposite position (cleaning position) shown by the dotted line in FIG.

On the other hand, a cleaning means 15 is arranged at a position (cleaning position) opposite to the separation position where the separation claw 6 is rotated when the solenoid 11 is turned off. This cleaning means 15 restricts further rotation of the one-separation claw 6, and cleans the separation claw 6. The cleaning means 15 is constructed by attaching a fur brush 14 to a cylindrical roller portion 13 that is rotationally driven. The brush 14 of this cleaning means 15 is composed of a conductive brush.

The cleaning means 15 is rotationally driven by the driving force of a conveying device 16 for conveying the separated paper 2 to the fixing section for the next process. That is, the conveying device 16 is constructed by stretching a conveying belt 19 between a driving roller 17 and a driven roller 18, and includes a gear 20 fixed to one end of the shaft of the driven roller 17 and a cleaning means 15. The cleaning means 15 is driven in conjunction with the drive of the conveying device 16 by meshing with a gear 21 fixed to one end of the rotating shaft. Here, it goes without saying that the cleaning means 15 is not limited to being driven by the conveyance device 16, but may be driven via another drive source.

In the structure as described above, the toner image formed on the photoreceptor 1 is electrostatically transferred to the paper 2 being conveyed by the action of the transfer corona discharger 3. The paper 2 on which the toner image has been transferred is electrostatically adhered to the photoreceptor 1, and the adhesion is weakened by the action of the next alternating current corona discharge 4. Therefore, the paper 2 is naturally separated from the photoreceptor l due to the stiffness of the paper itself, its own weight, and the like. The separated paper 2 is then conveyed on the belt 19 of the conveying device 16 to the fixing section, which is the next process.

Here, the paper 2 may only be affected by the AC corona discharger 4 depending on the surface potential of the photoreceptor 1 due to differences in the original, the type, size, circumferential speed of the photoreceptor, type of transfer paper, environmental conditions, etc. In this case, the adhesion force cannot be sufficiently weakened, and the paper may not be separated from the photoreceptor 1 due to its stiffness or its own weight. When the unseparated paper 2 comes to the position of the separation claw 6 that contacts the photoreceptor 1, the leading edge of the paper 2 is separated from the photoreceptor 1, and the separation progresses thereafter due to its own weight and the like.

Since the paper 2 is separated as described above and the rear edges of the paper 2 are kept in contact with each other, the O of the solenoid 11 is turned off.
Due to the FF, the separation claw 6 is rotated around the shaft 7 by its own weight, passes through the paper conveyance path B, and is moved to the position of the cleaning means 15 on the opposite side. The separation claw 6 facing the cleaning position is cleaned of toner stains by the cleaning action of the cleaning means 15. Then, when the next sheet 2 enters the transfer area, the solenoid 11 is turned on based on the signal, and the minute t'i11. Claw 6
is rotated upward about the shaft 7 to a separated position where it is in contact with the photoreceptor l.

Therefore, the separation claw 6 is removed by the cleaning means 10 every l copies.
By cleaning the paper l with a cleaning device, a state free of toner and the like is always maintained, and the leading edge of the paper l is not contaminated by the separation claw 6. Since the separation claw 6 is cleaned on the opposite side of the paper transport path B, the cleaned toner does not fall and stain the top surface of the paper 2.

Deterioration of cleaning performance due to long-term use can be prevented. For example, the material of the fur brush is acrylic (1014Ω
If a non-conductive material is used, the cleaning performance will be significantly degraded after long-term use, resulting in copy stains and the like. In contrast, the conductive brush 14 of the present invention, for example, conductive rayon (105 to 106
When the cleaning means 15 was constructed using .OMEGA., .OMEGA.), no deterioration in cleaning performance was observed due to long-term use, and no copy stains occurred.

According to the present invention, the separation claw 6 has been described as having a configuration in which it is installed together with a separation means using the AC corona discharger 4, but the separation claw 6 alone separates the paper 2 without providing the AC corona discharger 4. It is clear that this configuration may be used.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the paper separation device of the present invention, the separation claw that faces the photoreceptor and separates the paper is rotatably provided between the separation position and the (cleaning) position on the opposite side of the paper transport path. Since the brush of the cleaning means provided at the cleaning position is made of conductive material, there is no deterioration in cleaning performance due to long-term use, and the separating claw can be kept in a clean state at all times. It is possible to prevent copy stains and always obtain clear copy quality.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side view showing an example of a conventional paper separating device;
3 is a perspective view of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a side view showing details of the separation claw, and FIG. 5 is a separation claw of the invention. FIG. 1: Photoreceptor, 2: Paper, 3: Transfer corona discharger, 6:
Separation claw, 7: Shaft, 8: Separation claw number plate, lO double rotation lever, 11: Solenoid, 12: Continuous attack, 13: Roller,
14: Fur brush, 1', ゛, q,; : Cleaning means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a paper separation device that separates paper that is in close contact with a photoreceptor from the photoreceptor using a separation claw provided opposite to the photoreceptor, the separation claw is placed at a separation position facing the photoreceptor; A cleaning means is attached to the means for rotating from the separation position to a non-contact position remote from the separation position, and is provided at a non-contact position of the separation claw for cleaning the separation claw, the cleaning means is formed of a cleaning brush, and the cleaning means is formed of a cleaning brush. A paper separation device characterized by a conductive brush.