JPS6311983A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the disturbance of pictures resulting from the variation of the rotation of an image carrier, by driving a developing agent returning means by means of a separate driving means which is independent of the driving system of a picture forming system. CONSTITUTION:After a developing agent is once used for forming a developing agent picture on an image carrier 15 by a developing means 18 and the picture is transferred to a picture supporting body 16, the developing agent remaining on the image carrier 15 is removed by means of a cleaning means 21 and returned to the developing means 18 for reuse by a developing agent returning means 68. The developing agent returning means 68 is driven by a separate driving means which is independent of the driving system of a picture forming system. Therefore, the developing agent removed by means of the cleaning means 21 can be returned to the developing means 18 without giving any unfavorable influence to the picture forming system even though this constitution is simple.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to improvements in image forming apparatuses such as laser printers and electronic copying machines.

(Prior art) Both image forming apparatuses, in which the developer removed by the cleaner means is returned to the developing means for reuse, are extremely economical as they consume less developer, and also reduce the amount of developer to the developing means. They tend to be used frequently because they have the advantage of being easy to maintain, such as reducing the number of times the developer is replenished and eliminating the need to dispose of the developer removed by the cleaner means.

Conventionally, both of these types of image forming apparatuses have a structure in which a driving means for a developer return means receives driving force from an image forming system such as a carrier means and a cleaner means. For this reason, there is a problem in that the driving load on the image forming system becomes large and rotational fluctuations of an image carrier such as a drum-shaped photoreceptor are affected, which may cause image disturbances.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional method, there is a problem that the image forming system is adversely affected and the image is disturbed.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to return the developing agent removed by the cleaner means to the developing means without causing any harm to the image forming system while having a simple structure. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can perform both functions.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method in which a developer image is once formed on an image carrier by a phenomenon means and then transferred to the image support. After image transfer, the developer remaining on the image carrier is removed by a cleaner means, and the developer removed by the cleaner means is returned to the developing means via a developer return means for reuse. In the image forming apparatus, the developer returning means is driven by a drive means separate from the drive system of the image forming system.

(Function) That is, the present invention has a structure in which the developer returning means for returning the developer removed by the cleaner means to the developing means for reuse is driven by a drive system separate from the drive system of the image plate forming system. Therefore, there is no need to increase the driving load of the image forming system and cause rotational fluctuations of the image bearing member such as a drum-shaped photoreceptor, and image disturbances due to rotational fluctuations of the image bearing member are reliably prevented. It becomes possible.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 2 and 3 are an external perspective view and a schematic longitudinal sectional side view showing the internal configuration of an image forming unit device equipped with a laser printer as an image forming Iff of the present invention. There is.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a laser printer as both image forming devices, and this laser printer 1 is placed on a multi-cassette feeder 2, and an envelope feeder 3 is attached to the rear side.

The laser printer 1 has the following configuration.

That is, numeral 5 in the figure is a printer body of the laser printer 1, and the rear part of the top surface of this printer body 5 is raised one step higher, and a recessed portion 6 serving as a paper ejection section is formed in the center of the top surface. A paper output tray 8 movably supported by a jogger 7 is installed in the recess 6, and an operation panel display section 9 and an operation panel switch section 10 are installed on the right side of the recess 6, and three Two IC card insertion slots 11 are arranged respectively.

Furthermore, a paper output tray 12 is provided on the front of the printer main body 5.
Further, a manual feed tray 13 is attached to the rear side.

Further, a drum-shaped photoreceptor 15 as an image carrier is provided approximately at the center of the printer main body 5, and a charging device 16 is provided around it as shown in FIG. Laser optical system 17. Developing device 18 as a developing means. 1 transfer device, 20 degrees stripping device, 21 cleaning device as cleaner means. and a static eliminator 22 are arranged in this order.

Furthermore, an image support transport path 24 is formed inside the printer body 5 and extends forward through an image transfer section 23 between the photoreceptor 15 and the transfer device 19, and is housed at the bottom of the printer body 5. Paper is supplied from the paper feed cassette 25 and the paper feed cassettes 26 and 27 of the multi-cassette feeder 2 via the feed O-ra 28 and the transfer O-ra 29, etc., respectively. 7J lined sheets 11, sheets P1 manually fed from the manual feed tray 13, and envelopes A automatically fed from the envelope feeder 3 are guided to the image transfer section 23.

Further, an aligning roller pair 30 is disposed on the upstream side of the image transfer section 23 of the image support transport path 24, and a fixing device 31. A paper discharge selector 32 and a pair of paper discharge rollers 33 are arranged.

Incidentally, on the terminal end side of the image support conveying path 24, there is a branch provided with a pair of paper ejection rollers 34 to guide the sheets P, envelopes A, etc. sorted by the paper ejection selector 32 to the recess 6 serving as a paper ejection section. A conveyance path 35 is formed.

2, 40 is a lower cover, 41 is a front cover, 42 is an upper cover, 43 is a right cover, 44 is a left cover, and 45 is a right cover opening/closing lever.

46 is a lever for opening and closing the upper unit, and 47, 48, . . . , 49 shown in FIG. 3 are control boards constituting a control section.

In the image forming operation, the photoreceptor 15 is driven and charged to -tX by the band I11 device 16, and then the laser optical system 17 exposes the photoreceptor 15 to light corresponding to the image signal. An electrostatic latent image is formed. Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 6 is developed using a two-component developer 11R consisting of toner a and carrier b.
The image is developed by the stomach 18 and transferred to the brass transfer portion 23 as a developer image.
sent to the side.

Meanwhile, in synchronization with this developer image forming operation, the feeding cassette 2
5.26.27, the paper P selectively taken out, the paper P manually fed, or the envelope A fed from the envelope feeder 3 is fed through the aligning roller pair 30 and placed on the photoreceptor 15 in advance. The formed developer image is transferred onto the paper P or the seal @A by the action of the transfer device 19. Next, the paper P or the envelope A is peeled off from the photoreceptor 15 by the peeler flJHH20, passes through the image support transport path 24, and is sent to the fixing device 31. After the developer image is fused and fixed on the paper P or the envelope A, the discharge direction is determined by the paper discharge selector 32 and the image is discharged onto the upper paper discharge tray 8 or the front paper discharge tray 12.

Note that after the developer image is transferred onto the paper P or the seal 1flA, the residual toner remaining on the photoreceptor 15 is removed by a cleaning device 21.
The copying area is cleaned and the next copying operation is ready.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the photoreceptor 15. Cleaning device 21 as cleaner means. The developing means 1118118 is mounted on a guide frame 51 that is slidably supported via slide rails 50.50, and the guide frame 51 is pulled out with the right cover 43 open as shown in FIG. As a result, these can be pulled out to the right side of the printer main body 5.

Further, the photoreceptor 15 and the cleaning device 21 are unitized, and are integrally connected to the guide frame 51.
In addition, the current @ device 18 has a structure that can be attached and detached in class A.

The current device 18 has a configuration as shown in detail in FIG.

That is, this developing device 9 includes a developing mechanism section 55 and a developer stirring section 56.

The developing mechanism section 55 includes an opening 58 of the developing device main body 57.
The sliding contact portion between the developing roller 59, which is disposed facing the developing roller 59, and the photoreceptor 15 of the developer magnetic brush D' formed on the surface of the developing roller 59, that is, the developer provided upstream of the developing section 60. Doctor 6 regulating the thickness of the magnetic brush D'
1 and a developing row 55 provided downstream of the developing section 60.
It has a scraper 62 that peels off the developer magnetic brush D' formed on the surface of the developer brush D' and guides it to the developer stirring section 56.

Further, the developer agitating section 56 includes a first developer containing section 63, which is housed in a developer accommodating section 63 formed behind the arrangement section of the developing roller 59.
It has a second developer stirring body 64°65.

Further, the developing roller 59 includes a magnetic roll 59a having a plurality of magnetic pole parts (not shown), and a magnetic roll 59a having a plurality of magnetic pole parts (not shown).
The non-magnetic sleeve 59b is fitted onto the outside of the sleeve 59a and rotates in the direction 1 in the figure.

Further, a toner receiving section 66 as a developer receiving section is formed at a position facing the m developer agitating section 56 of the developing device main body 57, and the toner aJ replenished from a toner cartridge 67, which will be described later, and the developer are returned. The toner a returned from the cleaning device 21 is received through a toner returning means 68 as a means.

Further, a developer concentration detector 70 for detecting the developer concentration is provided at a position facing the scraper 62, and a detection signal from the developer concentration detector 70 is used to replenish the toner incorporated in the toner cartridge 67. The shaft 71 (see FIG. 5) is driven as necessary.

As a result, developer particles stand up on the surface of the non-magnetic sleeve 59t) due to the lines of magnetic force generated from each magnetic part and are attracted in a brush shape to form a developer magnetic brush D'. D' is sequentially conveyed to the developing section 60 by the rotation of the sleeve 59b, and the toner a in the magnetic brush D' adheres to the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 15 and develops it.

Further, a toner replenishment shaft 71 of the toner cartridge 67 is driven by a replenishment signal from the toner degree detector 70, and the insufficient toner a is appropriately replenished.

On the other hand, the developer stirring body 6 disposed inside the developer storage section 63
The developer layer is stirred by the rotation of 3.64 degrees, and frictional charging between toner a and carrier b can be performed satisfactorily.

Further, the cleaning device 21 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 4.

That is, 75 in the figure is a cleaning device main body having an opening 76 in a portion facing the photoreceptor 15, and a cleaning blade 77 is installed inside this cleaning device main body 75.
is in a contained state.

The cleaning blade 77 is rotatable by a support shaft 78, and the blade holder 8 is always urged counterclockwise by a weight 79 as an urging member in the state shown in FIG.
The upper end portion is supported by 0, and the tip of the lower end portion is in pressure contact with the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor 15.

The remaining toner a that has adhered to the photoreceptor 15 is then scraped off by the cleaning blade 77.

Also, a collection blade 81 is provided at the lower end edge of the opening 76! The toner a scraped off by the cleaning blade 77 is transferred to the cleaning device main body 75.
It is designed to be collected inside.

Further, at the bottom of the cleaning device main body 75, a toner collection auger 82 is provided which transfers the toner a in the cleaning device main body 75 to a toner discharge section 83 protruding outside to deliver the toner a in the cleaning device main body 75 to a toner return means 68 as a developer return means. is located.

As shown in FIG. 10, a toner discharge port 84 as a developer discharge port is formed on the lower surface of the toner discharge portion 83, and this toner discharge port 84 is connected to a rotary shutter 86 and It has a structure that can be closed twice by a slide shutter 85.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the right cover 43
A toner return means 68 for returning the toner a collected by the cleaning device 21 to the phenomenon device 18 is attached inside the cleaning device 21 .

As shown in detail in FIGS. 6 and 7, this toner return means 68 includes a toner receiving section 90 as a developer receiving section;
, a toner discharge section 91 as a developer discharge section, and a toner a received in the toner receiving section 90.
1 and a toner transport section 92 as a developer transport section. And right cover 4
3 is closed, the toner receiving section 90 is located on the lower surface side of the toner discharging section 83 of the cleaning device 21 and faces the toner discharging port 84, and the toner discharging section 91 is located in the developer storage section of the developing device 18. It is located above the toner receiving port 63 and faces the toner receiving port 66 .

The toner receiving section 90 has a toner receiving port 94 opposite to the toner discharging port 84 of the cleaning device 21, and is opened by pushing in a slide shutter 85 provided on the toner discharging port 83 of the cleaning device 21. A rotary shutter closing south wheel 97 that rotates the rotary shutter by meshing with a gear 96 integrated with the rotary shutter opening/closing portion 95 and the rotary shutter is disposed.

Further, the toner discharge section 91 has a cartridge mounting section 98 on the top surface into which the toner cartridge 67 is mounted, and a toner discharge port 100 that is opened and closed by nine rotary shutters is formed on the bottom surface side.

The cartridge mounting portion 98 includes the toner discharge port 1.
A slide shutter 101 for opening and closing 00 is provided. The slide shutter 101 has an opening 102 for releasing toner and an engaging protrusion 103 protruding from the edge of the opening 102, and the toner cartridge 67 is inserted into the cartridge a holder 98. When installed, the engagement protrusion 103 engages with an engagement recess 105 formed on the lower surface of the slide shutter 104 of the toner cartridge 67.

Further, an opening 106 for toner replenishment is formed in the engagement recess 105, and is in communication with the opening 102, and the slide shutter 101 is connected to the rack 10B by a driving means 107, which will be described later. By rotating the pinion 108 next to the opening/closing 1 provided with a pinion 109, the opening 102 is automatically opened to the toner discharge port 1.
It is configured to slide to a position opposite to 00.

Further, the rotary shutter 99 is configured to rotate by driving a gear 110 via a driving means 107 to open the toner discharge port 100.

The toner transfer section 92 also included a communication pipe 111 that communicates the toner receiving section 90 and the toner discharge section 91, and a spiral member 112 that is housed in the communication pipe 111 and transfers the toner a as it rotates. The structure is as follows. The spiral member 112 is driven by the gear 1 by the driving means 107.
13 is driven to rotate.

Next, the driving means 107 of the phenomenon agent return means 68 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

In the figure, 114 is a motor as a driving source, and the driving force of this motor 114 is applied to the first gear group 11 as shown in FIG.
5 and a second gear group 116 to the first spring clutch (slip occurs when the motor 114 reverses, cutting off transmission of driving force).
117 to the shaft 118.

Furthermore, a first driving force transmission system 130 for driving the slide shutter 99 via this shaft 118, and a second driving force transmission system 131 for driving the rotary shutter 99.
, and a third driving force transmission system 132 for driving the lower shutter 86 of the cleaner.

The first driving force transmission system 130 drives the binion 109 that meshes with the rack 108 integrated with the shutter 101 via a spring clutch 133, and the second driving force transmission system 131 , a gear 110 integrated with the rotary shutter 99 via a spring clutch 134 and a plurality of gear groups 135.

Further, the third driving force transmission system 132 includes two parts that mesh with each other.
119m136,137, spring clutch 138,
Bevel gears 139, 140, pulley 141, belt 142,
The configuration is such that the signal is transmitted to the row shutter opening/closing gear 97 via the pulley 143 in sequence.

On the other hand, the spiral member 11 housed in the communication pipe 111
The V4 wheel 113 integrated with 2 is connected to the gear 144 of the first gear group 115 constituting the reduction mechanism and the one-way clutch 146.
The gear 145 is in mesh with the gear 145 which is interlocked via the gear 145.

Thus, when the motor 114 rotates in the forward direction, each shutter 98, 101, 99, 86 opens and the spiral member 112 rotates to return the toner a.

Further, when the motor 114 rotates in reverse, each shutter 98,
101.99.86 is in a closed state, and the spiral member]]2 is in a stopped state.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the right side cover 4
3 is a drive means 107 for the toner return means 68. A drive device (not shown) that drives the toner replenishment shaft 71 of the toner cartridge 67, and a clutch mechanism 121 that connects and disconnects the toner replenishment shaft 71 and the drive shaft 120 of the driver vJ device when the right side cover 42 is opened and closed. Guide member 1
22. Safety switch operating claw 123. Cover lock claw 1
24, a photoreceptor, a guide member 125 for positioning the present (!I device), etc. are attached.

Note that 130 shown in FIG. 1 is the toner receiving port 6 of the developing device.
6 is a slide shutter that opens and closes the right cover 43.
When it is closed, it is pushed by the toner discharge section 91 and slides to open the toner receiving port 66. Further, 131 is a handle for pulling out the slide rail 51 on which the unit device of the developing device 18, the photoreceptor 15, and the cleaning device 21 is removably mounted.

Therefore, by closing the right cover 43, the development H11
8 and the cleaning device 21 are connected via the toner return means 68, and the motor 114 of the drive means 107 rotates in the forward direction, so that the toner a collected by the cleaning device 21 is returned to the developing device 18. be able to. As a result, the consumption Rfit of the toner a can be greatly reduced, which is extremely economical, and the need for replenishing the toner a from the toner cartridge 67 can be reduced as much as possible, making maintenance easy.

Also, at this time, the driving means 107 of the toner return means 68
However, the current ghost M18. Since it is independent from the image forming system such as the cleaning device 21, it is possible to increase the driving load of the image forming system and reduce rotational fluctuations of the drum-shaped photoreceptor 15, which is linked to the image forming system. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent image disturbances caused by rotational fluctuations of the photoreceptor 15.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the description has been given of an image developed using a two-component developer consisting of toner a and carrier b, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this. It goes without saying that it can be applied to anything that is subjected to top development.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention provides a method in which a developer image is once formed on an image carrier by a developing means, transferred to an image support, and remains on the image carrier after the image transfer. The developing agent is removed by a cleaner means, and the developer removed by the cleaner means is returned to the developing means via a developing agent returning means for reuse, the developing agent returning means being a part of the image forming system. It is configured to be driven by a drive means separate from the drive system. Therefore, although the structure is simple, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can return the developer removed by the cleaner means to the developing means without adversely affecting the image forming system.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view with the cover open, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of an image forming unit device equipped with both image forming devices, and FIG. The figure is a schematic vertical side view, FIG. 4 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of both image forming devices, FIG. 5 is a front view with the cover open, and FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the toner return means. FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of the toner return means, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the structure around the drive source, and FIG. 9 is a diagram of FIG. 7 IX-IX.
10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the toner discharge portion of the cleaner means. 5... Device main body (printer main body), 15... Image carrier (photoreceptor), 18... Developing means (developing device), 21
...Cleaner means (cleaning device), 66...
Developer receiving portion, 68... Phenomena return means (toner return means), 84... Developer discharge port (toner discharge port), 9
0... Developer receiving section (toner receiving section), 91... Developer discharging section (toner discharging section), 92... Developer transporting section (toner transporting section), 107... Driving means, 111・・・
- Communication tube, 112... Spiral member, P... Image support (paper), A... Image support (envelope). Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Once a developer image is formed on an image carrier by a developing means and transferred to an image support, the developer remaining on the image carrier is removed by a cleaner means after the image transfer, and the cleaner means In an image forming apparatus configured to return the removed developer to the developing means via a developer returning means for reuse, the developer returning means is provided with a drive means separate from a drive system of the image forming system. An image forming apparatus characterized in that it is configured to be driven by. (2) The developer returning means includes a developer receiving section facing the developer discharging port of the cleaner means, a developer discharging section facing the developer receiving port of the developing means, and the developer received in the developer receiving section. The dual image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the double image forming apparatus is an independent unit having a developer transfer section for transferring the developer to the developer discharge section, and is attached to the openable/closeable cover side of the main body of the apparatus. Device. (3) The developer transfer section is characterized by comprising a communication tube that communicates the developer receiving section and the developer discharge section, and a spiral member that is housed in the communication tube and transfers the developer as it rotates. An image forming apparatus according to claim 2.