JPS631327Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a photoconductor cleaning device that removes residual toner on a photoconductor using a cleaning brush connected to a blower.

In a typical transfer type electrophotographic copying machine, residual toner on the photoreceptor after transfer must be removed in preparation for the next copying cycle. The cleaning brush used for this purpose has a support made of fibers such as rayon or Teflon, and is rotated within a casing at about 800 to 1500 rpm. In order to perform good cleaning, the brush must be kept clean at all times, and therefore, the problem is how to remove the toner that has adhered to the brush by wiping. Further, since toner has an extremely small particle size of 0.1 to 10 μm, it is important to prevent toner from scattering inside the copying machine during cleaning.

The invention described in Utility Model Application Publication No. 49-110646 is
Compressed air is blown onto the cleaning brush to remove toner from the cleaning brush. However, since the compressed air is supplied through a filter, the filter tends to become clogged, and since the air is blown,
The disadvantage is that the toner tends to scatter.

Utility Model Publication No. 132854 (1972) and Utility Model Application No. 132854 (1977)
The device described in Japanese Patent No. 13635 attempts to remove toner from the brush by using a beating rod or a beating plate placed in pressure contact with the brush. However, these designs have the disadvantage that the toner that has been knocked off once is adsorbed by the brush again.
The brush is pressed against the striking member, and the elastic restoring force when the brush passes through the striking member repels the adhering toner, but at the same time, when the striking member releases the pressure contact, the toner that has been compressed within the brush is removed. The air suddenly expands, creating a negative pressure state in that area, which causes the toner that was blown away to be adsorbed by the brush again. In order to overcome this negative pressure and suction the toner, a very large blower motor is required, which results in increased noise and vibration of the entire machine.

The invention described in Utility Model Application Publication No. 50-62536 is
The casing has a plurality of suction ports surrounding the brush and an inner tube with a scraping plate inside the suction ports, and since the scraping plates are used to remove the adhered toner, the same negative effects as mentioned above are caused. A pressure condition occurs,
It is difficult to discharge the scraped toner from the suction port.

The present invention to be disclosed hereinafter presses a beating plate having a large number of holes onto the brush from the wall surface of the toner discharge port of the casing on the side in the direction of rotation of the brush toward the other wall surface, but at a distance from the other wall surface. It is characterized by having been provided with For this beating board,
The generated negative pressure state does not continue, and the toner removed by the beating plate is removed without adhering to the brush again. Therefore, even with a small blower output, the brush is always kept clean, there is no toner scattering, and highly efficient and stable cleaning performance can be achieved.

Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to provide a high-performance cleaning device that can keep the brush clean even with a small blower and prevents toner from scattering.

An embodiment of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the figure, cleaning brush 11
rotates counterclockwise, and the photoreceptor drum 12
similarly rotates counterclockwise. The outside of the cleaning brush 11 is covered with a casing 13 except for the portion where the brush contacts the photoreceptor and the portion where it is connected to a blower device (not shown). The blower device is conventional with a filter. The brush tip of the brush 11 is in pressure contact with the surface of the photoreceptor drum by about 2 mm in length, and is also in pressure contact with the casing 13 by about 2 mm. Therefore, the brush tip is constantly rotating while being in pressure contact with the casing and the surface of the photoreceptor. A beating plate 14 is provided in the opening of the casing 13 leading to a blower (not shown), extending from the wall surface on the rotational direction side of the brush 11 toward the other wall surface, but at a distance from the other wall surface. This beating board 1
Reference numeral 4 has a circular arc shape centered on the center of rotation of the brush, and extends further inside the casing 13, that is, is in even stronger pressure contact with the casing 13, and is provided with a large number of holes 15. A recess 16 is provided in the lower inner part of the casing 13,
A container 17 is placed there.

The tip of the brush comes into pressure contact with the photoreceptor surface to wipe away residual toner on the surface. Due to this pressure contact, the air within the brush in that area is compressed, increasing the pressure. When the brush tip leaves the photoconductor surface, this compressed air is suddenly released, resulting in a negative pressure state, and outside air is sucked through the gap 18 between the casing tip on the photoconductor side and the photoconductor surface, and the brush The wiped toner does not fall through the gap 18, but is sent inside the casing by the rotation of the brush. When the brush tip reaches the opening 19 formed between the lower tip of the beating plate 14 and the lower wall surface of the casing, the toner adhering to the brush tip is squeezed by the tip of the beating plate 14 and is removed from there. It is removed and falls into the container 17 while being subjected to air suction by a blower, where it is accumulated. Most of the toner adhering to the brush tip is removed by this, but the remaining toner comes out through the holes 15 of the beating plate 14 when the brush tip is squeezed through the holes. and falls into the container 17 in the same way. The tip of the brush is a plate 1
4, while the air compressed by this pressure tries to escape from each hole 15,
The toner scraped off by each hole also comes out of that hole. As the air has come out of each hole, the subsequent parts of the brush move forward under negative pressure. For this reason, outside air is sucked through the gap 20 between the end surface of the casing on the photoreceptor side and the surface of the photoreceptor, thereby preventing the toner from scattering outside when the photoreceptor is wiped with a brush.

In this way, this invention makes good use of the air pressure inside the brush to transport and remove toner, so the output of the suction blower is also small, and the brush is constantly cleaned to prevent toner from scattering. There is no. What is particularly important about this idea is that the wall surface of the casing on the side in the direction of rotation of the brush is sealed by the beating plate 14, and the wall surface on the opposite side is spaced apart from the beating plate 14, and there is an opening 19 there. is formed. If openings are provided on both sides of the beating plate 14, the above-mentioned negative pressure state will occur within the brush, and the toner removed by the beating plate will adhere to the brush again.

In this invention, the beating plate 14 can be used by extending the wall surface of the casing without having to be a separate member. In addition, in the above embodiment, the container 1
The toner accumulated in the toner 7 can be collected in the developing section by a screw or the like.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of this invention. 11... Cleaning brush, 12... Photosensitive drum, 13... Casing, 14... Beating plate,
15...hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] a rotatable cleaning brush for wiping off residual toner on the photoreceptor; a casing having a toner discharge opening provided to surround the cleaning brush; and a casing for scraping off toner adhering to the cleaning brush. a toner discharge opening having a large number of holes provided in pressure contact with the brush from a wall surface on the rotational direction side of the cleaning brush toward a wall surface on the other side and spaced apart from the wall surface on the other side; A photoconductor cleaning device equipped with a plate.