JPS6326680A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cause no cleaning failure of an image carrying body, and to prevent a contamination of a peripheral equipment, a fall of an image forming function, etc., by providing a guide plate for vibrating a shielding member which has been provided between a roller and a blade, and guiding a toner, etc., which have been dropped onto the member, to a toner collecting roller. CONSTITUTION:A vibration roller 101 is fitted and attached to a cam shaft 107 for transferring an oscillation energizing force for allowing a blade 71 of a first cleaning means 75 to press-contact and separate to and from an image carrying body 40, its roller surface is allowed to contact a guide plate 100, and in accordance with turning of the cam shaft 107, an uneven surface of the roller 101 vibrates the guide plate 100. Subsequently, a toner, etc., which drop down from a roller 84 of a cleaning unit 83 of a second cleaning means 80 are guided to a toner collecting roller 108. In this way, it is prevented that the toner, etc., drop down from the cleaning roller 84, and drop down and accumulated on the blade 71, etc., so that the cleaning capacity is not deteriorated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, and more particularly to a cleaning device for cleaning toner remaining on an image carrier.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, in an image forming apparatus such as a transfer type electrophotographic copying machine, a rotating drum-type image carrier having a photoconductive photosensitive layer on the outer peripheral surface is used, and while the image carrier is rotated, a zero voltage is applied to the photosensitive layer. A latent image is formed and developed with toner, and the resulting toner image is transferred to recording paper. After the transfer is completed, the residual toner on the outer circumferential surface of the image carrier is removed and cleaned by a cleaning device, and a 0-electrode latent image is formed again, and a new image is transferred.

In particular, in a color image forming apparatus that forms a color image by combining monochrome images, a plurality of developing units loaded with toner of each color are arranged around the periphery of the image carrier, and each rotation of the image carrier The latent images formed on the toner image corresponding to each color are developed in a non-contact manner, and a multi-color toner image is formed by rotating the image carrier a plurality of times.

After this toner image is transferred to recording paper, which is a transfer target, the residual toner is peeled off and removed by the action of a cleaning device, as in a general image forming apparatus. As is well known, the cleaning operation is performed by the pressure (including contact) action of a blade member or other cleaning member against the image forming surface, so it is not possible to perform the action during the formation of the toner image or before transfer. Therefore, during that time, the cleaning member is kept at a position apart from the image carrier, and just before the leading edge of the transferred toner image reaches the cleaning device, the blade member starts pressing, and the toner is removed. Immediately after the trailing edge of the image passes, the pressure contact is released.

As the cleaning device 2 that is controlled to be activated and deactivated in connection with the image forming process as described above, there is, for example, a blade cleaning method.

In the cross-blade cleaning method, toner adhering to the circumferential surface of the image carrier is forcibly removed by the edge of the blade member that presses against the surface of the image carrier. Although this cleaning method has a simple structure and a high cleaning effect, the peeled toner becomes powder or lumps and falls along the surface of the image carrier, scattering and damaging the recording paper, etc. It has problems such as staining.

Further, as a method for solving the above-mentioned problems, there is a cleaning means consisting of a blade member and a toner receiving member. In this method, the toner is scraped off by a blade member and collected by a toner receiving member to prevent scattering. Although this means cleans the image bearing member well, when the cleaning means is deactivated, toner is often deposited on the image bearing member between the blade member and the image bearing member and between the blade member and the toner receiving member. will adhere, resulting in poor cleaning.

As an improved method of cleaning means using a blade member, there is provided a first cleaning means and a second cleaning means, and a second cleaning means is provided.
11 in the moving direction of the image carrier.
The second cleaning means is formed of a cleaning roller downstream of the second cleaning means, and even if toner may adhere to the image carrier when the first cleaning means consisting of a blade member or the like is deactivated, the second cleaning means It is something that we try to remove by some means. The toner that adheres to the cleaning roller, which is the second cleaning means, is
The dirt is scraped off by the action of a pond roller that contacts and follows the roller, or by a scraper or the like.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the cleaning Wc system composed of the cleaning means ii and PIS2 as described above, when considering the second cleaning means in particular, it is found that it is located downstream of the first cleaning means and is scraped from the cleaning roller. A part of the dropped toner etc. falls onto the blade of the first cleaning means. This has the drawback that the fallen toner or the like accumulates on the blade and has an adverse effect such as impairing the cleaning function of the blade.

In view of the prior art as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning roller of a second cleaning means.

A shielding member is provided to prevent the toner scraped from the circumference from falling onto a blade of the first cleaning means, and the shielding member is vibrated to guide the toner that has fallen onto the shielding member to the toner collecting roller. Cleaning 1 that prevents toner, etc. from falling and accumulating on the blade, etc. even if it falls from the cleaning roller located above the blade, and does not impair the cleaning ability of the blade, etc.
ffi.

[Means for solving problems]

The above object includes first and second cleaning means disposed close to an image carrier of an image forming apparatus and controlled to be activated and deactivated in connection with an image forming process; In a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus, the cleaning device is disposed downstream of the ptSl cleaning device in the traveling direction of the image carrier,
A guide plate is provided below the cleaning roller of the second cleaning means to receive the toner falling from the cleaning roller and cause the toner to fall to the lowest toner collection roller, and the guide plate is vibrated and the guide plate is configured to vibrate. This is achieved by a cleaning device that is capable of vibrating in conjunction with the rocking of the first cleaning means.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, this embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention shown in Figs. 1 to 9 will be described in detail.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the aspects of this embodiment.

The general functions of a color image forming apparatus equipped with a cleaning device according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 8, A is a reading unit, B is a writing unit, C is an image forming section, and D is a paper feeding section.

In reading unit A, 1 is a platen glass, and an original 2 is placed on this platen glass 1. Hara 8S
2 is illuminated by fluorescent lamps 5 and 6 provided on a carriage 4 that moves on a slide rail 3. The movable mirror unit 8 is provided with mirrors 9a and 9b, which move on the slide rail 3, and which combination of the first mirror 7 provided on the carriage 4 moves the mirrors 9a and 9b on the platen glass 1.
, W42 are guided to the lens reading unit) 20.

The carriage 4 and the movable mirror unit 8 are moved by pulleys 11, 12, 13, and 14 driven by a stepping motor 10 via a wire 15, respectively.
are driven in the same direction at a speed of Standard white plates 16 and 17 are provided on the back side of both ends of the platen glass 1, and are configured so that a standard white signal can be obtained before the start of original reading scanning and/or after the end of scanning.

The lens reading unit 20 includes a lens 21 and a prism 2.
2. First reading board 24, red channel (hereinafter referred to as R)
-ah) CCD 25, second reading board 26,
Cyan channel C (hereinafter referred to as C-ah) CCD27
It consists of #- et al. The optical image of the original transmitted by the first mirror 7, mirror 9a, and mirror 9b is focused by the lens 21, and the R-
Images are formed on the light receiving surfaces of the ah CCD 25 and the C-cb CCD 27 provided on the second reading board 26, respectively.

As for the fluorescent lamps 5 and 6, commercially available warm white fluorescent lamps are used in order to prevent emphasis and depreciation of specific colors based on the light source when reading color originals, and 40°C to prevent flickering.
It is lit by K It z's high frequency power supply and W! ! ! It is kept warm by a heater using a POSISTOR in order to maintain a constant temperature or increase the ohm.

The image signals output from the R-ah CCD 25 and the C-ch CCD 27 are subjected to signal processing in a signal processing section. In the signal processing section, color signals separated according to the toner color (to be described later) are output, and the writing unit)
It is input to B.

In the writing unit) B, a laser beam generated by a semiconductor laser is rotated and scanned by a polygon mirror 32 rotated by a drive motor 3o, passes through an Fθ lens 36, and has an optical path bent by a reflecting mirror 37 to a photosensitive drum serving as an image carrier. 40 to form a bright line.

When scanning begins, the beam is detected by the index sensor and modulation of the beam by the first color signal begins. The modulated beam scans over the image carrier 4°, which has been uniformly charged in advance by a charger 41. During the main scanning by the laser beam and the sub-scanning by the rotation of the image carrier 40, a latent image corresponding to the first color is formed on the surface of the image carrier. This latent image is developed by a developing device 43 loaded with red toner, for example, and the red toner i is applied to the surface of the image carrier.
is formed. The obtained toner image, while being held on the surface of the image carrier, passes under the cleaning device 7o, which is separated and retracted from the surface of the image carrier, and enters the next copy cycle. The image carrier 4o is uniformly charged by a charger 41.

Next, the second color signal output from the signal processing section is input to the writing unit B, and written on the surface of the image carrier in the same manner as the first color signal, forming a latent image. Ru. The latent image is developed by a developer 44 loaded with a second color, eg, blue toner. This blue toner image is formed on top of the already formed red toner image on the surface of the image carrier.

A developing device 45 has black toner, and forms a black toner image on the surface of the image carrier based on a control signal generated by a signal processing section. AC and DC biases are applied to the sleeves of these developing units 43, 44, and 45 to perform jumping development using a two-component developer, and non-contact development is performed on the grounded image carrier 40. .

The superimposed image of the toner image based on the first color signal, the toner image based on the second color signal, and the toner image developed using the black toner image developed in this way is transferred to the paper feeding section by the transfer pole 51. The image is transferred onto the recording paper 61, which is a transfer member, which is fed by the feeding belt 62 and the feeding roller 631. The transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the image carrier by the separation pole 5Z, and further conveyed to the fixing device 53 and fixed thereon to obtain a color one-double image.

A cleaning device 70 equipped with a cleaning means according to the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 is applied to the image carrier 40 after the transfer to remove unnecessary toner remaining on the peripheral surface. It has become.

The cleaning device 70 includes a first cleaning device 75 which is a main cleaning device for the image carrier 40 and a second cleaning device 80 which is an auxiliary cleaning device. An operating state in which both of them are in contact with the image carrier 40 or one of them is in contact with the image carrier 40, and a state in which both the first cleaning means 75 and the second cleaning means 80 are out of contact with the image carrier 40. It is controlled to a deactivated state.

The first cleaning means 75 includes a blade 71 and a urethane-based, chloroprene, which is disposed above the blade 71 in the rotational direction of the image carrier 40 (indicated by the arrow γ) and is rotatably supported. The toner receiver made of a sponge-like roller such as a system has a member 72, and the blade 71 and the toner receiver are simultaneously attached to the image carrier 4.
The toner receiver member 72 is controlled to contact and release from the sponge roller at different timings, but may be controlled to contact and release the contact at different timings. It is preferable to have a scraper or the like, and it may be a sheet-like member disposed on the Fff image carrier 40 in a non-contact manner. Further, the toner receiver of the member 7''l has a roller formed as a chargeable metal roller, and is rotated counterclockwise at a position where a slight gap is maintained between the roller and the circumferential surface of the image carrier 40. It is also preferable to have one configuration so that rotation and a predetermined applied voltage can be applied.

The second cleaning hand ri 80 according to the present invention cleans the image carrier 4
A cleaning roller 84 and a toner scraping plate 85 are provided on the downstream side of the blade 71 in the rotation direction of
, a swing support shaft 86, a drive member 90, a buffer member 92, a guide plate 100, and the like.

A cleaning roller (hereinafter referred to as a roller) 84 is a sponge-like roller made of urethane, chloroprene, or the like, and is driven to rotate in the opposite direction to the image carrier 40 while at the same time being rotated at a predetermined nip width with respect to the image carrier 40. Remove any residual toner, etc. that has adhered due to pressure contact.

The toner scraping plate (hereinafter referred to as scraper) 85 is
It is made of a thin plate with spring properties such as a stainless steel plate and is pressed against the roller 84, and the toner etc. adhering to the circumferential surface of the roller 84 is scraped off and removed in accordance with the rotation of the roller 84. do.

The swinging support shaft 86 is made of metal, and together with the roller 84 and the scraper 85 constitutes a unit to be described later, and serves as a support shaft when the unit swings toward and away from the image carrier 40. It is rotatably mounted on the frame 74 of the cleaning device r1170.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning unit 83 of the second cleaning means includes the aforementioned roller 84 and the scraper 8.
5, a swinging support shaft 86, and a substantially U-shaped support 82 for forming these into a unit.

The vertical side walls on both sides of the support body 82 are provided with nine holes for fixing support members that support the roller 84 and the V-swing shaft 86, and the front surface thereof holds the scraper 85. It has a mounting portion to which a support plate 81 is fixed.

The roller 84 is rotatably supported by a pair of rotary support members with respect to the support body 82, and a gear G5 for transmitting rotational force is fixed to one outer end of one vertical side wall of the support body 82. Rotate the row 284.

The swing support shaft 86 is fixedly supported by a pair of fixed support members to the support body 82, and like the roller 84 described above, the cleaning plate is attached to one end of the vertical gA wall on one side of the support body 82. A protrusion 96 is provided for transmitting the driving force that urges the unit 83 to swing.

The scraper 85 is fixed and held by a support plate 81, the support Js, 81 is attached to the support body 82, and the scraper 85 is pressed against the roller 84 along its entire length in the manual force direction. As the transfer roller 84 rotates, toner and the like on the circumferential surface are scraped off and removed.

In the cleaning unit 83, the vicinity of both shaft ends of the swing shaft 86 protruding on both sides thereof are connected to the cleaning device 7.
The strip is removably attached to the frame 74 of 0.
The unit 83 is formed so as to be separable from the frame body 74 near the swinging support portion of the unit 83 and is held down by screws or the like, so that the unit 83 can be easily separated from the frame body 74 if necessary. It is possible.

The roller 84 of the cleaning unit 83 is constantly rotationally driven by a drive source (not shown) regardless of whether the roller 84 is in pressure contact with the image carrier 40 due to the swinging of the unit 83 or not. In FIG. 3, the rotational force from a drive source (not shown) is transmitted to the gear G3 by a bell) Bl, and is fixed to the support shaft 88 of the roller 84 via the tooth G4 loosely fitted to the swing support shaft 86. The roller 84 is always rotated in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the image carrier 40. Since the row 284 is constantly rotating, the scraper 85 acts to constantly scrape off toner and the like on the circumferential surface of the transfer roller 84. A gear G4 loosely fitted on the swing support shaft 86 and a gear G5 fixed on the support shaft of the roller 84 are arranged so that the support shaft 86 and the roller 84 are connected to the support body 8.
2 constitutes a cleaning unit 83, and swings around the swing shaft 86, so the distance between the shafts of the gears G4 and G5 is constant, regardless of whether the row 284 is in pressure contact or non-pressure contact. 284 is rotationally driven.

As shown in FIG. 5, the drive unit that swings and urges the cleaning unit 83 of the second cleaning means 80 is as shown in FIG.
It consists of a drive means and a buffer means.

The driving means includes a driving member 90, a swinging member 91, and a projection 9.
6. Consists of an adjustment spring 94 and an adjustment spring 95, and the above-mentioned t! t. The impact means consists of a buffer member 92 and a spring 93.

The drive member 90 is formed by a thread/id, and its operating shaft 9
The reciprocating motion of 0A is transmitted to the swing member 91 as a swing biasing force.

The swinging member 91 is fitted near the tip of the swinging support shaft 86 and has a substantially disc shape. The tip of the shaft 90A is loosely attached. Near the center of the swinging member 91, in addition to a hole into which the swinging support shaft 86 is inserted, a pair of notches are provided with the axis as a point of symmetry. The notch allows the protrusion 96 fixed near the tip of the swinging support shaft 86 to be inserted into the swinging member 91, and the protrusion 96 at a slight angle.
is a clearance ll597 provided so as to be rotatable together with the swing support shaft 86.

The protrusion 96 is fixed near the shaft end of the swinging support shaft 86, and the swinging member 91 converts the reciprocating motion of the operating shaft 90A of the drive member 90 into a rotational motion. The movement acts on the protrusion 96 as a pressing force from the abutting portion in the play space of the swinging member 91, and is transmitted as a rotational movement of the swinging support shaft 86, thereby causing the cleaning unit 83 to swing. It is converted into movement.

The adjustment springs 94 and 95 are composed of fill springs, and are provided on the wall surface that the protrusion 96 in the clearance part 97 comes into contact with,
When the false protrusion 96 receives a pressing force from the corresponding contact part, it is interposed between the wall surface and the protrusion 96 and biases the protrusion 96 with a spring.

The buffer member 92 is composed of an oil damper, and is provided opposite to the operating shaft 9OA of the drive member 90.
When A reciprocates, it acts to compensate for its rapid operation.

The spring 93 is composed of a coil spring, and one end of the spring 93 is connected to the buffer member 9.
The other end of the swinging member 91 is fixed to the tip of the long arm of the swinging member 91, and the long arm of the swinging member 91 is connected to the operating shaft end of the at impact member 92 by a spring. energize.

A guide means for guiding toner and the like falling from the row 284 of the cleaning unit 83 of the second cleaning means 80 to the toner collecting roller 108 is composed of a guide plate 100 and a vibrating roller 101.

The guide plate 100 is made of a rigid thin plate, has a rectangular shape, and has vertical support arms on both sides thereof, and covers the entire upper surface of the first cleaning means 75 with a slight gap from the first cleaning means 75. , the image carrier 40 side is inclined higher.

The leading end of the image of the vertical support arm is fixed to the frame 74 of the cleaning device 70 by a method such as riveting, and the two sides other than the edges of the image having the vertical support arm are made free ends. It has a structure that allows it to vibrate.

The vibrating roller 101 is fitted into a cam glaze 107 that transmits a rocking urging force that presses the blade 71 of the eleventh cleaning means against and away from the image carrier 40, and brings its roller surface into contact with the guide plate 100. According to the rotation of the cam glaze 107, the uneven surface of the roller 101 moves against the guide plate 1.
Make 00 vibrate.

The cleaning 1ii70 in the present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained below.

Before the leading edge of the toner image that has been transferred to the recording paper reaches the position facing the blade 71 of the first cleaning means 75, the blade 71 is pressed against the image carrier 40, causing the residual toner to peel off and fall. begins,
The toner receiving member 72 transports the toner that has fallen along the circumferential surface of the image carrier 40 and sends it to the toner collection row 2108 .

The cleaning unit 83 of the second cleaning means 80 according to the present invention is operated immediately before the blade 71 of the first cleaning means 75 comes into pressure contact with the image carrier 40 and starts the cleaning action, and when the blade 71 starts the cleaning action. Immediately after finishing the pressing and releasing the pressure contact, the roller 8 of the cleaning unit 83 acts on the image carrier 40.
4 rotates in the opposite direction while being in pressure contact with the image carrier 40,
Between the blade 71 and the image carrier 40 and the play 1'71
The toner receiver removes residual toner adhering to the image carrier 40 between the member 72 and the member 72 .

Image carrier 4 due to the swinging of the cleaning unit 83
The row 284 is always rotated in the opposite direction to the rotation of the image carrier 40, regardless of the pressing/separating operation of the roller 84 with respect to the roller 84. The pressure contact and scraping action are maintained to continue cleaning the surrounding surface.

When the main switch of the copying machine is turned on, a fin motor (not shown) is energized and rotates the drive shaft 109 to which the teeth l1IG1 of FIG. 3 are fixed.

The rotation of gear G1 is transmitted to gear G3 by bell) Bl,
Further, the gear G5 is rotated in the opposite direction to the image carrier 40 through the teeth 11G4 rotatably loosely fitted to the swing support shaft 86, so that the roller 84 to which the corresponding rtLG5 is fixed is also rotated as a gear. It is rotated in the same direction as G5.

The gear G4 that is loosely fitted on the swing support shaft 86 and the tooth $G5 that is fixed to the support shaft of the roller 84 are such that the swing support shaft 86 and the roller 84 are connected to the support body 82.
together with the cleaning unit 83,
The distance between the axes of the gear G4 and the gear G5 is always constant,
The image carrier 40 of the roller 84 is caused by the swing motion of the cleaning unit 83 about the swing shaft 86.
Regardless of the pressing/separating operation to be considered, the gear G
The rotational driving force of 1 is transmitted to the roller 84, and when the main motor (not shown) rotates, the row 284 also continues to rotate in synchronization with this.

The scraper 85 that comes into pressure contact with the roller 84 and scrapes off the toner on the circumferential surface of the roller 84 continues to rotate in synchronization with the rotation of the main motor (not shown) as described above. The roller 84 is kept in a clean state by continuously performing a scraping operation.

The swinging motion of the cleaning unit 83 of the second cleaning means 80 uses the drive member 90 as a drive source, and the reciprocating motion of the operating shaft 90A of the drive member 90 is used as the swinging motion of the swinging member 9.
1 into a rotational movement of the swinging support shaft 86. When the roller 84 presses against and separates from the image carrier 40 by this rocking motion, the shock caused by the press-contact and separation is alleviated by the buffering action of the buffer member 92.

6A and 6B show the cleaning unit 83.
The operation of the rocking member 91, which is engaged with the protrusion 96 provided near the shaft end of the rocking support shaft 86 and is interlocked with the operation of the drive member 90, is controlled by the movement of the roller 84. The image carrier 40 is expressed and illustrated in a state in which it is pressed into contact with the image carrier 40 and in a state in which it is separated from the image carrier 40.

FIG. 6A shows that a driving member 90 composed of a solenoid is
When the operating shaft 90A on which the long arm of the swinging member 91 is loosely attached is attracted, the swinging member 91 is urged to rotate around the swinging support shaft 86, and the roller 84 of the cleaning unit 83 moves toward the image. It is brought into pressure contact with the carrier 40. Due to the action of a spring 93 fixed to the tip of the long arm of the swinging member 91, the long arm is biased and brought into contact with the operating shaft end of a buffer member 92 constituted by an oil damper. , acts to alleviate the impact when the roller 84 is pressed.

In FIG. 6B, when the operating shaft 90A of the driving member 90 is pushed out together with the long arm of the swinging member 91 attached to its tip, the swinging member 91 rotates around the swinging support shaft 86. energized, the row 2 of the cleaning unit 83
84 is separated from the image carrier 40. Said t
The operating shaft end of the IL shock member 92 is located opposite to the operating shaft end of the driving member 90, and the long arm of the swinging member 91 is biased against the operating shaft end of the buffer member 92 by the spring 93. The actuating shaft 90 of the driving member 90 is in contact with the actuating shaft 90 of the driving member 90
Alleviates the sudden operating condition when A is pushed out. Therefore, the rotational movement of the swinging member 91 about the swinging support shaft 86 and the separation movement of the row 284 from the image carrier 40 due to the rotational movement are performed slowly.

Adjustment spring 94 in the free rilA portion 97 of the swinging member 91
and 95 act to keep the pressing force of the roller 84 against the image carrier 40 constant.

In FIG. 5, the drive member 90 is actuated and its operating shaft 90
When A is sucked, the long arm of the swinging member 91 attached to the operating shaft 90AI:31 moves to the swinging support shaft 86.
Rotate around.

Adjustment springs 94 and 95 provided at the abutting portions of the swinging member 91 against the protrusion 96 within the clearance 97 bias the protrusion 96, and the rotational movement of the swinging member 91 is caused by the protrusion. The rotational movement of the swinging support shaft 86 is transmitted through the portion 96, and the roller 84 is brought into pressure contact with the image carrier 40. That is, the reciprocating movement of the operating shaft 90A of the driving member 90 is caused by the swinging shaft 8 of the cleaning unit 83.
It is converted into a rocking motion centered at 6. The drive! The amount of reciprocating movement of the operating shaft 90A of the gJ member 90 varies, and this variation is converted into variation in the pressing force of the roller 84 against the image carrier 40.

If the roller 84 comes into contact with the image carrier 40 and acts with an excessive pressing force exceeding the desired pressing force, the swinging member 91 may be moved. The contact portion of the partition 97 acts on the adjustment springs 94 and 95 as an increased pressing force. Already the '1!4fl
? An additional pressing force is applied to the roller 84 which is biased by the i-springs 94 and V95 and is in pressure contact with the image carrier 40. Since the pressing force is set small compared to the pressing force of the roller 8, the rollers 94 and 95 are compressed, and the roller
4 is not pressed against the image carrier 40 with a pressing force exceeding the loading force of the springs 94 and 95.

The roller 84, which is biased by the JJs springs 94 and 95, is adjusted so as to start pressing against the image carrier 40 when the amount of movement of the operating shaft 90A of the driving member 90 is equal to or less than the minimum amount of movement. Even when the amount of reciprocating movement of the actuating shaft 90A is at the minimum value of variation, the pressing force of the roller 84 against the image carrier 40 never becomes less than the loading force of the springs 94 and 95.

Cleaning unit 8 of second cleaning means 80
The toner scraped off from the roller 84 of No. 3 is removed from the guide plate 10.
0, moves along the slope of the guide plate 100, and is guided to the toner collection roller 108.

In FIG. 5, the forward and reverse rotation of the DC motor 104 is transmitted to an ohm wheel 105 by a worm provided on the main shaft of the motor 104, and a half-rotation vIJ wheel 106 meshing with the t-m wheel 105 is used to transmit the forward and reverse rotations of the DC motor 104 to the ohm wheel 105. A camshaft 107 that swings the blade 71 of the first cleaning means.
be transmitted to.

A vibrating roller 101 fitted on the camshaft 107 vibrates the guide plate 100 with its flow surface in contact with the rotation of the camshaft 107. The toner that has fallen onto the guide plate 100 is moved along the slope by the aforementioned vibration and is guided to the toner collection row 2108.

The sequence of color image formation in the color image forming apparatus equipped with the cleaning device according to the present invention as described above will be explained using the time chart shown in FIG. The image carrier 40 starts image exposure in accordance with the Pt51 color signal at the one-rotation port, and develops after a delay of time X.
be processed. In the second rotation, the image carrier 40 starts image exposure using the second color signal and undergoes development process (2) after a period of time Y. Furthermore, in the third rotation, a color toner image is formed after the start of image exposure by the black signal and a development process (2) delayed by a time Z.

Here, the times X, Y, and Z are a certain position of the image carrier 40 (
In the figure, it is the time required for the leading edge of the image to reach the position where it receives each development process from the image exposure position, or the time less than that.Similarly, x is the time required for the image to reach the transfer pole 51 from the image exposure position, or the time less than that. The time 1 is the time required to reach the cleaning device 70 from the image exposure position or the time less than that. In addition, l is the extent to which the entire image surface of draft a is subjected to image exposure or development processing i! It is the time required to pass through a fixed point such as i, and the operations such as image exposure, development processing, transfer, cleaning, etc. are performed during a period of time with some margin before and after the time l, as shown by the broken line. 1iJJ is now available.

Next, the operation of the cleaning device of the present invention during image forming operation will be described below. First, the image carrier 40 starts circulating, and the tip of the image area formed by the first color signal of the Pt51 original image moves to the blade 71 until just before the toner receiver reaches the position facing the member 72.
is operating on the image carrier 40, and the image carrier 40 is being cleaned. Immediately after the blade 71 serving as the first cleaning unit is deactivated and immediately before the leading end of the image area reaches a position opposite to the cleaning roller 84 of the second cleaning unit 83, the roller 84 moves toward the image carrier 40. The member 7 is activated and deactivated between the blade 71 and the image carrier 40 and between the blade 71 and the toner receiver.
Residual toner adhering to the image bearing member 40 between the two is removed by the row 284.

When the image area on which the untransferred toner image is formed passes the position facing the cleaning device i70, the blade 71 and the cleaning roller 84 are deactivated from the image carrier 40, so the cleaning device! ? 70 does not disturb the untransferred toner image.

Immediately before the leading edge of the image area that has been transferred reaches a position opposite to the roller 84, the toner receiver moves to the blade 7.
1 and the cleaning roller 84 operate on the image carrier 40 . The operation of the roller 84 is similar to that of the blade 7.
Immediately after the point on the image carrier 40 where the roller 1 starts pressing against the image carrier 40 passes the roller 84, the pressure is released. The blade 71 operates until just before the rear end of the image area reaches a position where the cleaning roller 84 faces the image carrier 40, and then is deactivated. The cleaning row 284 operates simultaneously with the deactivation of the blade 71, and as described above, the cleaning row 284 operates when the blade 71 is released from the image carrier 4.
It is activated until the ground 7, which is deactivated with respect to 0, passes the roller 84, and then it is deactivated.

Therefore, residual toner adhering to the image area after transfer is
It is removed by the j@1 cleaning means 75. At this time, a small amount of residual toner remaining on the downstream side of the blade 71 due to activation and deactivation of the blade 71 is also removed by the second cleaning means 83.

As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described using a color copying machine that forms original images in three colors, but the cleaning device of the present invention can also be applied to image forming apparatuses that can form single-color or two or more color IXX images. Of course, it can be applied to.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained in the embodiments, the cleaning device of the present invention is provided with a second cleaning means downstream of the first cleaning means in the moving direction of the image carrier, and a first cleaning means. Even if toner may remain on the image carrier when the actuator is activated or deactivated, a cleaning roller and a cleaning unit that scrapes off the toner on the roller act on the image carrier. The roller of the unit rotates in the opposite direction to the image carrier and presses against it to remove residual toner.

Furthermore, some of the toner etc. scraped off from the cleaning roller of the second cleaning means located downstream (above) the PISl cleaning means falls and accumulates on the blade of the ml cleaning means. Cleaning the blade etc. 8! A shielding member is provided between the roller and the blade so as not to impair performance, and the shielding member is vibrated to serve as a guide plate to guide the toner, etc., dropped onto the shielding member to the toner collection roller. This eliminates the problem of poor cleaning of the image carrier as in the prior art, and prevents staining of the peripheral equipment of the image carrier and damage to the image forming function. It is something that can be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the cleaning vcra of the present invention, Fig.
The figure is 0, A%B%C%D%E in Figure 1. A sectional view taken at F%G, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the gear train that transmits the driving force of the cleaning device, No. 41Z is a perspective view of the cleaning unit, and FIG. 5 is the first and second cleaning FIGS. 6A and 6B are explanatory diagrams of the driving means for swinging the hand oil, respectively, in the respective states when the cleaning roller of the second cleaning means is pressed against and separated from the image carrier. An explanatory diagram showing the action of the buffer member, Figure @7 is an explanatory diagram of the position of the swinging member of the blade of the cleaning means of ttSl, and Figure 8 is an explanatory diagram of a color copying machine for explaining the present invention in detail. FIG. 9 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the color copying machine. 40... Image carrier 41... Charger 70... Cleaning device 71... Blade 72...
...The toner receiver is a member 75...First cleaning means 80...Second cleaning means 81...Support plate 82
... Support body 83 ... Cleaning unit 84 ... Cleaning roller 85 ... Scraper 86 ... Swing shaft 90 ... Drive! ! II member 91... swinging member 92
...41 Impact member 94, 95...1!4ff15 spring 96... Projection portion 97... Clearance portion
100... Guide plate 101... Vibration flow
107...Cam Tsumugi 108...Toner collection roller

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) disposed close to the image bearing member of the image forming apparatus;
first and second cleaning means controlled to be activated and deactivated in conjunction with the imaging process;
In a cleaning device for an image forming apparatus in which a second cleaning device is disposed downstream of the first cleaning device in the traveling direction of the image carrier, a cleaning roller of the second cleaning device is provided. A cleaning device characterized in that a guide plate is provided to receive toner falling from a cleaning roller and cause the toner to fall to a lowermost toner collection roller, and the guide plate is vibrated. (2) The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the guide plate is capable of vibrating in conjunction with the rocking of the first cleaning means.