JPS63298272A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a cleaned developer from setting and blocking the discharging port of a cleaner means by providing a transfer means for transferring the developer in the direction of the discharging port to which a developer restoring means is connected and a vibration adding means for vibrating to stir the developer in a reservoir room in the cleaner means. CONSTITUTION:The transfer means 82 for transferring the developer (a) removed from an image bearing body in the direction of the discharging port 84 to which the developer restoring means is connected and the vibration adding means 87 for vibrating to stir the developer (a) transferred to the discharging port 84 side by the transfer means 82 in the reservoir room 86 on the discharging port 84 side are provided in the cleaner means 21. If the cleaning quantity of the developer (a) is more than a recycle quantity the developer (a) carried to the discharging port 84 side by the transfer means 82 is temporarily gathered in the reservoir room 86 and vibrated to be stirred in the reservoir room with the action of the vibration adding means 87. Thus, the blocking of the discharg ing port 84 can be prevented.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to image forming apparatuses such as laser printers and electronic copying machines, and particularly relates to image forming apparatuses such as laser printers and electronic copying machines, and in particular, the invention relates to image forming apparatuses such as laser printers and electronic copying machines. After forming the developer image and transferring the developer image to the image support, a cleaner means removes the developer remaining on the image carrier, and a developer return means is provided to reuse the developer removed by the cleaner means. The present invention relates to an improvement in an image forming apparatus having a structure in which the image is returned to the developing means via the developing means.

(Prior Art) An image forming apparatus in which the developer removed by the cleaner means is returned to the developing means for reuse is extremely economical as the amount of developer consumed is small, and the developer is not supplied to the developing means. It has the advantage of reducing the number of refills, eliminating the need to dispose of the developer removed by the cleaner means, and being easy to maintain, so it tends to be widely used.

Conventionally, in this type of image forming apparatus, the cleaner means for removing the residual developer on the image carrier brought a cleaning blade into contact with the surface of the image carrier and scraped it off from the surface of the image carrier. The toner collecting auger (transfer means) transports the developer to the discharge port, and the developer is dropped from the discharge port and supplied to the developer return means.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional device as described above, when the amount of developer to be cleaned is greater than the amount of developer to be recycled, the developer is concentrated on the discharge port side of the cleaner means. However, there is a problem in that it hardens inside the device and blocks the outlet of the cleaner means, making it impossible to recycle.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to provide an improved image forming apparatus that can prevent cleaned developer from solidifying and blocking the discharge port of the cleaner means.

[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 return means is connected to the cleaner means to return the developer removed from the image carrier. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a transfer means for transferring toward the discharge port, and a vibration applying means for vibrating and stirring the developer transferred to the discharge port side by the transfer means in the storage chamber on the discharge port side.

(Function) When the cleaning amount of developer is larger than the recycling amount, the developer transported to the discharge port side by the transfer means temporarily accumulates in the storage chamber, and this developer is affected by the action of the vibration applying means in the storage chamber. Vibration agitation is carried out.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 4 and 5 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 apparatus of the present invention. There is.

1 in the figure is a laser printer as an image forming device,
This laser printer 1 is placed on a multi-cassette feeder 2, and an envelope feeder 3 is attached to the rear side. Reference numeral 5 denotes the main body of the laser printer 1. The rear part of the upper surface of the printer main 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 upper surface. A paper discharge tray 8 movably supported by a jogger 7 is installed in this recess 6, and the four parts 6
On the right side, there is an operation panel display section 9 and an operation panel switch section 10.
However, three IC card insertion slots 11 are provided on the left side. Further, a paper ejection tray 12 is attached to the front side of the printer main body 5, and a manual feed tray 13 is attached to the rear side.

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. Transfer device 19. Peeling device 2
0. Cleaning device 21 as cleaner means. and static eliminator 22 are arranged in sequence.

Further, inside the printer main body 5, a photoreceptor 15 and a transfer device 19 are installed.
An image support transport path 24 is formed that extends forward through an image transfer section 23 between the paper feed cassette 25 and the paper feed cassette 28 of the multi-cassette feeder 2, which are housed at the bottom of the printer main body 5. . 27, respectively, via paper feed rollers 28 and transfer rollers 29, etc., paper 21, paper P that was manually fed from the manual feed tray 13, and envelopes that were automatically fed from the envelope feeder 3. A is guided to the image transfer section 23.

Further, an aligning roller pair 30 is arranged on the upstream side of the image transfer section 23 of the image support conveyance path 24, and an alignment roller pair 30 is arranged on the downstream side of the image transfer section 23. Paper ejection selector 32 and paper ejection roller pair 33
are arranged as shown in FIG. Note that, on the terminal end side of the image support conveyance path 24, the paper P sorted by the paper discharge degree selector 32 and the concave portion 6 with the sealed envelope ring as a paper discharge portion are provided.
A branch conveyance path 35 is formed which includes a pair of paper discharge rollers 34 that guide the paper.

In FIG. 4, 40 is a lower cover, 41 is a front cover, 42 is an upper cover, 43 is a right cover (door), 44 is a left cover, 45 is a right cover opening/closing lever, and 46 is an upper unit opening/closing lever. In addition, 47, 48 and 47 shown in FIG.
. . , 49 is a control board constituting the control section.

In the image forming operation, the photoreceptor 15 is driven and uniformly charged by the charging device 1B.
Next, the laser optical system 17 exposes the photoreceptor 15 to light corresponding to the image signal to form an electrostatic latent image. Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 6 is developed by a developing device 18 that uses a two-component developer consisting of toner a and carrier b, and is sent to the image transfer section 23 as a developer image. .

Meanwhile, in synchronization with this developer image forming operation, the paper feed cassette 2
5.28.Sheet P1 selectively taken out from 27 or manually fed paper P1 or envelope feeder 3
The envelope A supplied from the printer is fed through the aligning roller pair 30, and the developer image previously formed on the photoreceptor 15 is transferred to the paper P or the envelope A by the action of the transfer device 19.
transcribed into. Next, the paper P or the envelope A is peeled off from the photoreceptor 15 by the peeling device 20, 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 envelope A, the discharge direction is sorted by the paper discharge selector 32 and the developer 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 envelope A, the residual toner remaining on the photoreceptor 15 is cleaned by the cleaning device 21, and the next copying operation is ready.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the photoreceptor 15. Cleaning device 21 as cleaner means. The developing device 18 as a developing means is mounted on a guide frame 51 that is slidably supported via slide rails 50.
By pulling out these, they 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, and the developing device 18 is integrated with the guide frame 51.
It has a structure that allows it to be attached and detached independently.

The developing device 1B has a structure as shown in detail in FIG. That is, this developing device 18 has a developing mechanism section 55.
and a developer stirring section 56. The developing mechanism section 55 includes a developing roller 59 disposed facing the opening 5B of the developing device main body 57, and a developer magnetic brush D' formed on the surface of the developing roller 59 in sliding contact with the photoreceptor 15. That is, a doctor 61 that is provided upstream of the developing section 60 and regulates the thickness of the developer magnetic brush D', and a developing section BO.
The developer magnetic brush D' formed on the surface of the developing roller 59 provided on the downstream side is peeled off and the developer stirring section 5B is removed.
It has a scraper B2 that guides. Further, the developer stirring section 5B includes first and second developer stirring bodies 6 accommodated in a developer accommodating section 63 formed behind the arrangement section of the developing roller 59.
It has 4°G5.

The developing roller 59 is composed of a magnetic roll 59a having a plurality of magnetic pole parts (not shown), and a non-magnetic sleeve 59b fitted around the magnetic roll 59a and rotating in the clockwise direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. has been done.

A toner receiving portion B6 as a developer receiving portion is formed at a position facing the developer stirring portion 56 of the developing device main body 57, and a toner receiving portion B6 is formed as a developer replenishing cartridge of a developer replenishing means 150 to be described later. It receives the toner a replenished from the toner cartridge 07 (developer storage means) shown in FIG. .

Further, a developer concentration detector 70 for detecting developer concentration is provided at a position facing the scraper 62 as shown in FIG. A toner replenishment shaft 71 (see FIG. 7) as a developer replenishment member incorporated in the housing is driven as necessary.

As a result, the developer particles stand up on the surface of the non-magnetic sleeve 59b due to the lines of magnetic force generated from each magnetic pole portion and are attracted in a brush-like manner to form a developer magnetic brush D'. As the sleeve 59b rotates, the toner a is sequentially conveyed to the developing section BO, and the toner a in the magnetic brush D' is sealed onto the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 15 and developed. Further, a toner replenishment shaft 71 of the toner force cartridge 67 is driven by a replenishment signal from the toner concentration detector 70, and the insufficient toner a is appropriately replenished. On the other hand, the rotation of the developer agitating body 03 (i4) disposed in the developer storage section 63 agitates the developer, thereby achieving good frictional charging between the toner a and the carrier b. There is.

The cleaning device 21 as a cleaner means is the sixth cleaning device 21.
The configuration is as shown in the figure. In other words, 75 in the figure
1 is a cleaning device main body which has an opening 7B in a portion facing the photoconductor 15, and this cleaning device main body 7
A cleaning blade 77 is housed within the cleaning blade 5. This cleaning blade 77 has a support shaft 78
A weight 79 is rotatably supported by a weight 79 and serves as a biasing body.
The upper end is held against the blade holder 80, which is always biased counterclockwise (as shown in FIG. 6), and the tip of the lower end is in pressure contact with the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor 15. There is. The remaining toner a that has adhered to the photoreceptor 15 is then scraped off by the cleaning blade 77.

Further, a recovery blade 81 is attached to the lower opening edge of the opening 76, and the cleaning blade 77
The toner a scraped off by the cleaning device main body 7
It is designed to be collected within 5 days.

On the other hand, inside the cleaning device main body 75, there is provided a transfer means for transferring the developer a scraped off from the image carrier (photoreceptor 15) toward the discharge port 84 to which the developer returning means 68 is connected. toner collection auger 82 (this toner collection auger 82 has meshing gears 89a, 89 at one end of the main body).
(It is designed to be rotationally driven by power transmission by b)
Then, the developer a transferred to the discharge port 84 side by the toner collection auger 82 is vibrated and stirred in the storage chamber 8B (formed by the casing 83 protruding from one end of the cleaning device main body 75) on the discharge port side. A vibration imparting means 87 is provided as shown in FIG.

The vibration imparting means 87 is a plate spring as a vibrating member fixed with a screw 88 in the casing 83 which is a forming body of the storage chamber 86, and this plate spring is fixed in the casing 83 with a screw 88. portion 87a and this mounting portion 87
A leaf spring portion 87b that hangs down from a point near the shaft portion of the toner collection auger 82, and a storage chamber 86 that extends parallel to the toner collection auger 82 from an intermediate position between the hanging leaf spring portion 87b.
A leaf spring portion 87c that extends long inward, and a toner collection auger 8 that is protruded from the lower end of the extended leaf spring portion 87c.
Rotate the lower end so that the spiral blades of No. 2 come into rotational contact with each other as shown in Figure 1 (
A curved leaf spring tip contact portion 87d as shown in FIG. 87c is designed to vibrate. The outlet 84 is provided on the lower surface of the casing 83, and the outlet 84 has a developer returning means 6.
A slide shutter 85 is provided which is opened when the shutter 8 is connected and automatically closed by the biasing force of a spring or the like (not shown) when the shutter 8 is disconnected.

The toner remaining on the photoreceptor 15 is scraped off by the cleaning blade 77 and transferred to the storage chamber 86 by the rotation of the toner collection auger 82. The developer (toner a) sent to this storage chamber 86 is
Normally, the developer is supplied falling from the discharge port 84 with the slide shutter 85 open to a developer returning means 68, which will be described later. Further, if the cleaning amount of the developer a is larger than the amount recycled by the developer return means 68,
The developer a conveyed to the discharge port 84 side by the toner recovery auger 82 temporarily accumulates in the storage chamber 86 as shown in FIG. Since the toner a is agitated by the vibration caused by the rotation of the toner collection auger 82, the toner a does not solidify within the casing 83, and is efficiently discharged and supplied to the developer return means 68.

The developer returning means, that is, the toner returning means 68 is the fourth
It is attached to the inside of the right cover 43 shown in the figure, and its structure includes a toner receiving section 90 as a developer receiving section and a developer discharging section as shown in detail in FIGS. 2, 3, and 7. and a toner transport section 92 as a developer transport section that transports the toner a received in the toner receiving section 90 to the toner discharge section 91. When the right cover 43 is closed, the toner receiving portion 90 is located below the toner discharge side casing 83 of the cleaning device 21 and faces the toner discharge port 84. At this time, the slide shutter 85 is opened as shown in the imaginary line in FIG. Furthermore, the toner discharge section 91 is located above the developer storage section 63 of the developing device 18 and faces the toner receiving port 6B.

The toner receiving section 90 has a toner receiving port 94 opposite to the toner discharging port 84 of the cleaning device 21, and a slide shutter opening/closing portion 95 which is opened by pushing in the discharge loss slide shutter 85 of the cleaning device 21.
(See Figure 3).

Further, a toner cartridge 67 of the developer replenishing means 150 is installed (combined) at a position corresponding to the toner discharge section 91.
A cartridge mounting portion 98 is provided on the upper side, and a toner discharge port 100 that is opened and closed by a rotary shutter 991 is formed on the lower side as shown in FIG.

The row shutter 99 has a driving means 10 shown in FIG.
The gear 110 is driven via the gear 7 to rotate and open the toner discharge port 100. The toner transfer section 92 also includes a communication pipe 111 that communicates the toner receiving section 90 and the toner discharge section 91 and forms a toner return passage 10B as a developer return passage;
The flexible spiral member 112 is housed in the toner 1 and serves as a toner transport member that transports the toner a as it rotates.

The spiral member 112 is rotated by driving a gear 113 by a driving means 107. The inner wall 108a of the toner return passage 108 is made of, for example, a conductive synthetic resin having a volume resistivity of 10 8 Ω·1 or less based on nylon or polyacetal having good sliding properties.

Next, the driving means 107 of the developer returning means 08 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 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 115 and the second gear group as shown in FIG.
The driving force is transmitted to the shaft 11B through a speed reduction mechanism consisting of a gear group 11B, and through a first spring clutch 117 (slip occurs when the motor 114 reverses, cutting off the transmission of driving force). It has become.

Further, a first driving force transmission system 130 for driving the bottom shutter lot of the cartridge mounting section 98 via the shaft 118 and a second driving force transmission system 131 for driving the lower shutter 99 are provided. Each of them is to be transmitted. The first driving force transmission system 130 drives a pinion 109 that meshes with a rack (not shown) integrated with the shutter 101 via a spring clutch 133, and the second driving force transmission system 131 drives a gear 110 integrated with the rotary shutter 99 via a spring clutch 184 and a plurality of gears 135.

On the other hand, the gear 113 integrated with the spiral member 112 housed in the communication pipe 111 is connected to the gear 144 of the first gear group 115 constituting the speed reduction mechanism and the one-way clutch 14.
It is in a state of meshing with a gear 145 which is interlocked via G.

When the motor 114 rotates in the forward direction, the shutters 101 and 99 open, and the spiral member 112 rotates to return the toner a. Furthermore, when the motor 114 rotates in reverse, each shutter lot
, 99 are in a closed state, and the spiral member 112 is in a stopped state.

By closing the right cover 43, the developing device 1
8 and the cleaning device g121 are connected via the toner return device B8, and the motor 114 of the drive device 107 rotates in the forward direction, so that the toner a collected by the cleaning device 21 is transferred to the developing device 18. It can be returned. As a result, the amount of toner a consumed can be significantly reduced, which is extremely economical, and the number of times the toner a is replenished from the toner cartridge BT can be reduced as much as possible, making maintenance easy. Further, new toner a is appropriately replenished from the toner replenishing means 150, so that a good developing operation is always possible. At this time, the inner wall 108a of the toner return passage 108 of the toner return means 68 is made of a conductive material with a volume resistivity of 108Ω·4 or less based on nylon, polyacetal, etc. with good sliding properties, so it is non-conductive. This prevents the toner from being charged and condensed due to frictional charging between the inner wall of the toner return path and the toner (developer), which is the case when the toner return passage is made of conductive synthetic resin, and prevents condensed toner from having an adverse effect on images. It is possible to prevent the generation of sliding noise with the spiral member which is the toner conveying means.

In the above embodiments, the description has been given of a case in which development is performed using a two-component developer consisting of toner a and carrier b, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to a single-component developer that does not use carrier b. Of course, it can be applied to anything that is developed using the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] The image forming apparatus of the present invention has a cleaner means for removing residual developer on the image carrier, and directs the developer removed from the image carrier toward the discharge port to which the developer return means is connected. Since a transfer means for transferring and a vibration applying means for vibrating and agitating the developer transferred to the discharge port side by the transfer means in the storage chamber on the discharge port side are provided, the cleaned developer hardens and is not discharged by the cleaner means. This has the effect of preventing the outlet from being blocked.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(A) is a partially cutaway front view showing the main part of the cleaner means;
FIG. 1(B) is a perspective view showing a leaf spring as a vibration applying means provided in the cleaner means, FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the toner return means, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the toner return means. , FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of an image forming unit device equipped with an image forming device, FIG. 5 is a schematic longitudinal sectional side view of the same image forming unit device, and FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the main parts of the image forming device. Explanatory diagram, Figure 7 is a front view with the cover open,
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of the vicinity of the drive source of the toner return means. 15... Image carrier (photoreceptor), 18... Developing means (
Developing device), 21...Cleaner means (cleaning device), 68... Developer return means (toner return means),
82... Transfer means of cleaning device (toner collection auger), 83... Storage chamber forming body (casing), 84
...Exhaust port, 85...Slide shutter, 8B...
-Storage chamber, 87...Vibration imparting means (plate spring), 10
B...Developer return passage (toner return passage). Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 4

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an image forming apparatus having a structure in which 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. , a transfer means for transferring the developer removed from the image carrier by the cleaner means toward a discharge port to which a developer returning means is connected; and a transfer means for transferring the developer transferred to the discharge port side by the transfer means to the discharge port. An image forming apparatus characterized in that it is provided with a vibration imparting means for vibrating agitation in a side storage chamber. (2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vibration imparting means is a vibrating member such as a leaf spring that vibrates with the operation of the transporting means.