JPS63318584A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the capacity of stored waste toner and to miniaturize the whole device by compressing and caking recovered waste toner to improve its density. CONSTITUTION:A waste toner compressing member 27 consists of a cantilever- like waste toner compressing plate 28 to be elastically reciprocated by pressure due to the rotation of a scraping member 22, and when waste toner reaches a fixed volume in a waste toner box 26, the waste toner is compressed by the plate 28 elastically deformed while being pressed due to the rotation of a scraping plate 24. When the pressing force of the plate 24 is released, the plate 28 executes reciprocating motion to be restored to an original position, i.e. a position abutted upon a driving shaft 23, by elastic force included in itself. Thus, the toner is compressed and stored in the waste toner box 26 by a series of operation of the waste toner scraping member 22 and the waste toner compressing member 27.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is applicable to image forming apparatuses such as printers and copying machines using an electrophotographic method.
The present invention relates to a cleaning device for removing untransferred residual toner on a photoconductor (Vice), and more specifically to a device for efficiently (compressing) waste toner collected by a cleaning member into a waste toner box.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, an electrostatic latent image (static latent image) is formed on an electrophotographic photoreceptor through a charging and photoimage exposure process.
Copying machines using image), laser beam printers,
Image forming apparatuses such as LCS printers are known. In such an image forming apparatus, the untransferred toner remaining on the photoreceptor after the transfer process is removed by a cleaning means, but the removed waste toner may cause aggregation, deteriorate performance, and may contain paper in the toner. powder (paper pow)
Due to problems such as contamination with foreign substances such as der), the toner cannot be reused and is collected in the waste toner box.

The collection method is mainly to introduce waste toner into a waste toner box using a spiral conveyance means and store it submerged (for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-57078), but in the case of powder toner, it is stored in piles on a mountain. A space is created inside the box, and the storage capacity is reduced, so that the capacity inside the box cannot be fully utilized, and a large waste toner box is required, resulting in poor storage efficiency and an increase in the size of the entire device. On the other hand, in order to solve this problem, a method has been proposed in which the Yamabushi's waste toner is vibrated by some kind of vibration means to smooth it out and increase the actual capacity of the collection container, but since it generates impact noise, it is only a problem of U noise. However, this method has the disadvantage that waste toner leaks and scatters, contaminating the inside of the HH.

On the other hand, as a method for detecting that a predetermined amount of toner has been stored, it is also possible to directly measure the amount of toner by installing a microswitch or the like that responds to the weight of waste toner at the bottom of the space where the toner is collected. However, if this is done, problems arise such as waste toner entering the switch contact portion and causing contact failure.

Additionally, methods that indirectly detect the amount of toner, such as by calculating the number of rotations of the photosensitive drum, cannot accurately detect the amount of toner;
Problems such as toner leaking out from the toner collection space arise.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The present invention takes the above drawbacks into account and compresses and solidifies the collected waste toner to increase its density, thereby reducing the volume of the stored waste toner.L Ha! In addition to downsizing the entire structure, an electronic harp! An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning HM that prevents contamination due to scattering and leakage of waste toner inside the apparatus by blocking the opening of a waste toner box when the copying machine or printer is stopped.

Another object of the present invention is to reliably detect the full state of waste toner with a simple configuration once a certain amount of toner is stored even in a limited waste toner collection space (hereinafter referred to as waste toner box). The aim is to provide a cleaning device that can.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the cleaning device of the present invention is provided with means for collecting toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier with a scraping member or the like and compressing the toner into a waste toner box. .

Note that a movable member that deforms outward in response to the pressing force of the collected toner may be provided on the wall of the waste toner box.

Further, the movable member may be a bellows thin film elastic material perofram.

Further, the movable member may be a thin film movable member biased toward the inside of the waste toner box by an elastic thin film member.

Further, the thin film-like movable member may have a rigid portion at least in part.

The amount of collected waste toner is reliably detected by providing a detection means outside the movable member to detect that a predetermined amount of toner has been accommodated in the waste toner box due to the deformation of the movable member.

By providing such a detection means, when the toner is stored in the waste toner box and pressure compression progresses, pressure is generated by the toner, and the movable member that comes into contact with the toner receives the pressing force, and the outside of the waste toner box is transforms into By detecting this amount of deformation, it is reliably detected that the amount of waste toner contained in the waste toner box has reached a predetermined amount.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. The if diagram shows the liquid quantity printing device (LC3 (Li)
It is a diagram schematically showing the main parts of the Quid Crystal 5huffer (also referred to as the Quid Crystal 5huffer). In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an image carrier formed of a photosensitive drum made of a photoelectric material such as 5e10PC. When the rotatably supported photosensitive drum 1 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow A, the drum surface is uniformly charged by the charger 2. This charged portion is exposed to a light image by the optical signal generator 3, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum surface. This electrostatic latent image is transferred to the developing device W14 which forms a magnetic brush.
When passing through the , it is visualized by toner. The toner image formed in this manner is transferred by the transfer device 5 to the transfer paper stacker 8 onto the transfer paper θ which is fed to the transfer position in synchronization with the toner image on the photoreceptor drum.

After the transfer, the transfer paper 9 is sent to a device 10 composed of a photoreceptor drum 1, and is ejected onto a paper ejection tray 11. As mentioned above (on the surface of the photosensitive drum after transfer, approximately 30 to 40% of untransferred toner remains, and this residual toner is removed by cleaning grL6. After cleaning, the drum part The charge is removed to a certain level by the charge removal lamp 7 in preparation for the next image forming process.

<Embodiment 1> An embodiment of the internal structure of the cleaning device will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a photosensitive drum, and a cleaning blade 20 removes untransferred toner remaining on the drum by a known method. The sealing member 21 is made of a material such as a PET sheet or a Teflon sheet that is hard to adhere to toner and does not have an adverse effect on the photosensitive drum, and extends parallel to the drum over almost the entire length of the drum. comes into contact with the drum surface to prevent toner from scattering or leaking from the cleaning device opening.

The i-stage member 22 transports the waste toner that is removed by the blade and falls and accumulates on the inner wall of the front plate 25 to the waste toner box 26 while roughly scraping the inner wall of the front plate. The scraping member 22 is composed of a drive shaft 23 and a scraping plate 24,
It rotates around a drive shaft by a drive source (not shown). The waste toner compression member 27 is composed of a cantilever-shaped waste toner compression plate 28 that performs elastic reciprocating motion by being compressed as the scraping member 22 rotates. One end of the waste toner compression plate 28 is fixed to the back inner wall of the waste toner box, and the other end is set to come into contact with the drive shaft 23. When the waste toner reaches a certain amount in the waste toner box, it is removed by the scraping plate 2.
The waste toner is compressed by a waste toner compression plate 28 which elastically deforms while being pressed as the waste toner is rotated. Waste toner compression plate 2
8 performs a reciprocating motion to return to its original position, that is, the position where it abuts the drive shaft 23, by its self-growing elastic force when the pressing force of the scraping plate 24 is released. In this way, the toner is compressed and stored in the waste toner box 26 by a series of actions of the waste toner scraping member 22 and the waste toner compressing member 27. According to the waste toner pressure 5Iati, it has been confirmed through experiments by the present inventor that 1.5 to 1.6 times more waste toner can be stored in terms of weight ratio than when waste toner is stored due to natural fall. .

The bellows frame 29 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes:
The waste toner box 26 is fixed to the back surface of the waste toner box 26 so as to protrude from an opening 30 provided at a portion of the back surface of the waste toner box 26 and come into contact with a microswitch 31, which will be described later.

The bellows-like bellows 7 ram 29 is made of a deformable thin film elastic material such as silicone rubber, and is composed of a pot that has a bellows structure and a cap that is generally flat-headed and conical, and is usually shaped by its own elastic force. It has a habit of keeping its bark.

In the embodiment described above, when the waste toner is gradually collected in the waste toner box 26 and the pressure compression is progressed by the waste toner compression member 27, the pressure inside the waste toner box increases, and eventually the bellows frame 29 fixed on the back surface increases. Pressure will also be transmitted to Here, since the bellows frame is an elastic body, the bellows part expands due to the pressure of the waste toner, and gradually protrudes and deforms to the outside of the waste toner box.

A microswitch 31 is fixed to the main unit at a preset distance on the outside of the waste toner box 26 facing the bellows flam in the projecting direction, and is activated when the bellows flam protrudes to a predetermined value. It detects that the toner box 26 is full and issues a detection signal. Based on the detection signal, the main body HM displays an indicator lamp (not shown),
Waste toner is prevented from leaking from the waste toner box 26 by notifying the user of the full state using a buzzer or the like and warning that it is time to replace the unit, or by interrupting the printing operation. The desired characteristics of the microswitch 31 include that it responds to the amount of protrusion of the bellows frame 29 and to pressure, and operates reliably with a low load. Micro switch 3 like this
An example of No. 1 is shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b). Figure 4 (
4(a) is an explanatory diagram of the operation, and FIG. 4(b) is an explanatory diagram of the external appearance. A planar contact plate 32 is provided in order to effectively receive the pressure of the protruding m-plate of the bellows-shaped bellow frame 29. On the other hand, the contact plate 32 has a cantilever shape supported by the neck 34 so as to enable low-load operation, and the operating load mfli is realized by changing the shape of the neck 84. As for the material of such a planar contact plate 32,
An elastic conductive material such as a phosphor bronze plate is desired. On the other hand, a bellows frame 29 facing the planar contact plate 32
A contact plate 33 is provided within the microswitch housing at a predetermined distance depending on the amount of protrusion of the bellows frame.The planar contact plate 32 is elastically deformed at the neck portion 34 due to the protrusion of the bellows frame, and comes into contact with the contact plate 33. It functions as a switch. As shown above, the shape and mounting position of the bellows flam that protrudes outward from the waste toner box due to the pressure of the compressed waste toner, and the microswitch that detects the amount of this protrusion are limited to the illustrated embodiment. (The material, hardness, shape position, etc., can be freely modified in design so that the ability to detect the full state is good, and the means for detecting the grooved cup can also be a piezoelectric transducer or a photointerrupter.) -1 Various means such as a proximity switch are possible.

Therefore, the shape of the bellow frame is not limited to this embodiment, and various shapes are possible as shown in cross section in FIGS. 5(a), (b), (c), and (d).

The shapes and structural features common to this embodiment of the present invention and other embodiments shown in FIGS. 5(a), (b), (c), and (d) are as follows:
A bellows structure is formed in a part of the bellows 7 ram, and the bellows expands and protrudes due to the waste toner pressing force, and the central part of the bellows 7ram is given a full-strength performance when pressing the planar contact plate 32. Although it has a flat head, it is not limited to this shape. Furthermore, in order to effectively utilize the waste toner pressing force for elongation and deformation of the bellows flam, it is desirable that the general overall shape of the bellows flam be the same as the direction of protrusion, and a structure in which it is elongated or protruded by being reversed is avoided. tiS
Figures (a) and ′! Fig. J5 (b) shows a bellows 7 ram having a substantially cylindrical shape and a substantially flat-headed conical shape with a bellows 7 provided on its side, and Fig. 5 (c) shows a bellows 7 ram showing an embodiment of the present invention. A bellows flamm with an increased number of bellows and an increased amount of protrusion. FIG. 5(d) shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a bellows 7 ram with a bellows flammable M1 spring provided laterally.

<Example 2> A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Identical members in the figures are designated by the same reference numerals.

The square diaphragm 35 is fixed to the back surface of the waste toner box 28 so as to actuate the leaf switch 36 through an opening 30 provided in a part of the back surface of the waste toner box 28 by receiving the pressure of the compressed and accommodated toner. One embodiment of such a square diaphragm 35 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b). As shown in Fig. 7(a), the square diaphragm 3
5 is made of a deformable thin film elastic material such as silicone rubber, and is composed of a pressure receiving surface 37 and a peripheral wall surface 38 that supports the pressure receiving surface 37. It is desirable that the pressure receiving surface 37 has rigidity for the purpose of effectively converting the pressure of the toner into the deformation of the rectangular diaphragm, and for this reason, the thickness of the pressure receiving surface portion is made thicker than the other parts. Alternatively, features such as fixing a rigid thin plate such as a phosphor bronze plate are added. The peripheral wall surface 38, which is formed integrally with the pressure receiving surface 37 and supports it from three directions, is constructed in the shape of an elastic thin film, contrary to the characteristics of the pressure receiving surface, and normally its own elastic force pushes up the pressure receiving surface 37, Figure 7 (a) shows a habit of maintaining the shape shown.

- In the strength wood embodiment, the waste toner box 2
A partition plate 39 is provided on the side of the square diaphragm 35 on the inner wall of the rear surface 6 to prevent the pressure of collected toner from acting on the peripheral wall surface 38 and preventing the square diaphragm 35 from being deformed. Further, in order to further enhance the above-mentioned effect, a toner seal wall 40 configured in a thin film shape is integrally formed around the pressure receiving surface 37, and toner is prevented from accidentally leaking between the peripheral wall surface 38 and the partition wall plate 39. This prevents them from entering.

In this embodiment with the above configuration, the waste toner box 26
As the waste toner is gradually collected inside the waste toner box and compression by the waste toner compression member 27 progresses, the pressure inside the waste toner box increases, and eventually the pressure is transmitted to the rectangular diaphragm 35 fixed on the back side, deforming it. reach the level of When the pressure receiving surface 37 receives the pressure of the recovered toner, the peripheral wall surface 38 is elastically buckled and deformed as shown in FIG. Performs a hinge-like motion using the fulcrum as the fulcrum. Therefore, the square diaphragm 35 gradually buckles and deforms toward the outside of the waste toner box due to the pressure of the waste toner.

On the outside of the waste toner box 26 facing the diaphragm in the direction of deformation, a leaf switch 36, which is a fullness detection means, is fixed to the main unit at a preset distance, and the amount of buckling deformation of the Guyaphragm is determined. When a predetermined value is reached, it is activated, detects that the waste toner box 26 is full, and issues a detection signal. The detection signal causes the main body B to
As in the first embodiment, M uses a display lamp (not shown), a printer, etc. to notify the user of the full status, warns the user that it is time to replace the unit 2), and interrupts the printing operation to close the waste toner box. Prevent waste toner from leaking from inside 2B. As shown above, the square diaphragm that buckles and deforms outward from the waste toner box due to the pressure of the compressed waste toner, and the shape and mounting position of the microswitch that detects the amount of this deformation are different from those of the illustrated embodiment. However, the material, shape, position, etc., can be freely modified so that the detection ability of the grooved cup-like color is good. Therefore, the fullness detection means is not limited to the leaf switch, and various means such as a piezoelectric transducer, a photointerrupter 1 proximity sensor, etc. can be used.

Embodiment 3 On the other hand, in the second embodiment, an example in which the pressure-receiving member that receives the pressure of recovered toner is integrated with the rectangular diaphragm is explained in detail, but it is also possible to separate the two functions. A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Identical members in the figures are designated by the same reference numerals. In the square diaphragm 41, the pressure receiving surface 42 and the peripheral wall surface 38 are integrally formed of the same material as in the m2 embodiment, or there is no need to add rigidity to the pressure receiving surface 42. The pressure receiving plate 43 substantially corresponds to the pressure receiving surface 42
Resin,
It consists of a rigid thin plate made of metal or the like. The pressure receiving plate 43 is connected to the waste toner box 2 in a hinge-like manner at one end thereof.
6 Supported on the bottom. The pressure receiving plate 43 receives pressure that increases with the amount of collected toner, and is displaced toward the outside of the waste toner box with its supporting end as a rotation axis. The pressure receiving surface 42 receives this displacement and activates the fullness detection means as in the second embodiment. A toner seal wall 40 extends around the pressure receiving plate 4303 to prevent toner from leaking to the back surface of the pressure receiving plate 43.

A fourth embodiment of the above-mentioned functionally separated pressure receiving member and fullness detection means according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figure 21.9.

In the square diaphragm 35, the pressure receiving surface 37, the peripheral wall surface 38, and the toner seal wall 40 are integrally formed of the same material as in the m2 embodiment, or the pressure receiving surface 37 is not provided with rigidity.

The pressure-receiving hinge 44 is formed in a shape in which the hinge member of the leaf switch 36 is added with a function of a pressure-receiving plate that receives the pressing force of waste toner. In other words, the pressure receiving hinge 44 is made of resin so that it can sufficiently receive the pressure of the collected toner instead of the pressure receiving [43] in the FI3 embodiment and perform the original function of the switch.
It consists of a rigid thin plate made of metal plate or the like. In this embodiment, when the waste toner is gradually collected in the waste toner box 26 and press compression by the waste toner compression member 27 progresses, and the pressure is propagated to the square diaphragm 35, the peripheral wall surface 38 is elastically buckled and deformed. Accompanying this, the pressure receiving hinge 44 is displaced. When the amount of displacement of the pressure receiving hinge 44 reaches a predetermined value, the leaf switch 36 is activated, detects that the inside of the waste toner box 26 has become full, and issues a detection signal.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the waste toner is compressed into a groove shape by means for compressing the collected waste toner, a movable member deformed outwardly from the waste toner box by the pressure of the waste toner, and a detection means for detecting the amount of deformation. Since the system detects the
The groove detection member of the unit containing the waste toner box can be realized with a simple structure and at low cost, and detection can be performed without malfunction.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of image formation veWl using the cleaning device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram of a first embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a bellows frame of a bellows-shaped thin film elastic body in the first embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention. FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are explanatory views of the operation of the microswitch used in the cleaning 'JR station of the present invention. Figures m5 (a), (b), (c), and (d) are cross-sectional views of other embodiments of the bellow frame, which is a bellows-like thin film elastic material used for cleaning according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory sectional view of a second embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention. Figure 7(a)(b)
) is a perspective view for explaining the operation of the thin film cane movable member in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a perspective view for explaining another example of the collected toner capacity detection device used in the cleaning device of the present invention. The tJO diagram is a perspective view for explaining another example of the collected toner capacity detection device used in the cleaning device of the present invention. In the figure, 1... photoreceptor drum, 2... charger 3...
Optical signal generator, 4...Developing device 5...Transfer device, 6
... Cleaning device 7 ... Rotating lamp 8 ... Transfer paper stacker 9 ... Transfer paper, 10 ... Fixing device 11 ... Paper ejection tray 20 ... Cleaning blade 21 ... Seal Member, 22... scraping member 23...
Drive shaft, 24... scraping plate 25... front plate, 26... waste toner box 27.
. . . Waste toner compression member 28 .
- Planar contact plate, 33... Contact plate 34... Neck 35.41... Square diaphragm 36... Leaf switch 37.42... Pressure receiving surface, 38... Surrounding wall surface 39.・・・
Partition plate, 40... Toner seal plate 43... Pressure receiving plate,
44...Pressure hinge or more Applicant: Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. Fig. 2 29 Bellows-shaped <low flame rack 4 ji 4 (C+ (d+ Fig. 5 26 Waste toner tuff Fig. 6 (Ql < l)) Fig. 7 42 Total pressure surface Figure 8

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A cleaning device for storing toner remaining on the surface of an image carrier in a waste toner box, characterized in that the cleaning device comprises means for pressing and compressing the collected toner into the waste toner box. (2) The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein a movable member that deforms outward in response to the pressing force of the collected toner is disposed on the wall surface of the waste toner box. (3) The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the movable member is a bellow frame of a bellows-shaped thin film elastic body. (4) The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the movable member is a thin film movable member biased toward the inside of the waste toner box by an elastic thin film member. (5) The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the thin film-like movable member has a rigid portion at least in part. (6) A cleaning device characterized in that a detection means is provided outside the movable member for detecting that a predetermined amount of toner is accommodated in the waste toner box due to deformation of the movable member.