KR100327204B1 - Photoreceptor cleaning apparatus for liquid electrographic imaging system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A device for cleaning a photosensitive medium of a wet electrophotographic printer is provided to remove the dregs and foreign matters remaining in a photosensitive medium in a high degree of precision. CONSTITUTION: A cleaning roller placed between a transfer roller and a neutralizer rotates in contact with the recording surface and outer face of a photosensitive belt(110). A cleaner supply unit(300) jets and spreads such a liquid cleaner as a cleaning oil on the outer face of the cleaning roller. A backup roller(400) placed in opposition of the cleaning roller prevents the displacement of the photosensitive belt due to the rotational contacting force with the cleaning roller. The backup roller rotates by biasing the photosensitive belt in a direction opposite to the action of the rotational contacting force of the cleaning roller.

Description

Photoreceptor cleaning apparatus for liquid electrographic imaging

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wet electrophotographic printer, and more particularly, to a photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus for removing toner particles or foreign matter remaining on a photosensitive medium such as a photosensitive belt or a photosensitive drum.

In general, an electrophotographic printer forms a latent electrostatic image on a photosensitive medium such as a photosensitive belt or a photosensitive drum, develops the electrostatic latent image with a toner of a predetermined color, and transfers the image onto a recording sheet to obtain a desired image. Image forming apparatus. The electrophotographic printer is classified into dry and wet according to the toner used. In the dry electrophotographic printer, powder toner is used, whereas in the wet electrophotographic printer, the toner in a liquid carrier of a volatile component is used. A liquid developer in which is mixed is used. In the case of the wet type, the printing quality is better than that of the dry type, and the damage caused by the harmful toner dust can be prevented, and the use thereof is gradually increased.

Referring to Figure 1, the overall configuration of a conventional wet electrophotographic color printer, as a photosensitive medium, the photosensitive belt 110 is supported by three rotating rollers 121, 122, 123 in a substantially triangular closed curve shape. It is installed to circulate in an infinite track. A laser scanning unit (LSU) 130 is formed below the photosensitive belt 110 to form an electrostatic latent image by exposure by irradiating a laser beam to the photosensitive belt 110 according to an image signal. A developing apparatus 140 is provided for developing an electrostatic latent image by attaching a developer containing a toner of a specific color to an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive belt 110. The laser scanning unit 130 and the developing device 140 are electrostatic latent images for each color, that is, black, yellow, cyan, magenta, as shown for color printing. A plurality is provided so that formation and development are possible.

The photosensitive belt 110 has a constant charge by the voltage applied from the charging device 150, and as shown in the arrow direction, that is, traveling in a predetermined direction. In this case, the laser scanning unit 130 scans the laser beam corresponding to the pattern portion of a specific color to the photosensitive belt 110, and thus the portion that receives the light of the photosensitive belt 110 loses charge. There will be a voltage difference with the unlighted part.

Although the detailed configuration of the developing device 140 is not shown, a developing roller (not shown) for transferring the developing solution to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive belt 110 and supplying the developing solution to the surface of the developing roller are provided. It includes a developer for supply (not shown). Therefore, according to the developing device 140, the developer supplied from the developer supplyer is transferred to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive belt 110 through the developing roller, and a developer having a specific color is applied to a portion where the charge of the photosensitive belt 110 is lost. Develop.

The developing solution attached to the latent electrostatic latent image of the photosensitive belt 110 is dried while passing through the drying device 160 to remain as a filmed developing toner in which the liquid component is removed. The developing toner filmed on the recording surface of the photosensitive belt 110 as described above is transferred to the transfer roller 124 installed in parallel with the primary roller 121 with the photosensitive belt 110 interposed therebetween. The desired image can be obtained by being transferred to the recording paper 126 supplied through the fixing roller 125 provided in parallel with the roller 124. Reference numeral 170 is an antistatic device for releasing the charging state of the photosensitive belt 110 after the printing is completed.

Like the conventional wet electrophotographic color printer described above, an electrophotographic printer capable of obtaining a desired image by circulation of a photosensitive medium to which a developing toner is attached has a developing toner attached to its recording surface in a process of cycling the photosensitive medium. When transferred to a recording paper or a transfer roller for relaying to the recording paper, a perfect transition can be made to obtain a good image.

However, it is difficult for the developing toner to be completely transferred to the recording paper or the transfer roller during the transfer of the developing toner attached to the photosensitive medium, and a small amount of developing toner particles remains as residue on the recording surface of the photosensitive medium even after the transferring process. Therefore, such a residual developing toner accumulates on the recording surface of the photosensitive medium as a contaminant together with foreign matters such as dust in proportion to the number of subsequent prints, thereby causing a problem of degrading the image quality in the subsequent printing process.

In order to remove the residual developing toner debris and foreign matter as described above, in some cases, the residual developing toner attached to the photosensitive medium is scraped off by using a blade, for example, but in this case, the blade may remove the surface of the photosensitive medium. When scratching, the surface thereof is damaged and the life of the photosensitive medium is shortened.

The present invention has been made to improve the above-mentioned problems. Wet electrophotographic which improves the precision of removing toner debris and foreign matter remaining on a photosensitive medium to which a developing solution is attached and circulated such as a photosensitive belt or a photosensitive drum. It is an object of the present invention to provide a photosensitive medium cleaning device for a printer.

1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram showing a conventional wet electrophotographic printer;

2 is a schematic overall configuration diagram of a wet electrophotographic printer to which a photosensitive medium cleaning device according to the present invention is applied;

Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,

4 is a perspective view illustrating a main portion coupling of the photosensitive medium cleaning device shown in FIG. 3;

5 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of FIG. 4;

6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the main portion of the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

200 ... Cleaning Roller 201 ... Housing

210 ... Hollow rollers 211 ... Porosity

220 Hollow shaft 221 Hollow

222 Cylindrical shaft 230 Felt member

300 ... cleaner supply unit 310 ... container

311.Cleaner 320.Supply line

400 ... backup roller 500 ... cleaning roller drive means

510 Drive Gear 520 Follow Gear

In order to achieve the above object, the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of an electrophotographic printer according to the present invention includes a developing toner transferred to an electrostatic latent image formed on a recording surface of a photosensitive medium which is circulated, and then transferred onto a transfer roller or recording paper. A photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of a wet electrophotographic printer comprising cleaning means for removing developing toner debris and foreign matter remaining on a recording surface, the cleaning means comprising: a cleaning roller installed to rotate in contact with the recording surface of the photosensitive medium; And a cleaner supply unit for supplying the liquid cleaner so that the liquid cleaner is coated between the outer circumferential surface of the cleaning roller and the recording surface of the photosensitive belt.

In the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of the wet electrophotographic printer according to the present invention, the cleaning roller is a hollow roller having a plurality of pores formed so that the hollow portion and the outer circumferential surface thereof, and coupled to the hollow portion having a plurality of holes And a hollow shaft serving as a rotating shaft, and in particular, the hollow portion of the hollow roller and the hollow shaft are preferably formed to have the same polygonal structure to be complementarily coupled.

The hollow shaft is formed to be longer than the hollow roller, and both ends thereof are coupled to protrude outside the hollow portion of the hollow roller, and the through hole is formed to conceal the hollow portion of the hollow roller. The pores and the through holes are arranged to be in contact with each other when the hollow roller and the hollow shaft are coupled.

According to a feature of the invention, the inner surface of the hollow portion of the hollow shaft is formed to be inclined to any one side is configured to induce the flow of the cleaner in the inclined direction so that the cleaner flows into each of the through holes, the hollow An opening hole communicating with the outside is provided in one side portion of the shaft, and the cleaner is supplied to the opening hole.

In addition, the cleaner supply unit is provided on one side of the hollow shaft and the container containing the liquid cleaner, the pump for extracting and spraying the cleaner from the container under the control of the controller according to the operating state of the entire printer system. It is configured to include a supply pipe connected to the pump having a spray nozzle at the end disposed to abut the opening hole.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the cleaning means is a kneading roller driving means for rotating the cleaning roller in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the photosensitive belt, a driven gear provided at one end of the cleaning roller, and its driven And a drive gear installed at an output shaft end of the drive motor to engage with the gear, wherein the cleaning roller further includes a felt member installed to surround the outer circumferential surface of the hollow roller.

The photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to the present invention may be applied to a photosensitive belt installed to circulate in an endless track by a plurality of rotating rollers, such as in wet electrophotographic printing, and rotational driving may be performed as in an image forming machine such as a copying machine. It may be applied to a photosensitive drum which is installed as possible.

Hereinafter, a photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of a wet electrophotographic printer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a wet electrophotographic printer to which the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is applied, the same reference numerals denote the same components.

Referring to Figure 2, the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of the wet electrophotographic printer according to the present invention, cleaning to remove the developing toner and foreign matter remaining on the recording surface of the photosensitive belt 110 circulating in an infinite track as shown As a means, it is located between the transfer roller 124 and the antistatic device 170, the cleaning roller 200 is installed so as to rotate in contact with the recording surface and the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive belt 110, liquid such as cleaning oils, etc. And a cleaner supply unit 300 for spraying the cleaner 311 to be applied to the outer circumferential surface of the cleaning roller 200. Reference numeral 400 is a flow preventing means for preventing the flow of the photosensitive belt 110, such as sagging downward due to the rotational contact force with the cleaning roller 200, the rotational contact force of the cleaning roller 210 acts The backup roller is installed at a position opposite to the cleaning roller 210 so as to rotate by biasing the photosensitive belt 110 in the opposite direction.

In the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to the present invention having the above configuration, the cleaning roller 200 has a hollow roller having a hollow portion of a polygonal shape (exemplary hexagon in this embodiment) as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. 210 and a hollow shaft 220 coupled to the hollow portion to serve as a rotating shaft.

According to the present invention, the hollow roller 210 and the hollow shaft 220 has a plurality of pores 211 and through holes 221 formed to communicate the hollow portion and the outer circumferential surface, respectively.

The hollow shaft 220 is formed so that its outer peripheral surface has the same polygonal structure as the hollow roller 210, the shape of the hollow portion need not be limited to a particular shape. The hollow shaft 220 is formed to have a length longer than that of the hollow roller 210 so that both ends thereof are coupled to protrude to the outside of the hollow portion of the hollow roller 210, and the above-described through hole is formed in the hollow shaft 220. 221 is not formed so that the through hole 221 is not exposed. The through holes 221 and the pores 211 are preferably arranged to be in contact with each other when the hollow shaft 220 is coupled to the hollow portion of the hollow roller 210.

According to the present invention, the hollow shaft 220 is preferably formed so that the inner surface of the hollow portion is inclined to any one side to induce the flow of the fluid in the inclined direction.

On the other hand, the protruding both ends of the hollow shaft 220 is formed as a circular shaft 222 to be coupled to the shaft groove of the housing 201, the bearing (B) is installed as shown to enable a smooth rotational movement as shown. Preferably, at least one side portion of the circular shaft 222 is provided with an opening hole 223 communicating with the outside.

According to the present invention, the cleaner supply unit 300 may spray a liquid cleaner 311 into the hollow portion of the hollow shaft 220 through the opening hole 223, and thus, the liquid cleaner 311 may be a liquid such as a cleaning oil. Pump (P) for taking out and spraying the cleaner (311) from the container (310) under the control of the container 310, the container (310) accommodated, the controller C according to the operating state of the entire system of the printer and the It includes a supply pipe 320 is provided with a spray nozzle (N) in the end portion that is in contact with the opening hole 223.

According to the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of the wet electrophotographic printer according to the present invention having the above configuration, a fixing roller 125 in which a developing toner filmed on the recording surface of the photosensitive belt 110 is installed in parallel with the transfer roller 124. In the printing process of obtaining a desired image by being transferred to the recording paper 126 supplied through the sheet, the cleaning roller 200 is in contact with the recording surface of the photosensitive belt 110 and is subjected to the frictional force of the rotational run. As a result, it rotates in the same direction as the traveling direction of the photosensitive belt 110. At this time, the circular shaft 222 provided at both ends of the hollow shaft 220 is supported by the shaft groove bearing (B) of the housing 201 to enable a smooth rotational movement.

By the control of the controller C at the same time as the rotational movement of the cleaning roller 200, the pump P of the cleaner supply unit 300 draws a liquid cleaner 311 to the hollow type through the nozzle N. It is injected into the opening hole 223 of the shaft 220. At this time, the cleaner 311 in the inclined portion of the hollow surface of the hollow shaft 220 above the inclined portion so that the sprayed liquid cleaner 311 flows in the direction inclined downward from the hollow surface of the hollow shaft 220. ) Is to be sprayed.

Therefore, the liquid cleaner 311 is in contact with the plurality of through holes 221 in accordance with the rotational movement of the cleaning roller 200 while flowing down the inclined portion of the inner surface of the hollow portion of the hollow shaft 220. It flows out to the outer circumferential surface of the hollow roller 210 through the pores 211 of the disposed hollow roller 210 is applied to the entire surface portion.

As such, when the cleaner 311 coated on the outer circumferential surface of the hollow roller 210 is rotated in contact with the recording surface of the photosensitive belt 110 and the outer circumferential surface of the hollow roller 210, the photosensitive belt 110 is rotated. The toner debris and foreign substances remaining on the recording surface of the rinse will be washed away.

According to the present invention, when the operation of the entire printer system is stopped, the cleaner supply unit 300 stops spraying the cleaner 311 under the control of the controller (C).

6 is a view showing a photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the cleaning roller 200 is rotated in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the photosensitive belt 110 in the above-described embodiment. It further comprises a kneading roller driving means (500) to make. Here, the same reference numerals as the above-mentioned reference numerals in the reference numerals of the drawings indicate the same components.

According to the embodiment, the kneading roller driving means 500 is driven gear 520 provided at one end of the hollow shaft 220 and the drive motor (M) to be engaged with the driven gear 520. It comprises a drive gear 510 installed at the end of the output shaft (Ms) of the.

According to this configuration, the cleaning roller driving means 500 is driven by the driving motor (M) under the control of the controller (C) according to the operating state of the entire system of the printer rollers to the photosensitive belt 200 It is rotated in the driving direction and the back of the (110). Thus, the outer circumferential surface of the hollow roller 210 forming the cleaning roller 200 and the recording surface of the photosensitive belt 110 are more in friction contact with each other, and at the same time, the cleaner 311 flowing out through the through hole 211 is provided. The developing toner debris and foreign matter remaining on the recording surface of the photosensitive belt 110 are removed.

7 is a view showing a photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to this embodiment to surround the outer peripheral surface of the hollow roller 210 in the above-described embodiments The felt member 230, such as a nonwoven fabric, is provided.

According to this configuration, the felt member 230 to maintain the liquid cleaner 311 flowing through the through-hole 211 for a long time not to be easily consumed, and at the same time, the outer peripheral surface and the photosensitive belt of the hollow roller 210 When the recording surface of the 110 is in contact with the rotation, it serves to wipe off the developing toner debris and foreign matter remaining on the recording surface of the photosensitive belt 110, it is possible to increase the removal precision.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, although not shown in the drawings, the cleaning roller may use a conventional cylindrical roller, in which case the cleaner supply unit may be a liquid cleaner or an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical roller. Alternatively, it may be configured to directly spray to the recording surface of the photosensitive belt in front of it.

In addition, the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus according to the present invention as described above has been described based on the case where the photosensitive belt is applied to the photosensitive medium, but it is, of course, applicable to the photosensitive drum installed to enable rotational driving, such as a copier. In this case, an elastic member such as a spring may be applied to the photosensitive medium flow preventing means such as the backup roller 400 so as to elastically bias the photosensitive drum in a direction opposite to the rotational contact force of the cleaning roller.

According to the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of the wet electrophotographic printer according to the present invention, the printing image is improved by removing the development toner residue and foreign matter remaining on the photosensitive medium to which the developer is attached and circulating, such as a photosensitive belt or a photosensitive drum. The quality can be increased, and the life of the photosensitive belt can be improved as compared with the case of using a removal means such as a blade as in the related art.

Claims (19)

Wet electrophotographic image comprising a developing toner transferred to an electrostatic latent image formed on a recording surface of a circulating photosensitive medium, and cleaning means for removing developer toner residue and foreign matter remaining on the recording surface after being transferred to a transfer roller or recording paper. In the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of the type printer, The cleaning means, A cleaning roller installed to rotate in contact with the recording surface of the photosensitive medium; And a cleaner supply unit for supplying the liquid cleaner so that the liquid cleaner is coated between the outer circumferential surface of the cleaning roller and the recording surface of the photosensitive belt. The method of claim 1, wherein the cleaning roller, A wet electrophotographic printer comprising a hollow roller having a plurality of pores formed through the hollow portion and an outer circumferential surface thereof, and a hollow shaft having a plurality of through holes coupled to the hollow portion to serve as a rotating shaft. Photosensitive media cleaning device. The method of claim 2, And a hollow portion of the hollow roller and the hollow shaft are formed to have the same polygonal structure so as to be complementarily coupled to each other. The method of claim 2, The hollow shaft is formed longer than the hollow roller is coupled so that both ends thereof protrude outside the hollow portion of the hollow roller, the through-hole is formed to be concealed in the hollow portion of the hollow roller A photosensitive medium cleaning device for a wet electrophotographic printer. The method of claim 2, The pores and the through-holes are photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of the wet electrophotographic printer, characterized in that arranged to be in contact with each other when the hollow roller and the hollow shaft is coupled. The method of claim 2, The inner surface of the hollow portion of the hollow shaft is formed to be inclined to any one side of the photosensitive medium of the wet electrophotographic printer, characterized in that the flow of the cleaner is induced in the inclined direction so that the cleaner can flow into each of the through holes Cleaning device. The method of claim 2, A photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of a wet electrophotographic printer, characterized in that circular shafts are provided at both end portions of the hollow shaft. The method of claim 2, An opening hole communicating with the outside is provided at one side portion of the hollow shaft, and the cleaner is supplied to the opening hole, and the photosensitive medium cleaning apparatus of the wet electrophotographic printer is provided. The method of claim 1, wherein the cleaner supply unit, A container in which a liquid cleaner is accommodated, a pump for drawing and ejecting the cleaner from the container under control of a controller according to an operation state of the entire system of the printer, and an opening hole provided in one side of the hollow shaft And a supply pipe connected to the pump and having a spray nozzle at an end thereof. The method of claim 1, wherein the cleaning means, And a kneading roller driving means for rotating the cleaning roller in a direction reverse to the traveling direction of the photosensitive belt. The method of claim 10, wherein the cleaning roller drive means, And a driven gear provided at one end of the cleaning roller, and a drive gear installed at an output shaft end of the drive motor so as to be engaged with the driven gear. The method of claim 2, wherein the cleaning roller, And a felt member installed to surround an outer circumferential surface of the hollow roller. The method of claim 1, wherein the cleaning means, And a photosensitive medium flow preventing means for biasing the photosensitive medium in a direction opposite to the rotational contact force of the cleaning roller to prevent the photosensitive medium from flowing due to the rotational contact force of the cleaning roller. A photosensitive medium cleaning device for a wet electrophotographic printer. The method of claim 2, wherein the photosensitive medium flow preventing means, And a backup roller installed at a position opposite to the cleaning roller so as to rotate while biasing the photosensitive medium in the opposite direction in which the rotational contact force of the cleaning roller acts. The method of claim 1, And the photosensitive medium is a photosensitive belt installed to circulate in an endless track by a plurality of rollers. The method of claim 1, And the photosensitive medium is a photosensitive drum rotatably installed. The method of claim 5, And the photosensitive drum is elastically biased in an opposite direction in which a rotational contact force of the cleaning roller is applied by an elastic body. The method of claim 1, The cleaner supply unit is a photosensitive medium cleaning device for a wet electrophotographic printer, characterized in that to spray the liquid cleaner directly to the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller. The method of claim 1, And the cleaner supply unit is configured to directly spray a liquid cleaner into the photosensitive medium upstream of the cleaning roller.