JP2666230B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0001] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that is optimal as a device. [0002] 2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus utilizing an electrophotographic process.
The recording medium on which the visible image is formed
The recording paper sent from is transferred one by one to transfer the visible image
Sent in. In the transport path of the recording paper,
Many means such as developing means and transfer means are provided.
You. When recording paper jams in the recording paper transport path,
Separate the means provided around the recording material from the transport path.
Or remove the jammed paper by rotating the transport rollers.
You. [0003] By the way, the recording paper is
When a jam occurs in the middle of the transport path of
From the main unit and recordpaperRetreat from the transport path
There are cases. However, the support for rotatably supporting the recording body
Pull out the recording medium in the axial direction of the
When you evacuate, catch the jam paper at the end of the recording
They will break and the fragments will remain in the device,
When the paper is thick paper, the end face of the paper jam
There is a possibility that the photosensitive layer may be damaged. There
In this, the recording body, this recording bodyThis recordOrthogonal to the axial direction of
(See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-133)
076 and JP-A-56-1111859).
Resolve. However, in this prior art,
Since the recording body is provided at the back of the main unit,
To pull out the photoconductor from the
Even though it is necessary to insert
Since various parts are arranged in the unit,
Is dangerous, and when pulling out the recorded material,
The recording medium may come into contact with other parts and damage the photosensitive layer.
There is. Further, in order to pull out the recording medium, a developing device
After pulling out the recording body,WhatNot pull
Not only is the extraction operation troublesome, but also when pulling out the recording
And put the developing unit out of the machine.
And the place where the developing unit is set is dirty with toner.
There is also a fear. Also, when pulling out the developing unit alone,
With the image sleeve exposed from the developer,
Will move. In this state,
If vibrations, etc. occur, it will be in the drawer
The toner may be scattered over a large area across the width of the sleeve.
It becomes. In particular, of the above prior art documents,
In the case of 1979-133076, the drawer
A paper feed device such as a paper feed roller is
Therefore, the paper feed roller is contaminated by the scattered toner.
There is a fear. When such a situation occurs, the paper
Toner adheres to the recording paper from the paper feed roller
This has the consequence of seriously affecting image quality.
You. Furthermore, after pulling out the developing unit, pull out the recording medium.
The surface of the recording medium on the direction side is exposed,
Out the recording medium without touching the surface of the recording medium
It is extremely difficult.In addition, recording media and developing devices
If you try to attach or detach the
The connection between the drive transmission mechanism and the image forming apparatus main body is firmly and securely.
It is necessary to be able to do it easily. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium and a developing device.
So that it can be easily attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus.
As well as good transmission of driving force to the recording medium and developing unit.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus. [0005] An image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
The recording medium supported rotatably and the recording medium
Charging means for charging the recording medium;
Exposure to irradiate optical information corresponding to the image to form an electrostatic latent image
Means, developing means for visualizing the electrostatic latent image, and recording
The paper feeder that feeds the paper one by one and the above visible image
Transfer means for transferring to recording paper, and the visible image on the recording paper
A fixing means for fixing the visible image on the recording paper,
An image forming apparatus including a paper discharge device for discharging the recording paper.
And the recording medium and the developing means are integrated by a support.
Recording medium / developing unit, and the recording medium / current unit
The image unit is moved in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the recording medium.
To attach to and detach from the image forming apparatus main body.
Recording medium / developing unit provided in the image forming apparatus main body
A guide unit, which is held and driven by the image forming apparatus main body side;
Transfers the driving force from the source to the recording medium / developing unit
A drive gear and a drive from a drive source engaged with the drive gear
For transmitting force to the recording medium / developing unit,
The recording medium inside the support with respect to the axial direction of the recording medium
A first gear held by the developing unit and the recording medium
Between the drive source and the developing means
The upper gear in the state engaged with the first gear.
The recording is performed inside the support with respect to the axial direction of the recording medium.
And a second gear held by the body / developing unit,
The recording medium / developing unit is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body.
When the driving gear and the first gear are attached to each other,
To engage, the drive gear and the first gear are
The respective end faces of the driving gear and the first gear correspond to the tooth.
At right angles to the axis of the car, these end faces and the recording medium / developing unit
If the movement direction of the knit is held in parallel
In particular, the first gear is held in the recording medium / developing unit.
Of the supporting member for holding the first gear
Characterized in that the end of the is supported by the support
And [0006] The driving force from a driving source is recorded on a recording medium via a driving gear.
A first gear for transmitting to the developing unit, and a recording medium
To transmit the driving force from the driving source between the developing unit and
The recording medium / developing unit is engaged with the second gear
The cartridge is held in the
Engagement of gears between recording medium and developing means regardless of removal
Is not refused. The gear on the unit side is the axis of the recording medium
Recorded as it is held inside the support in the direction
Unit and developing unit in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the recording medium.
To move this recording medium / development unit to the main body of the image forming apparatus.
When setting, the first and second gears are in the image forming apparatus main body.
Never hit. [0007] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
Will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
The entire device is shown. On the front of the image forming apparatus 1,
A power switch 311 is provided, and is mounted in the direction indicated by the arrow a.
A detachable paper feed tray 3 is mounted. Paper tray 3
The upper lid 4 is an arrow with the tray attached to the apparatus main body.
It can be opened and closed freely in the direction of c. In addition, on the front of the device body
Indicates that the recording medium / developing unit 5 described later is oriented in the direction of arrow b.
It is attached so that it can be pulled out. Recording medium and developing unit
The unit 5 can be pulled out from the device body by a certain length,
It can be pulled out completely from the device itself,
FIG. 1 shows a position where the device is completely pushed into the apparatus main body.
I have. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 6 denotes a recording medium / developing unit.
Set 5As a gripThe handle is shown. Image shape
In the transparent cover 7 on the front of the forming device 1, a pause button,
Reset button and display lamp etc. (neither is shown)
It is stored. Side plate 8 of the device body and part of the upper cover
9 can be detached from the main body. Equipment body
At the rear of the printer, a recording paper tray is
10 is provided. The image forming apparatus 1 is capable of dry development of electrophotography.
It uses a visual image transfer method, but its internal structure
The outline will be described with reference to FIG. In the middle of the image forming apparatus 1
In the center, an endless belt-shaped recording body 11,this
As a supporting means for rotatably supportingA pair of belt row
It is wound around the racks 12 and 13 and disposed. belt
Of the rollers 12 and 13, the roller 12 is a driven roller.
Reference numeral 13 denotes a drive roller, which is driven by a drive system described later.
In the direction indicated by the arrow. The recording medium 11 is
Electron imaging with organic or inorganic photoconductive layer on the film
It is a true photoreceptor. An electrophotographic process is performed around the recording medium 11.
Various means for performing are arranged. At the time of recording body 11
To explain them along the direction of rotation around the meter,
Reference numeral 4 denotes charging means for charging the recording medium 11 to a predetermined polarity.
Charged charger, 15 is a charged recording medium 1
Exposure means for irradiating optical information corresponding to a recorded image to 1
16 supplies the developer to the electrostatic latent image corresponding to the optical information;
Developing device for visualizing the image, 17 sends out recording paper 24
The paper feed roller 18 and the recording paper 11 and the recording medium 11
Transport the recording paper in close contact with the recording
The feed roller pair, 19, is in close contact with the recording medium carrying the visible image.
Transfer channel as a transfer means for transferring a visible image to
Jarja, 20 is a fixing device for fixing a visible image on recording paper.
A fixing device as a step, and 21 is used for a recording medium after a visible image is transferred.
Static elimination charger as static elimination means for removing remaining charges,
Reference numeral 22 denotes a developer remaining on the surface of the recording medium after the transfer of the visible image.
The respective cleaning means to be removed are shown. The operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be briefly described.
First, the surface of the recording body 11 is
Therefore, it is uniformly charged to a predetermined polarity, and then the exposure means 15
Therefore, light including image information is emitted. by this,
The charged charges on the recording medium 11 are selectively dissipated, and
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image to be recorded is formed. This electrostatic
The latent image is supplied with a developer from the developing device 16 and is visualized.
It is. This visible image is synchronized with the image formation on the recording medium 11.
From the recording paper tray 3 to the paper feed roller 17 and the transport roller pair 18
Charger 1 is transferred to recording paper 24 sent by
9 and corona discharge of the transfer charger 19
Is transferred to the recording paper 24. The recording paper 24 is then separated from the recording body 11
Into the fixing device 20, where the visible image is fixed.
Is discharged to the recording paper receiver 10 by the discharge roller pair 25.
It is. On the other hand, the recording body 11 has a potential remaining on its surface.
After being erased by the charge removing means 21, the remaining transfer remaining
The image agent is removed by the cleaning means 22 and the next image is removed.
Prepare for image formation. The specific structure of each unit of the image forming apparatus 1
The configuration will be described. The recording body 11 and the developing unit 16 are unitized.
It is assembled integrally. That is, in FIG.
As shown, the recording body unit 23 is
Rollers 12 and 13 for supporting and driving the rollers,
And a support plate 26 rotatably supporting the side end.
You. The driving roller 13 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG.
One end of the plate 26 is rotatably supported. Recording medium 11
Is a drive roller 13 that rotates at a fixed position,
Around the driven roller 12. In FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the driven roller 1
2 is pushed outward by a spring 27 provided on a support plate 26.
The recording medium 11 is tensioned by being pressed. Driven roller
A bearing having a groove 42 on its outer periphery
43 are fitted. Part of the outer circumference of the bearing 43
Is formed with a receiving surface 43a for receiving one end of the spring 27.
I have. On the other hand, the support plate 26 has a groove 42 of the bearing 43.
And a pair of support pieces 44, 44 fitted to each other, and between the support pieces.
A spring stopper 45 provided in a triangular shape is formed.
I have. The shaft 12a is provided with a bearing groove 42 in the support plate 26.
Inserted into the support plate 26 while being guided by the support piece 44
At this time, between the receiving surface 43a and the spring stopper 45
, A spring 27 is attached. Therefore, the record in FIG.
The body 11 is tensioned by the spring 27 via the roller 12.
The force F is applied to give good flatness. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 7, substantially the center of the support plate 26 is shown.
The hole 26a formed in the space receives the recording unit 23.
The recording medium / developing unit 5 (see FIG. 7)
This is a hole for fingers to put fingers when assembling
You. As shown in FIG. 5, the support plate 26 has an upper part.
The recording medium 11 has a top plate 28
The lower surface is supported. The lower part of the support plate 26 has two protrusions.
The starting portions 29 and 30 are located below the lower bridging portion 11b of the recording body 11.
It is provided so as to protrude from the surface. Developing unit
31 is provided with an openable / closable lid 33a containing a developer 32.
The developer container 33 and the lower part in the container 33 are rotatable.
Supported by NohThe developer is carried on the surface,
The electrostatic latent image formed on the recording medium 11 is supplied by supplying the image agent.
For visualizationAnd a developing sleeve 34.
The side plates and the bottom plate of the developer container 33 are
Extending at a right angle from the part supporting the
The receiving part 35 which supports the socket 23 is comprised. Receiving part
In the vicinity of the developing sleeve 34 on both side plates 36 of the
A groove 37 is formed in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the
The shaft 38 of the drive roller 13 of the recording unit 23 is
Inserted, the position of the recording medium 11 with respect to the developing sleeve 34
A decision has been made. The recording unit 23 includes the developing unit 3
1 is simply placed on the bottom plate 39 of the receiving portion 35 and the shaft 38
Only enters the groove 37, so that
(The movement in the front-back direction in the unit attachment / detachment direction) is restricted.
It is also free in the upward direction. Recording unit 2
3 is placed on the bottom plate 39 of the receiving part 35,
Only the lower projections 29 and 30 of the support plate 26 of the body unit 23
Hits the bottom plate 39, so that the recording body 11 is not damaged.
Absent. A groove 40 is also provided at the tip of the receiving portion 35.
This is because the developing unit 31 is
Acts for positioning when mounted on Both of the above
The rear ends of the side plates 36, 36 are, as shown in FIGS.
The stays 73 are connected to each other and reinforced. FIG. 7 shows the recording unit 23 and the developing unit.
Recording / developing unit integrally assembled with unit 31
5 is shown. In this figure, the drive roller 13
A bearing 41 is attached to the shaft 38, and the bearing 41
41 engages with the groove 37 of the receiving portion of the developing unit 31.
ing. The recording unit 23 is set in the receiving section 35.
When the finger touches the surface of the recording medium during exposure,
The characteristics change. Therefore, the recording body unit 23
Is held with a finger like the hole 26a.
The notch 36a for releasing this finger at the time of
Is formed.As shown in FIG.
The developing unit 16 held by the unit 5 is more unitary than the recording body 11.
It is located close to the slot insertion slot. Referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 12 and FIG.
Each side plate 36 of the receiving part 35 of the container unit 31 has
A first member 49 and a second member 50 are provided.
The first member 49 is fixed to the side plate 36 by screws 51.
And has an L-shaped cross section as shown in FIG.
A pair of spacers 52 having regulating surfaces 52a at both ends thereof
have. The upper end of the spacer 52 is cut off.
Guide when installing the recording unit 23
Surface 52b. The second member 50 is similar to the first member 49
And is fixed to the side plate 36 by screws 53.
Guides at both ends facing the spacers 52, 52
Guide member 54 formed with guide portions 54a, 54a,
Elastic member 5 fastened to the side plate 36 and fixed to the side plate 36
It consists of five. The elastic member 55 is provided in the case of the illustrated example.
In this case, a pair is provided. Then, the first member 49, the gas
At least an elastic portion of the guide member 54 and the elastic member 55.
The material 55 is formed of a conductive material, and
It is electrically conductive. The receiving portion 35 is a guide plate 5
6 (see FIG. 9). In the illustrated example, the elastic member 55 is made of metal.
It is made of a leaf spring, but it is a metal coil spring
Is also good. Position of recording body unit 23 with respect to receiving portion 35
Is determined by the width Wc of the spacer 52.
c is the number of other devices installed around the recording body 11.
Determined by relative relationships. Then, the recording body unit 23
The width between the support plates 26, 26 is defined as Wa,
In the free state, the width between the distal end 55a of the elastic member and
Wb, the elastic member 5 is set so that Wa> Wb.
5 are set. Also, the regulation surface 52a is
The gap Wd is larger than the width Wa by a gap Wd.
Is set well. This gap Wd is the recording material
Set large enough to easily attach and remove unit 23
Have been. Now, as shown in FIG.
When the recording body unit 23 is dropped from above,
Is used to guide the pair of support plates 26, 26 to the guide surface 52b.
Guided by the portion 54a, as shown in FIG.
Being elastically pushed by the elastic member 55 of the holding plate 26
As a result, the other support plate 26 is brought into contact with the regulating surface 52a.
Is attached. That is, the recording body unit 23 has an elastic portion.
The material 55 is dropped while being bent, and the protrusions 29, 3 on the bottom are formed.
0 (see FIG. 5) against the bottom plate 39, and one support plate 2
6 is resiliently pressed against the regulating surface 52a to be positioned.
It is. Accordingly, the recording body unit 23 has the width of the recording body 11.
In the direction, one side is defined as the regulating surface 52a, and the other
Positioning is performed by abutting the conductive elastic member 55.
At the same time as maintaining electrical conduction with the receiving portion 35.
Be held. Transfer the recording unit to the receiving unit 3 of the developing unit.
When removing from the 5, the elastic member 55 must be bent, of course.
Thus, these can be very easily attached and detached. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 12,
A fixed spacer 52 having a regulating surface 52a,
Another spacer having a guide portion (guide member 5
4) is provided, and the elastic member 55 is disposed toward the guide member.
However, one spacer (guide member 54) is discarded,
The second member may be constituted only by the sex member 55. This place
In this case, the elastic member 55 may have conductivity.
And a substantially central portion of the support plate 26 (moving direction of the recording body 11).
It is desirable that the
No. Even with such a simple configuration, the recording medium support member
The (supporting plate 26) has two regulating surfaces 52a, 52a and 1
The position of the recording medium in the width direction is regulated by the elasticity regulating parts
At the same time, the electrical connection with the receiving portion is maintained. The recording unit 23 is held.
The developing device unit 31 is located at the front of the
Mounted for insertion and withdrawal. As shown in FIG.
In the apparatus main body, a developer container of the developing unit 31 is provided.
Guide plate 57 and bottom plate 39 for guiding the upper part of 33
Guide plate 56 for guiding the
The imager unit 31 is inserted into the apparatus main body along these.
It is. Further, as shown in FIG.
(See FIG. 8) guides both sides of the developing unit 31
Guide plate 58 (only one is shown)
As a result, the developing device unit 31
The recording medium is positioned in the width direction of the recording medium. Body side plate 60,
Reference numeral 67 denotes a section along the recording paper transport path as shown in FIGS.
Are provided apart from each other. The apparatus main body further includes a developing unit 3
The pin 59 for positioning in the insertion direction of the main body side plate 6
0, and this pin 59 is
Engages with the groove 40 (see FIGS. 5 and 7) at the tip of the
The positioning of the developing unit 31 in the insertion direction is performed.
The body side plates 60 and 67 (see FIG. 8) are further provided with a recording medium unit.
The rotation shaft 38 of the drive roller 13 in the knit 23
The bearing 42 of the rotating shaft 12a of the moving roller 12 (see FIG. 6)
To support them when they are inserted.
The sockets 61 and 62 are provided at predetermined positions, respectively.
You. This bracket is attached to the recording body 11 via each roller.
This is for positioning in the vertical direction. This
Therefore, each of the rollers 12, 13 and the developing sleeve 34 are inserted.
It will be substantially straight in parallel with the entering direction. And the note
The recording / developing unit 5 is attached to a main body side plate with respect to the apparatus main body.
Parallel to 60, 67,Support means for supporting the recording medium;
Direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the rollers 12 and 13Removable
Will be done. The above various positioning means are provided.
Recording unit 23 and developing unit 3
1 and a recording medium / developing unit 5 (see FIG. 7).
Just insert it to the specified position on the main unit, and
Reliable and easy securing of mutual positional relationship with materials and equipment
Is done. If necessary, the developing unit 31 may be installed in the device.
By pulling it out from the front of the main unit, the current
It is possible to supply the image agent or replace the recording medium 11.
Very easy to do. In particular, the recording medium / developing unit 5
DirectionRoller as support means for supporting recording medium
Direction perpendicular to the axial direction of 12, 13By doing,
Processing of the jammed recording paper becomes easy. in this regard
Will be described later. FIGS. 13 and 14 show the recording medium and the developing unit.
5 is shown. Supports and drives the recording body 11
The rollers 12, 13 and the developing sleeve 34 are
Lined up in a substantially straight line parallel to the insertion and withdrawal direction of the knit 31
This means that the drive
A power transmission gear 63 to be connected is arranged, and a driving
The drive gear 64 fixed to the rotating shaft 38 of the roller 13 meshes.
Matching. The illustrated power transmission gear 63 includes a drive gear 64
Meshes at the lower part of the gear but meshes at the upper part of the drive gear 64
You may do it. The drive gear 64 is connected to the developing sleeve 34.
Meshes with a driven gear 66 fixed to the rotating shaft 65 of the
Therefore, the driving force from the driving source of the device main body is
The power is transmitted from the gear 63 to the gears 64 and 66. The drive system of the recording medium / developing unit is
, The developing unit 31 can be inserted and pulled out.
Is easy to perform, and power transmission when inserted is reliable.
Done in In this way, the recording medium and the developing device
Unitized and easy to assemble into the device
Can be attached to and detached from, and the position can be reliably regulated. Record
The gap between the recording medium and the developing sleeve and each charger
Must be strictly maintained, but in the example shown
Then, the recording body and the developing device can be detached from the apparatus main body.
Nevertheless, these gaps can serve as a variety of positioning means.
Easier and more accurate positioning, position adjustment
Is unnecessary, and there is no fear that the position fluctuates. Also, a large opening as in the conventional device is provided.
With only a small opening and simple guiding means,
Perform replacement of recording media, other repairs, and supply of developer.
Can be. Further, the recording medium and the developing device are integrally united.
The configuration is small and simple because it is
The entire recording medium can be easily replaced,
Do not scratch the surface or stain the surface of the recording medium with developer.
Never. The drive system can be easily attached and detached.
And ensure that power transmission is assured.
Because they are in line, there is no difficulty in attaching and detaching units. Further, as shown in FIG.
The upper bridging portion 11a is designed by the top plate 28 of the support plate.
Has been inside. Therefore, static electricity due to friction between them is
Occur. This static electricity is applied to the top plate 28 of the recording medium.
It appears as a sticking phenomenon and increases the drive addition,
Recording medium feed speed due to sliding between moving roller 13 and recording medium 11
It appears as a defect of unevenness. Therefore, record
The body support plate must be securely grounded to discharge static electricity.
It is necessary. The recording body 11 is made of a flexible rubber or synthetic resin.
Base layer made of oil and aluminum deposited on top of this
A conductive layer composed of a thin film layer and a layer formed on the conductive layer.
Recording layer, that is, a photoconductive layer. Vivid
To obtain an image, an accurate electrostatic latent corresponding to the image information
An image must be formed. To do this, charge the
Charger 14 (see FIG. 2) uniformly by corona discharge
Conductivity only at the exposed area on the charged recording medium surface
Occurs, and the potential at the relevant location may approach the ground potential.
is necessary. Then, one side edge in the width direction of the recording medium 11 is peeled off.
To expose the conductive layer, and apply a ground brush to this part.
Make contact. In FIG. 8, on one side edge of the recording body 11,
An exposed portion 68 exposing the conductive layer is formed. this
The exposed portion 68 has a ground brush 6 made of conductive fiber.
Nine free ends are contacted. Ground brush 69
Is conductively supported on the side plate 67 via the bracket 70.
Have been. In the moving direction of the recording body 11,
The brush 69 is, as shown in FIG.
That moves linearly near the drive roller 13
It is provided in the rank. The background behind the selection of the installation position is as follows.
There was a problem. Of the endless belt-shaped recording body 11
When the grounding brush comes in contact with the loose side, the rotating bell
The contact state changes with time due to the wave of the
Conduction path impedance fluctuates due to fluctuations in resistance.
U. The most stable recording medium is
Although it is the wrapped part, connect the ground brush to the curvature part.
When touched, the contact angle between each brush fiber and the recording medium
The degree of difference is different, and electrically effective contact is stable
I can't get it. The recording unit 23 is connected to the main body of the apparatus.
Detachable and integrated with the developer unit 31
Is used, the part wound around the driven roller 12 is used.
I have to do it. However, the roller 12 is
Is displaceable to apply tension to the
The relative distance between the brush for printing and the recording medium 11 is not constant and stable.
Since the formation of a conductive path is not expected, the endless belt
The position where the recording medium 11 is stable is determined by its axis 3
8 is near the driving roller 13 rotating at the fixed position,
It is a so-called tension side to which tension is applied. Tension
On the side 11a, the recording body becomes linear,
Be minimized. Therefore, the recording medium 11 and the ground brush
Relative position is always kept constant.
A stable conductive path can be maintained. In FIG. 8, the other side of the recording body 11 is shown.
A sub-scanning synchronization mark 71 is provided on the side edge. Vice
Sub-scan to read the scanning synchronization mark 17
A synchronization detector 72 is provided fixed to the side plate 60.
The sub-scanning synchronization mark 71 detects the rotational position of the recording body 11
And used for image forming sequence control.
You. In FIG. 16, the magnetic brush developing method is adopted.
The developing device 16 used will be described. The developing device 16
A non-magnetic cylindrical developing sleeve 34 that rotates in the measuring direction;
Magnets 111, 112, 11 provided in the sleeve
3, 114, 115 and 116. Development
The leave 34 is an opening of the developer container 33 storing the developer.
Located in the department. As a developer, only magnetic toner
Is used. Developer container 3
The developer regulating member 11 is provided on the third developer delivery side wall 33b.
7 is attached. The developer regulating member 117 is
It is provided at a position facing the stone 116. The magnet 111 is the main developing pole,
The central part is a concave magnet partly cut. And this
Of the recording body 11 and the developing sleeve 34
Slightly in the direction of rotation of the developing sleeve 34 than in the approach position
It is arranged to face the upstream side. On the other hand, other magnets
The N pole and the S pole are arranged alternately. Development
When the leave 34 rotates, the developer is removed from the developer container 33.
The developing sleeve 34 is carried out in the rotation direction. But,
Since the developer regulating member 117 is provided at the outlet,
Excess developer on the developing sleeve is removed and a certain thickness
Is formed. This allows a constant magnetic height
A brush will be formed on the developing sleeve. The main development electrode 111 is located at the center as described above.
Has been partially cut. For example, the developing sleeve 34
Looking at the magnetic force on the surface, the parts corresponding to both ends of the magnet
The minute is about 1200 gauss, but the part corresponding to the central part
The minute is about 800 Gauss. Use a magnet like this
When the rotation of the developing sleeve 34 is stopped,
Make sure there is no developer in the area corresponding to the central part.
Can be As shown in FIG.
The portion 118 where no developer exists is parallel to the axial direction of No. 4
It is done. Moreover, the portion 118 is shown in FIG.
It must be within the indicated range R. Sand
That is, from the portion where the developer is supplied to the developing sleeve, the developing portion
In between, the developer must be present
Absent. As can be seen from FIG. 17, the portion where the developer does not exist
Reference numeral 118 in the drawing indicates the rotation direction of the developing sleeve.
Is located slightly upstream from the developing section. Now, the developer regulating member 117 and the developing three
As described above, if a foreign object is clogged between
The developer is not supplied only at this portion. Follow
Then, as shown in FIG.
Is not supplied, an unsupplied portion 119 is formed. Place
However, the developer does not exist before the developer reaches the developing section T.
If there is a portion 118 which is not
Is formed, and the developer regulating member 117
The shortage of supply that has occurred is almost eliminated. This is
The agent can easily move to the most stable position
That's why. As a result, as shown in FIG.
The developer is noticeably short across the entire width.
The supply shortage will be resolved. Using such a developing device, the recording medium 11
Visualization of the electrostatic latent image of
The occurrence of white streaks is almost eliminated.
The degree of was slight. 2 and 16, the developer container 33
Inside, a first stirring member 190 provided on the stirring shaft 189 is provided.
And not in contact with and parallel to the developing sleeve 34
Is provided with the second stirring member 191 provided in. No.
2 The stirring member 191 is made of a shaft-shaped magnetic material.
As shown in FIG. 37, a spiral ridge 192 is formed.
Have been. Further, the second stirring member 191 is reciprocated and rotated,
The second stirring member 191 is moved relative to the developing sleeve 34.
The mechanism 193 for reciprocating in the
It is provided between the stirring shafts 189. The mechanism 193 is, as shown in FIG.
Circular flange 194 fixed to the end of stirring shaft 189
A pin 195 implanted on the flange 194;
195 slidably fit and the base is the end of the second stirring member 191.
And a fork-shaped lever 196 fixed to the part.
You. Therefore, when the stirring shaft 189 rotates in a certain direction,
The rotation movement of the lever 196 is caused by the movement of the second stirring member 191.
The second stirring member 191 is converted into a backward rotation motion,
Reverse rotation will be performed. In the above-described developing device, the second stirring member
The line of magnetic force 191 is formed by a protrusion 192 and a developing sleeve.
34, and the developer concentrates in that narrow space.
Is held between the developing sleeve 34 and the
A part of the developer is slightly horizontal in the direction indicated by the arrow d in FIG.
As it is moved, lateral agitation occurs. Further, the second stirring member 191 is rotating.
As a result, the developer moves in the direction of arrow e in FIG.
The developer held between the above-described developing sleeve 34 and
First, the developer is replaced with another developer, and the remaining on the developing sleeve 34 is changed.
Removal and stirring of the residual developer are performed. It should be noted that the second stirring member 191 is moved only in one direction.
When rotated, the developer moves to one side in the developer container 33
This adversely affects development and causes pressure on the developer due to rotation.
In addition, there is a situation where the coagulation of the developer is promoted.
Since the stirring member 191 is reciprocatingly rotated, the same developing
Agent is held between the second stirring member 191 and the developing sleeve 34.
Rotation at a low speed of several rpm or less.
Does not cause the aggregation of the developer.
The developer is removed and stirred. According to the developing device as described above,
The second stirring member 1 is placed in a non-contact state close to the sleeve 34.
91 and the stirring member 191 is attached to the developing sleeve 3
A mechanism 193 for reciprocating relative to 4 is provided.
With the structure, without contacting the developing sleeve 34
It is now possible to stir while removing the residual developer.
To prevent damage to the developing sleeve and aggregation of the developer
Good and stable images can be obtained. The recording medium / developing unit 5 is described above.
As described above, the recording unit 23 is attached to the developing unit 31.
The two units are integrated by supporting them.
Units are pulled out of the main unit regularly or irregularly
There is a need. For example, when replenishing the developer or replacing the recording medium,
Despite the frequency differences, it is a routine maintenance task. Normal note
The developer supply interval is shorter than the recording medium exchange interval.
Frequency is high. When exchanging the recording medium,
・ The developing unit 5 is completely pulled out from the main assembly.
Without it, the work cannot be performed, but when replenishing the developer
Is enough to open the lid 33a of the developer container 33.
It is enough to pull out unit 5. On the other hand, the recording body 11 is unnecessarily moved out of the apparatus main body.
Pulling out and exposing the photoconductive layer can reduce indoor illumination light.
May cause deterioration of photosensitive characteristics due to damage and adhesion of scratches and dust
You should avoid as much as possible. Therefore, in the illustrated example, the recording medium
The pull-out amount of the image unit 5 is selected according to the content of the maintenance operation.
The configuration that can be selected is adopted. In FIG.
A hole 56a is formed at a substantially central portion of the
The locking piece 121a of the stopper 121 faces the hole.
I have. The stopper 121 is, as shown in FIG.
It is fixed to a spindle 122 supported between 60 and 67.
You. A spring 123 is hung on one end of the stopper 121.
And the locking piece 121a of this is inserted into the hole 56a.
Given the swinging habit of the direction to do. An operation arm 124 is attached to one end of the support shaft 122.
Is fixed to one end 124a. Other of this operation arm
At the end, an operation knob 125 is fixed.
Numeral 25 protrudes outward from the front of the apparatus main body as shown in FIG.
It has been put out. On the other hand, it is engaged with the bottom plate 39 of the unit.
A hole 39a (see FIG. 15) is formed. Then, as shown in FIG.
In a state where the image unit 5 is mounted in the apparatus main body.
The stopper 121 is in contact with the lower surface of the bottom plate 39.
You. From this position, the recording medium / developing unit 5 is moved in the direction of the arrow.
When pulled out, the locking pieces 121a rub against the lower surface of the bottom plate 39.
Then, as shown in FIG.
The pull-out operation is restricted at the position where it engages with a.
I can't pull it out. The position shown in FIG.
This is a position where the lid 33a of the container 33 can be opened and closed, and
This is a developer supply position where the developer is supplied to the device 33. this
In this case, the recording body unit 23 is located inside the apparatus main body.
I have. Therefore, the recording body 11 is dropped by the indoor lighting lamp.
And the deterioration of the characteristics can be prevented. In the case where the recording medium 11 is replaced, FIG.
The recording medium / developing unit 5 was pulled out to the position shown
Then, push down the operation knob 125 to move the operation arm 124
The stopper piece 121a of the stopper 121 is swung to make the engagement hole 3
Withdraw the unit from the 9a and pull it out of the machine
I should do it. Recording medium and developing unit after recording medium exchange
5 is attached to the apparatus main body, the stopper 121 is
Is the leading edge 39b of the bottom plate 39 (see FIG. 19).
It can be rotated by pressing to perform mounting operation without resistance.
You. FIG. 19 shows the bottom plate of the recording medium / developing unit 5.
In this example, the stopper 121 is disengaged from the side plate 39.
A stopper may act on 6. This example is shown in FIG.
And is supported by a support shaft 126 near the side plate 36.
A stopper 127 is provided. This stopper 12
7 is urged by a spring 128 to release the locking piece 127a.
It abuts against the side plate 36. One end 12 of stopper 127
7b is in contact with one end of the operation slider 129. This
Of the slider 129, the guide hole 129a is fixed to the fixing pin 130.
And can slide freely. The side plate 36 has an engagement hole 36b (see FIG. 22).
) Is formed. Arrow on recording medium / developing unit 5
(See FIG. 21) to engage with the engaging hole 36b.
When the stopper 127a is fitted, at this position (see FIG. 22).
Pulling out of the recording medium / developing unit 5 is restricted. this
The position of the unit 5 at the time is the developer supply position shown in FIG.
Is the same as Lock the unit at this developer supply position
The stopped stopper 127 simultaneously moves the operation slider 129
Moving forward, causing the operation knob 129b to protrude out of the apparatus.
You. The recording medium / developing unit is completely pulled out of the apparatus.
To start the operation, turn the operation knob 129b shown in FIG.
Push the stopper 127 out of the engagement hole 36b.
By releasing the stop state at the intermediate position,
Withdrawal becomes possible. When using an endless belt-shaped recording medium
If the recording medium between the belt rollers is loose or wavy
And other phenomena occur. For that purpose, arrange around the recording medium.
The installation position of each device must be sufficiently considered. The developing unit 16 includes the developing unit 3
1 and the recording unit 23 are integrated,
The image gap can be kept constant.
That is as described above. The accuracy of the relative positional relationship with the recording medium 11 is as follows:
Exposure device 15 is required for developing device 16 or higher.
You. In order to keep the position of the recording body 11 and the exposure device 15 constant,
A good means is to wrap around the belt roller,
Exposure may be performed in a certain curvature range. However, in this case,
Scan line is parallel to the belt roller axis
Prerequisites must be met. Bertoro
If the roller is not parallel and the diameter is small,
In the axial direction of the laser, in other words, in the width direction of the recording body 11.
Exposure unevenness occurs. The charging charger 14 is also described.
Set the position so that the relative position with respect to the recording
It is necessary to remove. In particular, the scorotron type charging switch
In the case of the charger 14, a number of grid wires are
11 must all be equal. In the illustrated apparatus, the exposure position and the band
In setting the electrical position, the above requirements are satisfied.
The recording body 11 has four types due to differences in flatness, speed characteristics, and the like.
Divided into regions. Of these four areas, the recording surface is
The area where the position fluctuation with the constituent units of
And the drive-side curvature area. Also, the feed speed of the recording medium
The stable area is the area of curvature on and near the drive side.
It becomes the side straight line area. The loose side linear area is used for
Variations in position and feed rate are likely to occur due to the phenomenon, and
In the rate range, the feed speed tends to fluctuate. Each area of the endless belt-shaped recording material 11
Considering the characteristics, charging, exposure and development are important for image formation.
In the process of (1), the recording body 11 is moved from the tension side linear area to the drive side curvature area.
It can be seen that it is desirable to perform this while moving. More specifically, the exposure device 15
Therefore, the fluctuation of the recording surface and the speed fluctuation
The recording medium 11 as a straight line area contacts the drive roller 13
Select the straight side area immediately before the tension side, and set the developing unit 16 to the developing gap.
Recording medium 11 and drive row with the least fluctuations in speed and speed
The charging device 1 is disposed in a curvature region where the charging device
Reference numeral 4 denotes a linear area of the recording medium 11 and the fluctuation of the recording medium surface is small.
It is suitable for the above-mentioned purpose
You. That is, as shown in FIG.
The jaw 14 is provided in the tension-side linear region of the recording
Indicates that the recording goes to the straight line area just before the change from the straight area to the curvature area.
Each position is set to irradiate exposure light
ing. The charging charger 14 is a scorotron type
Charging means. The exposure device 15 uses He-N as a light source.
e using a gas laser or semiconductor laser, etc.
Modulates and deflects the beam to create a small beam spot on the recording medium
Scanning (width scanning) while changing the light intensity
Exposure, but limited to this type of exposure
It is not something to be done. As described above, the endless belt-shaped recording medium 1
Exposure to a flat area near the part where 1 changes from flat to curved
By setting the incident position of the device, the scanning beam
The adjustment accuracy of the parallelism with respect to the width direction of the recording medium becomes easy. Next, the recording paper is fed toward the recording medium.
The paper device will be described. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 130 denotes
The paper feeder is shown generally. Stored in paper feeder 130
Recording paper 24 is fed from the highest
For co-operation by roller 17 and friction pad 131
The sheet is fed one by one and transported by being guided by the guide plate 132.
The sheet is sent to the roller pair 18. Paper feeder 1
The presence or absence of the recording paper at 30 is determined by the paper end sensor 1
33. The paper feeder 130 is a box-shaped paper feeder with an open top.
It has a tray 3. Back of the bottom of the paper feed tray 3
The part is constituted by a fixed bottom plate 134, and the front part is movable
It is constituted by a bottom plate 135. The movable bottom plate 135 is
Substantially at the rear end 136 of the paper feed tray 3,
The front end can be tilted up and down around the pivot
Has become. The movable bottom plate 135 includes a compression coil spring 137.
Are urged upward by the spring force of FIG. Salary
One end of the paper tray 3 is pivotally supported by a pivot 138.
Then, an upper lid 4 for opening and closing the upper part of the paper feed tray 3 is provided.
ing. As shown in FIG. 23, the upper lid 4 has its front end
Bearing portions 139 formed on both sides of the portion.
You. The pivot 138 is attached to a side plate (not shown) of the paper feed tray 3.
It is solid planted. A roller 141 is supported on the bearing piece 139.
Attached with the shaft 142, the locking pin 143 is fixedly implanted
I have. The rollers 141 are provided on the upper surfaces on both sides of the movable bottom plate 135.
Is facing. A pivot 14 is provided at the front end of the side plate of the paper feed tray 3.
4 allows the friction arm 145 to swing freely.
Is attached. To one end of friction arm 145
Is made of rubber or rubber-like material fixed to the support 146.
Is supported. free
One end of the action pad 131 is connected to the arm 145.
Paper is fed by the elasticity of the stopped tension coil spring 147
The roller 17 is pressed against the roller 17. Friction arm 1
45 are pivotally attached to both side plates of the tray, respectively.
The friction pad 1 is located approximately at the center of the connecting portion 148.
31 are supported. The other end of the spring 147 is connected to a side plate of the tray.
(Not shown) fixed to a pin 149
You. An interlocking lever 148 is swingably supported on the pin 149.
Have been. One end 148a of the interlocking lever 148 is folded
The arm 145 is bent so as to face one end 145a of the arm 145.
Is facing. The other end 148b of the interlocking lever 148 is
The roller 141 extends below the support shaft 142.
The support shaft 142 can be engaged with the other end 148b of the lever.
Extending to the position. At the front end of the paper feed tray 3, both side plates
Supported by a pair of arms 150 (only one shown) extending from
A shaft 151 is supported. At one end of the support shaft 151,
As shown in FIG. 25, the swing lever 152 is fixed.
I have. Pin 15 fixed at the free end of swing lever 152
3 and the locking pin 143, both ends of the connecting rod 154
Locked. Paper reset on the support shaft 151
The lever 155 is fixed. Paper reset lever
-155, as shown in FIG.
A pair is provided so as to be located between each other. Ma
The free end of the paper reset lever 155 is
2 is located higher than the upper edge of the front plate 156 of FIG.
3, FIG. 24). Lever 1 is provided on the upper edge of front plate 156.
A notch 156a which enters when the shaft 55 is swung;
The notch 156b into which the friction pad 131 enters is
Each is formed. As shown in FIG. 23, when the upper lid 4 is closed,
When the friction pad 131 is
7 and the paper reset lever 155 is
6, the compression coil spring 1
37 pushes up the movable bottom plate 135 and lowers the feed roller 17
It is pressed against the surrounding surface. In this case, the recording paper is
Is loaded, the uppermost recording paper is placed under the paper feed roller 17.
It is pressed against the peripheral surface. To set the recording paper 24, as shown in FIG.
As shown, the closed upper lid 4 is pivoted about the pivot 138.
And swing open counterclockwise, the bearing piece 139
The provided roller 141 contacts the movable bottom plate 135,
The moving bottom plate 135 is shown against the elasticity of the compression coil spring 137.
Press down as shown at 24. After this, open the top lid 4
A bundle of recording paper is inserted between the
The edge is hit against the tray front plate 156. Then, FIG.
When the upper lid 4 is closed as shown in FIG.
The load increased by the elasticity of the compression coil spring 137
Press the top one of the recording papers onto the peripheral surface of paper feed roller 17
wear. Incidentally, the supply of the recording paper will be described later.
Paper end sensor 133 detects paper end
To inform the operator of this,
Even if there is a recording paper inside the
There is a match. In the latter case, friction with paper feed roller 17
The leading edge of several sheets of paper is held between
It is necessary to drop these sheets into the tray
is there. When further placing the recording paper on the recording paper,
As shown in FIG. 23, the closed upper lid 4 is shown in FIG.
Open, the connecting rod 154 connected thereto moves.
Paper through the swing lever 152 and the support shaft 151
While swinging the reset lever 155 clockwise,
The support shaft 142 is engaged with one end 48b of the interlocking lever 148.
Swing the lever clockwise to move the other end 1
48a swings the friction arm 145 counterclockwise.
Let it. That is, when the upper lid 4 is opened,
As shown in FIG. 24, the friction pad 131
Since it is separated from the roller 17, it is sandwiched between these two
Release the leading edge of the recording paper. At the same time, paper reset
The lever 155 swings, and the leading end of the recording paper whose leading end is released.
The paper is pushed back into the tray against the edge. Therefore,
Supply new recording paper with the recording paper still in the tray
In this case, the feed roller 17 and the friction pad 131
There is no recording paper in between, and the movable bottom plate 1
That is, the recording paper is placed only on 35,
New recording paper can be replenished on the recording paper
You. Moreover, recording paper can be replenished from the front of the main unit.
You. In the example shown in FIG.
The set lever 155 is directly linked to the upper lid 4.
May be linked to the movable bottom plate 135 that swings in conjunction with
No. This example will be described with reference to FIGS. 26 to 28.
A paper reset lever 158 is fixed to the support shaft 151
Have been. A spring 159 is hung on this lever 158.
And the lever is separated from the front plate 156.
Gives swinging habit. Further, the engagement of the lever 158
The piece 158a is inserted into the tray 156c from the hole 156c formed in the front plate.
And is engaged with the front edge of the movable bottom plate 135.
It is in a position that can be combined. In FIG. 26, upper cover 4 (see FIG. 23) is
When opened, the movable bottom plate 135 descends as shown in FIG.
You. At the same time, the friction pad 131
The leading edge of the recording paper 24 that is separated from the peripheral surface and held between the two
Release 24a. When the movable bottom plate 135 descends,
The front edge of the paper is engaged with the engagement piece 158a, and the paper is reset.
The lever 158 is swung as shown in FIG. this
When the lever 158 swings, it moves over the upper edge of the front plate 156.
Press the leading edge of the upper recording paper against the lever 158.
By being moved, it moves down together with the movable bottom plate 135
It is pushed back onto the lower recording paper 24. New recording paper
After replenishment, when the top cover 4 is closed, the movable bottom plate 135
When the paper reset lever 158 rises, the spring 159
With the resilience of, it returns to the position shown in FIG. In FIG. 23, the movable bottom plate 135 is illustrated.
Above, a bracket 160 is fixedly arranged. B
The racket 160 is better shown in FIGS.
So that the shaft 162 of the filler 161 is rotatably supported.
I have The filler 161 is attached to the filler end 163
Aligned with the opening 135a formed in the movable bottom plate 135
When there is at least one recording paper 24 on the movable bottom plate 135,
Is on the recording paper as shown by the solid line in FIG.
Hold the pivoting position, and place one on the movable bottom plate 135
When there is no recording paper, the weight of the paper
It falls and is located at a pivot position as shown by a virtual line in FIG.
It is supposed to. Of the shaft 162 of the filler 161
At the end, a detection plate 164 is attached at its hub 165 by a screw 1
At 66, it is fixedly attached. The detection plate 164 has a shutter piece at its tip.
167, and the shutter piece 167 is a light emitting element.
Of a photoelectric switch 168 in which a photoelectric switch and a light receiving element are arranged to face each other
Selectively enters the gap 169 to receive light from the light emitting element.
The optical axis between the optical element and the optical element is selectively blocked.
You. In the detection plate 164, the filler 161 is indicated by a solid line in FIG.
When in the position shown, the shutter piece 167 faces
Located in gap 169, filler 161
Is in the position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG.
So that the tab 167 escapes from the facing gap 169.
Is attached. The photoelectric switch 168 has the above optical axis.
Different when interrupted and when not
Output to a control device (not shown)
I have. Note that the control device assumes that the optical axis is interrupted.
Only when the recording operation can be performed.
Good. The interlocking plate 1 is provided on the shaft 162 of the filler 161.
70 is fixed by screws 172 at its hub portion 171
ing. The paper feed tray 3 has a filler at its side plate.
173 is pivotally supported by a shaft 174. The filler 173 has the filler end 1
At 75, the lower cover 4 is selectively engaged with the lower bottom surface,
When the ruler is in the closed position, as shown by the solid line in FIG.
And the stopper pin 177 against the spring force of the spring 176.
The upper cover 4 is closed.
When it is opened from the position by a predetermined angle or more, as shown in FIG.
As described above, the stopper pin 177 is actuated by the spring force of the spring 176.
Is rotated to a position where it comes into contact. This file
The roller 173 is connected to the interlocking plate 170 at its engagement end 178.
When the upper cover 4 is selectively engaged and the upper cover 4 is in the closed position, FIG.
0, the filler end 163, the detection plate 164 and
The position of the interlocking plate 170 shown by the solid line and the position shown by the virtual line
Allowed to move freely with the device,
The upper cover 4 is opened from the closed position, and is
When rotated clockwise, it engages with the interlocking plate 170 and
The shutter plate 167 of the sensing plate 164 has the facing gap 1
It moves to a position where it exits from 69. Therefore, the shutter piece 167 of the detection plate 164
Is located within the opposing gap 169 of the photoelectric switch 168.
What can be achieved is that the movable bottom plate 153
At least one sheet of recording paper 24 exists on the
Is in the normal closed position. Movable bottom plate 13
When there is no recording paper 24 at all on FIG.
As shown by the phantom line, the filler end of the filler 161
163 falls into the opening 135a to detect the detection plate.
164 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.
167 exits downward from the facing gap 169 in the figure.
When the top cover 4 is not in the proper closed position,
As shown in 31, the filler 173 and the interlocking plate 170
Therefore, the detection plate 164 rotates clockwise in the figure, and
It comes out upward from the cap 169 in the figure. In addition,
When the filler end 163 is lifted, the movable bottom plate 135 is lifted.
Away from the printer and facilitate supply of recording paper. According to the above description, one photoelectric switch
The recording paper on the bottom plate and the open / closed state of the top cover 4
It will be understood that it can be issued. Also, recording paper
If you want to change the size of the
Just pull it out and install a new tray. The paper feed roller 17 is provided as shown in FIGS.
Provided above the front plate 156 of the paper feed tray 3.
And is located substantially at the center in the width direction of the tray. This paper feed
As is clear from FIG.
8 so as to be staggered with the peripheral surface of the upper roller 18a
Have been. The upper roller 18a and the lower roller 18b
It is pressed against. About driving these rollers
Will be described later. In the transport direction of the recording paper 24, the transport row
On the downstream side of the pair of rollers 18, as shown in FIG.
The sensor 179 is provided. Registration sensor 179
Is transported out of the tray 3 and clamped by the transport roller pair 18.
This is for detecting the recording paper that has been
The rotation of the transport roller pair 18 and the paper feed roller 17
Outputs a signal to disconnect once. By the way, above the paper feeder 130,
The recording / developing unit 5 is arranged, and furthermore
The cleaning device 22 is arranged at the position. Cree
The recording device 22 remains on the surface of the recording medium 11 after the transfer.
The developer is collected and removed. Therefore, the recording medium
All or part of the unit 5 when replacing or supplying the developer
When the cleaning device 22 is pulled out of the apparatus main body,
The developer collected in the feeding device 13 is caused by vibration or impact.
0, in particular, the conveying roller pair 18, the sheet feeding roller 17, the friction
There is a fear of falling on the pad 131. Each roller or pad to which the developer has adhered is
The friction coefficient on the surface of the
No longer. Also, if unnecessary developer adheres to the recording paper,
The result is a dirty copy. Further, with the movement of the recording body 11,
A part of the powder image formed on the surface of this
And may contaminate the recording paper 24 and rollers.
You. By the way, the recording paper 24 is not
After being sent out, it is brought into close contact with the recording
However, the recording paper 24 keeps its posture in a predetermined direction.
Need to be sent. Therefore, the recording medium / developing unit 5
Below the recording paper 24 and its transport path
The recording paper guide cover 180 prevents the developer from falling
It is provided detachably. This recording paper guide cover 1
80 drops the recording paper and the conveyance path thereof toward them.
Covers the position and range to prevent from falling developer. Record
As shown in FIG. 32, the recording paper guide cover 180
Positioning pieces 181,1 provided on both sides (only one is shown)
82 is engaged with the positioning pins 183 and 184, and the side plate 6
0,67. Locating pin 183,1
As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG.
6,56 are planted. The recording paper guide cover 180 is a cover 1
80a, positioning pins 181 and 182, and their leading edges
And a guide portion 180b formed by bending
You. The recording paper guide cover 180 is a recording medium / developing unit.
A space formed at the mark where the knit 5 is taken out of the apparatus main body
Using the to remove from the positioning pins 183, 184
Set freely. Positioning pins 183 and 184
The engagement of the positioning pieces 181 and 182 causes the guide cover
-180 is regulated in the front and rear, left and right direction and downward position
You. FIG. 33 shows the transport roller pair 18 and the recording paper 24.
To show that the guide cover covers a wide area,
The roller pair 18 and the recording paper 24 are shown. The recording paper guide cover 180 is set.
That is, when the recording medium / developing unit 5 is mounted on the apparatus main body,
By the bottom plate 39 of the receiving portion 35, the cover
Position control is performed. As shown in FIG. 2, the recording paper guide cover 1
When 80 is attached to the main body of the apparatus, the guide section at the front end
180b is a guide plate 185 fixed to the main body.
The recording paper transport path 186 is configured in cooperation with the printer. This guide
The cover 180 is used to replace a recording medium or supply a developer.
Of the unit 5 during the operation of
The image forming area including the recording body 11
Cleaning device 22, recording paper and its passage
To each other to prevent developer from falling or floating developer
Prevent contamination caused by. Further, the guide cover 180
The guide section 180b forms a recording paper transport path, and
It keeps the posture of the recording paper conveyed to the area. Recording paper
Obtained by not fixing the guide cover 180
The effects can be as follows. Paper feeder
(B) When the frictional resistance of the peripheral surface decreases, a normal paper
It is necessary to periodically clean the
You. During such cleaning and maintenance work, the recording medium and developing unit
5 and then remove the recording paper guide cover 180.
If you remove it, the opening formed in the front of the device body
Maintenance work can be performed very easily. In the above description, the recording paper transport path 186 is
The guide plate 185 to be formed is provided in the apparatus main body.
As shown, a guide portion 186A may be provided. Guide cover 18 shown in FIGS. 35 and 36
0 indicates a leaf spring 187 or a spring on the upper surface of the cover portion 180a.
The foam body 188 is fixed to the bottom plate 39 of the unit 5 and the cover.
This is an example in which there is no play between the upper surface. Fixing device 2 applied to illustrated image forming apparatus
0 indicates a roller fixing method. In FIG. 39, the fixing device
The fixing roller 197 and the pressure roller 198
Are provided in opposing contact to form a fixing roller pair.
ing. The fixing method using the fixing roller pair is a heating method or
Or pressurizing method, but for example,
In the case of the thermal method, it is determined only when the recording paper 24 passes through the fixing operation.
One rotation of the roller so that the pressure required for
Switches and sliding friction mechanisms are provided as appropriate. The shaft 19 is fixed to the fixing roller 197.
9 around the spring 9
The tip 201a is urged counterclockwise to fix
Separation claw 201 in contact with the surface of
Cleaning machine for wiping developer adhered to 197 surface
A structure 202 is provided. Then, the fixing roller pair
Rollers 204 and 2 having a guide plate 203 are provided on the discharge side.
A paper discharge roller pair 25 composed of a pair of paper discharge rollers 05 is provided. Follow
39, the recording paper transport path 206 as indicated by a dashed line in FIG.
Are formed. A paper discharge sensor is provided in the transport path 206.
272 is provided and detects the recording paper passing through the conveyance path.
I do. In the case shown, the sensor 272 indicates only the filler.
And its tip 272a is located on the passage. However, the peripheral speed of the fixing roller 197 is
It is set to be lower than the peripheral speed of the paper roller pair 25. Also,
A part of the separation claw 201 has a front end 201 a at the fixing roller 1.
97 is in contact with the recording paper transport path 206
The protrusion 201b is provided on the side opposite to the tip 201a.
You. In this configuration, an unfixed toner image
The recording paper 24 is between the fixing roller 197 and the pressure roller 198.
To be fixed. The leading end of the recording paper 24 is
Contacting the fixing roller 197 by the
From the fixing roller 197 by the tip 201a of the release nail 201
Separated, and along the guide plate 203, the paper discharge roller pair 25 side
Head to. Then, the recording paper 2 is placed between the discharge rollers 25.
4. When the leading edge reaches 4, the recording paper 24 is set as shown in FIG.
Forming roller 197, pressure roller 198, and discharge roller pair 25
Causes a state of being conveyed by being pinched. This and
In this case, the peripheral speed on the side of the discharge roller pair 25 is
・ It is set faster than the peripheral speed of the pressure roller 198
Thus, the recording paper 24 located in the recording paper conveyance path 206
The pair is pulled by the roller pair 25 to be in an extended state. Note that, between the fixing roller and the pressure roller 198,
Since the clamping pressure is stronger, there is no hindrance to the fixing operation. on the other hand,
A protruding portion 201 b protrudes from the recording paper transport path 206.
Therefore, the protruding portion 201b is pushed by the tension of the recording paper 24.
Then, as shown in FIG. 40, the separation claw 201 is
The tip 201a is rotated and displaced so that the peripheral surface of the fixing roller 197 is formed.
Will be separated from Therefore, the separation claw 201 is fixed.
The urging force of the spring 200 to be brought into contact with the formation roller 197
Is set smaller than this tension. And the note
The trailing end of the recording paper 24 is pulled out of the fixing roller / pressure roller 198.
When it breaks out, the tension stops working and the separation claw 201
And the tip 201a is fixed by a fixing row.
It returns to the state where it is brought into contact with the wire 197. Therefore, the recording paper 24 is fixed to the fixing roller 197
Nipped and transported by the pressure roller 198 and the discharge roller pair 25
When the sheet is being fed, the separation claw 201 is fixed to the fixing roller 197.
Can be kept away from the
The tip 201a into contact with the fixing roller 197
The separation operation of the next recording paper 24 is performed and the standby state is set.
What you can get. For such behavior
The peripheral speed difference between the fixing roller 197 and the discharge roller pair 25
The tension of the recording paper 24 that has been stretched by being held is used as a drive source.
For the operation of contacting and separating the separation claw 201
Eliminates the need for drive sources and components, simplifies cost reduction
Can be planned. Further, the recording paper 24 in the stretched state is set.
Fixing to use the tension of the separation claw 201 as a drive source for displacement
There is a peripheral speed difference between the roller 197 and the discharge roller pair 25.
However, as a result, it is not
Therefore, the effect of preventing paper jam can be obtained. Obedience
Therefore, according to this example, the fixing roller 197 of the separation claw 201
Of the fixing roller 197, which is a defect
Generation, uncertainty of separation due to toner adhesion to tip 201a
The fixing roller 197 and the separation claw 20
1 Increase the life of 1 and improve the separation performance, causing jams
That can provide a highly reliable fixing device
It is. Regarding the reliability of the fixing device, the fixing roller
It is also necessary to keep the surrounding surface clean. In FIG.
In the upper non-sheet passing portion of the fixing roller 197, a fixing roller is provided.
The temperature of the heater 207 inside the heater 197 is controlled.
Thermistor TH is in contact. Cleaning mechanism 20
Reference numeral 2 is disposed on the entrance side of the fixing roller 197. Sign
209 is a pad made of heat-resistant felt,
Between the bracket 210 and the aluminum holder 211
At one end, fixed with screws 212,
Is pressed along the peripheral surface of the fixing roller 197. Mark
No. 213 is a cushion made of soft silicone rubber
Made of heat-resistant material, clean by pad 209
To make the fusing roller 197 flawless.
It is for preventing life. A part 9 of the cover of the apparatus main body (see FIG. 1)
As shown in FIG. 39, the bracket 225
It can be opened and closed freely by a hinge 219 attached to the. Ma
The unit cover 220 of the fixing device 20 is
1 to open and close the stay 222
You. A unit cover 220 supports a shaft 199.
Racket 223 and holder for supporting discharge roller 205
224 are fixed. This unit cover 220
When opened, the recording paper conveyance path 206 in the fixing device is released,
Easy removal of jam paper and inspection of the inside
Has become. The apparatus shown in FIG.
A recording paper receiver 10 is provided on the back side of the body. Therefore,
To remove the printed recording paper, the operator must
It needs to be stretched. So the operator is sitting on a chair
Constructing a paper ejection device that allows you to pick up recording paper in your hand
And convenient. Next, the configuration of the sheet discharging device will be described in detail.
In FIG. 39, the cover 9 is removed from the hinge 219.
The hinge 219 is connected to the hinge 226 as shown in FIG.
Substitute. The hinge 226 has a pair of paper discharge units 227.
The lower end 228a of the side plate 228 (only one is shown) is
Have been. To the bent portions 228b and 228c of the side plate 228
Means that the unit cover 229 is interposed between the stopper plates 230 and 231
It is screwed. As shown in FIG.
41 and a pulley 232 and a gear 233 as shown in FIG.
Are rotatably supported coaxially. Gear 233
Is a gear 235 integrated with the shaft 234 of the paper discharge roller 206.
Are engaged. The roller 206 is a driving roller
However, this drive system will be described later. Side plates 228, 2
28 (only one is shown), the paper discharge roller 236 has its shaft 2
At 37, it is rotatably supported. At one end of shaft 237
Has a pulley 238 fixed thereto.
A belt 239 is looped between the
ing. The unit cover 229 has a discharge port 240
Are formed, and the paper discharge rollers 236 are
Is located inside. The paper discharge roller 236 is made of foamed polyurethane.
It is made of an elastic material such as urethane rubber,
The peripheral surface is pressed against the holding plate 241. Recording paper
The paper is transported by being sandwiched between the rotating paper discharge rollers 236 and the holding plate 241.
Are sent, but they are separated from each other.
May be. This example is shown in FIG.
A pair of protrusions 41 are provided between the end faces of the paper discharge rollers 236.
The protrusion 241a is formed, and the pressing plate and the discharge roller
Is non-contact, but the peripheral surface of the roller and the protrusion are
When viewed from the direction, they are positioned so as to enter each other. Between the discharge roller pair 25 and the discharge roller 236
Is provided with curved guide members 242 and 243
Thus, a recording paper turn path 244 is formed. FIG.
, The recording paper passes through the transport path 206 and the turn path 244.
Through the paper exit 240 through the upper cover of the apparatus body
It is discharged in the direction. Record discharged to the top cover of the device
The paper is easily handled by the operator while sitting on the chair.
Can be taken. The paper discharge unit 227 is operated by a hinge 226.
It is attached to the device body so that it can be opened and closed,
Opening this to release the upper part of the fixing device
Is similar to the cover 9 shown in FIG. By the way, the side
Attach magnet 245 to one end 228d of plate 228
Magnetically fixed to the receiving plate 246 fixed to the hinge 221
Then, the engagement between the gear 233 and the gear 235 is ensured.
You. In FIG. 2, the transfer charger 19 is
Discharge electrode 247 connected to high voltage power supply not shown and this
And a shield case 248. Transfer Char
The jaw 19 is shown by opening the side plate 8 (see FIG. 1) of the apparatus main body.
Can be pulled out in the direction of the arrow. The charging charger 14 is a scorotron type
And discharges respectively connected to a power supply (not shown)
The electrode 249 and the grid 250 and their shielded cables
251. Charger 14 is also transferred
Like the charger 19, it can be detached from the main body in the same direction.
Is provided. Then, the charging charger 14 and the transfer
Chargers 19 record corona discharges of the same polarity
11 The radiation is emitted toward the front surface and the back surface of the recording paper. In the case of the example shown in FIG.
DC bias to the opposite polarity to the charging polarity of the flow corona or recording medium
Discharge electrode 252 that emits an alternating current corona and static elimination lamp 2
53 and these shield cases 254
You. In the case of this example, not only the static elimination of the recording
Charger is located to the left in the figure to perform static elimination
The left side plate of the shield case 254 is a recording paper
Is open to prevent jams. Record 11
A static eliminator at the part wound around the roller 12, the so-called curvature part
With the arrangement, not only the curvature separation but also the recording medium and recording paper
Is improved. The structure of the cleaning device 22 is based on FIG.
Will be described. The cleaning device 22 is provided with each charger.
Can be pulled out of the device body in the same direction as
255 and a casing rotatably supported by a casing.
Cleaning rollers 256 provided in parallel with each other
It is mainly composed of a magnetic roller 257 and a collection shaft 258.
Have been. The cleaning roller 256 has a short fiber on its surface.
A non-magnetic sleeve implanted with fibers and placed inside
Three magnets 260, 261, 262
ing. The cleaning roller 256 is driven by a drive described later.
Rotated clockwise by the system. Non-magnetic sleeve such as aluminum
Fibers having a length of about 0.3 to 1 mm, e.g.
Synthetic fibers such as Ron and rayon, and natural fibers such as cotton and wool
Adhere conductive fibers such as fibers, carbon, metal, etc.
A leave is formed on the surface of the recording medium at 0.2 to 0.2 mm.
Maintain the spacing of 5 mm intelligence, ie the sleeve surface
The fiber hair is brought into contact with the surface of the recording medium for about 0.1 to 0.5 mm.
To remove the residual magnetic toner on the surface of the recording medium
Things. The residual magnetic toner on the recording medium surface
Mechanically peeled off by the fiber hairs on the surface and magnetic
Is held on the sleeve surface by force,
It is transported by rolling. In such a cleaning device, the cleaning
In order to achieve good leaning, a sleeve and
It is necessary to always maintain a constant distance from the surface of the recording medium.
In other words, the fiber hairs on the sleeve surface
The goal is to maintain uniform contact. If not
If cleaning is not performed,
Or, if toner remains
As a result, the next image formation is not performed well.
For this reason, in the past, three sleeves were
Provide a bearing slightly larger in diameter than the
By rotating it while contacting the surface of the recording
The distance between the probe and the surface of the recording medium is kept constant.
Had been. However, this has a complicated mechanism and
The contact point between the bearing and the recording medium
Foreign matter such as toner adheres, and the gap maintenance accuracy gradually decreases
There are drawbacks such as doing. The cleaning device 22 of this device records
To remove the magnetic toner remaining on the body surface,
Cleaning roller that can generate a magnetic field on the surface
And oppose this cleaning roller via a recording medium.
A magnetic material, and a cleaning roller or a magnetic material
At least one of which is substantially freely movable.
The recording medium between the cleaning roller and the magnetic body.
It is characterized by clamping by the magnetic force of leaning.
As a result, the cleaning roller as a cleaning member
The contact between the roller and the surface of the recording
In addition to being able to perform
Standing is easy. On the other hand, the magnetic roller 257 has
The cleaning roller 256 is in contact with
Roller 256 magnetically removes the developer removed from the surface of the recording medium.
Move away. The surface of the magnetic roller 257
The blade 263 is pressed and scrapes the transferred developer.
To take. The scraped developer is collected on a collection shaft.
Fall over 258. The collection shaft 258 is screwed around its outer periphery.
With a spiral groove or a coil spring
The developer in the axial direction by rotating in one direction.
It is sent and collected in a collection container provided outside the casing. The recording medium 11 is moved to a pair of rollers 12 and 13.
The rollers are wound around the support plate 26 (FIG. 7).
(See above). And subordinate
The axis of the moving roller 12 is fixed to correct the belt deviation.
And the drive roller 13 is in the exposure position
And that the axis is fixed for grounding.
Was. By the way, the bearing 4 of the driven roller 12
Some clearance between the groove 3 and the groove 40 (see FIG. 6)
Is provided. In other words, the
The recorded recording medium unit 23 moves the shaft 38 of the drive roller 13
As a fulcrum, the support plate 26 can slightly swing. Thus, as shown in FIG.
6 on the lower surface of the top plate 28, the cleaning roller 256
A pair made of a magnetic material is opposed in the entire axial direction.
The direction member 264 is fixed. The means of fixing are adhesion and contact
Appropriate means such as an attaching tape and a screw may be used. Follow
Thus, the facing member 264 is substantially movably disposed.
Attracts the magnet in the non-magnetic sleeve 259
The recording medium 11 and the support member 26 are moved upward.
It is attracted to the surface of the non-magnetic sleeve via the plate 28. Thus, the surface of the non-magnetic sleeve 259
And the parallelism between the surface of the recording body 11 and
Also, the recording body 11 uniformly contacts the surface of the sleeve 259,
The residual magnetic toner on the recording medium 11 is evenly and uniformly cleaned.
To synchronize. A magnet attached to the surface of the non-magnetic sleeve 259
Is transferred by the rotation of the sleeve 259,
Transferred to the magnet roller 257, and
63, and is cleaned by the collection shaft 258.
Out of the device. Based on FIG. 3 and FIG.
The system will be described. The rotation shaft of the drive motor 273 has a pulley
274, 275 are integrally attached. Pulley
274 includes pulleys 276, 277, 278 and tension
Endless timing base
280 is wound. Pulley 276, 27
7,278 are at their respective axes 281,282,283.
It is rotatably attached to the side plate 67 (see FIGS. 4 and 8).
ing. The gear 63 is mounted on the shaft 281 of the pulley 276.
As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG.
Meshes with a gear 64 substantially integral with the roller 13
You. A gear 66 of the developing sleeve 34 meshes with the gear 64.
Matching. A gear 284 is provided on a shaft 282 of the pulley 277.
Is fixed, and this gear 284
Meshing with the gear 86 fixed to the shaft 285 of the gear 256
I have. A gear 287 is attached to the shaft 283 of the pulley 278.
The gear 287 is fixed to the fixing roller 197.
Gear 289 fixed to the shaft 288 of the motor.
The gear 289 has teeth integral with the shaft 291 of the pressure roller 198.
Wheel 290 is meshing. Therefore, the rollers 197, 1
98 rotate without slipping with each other. The shaft 234 of the paper discharge roller 204 is
The gear 235 is fixed as shown in FIG. Gear 23
5 is interlocked with the fixing roller gear 289 via the intermediate gear
doing. A one-way clutch is provided between the gear 289 and the shaft 288.
A latch 294 is provided, and the driving force is
Is transmitted only to the shaft 288. Obedience
Therefore, when the drive system is stopped, the fixing roller 197
Can be freely rotated in the recording paper transport direction. Another pulley 2 of the drive motor 273
75, a timing belt 29 between the pulley 295
6 is wound. As shown in FIG.
95 is a shaft 297 of the lower roller 18b of the conveying roller pair 18.
Via a transfer clutch 299 comprising an electromagnetic clutch
It is installed. The transfer clutch 299 is turned on.
As a result, the pulley 295 and the shaft 297 are integrated with each other.
To rotate. [0128] The shaft 297 of the lower roller 18b is provided with a gear 29.
8 is fixed, and the upper roller 1
The gear 301 fixed to one end of the shaft 300 of FIG.
ing. As shown in FIG. 4, the other end of the shaft 300 has teeth
A wheel 302 is fixed, and a gear 303
Are engaged. The gear 303 is composed of an electromagnetic clutch
The shaft 305 of the paper feed roller 17 is supplied via the paper feed clutch 304.
It is attached to. When the paper feed clutch 304 is energized,
Then, the rotation of the gear 303 is transmitted to the shaft 305 to feed the paper
17 is rotated in the paper feeding direction. Paper feeder
B 17 is connected to the shaft 3 via a one-way rotating clutch (not shown).
05 and the shaft 305 is not rotating
The roller can rotate freely. In FIG. 2, recording is performed on the recording paper transport path.
The processing when a paper jam occurs will be described. Paper feeder
Jam occurs in the recording paper transport path between the printer and the transfer charger.
When the production is detected, the recording medium / developing unit 5 is moved
Pull out completely in the direction of the arrow. In the case of the example shown, record
Since the paper guide cover 180 is provided, the cover
180 is also removed. Then, remove the unit 5
In the mark, the opening with the paper feeder 130 as the bottom is
Appears in front of the body. So, through this opening,
Insert your hand, grab the jammed recording paper and pull it out
You. In this case, the jammed recording paper is transported
Pull the paper in the opposite direction to the recording paper
I just need to start. Therefore, the jam paper is torn and a part of it is transported.
It will not remain on the route. In addition, recording media and development
Unit 5 is pulled outSupporting means for supporting the recording medium
In the direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the rollers 12 and 13
BecauseThe paper is not broken when the unit is pulled out.
If the recording paper conveyance direction and the unit pull-out direction are
If you do, the jam paper
Pull in the axial direction of the paper feed roller to increase the degree of jam
It makes it harder to remove. [0131] As described above, according to the present invention, the driving teeth
Each end face of the car and the first gear is in the axial direction of the gear.
Perpendicular to the direction of movement of these end faces and recording medium / developing unit
Are held in parallel with each other,
Just attach the knit to the main body of the image forming apparatus,
The drive gear and the gear on the unit side engage to transmit the driving force.
Is guaranteed. In addition, a set of recording medium and developing unit
When transmitting driving force from the main body of the image forming apparatus.
Gear on the unit side that engages with the gear on the device body that receives the gear
This tooth of the support member for holding the car in the unit
The end holding the car is supported by a support
From the main body of the image forming apparatus to the recording / developing unit.
Driving force is transmitted reliably. Also, the gear on the unit side
Is supported in the axial direction of the recording
Since it is supported inside the carrier,
When setting the knit, the gear on the unit side is the image forming device
There is also a problem that it does not hit the main body and is damaged
Do not live. In addition, a drive source is provided between the recording medium and the developing means.
The first gear and the second gear for transmitting the driving force are
In the engaged state, the recording medium and the developing unit
The recording / development unit
Of the gear between the recording medium and the developing means.
Therefore, the drive transmission between them is ensured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the internal structure of the above. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a driving system of the above. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the same. FIG. 5 is an exploded oblique side view showing a recording body / developing unit including a recording body unit and a developing unit. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an essential part showing an example of a means for applying tension to a recording medium. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a recording medium / developing unit. FIG. 8 is a front view showing the recording unit mounted on the apparatus main body. FIG. 9 is a schematic side view showing a state in which a recording body / developing unit is vertically positioned with respect to the apparatus main body. FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing a main part of the above. FIG. 11 is a front view showing a positioning mechanism of a recording body unit in a recording body width direction. FIG. 12 is a plan view of the same. FIG. 13 is a schematic side view illustrating an example of a driving unit of a recording medium / developing unit. FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the same. FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a receiving portion of a developing device provided with a recording body unit positioning means. FIG. 16 is a side sectional view showing an example of a developing device. FIG. 17 is a partial rear view of the developing device. FIG. 18 is a side sectional view showing a different example of the developing device. FIG. 19 is a side view illustrating an example of a maintenance operation mechanism of the recording medium / developing unit. FIG. 20 is an operation view of the above. FIG. 21 is a main part plan view showing another example of the maintenance operation mechanism. FIG. 22 is an operation view of the above. FIG. 23 is a side view illustrating a main part of the sheet feeding device from which a side plate of the sheet feeding tray is removed. FIG. 24 is an operation view of the above. FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a main part of the above. FIG. 26 is a side view showing another example of the paper reset mechanism. FIG. 27 is an operation view of the above. FIG. 28 is a perspective view of the same. FIG. 29 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a recording paper sensor. FIG. 30 is a side sectional view showing the recording paper sensor when the upper cover is closed. FIG. 31 is a side sectional view showing the recording paper sensor when the upper cover is open. FIG. 32 is a side sectional view showing an example of a recording paper guide cover. FIG. 33 is a front view of the same. FIG. 34 is a side sectional view of a main part showing a different example of the recording paper guide cover. FIG. 35 is a side view showing still another example of the recording paper guide cover. FIG. 36 is a side view showing still another example of the recording paper guide cover. FIG. 37 is a front view showing a second stirring member. FIG. 38 is a side view showing a mechanism for reciprocatingly rotating a second stirring member. FIG. 39 is a side sectional view showing a fixing device and a sheet discharging device. FIG. 40 is a side cross-sectional view showing a paper discharge device. FIG. 41 is a perspective view showing a paper discharge unit. FIG. 42 is a front view illustrating an example of a paper discharge roller. FIG. 43 is a side view showing a main part of the cleaning device. [Description of Reference Numerals] 3 sheet feed tray 4 top cover 5 recording body / developing unit 11 recording body 14 charging charger 15 exposure device 16 developing device Reference Signs List 17 Feed Roller 19 Transfer Charger 20 Fixing Device 21 Static Eliminator 22 Cleaning Device 23 Recording Body Unit 24 Recording Paper 25 Paper Discharge Roller pair 31 Developing unit 32 Developer 60 Body side plate 67 Body side plate

   ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page    (72) Inventor Yutaka Kodama               1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo               Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Shigeru Yamazaki               1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo               Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Masaichi Tanji               1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo               Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Satoru Tomita               1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo               Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Kunihiko Ikeda               1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo               Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Shigeru Suzuki               1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo               Ricoh Company                (56) References JP-A-56-128958 (JP, A)                 JP-A-56-1111859 (JP, A)                 JP-A-55-133076 (JP, A)                 Actual opening 1979-153240 (JP, U)                 Shokai Sho 56-47535 (JP, U)                 Actual opening 1979-157051 (JP, U)                 Shokai Sho 55-105451 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A rotatably supported recording body, a charging unit for uniformly charging the recording body, and an exposure unit for irradiating the charged recording body with optical information corresponding to a recorded image to form an electrostatic latent image Developing means for visualizing the electrostatic latent image; a sheet feeding device for feeding the recording paper one by one; transfer means for transferring the visible image to the recording paper; An image forming apparatus comprising: a fixing unit for fixing a visual image on the recording sheet; and a sheet discharging device for discharging a recording sheet on which a visible image is fixed, wherein the recording body and the developing unit are integrally formed by a support. A recording medium / developing unit held in the image forming apparatus main body for moving the recording medium / developing knit in a direction orthogonal to an axial direction of the recording medium and attaching / detaching to / from the image forming apparatus main body; A recording medium / developing unit guide means provided; A driving gear that is held by the image forming apparatus main body and transmits a driving force from a driving source to the recording body / developing unit; and a driving force from the driving source that is engaged with the driving gear and transmits the driving force from the driving source to the recording body / developing unit. A first gear held by the recording medium / developing unit inside the support in the axial direction of the recording medium for transmitting to the unit; and a driving source between the recording medium and the developing means. A second gear held by the recording medium / developing unit inside the support in the axial direction of the recording medium in a state of being engaged with the first gear so as to transmit the driving force from the first gear. A gear, and wherein the drive gear and the first gear are engaged so that the drive gear and the first gear are engaged with the recording medium / developing unit mounted on the image forming apparatus main body. The gear is a combination of the drive gear and the first gear. Each end face is orthogonal to the axial direction of the gear, and the end faces are held in parallel with the moving direction of the recording medium / developing unit. An image forming apparatus, wherein an end of a support member for holding the first gear on a side holding the first gear is supported by the support.