JP2931521B2 - Cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus, and more particularly, to an electrostatic printer based on electrophotography, for example.
The present invention relates to a cleaning device applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of image forming apparatus, a toner image formed on the surface of a photoreceptor by processes such as charging, exposure, and development is transferred onto a transfer material such as paper in a transfer process. The toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor after the transfer process is
Since this hinders the next image forming process, it must be removed. Therefore, conventionally, a rubber blade is brought into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor, and the residual toner is scraped off by the rubber blade. They were collected in a collection container using a transportation means or the like.

[0003]

According to the prior art, the scraped toner is collected in the collection container by the conveying means, so that the accumulation and solidification of the toner near the rubber blade can be prevented. However, in the related art using a conveying unit including a screw-shaped rotating body, it is necessary to form a groove-shaped delivery path for enhancing the toner conveying effect, and thus the apparatus becomes complicated and large. There was a point. On the other hand, in the related art using the transporting means including the plate-like rotating body, there is a problem that the toner is solidified around the rotation region of the rotating body and a stable cleaning effect cannot be maintained for a long time.

[0004] Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus capable of maintaining a stable cleaning effect for a long period of time without causing the apparatus to be complicated and large.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cleaning device for removing a toner remaining on the surface of a photoreceptor after transferring a toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor to a transfer material, A scraping member for scraping off the toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor in contact with the photoconductor, a collection container for collecting the toner scraped by the scraping member,
A rotating shaft provided above the scraping member and rotated by a predetermined rotation diameter, and reciprocating with the rotation of the rotating shaft so as to convey the toner scraped off by the scraping member to the interior of the collection container. A cleaning device comprising a transport member to be moved.

[0006]

The toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor is scraped off by the scraping member. The scraped toner is
When the transport member reciprocates with the rotation of the rotation shaft, the transport member is transported to the back of the collection container. When at least two transfer surfaces extending in a direction parallel to the rotation axis are formed on the transfer member, and the distance between the transfer surfaces is set to be smaller than the rotation diameter of the rotation shaft, the toner is sequentially transferred to the inner side of the collection container on each transfer surface And the toner can be efficiently conveyed. In addition, if the rotation shaft is provided above the contact portion between the photosensitive member and the scraping member, the forward movement of the transport member can be started from above the contact portion where toner is most likely to accumulate. Can be reliably prevented. Further, when the photosensitive member and the rotating shaft are driven by the same driving means, it is possible to prevent an increase in the number of parts and an increase in the size of the apparatus.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a stable cleaning effect can be maintained for a long period of time without making the apparatus complicated and large. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0008]

FIG. 1 shows a cleaning apparatus 10 according to this embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an illustrative view showing a state in which is applied to the electrostatic printer 12. However, the cleaning device 10 can be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine and a facsimile. The electrostatic printer 12 includes a substantially cylindrical photoreceptor 14 that is rotated in the direction of an arrow by a motor (not shown). Around the photoreceptor 14, a charging device 16, a laser scan exposure device 18 , Toner developing device 2
0, the transfer device 22 and the cleaning device 10 are arranged in this order.

When the surface of the photosensitive member 14 uniformly charged by the charging device 16 is irradiated with a light image by the laser scan exposure device 18, the surface of the photosensitive member 14 is electrostatically charged according to its photoconductive characteristics. A latent image is formed. Then, this electrostatic latent image is developed with toner by the toner developing device 20. The toner image formed on the surface of the photoconductor 14 in this manner is transferred by the transfer device 22 onto a transfer material 24 such as paper supplied from a paper feeding device (not shown). The transfer material 24 onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to a toner fixing device 26, and is sent out after the toner image is fixed. The weight ratio of the toner transferred onto the transfer material 24 in the toner image formed on the surface of the photoconductor 14 is determined by the transfer device 2
Although it depends on the performance of No. 2, it is usually about 80% to 95%. Therefore, the remaining 5% to 20% of the toner remains on the surface of the photoconductor 14. In the cleaning step, the residual toner is removed by the cleaning device 10.

The cleaning device 10 includes a toner collecting container 28 disposed above the photoconductor 14. Collection container 2
An opening 30 is formed at the bottom of the photoconductor 8 at a position facing the photoconductor 14, and one end of the opening 30 is in contact with the surface of the photoconductor 14 at a predetermined pressure on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photoconductor 14. A blade-like scraping member 32 made of urethane rubber or the like is attached so as to be able to perform the cleaning. A crank-shaped rotary shaft 34 extending in the axial direction of the photoconductor 14 is provided above the contact portion between the photoconductor 14 and the scraping member 32 in the collection container 28. In FIG. 6, a grid-like transport member 38 is rotatably connected.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the transport member 38 includes support members 40a and 40b extending in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the photoconductor 14, and the support members 40a and 40b They are connected via connecting members 42a to 42d. The connecting members 42a to 42d are formed to have a triangular cross section in order to reduce the thickness of the distal end portion and secure a wider area for taking in the toner 44 (FIGS. 7 to 10). In the members 42a to 42d,
Transport surfaces 46a to 46d for transporting the toner 44 are formed. The distance d between the transfer surfaces is, as shown in FIG.
It is set smaller than the rotation diameter D of the rotation shaft 34. A bearing 48 is provided at one end of the transport member 38, and the transport member 38 and the rotating shaft 34 are rotatably connected via the bearing 48.

As shown in FIG. 5, a driving gear 50 is attached to an end of the rotating shaft 34, and the driving gear 50 is meshed with a driving gear 52 for driving the photosensitive member 14. Since a rotational force from a motor (not shown) is transmitted to the drive gear 52, the rotational force is transmitted to the rotary shaft 34 via the drive gear 50, and with the rotation of the rotary shaft 34, the transport member 38 The photosensitive member 14 is reciprocated in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis. Here, since the rotating shaft 34 is rotated in the opposite direction to the photosensitive member 14, the transport member 38 moves forward along the bottom of the collection container 28 toward the back.

The cleaning device 10 is integrally formed with the photoconductor 14 so that it can be replaced at the same time when the photoconductor 14 is replaced. Therefore, the capacity of the collection container 28 is set so that the amount of collected toner becomes almost 100% when the life of the photoconductor 14 is reached. In order to secure such a capacity without increasing the size of the apparatus, the collection container 28 is provided with the laser scan exposure apparatus 1.
It extends to the side 8 and is formed flat.

The operation of the cleaning device 10 will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7, when the toner 44 remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor 14 is scraped off by the scraping member 32, FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, the transfer surface 46a formed on the transfer member 38
The toner 44 is conveyed to the inner part of the collection container 28 by -46d. When the transport member 38 moves backward, the transport member 38 is lifted as shown in FIG.
Is not pushed forward. Since the distance d between the conveying surfaces is set to be smaller than the rotation diameter D of the rotating shaft 34 (FIG. 5), the toner 44 conveyed by the conveying surface 46a during the first forward movement of the conveying member 38.
Is transported by the transport surface 46b during the second forward movement, and transported by the transport surface 46c during the third forward movement. In this way, the transport surfaces 46a to 46d
The toner 44 is sequentially and efficiently conveyed to the back of the collection container 28.

According to this embodiment, the toner 44 can be efficiently conveyed only by providing the rotating shaft 34 and the conveying member 38 in the collection container 28. Therefore, a stable cleaning effect can be maintained for a long period of time without increasing the complexity and size of the apparatus. Further, the photosensitive member 14 and the rotating shaft 3
4 is rotated by the same motor, so that it is not necessary to separately provide a driving means for driving the transport member 38.

In the above embodiment, the transport member 38 is reciprocated by the crank-shaped rotary shaft 34. For example, as shown in FIG.
A straight rotary shaft 54 is provided eccentrically with respect to 0,
The transport member 38 may be reciprocated by the rotating shaft 54.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing a use state of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a transport member.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a transport member.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative view showing a state where a conveying member is attached to a rotating shaft;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which a transport member, a drive gear, and the like are attached to a rotating shaft.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative view showing a state in which residual toner is scraped off by a scraping member.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative view showing a state where toner is conveyed by a conveying member.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative view showing a state where toner is conveyed by a conveying member.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative view showing a state at the time of return of the transport member;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state in which a straight rotary shaft is attached to a drive gear.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Cleaning device 12 ... Electrostatic printer 14 ... Photoconductor 28 ... Toner collection container 30 ... Opening 32 ... Scrape-off member 34, 54 ... Rotating shaft 38 ... Transport member 40a, 40b ... Support member 42a-42d ... Connecting member 46a- 46d… Conveying surface

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 21/10-21/12

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cleaning device for removing a toner remaining on a surface of a photoreceptor after transferring a toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor to a transfer material, the cleaning device comprising: A scraping member for scraping off the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor, a collecting container for collecting the toner scraped by the scraping member, provided above the scraping member, and having a predetermined rotation diameter. A cleaning device, comprising: a rotating shaft that is rotated; and a transport member that reciprocates with the rotation of the rotary shaft so as to transport the toner scraped off by the scraping member to a deep portion of the collection container. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying member has at least two conveying surfaces extending in a direction parallel to the rotation axis and conveying the toner, and a distance between the conveying surfaces is smaller than the rotation diameter. The cleaning device according to claim 1. 3. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein said rotating shaft is provided above a contact portion between said photosensitive member and said scraping member. 4. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein said photosensitive member and said rotating shaft are driven by the same driving means.