JP3310059B2 - 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 which is used in the fields of a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile and the like using a photoreceptor cartridge and forms an image by an electrophotographic method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of a conventional image forming apparatus using a photoreceptor cartridge, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 04-256180, a conveyance failure generated when a transfer sheet is conveyed to a transfer section is disclosed. In order to prevent this, as shown in FIG.
Electrophotographic copying machine provided at the top has been proposed of. Here, the photoreceptor cartridge 20 having the intermediate transfer belt 25 and the photoreceptor drum 21 opens and closes the cover 4, and operates the photoreceptor cartridge 20 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. It can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 1.

An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a handle is provided without being affected by a transfer path of a transfer sheet when a photoreceptor cartridge is attached to or detached from an apparatus main body. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing such operations.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems To this invention to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the invention, forming a latent image formation and the image bearing member, a latent image corresponding to the image to the image bearing member Means, a developing device for developing the latent image with a developer, an intermediate transfer body for temporarily holding a visible image carried on the image carrier, and at least the image carrier and the intermediate transfer body. supporting, and a transport outlet for transporting the transfer sheet conveyed on the conveying path and the conveying path for conveying the transfer sheet to said intermediate transfer member top
It has a support provided on top and has an upper
Removable photoreceptor mosquito downward - and cartridge, an image forming apparatus having, a guide member for guiding the transfer paper conveyed to the transfer port to the intermediate transfer member, the handle to the guide member upper Is provided. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a part of the guide member is separated as a handle, and the handle is bent to the photoreceptor cartridge via a flexible sheet member. It is characterized by being connected as much as possible.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus as described above , wherein
A guide member is provided for guiding the transfer paper conveyed to the conveyance port located at the top of the cartridge to the intermediate transfer member, and the photoreceptor cartridge is moved relative to the image forming apparatus main body by a handle provided above the guide member. To desorb. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a part of the guide member is separated as a handle, and the handle is bent to the photoreceptor cartridge via a flexible sheet member. Connect as possible.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic color copying machine. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view showing the operation of replacing the photoreceptor cartridge. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body. As shown in FIG. 2, a cover -4 is rotatably held at one end of an opening 2 formed on the upper surface of the main body 1 by a fulcrum shaft 3 which is a fulcrum. In such a main body 1, a paper feed cassette 5, a paper feed roller 6 for pulling out the transfer paper in the paper feed cassette 5 one by one, and a transfer paper fed from the paper feed roller 6 are provided. And a latent image forming means 8 are provided. The latent image forming means 8 scans the laser light emitted from the light emitting element with the rotary polygon mirror 9 and irradiates the photosensitive member, which will be described later, via the fθ lens 9a and the mirror 9b. Alternatively, a light emitting element and a convergent light transmitting body may be combined and arranged on a line.

A revolver is provided above the latent image forming means 8.
A mold developing device 10 is provided. This developing device 10
Are a plurality of developing units 12, 13, 1, each using a different color developer on a rotating shaft 11 as a movable support.
It is formed by mounting 4,15. As shown in FIG. 5, these developing units 12 to 15 include a developing roller 16, a developer regulating member 17 for regulating the amount of the developer on the developing roller 16, and a developer supplying member 18. When,
And a developer stirring member 19.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a photoreceptor cartridge 20 is provided above the developing device 10. The photoconductor cartridge 20 includes a drum-shaped photoconductor 21, a charging member 22 in contact with the photoconductor 21,
The intermediate transfer belt 25 wound around the driving roller 23 and the driven roller 24 and in contact with the photosensitive member 21 is mounted on a case 26 as a support. The case 26 has a lid 26a which can be opened and closed at the upper part. The case 26 has a waste toner collecting section 27 for collecting waste toner on the photoreceptor 21 and a waste toner collecting section 27 on the intermediate transfer belt 25. A waste toner collecting section 28 for collecting the toner is provided.
In this embodiment, a drum-shaped photoconductor is used, but a belt-shaped photoconductor may be used.

As shown in FIG. 2, one of the waste toner collecting sections 27 has a cleaning brush in contact with the photosensitive member 21.
A collecting member 30 for collecting inward the waste toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 29, and a scraping member 31 for scraping off the waste toner attached to the collecting member 30. Have been. The other waste toner collecting unit 28
The cleaning blade 32 in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 25, the waste toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 32 is collected inward, and adheres to the recovery member 33. Scrapping member 3 for scraping waste toner
4 are provided.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, on the upper surface of the lid 26a of the case 26, a paper transport path 35 for guiding both sides of the transfer paper by ribs is formed. The transport path 35 includes a transport roller 36 and a registration roller.
And 37 are provided rotatably. Downstream of the registration rollers 37 and 40 along the paper transport path 35, a transport port 70 for transporting the transfer paper to the intermediate transfer belt 25 is formed in the case 26. 70
A guide member 72 for guiding the transfer paper to the intermediate transfer belt 25 is provided integrally with the case 26. Further, a handle 71 for taking out the photoreceptor cartridge 20 from the apparatus main body 1 is provided with a guide member 72.
Are provided integrally. The paper transport path 35 is the main body 1
Is connected to a paper feed passage 38 formed on the side surface of the sheet. A transport roller 39 abutting against the transport roller 36 and a registration roller 40 abutting against the registration roller 37 are rotatably provided on the inner surface of the cover 4. further,
A static elimination lamp 44 for neutralizing the photoconductor 21 is provided inside the photoconductor cartridge 20 or the main body 1.

Furthermore, a fixing device 41 for fixing the transferred image on the transfer sheet conveyed from the intermediate transfer belt 25, paper ejection b for discharging the transfer paper after the fixing - and La 42, paper ejection tray 4
3 are provided on the main body 1.

The holding unit 45 for holding the photoreceptor cartridge 20, a holding unit (not shown) for holding the developing device 10, and a holding unit 46 for holding the fixing device 41 include the main body 1. It is provided in. Also, the photoconductor car
A member 5 for guiding the photoreceptor cartridge 20 to the apparatus main body 1 when the cartridge 20 is attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 1.
7 is provided in the apparatus main body 1. The holder (not shown) and the holders 45 and 46 are arranged such that the photoconductor cartridge 2 is moved in a direction away from the pivot (fulcrum shaft 3) of the cover-4.
0, the developing device 10 and the fixing device 41 are arranged in the main body 1 so as to be taken out in this order.

As shown in FIG. 6, the fixing device 41 comprises:
Fixing roller 48 having a heat source 47 such as a halogen lamp.
And a pressure roller 49 pressed against the fixing roller 48. A roller-shaped transfer member 50 is arranged to face the drive roller 23 around which the intermediate transfer belt 25 is wound, and a transfer section is formed. These drive rollers 23
The position of the intermediate transfer belt 25 between the transfer member 50 and
It is located higher than the position of the nip 51 between the fixing roller 48 and the pressure roller 49. Therefore, the transfer paper 52 conveyed by the intermediate transfer belt 25 heads toward the nip portion 51 while hanging down naturally. Thus, there is no need to provide a special guide member between the intermediate transfer belt 25 and the fixing device 41.

In such a configuration, although not shown,
Image data is created by performing arithmetic processing on the data obtained by the color image input unit in the image data processing unit. This image data is temporarily stored in the image memory, and is input to the latent image forming means 8 of the color image forming apparatus of the present invention at the time of recording. The latent image forming means 8 scans laser light generated by a semiconductor laser by a rotary polygon mirror 9 driven by a motor. The laser light passes through the fθ lens 9a, the optical path of which is bent by the mirror 9b, and is irradiated on the photoreceptor 21. Since the photosensitive member 21 is charged by the charging member 22 to which a voltage has been applied in advance, a latent image is formed by the laser light from the latent image forming means 8. Here, the image pattern exposed by the latent image forming means 8 is a single color image pattern when a desired full-color image is separated into yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Each of the formed latent images is developed by developing units 12 to 15 using yellow, magenta, cyan, and black developers. In this case, when the developing device 10 is driven by the rotating shaft 11, each of the developing units 12 to 15 is sequentially transported to a position for supplying the developer to the photoconductor 21, and a single-color image is formed on the photoconductor 21 one by one. You. Then, in the process of rotating the photoconductor 21 clockwise and the intermediate transfer belt 25 counterclockwise, the monochrome image on the photoconductor 21 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 25. By repeating this operation, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black images are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 25 in a superimposed manner.

On the other hand, the transfer paper 52 pulled out from the paper supply cassette 5 is supplied to a paper transport path 35 through a paper feed path 38, and is transported by transport rollers 36, 39 and registration rollers 37, 4.
0, is guided by a transfer guide plate 72 provided integrally with the transfer port 70, guided to the transfer section, and the image on the intermediate transfer belt 25 is transferred to the transfer paper 52. Thereafter, the transfer paper 52 transferred image is fixed by the fixing device 41, paper discharge Russia - is paper ejection to the paper discharge tray 43 by La 42. In this case, the position at which the image is transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 25 to the transfer paper 52 is on the driving roller 23 that applies a rotational force to the intermediate transfer belt 25. Therefore, an image can be satisfactorily transferred at a fixed transfer position without being affected by fluctuations in the tension of the intermediate transfer belt 25.
Can be transferred to Of course, a corona charger may be used instead of the transfer member 50 using a roller.

Waste toner remains on the outer periphery of the photoreceptor 21 and the intermediate transfer belt 25. These waste toners are scraped off by cleaning blades 29 and 32, respectively, and a waste toner collecting section 27 is provided. Or 28. The photoreceptor 21 is discharged by the discharge lamp 44 every time an image is formed on the outer periphery thereof.

To remove the photoreceptor cartridge 20 from the apparatus main body 1 for replacement, first open the cover 4, and then lift the handle 71 integrally provided on the guide plate 72 with respect to the apparatus main body 1. The photoreceptor cartridge 20 is guided by the guide member 57, taken out of the apparatus main body 1, and replaced.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, a part of the guide plate 72 is formed as a handle portion 72a so as to extend upward with respect to the photoreceptor cartridge 20, and the handle portion 72a is cut off from the guide plate 72 and separated therefrom. Part 72a and guide plate 72
Then, a flexible sheet member 73 is attached thereto, the cutting section 74 is connected, and the handle section 72a and the guide plate 72 are connected. As the sheet member 73, any sheet member can be used as long as it has a higher bending ratio than the guide plate 72 and has a certain strength and can be attached.

The handle portion 72a is cut by the cut portion 74 connected by the sheet member 73 as a fold line, and the photosensitive member cartridge 2 is folded.
0, that is, the guide plate 72 can be folded.

When the photoreceptor cartridge 20 is taken out of the apparatus main body 1 for replacement, the cover-4 of the apparatus main body 1 is removed.
After opening the handle, as shown in FIG.
Is lifted up with respect to the apparatus main body 1 to perform an exchange operation.

[0022]

The present invention is as described above. According to the first aspect of the present invention, a transfer paper is provided with a simple structure in which a handle is provided on a guide member provided at a transport port at the uppermost portion of a photoreceptor cartridge. The photoreceptor cartridge can be easily attached and detached without obstructing the transport path of the photoconductor. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the handle which can be bent with respect to the photoreceptor cartridge is provided, the handle does not occupy a large space in the apparatus main body. Therefore, there is no inconvenience such that the handle portion interferes with other devices in the apparatus main body or the device body is enlarged due to the handle portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic color copying machine.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view showing a photoconductor cartridge replacement operation.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional front view of a main part showing a first embodiment of the present invention in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a main part showing a second embodiment of the present invention in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which a photoconductor cartridge is being taken out in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial front view illustrating a relationship between an intermediate transfer belt and a fixing device.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional front view showing a photoconductor cartridge replacement operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Opening part 3 Rotation fulcrum part 4 Cover 8 Latent image forming means 10 Developing device 20 Photoconductor cartridge 21 Photoconductor 23, 24 Drive roller 25 Intermediate transfer belt 26 Supporter 41 Fixing device 57 Guide Member 70 Conveyance port 71 Handle 72 Guide plate 72a Handle part 73 Sheet member 74 Cutting part

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-83076 (JP, A) JP-A-3-83077 (JP, A) JP-A-63-15266 (JP, A) JP-A-2-284164 (JP) JP-A-3-71159 (JP, A) JP-A-2-294673 (JP, A) JP-A-4-110871 (JP, A) JP-A-4-52656 (JP, A) 63-199369 (JP, A) JP-A-4-102866 (JP, A) JP-A-5-14657 (JP, A) JP-A-3-77940 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. . Cl ^7, DB name) G03G 15/00 550 G03G 21/16 - 21/18 G03G 15/01

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] And 1. A image bearing member, a latent image forming means for forming a latent image corresponding to the image to the image bearing member, a developing device for developing the latent image with a developer, carried on the image carrier Done
An intermediate transfer member for temporarily holding an image, integrally supports the at least the image bearing member the intermediate transfer body, the transfer sheet conveyed on the conveying path and the conveying path for conveying the transfer sheet to said intermediate transfer member a transfer port for conveying the photosensitive member mosquito detachable in the vertical direction with respect to the image forming apparatus main body has a support provided at the top - an image forming apparatus having a cartridge, transported to the transfer port A guide member for guiding the transfer paper to be transferred to the intermediate transfer member, and a handle provided above the guide member. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein a part of said guide member is separated as a handle, and said handle is foldably connected to said photoreceptor cartridge via a flexible sheet member. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.