JP5007700B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a composite machine of these, and in particular, includes a photosensitive unit provided with a photosensitive member and a developing roller for conveying the developer to the photosensitive member. In an image forming apparatus in which the developing unit can be separated, the photosensitive unit and the developing unit can be separated to easily perform the work of separately exchanging the photosensitive unit and the developing unit. This is characterized in that the positional relationship between the body and the developing roller can be appropriately set.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, facsimiles, and multifunction machines of these have various configurations.

  As one of such image forming apparatuses, in recent years, a photoconductor unit provided with a photoconductor and a development unit provided with a developing roller for conveying the developer to the photoconductor are provided in a separable manner. A photoconductor unit and a development unit that can be individually replaced are used.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus as described above, when the photoreceptor unit and the development unit are provided to be separable, the photoreceptor unit and the development unit are rotated by pins as shown in Patent Documents 1 to 4 and the like. Proposed to be mounted movably.

  However, when the photosensitive unit and the developing unit are rotatably attached by the pins as described above, it is necessary to remove the above-mentioned pins in order to separate and replace the photosensitive unit and the developing unit. Therefore, the work of separating and replacing the photosensitive unit and the developing unit is cumbersome and time-consuming, and the positional accuracy of the pin is deteriorated or the pin is deformed. There has been a problem that the positional relationship with the developing roller in the unit fluctuates, making it impossible to form a good image.

  Further, as shown in Patent Document 5, pins are provided on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the developing unit, while overhanging side walls provided with support holes for inserting the pins are provided on both sides of the photosensitive unit. There has also been proposed a structure in which the photosensitive unit and the developing unit are provided so as to be separable by elastically deforming the side wall and inserting or removing the pin into or from the support hole.

However, the operation of elastically deforming the overhanging side wall and inserting or removing the pin into or from the support hole is troublesome, and if the above operation is repeated many times, the overhanging side wall is However, it gradually plastically deforms, changing the positional relationship between the photoconductor in the photoconductor unit and the developing roller in the developing unit, resulting in problems such as failure to form a good image and breakage of the protruding side wall. It was.
JP-A-6-110263 JP-A-8-110748 JP 2000-293086 A JP 2001-154565 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-271654

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a photoconductor unit including a photoconductor and a developing unit including a developing roller that conveys a developer to the photoconductor are detachable. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to easily perform the work of separately exchanging the photosensitive unit and the developing unit and to appropriately set the positional relationship between the photosensitive member and the developing roller. Is.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problems, a photoconductor unit provided with a photoconductor and a development unit provided with a developing roller that conveys developer to the photoconductor can be separated. In the image forming apparatus provided in the image forming apparatus, a rotating member that rotates about a fulcrum is provided on at least one axial end side of the photosensitive member in the photosensitive unit, and the developing member in the developing unit is provided on the rotating member. A holding portion that holds the developing roller rotatably while being in contact with a rotating shaft portion on one end side of the roller and an operation portion that rotates and rotates the rotating member to hold and release the developing roller by the holding portion are provided. An urging means for urging the holding portion of the rotating member in contact with the rotating shaft portion of the developing roller is provided so that the photosensitive unit and the developing unit are separated in the vertical direction.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the rotating shaft portion of the developing roller may be the rotating shaft itself of the developing roller or a rotating roller rotatably attached to the rotating shaft of the developing roller. However, in particular, when the holding portion of the rotating member is held in contact with a rotating roller rotatably attached to the rotating shaft of the developing roller, the developing roller rotates due to contact with the holding portion. It is no longer suppressed.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the rotating member and the urging unit may be provided at least on one end side in the axial direction of the photoconductor in the photoconductor unit. In order to make it easier to separate the photosensitive member and the positional relationship between the photosensitive member and the developing roller, the rotating member and the urging means are connected to the photosensitive member in the photosensitive member unit. It is preferable to be provided on both sides in the axial direction.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the photosensitive unit and the developing unit are separated in the vertical direction, the photosensitive unit is mounted on the upper side of the developing unit, and the rotating member is It is preferable not to protrude downward from the photoreceptor unit.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, in order to hold the developing roller at an appropriate position with respect to the photosensitive member in the photosensitive unit, the developing roller is particularly suitable at a position facing the photosensitive member with a required interval. It is preferable to provide a positioning member that is brought into contact with the rotating shaft portion of the developing roller held by the holding portion of the rotating member.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, as described above, a rotating member that rotates about a fulcrum is provided on at least one axial end side of the photosensitive member in the photosensitive unit, and the holding portion of the rotating member is the above-described developing member. The unit is brought into contact with the rotating shaft portion on one end side of the developing roller in the unit so that the developing roller is rotatably held by the holding portion, and the operation portion provided on a different side through the holding portion and the above fulcrum. The developing member is rotated to hold and release the developing roller by the holding unit.

  For this reason, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the photosensitive member unit is attached to the developing unit by rotating the rotating member by the operation unit and holding and releasing the developing roller by the holding unit. The operation of separating the photosensitive unit from the developing unit can be easily performed, and the operation of individually replacing the photosensitive unit and the developing unit can be easily performed.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, since the photosensitive unit and the developing unit are separated in the vertical direction, the photosensitive unit is moved to the developing unit while operating the rotating member provided on the photosensitive unit. Therefore, it is possible to easily replace the photoconductor unit and the developing unit separately.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the photosensitive unit is mounted on the upper side of the developing unit, the photosensitive unit is lifted while operating the rotating member provided on the photosensitive unit. It is possible to easily separate the photoconductor unit from the developing unit upward and to replace the photoconductor unit and the developing unit individually. Further, if the rotating member does not protrude downward from the photosensitive unit, the rotating member does not get in the way, and the photosensitive unit can be easily packed.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the rotating member and the urging means are provided on both sides of the photosensitive member in the axial direction of the photosensitive member, the photosensitive unit is attached to the developing unit or the photosensitive unit. Can be separated from the developing unit more easily, the work of replacing the photosensitive unit and the developing unit individually can be performed more easily, and the positional relationship between the photosensitive member and the developing roller is appropriately set. It becomes easy to set.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a positioning member for positioning the developing roller by contacting the rotating shaft portion of the developing roller held by the holding portion is provided, and the rotating shaft portion of the developing roller is connected to the rotating shaft portion of the developing roller. If the positioning member is brought into contact with the positioning member in addition to the holding portion, the developing roller is appropriately held at a predetermined position by the holding portion and the positioning member. Therefore, it is possible to easily hold at an appropriate position facing each other.

  Next, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to those shown in the following embodiments, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within a range not changing the gist thereof.

  In the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the photosensitive member 11, the charging device 12 for charging the photosensitive member 11, and the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member 11 after the transfer are removed. The photosensitive unit 10 provided with the cleaning device 13 and the developing unit 20 provided with the developing roller 21 that conveys the developer to the photosensitive member 11 are made separable, and each of the four photosensitive units 10 and 10 is separated. A developing unit 20 is provided in the main body 1 of the image forming apparatus, and each developing unit 20 contains a developer containing toners of different colors of black, yellow, magenta, and cyan. In this embodiment, the photosensitive member 11 and the developing roller 21 are provided so as to face each other with a required interval. However, the photosensitive member 11 and the developing roller 21 may be provided so as to contact each other. It is.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, when full-color image formation is performed, the photoreceptor 11 in each photoreceptor unit 10 is rotated, and the surface of each photoreceptor 11 is charged by the charging device 12. Then, each of the charged photoreceptors 11 is exposed according to the image data by the exposure device 31 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of each photoreceptor 11.

  Then, a developer containing toner of each color is conveyed to each photoconductor 11 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed in this manner by a developing roller 21 provided in each corresponding developing unit 20, and A toner image of each color corresponding to the electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the body 11.

  Next, the toner images of the respective colors formed on the respective photoconductors 11 are primarily transferred sequentially to an intermediate transfer body 33 in the form of an endless belt that is driven around a roller 32. A full-color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer member 33, and a residue such as toner remaining on the surface of each photoconductor 11 after the toner image is transferred is provided in each photoconductor unit 10. Further, the cleaning device 13 is used to remove the surface of each photoconductor 11.

  The full-color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer member 33 as described above is guided to a position facing the roller-like secondary transfer device 34, and the sheet-like recording medium S is transferred to the intermediate transfer member. 33 and the secondary transfer device 34, the full-color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer body 33 by the secondary transfer device 34 is secondarily transferred to the recording medium S, while the full-color toner image Residue such as toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer member 33 after the toner is transferred is removed from the surface of the intermediate transfer member 33 by the cleaning device 36.

  Then, the recording medium S to which the full color toner image is transferred as described above is guided to the fixing device 35 and the transferred full color toner image is fixed to the recording medium S, and then the full color toner image is fixed. The recording medium S is discharged.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, when the photosensitive unit 10 and the developing unit 20 are provided so as to be separable in the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. The rotating roller 21b is rotatably attached to the rotating shaft 21a of the developing roller 21, while the rotating shaft 21a of the developing roller 21 is disposed on the inner surface side of the side wall 10a at the axial end of the photosensitive member 11 in the photosensitive unit 10. And a pivot member 15 that pivots about a fulcrum 15a.

  In this embodiment, the rotating member 15 is provided with a holding portion 15b that contacts the rotating roller 21b that is rotatably attached to the rotating shaft 21a of the developing roller 21 and holds the developing roller 21 rotatably. At the same time, an operating portion 15c is provided on a different side via the holding portion 15b and the fulcrum 15a to hold and release the developing roller 21 by the holding portion 15b.

  Further, a biasing member 16 made of a pressing spring is attached to the operating portion 15c of the rotating member 15, and the operating portion 15c is biased so as to push the holding portion 15b. The gripping part 18 for gripping the photoreceptor unit 10 is provided on the side wall 10a of the photoreceptor unit 10 at a position away from the operation part 15c. .

  Further, in this embodiment, the positioning member 17 is provided so as to face the holding portion 15b via the rotating roller 21b, and the rotating roller 21b of the developing roller 21 held by the holding portion 15b as described above is provided. The positioning member 17 is brought into contact with the positioning member 17 at a position different from the holding portion 15b, and the positioning member 17 is moved along a straight line L1 connecting the center of the photosensitive member 11 and the center of the developing roller 21. It is attached to the side wall 10a of the photoconductor unit 10 so that it can.

  Here, when mounting the positioning member 17 so as to be movable along the straight line L1 connecting the center of the photoconductor 11 and the center of the developing roller 21 as described above, the positioning member 17 is moved along the straight line L1. An elongated hole 17a is provided, and the positioning member 17 is attached to the side wall 10a of the photoreceptor unit 10 by a screw 17b through the elongated hole 17a. Then, the positioning member 17 is slid along the elongated hole 17a to adjust the distance between the photosensitive member 11 and the developing roller 21, and then the screw 17b is tightened to fix the positioning member 17 to the photosensitive unit. 10 side walls 10a.

  When the rotating roller 21b of the developing roller 21 held by the holding unit 15b as described above is brought into contact with the positioning member 17 at a position different from the holding unit 15b, the rotating roller 21b The holding portion 15b is brought into contact with the positioning member 17 at two locations, and the three contact positions are set to divide the circumference of the rotary roller 21b into three equal parts.

  In this way, when the rotating roller 21b of the developing roller 21 is brought into contact with the three portions of the holding portion 15b and the positioning member 17, the rotating roller 21 of the developing roller 21 does not rattle and is predetermined. So that the developing roller 21 is appropriately held at a predetermined position facing the photosensitive member 11 with a predetermined interval by the holding portion 15b and the positioning member 17. Become.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, the photosensitive unit 10 and the developing unit 20 are separated in the vertical direction, and either or both of the photosensitive unit 10 and the developing unit 20 are replaced. These are taken out from the image forming apparatus main body 1.

  Then, in a state where the grip portion 18 provided on the side wall 10a of the photoconductor unit 10 is gripped, the operation portion 15c of the rotation member 15 is pushed against the biasing member 16 made of the pressing spring to rotate the rotation member. 15 is rotated, and the holding portion 15b of the rotating member 15 in contact with the rotating roller 21b of the developing roller 21 is rotated in a direction away from the rotating roller 21b of the developing roller 21, and this holding portion 15b is rotated. The holding of the developing roller 21 is released.

  Next, the holding of the developing roller 21 by the holding portion 15b is released as described above, and the photosensitive unit 10 is lifted upward while holding the gripping portion 18 and the operation portion 15c, as shown in FIG. Then, the photosensitive unit 10 is separated above the developing unit 20 and either one or both of the photosensitive unit 10 and the developing unit 20 is exchanged.

  Further, when one or both of the photosensitive unit 10 and the developing unit 20 are exchanged and used in the image forming apparatus as described above, the gripping portion 18 provided on the photosensitive unit 10 is gripped as described above. In the state where the photosensitive member unit 10 is held, the operation portion 15c is pushed against the urging member 16, and the rotating member 15 is rotated so as to open the holding portion 15b of the rotating member 15. The rotating roller 21b of the developing roller 21 is guided between the holding portion 15b and the positioning member 17.

  After that, the pressing of the operation unit 15c is released, and the rotation member 15 is rotated by the biasing member 16 so that the holding unit 15b contacts the rotation roller 21b of the developing roller 21. As described above, the rotating roller 21b of the developing roller 21 is brought into contact with the holding portion 15b and the positioning member 17 to position the developing roller 21, so that the photosensitive member 11 and the developing roller 21 face each other with a predetermined interval. Thus, the photosensitive unit 10 is mounted on the developing unit 20.

  Here, when the interval between the photoconductor 11 and the developing roller 21 in the newly installed photoconductor unit 10 and the development unit 20 varies, the positioning member 17 is set to the center of the photoconductor 11 as described above. The positioning member 17 is moved so as to move along a straight line L1 connecting the center of the developing roller 21 held by the holding portion 15b and the photosensitive member 11 and the developing roller 21 face each other with a predetermined interval. After the position is adjusted, the positioning member 17 can be fixed to the side wall 10a of the photoreceptor unit 10.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, when the holding unit 18 and the operation unit 15c of the rotating member 15 are grasped and the photosensitive unit 10 is lifted upward, as shown in FIG. If the photosensitive member unit 10 is provided, the photosensitive member unit 10 can be held more securely, and when the photosensitive member unit 10 is attached to the developing unit 20 or when the photosensitive member unit 10 is separated from the developing unit 20, 10 is reliably prevented from slipping out of the hand, and the operation of individually replacing the photoconductor unit 10 and the developing unit 20 can be performed more easily and safely.

  In the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, the developing roller 21 is held at a position facing the photoconductor 11 with a predetermined interval by the holding portion 15b of the rotating member 15. It can also be held in contact with the photoreceptor 11.

1 is a schematic explanatory view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the image forming apparatus of the above embodiment, it is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which a photosensitive unit and a developing unit are provided in a separable manner. FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a state where a photosensitive unit and a developing unit are separated in the image forming apparatus of the embodiment. In the image forming apparatus according to the above-described embodiment, when the photosensitive unit and the developing unit are provided in a separable manner, it is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which a non-slip portion is provided in the operation portion of the rotating member.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus main body 10 Photoconductor unit 10a Side wall 11 Photoconductor 12 Charging device 13 Cleaning device 14 Bearing part 15 Rotating member 15a Support point 15b Holding part 15c Operation part 15d Non-slip part 16 Energizing member 17 Positioning member 17a Slot 17b Screw 18 Grasping part 20 Developing unit 21 Developing roller 21a Rotating shaft 21b Rotating roller 31 Exposure device 32 Roller 33 Intermediate transfer member 34 Secondary transfer device 35 Fixing device 36 Cleaning device L1 A straight line connecting the center of the photosensitive member and the center of the developing roller S Recording medium

Claims (6)

  In an image forming apparatus in which a photoconductor unit including a photoconductor and a developing unit including a developing roller that conveys a developer to the photoconductor are detachably provided, at least the photoconductor in the photoconductor unit is provided. A rotating member that rotates about a fulcrum is provided on one axial end side, and the developing roller can be rotated by contacting the rotating member on one end side of the developing roller in the developing unit. A holding portion that holds the developing roller and an operation portion that holds and releases the developing roller by the holding portion by rotating the rotating member, and the holding portion of the rotating member contacts the rotating shaft portion of the developing roller. An image forming apparatus comprising: an urging unit that urges the contacted state to be in contact; and the photosensitive unit and the developing unit are separated in a vertical direction.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating member and the urging unit are provided on both sides of the photosensitive member in the axial direction of the photosensitive member.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating shaft portion of the developing roller is a rotating roller rotatably attached to the rotating shaft of the developing roller, and the rotating roller is configured to rotate the rotating roller. An image forming apparatus, wherein a holding portion of a member is brought into contact.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive unit is mounted on an upper side of the developing unit, and the rotating member protrudes downward from the photosensitive unit. An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus is provided so as not to occur.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a positioning member that abuts on a rotation shaft portion of the developing roller held by the holding portion of the rotating member. An image forming apparatus.   6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the developing roller is held at a position facing the photosensitive member by a holding unit by the holding unit. Image forming apparatus.

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