JPS6091382A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a developer from leaking from end parts of a blade, eliminate interference with the facing surface of a frame, and improve picture quality by moving and adjusting the blade when necessary. CONSTITUTION:When a holder 5 and the blade 4 are linked together, an opening 13 is formed at the intermediate part of the holder 5 and an adjusting plate 14 as an adjusting member is stacked thereupon. A stepped pipe 15 is fitted in the center of the plate 14 and a clamping screw 16 is inserted into the pipe and screwed into the blade 4 through the opening 13 of the holder 5 to fix the blade to the holder 5 in one body. An adjusting screw 20 is inserted into the oblong hole of the plate 14 and the oblong hole of the blade 4 and screwed into the holder. The screws 16 and 20 are loosened respectively to move and adjust the blade relatively to the holder 5 in the length ranges of the oblong holes 17 and 19, and then tightened up to fix the blade 4 to the holder 5 again in one body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sump cleaning device that is disposed near an image bearing member and that scrapes and cleans residual developer on the image bearing member with a blade.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

This type of cleaning device is arranged near an image carrier such as a drum-shaped photoreceptor in a copying machine, etc., and is configured to scrape off residual developer by bringing the grade into contact with the surface of the image carrier. ing.

In such a configuration, conventionally, the contact position of the punch with respect to the image carrier was fixedly determined by design.

However, today some machines have appeared in which the blade is rotatably supported by a support member constituting a blade holder that supports the blade, and the blade is rotated to a position where it contacts the image carrier only during a copying operation. Oh dear,
In such a structure, a problem arises due to the gap between the end of the blade and the opposing shield member that forms the sliding surface of the device body.

In other words, it is desirable to design such a gap so that it is virtually zero, but in reality, due to errors, the gap may become large, or the gap may disappear and the blade end may become misaligned with the shield member. In the former case, the quality of the formed image may be degraded by the developer leaking through the gap toward the image carrier and staining the image carrier. In the latter case, problems such as the end of the blade getting caught and obstructing rotation of the blade or causing damage to the blade have occurred. Therefore, for example, it is necessary to take measures such as providing a special side blade in order to clean the developer stains on the side edges of the image carrier. In particular, the transfer station that collects the developer
On the side where the developer is transferred by x-, the developer accumulates and swells up at the end, so this
If there is the above-mentioned gap at []j, the phenomenon of developer leakage will be severe, and the gap on this side will need to be adjusted.

In addition, the blade is axially insulated and has a long strip shape along the longitudinal direction of the image carrier, but if the accuracy of parallelism to the image carrier is not sufficient, the contact position will be biased, and as a result, the image There was a problem in that the cleaning operation was uneven along the longitudinal direction of the carrier, resulting in poor cleaning.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent leakage from the edge of the grade before development, and to prevent the edge of the grade and the facing surface of the frame facing therefrom. An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device that eliminates interference between images and ensures uniform contact between an image carrier and a blade, thereby improving image quality and accurately operating each component.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention basically provides an adjusting means for moving the blade relative to a support member that supports the blade.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, which is generally shown in a perspective view in FIG. is the axis of the support shaft of the photoreceptor. However, in FIGS. 4 and 5, the photoreceptor 2 and its support shaft 3 are shown.

A blade 4 as a cleaning member extends between the side plates Ja and fb of the frame 1, and behind the photoconductor 2 is a blade 4 as a cleaning member, a blade holder 5 serving as a support member for rotatably supporting the blade, and a blade holder 5 on the holder 5. A plurality of weight plates 6 are arranged to constitute a balancer, and both side plates 1 a + l
Moltoplane shield members 7 that serve as shields between the blades 4 and the end faces of the blades 4 are arranged on the inner surfaces of the blades 4b.

Furthermore, although not clearly visible in Figure 1, as seen in the exploded view of Figure 2, developer transfer tubes I3 and -8 are located at the rear of frame 1, and are scraped off from the frame. It operates to continuously transport the residual developer to the right in FIG.

An operating section 9 for rotating the blade and a gear drive section 10 for the transfer screw 8 are arranged on the outside of one side plate la, and a bearing section 11 for the transfer screw IJ, etc. is arranged on the outside of the other flj plate 1b. It is located.

As shown in FIG. 4, the blade 4 has a structure in which a tip 4a that contacts the photoreceptor 2 is made of urethane rubber, and is held between aluminum plates 4b from both sides. The blade holder 5 is made of a conductive metal plate such as iron, and both ends thereof are rotatably supported by the corresponding side plates 1a and Jb with respect to the axis X-X of the support shaft of the photoreceptor. The blade 4 is rotated around parallel axes. An electrically conductive bottle 12 made of iron or the like is caulked to one end 5a and protrudes from the support axis of the holder 5, that is, the pivot axis of the blade.

The connection between the holder 5 and the blade 4 is such that an opening 13 is provided in the middle of the holder 5, as shown in FIG.
An adjustment plate 14 serving as an adjustment member is placed on top of the adjustment plate 14, and a stepped pipe 15 is fitted into the center of the adjustment plate 14, and a tightening screw 16 is passed through it and connected to the lower plate ptt through the opening 13 of the holder 5. Screw it in to fix the blade to the holder 5 integrally. On the other hand, elongated holes 17 are formed on both sides of the adjustment plate 14 along the longitudinal direction of the blade, and correspondingly, similar elongated holes 17 are formed on the blade 4 on both sides of the screw holes 18 of the above-mentioned holes 16. A long hole 19 is formed, and an adjustment screw 20 (
(only one of which is shown in the figure) is inserted into each elongated hole 17, screwed into the holder 5, and inserted into the elongated hole 19 below. Then, by loosening the tightening screw 16 and the adjusting screw 20, the blade 4 is moved longitudinally relative to the holder 5 within the length range of the elongated holes 17, 19.
After the adjustment, by tightening both the blades 16 and 20, the blade 4 is integrally fixed to the holder 5 again.

The elongated hole 17 and the adjustment lever 20 on the adjustment plate 14 serve to determine the adjustment range of the blade 4 and to guide the accurate f8 movement of the blade 4 in the longitudinal direction.

Hikoo, if the pair of left and right elongated holes 17 are shaped to have a slight margin in the width direction, the blade 4 can be moved not only in the longitudinal direction but also in the lateral or width direction with respect to the blade holder 5 as a support member. It is possible to accurately set the contact position of the blade 4 with respect to the photoreceptor as an image carrier, and also to eliminate uneven contact of the blade 4 along the longitudinal direction.

As mentioned above, the adjusting plate 14, the stepped pipe 15 fitted thereto, the tightening screw 16, the adjusting screw 17, etc. constitute an adjusting means, which enables relative movement of the blade 4 with respect to the holder 5. It is.

The stepped guide f15 and the tightening screw 16 in this adjustment means
is located at the center in the longitudinal direction of the blade 4 and the holder 5, and since the center of the accurate position is first set here, the parallelism of the blade 4 to the photoreceptor can be easily and accurately adjusted. .

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the blade 4 and holder 5 have screw holes and blank holes formed on the left and right sides of the blade 4 and the holder 5, in addition to the adjustment means, into which a mounting bolt (not shown) is inserted. Although the blade 4 is attached to the holder 5, it is only for fixing the blade 4 over its entire length in the longitudinal direction, and is an auxiliary item for adjusting the position.

The adjustment of the gap between the blade 4 and the shield member 7 facing the edge thereof will be described later with reference to FIG.

Next, the operation section 9 will be explained. A conductive bottle 12 protruding outward from the side plate 1a has a rotating blade 22.
is fixed with a screw, and the bent free end of the lever 22 is engaged with one arm 24a of a sononoid operating lever 24 pivotally mounted on a shaft 23 provided in the side plate 1a. death·
The other arm 24b of the gouge 24 has a gouge 25 that urges the lever 24 counterclockwise in FIG. . When the printer 24 is in the illustrated position, the blade 4 is at a distance away from the surface of the photoreceptor 2, and no copying operation is being performed.

Although not shown, when the copying machine's print button is pressed to start copying, the solenoid biases the lever 24 clockwise against the spring 25.
The blade 4 also rotates clockwise following the arm 248 of the scissor 24 due to the action of the heavy plate 6, and moves the blade 4 to the contact position with the photoreceptor 2 (FIG. 4). Even if the lever 24 rotates further, the lever 23 is stopped at the position where the blade 4 contacts the photoreceptor 2 and is separated from the arm 24a of the lever 24.

In the cleaning device of this embodiment, a conductive bush 27 made of iron or the like is attached to a conductive bottle 12 provided in the holder 5.
A conductive connecting member 28 made of an iron plate or the like is fitted onto the boom 27, and a conductive bushing 29 made of iron or the like is fitted onto the support shaft 3 of the photoreceptor 2 at the other end of the connecting member 28. It has a configuration in which it is fitted onto the top. The bushing 27 is fitted into the hole 30 of the side plate la in a non-rotatable manner and rotatably supports the bottle 12. Further, the bush 29 similarly rotatably supports the support shaft 3 of the photoreceptor, and these bushes 27 and 29 also serve as bearings.

Therefore, the vial 12 is electrically connected to the support shaft 3 of the photoreceptor through the connecting member 28, and since the support shaft 3 itself is grounded to the ground via the frame 1 etc., the support shaft 3 is used as a grounding body. The bottle 12, ie the blade 4 and the blade holder 5 are in a grounded state. For this reason, the blade 4 and holder 5 are prevented from coming into direct contact with the photoreceptor 2.
All of the static electricity generated on the photoreceptor can be released to the support shaft 3 side of the photoreceptor by means of grounding means such as the bottle 12 and the connecting member 28.

Therefore, the residual developer is not adsorbed on the blade or the grade holder which is separated from the photoreceptor after the cleaning operation is completed, and can be sufficiently dropped downward and collected. Therefore, when the blade contacts the photoreceptor again during the next copy cycle, it does not deposit developer on the photoreceptor and therefore does not cause problematic black streaks on the image.

The residual developer collected by the blade 4 is sequentially sent in one direction toward the side plate 1b by a transfer screen 8 placed at the lower rear. By the way, as shown in FIG. 7, the corresponding end 4& of the blade 4 is positioned close to the maltplane shield member 7 disposed inside the side plate 1b so that the gap G therebetween is as small as possible. It is desirable to be left behind. This is because, if the gap G is large enough, the developer that has been moved to the right in the screen diagram by the screen 8 will not have high fluidity, so it will pile up in a mountain shape at the right end area. This is because there is a risk that a portion of this developer may enter the gap G and enter the gap on the end face of the photoreceptor in front, staining the side edges of the photoreceptor.

According to the present invention, the blade 4 can be adjusted and moved ζ by using the configuration of the adjustment means described in connection with FIG. 2, so that the gap G1 can be adjusted to be as small as possible, that is, to be substantially zero.

That is, since the holder 5 is fixed in the longitudinal direction between the side plates 1a and lb, the blade 4 is moved relative to the holder 5 at the adjustment plate 14 for adjustment. Move it to one side and fix it again at a position where the gap G becomes substantially zero.

Note that if the end 4a of the blade 4 strongly hits the corresponding end surface of the shield member 7 and the rotation of the grade 4 is not smooth, it is sufficient to adjust the grade by slightly moving it in the opposite direction, so that the corresponding surface of the blade edge and Damage to the blade such as curling due to interference can also be avoided.

Note that since the other end of the screw 8 has a developer feed rate of 1, the phenomenon of developer swelling as shown in FIG. 7 is not observed, and therefore the gap between the blades is There are so many problems.

In any case, by adjusting the movement of the blade 4 relative to the holder 5 in any direction in the longitudinal direction or in the lateral or width direction, the relative position between the blade and the image carrier can be adjusted. Adjustment, adjustment of the gap between the end of the grade and the corresponding surface of the frame of the device main body, etc. can be easily and accurately performed.

In addition, although the embodiment shows a floating structure in which the blade rotates, it may also be applied to a fixed structure in which the blade does not rotate, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since the blade can be moved and adjusted as necessary, leakage of developer from the end of the blade can be prevented, and the frame between the end of the blade and the frame opposite thereto can be prevented. It has extremely great effects, such as eliminating interference with the opposing surface of the blade, ensuring uniform contact between the image carrier and the blade, and improving image quality.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention with the photoreceptor removed, FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the cleaning device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a blade operating section and grounding means. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-r' in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a right side view in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of part A in FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged explanatory diagram illustrating the gap at the end of the blade. 2... Photoreceptor, 4... Blade, 5... Blade holder, 7... Shield member, 14... Adjustment plate,
15...Stepped iE Eve, 16...Tightening screw, 17.
··Adjustment screw. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figures 3 and 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) In a cleaning device that is disposed near an image bearing member and is used to scrape off residual developer on the image bearing member with a blade, the blade is moved relative to a support member that supports the blade. A cleaning device characterized by being provided with an adjusting means for moving. (2) The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the support member supports the blade rotatably around an axis parallel to the support shaft of the image carrier. (3) The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting means allows the grade to be adjusted and moved in the longitudinal direction of the image carrier with respect to the support member. (4) Adjustment movement of the blade in the longitudinal direction adjusts the gap between the end of the blade and a shield member provided on the main body of the cleaning device opposite thereto. Cleaning device as described in section. (5) The adjustment means includes a supporting member (an adjustment member provided on the opposite side of the blade at d, a stepped groove fitted into the adjusting member, and a stepped groove inserted into the stepped groove). A tightening screw that is screwed onto the blade through an opening formed in the support member, and a position where the blade is moved relative to the support member in the longitudinal direction of the image carrier within the range of the elongated hole formed in the adjustment member. 4. The cleaning device according to claim 3, further comprising an adjustment screw for fixing the cleaning device.