JP2002333763A - Cleaning device for corona discharge device, and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that cost is high and a defective is easily produced in the conventional cleaning device for a corona discharge device where a lead screw is brazed and fixed on a screw shaft. SOLUTION: A supporting bar and the lead screw are put on ends and coupled through a coupling member.

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 for forming an image on a recording material by an electrophotographic method, and more particularly to a technique for cleaning a corona discharge device provided in the image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material by an electrophotographic method, a corona discharge device is used for charging a photosensitive member, transferring a toner image, and the like.

A corona discharge device generally has a discharge wire made of tungsten. However, dust such as toner, paper dust, and a discharge product generated by the discharge adheres to the discharge wire and impairs the charging performance and the static elimination performance. It is known. For this purpose, a cleaning device for cleaning the discharge wire is provided.

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-101561 discloses a cleaning device provided with a screw shaft and a coiled lead screw brazed at the center of the screw shaft as a drive mechanism for moving the wire cleaner along the discharge wire. I have. This technique has been proposed for the purpose of reducing the cost of the cleaning device.

[0005]

As described in the specification of the utility model, it is an important condition that the corona discharge device be provided at low cost.

[0006] However, in the cleaning device of the above-mentioned utility model, although the cost is reduced as compared with the conventional one,
There is a problem that it is not enough. That is, there is a problem that the cost increases because a step of brazing the lead screw to the screw shaft is included.

Further, in the cleaning device of the above-mentioned utility model, the brazed portion may hinder the movement of the wire cleaner, and the brazed portion is not satisfactorily performed, so that the wire cleaner does not move smoothly. There is a problem that is easy to come out.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional corona discharge device.

[0009]

The object of the present invention is as follows.
The invention is achieved by the following invention.

[0010] 1. A motor, a support rod provided in parallel with the discharge wire and driven to rotate by the motor, winding the support rod, a coil-shaped lead screw supported by the support rod, engaging the support rod at one end, A coupling member for transmitting the rotation of the support rod to the lead screw, a cleaning member for cleaning the discharge wire, and a transmission member for engaging with the lead screw, the driving member being driven by the lead screw to move along the discharge wire; A cleaning device for a corona discharge device, comprising: a wire cleaner that moves.

2. The cleaning device for a corona discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the lead screw has a linear portion at an end thereof, which penetrates the connecting member at a position off the center of rotation.

3. 2. The cleaning device for a corona discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the support rod has a D-cut end, and the end penetrates the connecting member.

4. In an image forming apparatus having a corona discharge device that performs at least one of charging and static elimination on at least one of a photoconductor, a recording material, and a recording material transporting body, the image forming apparatus according to any one of the above 1 to 3, An image forming apparatus comprising a cleaning device for the corona discharge device described above.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a so-called digital image forming apparatus, and includes an image reading section A, an image forming section B, a sheet feeding section C, and a conveying section D.

An automatic document feeder for automatically transporting a document is provided above the image reading section A.
The original placed thereon is separated and transported one by one by the original transport roller 12, and the image is read at the reading position 13a. The document for which the reading of the document has been completed is discharged onto the document discharge tray 14 by the document conveying roller 12.

On the other hand, the image of the original placed on the platen glass 13 is composed of a first mirror unit 15 composed of an illumination lamp and a first mirror constituting a scanning optical system, a second mirror positioned in a V-shape, and a third mirror. Scanning exposure is performed by the operation of the second mirror unit 16 including a mirror.

The read image is formed on a light receiving surface of an image sensor CCD as a line sensor through a projection lens 17. The optical information imaged on the image sensor CCD is sequentially photoelectrically converted into an electric signal (brightness signal), A / D converted, and subjected to processing such as density conversion and filter processing.
The image data is temporarily stored in a memory (not shown).

In the image forming section B, a drum-shaped photosensitive member 21
Charging device 22, developing device 23, exposure device 3
0, transfer device 24, separation device 25, cleaning device 2
6 are arranged in the order of operation. The photoconductor 21 is formed by applying a photoconductive compound on a drum substrate, and uses an organic photoconductor (OPC), for example, and is driven and rotated clockwise.

After the rotating photosensitive member 21 is uniformly charged by the charging device 22, the exposure device 30 performs image exposure based on the image signal called from the memory to form an electrostatic latent image. You.

The formed electrostatic latent image is subjected to reversal development by the developing device 23 to form a visible image by a toner image on the photosensitive layer surface of the photosensitive member 21. Below the image forming unit B, a paper feed unit 41 in which transfer papers P of different sizes are stored
(A), 41 (B), and 41 (C) are provided, and a manual paper feed unit 42 for performing manual paper feed is provided on the side. The selected transfer paper P is transported along the paper feed path 40 by the transport rollers 43, and the transfer paper P is temporarily stopped by the registration rollers 44 for correcting the inclination and deviation of the fed transfer paper, and then fed. Paper is transferred, the toner image on the photoconductor 21 is transferred to the transfer paper P by the transfer device 24 via the pre-transfer roller 44a, and then the electricity is removed by the separation device 25 to separate the transfer paper P from the surface of the photoconductor 21. The sheet is conveyed to the fixing device 50 by the conveying device 45.

The fixing device 50 has a fixing roller 51 and a pressure roller 52. By passing the transfer paper P between the fixing roller 51 and the pressure roller 52, the toner is heated and pressed to transfer toner. Weld. The transfer paper P on which the toner image on one side has been fixed is subjected to a double-sided image formation for forming a toner image on the other side according to a mode described below, or is discharged onto a discharge tray 64 in a state of a single-sided image.

When the double-sided image forming mode is selected,
The transfer paper P conveyed by the fixing paper discharge roller 61 after the image fixing on the front surface is lowered along the reversing conveyance path 60, is once carried into the switchback path 60a, is carried out, and the front and back surfaces are reversed. The paper is re-fed along the paper feed path 40 by the guide roller 43 through the paper feed path 60b for the back side, and the transfer paper P is temporarily stopped by the registration roller 44 for correcting the inclination and deviation of the transfer paper. Thereafter, re-feeding is performed, and the toner image of the back surface image formed on the photoreceptor 21 is transferred to the back surface of the transfer paper P by the transfer device 24, separated and conveyed, and discharged to the discharge tray 64 after fixing. Paper.

When the one-sided image forming mode is selected,
The transfer paper P on which the front surface image has been fixed proceeds straight and is discharged to the paper discharge tray 64, or is discharged to the paper discharge tray 64 whose top and bottom surfaces have been inverted by the inversion switching member 62.

In the present embodiment, the corona discharge device is provided with a wire cleaner.

The wire cleaner described below is provided in at least one of the charging device 22, the transfer device 24, and the separation device 25. The corona discharge device is used as a charging device or a static elimination device for a recording material or a recording material transporting body, in addition to the above-described photoconductor charging device, transfer device, and separation device.
The following cleaning device can also be used as a cleaning device for these corona discharge devices.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the corona discharge device 100. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 101 denotes a discharge wire made of tungsten and subjected to corona discharge by application of a high voltage;
3 is a wire supporting member made of an insulating material such as resin, 104
Is a back plate made of a metal plate.

Reference numeral 110 denotes a wire cleaner. The wire cleaner 110 reciprocates as indicated by an arrow W to clean the discharge wire 101. Wire cleaner 110
Are cleaning members 111 and 112 made of felt or the like.
Cleaning of the discharge wire 101 is performed. The cleaning members 111 and 112 are provided on the support arm 1 of the support member 113.
13A, 113B, and the discharge wire 1
01 is set to be sandwiched from both sides.

The wire cleaner 110 is made of an iron support rod 11.
6, and is driven by a lead screw 115 supported by a support rod 116 to move in the direction of the arrow W. The lead screw 115 is driven by a motor 118 to rotate.

The cleaning action of the wire cleaner 110 and the driving mechanism of the wire cleaner 110 will be described below.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3A is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 2, FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of a portion of the wire cleaner 110, and FIG. 3C is a top view of the wire cleaner 110. FIG. 3D is a cross-sectional view along YY in FIG. 2.

The wire cleaner 110 is a back plate 1
04 and a guide hole 104A parallel to the discharge wire 101
And moves in the guide hole 104A.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the cleaning members 111 and 112 are set so as to sandwich the discharge wire 101 from both sides.
As shown in (b), it is installed so that the contact position with respect to the discharge wire 101 is shifted. With such an arrangement,
The contact pressure between the cleaning members 111 and 112 can be increased. In the above contact state, the wire cleaner 11
Numeral 0 reciprocates as indicated by the arrow W, and the cleaning members 111 and 112 remove foreign matters such as toner, paper dust, and discharge products adhered to the discharge wire 101, and clean the discharge wire 101. The cleaning is performed when the image forming apparatus is started or at a predetermined number of image forming cycles.

The wire cleaner 110 has a transmission member 114 fixed to a support member 113 at an upper portion thereof. The transmission member 114 has two pairs of protrusions 114A and 114B.

The ridge 114A engages with the lead screw 115 at two places as shown in FIG.
Engages with the lead screw 115 at two locations facing the ridge 114A.

The lead screw 115 is made of a coiled iron wire, and is connected to the support rod 116 by a straight portion 115A provided at one end thereof. That is, the support bar 116 has a D-cut portion 116D at its end, and the D-cut portion 11D.
6D, the connecting member 117 is engaged, and the linear portion 115A penetrates the connecting member 117 at a position off the center of the rotation axis.
The D-cut portion 116D only needs to have a function of transmitting the rotation of the support rod 116 to the connecting member 117.
Other shapes of the cut, for example, a pin that engages with a hole provided in the connecting member 117 or a ridge that engages with a groove may be used.

Therefore, the rotation of the support rod 116 is
17 and the straight screw 115A, the lead screw 1
15 is transmitted. The support rod 116 is provided with a gear 119
Is driven by the motor 118 via the
18, the wire cleaner 110 is driven by the arrow W
Reciprocate like. Note that the linear portion 115A is
The gear 119 may be used as a connecting member for transmitting the rotation of the support rod 116 to the lead screw by penetrating the gear 19.

[0037]

According to the first, second or third aspect of the present invention, the step of connecting the lead screw to the support rod is omitted as a part of the assembling step, so that the manufacturing cost of the corona discharge device is reduced. In addition, since there is no obstacle to the movement of the wire cleaner, the cause of the defective product has been eradicated.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus is reduced, and the performance of the corona discharge device is maintained for a long period of time. Is realized at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the corona discharge device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a wire cleaner and a connecting portion between a support rod and a lead screw.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Corona discharge device 101 Discharge wire 102, 103 Wire support member 104 Back plate 110 Wire cleaner 111, 112 Cleaning member 113 Support member 114 Transmission member 115 Lead screw 116 Support rod 117 Connection member 118 Motor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A motor, a support rod provided in parallel with a discharge wire and rotated by the motor, a coil-shaped lead screw wound around the support rod and supported by the support rod, and a support rod at one end. A coupling member that transmits the rotation of the support rod to the lead screw, and a cleaning member that cleans the discharge wire and a transmission member that engages with the lead screw, and are driven by the lead screw. A cleaning device for a corona discharge device, comprising: a wire cleaner that moves along the discharge wire. 2. The cleaning device for a corona discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the lead screw has a straight portion at an end thereof, which penetrates the connecting member at a position off the center of rotation. 3. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the support bar has a D-cut end, and the end penetrates the connecting member. 4. An image forming apparatus having a corona discharge device for performing at least one of charging and discharging on at least one of a photosensitive member, a recording material, and a recording material transporting member. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a cleaning device for the corona discharge device according to any one of the above.