JPH0143729Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor by arranging a large number of light emitting diodes in a line horizontally with respect to the photoreceptor and causing the light emitting diodes to emit light in accordance with the pattern to be printed. The present invention relates to an optical printer that forms images and visualizes them using an electrophotographic process.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the above-mentioned optical printer, in which 1 is a photosensitive drum that rotates in the direction of the arrow, 2 is a charger that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum, and 3 is a large number of light emitting diodes. a printing head for forming an electrostatic latent image in the form of a dot pattern by arranging the light emitting diodes in a horizontal line in a staggered manner and arranging the light output from the light emitting diodes in a line in the horizontal direction on the photosensitive drum using a focusing rod lens; 4 is a developing device that develops the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 with toner;
5 is a printing paper; 6 is a transfer/separation corona discharger that promotes the transfer of the toner image onto the printing paper 5 and also facilitates the peeling of the printing paper 5 from the photosensitive drum 1; a peeling belt for peeling off the printing paper 5; 8 an erasing lamp; 9 removing residual toner on the photosensitive drum 1;
It is a magnetic brush cleaner that cleans the surface.

In an optical printer having such a configuration, the distance between the printing head 3 and the photosensitive drum 1 is very important. That is, the printing head 3 directs the light from the light emitting diode onto the photosensitive drum 1 by means of a focusing rod lens as described above, but the focal point of the lens must be placed at the position of the photosensitive member of the photosensitive drum 1. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the printing head 3 is attached to a part 10a of the side frame so that the focal point is at the position of the photoconductor no matter what rotational position the photoconductor drum 1 is at.
10b so as to be movable toward the center of the photosensitive drum 1, follower rollers 11 are rotatably attached to both sides of the head of the printing head 3, and the entire printing head 3 is pressed toward the photosensitive drum 1 by a spring or the like. . The follower roller 1
1 cannot be brought into direct contact with the photoconductor portion 1a of the photoconductor drum 1, as shown in FIG.
It is adapted to come into contact with the non-photosensitive portions 1b on both sides of the photosensitive drum 1. Similarly, the magnetic brush cleaner 9 also includes a follower roller 9a that comes into contact with the non-photoreceptor portion 1b in order to maintain a constant distance between the photoreceptors of the photoreceptor drum 1.

In this way, in the above optical printer, the components that need to maintain a constant distance from the photosensitive drum 1 are each equipped with a follower roller that follows the surface of the non-photosensitive portion 1b of the photosensitive drum 1. The toner from the container 4 enters this non-photoreceptor portion 1b and remains stuck thereon without being removed by the magnetic brush cleaner 9, causing the distance to the photoreceptor to fluctuate when the follower roller passes over it. There was a problem. Also, the first
When the peeling belt 7 shown in the figure is provided, the peeling belt 7 is normally brought into contact with the non-photosensitive portion 1b of the photosensitive drum 1, so if toner enters the non-photosensitive portion 1b as described above, this causes There was a problem that the printing paper 5 could also get dirty.

This invention aims to solve the above problem.
a cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the photosensitive drum that is in contact with the tracing means such as the follower roller;
a toner collection gutter having a letter-shaped cross-sectional shape and provided substantially directly below the sliding portion between the optical drum and the cleaning means so as to cause the toner to fall to the outside of the photosensitive drum; A collected toner accumulating means is provided at a position for accumulating the collected toner.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

4 and 5 show the main parts of one embodiment of the present invention, and the configuration of other parts is the same as that of FIGS. 1 to 3, so they are omitted.

In the figure, reference numeral 12 denotes a cleaner that scrapes toner off the non-photosensitive portion 1b of the photosensitive drum 1 at the lower part of the developing unit 4, and a holder that firmly holds the felt 13 in direct contact with the non-photosensitive portion 1b. It consists of part 14. The support portion 14 has a substantially L-shaped cross section, and its vertical portion serves to dam up the scraped toner. The cleaners 12 are provided as a pair of left and right, with the cleaner 12a on the left facing downward to the left, and the cleaner 12a on the right facing downward.
b are installed tilted downward to the right. This is to allow the toner accumulated on the felt 13 to fall into the respective toner containers 15a and 15b.

Now, as mentioned above, move the cleaner 12 to the photosensitive drum 1.
, the non-photoreceptor portion 1b of the toner attached to the photoreceptor drum 1 in the developing device 4
The toner that has entered is scraped off when passing through this cleaner 12. Therefore, there is no toner in the non-photoreceptor portion 1b of the magnetic brush cleaner 9 and print head 3 that the follower rollers 9a and 11 come into contact with, and the distance between the magnetic brush cleaner 9 and print head 3 and the photoreceptor 1a is always constant. is maintained.

As described above, according to the present invention, the distances between the printing head and the photoconductor and between the magnetic brush cleaner and the photoconductor do not fluctuate and are always kept constant, which has the effect of making the print quality clear and uniform. Also, it has the effect of removing toner stains on the printing paper and photoconductor, and the toner removed from the non-photoconductor area adheres to the gears and sliding surfaces inside the printer, causing malfunction of these gears and sliding surfaces. This has the effect of preventing abnormal wear. In the above embodiment, the cleaner 12 is provided between the developing device 4 and the transfer/stripping corona discharger 5, but the same effect can be obtained even if the cleaner 12 is provided between the transferring/stripping corona discharger 5 and the magnetic brush cleaner 9. It is effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 are diagrams showing a schematic configuration and a part of an optical printer suitable for carrying out the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a side view and a front view showing essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention. 1...Photosensitive drum, 3...Printing head, 4...
Developing device, 5... Printing paper, 9... Magnetic brush cleaner, 11... Follower roller, 12... Cleaner, 13... Felt, 15a, 15b... Toner container.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A large number of light emitting diodes are arranged horizontally in a line with respect to the photoreceptor of the photoreceptor drum, and by emitting light from the light emitting diodes in accordance with the pattern to be printed, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor. is formed, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized by an electrophotographic process,
An optical printer comprising a photosensitive drum tracing means that contacts a non-photosensitive area of the photosensitive drum and keeps the print head containing the plurality of light emitting diodes at a certain distance from the photosensitive drum, comprising the steps of: a cleaning device that slides onto a non-photoconductor area that the photoconductor drum copying unit comes into contact with to clean the non-photoconductor area; and a cleaning device that has an L-shaped cross-section and that allows sliding between the photoconductor and the cleaning device. a toner collection gutter provided substantially directly below the toner collection gutter so that the toner removed by the cleaning means falls to the outside of the photosensitive drum; and a toner collection gutter provided at a position where the toner that has fallen from the toner collection gutter can be collected. An optical printer characterized in that it has an integrating means.