JPH02248979A - photoreceptor unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability of the changing of a photosensitive body and the removal of a protection sheet by supporting the photosensitive body on a frame body rotatably through bearings, folding the protection sheet almost into two and covering the photosensitive body with the parts of the both sides except the folding part, and holding the folding part on a part of the frame body detachably. CONSTITUTION:The photosensitive body 14 is supported rotatably on the frame body 25 which is mounted on an image forming device main body together with the photosensitive body, and the protection sheet 38 is folded almost into two; and the photosensitive body 14 is covered with the parts of both sides except the folding part 38a, which is held detachably on a part of the frame body 25. Consequently, the photosensitive body 14 is supported through the bearings on the frame body 25 which is attachable to and detachable from the image forming device main body, so the photosensitive body 14 can be replaced by the frame body 25. The protection sheet 38 can be removed by clipping and drawing out the folding part 38a and the drawing-out length at this time is nearly a half as long as the overall length of the protection sheet 38.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photoreceptor unit in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile.

Conventionally, when replacing a photoreceptor from the main body of an image forming apparatus, the new photoreceptor is covered with a protective sheet in advance to prevent it from being damaged or soiled.

As a technique for removing the protective sheet when the image forming apparatus is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, the technique described in, for example, the following publication is known.

■ Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 54-113344 The photoreceptor is structured to be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus by itself,
A protective sheet is wrapped around the surface of the photoreceptor, and both polymerized ends of the protective sheet are secured to each other with adhesive tape.

■ Utility Model Publication No. 62-12170 The photoreceptor is integrated with a cleaning device, etc.

A protective sheet (coating sheet) is wrapped around the surface of the photoreceptor, and both ends of the protective sheet are secured by fitting the protrusions and holes.

■ JP-A-60-114893 A photoconductor is removably supported on a frame of a process unit that can be pulled out from the main body of an image forming apparatus, a protective sheet is wrapped around the surface of the photoconductor, and the protective sheet is polymerized. Both ends are glued together and a cutout is provided at one end.

However, although the photoreceptor in item (2) above can be replaced by itself, it requires direct intervention, and the operability of the replacement is very poor.

In the method (2), the operating force required to remove the protective sheet is large due to the pressing force of a cleaning blade or the like that is in contact with the photoreceptor, and there is a problem in its operability.

With the method (3), there is a risk that the protective sheet may be peeled off before the photoreceptor is set on the frame of the process unit, and if this happens, there will be no place to hold the photoreceptor. Also, even if you set the photoreceptor in the frame with the protective sheet wrapped around it, when you pull the cutout part of the protective sheet and tear it,
The force causes the photoconductor to lift up from the frame, and if you try to hold it down, you will end up holding down the protective sheet, which cannot be removed. If the photoreceptor has a large diameter, it will interfere with the image forming operation.Furthermore, when the protective sheet is cut out, the entire length must be pulled out. Poor operation.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention aims to improve the operability of replacing the photoreceptor and removing the protective sheet, and it is also necessary to provide a knob for removing the protective sheet itself. The purpose is to provide a photoreceptor unit without any.

Therefore, the present invention provides a photoconductor unit in which the photoconductor is covered with a protective sheet and the protective sheet is removed when the photoconductor is attached to the image forming apparatus main body. The protective sheet is rotatably supported on a frame that can be attached and detached, and the protective sheet is folded almost in half to cover the photoreceptor with both sides excluding the folded portion, and the folded portion is detachably held on a part of the frame. This is what I did.

Since the raw-part photoreceptor is supported by a frame that is detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus, the photoreceptor can be replaced by holding the frame. The protective sheet can be removed by simply pinching the folded part and pulling it out. In that case, the length of the drawer may be approximately half of the total length of the protective sheet.

Example Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser printer equipped with a photoreceptor unit according to the present invention. It's a paper cassette. The paper P fed by the paper feed roller 12 from the paper feed cassette 11 is conveyed to the lower side of the drum-shaped photoreceptor 14 with timing set by a pair of registration rollers 13 . The photoreceptor 14 is driven to rotate clockwise, its surface is charged by the charger 15, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 14 by being irradiated with laser light from the laser optical system 16. This latent image is made visible by toner when passing through the developing device 17, and this visible image (developed image) is formed on the photoreceptor 14.
The image is transferred by the transfer charger 18 onto the paper P that has been conveyed upward. The transferred paper P is removed by the static eliminator 19
The sheet is separated from the photoconductor 14 by static elimination by the conveyor 20, is conveyed to the fixing device 21 by the conveyor 20, and after the visible image is fixed thereon, is discharged onto the upper cover 10a by the discharge rollers 22a and 22b, for example. On the other hand, after the visible image has been transferred, the photoreceptor 14 has residual toner removed by the cleaning device 23, and then is charged again by the charger 15. The charging charger 15 and the cleaning device 23 are integrated into a charging/cleaning unit 24.

The upper blade A-10a is attached to the lower cover 10b as shown in FIG.
It can be opened and closed against. Also.

The photoreceptor 14 is supported by a frame 25 as described later to form a photoreceptor unit 26 according to the present invention, and is mounted integrally with the frame 25 on a rotating frame 27 so as to be detachable in the direction of arrow C in FIG. . This rotating frame 27 is further equipped with a developing device!
17 is mounted, and a charging/cleaning unit 24 is also rotatably mounted. When replacing the photoconductor unit 26, the charging/cleaning unit 2
6 rotating frame 27 which opens 4 as shown in FIG.
is rotatable about a fulcrum 28 with respect to the lower cover 10b, and can be held in an upright position by a pair of links 29, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a photoreceptor unit 26 according to the present invention before being loaded onto a rotating frame 27, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views thereof. The photoreceptor 14 has a shaft portion 14a protruding from one end thereof, and a bush 32 having a gear portion 30 and a shaft portion 31 is fitted onto the other end. The frame body 25 is formed by integrally providing a stay 33 and bearing side plates 34 and 35 at both ends thereof. The shaft portion 14a of the photoreceptor 14 and the bushing 32 are rotatably supported by bearing side plates 34 and 35. The stay 33 has the laser optical system 1
A thin translucent window 36 through which the laser beam from 6 is transmitted is provided parallel to the axis of the photoreceptor 14, and protrusions 37 for finger rests are provided on both sides of the stay 33. ,
The bearing side plates 34 and 35 at both ends have bifurcated legs 34a and 35 in order to protect the photoreceptor 14 when the frame 25 is placed.
b are provided in a protruding manner.

The photoreceptor 14 is protected by a protective sheet 38 as follows. That is, the protective sheet 38 is folded in half and the portions 38b and 38 on both sides excluding the folded portion 38a are folded in half.
c to hug and cover the surface of the photoreceptor 14, and both ends 3
8d and 38a are superimposed on each other on the photoreceptor 14 and bonded with, for example, an adhesive, and the bent portion 38a is pulled upward from the transparent window 36 of the frame 33 and held in the frame 25 in a detachable manner. The protective sheet 38 is preferably made of a light-shielding material such as paper or resin. If the surface of the photoreceptor 14 is particularly weak, the protective sheet 38 may be made of a flexible material such as Japanese paper on the surface that contacts the photoreceptor 14. It is better to polymerize.

When setting the photoreceptor unit 26 on the rotating frame 27, open the charging/cleaning unit 24 as shown in FIG.
- After bearing the protective sheet 31 on the rotating frame 27, the protective sheet 38 can be easily removed from the photoreceptor 14 without touching the photoreceptor 14 by pinching the folded portion 38a and pulling up the protective sheet 38. In this case, since the protective sheet 38 is folded in half, the lifting length required to remove it from the photoreceptor 14 is approximately half of the total length of the protective sheet 38. The photoreceptor 14 can be replaced without opening it.

The photoreceptor 14 set on the rotating frame 27 has a gear portion 30 that is a drive gear (not shown) on the printer main body 10 side.
It engages with the shaft and one rotation is transmitted.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the photoreceptor unit 26 of the present invention, in which the folded portion 38a of the protective sheet 38 is pulled out from a part of the frame 25 other than the transparent window 36.

Note that the protective sheet 38 may be polymerized by folding both end portions 38d and 38e several times as shown in FIG.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the following effects are expected.

(2) Since the photoreceptor is replaced individually and integrally with the frame that supports it in advance, it is economical because it can be used until the full life of the photoreceptor.

■ Since the photoreceptor is always supported by the frame even when not set in the image forming apparatus, the photoreceptor can be replaced by holding the frame, and the protective sheet can be removed without touching the photoreceptor.

■ Since the protective sheet is almost folded in half, the length of the drawer when removing it is short.

In addition to improving the operability, the structural limitations of the single-double image forming apparatus are also reduced.

- Since the protective sheet can be pulled out by using the folded portion of the protective sheet as a gripping portion, there is no need to provide a gripping portion or the like on the protective sheet.

Its production also becomes easier.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a photoreceptor unit according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B, and FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser printer including the photoreceptor unit. 5 and 6 are perspective views of the printer, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the photoreceptor unit according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of another example of mounting the protective sheet. 10...Printer body 14...Photoconductor 25...Frame 26...Photoconductor unit 38・・・・・・
...Protection sheet 38a...Folded portion 38b of the protection sheet 3
8c...Both sides of the protective sheet 4 Diagram t. Figure 5 O mouth C 6th 71st! i 5koo 8th

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a photoconductor unit in which the photoconductor is covered with a protective sheet and the protective sheet is removed when the photoconductor is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, the photoconductor is rotatable in a frame body that is attached to and removed from the main body of the image forming apparatus together with the photoconductor. The protective sheet is folded substantially in half to cover the photoreceptor with both sides excluding the folded portion, and the folded portion is detachably held in a part of the frame. photoreceptor unit