JPH024911B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cleaning device that removes toner remaining on the surface of an image carrier and cleans the image carrier.

The image formed on the surface of the photoconductor (image carrier) is transferred to transfer paper by a transfer device, but since toner remains on the surface of the photoconductor, the residual toner is removed by a cleaning device. There is a need.

Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1, a brush 2 that contacts the photoreceptor 1 is provided, and after the brush 2 removes the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor 1, a fan 3 is used to suck the toner. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2, a roller 4 that rolls into contact with the photoreceptor 1 is provided, and the toner is attached to the roller 4, and then the toner attached to the roller 4 is transferred to a blade 5.
It is scraped off by scraping.

However, in all conventional cleaning devices, toner scatters and the brush 2 and blade 5 become clogged, making it impossible to perform stable cleaning over a long period of time.
In addition, the collected toner is as shown in Fig. 3.
When the collection box 6 is removed from the main body and thrown away, the toner scatters, staining the surrounding area and staining the user's hands, which is unsanitary.

Furthermore, since conventional cleaning devices are fixed to the main body, there is a risk that the photoconductor may come into contact with the cleaning device and damage the surface of the photoconductor when the photoconductor is attached or removed during maintenance, inspection, or repair. be.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to be able to easily collect toner from a fur brush that contacts a photoreceptor and wipes off residual toner without using a fan; The purpose of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device that is compact and can reduce costs.

The present invention will be explained below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. In FIGS. 4 to 6, reference numeral 11 denotes a photoreceptor as an image carrier, which is designed to rotate in the direction of the arrow. A cleaning device 12 is provided adjacent to the photoreceptor 11 to remove toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor 11 and clean it. Next, in detail about this cleaning device 12, 13 and 14 are end plates, and these end plates 13 and 14 are
A casing 15 is provided at the lower part of the gap, a cover 16 is provided at the upper part, and a roller storage chamber 18 having an opening 17 on the front surface is formed. Further, a static eliminating lamp 19 is attached to the casing 15 to reduce the potential on the surface of the photoreceptor 11 to zero, and a collection box 20 for storing the collected toner is provided at the rear of the casing 15. There is. Further, inside the roller storage chamber 18, a fur brush 21 (described later) that slightly protrudes from the opening 17 and comes into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor 11, a first roller 22 that comes into contact with the fur brush 21, and a second roller 21 are provided.
rollers 23 are disposed, and both ends of these rollers 23 are located in bearing holes 21a provided in the end plates 13 and 14, respectively.
It is rotatably supported by 22a and 23a, and one end is interlocked with a drive mechanism (not shown). Further, the first and second rollers 22 and 23 are provided with blades 24 for scraping off toner adhering to their surfaces.

Further, the cleaning device 12 is provided with a retraction mechanism 25 for retracting the cleaning device 12 from the photoreceptor 11 . To explain this retraction mechanism 25, one end plate 14 has a pivot pin 26 and a moving pin 27.
The pivot pin 26 penetrates a through hole 29 formed in the main body frame 28 and projects to the outside, and the movable pin 27 extends through an arc-shaped hole 29 formed in the main body frame 28. It penetrates through the elongated hole 30 and projects to the outside. Further, a rotating lever 31 fixed to the pivot pin 26 and the movable pin 27 is provided on the outer surface of the main body frame 28, and a mounting portion 32 bent in a U-shape is provided at the free end of the rotating lever 31. is provided. The mounting portion 32 is provided with through holes 33, 33 facing each other, and an operating pin 35 having a knob 34 is slidably inserted into these through holes 33, 33. Furthermore, a washer 3 is attached to the operating pin 35 in the mounting portion 32.
6 is fitted, and an operating pin 35 is inserted between the washer 36 and the inner surface of the mounting portion 32 on the main body frame 28.
A coil spring 37 is provided for biasing in the direction.

Also, the main body frame 28 faces the rotation locus of the operation pin 35 as the rotation lever 31 rotates.
A first engagement hole 38a and a second engagement hole 38b are bored in the. The first engagement hole 38a engages with the operating pin 35 when the rotating lever 31 is in the vertical position, that is, the cleaning mechanism 12 is in the normal position with respect to the photoreceptor 11, and the second engagement hole 38b engages with the operating pin 35. is adapted to engage the operating pin 35 when the rotating lever 31 is in an inclined state, that is, when the cleaning device 12 is retracted from the photoreceptor 11. In addition, 39 is the cleaning device 1
A spring tensioned between the fur brush 21 and the main body frame 28 allows the fur brush 21 to be pressed against the photoreceptor 11 with a constant force.

Next, the fur brush 21 will be described in detail. It is constructed as shown in FIG. 7. That is, the fur brush 21 includes a cylindrical core body 40 made of a material such as Al or SUS, and this core body 40.
An elastic body 41 such as polyurethane fitted onto the outer peripheral surface of the elastic body 41 , a conductive adhesive 42 coated on the surface of the elastic body 41 , and the conductive adhesive 4
2 and a synthetic fiber hair body 43 electrostatically flocked on top of the hair body 43. The length of this hair body 43 is 1 to 5 mm, and the contact depth d when it contacts the photoreceptor 11 is set to be about 1 mm. Furthermore, the fur brush 21 rotates in the opposite direction to the rotational direction of the photoreceptor 11, and its circumferential speed is set to be 1.5 times faster than the photoreceptor 11. Also, a first roller 22 that contacts this fur brush 21
and the second roller 23 as shown in FIG.
It is constructed by fitting silicone rubber 45 with a smooth surface and a hardness of 45° to 50° onto the outer peripheral surface of a core 44 made of iron material. First, the contact depth e of the roller 22 with the fur brush 21 is 1.2 mm.
The fur brush 21 is set to rotate in the same direction as the fur brush 21. Further, the contact depth f of the second roller 23 with the fur brush 21 is
It is set to 1.2mm, and the fur brush 21
The peripheral speed is in the opposite direction to the fur brush 21.
It is designed to rotate at twice the speed. The first roller 22 serves to remove toner adhering to the fur brush 21, and the second roller 23 serves to remove toner that has not been removed by the first roller 22, and also to prevent contact with the photoreceptor 11. The bristles 4 of the fur brush 21 have fallen in one direction due to
It plays the role of raising 3. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the blade 24 is made of mylar with a thickness of 0.2 mm and is adapted to scrape off toner adhering to the first and second rollers 22 and 23 and collect it in the collection box 20.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.
When the photoconductor 11 is rotating in the direction of the arrow, when the fur brush 21 and the first and second rollers 22 and 23 are rotated in the directions of the arrows, the toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor 11 is first removed by the fur brush. 21. Therefore, the toner adheres to the fur brush 21, but this toner is removed by the first roller 22 and the second roller 23, and the toner adhered to the surfaces of the first and second rollers 22 and 23 is removed. is scraped off by the blade 24 and collected in the collection box 20. At this time, since the fur brush 21 is pressed against the photoreceptor 11, the bristles 43 are tilted in one direction, but the second roller 23 is rotated in the opposite direction to the rotating direction of the fur brush 21, and at the peripheral speed of the fur brush 21. 2 more
Since it is rotating at twice the speed, the fallen hair body 43 can be raised up. Therefore, the contact depth d between the fur brush 21 and the photoreceptor 11 is always kept constant.

Furthermore, during maintenance, inspection, repair, etc. inside the main body of the electronic copying machine, the photoreceptor 11 may be removed from the main body, and in this case, the cleaning device 12 can be retracted from the photoreceptor 11. That is, the operating pin 35
is pulled against the restoring force of the coil spring 37 and pulled out from the first engagement hole 38a. Next, when the rotation lever 31 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, the cleaning device 12 is rotated about the pivot pin 26 as a fulcrum, and the photoreceptor 11 is rotated.
Evacuate from. When the operating pin 35 is opposed to the second engagement hole 38b and then released, the operating pin 35 is moved to the second engagement hole 38b by the restoring force of the coil spring 37.
The cleaning device 12 can be locked in the retracted state by engaging with the engagement hole 38b of the cleaning device 12.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent an accident in which the photoreceptor 11 comes into contact with the cleaning device 12 and is damaged when the photoreceptor 11 is attached or removed.

As explained above, in this invention, a roller is brought into contact with a fur brush that comes into contact with an image carrier to remove residual toner, and the toner adhering to the fur brush is removed, and a blade is brought into contact with the roller to remove residual toner. Since the attached toner is scraped off, the toner can be collected from the fur brush without using a fan, and the device can be made more compact. Therefore, it can be provided at a low cost and noise can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are schematic configuration diagrams of a conventional cleaning device, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional collection box, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a cleaning device showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a front view of the cleaning device in its normal state, FIG. 6 is a front view of the cleaning device in a retracted state, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the fur brush, and FIG. 8 is a front view of the cleaning device in its normal state.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the second rollers. 11...Photoreceptor, 12...Cleaning device, 21...
Fur brush, 22, 23... roller, 24...
blade.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a cleaning device that cleans the surface of an image bearing member after transferring an image formed on the surface of the image bearing member, the toner that comes into contact with the image bearing member and remains on the surface thereof is removed. A cleaning device comprising: a fur brush; a roller with a smooth surface that comes into contact with the fur brush to remove toner from the fur brush; and a blade that comes into contact with the roller and scrapes off toner adhering to the surface of the roller. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the roller is formed by providing a core with silicone rubber. 3. The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that a collection box for collecting scraped toner is removably provided below the blade. 4. Claim 1, characterized in that the fur brush and the roller rotate with a relative speed difference.
Cleaning device as described in section.