JPH0263087A - How to clean the image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cleanlily perform cleaning without generating an electric charge due to frictional electrification and to prevent the occurrence of the stain of a recording medium and of an image fog by cleaning the surface of the recording medium by means of conductive or semi-conductive grain. CONSTITUTION:The surface of the recording medium 1 is cleaned by a dry cloth or soft paper stuck with a titanium oxide TiO2 which is the conductive or semi-conductive grain and having 0.01-1mum average diameter. That is, by cleaning the surface of the recording medium 1 with the aid of such metallic oxide grain as described above, an electric charge generated on a surface layer 1a by friction is let escape through the metallic oxide. Thus, unnecessary toner 7 isn't made to adhere to the surface of the recording medium 1, and proper image forming is performed. Regarding time for cleaning, it is right to properly perform cleaning when the surface of the recording medium 1 is stained. Besides if the surface is wiped when the recording medium 1 is mounted, the proper image forming is performed from the first.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method for cleaning an image forming apparatus, and in particular, applies a voltage between a plurality of recording electrodes and a recording medium to apply a developer such as toner to the recording medium. The present invention relates to a method for cleaning printers, display devices, etc. that are exposed to adhesion.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as this type of image forming apparatus, the Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-4
A method for forming an image by a method described in Japanese Patent No. 6707 and the like is known. In this apparatus, as shown in FIG. 4, first, conductive magnetic toner 102 is conveyed by a rotating magnet 101 on a non-magnetic cylinder 100, and passed over a recording electrode 103 made of a magnetic material. and,
A signal voltage is applied from a recording control unit 105 between a conductive layer of a sheet-shaped recording medium 104 having an insulating layer on its surface and a recording electrode 103, and toner 102 is attached to the recording medium 104 to form an image.

In this device, the recording medium 104 is hung between a pair of rotatable rollers 107 and 108 provided at the top and bottom of the main body frame 106, and as the recording medium 104 moves, a display section 109 is displayed. The image is now displayed.

By the way, when this type of apparatus is used for a long period of time, the surface of the recording medium gradually becomes dirty due to adhesion of toner or dust. Conventionally, in such cases, the surface of the recording medium was cleaned by wiping it with cloth or soft paper.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, when a recording medium having the above-mentioned configuration is wiped with a cloth, the value of the volume resistivity is 108 to 1016Ω.
Coupled with the large C■, charging occurs due to friction on the surface of the recording medium, and as a result, unnecessary toner or dust adheres to the recording medium during image formation, causing stains on the recording medium or image fogging. was there.

In addition, if you touch the image forming area on the surface of the recording medium with your hand when installing the recording medium into the apparatus main body, dirt will adhere to the surface of the recording medium and the same charge as described above will occur, causing unnecessary toner and dust to adhere. There was also.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to prevent the recording medium from being contaminated with deposits such as toner, and to
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning method for an image forming apparatus that can obtain good images without fogging or the like.

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a signal voltage is applied between a recording medium and a recording electrode arranged in close proximity, and a developer is applied to the surface of the recording medium. An image forming apparatus that forms a desired image is characterized in that the surface of the recording medium is cleaned using conductive or semiconductive particles.

In addition, the volume resistivity of the conductive particles is 102 to 103Ω.
The semiconductive particles of C set are also 103 to 1.
08ΩC+S is preferable.

(Function) In the present invention having the above configuration, by cleaning the surface of the recording medium on which an image is to be formed using conductive or semiconductive particles, the electric charges generated on the surface due to friction are made conductive. Alternatively, it is released via semiconductive particles, and the surface of the recording medium becomes uncharged. Therefore, even if a predetermined image is formed after cleaning the recording medium, unnecessary developer will not adhere to the surface of the recording medium.

Incidentally, if the cleaning according to the present invention is performed when assembling the apparatus, it becomes possible to remove dirt and electric charge from the surface of the recording medium when the recording medium is attached.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an image forming apparatus for using the present invention, and is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall configuration.

In the figure, l denotes a recording medium, which is rotated between a pair of rollers 2.3 disposed above and below within a main body frame ll.

An image forming means 4 for forming an image on the recording medium 1 is provided at a position facing the lower roller 3. As this image forming means 4, Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-4670
The one disclosed in Publication No. 7 etc. is used.

In this image forming means 4, as shown in FIG.
Conductive magnetic toner 7 as a developer is conveyed around the outer periphery of the non-magnetic cylinder 6 by the magnetic field of a rotating magnet 8 . At this time, a voltage corresponding to the image information is applied from the recording control unit 10 to the conductive layer IB of the recording medium 1 via the recording electrodes 9 arranged in an axially intimate manner above the non-magnetic cylinder 6. Toner 7 is applied to the insulating layer IA to form a desired image.

The image formed on the recording medium 1 is moved in the direction of the arrow by the rotation of the roller 2.3 and displayed on the display section 12 formed on the front surface of the main body frame 11. A cleaning member 13 including a brush 13at made of conductive carbon fiber for erasing an image displayed on the recording medium l is fixed to the cleaning member 11a via a mounting member 14. Further, a non-magnetic member 15 for supporting the recording medium 1 and a magnet 16 for preventing toner scattering are disposed at a position opposing the cleaning member 13 with the image medium 1 interposed therebetween.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing the structure of the recording medium 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the insulating layer IA includes a surface layer la and a white layer tb.
A conductive layer IB and a recording medium base IC are formed under the white layer 1b.

Here, the surface layer 1a is made of plastic resin such as butyral resin, phenol resin, urethane resin, etc., and has a thickness of 0.3 to 2 gm. Moreover, the white layer tb is τ
i02 jl 203 It is mainly made of metal oxides such as ZnO and SnO2, and also contains oxides such as indium and antimony to lower the resistance value, and its thickness is 1 to 30 mm.
It is about ILm. Further, the conductive layer IB is made of aluminum formed by vapor deposition, and the recording medium base 1c is made of a plastic resin film such as polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. with a thickness of about 50 to 200 ILm.

As described above, since the recording medium 1 is mainly composed of a substance with a high volume resistivity (108 to 1Q16 Ωcm), when the surface is rubbed with a cloth or the like to remove toner etc. attached to the surface, the recording is caused by friction. The medium l will be charged, and the image will deteriorate as described above.

Therefore, in this example, conductive or semi-conductive particles having an average particle size of 0.01'' l were placed on a dry cloth or soft paper.
The surface of the recording medium 1 is wiped with titanium oxide (TiOz) of JA, m. That is, by cleaning the surface of the recording medium 1 using such metal oxide particles, the electric charge generated in the surface layer 1a due to friction is released through the metal oxide, and therefore the recording medium Unnecessary toner 7 and the like do not adhere to the surface of l, and good image formation can be performed.

Here, the above-mentioned cleaning may be carried out as appropriate when the surface of the recording medium 1 becomes dirty, but it should be noted that when assembling the apparatus and installing the recording medium 1, the entire surface of the sheet may be cleaned with Ti.
By wiping with Oz, it is possible to remove the dirt from the above-mentioned installation, and it is possible to form a good image from the beginning.

In addition to the above-mentioned titanium oxide (102), various other metal oxides can be used as the metal oxide for cleaning.

For example, 10% of tin or antimony is added to the titanium oxide.
Titanium oxide with high conductivity obtained by mixing % or less may be used. In this case, the charge removal ability is improved, so cleaning can be performed more cleanly, and the effect of preventing adhesion of toner etc. is increased. be able to.

Furthermore, the recording medium 1 having the above structure may be cleaned using zinc oxide (ZnO). In this case, especially when tin oxide or antimony oxide is mixed, the cleaning and static elimination effects can be enhanced.

Furthermore, the same effect as described above can be obtained even if the surface of the recording medium 1 is cleaned using powdered aluminum oxide (AjL203) or tin oxide (SnO) having a particle size of about 0.01-IJLm.

Furthermore, in addition to the above metal oxides, silicon oxide (SiO
A similar effect can be obtained by cleaning the recording medium 1 using the particles of z). In this case, the particle diameter is 0.1 to 10 JLm
You can use one.

The conductive or semiconductive particles for cleaning the recording medium 1 are preferably those having a volume resistivity of 102 to tO8 ΩC.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, by cleaning the surface of a recording medium using conductive or semiconductive particles, it is possible to clean the surface of the recording medium without generating electric charges due to frictional charging. As a result, it is possible to prevent unnecessary developer or dust from adhering to the recording medium, thereby preventing staining of the recording medium and fogging of the image.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus for using the present invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the image forming operation in the apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall structure of a conventional image forming apparatus. Explanation of symbols l... Recording medium IA... Insulating layer (la... surface layer, 1b... white layer) IB... Conductive layer IC... Recording medium base 7... Conductive Magnetic toner (developer) 9... Recording electrode (Fig. 3)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an image forming apparatus that forms a desired image by applying a signal voltage between a recording medium and recording electrodes arranged in close proximity and depositing a developer on the surface of the recording medium, the surface of the recording medium is made conductive or semiconductive. 1. A method for cleaning an image forming apparatus, the method comprising cleaning an image forming apparatus using sexual particles.