JPH03217888A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To preclude abrasive deformation to improve the manufacturing efficiency by using a metallic thin plate with specific thickness for a blade cleaning member, and joining it with a support member by using a specific adhesive. CONSTITUTION:A blade member 12 is an elastic metallic thin plate and is <=100 mum, preferably, 40-80 mum thick. The member 12 is adhered to and joined with the metallic support member 16 in an inverted L shape in one body by using the ultraviolet-ray setting type anaerobic adhesive B. The member 16 is adjustable by rotating horizontally around a rotary support shaft 17. A main support member 18 fitted with the member 16 also rotates around a rotary support shaft 19 to adjust a pressing force. Those two rotary adjustments are made to bring the edge part 12A of the member 12 into contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 100 with uniform pressure in parallel to its rotary shaft. Thus, the best cleaning effect for residual toner is obtained with the elastic force of the member 12 and the member 12 is pressed and fixed to the peripheral surface of the drum 100 without damaging the peripheral surface of the drum 100 to prevent the blade member from abrasive deforming to improve the manufacturing efficiency.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an improvement in a blade cleaning device for scraping off and removing residual toner adhering to the surface of an image bearing member of an electrostatic recording device.

[Conventional technology]

In an electrostatic recording device, a rotating photosensitive drum is generally used as an image carrier, and after the toner image formed on the surface of the drum is transferred to a transfer medium, the residual toner is removed after static electricity is removed. It is removed by a cleaning means in a cleaning device, and the peripheral surface of the photoreceptor is cleaned. The residual toner removed by the cleaning means is collected outside the cleaning device by a conveyance means such as a conveyance screw.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned cleaning device, a cleaning device is used that uses a blade member that presses against the surface of the photoreceptor drum as a cleaning member for removing residual toner, collects toner, and prevents the toner from scattering. The photoreceptor drum is housed in a cleaning case and placed in opposition to the surface of the photoreceptor drum.

The blade member is constructed by bonding a cleaning blade made of a hard rubber resin plate made of polyurethane, silicone, polybutadiene, etc. to a supporting member using double-sided adhesive tape or adhesive, and applying pressure using an elastic member. The ridge line (edge portion) of the blade member is kept in pressure contact with the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum, and as the photoreceptor drum rotates, residual toner on the circumferential surface is scraped off.

This type of blade cleaning device has a simple structure, has an extremely high cleaning effect, and is easy to collect because the toner is scraped off without scattering, and therefore does not cause any nuisance due to toner scattering to other mechanical parts. There are also fewer cleaning methods that can cause damage.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As described above, a cleaning device using a blade member is an excellent cleaning method. However, in many cases, the edge portion of this cleaning blade member is constantly in sliding contact with the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum, so that the edge portion is abraded and deformed, thereby impairing the cleaning effect. Therefore, the cleaning blade member must be replaced as appropriate, and the cleaning blade member must always be prepared as a replacement part and replaced depending on the frequency of use.

In addition, when replacing the blade member, this edge is extremely delicate and can be damaged if touched directly.
There are problems such as oils and fats adhering to it, which impedes the cleaning effect. Furthermore, because the blade member is bonded to the metal support member with double-sided adhesive tape, the difference in thermal expansion coefficient due to temperature changes between the hard rubber blade member and the metal support member is greatly affected, and In such a case, the toner may become wavy and cannot be evenly pressed against the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum, resulting in gaps, which may cause toner leakage and impair the cleaning effect. Moreover, the manufacturing process is complicated and requires many man-hours.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and by improving the cleaning blade member, the number of replacements of the blade member can be reduced, and an adhesive for joining the blade member and the supporting member can be used. The aim is to increase the efficiency of the bonding procedure and ensure long-term bonding performance by improving the bonding means. Thereby, the object is to provide a cleaning device that consistently exhibits a stable cleaning effect.

A cleaning device of the present invention that achieves the above object is a cleaning device that uses a blade cleaning member to clean residual toner adhering to the surface of a rotating image bearing member, in which the blade cleaning member has an elastic plate having a thickness of 100 μm or less, It is preferably composed of a thin metal plate with a thickness of 40μII1 to 80μm, and is characterized in that the joint portion between the metal support member that supports the blade cleaning member and the blade cleaning member is bonded with an ultraviolet curing type anaerobic adhesive. . Further, the present invention is characterized in that a small hole is made in the joint part of the metal support member, and the ultraviolet-curable anaerobic adhesive layer at the joint part exposed through the small hole is cured by irradiating it with ultraviolet rays. It is.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of an image forming section of an electrostatic recording apparatus equipped with a cleaning device of the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 is a detailed enlarged sectional view of the cleaning device according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3(A) is a perspective view of the blade member, and FIG. 3(B) is a perspective view of the blade member when a hole for irradiation is made.

When the copying operation by the electrostatic recording device starts, the photosensitive drum 100 carrying the electrostatic image starts rotating in the direction of the arrow, and after first applying a uniform charge to its surface by the charging electrode l, it is exposed to light. In section 2, the original image is exposed to light to form an electrostatic latent image thereof. Subsequently, the electrostatic latent image is visualized by the developing action of the developing device 3 and becomes a toner image, which is transferred to the conveying path 4.
The toner image is transferred onto the recording paper fed from the transfer pole 5. The recording paper that has undergone the transfer is conveyed in the horizontal direction, separated from the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 100 by a separation pole 6, conveyed on a conveyor belt 7, and further transferred with an image by a fixing device (not shown). After being welded, it is discharged from the recording device.

On the other hand, the photoreceptor drum 100 from which the recording paper has been separated continues to rotate in the direction of the arrow, and reaches the cleaning device IO of the present invention, which is disposed at a position just beside the photoreceptor drum 100, approximately corresponding to the horizontal axis plane, and performs cleaning thereon. After the residual toner on the peripheral surface is peeled off and cleaned by the action, the next rotation cycle is started and the image formation and transfer process is performed again.

1111E The cleaning device IO has a cleaning device housing 1l as a container and is biased so that its tip is pressed against the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 100 slightly above the horizontal position of the horizontal plane t: as a cleaning member. The blade member l2 is built-in, and the blade member l2
A developer receiving portion l4 containing a screw l3 is provided below the screw l3 at a position where most of the toner that is peeled off and falls can be directly received and accommodated. -13 is driven and rotated,
The toner guided by the toner guide member 15 is sent into the developer receiving portion l4.

The blade member I2 is made of an elastic thin metal plate, and the thickness of the plate is 100 μm or less, and actually 40 μm.
It is preferable that lI is 1 to 80 μm. And Figure 2,
As shown in FIG. 3, this blade member 12 is adhesively bonded to an inverted L-shaped metal L-shaped support member l6 using an ultraviolet curing type anaerobic adhesive (hereinafter referred to as an ultraviolet curing adhesive).
They are all one. Further, this L-shaped support member 16 can be rotated in the horizontal direction about a rotation support shaft 17 and can be adjusted. Further, the main support member l8 to which this L-shaped support member 16 is attached also rotates in the vertical direction about the rotational support shaft l9, thereby making it possible to adjust the pressing force. By these two rotational adjustments, the edge Its 1 of the blade member l2
2A is parallel to the rotation axis of the photoreceptor drum 100 and can be brought into contact with the curved surface with uniform pressure. In this way, by utilizing the elastic force of the blade member l2, the blade member l2 is attached to the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 100 in a manner that provides the best cleaning effect for residual toner and does not damage the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 100. It is pressed and fixed.

Figure 3 (A). (B) shows the structure of this blade member 12, which uses a thin metal plate with a thickness of 40 μm to 80 μm, such as a 511S304-1 {stainless steel plate, tool steel plate, beryllium copper, phosphor bronze plate, etc., and is almost photosensitive. The length is equal to the width of the body drum 100. As described above, it is adhesively bonded to the L-shaped support member 16 using an ultraviolet curing adhesive.

When this ultraviolet curable adhesive is irradiated with ultraviolet rays on the joint surface during bonding, it rapidly cures and complete adhesive bonding can be achieved in a short period of time. Furthermore, curing can be accelerated by increasing the temperature. Therefore, since the blade member l2 and the L-shaped support member l6 are both joined by metal, there is no deformation or curling, there is no waving due to thermal expansion due to temperature changes, and there is no possibility of irradiation with ultraviolet rays. By setting the temperature to 100% or higher, it is possible to achieve adhesive bonding in a short period of time and with high production efficiency.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3(B), a plurality of irradiation holes 16A are drilled in the joint portion of the Lfffi support member 16, and when the ultraviolet rays are concentrated on these irradiation holes 16A, the ultraviolet rays are emitted from these irradiation holes. 16A directly irradiates the UV-curing adhesive, causing that area to cure more quickly.

The ultraviolet rays incident from the irradiation hole 16A mainly harden the adhesive around the hole, which ultimately speeds up the curing of the adhesive in the entire joint, improving manufacturing efficiency.

The thin metal blade member 12 is easily and effectively manufactured by shearing.

The results of testing a cleaning device using such a blade member made of a thin metal plate on a hard photoreceptor drum made of amorphous silicone, selenium, etc. are shown below.

Temperature to '(! Humidity 20% Temperature 20℃ Humidity 50% Temperature 30℃ Humidity 80% As a result of copying each soooo sheet, a good cleaning effect was obtained without damaging the surface of the photoreceptor drum. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention eliminates the wear and deformation of the blade member that conventionally occurred by using an elastic thin metal plate as the blade member instead of the polyurethane and silicone that have been conventionally used as the blade member in the cleaning device. Furthermore, it has become possible to provide a cleaning device that does not require the trouble of replacing blade members for this purpose. Furthermore, by using an ultraviolet curing adhesive to bond the blade member and the support member, and by making a plurality of small holes in the support member, manufacturing efficiency could be improved. By completely removing damage to the photoconductor drum that conventionally occurs and waving of the blade due to the effects of temperature, humidity, etc., and aging, etc., and by bringing the blade into uniform contact with the photoconductor drum, the photoconductor The remaining toner on the drum circumferential surface can now be cleaned reliably and efficiently.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an image forming section equipped with a cleaning device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cleaning device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 (A) is a perspective view of a blade member. FIG. 3B is a perspective view of an L-shaped support member with an irradiation hole and a blade member. 10... Cleaning device 11... Cleaning device housing l2... Blade member (blade cleaning member) 12A.
・Edge part l3...Transportation screw l4・
...Developer receiving portion l6...L-shaped support member 17.19...Rotation shaft 100...Photoreceptor drum 15...Toner guide 16A...Irradiation hole portion l8...Main support member

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a cleaning device that uses a blade cleaning member to clean residual toner adhering to the surface of a rotating image carrier, the blade cleaning member has an elastic plate thickness of 10 mm.
It is characterized in that it is composed of a thin metal plate with a diameter of 0 μm or less, preferably 40 μm to 80 μm, and the joint portion between the metal support member that supports the blade cleaning member and the blade cleaning member is bonded with an ultraviolet curing anaerobic adhesive. cleaning equipment. (2) A small hole is formed in the joint portion of the supporting member, and the ultraviolet-curable anaerobic adhesive layer at the joint portion exposed through the small hole is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays. cleaning equipment.