JPH0453978A - Electronic image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently remove ozone in a processor by arranging an ozone treatment member having ozone treatment substance which does not compose nitrate with nitrogen oxides at least in or near an electrostatic impressing device or at a position where air flow generated by the rotation of a photosensitive drum collides. CONSTITUTION:In an image forming part 10, ozone and NOx are evolved from the electrostatic impressing device when an image is formed on a photosensitive drum 20 in an electrostatic impressing system. The ozone and the NOx circulate by following the air flow generated around the photosensitive drum 10 by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 20. Then, the ozone and the NOx collide with the ozone treatment member 36 arranged at least in or near the electrostatic impressing device or the position where the air flow collides. Since the member 36 has the ozone treatment substance which does not compose the nitrate with the NOx, the NOx does not compose the nitrate with the ozonization substance and the ozone treatment ability of the ozone treatment substance is held. Therefore, the ozone is efficiently removed by the member 36.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electronic image processing device that forms images using an electrostatic application method.

[Conventional technology]

An electronic image processing device equipped with an image forming section using an electrostatic application method includes a charging step of charging a photoreceptor to a predetermined charge, a step of transferring a toner image formed on the photoreceptor onto a transfer paper, and a step of transferring the toner image to a transfer paper. Ozone is generated during the process of separating the transferred paper from the photoreceptor. In other words, in these processes, active particles of oxygen are produced by inelastic collisions between charged particles and oxygen molecules that occur when air is ionized by corona discharge, and ozone is produced by the reaction between these active particles and oxygen molecules. .

Such ozone is adsorbed on the surface of the photoreceptor, forms an oxide film, and lowers the resistance of the surface of the photoreceptor.

Furthermore, when an organic photoreceptor is used, the photoreceptor reacts with ozone, reducing the sensitivity of the photoreceptor.

These causes image defects such as image running and blurring on the photoreceptor.

Further, ozone generated within the electronic image processing device is discharged outside the device by a fan or the like. For this reason, the ozone concentration in the air increases, but it is said that high concentrations of ozone in the air may have an adverse effect on the human body.

For this reason, various methods of treating ozone generated within electronic image processing apparatuses have been studied. for example,
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An ozone treatment member containing an ozone treatment substance is disposed within or near an electrostatic application device. In this configuration, the ozone produced during the ionization of the air is decomposed or adsorbed by the ozonating substance.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in an image forming apparatus using an electrostatic application method, nitrogen oxides (No, ) are generated together with ozone due to corona discharge of the electrostatic application device.

Although the details regarding the mechanism of generation of this NOx are unknown, it is thought that excited oxygen species such as ozone are generated by corona discharge, and this is generated by reacting with N2 gas in the air.

As a result of intensive research by the present inventors, it has been found that among the ozone treatment substances, there are substances that react with the NOx and irreversibly form nitrates, making it impossible to maintain ozone treatment ability. I found out the truth. Therefore, if N08 generated by corona discharge adheres to the ozone treatment member, the ozone treatment ability of the ozone treatment substance will decrease, and the ozone removal efficiency will deteriorate. In particular, since Noa is generated together with ozone, a large amount of Noa exists in or near the electrostatic application device where a large amount of ozone exists, or in a position where the air flow generated by the rotation of the photoreceptor drum hits. For this reason, even if the ozone treatment member is placed at the position where ozone removal is most necessary, a good ozone treatment effect cannot be obtained. Furthermore, since the ozone treatment ability of the ozone treatment substance disappears in a short period of time, there is also the drawback that maintenance and ozone treatment members must be frequently replaced.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic image processing device that can efficiently remove ozone within the device by using an ozone treatment member that can efficiently remove ozone and can be used for a long period of time.

[Means to solve the problem]

An electronic image processing device according to the present invention is an electronic image processing device that forms an image using an electrostatic application method, and includes a photoreceptor drum and an electrostatic application device. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming section, and an ozone treatment member disposed at least one of the electrostatic charge applying device, its vicinity, or a position hit by an air flow generated by rotation of the photoreceptor drum. The ozone treatment member is characterized in that it includes an ozone treatment substance that does not react with nitrogen oxides to form nitrates.

[Effect]

In the electronic image processing apparatus according to the present invention, an image is formed on the photoreceptor drum by an electrostatic application method in the image forming section. At this time, ozone and NOx are removed from the electrostatic application device.
occurs. This ozone and No. 3 are circulated according to the air flow generated around the photoreceptor drum due to the rotation of the photoreceptor drum. And ozone and NOx are
It hits an ozone treatment member placed at least one of the electrostatic force applying device, its vicinity, or a position hit by the air flow.

This ozonation member includes an ozonation substance that does not form nitrates with NO8. Therefore, NOx does not form nitrates with the ozonating substance, and the ozone treating ability of the ozonating substance is maintained. Therefore, ozone is efficiently removed by the ozone treatment member.

As a result, the ozone concentration within the apparatus is reduced, deterioration of the photoreceptor is suppressed, and the ozone concentration in the exhaust gas is reduced.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows an example of a copying machine as an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the top surface of the copying machine body 1 has a document table 1
2 is fixed, and a document holder 13 is attached to the upper part of the document table I2 so as to be openable and closable. A paper feed cassette 14, 15 is removably attached to the proper side of the copying machine main body 11. A paper discharge tray 18 is mounted on the rotating side of the copying machine main body 11, from which paper for copying methods is discharged.

Inside the copying machine main body 11, an exposure device 19 for reading originals is provided on the upper side. Also,
In the center of the copying machine main body 11, an image forming section IO is arranged. Between the paper feed cassette 14, 15 and the image forming section 10 and on the downstream side of the image forming section 10, there are
A paper feed conveyance path 27 and a paper discharge conveyance path 28 for conveying paper are provided. A fixing device 30 is provided between the paper discharge conveyance path 28 and the paper discharge tray 18 for fixing the transferred image on the conveyed paper.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the image forming section IO. Image forming unit IO
A photosensitive drum 20 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed is located in the center of the
is located. Around the photoreceptor drum 20, there is a charging device 21 that charges the photoreceptor drum 20 to a predetermined charge;
A blank lamp 31 for trimming or masking the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor drum 20, a developing device 22 for developing the electrostatic latent image, a transfer device 23 for transferring the toner image onto paper, and the photoreceptor drum 20. a paper separation device 24 for separating paper from the paper; a cleaning device 25 for removing residual toner on the photoreceptor drum 20; and an eraser lamp 3 for removing charges remaining on the photoreceptor drum 20.
2 is placed.

FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the charging device. The charging device 21 has a shield case 33. This shield case 3
3 has a U-shaped cross section and has an opening at the top. Inside the shield case 33, there is a photosensitive drum 20 (FIG. 2).
A wire 34 is disposed substantially parallel to. Furthermore, a grid 35 is arranged in the opening of the shield case 33. A sheet-shaped ozone treatment member 36 is arranged on the inner wall surface of the shield case 33.

The sheet-shaped ozone treatment member 36 is placed on the inner wall surface of the shield case 33 of the charging device 21 by various methods such as pasting with double-sided tape, adhesive, or the like.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the ozone treatment member 36.

The ozone treatment member 36 includes a sheet-like base material 37 and a base material 3.
7, and an ozone treatment material layer 38 provided on top of the ozone treatment material layer 38. Examples of the base material 37 include a glass sheet, a ceramic fiber sheet, a nonwoven fabric, a metal mesh, and a urethane foam. Further, the ozonated material layer 38 contains a catalytically active component and a carrier component. As the catalytic active component, a substance that does not form nitrate with NOx is used, and such substances include MnL, Ti1t, 5i
Examples include Oz, WOi, LOs, and Mo5s.

Further, as the catalytic active component, a substance that forms nitrates with NOx may be mixed with the above-mentioned substance that does not form nitrates with NO□.

The substance that forms nitrate with NO□ is C.
Examples include ub, Co5t, Nip, and Ag*0. The mixing ratio of the substance that does not form nitrate with NO8 and the substance that does form the nitrate is preferably 10:0.5 to 5:5.

The particle size of this catalytically active component is preferably 1-100 μm. In addition, as a carrier component, Teha, Ties, A
I! 01.5i02. TiO2-5i02. Ti0
z-A1.0. can be exemplified. The particle size of this carrier component is
It is preferable that it is 1-100 micrometers.

Next, a method for manufacturing the ozone treatment member 36 will be explained.

First, a slurry is prepared by dispersing the mixture of the catalytically active component and the carrier component or the catalytically active powder supported on the carrier component in an aqueous or non-aqueous solvent together with a binder and a fibrous material. Examples of the binder include inorganic binders such as 5lOt sol, and organic binders such as polyacrylic acid ester and polyvinyl acetate. Furthermore, examples of the fibrous material include glass fiber and bulb. Further, the catalytically active component and the carrier component are used in a ratio of 1:10 to 10:1. The mixture of the catalytically active component and the carrier component or the catalytically active powder supported on the carrier component is 100 to 100 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the binder.
0 parts by weight, preferably 500 to 150 parts by weight. The slurry is prepared to have a viscosity of 10 to 1000 cps and a specific gravity of 1.5 to 2.0. This slurry containing the ozonated substance is applied onto the base material 37 by a known method such as dipping or rolling to form an ozonated substance layer 38. At this time, the amount of slurry applied to the base material 37 is determined by the thickness of the ozonated substance layer 38 or 50 mm.
It is adjusted to be μm.

Then, the base material 3 coated with this ozonated substance layer 38
7 becomes the ozone treatment member 36 by cutting it into an appropriate length after drying.

Note that the ozonated substance layer 38 may be supported on only one side of the base material 37 or may be supported on both sides.

Next, the effects of this embodiment will be explained.

In the copying machine, negative polarity corona discharge is performed in the charging device 21 of the image forming section 10 during image processing. At this time, ozone and NO gas are generated from the charging device 21.

This ozone and NOx hit the ozone treatment member 36 arranged on the inner wall surface of the charging device 21. At this time, ozone is decomposed by the ozone treatment material layer 38. Moreover,
Since the catalytically active component used in the ozone treatment material layer 38 does not form nitrates with NOx, the ozone treatment ability is maintained well. Thereby, ozone generated from the charging device 21 is efficiently removed. As a result, the ozone concentration in the copying machine is reduced, the deterioration of the photosensitive drum 20 is suppressed, and the ozone concentration in the exhaust gas is also reduced.

Furthermore, since the ozone treatment member 36 of this embodiment is in the form of a sheet, it can be easily attached to the charging device 21 and the like, and can be easily replaced.

Furthermore, since the ozone treatment member 36 is insulative, by disposing it on the inner wall surface of the shield case of the charging device 21, the discharge efficiency can be improved and the applied voltage can be reduced. As a result, the amount of ozone generated can also be reduced.

[Other Examples]

(a) In the embodiment described above, the ozone treatment member 36 is disposed on the inner wall surface of the charging device 21, but a structure as shown in FIG. 2 may be adopted. That is, the image forming section 10
In the charging device 21 and the like disposed around the photoconductor drum 2o, an ozone treatment member 36 is disposed at a portion of the outer wall surface on the upstream side of the airflow generated by the rotation of the photoconductor drum 2o that is hit by the airflow. There is.

The effects of this embodiment will be explained. During image processing, ozone and NOx generated from the charging device rIt21, the transfer device 23, and the paper separation device 24 are circulated around the photosensitive drum 20 by an air flow generated around the photosensitive drum 20. The air flow caused by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 200 hits the ozone treatment member 36.

At this time, ozone contained in the air is decomposed by the ozone treatment member 36. Further, since NOx does not form nitrates with the ozonating substance used in the present invention, the ozonating ability of the ozonating substance is maintained. This results in
Ozone generated from the charging device 21 and the like will be efficiently removed.

(bl In the embodiment described above, the ozone treatment member 36 is arranged on the inner wall surface of the shield case 33 of the charging device 21, but it may be arranged on the inner wall surface of the shield case 33 of the transfer device 23 and the paper separation device 24.

In this embodiment, by repeating the image forming process, toner falls into the transfer device 23 and paper separation device 24 and adheres to the ozone treatment member 36. However, by blowing air onto the ozone treatment member 36, the attached toner was easily removed. Furthermore, even when toner was physically attached, heating in an oven or the like melted the toner and easily removed it. Therefore, there is no reduction in the ozone processing ability of the ozone processing member 36 due to toner adhesion, and ozone can be efficiently removed over a long period of time.

(C1 In the above embodiment, the ozone treatment member 36 was arranged on the inner wall surface of the charging device 21, but the charging device 21,
It may be arranged in the vicinity of the transfer device 23 or the paper separation device 24. The vicinity of these electrostatic application devices includes, for example, the vicinity of the entrance of the transfer conveyance belt, the paper feed guide before transfer, the eraser lamp, and the blank lamp. The vicinity of these electrostatic force applying devices is a place where ozone is likely to remain together with the inside of the electrostatic force applying device after the image forming process is completed and the photoreceptor is stopped. Therefore, by arranging the ozone treatment member 36 of the present invention near the electrostatic application device, ozone can be efficiently removed and the ozone concentration in the copying machine can be reduced.

(d) In the above embodiment, a sheet is used as the ozone treatment member 36.
Are mesh-like materials used, including, but not limited to, mesh-like materials?
Various shapes such as filter-like, uneven, etc. can be used.

(e) In the embodiment described above, the ozone treatment member 36 has a structure in which the base material 37 supports the ozone treatment material layer 38, but it may also have a structure consisting only of the ozone treatment material layer 38. In this case, the ozone treatment member 36 can be formed by dispersing a mixture of the catalytically active component and the carrier component or the catalytically active powder supported on the carrier component in a binder.

g) The present invention is not limited to copying machines, but may be applied to laser printers, for example.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the electronic image processing device according to the present invention, an ozonated substance that does not form nitrogen oxides and nitrates is placed in at least one of the electrostatic application device, its vicinity, or a position that is hit by the air flow generated by the rotation of the photoreceptor drum. An ozone treatment member having a Therefore, the ozone processing ability of the ozone processing member is maintained, making it possible to efficiently remove ozone within the device over a long period of time, suppressing deterioration of the photoreceptor drum, and reducing the ozone concentration in the exhaust gas. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of an electronic image processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of an image forming section, FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a charging device, and FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the ozone treatment member of the present invention. lO...image forming section, 20...photosensitive drum, 21
... Charging device, 23... Transfer device, 24... Paper separation device, 36... Ozone treatment member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electronic image processing device for forming an image using an electrostatic application method, which includes a photoreceptor drum and an electrostatic application device, and for forming an image using the electrostatic application method. and an ozonating substance that does not react with nitrogen oxides to form nitrates, which is disposed in at least one of the electrostatic application device, its vicinity, or a position that is hit by the air flow generated by the rotation of the photoreceptor drum. An electronic image processing device, comprising: an ozone treatment member having: