JPH0568926A - Drum chucking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily chuck a drum fed in a vertical state and to easily set the chucked drum to a vertical state. CONSTITUTION:The upper end part of a support spring 13 is attached to a support box 11 fixed in a horizontal state and the guide plate 24 of a chucking mechanism 20 is supported at the lower end part of the support spring 11 in a tiltable manner. A lower block 22 and the lower part of an upper block 21 are inserted in a drum 80 in such a state that the guide plate is tiltable with respect to the support box 11. The 0-ring 23 provided over the upper and lower blocks 21, 22 is compressed in an up-and-down direction and both blocks 21, 22 come into close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum 80 to chuck the drum 80. Thereafter, the guide plate 24 is fitted in the opening part 12 of the support box 11 to be set to a horizontal state with respect to the support box 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drum chucking device used for manufacturing a photoconductor drum having a photosensitive material applied to the outer peripheral surface of the drum used in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine. More specifically, the present invention relates to a drum chucking device that holds a drum substantially vertically when the drum is dipped in a coating liquid containing a photosensitive substance and a volatile solvent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of the methods for producing a photosensitive drum having a photosensitive layer provided on the outer peripheral surface of a drum, a conductive drum such as aluminum is dipped in a coating liquid containing a photosensitive substance.
There is a dipping method of pulling up the drum in a vertical state. In the dipping method, in order to apply the coating liquid to the entire outer peripheral surface of the drum with a uniform thickness, it is necessary to hold the drum so that the chucking device or the like does not contact the outer peripheral surface of the drum.

Such a drum chucking device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-60769. The drum chucking device disclosed in this publication, as shown in FIG. 5, is mounted on a lower surface of a base 91 via a connecting member 92, and an upper block 93 that is vertically movable. And a lower block 94 that is mounted. A groove portion having a V-shaped cross section is formed on both outer peripheral surfaces of the lower end portion of the upper block 93 and the upper end portion of the lower block 94.
95 is provided, and an O-ring 96 made of an elastic material such as rubber is fitted in the groove 95. A flange 93a is provided on the upper end of the upper block 93.

The O-ring 96 is contracted by its own elastic force when the lower block 94 is lowered with respect to the upper block 93, and in such a state, the lower block 94 and the upper block 93. The lower end portion of is inserted into the drum 80 having the outer peripheral surface coated with the photosensitive layer. And
By raising the lower block 94 with respect to the upper block 93, the O-ring 96 has a larger diameter and is brought into close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum 80 in an airtight state. At this time, since the O-ring 96 is lifted, the drum 80 in which the O-ring 96 is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface is also lifted together, and the upper end of the drum 80 is positioned at the lower end surface of the flange 93a of the upper block 93. Abut. As a result, the drum 80 is held in the vertical state.

The lower block 94 is provided with a gas flow passage 94a which communicates with the inner peripheral surface of the drum 80 below the O-ring 95 which is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum 80 in an airtight state. Can be decompressed.

[0006]

In such a chucking device, the drum 80 is moved upward by the O-ring 96 being in close contact with the inner peripheral surface thereof, so that the upper end surface of the drum 80 is flange 93a of the upper block 93. Is abutted against the drum 8
0 is positioned so as to be in a vertical state. The distance that the drum 80 is moved upward by the O-ring 96 is small, so that the inclination angle of the drum corrected by the contact with the flange 93a is limited. For this reason, the drum 80 chucked by the chucking device must be accurately supported in advance so as to be in a substantially vertical state. Further, since the upper block 93 is fixed, it is necessary to position the upper block 93 with respect to the drum 80 with high accuracy when the lower block 94 is inserted into the drum 80.

The present invention solves such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a drum chucking device which can easily bring a chucked drum into a vertical state.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A drum chucking device of the present invention is inserted into an opening at an upper end of a drum in a substantially vertical state and presses the inner peripheral surface of the drum so that the drum is substantially vertically moved. The chucking mechanism that chucks in a state and the chucking mechanism is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction and tiltable, and the chucking mechanism is brought into a predetermined posture by the upward movement of the chucking mechanism. And a support mechanism that engages with the chucking mechanism, thereby achieving the above object.

[0009]

In the drum chucking device of the present invention, since the chucking mechanism is supported so as to be tiltable with respect to the support mechanism, when the chucking mechanism is inserted into the drum, the chucking mechanism is moved to the drum. It is easily inserted into the drum by tilting with respect to. Then, the chucking mechanism is brought into a predetermined posture by engaging with the support mechanism, and the drum chucked by the chucking mechanism is easily brought into the vertical state.

[0010]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. The drum chucking device of the present invention is used when a photosensitive drum is manufactured by applying a coating liquid containing a photosensitive substance and a volatile solvent to the outer peripheral surface of the drum. As shown in FIG. 1A, the drum chucking device includes a support mechanism 10 provided above the transport area of the drum 80 transported in a substantially vertical state so as to be movable in the horizontal direction and movable up and down. ,
The chucking mechanism 20 is supported by the support mechanism 10.

The support mechanism 10 has a hollow flat box-shaped support box 11, and the support box 11 is fixed in a horizontal state. A circular opening 12 is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the support box 11. The opening 12
The inner peripheral surface of is a tapered surface whose inner diameter gradually increases as it goes upward. Inside the support box 11, a support spring 13 is mounted in a vertical state so as to face the opening 12 provided on the bottom surface.

A chucking mechanism 20 is attached to the lower end of the support spring 13. A compression spring is used as the support spring 13 so that the chucking mechanism 20 is constantly pressed downward. The chucking mechanism 20 includes a disc-shaped guide plate 24, a column-shaped upper block 21 vertically suspended on the lower surface of the guide plate 24, and a vertically movable mount below the upper block 21. And a cylindrical lower block 22 that is formed. The guide plate 24 is attached so as to be orthogonal to the support spring 13, and the guide plate 24 is tiltably supported by the support spring 13. The guide plate 24 has the same size as the opening 12 provided on the bottom surface of the support box 11, and the outer peripheral surface of the guide plate 24 is
Similar to the inner peripheral surface of the opening 12, it has a tapered surface whose diameter gradually increases toward the upper side. Therefore, the guide plate 24 is normally in a state of being pressed downward by the pressing force of the support spring 13 as shown in FIG. 1, and the outer peripheral surface thereof is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the opening 12. It is in a state.

An upper block 24 is attached to the lower surface of the guide plate 24. The upper block 21 is inserted through the opening 12 of the support box 11, and the lower portion thereof is inserted into the drum 80 to be chucked so that the drum 80 can be inserted into the drum 80.
It has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter. Further, a taper surface 21a is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end portion so that the diameter is gradually reduced toward the lower side. The upper portion of the upper block 21 excluding the lower portion has an outer diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the lower portion, and a joint surface between them has a positioning surface 21b extending outward in the horizontal state. There is.

The lower block 22, which is attached to the upper block 21 so as to be able to move up and down, has the drum 80
It has a constant outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of, and is adapted to be inserted into the drum 80. The upper end of the lower block 22 has a tapered surface 22a whose diameter gradually decreases toward the upper side. Therefore, the taper surface 22a of the lower block 22 has an inclination direction opposite to that of the taper surface at the lower end surface of the upper block 21,
A groove having a V-shaped cross section is formed over the entire circumference between the blocks 21 and 22 by the tapered surfaces 22a and 21a. The elastic O-ring 23 is provided in the groove.
Is fitted. The O-ring 23 does not project outward from the outer peripheral surface of the lower block 22 when the lower block 22 is lowered from the upper block 21 and is separated from the upper block 21. When the lower block 22 is lifted from such a state and is brought into contact with the upper block 21 from such a state, the O-ring 23 moves to the tapered surface 21a of the upper block 21.
And the taper surface 22a of the lower block 22 compresses it in the vertical direction and bulges outward.

The operation of the chucking device having such a configuration is as follows. Drum 80 transported in a substantially vertical state
However, when it reaches below the chucking device, the support box 11 is lowered. At this time, the lower block 22 of the chucking mechanism 20 is in a state of being moved downward with respect to the upper block 21, and the O-ring 23 is in a state of being reduced in diameter by its own elastic force.

Further, since the guide plate 24 is pushed down by the pushing force of the support spring 13, the support box 11
It is in a fitted state with the opening 12 of the. Then, as the whole support box 11 is lowered, the guide plate 24
Is pressed against the upper end surface of the drum 80 so that the guide plate 24 is disengaged from the opening 12 of the support box 11. As described above, the guide plate 24 disengaged from the opening 12 is tiltable by the support spring 13, so that the upper block 21 and the lower block 22 easily enter the drum 80. obtain. Then, the lower block 22, the lower end portions of the upper block 21, and the O-ring 23 are smoothly inserted into the upper end portion of the drum 20 in a substantially vertical state, and the upper end surface of the drum 80 is positioned on the positioning surface 21 of the upper block 21.
It is brought into contact with b.

In this state, the lower block 22 is moved upward with respect to the upper block 21, and the O-ring 23 is compressed, so that the O-ring 23 is airtightly adhered to the inner peripheral surface of the drum 80. It As a result, the upper end surface of the drum 80 is
By being pressed against the positioning surface 21b of the upper block 21 over the entire circumference, the drum 80 is brought into a state orthogonal to the guide plate 24 and chucked by the chucking mechanism 20.

When the drum 80 is chucked by the chucking mechanism 20, the entire support box 11 is moved upward. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 1B, the guide plate 24 is lowered by the pressing force of the support spring 13, and the guide plate 24 is fitted into the opening 12 of the support box 11. As a result, the tapered outer peripheral surface of the guide plate 24 is lowered along the tapered inner peripheral surface of the opening 12 and fitted into the opening 12. Then, the outer peripheral surface of the guide plate 24 and the inner peripheral surface of the opening 12 are brought into close contact with each other, and the guide plate 24 is fixed to the support box 12 in a horizontal state.

As described above, even if the drum 20 is conveyed in a slightly inclined state, the chucking mechanism 20 is still supported by the support mechanism 10.
The lower block 22 and the lower part of the upper block 21 of the chucking mechanism 20 are smoothly inserted into the drum 80 so that the drum 80 is securely chucked by the chucking mechanism 20. To be king. Then, after that, the guide plate 24 is provided in the opening 12 of the support box 11.
Are engaged with each other to bring the guide plate 24 into a horizontal state, and the drum 80 which is orthogonal to the guide plate 24 is brought into a vertical state.

FIG. 2 shows a drum chucking device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), an opening provided on the bottom surface of the support box 11
The inner peripheral surface of 12 is not tapered and has a constant inner diameter in the vertical direction. The guide plate 24 ′ is provided in the support box 11 and has an outer diameter larger than that of the opening 12. A pair of guide bodies 15 and 15 are provided on the bottom surface of the support box 11 with the opening 12 interposed therebetween. Each guide body 15 has a conical shape that tapers off toward the upper side. Each guide body 15 is attached to the guide plate 24 '.
A pair of guide holes 24a and 24a are provided so as to fit in. The inner peripheral surface of each guide hole 24a is
It has the same taper shape as the outer peripheral surface. The other structure is similar to that of the above-described embodiment.

In this embodiment, when the drum 80 is chucked by the chucking mechanism 20 and the support box 11 is raised, the guide plate 24 'is lowered by the pressing force of the support spring 13, and the guide plate 24' is lowered. The guide hole 24a of the'is lowered along the peripheral surface of each guide body 15. And FIG.
As shown in (b), the outer peripheral surface of each guide body 15 and the guide plate
When the inner peripheral surface of the guide hole 24a of 24 'comes into close contact, the guide plate 24' becomes horizontal and the drum chucked by the chucking mechanism 20 attached to the guide plate 24 '.
20 is vertical.

FIG. 3 shows a drum chucking device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The drum chucking device of this embodiment is supported by a guide plate 24 by an air cylinder 16 instead of the support spring 13 in the drum chucking device shown in FIG. The air cylinder 16
Is attached to the upper surface of the support box 11, and its piston rod 16a penetrates the upper surface of the support box 11. A guide plate 24 is rotatably attached to the lower end of the piston rod 16a by a universal joint 17. Other configurations are similar to those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, when the drum 80 is chucked by the chucking mechanism 20, the air cylinder 16 is driven so that the guide plate 24 is opened in the opening of the support box 11.
When the drum 80 is in a state of being disengaged from the drum 80 by the chucking mechanism 20, the air cylinder 16 is driven and the guide plate 24 is lowered. As a result, the guide plate 24 is opened at the opening of the support box 11.
The guide plate 24 is fitted in the inside of the casing 12 and brought into an engaged state, and the guide plate 24 is brought into a horizontal state.

FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
In this embodiment, a support plate 18 in a horizontal state is used instead of the support box 11 in the support mechanism 10, and an air cylinder 16 is provided on the upper surface of the support plate 18. A piston rod 16a of the air cylinder 16 penetrates a support plate 18, and an upper block 21 'of a chucking mechanism 20 is rotatably attached to a lower end of the support plate 18 by a universal joint 17. The outer peripheral surface of the upper end portion of the upper block 21 'is a tapered surface 21c having a diameter that gradually decreases toward the upper side, and the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the support plate 18 where the piston rod 16a penetrates,
The upper block 21 ′ has a recess 18 a into which the upper end portion is fitted. The inner peripheral surface of the recess 18a has an upper block 21 '.
Is a tapered surface aligned with the tapered surface 21c at the upper end of the.

In this embodiment, when the chucking mechanism 20 chucks a drum, an air cylinder is used.
16 is driven and the entire chucking mechanism 20 is lowered,
The upper end of the upper block 21 of the chucking mechanism 20 is disengaged from the recess 18a of the support plate 11. In such a state, the drum 80 is attached to the chucking mechanism 20.
Thus, the drum is chucked, and thereafter, the entire chucking mechanism 20 is lifted by the air cylinder 18. Then, the upper end of the upper block 21 is a recess of the support plate 18.
The taper surface 21c at the upper end of the upper block 21 is fitted into the recess 18a of the support plate 18 and is fitted into the inner surface of the recess 18a. As a result, the entire chucking mechanism 20 is placed vertically with respect to the support plate 18, and the drum 80 supported by the chucking mechanism 20 is placed vertically.

[0026]

According to the drum chucking device of the present invention, the chucking mechanism, which is tiltable with respect to the support mechanism, can be easily placed in the drum even if the drum is conveyed in a slightly tilted state. You may enter and chuck the drum. Then, the chucking mechanism that chucked the drum is raised with respect to the support mechanism,
The drum is brought into a vertical state by engaging with the support mechanism to be in a predetermined state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a drum chucking device of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an operation explanatory diagram thereof.

2A is a configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the drum chucking device of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is an operation explanatory diagram thereof.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a third embodiment of a drum chucking device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the drum chucking device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional drum chucking device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Support mechanism 11 Support box 12 Opening 13 Support spring 20 Chucking mechanism 21 Upper block 22 Lower block 23 O-ring 24 Guide plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A chucking mechanism for chucking the drum in a substantially vertical state by inserting the drum in a substantially vertical state from an opening at an upper end of the drum and press-contacting an inner peripheral surface of the drum, and the chucking mechanism. A support mechanism that supports the mechanism so as to be vertically movable and tiltable, and that engages with the chucking mechanism so that the chucking mechanism is brought into a predetermined posture by the upward movement of the chucking mechanism; A drum chucking device comprising: