JPH08314266A - Electrostatic latent image developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make a toner layer formed on the surface of a developing material applying means wholly uniform in a width direction by pressing one surface of a blade in a direction where it press-contacts with the surface of the developing material applying means through a pressing member. CONSTITUTION: The developer applying means 16, a supply means 18, a stirring means 20 and a regulating means 22 are disposed in a developing housing 12. The regulating means 22 is provided with the blade 46 press-contacting with the peripheral surface of the roller 26 of the developer applying means 16 and consisting of a rigid member. The blade 46 is supported by a blade supporting means 48 so as to be moved in the direction where it press-contacts with the peripheral surface of the roller 26. The spring force of a compression coil spring 501 constituting an elastic energizing means 50 acts on the blade 46 through a pressing member 49. Therefore, the blade 46 is not influenced by the individual dispersion of the spring 501 itself, and the uniform elastic force acts on the blade 46 wholly in the width direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrostatic latent image developing device used for developing an electrostatic latent image into a toner image in an image forming machine such as an electrostatic copying machine or a laser printer. The present invention relates to an electrostatic latent image developing apparatus having a developer application unit that holds a developer on the surface and conveys the developer to a development area, and a regulation unit that regulates the amount of the developer retained on the surface of the developer application unit. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, in order to develop an electrostatic latent image into a toner image in an image forming machine, a developer applying means comprising a roller or an endless belt which is rotationally driven in a predetermined direction is provided. The electrostatic latent image developing device has been widely put into practical use. The developer applying unit is driven to rotate in a predetermined direction, thereby sequentially moving the developer holding region, the developer amount regulating region, and the developing region. In the developer holding area, the developer supplied by an appropriate mode is held on the surface of the developer applying means. In the developer amount regulation area, the regulation device acts on the developer retained on the surface of the developer applying unit to regulate the developer retained on the surface of the developer applying unit to a required amount. In the developing area, a developer is applied to the surface of an electrostatic latent image bearing member such as a rotating drum having an electrostatic photoconductor on the peripheral surface, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the electrostatic latent image bearing member is developed. The latent image is developed into a toner image. In order to achieve good development, the amount of developer retained on the surface of the developer applying unit is appropriately regulated by the regulating unit so that the amount of developer retained on the surface of the developer applying unit is a required amount. In addition, it is important to make it sufficiently uniform in the width direction.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-16736 discloses an electrostatic latent image developing device having a regulating means having a blade made of a rubber elastic body made of synthetic rubber such as urethane rubber and silicon rubber. The rubber elastic body constituting the developer regulating means has one side or the leading edge thereof pressed against the surface of the developer applying means, and regulates the amount of the developer held on the surface of the developer applying means to a considerably small amount to develop. A thin layer of developer is formed on the surface of the agent applying means. Further, a blade of the developer regulating means is constituted by a stainless steel thin plate for spring having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.2 mm, which has been put into practical use.

[0004]

However, in the developer regulating means using the elastic blade such as the rubber elastic body or the stainless thin plate, the both ends of the elastic blade have low rigidity and the regulating force is inferior to the central portion. Therefore, the toner layer formed on the surface of the developer applying means becomes thicker at both ends than at the center,
According to experiments conducted by the present inventors, when a urethane blade is used, the toner layers at both ends are 3.5 to 7.0 μm from the center.
It turns out that it will become thicker. As described above, when the elastic blade is used, it is difficult to make the toner layer formed on the surface of the developer applying unit have a uniform thickness in the entire width direction,
Therefore, there is a problem in that it is difficult to obtain a uniform image, and the elastic blade is not always satisfactory in terms of low wear resistance and long life.

In order to solve the above problems of the elastic blade, the applicant of the present invention has proposed an invention in which the blade constituting the developer regulating means is formed of a rigid member such as glass.
-Proposed as No. 96046. By forming the blade with plate glass, the amount of developer retained on the surface of the developer applying means can be uniformly regulated in the width direction, and abrasion resistance is improved and long life is also satisfied. It became possible. However, it has been found that the precision of the supporting means for supporting the blade formed by the plate glass affects the developer amount regulation performance. That is, as a general method of supporting the plate glass, a method of adhering the plate glass to a metal supporting member can be considered. However, the plane accuracy of the adhesive surface of the support member becomes quite important, and if the adhesive surface of the support member is distorted, the plate glass is also attached along the adhesive surface of the support member, resulting in impaired flatness of the blade. Will end up. It is easy to set the flatness of the plate glass itself to, for example, 0.01 or less, but in order to process the surface of the metal supporting member with high accuracy, the processing cost increases and the cost increases.

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has proposed a static latent image developing device provided with a relatively inexpensive supporting means capable of maintaining the surface accuracy of a blade made of a rigid member which constitutes the developer regulating means. Proposed as No. 6-155610.
However, this proposal uses a plurality of coil springs as the elastic biasing means for pressing one surface of the blade in the direction in which it is pressed against the surface of the developer application means. The toner layer formed on the surface of the developer applying unit may not always be uniform due to the influence of the concentrated load due to the contact of the toner particles, and the toner layer may not be uniform in the entire width direction. Not a thing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and its main technical problem is to provide an electrostatic latent image capable of making the toner layer formed on the surface of the developer applying means uniform in the entire width direction. An object is to provide an image developing device.

[0008]

In order to solve the above technical problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a developing housing,
A developer applying means for arranging the developer on the surface in the developer holding area provided in the developing housing, and carrying the held developer to the developing area to apply the developer to the electrostatic latent image, and the developer holding means. In the electrostatic latent image developing device, a regulating means for regulating the amount of the developer held on the surface of the developer applying means in a developer regulating area located between the developing area and the developing area is provided. Is a blade made of a rigid member that is pressed against the surface of the developer applying means, a blade supporting means for movably supporting one surface of the blade in a direction of pressing against the surface of the developer applying means, and a blade of the blade. A pressing member having an abutting surface corresponding to the length in the width direction, the abutting surface being provided in contact with the other surface of the blade, and one surface of the blade via the pressing member, the developer applying means. Elastic bias that presses against the surface of the And a stage, an electrostatic latent image developing device is provided, characterized in that.

In order to solve the above technical problems,
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the developing housing and the developer holding area disposed in the developing housing holds the developer on the surface and conveys the held developer to the developing area to form an electrostatic latent image. A developer applying means for applying, and a restricting means for controlling the amount of the developer held on the surface of the developer applying means in a developer controlling area located between the developer holding area and the developing area. In the electrostatic latent image developing device, the regulating means includes a blade made of a rigid member that is pressed against the surface of the developer applying means, and one side of the blade is in a direction of pressing against the surface of the developer applying means. A blade supporting means for movably supporting and an abutting portion corresponding to the widthwise length of the blade, the abutting portion abutting the other surface of the blade and one surface of the blade being the surface of the developer applying means. From the leaf spring that presses against the And a resilient biasing means that are provided electrostatic latent image developing device, characterized in that.

[0010]

According to the electrostatic latent image developing device of the first aspect of the present invention, the contact surface of the pressing member corresponding to the length in the width direction of the blade is attached to the other surface of the blade whose one surface is pressed against the surface of the developer applying means. Are brought into contact with each other, and the pressing member is pressed by the elastic biasing means. The pressing force of this elastic biasing means acts uniformly over the width direction length of the blade via the pressing member,
Since the blade is uniformly pressed against the developer applying unit in the entire width direction, the toner layer formed on the surface of the developer applying unit can have a uniform thickness in the entire width direction.

In the electrostatic latent image developing device of the second aspect of the present invention, the contact portion of the leaf spring corresponding to the length in the width direction of the blade is attached to the other surface of the blade whose one surface is pressed against the surface of the developer applying means. Are brought into contact with each other, and the blade is pressed by the pressing force of the leaf spring. The pressing force of this leaf spring acts uniformly over the length of the blade in the width direction, so that the blade is uniformly pressed against the developer applying means in the entire width direction, so that it is formed on the surface of the developer applying means. The toner layer can have a uniform thickness in the entire width direction.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which show preferred embodiments of an electrostatic latent image developing device constructed according to the present invention.

1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an image generator equipped with an electrostatic latent image developing device constructed according to the present invention. The illustrated image generator includes a rotary drum 1 as an image carrier having a photosensitive layer on its peripheral surface. The rotary drum 1 is rotatably mounted in a machine body housing (not shown) by a rotary shaft 2. Around the rotary drum 1 which is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow 3, as seen in the direction of rotation,
As a charging corona discharger 4 for charging the photosensitive layer of the rotating drum 1 to a specific polarity, and as an exposing means for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive layer of the rotating drum 1 charged to a specific polarity by the charging corona discharger. Laser optical section 5, an electrostatic latent image developing device 6 for developing an electrostatic latent image formed by laser light emitted from the optical section 5 into a toner image, a transfer corona discharger 7, and a peeling corona discharger. 8, a cleaning device 9, and a discharge lamp 10 are provided.

The developing device 6 is provided with a developing housing 12 which can be formed of synthetic resin. Inside the developing housing 12, a developer applying means 16, a supplying means 18, a stirring means 20 and a regulating means 22 are provided. It is arranged. Further, although not shown, a toner cartridge containing toner is mounted on the developing housing 12.

The developer applying means 16 is a rotary shaft 24 rotatably mounted between both side walls of the developing housing 12.
And a roller 26 fixed to the rotating shaft 24. The rotating shaft 24 can be formed of a suitable metal material such as stainless steel. The roller 26 is made of a relatively soft and conductive material, for example, a conductive solid rubber such as urethane rubber. The Asker C hardness of the roller 26 is about 60 to 85, particularly preferably about 67 to 80, and the volume resistance of the roller 26 is preferably about 10 ^{6 to} 10 ⁹ Ω · cm.
The roller 26 of the developer applying unit 16 configured as described above
Is exposed through an opening formed in the developing housing 12 to face the rotary drum 1, and its peripheral surface is brought into pressure contact with the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 1. In the pressure contact area, the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is slightly elastic. It is compressed. The rotary shaft 24 of the developer applying unit 16 is continuously driven to rotate in a direction indicated by an arrow 28 in FIG. 1 by a driving unit (not shown). By the above rotation of the rotary shaft 24, the roller 26 is also continuously driven to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 28, and the peripheral surface of the roller 26 has the developer holding area 3
0, the developer regulation area 32, and the development area 34 are sequentially conveyed.

The supply means 18 includes a rotating shaft 36 rotatably mounted between both side walls of the developing housing 12.
An auxiliary roller 38 fixed to the rotating shaft 36 is included. The auxiliary roller 38 is preferably made of foam such as foam silicon or foam urethane. The auxiliary roller 38 is pressed against the roller 26 of the developer applying unit 16. The hardness of the foam forming the auxiliary roller 38 is considerably smaller than the hardness of the roller 26 (for example, the Asker C hardness is about 35), and the auxiliary roller 38 is replaced by the roller 26.
It is desirable that the auxiliary roller 38 be elastically compressed by about 0.15 to 0.25 mm in the pressure contact region by being pressed against. This auxiliary roller 38 is continuously driven to rotate in the direction indicated by arrow 39 in FIG. The stirring means 20 includes a rotating shaft 40 rotatably mounted between both side walls of the developing housing 12, and a stirring member 4 fixed to the rotating shaft 40.
2 is included and continuously driven to rotate in a direction indicated by an arrow 44 in FIG.

Next, the regulating means 22 will be described with reference to FIG. The regulating means 22 supports a blade 46 made of a rigid member which is pressed against the peripheral surface of the roller 26 of the developer applying means 16, and one side of the blade 46 is movably supported in a direction of pressing against the peripheral surface of the roller 26. The blade supporting means 48, a pressing member 49 that comes into contact with the other surface of the blade 46, and the blade 4 via the pressing member 49.
The elastic urging means 50 presses one surface of the roller 6 in the direction of pressing against the peripheral surface of the roller 26.

At least one surface (that is, the surface pressed against the peripheral surface of the roller 26) of the blade 46 made of the rigid member is along the peripheral surface of the roller 26 in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1). It is composed of a plate-like member that is a flat surface that extends. The surface roughness of at least a region of the one side of the blade 46 which is pressed against the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is sufficiently small, and the center line average roughness Ra defined in JIS B 0601 is 6.00 or less, particularly 0.2.
It is preferably 0 or less, and particularly preferably 0.02 or less. If the surface roughness of the one side of the blade 46 becomes excessive, the thin layer surface of the developer formed on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 of the developer applying means 16 is not sufficiently flattened and becomes uneven. Tend to end up. Therefore, as a suitable rigid material having a sufficiently small surface roughness and high hardness and abrasion resistance even though the blade 46 can be formed at a relatively low cost, a commercially available plate glass is used. Can be mentioned. The plate glass may have a thickness of about 3 mm.
If it is desired to apply the required voltage to the blade 46 to control the charging characteristics of the toner, a conductive coating can be applied to one side of the sheet glass. As the plate glass having a conductive coating on one surface, a plate glass commercially available under the trade name "Nesa glass" can be conveniently used. Instead of the plate glass, the blade 46 may be made of a rigid member made of an appropriate metal plate such as stainless steel.
In order to sufficiently reduce the surface roughness of one surface of the metal plate that constitutes the blade 46, one surface of the metal plate may be subjected to an appropriate surface treatment, if necessary. If desired, the blade 46 may be formed of a laminated body of a plate glass and a metal plate, and one surface of the blade 46 that is brought into pressure contact with the roller 26 of the developer applying unit 16 may be defined by the exposed surface of the plate glass.

The blade supporting means 48 is the blade 4
6, a pair of lower support members 52, 52 supporting both lower ends of
And an upper support member 54 that supports the upper edge of the blade 46.
Is provided. The lower support members 52, 52 are provided with notches 520, 520 forming bottom surfaces 521, 521 and side surfaces 522, 522, respectively, and mounting holes 523, 523 that are long in the vertical direction are provided. The lower support members 52, 52 are arranged in the width direction at a predetermined interval, and the screws 5 are inserted into the mounting holes 523, 523 in the mounting portion 120 formed integrally with the developing housing 12.
It is fixed by 6,56. The lower support members 52, 52 fixed to the mounting portion 120 have cutout portions 520 and 52.
The distance between the side surfaces 522 and 522 forming 0 is the blade 4
The bottom surfaces 521 and 52 that are attached so as to have substantially the same length as the widthwise dimension of 6 and form the cutouts 520 and 520.
The lower end surfaces of both ends of the blade 46 are placed and supported on the blade 1. The upper support member 54 is disposed above the lower support members 52, 52 with a predetermined space therebetween, and the developing housing 1
It is fixed to the second mounting portion 120 by a plurality of screws 58. The upper support member 54 has substantially the same length as the widthwise dimension of the blade 46 and has a fitting groove 540 slightly wider than the plate thickness of the blade 46. The upper edge of the blade 46 is fitted in the fitting groove 540. Fit the parts. The fitting groove 540
As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of recesses 541 are formed on the bottom surface of the compression coil spring 6 in the longitudinal direction.
0 are arranged respectively, and the compression coil spring 60 is fitted in the fitting groove 54.
It acts on the upper end surface of the blade 46 fitted to 0 and urges it downward.

The pressing member 49 is made of a stainless steel plate having a thickness of about 2 mm, and has a length substantially equal to that of the blade 46 corresponding to the length of the blade 46 in the width direction.
It is provided with two elongated holes 491, 491 for guiding, and two supporting protrusions 4 are provided on the rear end face in the illustrated embodiment.
92 and 492 are formed. The pressing member 49 configured as described above is used for the mounting portion 12 of the developing housing 12.
It is fitted into the through hole 121 formed in No. 0, and its front end face, that is, the nodal face 490 is brought into contact with the other face of the blade 46. Guide bolts 62, 62 screwed into the mounting portion 120 of the developing housing 12 are formed in the pressing member 49 in a state where the pressing member 49 is fitted and inserted in the through hole 121 formed in the mounting portion 120 of the developing housing 12. 2
The movement of the pressing member 49 is guided by inserting it into each of the elongated holes 492, 492.

The elastic biasing means 50 includes the pressing member 4
A plurality of (two in the illustrated embodiment) compression coil springs 501, 501 are provided between the rear end surface 9 of the developing device 12 and the developing housing 12. Each of the compression coil springs 501 and 501 has one end portion which is the pressing member 4.
9 are fitted to supporting projections 492 and 492 formed on the rear end surface of the housing 9, and the other ends are fitted to supporting projections 125 and 125 formed on the developing housing 12, respectively. One side of the blade 46 is pressed in the direction of pressing against the peripheral surface of the roller 26.

The pressing force of the blade 46 against the peripheral surface of the roller 26 of the developer applying means 16 can be appropriately set according to the thickness of the developer layer to be formed on the peripheral surface of the roller 26. When the pressure contact force increases, the thickness of the developer layer formed on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 decreases. On the other hand,
When the pressure contact force becomes excessively large, smooth rotation of the roller 26 tends to be impeded. In the developing mode in the illustrated embodiment, the thickness of the developer layer formed on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is usually 15 to 40 μm, particularly 20 μm.
It is preferably about the same. In order to properly form the developer layer having such a thickness, the blade 46 is applied to the peripheral surface of the roller 26 by linear pressure (pressure per unit length in the width direction).
The pressure may be 0 to 80 g / cm, particularly 20 to 70 g / cm, and particularly 40 to 60 g / cm.

The lower end of the blade 46 is connected to the roller 26.
It is desirable that the blades 46 and the blades 46 are projected to the upstream side to some extent in the direction of movement of the roller 26 beyond the pressure contact portion. The protruding length of the lower end portion of the blade 46 (that is, from the center of contact between the roller 26 and the blade 46)
The length up to the lower end of) is generally 0.5 to 4.0 m.
m, especially 0.8 to 3.5 mm, especially 1.0 to 2.0
It is preferably mm. If the protruding length is excessively short and becomes substantially zero, the restricting action of the blade 46 becomes excessive and it tends to be difficult to form a good developer layer, and if the protruding length becomes excessively long. The thickness of the formed developer layer tends to be too large, and the charge amount of the toner tends to be too small. As described above, the positional relationship between the lower end of the blade 46 and the roller 26 needs to be maintained with high accuracy. In the illustrated embodiment, the lower end surface of the blade 46 is provided with the notch 520 provided in the lower support members 52, 52. The developer applying means 16 of the blade 46 is mounted on the bottom surfaces 521 and 521 of the blade 520.
Since the size control of the protrusion amount from the pressure contact position with the roller 26 constituting the above is performed, the assembling workability is dramatically improved. Moreover, in the illustrated embodiment, the lower support members 52, 52 constituting the blade support means 48 are adjustable along the mounting holes 523, 523 that are long in the vertical direction, and the amount of protrusion of the blade is adjusted. can do.

The electrostatic latent image developing device according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described below. When the operation of the electrostatic latent image developing device is started, the roller 26 of the developer applying unit 16, the auxiliary roller 38 of the supplying unit 18, and the stirring unit 20 are rotationally driven in the directions indicated by the arrows by a driving unit (not shown). The roller 26 of the developer applying unit 16 is continuously driven to rotate in the direction shown by the arrow 28, and the supplying unit 18 acts on the roller 26 in the developer holding area 30 and is held on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 until then. The developer is separated from the roller 26, and the developer is newly supplied to the peripheral surface of the roller 26. In the developer regulation area 32, the blade 46 of the regulation means 22 acts on the developer retained on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 to regulate the developer retained on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 to a required amount. Form a thin layer. Further, by the action of the blade 46, the toner constituting the developer is frictionally charged to have a predetermined polarity, for example, a positive polarity. In the developer regulating action of the blade 46, the blade 46 is not fixed by the lower support members 52, 52 and the upper support member 54 forming the blade support means 48, and the roller 26 of the developer applying means 16 is fixed.
Since it is supported so as to be movable in the direction in which it comes into pressure contact with the peripheral surface, its surface accuracy is not affected by the surface accuracy of the supporting member, so there is no need to process the supporting member with higher precision than necessary. Further, the spring force of the compression coil springs 501, 501 forming the elastic urging means 50 is the pressing member 49.
Acting on the blade 46 via the
The blade 6 is not affected by the individual variations of the coil spring itself, and the blade 46 is applied with a uniform pressing force in the entire width direction. Therefore, the developer applying means 16
The toner layer formed on the surface of the roller 26 can be made uniform. Next, in the developing area 34, a developer is applied to the electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic photoconductor disposed on the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 1 to develop the electrostatic latent image into a toner image. . For example, the electrostatic latent image has a non-image area charged to about + 700V and an image area charged to about + 120V, and toner is attached to the image area (so-called reversal development). The rotary drum 1 is continuously driven to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 3 in FIG.
At, the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 1 and the peripheral surface of the roller 26 of the developer applying means 16 are moved in the same direction.
The moving speed V2 of the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is set to be slightly higher than the moving speed V1 of the peripheral surface of the rotating drum 1.
It is preferable that 1.2V1 ≦ V2 ≦ 2.2V1.
In this case, a sufficient amount of the developer is conveyed to the developing area 34 by the roller 26, and the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is rubbed against the peripheral surface of the rotating drum 1 to once adhere to the non-image portion of the electrostatic latent image. The formed toner is appropriately peeled off, and thus a good toner image having an appropriate development density and no fog can be obtained. As the developer, the volume average particle diameter (Vol. 50%: the volume of the toner having the volume average particle diameter or less and the volume of the toner having the volume average particle diameter or more are the same) is 8.0.
To about 12.0 μm and volume resistance of 10 ⁸ Ω · cm
A developer consisting only of the above toner is preferably used.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the elastic biasing means 51 for pressing the blade 46 of the regulating means 22 is used.
Other than that is substantially the same as the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, and therefore, the same members are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, the blade 46 of the regulating means 22 is directly pressed by the leaf spring 511 forming the elastic biasing means 51. The leaf spring 511 is made of a stainless steel thin plate for a spring, and has a contact portion 512 having a length substantially the same as that of the blade 46 corresponding to the width direction length of the blade 46 at the lower end portion. One side of the blade 46 is brought into contact with the other side of the blade 46 and the developer applying means 1
6 is pressed against the surface of the roller 26. The upper end of the leaf spring 511 is mounted on a rotary shaft 513 rotatably mounted between both side walls of the developing housing 12 via a mounting bracket 514. The front end of the rotating shaft 513, which can be constructed from a stainless steel rod, has a developer housing 12
Of the connecting member 515 is fixed to the front end portion of the protruding portion. On the other hand, an L-shaped bracket 516 is fixed to the front surface of the front side wall of the developing housing 12.
A screw hole is formed in the support portion of 6. Bracket 5
A screw rod 517 is screwed into the 16 screw hole,
A lock nut 518 is screwed onto the screw rod 517. The tip portion of the screw rod 51 and the connecting member 515.
A tension spring 519 is stretched between the tension spring 519 and the free end. The tension spring 519 elastically biases the rotating shaft 513 in the clockwise direction in FIG.
The lower end of the leaf spring 511, whose upper end is attached to 3, is pressed against the other surface of the blade 46. Therefore, one side of the blade 46 is pressed against the peripheral surface of the roller 26. The present embodiment is configured as described above, and the blade 46 is constituted by the leaf spring 511 having the contact portion 512 having a length substantially the same as the width direction length of the blade 46.
Since it is configured to press, the spring force of the leaf spring 511 forming the elastic biasing means 51 acts on the blade 46 as a uniform pressing force in the entire width direction. Therefore, the toner layer formed on the surface of the roller 26 of the developer applying unit 16 can be made uniform.

[0026]

The electrostatic latent image developing device according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and the regulating means for regulating the amount of the developer held on the surface of the developer applying means is provided on the surface of the developer applying means. A blade made of a rigid member to be pressed against, a blade supporting means for movably supporting one surface of the blade in the direction of pressing against the surface of the developer applying means, and a contact surface corresponding to the widthwise length of the blade. A pressing member having a corresponding contact surface arranged in contact with the other surface of the blade, and elasticity for pressing one surface of the blade in the direction of pressing against the surface of the developer applying means via the pressing member. Since the spring force of the compression coil spring that constitutes the elastic biasing means acts on the blade via the pressing member, the blade is affected by individual variations of the coil spring itself. Can Ku, uniform pressing force across the width direction is made to act on the blade. Therefore, the toner layer formed on the surface of the roller of the developer applying unit can be made uniform in the entire width direction.

Further, according to the present invention, a regulating member for regulating the amount of the developer held on the surface of the developer applying means is constituted by a blade made of a rigid member which is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the developer applying means, and the blade. Blade supporting means for movably supporting one surface of the developer applying means in the direction of pressure contact with the surface of the developer applying means, and an abutting portion corresponding to the widthwise length of the blade, and the abutting portion contacts the other surface of the blade. Since the elastic biasing means is composed of a leaf spring that presses one surface of the blade in contact with the surface of the developer applying means, the spring force of the leaf spring forming the elastic biasing means is the width direction of the blade. It acts as a uniform pressing force on the whole. Therefore, the toner layer formed on the surface of the roller of the developer applying unit can be made uniform in the entire width direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration diagram of an image generator equipped with an electrostatic latent image developing device according to an embodiment configured according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of a regulating unit that constitutes the electrostatic latent image developing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the configuration of an image generator equipped with an electrostatic latent image developing device of another embodiment constructed according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing the front surface of the developing housing in the electrostatic latent image developing device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Rotating drum 4: Charging corona discharger 5: Laser optical part 6: Electrostatic latent image developing device 7: Transfer corona discharger 8: Peeling corona discharger 9: Cleaning device 10: Static elimination lamp 12: Development housing 16: Developer Applying Means 18: Supplying Means 20: Stirring Means 22: Regulating Means 26: Developer Applying Means Rollers 30: Developer Holding Areas 32: Developer Regulating Areas 34: Developing Areas 38: Supply Means Auxiliary Rollers 46 : Blade 48: Blade support means 49: Pressing member 50: Elastic biasing means 51: Elastic biasing means 52: Lower support member 54: Upper support member 60: Compression coil spring 490: Contact surface 501: Compression coil spring 511 : Leaf spring 512: Contact part

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Kenichiro Kitajima 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Masayuki Nakajima 1-228 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Within Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A developing housing, and a developer for holding a developer on a surface in a developer holding area provided in the developing housing and conveying the held developer to the developing area to apply it to an electrostatic latent image. Electrostatic comprising a developer applying means and a restricting means for restricting the amount of the developer held on the surface of the developer applying means in a developer controlling area located between the developer holding area and the developing area. In the latent image developing device, the regulating means supports a blade made of a rigid member that is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the developer applying means, and one side of the blade is movably supported in a direction of being brought into pressure contact with the surface of the developer applying means. Blade supporting means, a pressing member having an abutting surface corresponding to the widthwise length of the blade, the abutting surface being provided in contact with the other surface of the blade, and the pressing member via the pressing member. One surface of the blade is the surface of the developer applying means. And a resilient biasing means for pressing in the direction of pressure, electrostatic latent image developing device, characterized in that. 2. A development housing, and a development for holding a developer on the surface in a developer holding area provided in the development housing and conveying the held developer to the developing area to apply it to an electrostatic latent image. Electrostatic comprising a developer applying means and a restricting means for restricting the amount of the developer held on the surface of the developer applying means in a developer controlling area located between the developer holding area and the developing area. In the latent image developing device, the regulating means supports a blade made of a rigid member that is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the developer applying means, and one side of the blade is movably supported in a direction of being brought into pressure contact with the surface of the developer applying means. And a contacting portion corresponding to the widthwise length of the blade, the contacting portion abutting the other surface of the blade and pressing one surface of the blade against the surface of the developer applying means. Elasticity consisting of a leaf spring pressed against And a energization means, an electrostatic latent image developing device, characterized in that.