JP2003241585A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a cleaning device that can be easily replaced with a simple configuration without contaminating the inside and outside of the image forming apparatus with waste toner or the like. SOLUTION: A cleaning device 50 for removing and collecting waste toner from the surface of an image carrier 11, a waste toner container 62 containing waste toner H conveyed from the cleaning device 50, and a replacement time of the cleaning device 50 are set. Replacement time detecting means (output number counter) 59 for detecting;
A display unit 60 for displaying a user's operation instructions and the like;
The cleaning device 5 is detected by the replacement time detecting means 59.
When the replacement time of the cleaning device 5 is detected,
A control unit 58 is provided to control the display unit 60 to display a message prompting the user to replace the cleaning device 50 after the waste toner H remaining in the cartridge 0 is conveyed to the waste toner container 62. An image forming apparatus comprising:

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus adopting an electrostatic recording system or an electrophotographic recording system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the present invention, the effect is effective regardless of the transfer method, but the image forming apparatus using the intermediate transfer method, which is the most effective of the present invention, will be described.

In a conventional image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, a toner image is formed on at least one photosensitive drum by an electrostatic recording system or an electrophotographic recording system, and the toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum. There is known an intermediate transfer system in which toner images are sequentially superposed on an intermediate transfer body and then transferred collectively onto a recording material.

This intermediate transfer type image forming apparatus will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

First, a plurality of image forming sections 10 for forming a latent image on the photosensitive drum 11 which is an image carrier by utilizing light, magnetism, electric charge, etc., and visualizing the latent image to obtain a visible image, An intermediate transfer body 30 that sequentially transfers visible images from each image forming unit 10 to form a multi-color image, a transfer unit 36 that transfers the multi-color image on the intermediate transfer body 30 to a transfer material P, and a transfer material P on the transfer material P. It has a fixing device 40 for fixing the transferred multi-color image on the transfer material P.

The intermediate transfer member 30 is a belt-shaped intermediate transfer belt (or a cylindrical intermediate transfer drum that rotates around a drum shaft) stretched endlessly by a plurality of rollers.
Is used to display a visible image formed on the photosensitive drum 11 in the vicinity of the plurality of image forming units 10.
The primary transfer charging device 35 provided at a position facing the intermediate transfer body 30 causes the primary transfer onto the intermediate transfer body 30. The visible images primarily transferred from the plurality of photosensitive drums 11 are superposed on the intermediate transfer body 30 and conveyed to a position Te where they are transferred to the transfer material P by the rotation of the intermediate transfer body 30. The visible image on the intermediate transfer body 30 is transferred onto the transfer material P fed by the paper feeding means 20.
At the secondary transfer position Te, secondary transfer is carried out by the secondary transfer charging device 36 and further fixed by the fixing means 40 to obtain a full color image. When a monochromatic image is to be obtained, the intermediate transfer member 3 is transferred from a specific image forming unit.
A single-color visible image is primarily transferred onto the image 0, and then a single-color image is obtained through the same process as in the case of forming a full-color image. In addition, the secondary transfer position T near the intermediate transfer member 30
A cleaning device 50 is arranged downstream of the intermediate transfer member 30 in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer member 30e to clean the transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer member 30 after the completion of the secondary transfer to prepare for the next image formation.

[0007]

In the image forming apparatus as described above, the intermediate transfer body is not sufficiently cleaned after the secondary transfer is completed and the transfer residual toner remains on the intermediate transfer body. When the next image formation is performed,
The image quality is extremely deteriorated. Therefore, the cleaning performance must always be maintained at a constant level, but the cleaning member in the cleaning device is
The life of the image forming apparatus is set shorter than that of the image forming apparatus due to its physical properties and durability, and the image forming apparatus must be replaced periodically in order to maintain the cleaning performance.

On the other hand, in the related art, the periodical replacement of the cleaning device of the image forming apparatus as described above may pollute the inside and outside of the image forming apparatus due to the scattering of the waste toner remaining inside the cleaning device during the replacement. A maintenance worker who has specialized knowledge to regularly maintain the image forming apparatus has been dispatched from a manufacturer of the image forming apparatus. However, in recent years, image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers are becoming longer in service life for regular replacement parts (such as photosensitive drums) excluding cleaning devices. It is becoming indispensable to set low running costs including those for manufacturing and selling competitive products.

Therefore, it has been demanded that even a general user can easily replace a component such as a cleaning device that needs to be replaced regularly without polluting the inside and outside of the image forming apparatus with waste toner.

Therefore, a cleaning device as shown in FIG. 6 has been proposed. FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view of the cleaning device 50 of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the cleaning device 50 includes a cleaning member 51, a waste toner carrying screw 54, a casing 52 that integrally holds the cleaning member 51 and the waste toner carrying screw 54, and the like, and is fixed to the main body of the image forming apparatus. The cleaning device rail 56 allows the cleaning device to be removed from the main body of the image forming device, so that even a general user can easily replace the cleaning device.

However, as shown in FIG. 6, if the cleaning device is to be replaced while the waste toner H removed by the cleaning member 51 is accumulated around the waste toner conveying screw 54, the waste toner H accumulated inside the cleaning device. There is a fear that the inside and outside of the image forming apparatus will be soiled by this, and special caution is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a cleaning device which has a simple structure and which can be easily replaced with the waste toner without polluting the inside and outside of the image forming apparatus.

[0013]

Therefore, in the present invention, the above object is achieved by providing an image forming apparatus shown in any of the following items (1) to (4). Is.

(1) At least one image carrier that forms a toner image corresponding to a visible image by an electrophotographic system or an electrostatic recording system, and a toner image from the image carrier that is close to the image carrier. A transfer unit for transferring to a transfer material, a fixing unit for fixing the toner image transferred on the transfer material at the transfer unit to the transfer material, and a transfer residual toner (hereinafter referred to as waste toner) from the surface of the image carrier. Cleaning device for collecting and collecting the waste toner, a waste toner container for storing the waste toner conveyed from the cleaning device, a replacement timing detecting means for detecting a replacement timing of the cleaning device, and a display for displaying a user's work instruction or the like. Section and the replacement time detection means detects the replacement time of the cleaning device, the waste toner remaining in the cleaning device is first removed. After conveyed to the vessel, the image forming apparatus a display of a content urging replacement of the user to the cleaning apparatus characterized by comprising a control unit which controls to perform on the display unit.

(2) The replacement timing detecting means is a counter for counting the number of output sheets of transfer material output by a series of image forming operations, and it is detected by the counter that a specific number of transfer materials have been output. When done,
After the waste toner remaining in the cleaning device is first conveyed to the waste toner container, a control unit for controlling the display unit to display a content prompting the user to replace the cleaning device is provided. The image forming apparatus according to (1) above.

(3) The cleaning device includes cleaning means for removing the waste toner from the surface of the image carrier and waste toner conveying means for conveying the waste toner removed by the cleaning means to a waste toner container. The image forming apparatus according to (1) above, which includes a casing that integrally holds the cleaning unit and the waste toner conveying unit.

(4) The image bearing member is an intermediate transfer member that transfers a toner image directly from at least one photosensitive drum and then retransfers it to a recording material, and the cleaning device is disposed on the surface of the intermediate transfer member. The image forming apparatus according to (1) above, which is for removing toner.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION (Embodiments) The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts of the image forming apparatus embodying the present invention. The image forming apparatus of this embodiment is an electrophotographic system, and will be described as a color image output apparatus in which a plurality of image forming units are arranged in parallel.

The image output section 1P is roughly classified into the image forming section 1
0 (four stations a, b, C, and d are arranged in parallel and have the same configuration), a paper feeding unit 20, an intermediate transfer unit 30, a fixing unit 40, and a control unit (not shown). It

Further, each unit will be described in detail. The image forming unit 10 has the following configuration. Photosensitive drums 11a and 11b as image carriers,
11c and 11d are pivotally supported at their centers, and are rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow. The primary chargers 12a, 12b, 12 face the outer peripheral surfaces of the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d in the rotation direction thereof.
c, 12d, optical systems 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d,
Developing devices 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d are arranged. The photosensitive drum 1 in the primary chargers 12a to 12d
A uniform amount of charge is applied to the surface of 1a to 11d. Then, the optical systems 13a to 13d expose the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d with a light beam, such as a laser beam, which is modulated in accordance with the recording image signal, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image thereon. Further, the developing devices 14a to 14 which respectively store four color developers such as black, magenta, cyan, and yellow (hereinafter, referred to as toners).
The electrostatic latent image is visualized by d. Image transfer areas Ta, T for transferring the visualized visible image to the intermediate transfer member
On the downstream side of b, Tc, and Td, the drum surface is cleaned by scraping off the toner left on the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d without being transferred to the transfer material by the photosensitive drum cleaning devices 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d. . By the process described above, image formation with each toner is sequentially performed.

The paper feeding unit 20 registers a cassette 21 for storing the transfer material P, a pickup roller 22 for sending the transfer material P one by one from the cassette 21, and a transfer material P sent from the pickup roller 22. It comprises a paper feed roller 23 and a paper feed guide 24 for conveying to the rollers, and registration rollers 25A, 25B for feeding the transfer material P to the intermediate transfer unit 30 at the image forming timing of the image forming section.

The intermediate transfer unit 30 will be described in detail. The intermediate transfer belt 31 (the material thereof is, for example, P
ET [polyethylene terephthalate], PVDF [polyvinylidene fluoride], etc. are wound around a plurality of rollers, that is, the driving roller 32, the tension roller 33, and the driven roller 34 to form the intermediate transfer belt 31. A primary transfer plane A is formed between two rollers 32 and 33 among these rollers. The drive roller 32 is a metal roller whose surface is coated with rubber (urethane or chloroprene) having a thickness of several mm to prevent slippage with the belt. The drive roller 32 is rotationally driven by a pulse motor (not shown). The tension roller 33 is the intermediate transfer belt 31.
It is configured to give an appropriate tension to. In the primary transfer areas Ta to Td where the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d and the intermediate transfer belt 31 face each other, primary transfer chargers 35a to 35d are arranged on the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 31. A secondary transfer roller 36 is arranged so as to face the driven roller 34, and a nip with the intermediate transfer belt 31 forms a secondary transfer area Te. An intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50 for cleaning the image forming surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 is provided downstream of the secondary transfer area Te.

The fixing unit 40 includes a fixing roller 41A having a heat source such as a halogen heater therein, a pressure roller 41B (which may also have a heat source), and a nip portion of the roller pair. The guide 43 includes a guide 43 for guiding the transfer material P to, and an inner paper discharge roller 44 and an outer paper discharge roller 45 for further guiding the transfer material P discharged from the roller pair to the outside of the apparatus.

The control unit includes a control board (not shown) for controlling the operation of the mechanism in each unit, a motor drive board (not shown), and the like.

Next, description will be added according to the operation of the apparatus.

When the image forming operation start signal is issued, first, the transfer material P is sent out from the cassette 21 one by one by the pickup roller 22. And the paper feed roller 23
The transfer material P is guided between the paper feed guides 24 and conveyed to the registration rollers 25A and 25B. At that time, the registration roller is stopped, and the leading edge of the paper hits the nip portion. After that, the registration rollers start rotating at the timing when the image forming unit starts forming an image.
At the time of this rotation, the transfer material P and the toner image primarily transferred from the image forming unit onto the intermediate transfer belt are transferred to the secondary transfer area T.
The timing is set so as to exactly match at e.

On the other hand, in the image forming section, when the image forming operation start signal is issued, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 11d, which is the most upstream in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 31 by the above-described process, has a high voltage. Is applied to the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the primary transfer area Td by the primary transfer charger 35d. The primary-transferred toner image is conveyed to the next primary transfer area Tc. There, the image formation is performed with a delay between the image forming units by the time when the toner image is conveyed, and the next toner image is transferred by aligning the resist on the previous image. The same steps are repeated below, and eventually the four color toner images are primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 31.

After that, when the transfer material P rushes into the secondary transfer area Te and comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 31, a high voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 36 in accordance with the passage timing of the transfer material P. Then, the four color toner images formed on the intermediate transfer belt by the process described above are transferred to the surface of the transfer material P. After that, the transfer material P is accurately guided to the fixing roller nip portion by the conveyance guide 43. Then, the toner image is fixed on the paper surface by the heat of the roller pairs 41A and 41B and the pressure of the nip. After that, the paper is conveyed by the inner and outer paper ejection rollers 44 and 45, and the paper is ejected to the outside of the machine.

On the other hand, the intermediate transfer belt 3 which has completed the secondary transfer
In No. 1, the surface is cleaned by the intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50 located on the downstream side of the secondary transfer area Te to prepare for the next image formation.

Now, the characteristic portion of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4.

FIG. 1 is a detailed sectional view of an intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50 in the image forming apparatus of FIG.

The intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50 is composed of a cleaning member 51, a waste toner conveying screw 54, a casing 52 and the like, and is attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body along a cleaning device attaching / detaching rail 56 fixed to the main body. Is arranged so that it is possible.

The cleaning member 51 has a plate-shaped rubber material such as urethane rubber adhered to a metal plate having an L-shaped cross section, and an intermediate transfer with a constant contact force by a spring or the like (not shown) around a rotation center 53. It is in contact with the body 30 and the tension roller 33. The plate-shaped rubber material such as urethane rubber used for the cleaning member 51 exhibits excellent performance in cleaning the waste toner, but due to a change with time or abrasion of the rubber material, the image forming apparatus has a problem. It is known that the cleaning performance decreases when the number of output sheets is 50,000 to 200,000.

The waste toner conveying screw 54 conveys the waste toner removed from the intermediate transfer member 30 by the cleaning member 51 to the waste toner collecting container by the screw drive motor 57 constantly or at a constant timing.

The direction of rotation of the transfer member (direction of arrow B) from the contact position of the cleaning member 51 with respect to the intermediate transfer member 30.
On the upstream side, a squeeze sheet 55 (thicknesses 25 to 1 having a thickness of 25 to 1) held by the casing 52 so that the waste toner removed by the cleaning member 51 is not scattered outside the cleaning device 50.
(A nylon sheet of about 00 μm is used) is installed.

The controller 58 controls the output number counter 59,
It is connected to the screw drive motor 57 and the display unit 60, receives an electric signal from the output number counter 59, and operates the screw drive motor 57 and the display unit 60.

Next, FIG. 4 is a detailed sectional view showing the positional relationship between the intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50 and the waste toner container 62 as seen from the direction of arrow C in FIG.

The waste toner removed from the surface of the intermediate transfer member 30 by the cleaning member 51 held in the casing 52 is conveyed by the waste toner conveying screw 54 to the waste toner discharge port 63 arranged at the end of the casing 52. It

Outside the front plate 101 of the image forming apparatus,
A waste toner container 62 for containing the waste toner H discharged from the waste toner discharge port 63 is installed. Further, the intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50 is configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus main body in the direction of arrow D along the cleaning device attaching / detaching rail 56. In order to prevent the waste toner H from scattering from the waste toner discharge port 63 when the intermediate transfer member cleaning device 50 is attached or detached, the waste toner discharge port 63 is automatically or manually closed by the shutter 61.

Further, FIG. 2 is a flow chart when the cleaning device 50 is replaced based on this embodiment.

First, a certain number of output sheets is counted by the output sheet number counter 59 which counts the number of output sheets arranged in the image forming apparatus (2-a). The constant output number is
The number is set in consideration of the durability of the cleaning member 51.

Next, after the counter 59 counts a certain number of sheets, the copying operation is terminated (2-
b).

Further, the waste toner carrying screw 54 is driven for a certain period of time (2-C). The fixed time is the time until all the waste toner in the cleaning device is transported to the waste toner container, and is set by the rotation speed of the transport screw or the like. During this period, all operations such as copy operation are stopped.

After driving the waste toner carrying screw 51 for a certain period of time, the user is urged to replace the cleaning device 50 on the display unit 60 such as a liquid crystal panel of the image forming apparatus (2-d).

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the cleaning device 50 is replaced, the user needs to clean the cleaning device 5.
Since the waste toner in the cleaning device is conveyed by the conveying screw before the 0 is replaced, the waste toner does not remain in the cleaning device, and the user can easily perform it without noticing the scattering of the waste toner inside and outside the image forming apparatus. Then, the cleaning device 50 can be replaced.

Further, by exchanging the cleaning device 50 by the user, it is possible to keep the maintenance fee low due to the maintenance operator's conventional practice.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus in which the user needs to replace the cleaning device, the waste toner in the cleaning device is carried by the carrying screw before the user replaces the cleaning device. Waste toner does not remain in the cleaning device,
There is an effect that the user can easily replace the cleaning device without noticing the scattering of the waste toner inside and outside the image forming apparatus.

Furthermore, by exchanging the cleaning device by the user, there is an effect that it is possible to keep the maintenance fee low due to the maintenance operator's conventional practice.

In the embodiment, the effect of the present invention in the intermediate transfer member cleaning device in the image forming apparatus using the intermediate transfer system has been described. However, the effect of the present invention is that the cleaning device requires replacement, If the cleaning device has a waste toner conveying member inside the casing, the transfer roller or the transfer material conveying belt is considered to be attached to the surface of the image carrier cleaning device such as the photosensitive drum due to paper jam or the like. The same effect can be obtained for cleaning devices such as.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the vicinity of a cleaning device showing a characteristic part in an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for replacing the cleaning device in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an intermediate transfer type color image forming apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a cleaning device and a periphery of a waste toner container according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an intermediate transfer type color image forming apparatus in a conventional apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the vicinity of a cleaning device in a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 image forming units 11, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d image carrier (photosensitive drum) 30 intermediate transfer member (intermediate transfer unit) 33 tension roller 35 primary transfer charging device 36 secondary transfer charging device (transfer means) 40 Fixing device (fixing unit) 50 Cleaning device 51 Cleaning member 52 Casing 53 Rotation center 54 Waste toner conveying means (screw) 55 Squeeze sheet 56 Rail 57 Motor 58 Control section 59 Output number counter 60 Display section 61 Shutter 62 Waste toner container 63 Waste Toner discharge port H Waste toner P Transfer material Te Secondary transfer position (secondary transfer area)

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2H027 DA45 EC06 EC20 ED24 EE07                       EF09 EF12 GB09 GB10 HB02                       HB12 HB16                 2H134 GA01 GA06 GB02 HD18 JA02                       JB01 KA28 KB15 KG04 KG08                       KH01 KH10                 2H200 FA12 JC04 JC12 JC19 JC20                       LB02 LB09 LB13 LB17 LB39                       LB40 PA27 PB33

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An at least one image carrier for forming a toner image corresponding to a visible image by an electrophotographic system or an electrostatic recording system, and a toner image transferred from the image carrier in proximity to the image carrier. A transfer unit for transferring to the material, a fixing unit for fixing the toner image transferred on the transfer material at the transfer unit to the transfer material, and removing transfer residual toner (hereinafter referred to as waste toner) from the surface of the image carrier. A cleaning device that collects the waste toner, a waste toner container that stores the waste toner conveyed from the cleaning device, a replacement time detection unit that detects the replacement time of the cleaning device, and a display unit that displays a user's work instruction or the like. When the replacement time detection means detects the replacement time of the cleaning device, the waste toner remaining in the cleaning device is first stored in the waste toner container. An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the display unit to display a content prompting a user to replace the cleaning device after being conveyed. 2. The replacement timing detection means is a counter that counts the number of transfer materials output by a series of image forming operations, and the counter detects that a specific number of transfer materials have been output. Then, after the waste toner remaining in the cleaning device is first conveyed to the waste toner container, a control unit for controlling the display unit to display a content prompting the user to replace the cleaning device is provided. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The cleaning device comprises: a cleaning unit for removing waste toner from the surface of the image carrier; a waste toner transport unit for transporting the waste toner removed by the cleaning unit to a waste toner container; The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a casing that integrally holds a cleaning unit and the waste toner conveying unit. 4. The image bearing member is an intermediate transfer member that transfers a toner image directly from at least one photosensitive drum and then retransfers it to a recording material.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is for removing waste toner from the surface of the intermediate transfer member.