JP2600625B2 - Electrophotographic recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic recording apparatus, and more particularly to an electrophotographic recording apparatus in which toner in a toner box is not consumed in toner save mode printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electrophotographic recording apparatus, in a toner save mode printing for performing a test printing or the like, a peripheral speed ratio of a developing roller is changed as seen in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-162879. Such methods save toner consumption.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an electrostatic printing apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-162879.

[0004] Referring to FIG.
No. 79 discloses a fine printing apparatus having a test printing mechanism. The fine printing apparatus includes a fixed magnet roll, a sleeve rotatably supported around the fixed magnet roll, and a rotary drive for rotating the sleeve. A cleaning / developing device 9 'having means and means for cleaning the photoconductor sheet 3' carrying the residual toner image by the cleaning / developing device 9 'is used to clarify the relationship between the peripheral speed of the sleeve and the cleaning efficiency. A good cleaning efficiency range, that is, a sleeve rotational peripheral speed of 1.1 during development.
The sleeve is driven to rotate by limiting the peripheral speed of the sleeve to about 3.0 times, so that the cleaning efficiency can be improved without changing the developing performance.

Another conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-16 / 1986.
No. 2878 can be mentioned.

As shown in FIG. 4, the electrostatic printing apparatus described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 61-16287 is a precision printing apparatus having a test printing mechanism, in which a magnet roll in a developing roll is rotated. Cleaning / developing device 9 'provided with a different means 2
Cleaning is performed at the time of test printing so that the substantially central portion of the magnetic pole faces the photoconductor sheet 3 '.
This provides an effect that cleaning performance at the time of test printing is improved as compared with a conventional simple cleaning and developing device.

[0007]

In the conventional electrophotographic recording apparatus described above, even in toner save mode printing, the toner consumption in the toner box is reduced because the toner inside the toner box is used for development. Even if it is saved, the same toner is consumed as in normal printing even in the case of immediately discarded printed matter such as test printing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new electrophotographic recording apparatus which does not consume the image.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an electrophotographic recording apparatus according to the present invention has first and second two transfer rollers disposed around a photosensitive drum, A waste toner box having a first developing roller and a rotation mechanism disposed around the photosensitive drum; a cleaning blade and a second developing roller provided inside the waste toner box; By rotating the cleaning blade and the second developing roller, it is possible to selectively use the cleaning blade and the second developing roller. In a normal printing mode, the first developing roller develops a paper, and a first transfer roller among the first and second transfer rollers is provided. It performs a transcribed using over La,
The cleaning is performed by the cleaning blade, and in the toner save mode, the second developing roller reuses the waste toner in the waste toner box to perform development, and the transfer is performed using the second transfer roller. It is characterized by performing.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 are schematic structural views showing an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a charging roller 2, a laser light source (not shown) for irradiating a laser beam 3, and a developing roller 4 are provided around a photosensitive drum 1 rotating in the direction of an arrow.
Are provided inside the toner box 5, the transfer roller 6,
The waste toner unit 7 and the transfer roller 14 are provided as shown in the figure.

The toner box 5 presses the developing roller 4 against the photosensitive drum 1 in the normal printing mode, and separates the developing roller 4 from the photosensitive drum 1 in the toner save mode. It is provided movably in the radial direction.

Inside the waste toner unit 7, a waste toner box 8 rotatably supported about a shaft 8a by a rotation mechanism, a cleaning blade 9 provided in the waste toner box 8, and a waste toner box. A developing roller 10 rotatably provided on the box 8; and a solenoid 11 and 12 and a metal member 2 provided on the waste toner box 8, for example.
2 is provided.

The rotating mechanism may be a stepping motor or a structure having a coupling relationship between a spring and an uneven portion instead of the solenoid and the metal member.

Although the waste toner box 8 is formed in an elliptical shape, it may be formed in a circular shape.

First, the overall flow will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the case of the normal print mode will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the photosensitive drum 1 is charged by the charging roller 2. Next, the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 by the laser beam 3 is developed by the developing roller 4. At this time, development is performed using the toner inside the toner box 5. In the normal printing mode, the paper passes through the paper path 18-a, the toner is transferred to the paper by the transfer roller 6, and is sent to the fixing unit 17.

At this time, inside the waste toner unit 7, the waste toner box 8 is turned counterclockwise around the shaft 8a by the solenoid 11 being operated and coming into contact with the metal member 22. , So that the cleaning blade 9 is moved
It is pressed on top. Therefore, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 is collected inside the waste toner box 8. Also,
At this time, the transfer roller 14 is separated from the photosensitive drum 1.

Next, the case of the toner save mode will be described.

Inside the waste toner unit 7, the waste toner box 8 is brought into contact with the metal member 22 when the solenoid 12 is operated, and the waste toner box 8 is rotated clockwise about the shaft 8a. As a result, the developing roller 1
0 is pressed onto the photosensitive drum 1. At this time, the developing roller 10 uses the toner inside the waste toner box 8 to
The latent image created by the same process as in the normal mode is developed. The sheet passes through the paper path 18-b, is transferred to the sheet by the transfer roller 14, and is sent to the fixing unit 17. The toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 is collected by the cleaning blade 15 into the waste toner box 16.

At this time, the developing roller 4 and the transfer roller 6 are separated from the photosensitive drum 1. That is, the toner inside the toner box 5 is not used.

A toner sensor 13 is provided inside the waste toner box 8 and detects the amount of toner in the waste toner box 8. If the toner amount is small and toner save printing cannot be performed, control is performed so that printing is performed in the same process as in normal printing.

Next, the printing mode switching operation according to the present invention will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the present invention, the sheet has two paper paths 18-a and 18-b.

In the normal printing mode, the paper path switching guide 20 rotates in the direction a and the paper path switching guide 21 rotates in the direction c, so that
-Pass the paper path of -a.

In the toner save mode, the paper passes the 18-b paper path by rotating the paper path switching guide 20 in the direction b and rotating the paper path switching guide 21 in the direction d.

Next, the rotation of the waste toner box 8 inside the waste toner unit 7 will be described.

FIG. 3A shows a state in the normal print mode, and FIG. 3B shows a state in the toner save mode. In FIG. 3A, the cleaning blade 9 is pressed against the photosensitive drum 1 by energizing the solenoid 11. In FIG. 3B, when the solenoid 12 is energized, the developing roller 10 is pressed onto the photosensitive drum 1. By controlling the energization of each solenoid, the cleaning blade and the developing roller can be selectively used in the normal printing mode and the toner save mode.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When image quality such as test printing is not required, waste toner is reused to perform printing, so the toner inside the toner box is not consumed, so that the life of the toner is extended and the running cost is further improved. The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a paper path of the electrophotographic recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing details of a mechanism of a movable roller.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Photosensitive drum 2 ... Charging roller 3 ... Laser beam 4 ... Developing roller 5 ... Toner box 6 ... Transfer roller 7 ... Waste toner unit 8 ... Waste toner box 9 ... Cleaning blade 10 ... Developing roller 11 ... Solenoid 12 ... Solenoid 13 ... Toner sensor 14 Transfer roller 15 Cleaning blade 16 Waste toner box 17 Fixing unit 18 Paper path 19 EP cartridge 20 Paper path switching guide 21 Paper path switching guide 22 Metal member

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Agency reference number FI Technical display location G03G 15/16 G03G 15/16 21/10 21/00 326

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] A first transfer roller disposed around the photosensitive drum; a first developing roller disposed around the photosensitive drum; and a cleaning blade and a second transfer roller. And a waste toner box having a rotation mechanism, comprising: rotating the waste toner box, so that the cleaning blade and the second development roller can be selectively used, By having a paper path switching guide, separate paper paths are provided for each of the normal print mode and the toner save mode. In the normal print mode, development is performed by the first developing roller. Transfer is performed using the first transfer roller of the first and second transfer rollers, and cleaning is performed using the cleaning blade. In the save mode, the second developing roller reuses the waste toner in the waste toner box to perform development, and performs the transfer using the second transfer roller. apparatus. 2. The electrophotographic recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first developing roller is provided in a toner box provided around the photosensitive drum. 3. The waste toner box is provided in a waste toner unit, and the waste toner unit is disposed between the first transfer roller and the second transfer roller along the periphery of the photosensitive drum. The electrophotographic recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. The electrophotographic recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotation mechanism is provided in the waste toner unit and is formed by two solenoids. 5. A toner sensor is provided in the toner box, and when the toner amount detected by the toner sensor is equal to or less than a specified amount, control is performed so that printing is performed in the same process as in normal printing. The electrophotographic recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: