JP2789232B2 - Cleaning blade support device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a blade cleaning device for removing residual toner after transfer on an image carrier in an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a metal cleaning blade for a blade cleaning device. The present invention relates to an improvement in support means.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, in a blade cleaning apparatus, a blade formed of an elastic body or a thin metal plate is used to scrape off residual toner on the image carrier, and the blade is brought into contact with the drum-shaped image carrier to remove the residual toner. It is configured to prevent the passage of the toner and guide the toner scraped off from the image carrier to the collection device. Therefore, if there is a gap between the image carrier and the cleaning blade,
The residual toner passes through the gap, making it impossible to effectively remove the residual toner on the image carrier.

Generally, the toner contains particles having a particle diameter of about several μm. Therefore, in order to prevent the toner from passing therethrough, it is essential that the blade edge is in contact with the image carrier without any gap. When using a blade consisting of
Since almost no elastic deformation of the edge tip can be expected, a method for accurately supporting the blade is required.

Therefore, conventionally, for example, a structure as shown in FIG. 7 is used. That is, the cleaning blade 102 is sandwiched between the blade base 101 and the holding plate 103, which are precisely finished by machining, and the holding plate 103 is
The cleaning blade device is configured by fixing at 4.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional cleaning blade device has the following problems. That is, first, since the accuracy of the edge of the cleaning blade 102 depends on the accuracy of the blade base 101 and the pressing plate 103 in the Y direction in FIG. 7, the flatness of the blade base 101 and the pressing plate 103 is strictly controlled. There is a need to.

Further, when the cleaning blade 102 is fixed by the holding plate 103, the straightness of the cleaning blade is easily changed due to the degree of tightening of the screw 104, and is shifted from the reference line l as shown in FIG. It is necessary to strictly control the tightening torque of 104, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems in the conventional cleaning blade device, and has a low manufacturing cost, can be easily assembled, and has an accuracy sufficient to withstand the residual toner cleaning operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning blade supporting device capable of supporting the cleaning blade.

[Means and actions for solving the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a metal cleaning blade supporting device for removing residual toner after transfer on an image carrier, wherein a line is formed on a side surface of the metal cleaning blade over the entire width of the cleaning blade. The pressing member that comes into contact in the contact state is pressed and the cleaning blade is supported by the holding member.

With this configuration, it is possible to support the cleaning blade with high straightness by securing the accuracy in the line contact portion between the metal cleaning blade and the pressing member. In comparison, since the wire contact pressing member can be easily obtained with high precision by drawing or the like, the metal blade can be supported with high precision by a low-cost simple configuration, and the wire contact pressing member can be simply formed by Since the cleaning blade is configured to be brought into pressure contact with the cleaning blade, it is possible to realize a high-precision cleaning blade supporting device which is easy to assemble and easily, without being affected by the arrangement of the mounting screws and the tightening torque. .

〔Example〕

Next, examples will be described. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of parts of a first embodiment of a cleaning blade support device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 (A) to 2 (C) are assembly process diagrams thereof. In the figure, 1 is a prismatic blade base, 2
Is a blade holder formed of a spring material and having an L-shaped cross section, and has a bent short side 2b and a long side provided with a folded portion 2a at a side edge.
2c. Then, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), so as to form a gap portion 3 of width D ₁ between the blade side surface 1a of the base 1 and of the blade holder 2 bent short side portion 2b, the The long side portion 2c of the blade holder 2 is placed on the upper surface 1b of the blade base 1, and is fixed by tightening with screws 4.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), the cleaning blade 5 is dropped into the gap portion 3 so as to be in contact with the side surface 1a of the blade base 1, and as shown in FIG. It is dropped into the gap 3 between the cleaning blade 5 and the bent short side 2b of the blade holder 2. As a result, the cleaning blade 5 is pressed and held against the blade base 1 by the round bar 6, and the assembly of the cleaning blade supporting device is completed. Note this time, the width D ₁ of the gap 3 between the bent short side portion 2b of the side surface 1a of the blade base 1 and the blade holder 2, the cleaning blade 5 thickness t
It is necessary to set the length slightly smaller than the total length of the round bar 6 and the diameter R. In this embodiment, a metal blade having a thickness t = 0.15 mm is used as the cleaning blade 5, and the width D _{1 of the} gap 3 is 0.15 mm smaller than the sum of the thickness t of the cleaning blade 5 and the diameter R of the round bar 6. That is, the gap 3
In the case where the width D ₁ = round bar diameter R, good results were obtained.

In this embodiment, the cleaning blade 5 has one surface in contact with the side surface 1a of the blade base 1 and the other surface is pressed and held by the round bar 6, so that the cleaning blade 5 is attached to the blade base 1. On the other hand, it is supported by the line contact pressing member over the entire length. As the round bar 6, a stainless steel material that is easily processed with high precision by drawing or the like can be easily obtained as compared with a plane processed member using a milling machine or the like, so that a high straightness in a line contact portion can be easily secured. can do. Therefore, it is easy to manufacture a high-precision cleaning blade supporting device, and it is possible to eliminate the influence of the arrangement and torque of the holding screw and the like. In the conventional device, the tightening torque of the screw is strictly controlled. However, the straightness is limited to 30 μm, but according to the present embodiment, a blade straightness of about 15 μm can be easily realized.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of parts according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
4 (A) to 4 (C) are assembly process diagrams. Reference numeral 11 denotes a blade holder having a U-shaped cross section, and a folded portion is formed at each edge of both side edges 11a and 11b. 4 (A) to 4 (A) to the concave portion 12 of the blade holder 11 having such a configuration.
As shown in (C), the first round bar 13, the cleaning blade 14, and the second round bar 15 are sequentially dropped, and the cleaning blade 14 is held by the blade holder 11 so as to be sandwiched between the two round bars 13, 15. Things. The width D ₂ of the concave portion 12 of the blade holder 11 in this embodiment is
5 and the width of the cleaning blade 14 are smaller than the total width.

In this embodiment, both sides of the cleaning blade 14 are easily sandwiched between round bars capable of high-precision processing, and both sides are held in a line contact state. A device is obtained.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a part according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
6 (A) to 6 (C) are assembly process diagrams. In this embodiment, as the blade holder 21, a bottom plate portion 21a
A side edge 21b upright along one edge,
An inclined side 21c formed by being inclined inward along the other edge, and a recess 22 surrounded by both sides 21b, 21c.
Is used. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (A), the cleaning blade 23 is dropped into the blade holder 21 made of the deformed material by being brought into contact with the inner side surface of the upright side portion 21b, and then as shown in FIG. 6 (B). As shown in FIG. 6, the round bar 24 is pushed into the concave portion 22 to be supported by the bottom plate 21a and the inclined side portion 21c, and the blade 23 is pressed and held by the round bar 24 in a line contact state. The assembly of the cleaning blade supporting device is completed as shown in FIG. At this time, the concave portion of the blade holder 21
The cleaning blade 23 is provided in the recess 22 as described above.
When the round bar 24 is dropped, it is set to have such a size that they can be elastically pressed and held.

In this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the cleaning blade is pressed and held in a line contact state with a round bar to secure a high blade straightness, and further, as compared with the first and second embodiments, Points can be reduced.

In each of the above embodiments, a rod using a round bar as the line contact pressing member was shown, but the pressing member is not limited to a round bar, and a cross-section formed by plastic working or the like uses a deformed rod such as a triangle or a square. Alternatively, the edge of the deformed bar may be pressed against the side surface of the cleaning blade to support the cleaning blade.

The blade base 1 and the blade holder 21 of each embodiment
The pressing member such as a rod or a round bar is not limited to a member formed of a metal material, but may be formed of a material that can be easily made highly accurate, or a high-precision member such as a commercially available glass may be used.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above based on the embodiments, according to the present invention, the cleaning blade is supported on the holding member by pressing the pressing member that comes into contact in a line contact state. The cleaning blade can be easily and accurately supported with a simple and low-cost configuration without being affected by the tightening torque.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of parts of a first embodiment of a cleaning blade supporting device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 (A) to 2 (C).
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of the second embodiment, FIGS. 3A to 4C are views of the assembling steps, and FIG. 5 is a part of the parts of the third embodiment. Exploded perspective view, FIG. 6 (A)-
FIG. 7 (C) is an assembly process diagram, FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration example of a conventional cleaning blade supporting device,
FIG. 8 is a view showing the effect of the fastening screw on the straightness of the blade in the cleaning blade supporting device shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a blade base, 2 is a blade holder, 5 is a cleaning blade, 6 is a round bar, 11 is a blade holder, 13 and 15 are round bars, 14 is a cleaning blade, 2
1 indicates a blade holder, 23 indicates a cleaning blade, and 24 indicates a round bar.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pressing member for contacting a side surface of a metal cleaning blade in a line contact state over the entire width of the cleaning blade in a metal cleaning blade supporting device for removing residual toner after transfer on an image carrier. Wherein the cleaning blade is supported by a holding member. 2. The cleaning blade supporting device according to claim 1, wherein a round bar is used as said pressing member.