JP3214992B2 - Apparatus for removing image forming substance from image carrier - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming material removing apparatus for removing an image forming material constituting an image from an image carrier on which an image has been formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer and a printing machine. More specifically, destabilization is performed by applying a destabilizing solution to an image carrier having a surface on which an image forming substance is stably adhered, so as to make the state of adhesion between the surface and the image forming substance unstable. The image forming material is peeled off from the image holding member by bringing the liquid applying unit into contact with the image forming substance on the image holding member to which the destabilizing liquid has been applied and the peeling member, and thereafter separating the member. The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing an image forming substance from an image holding member, which is provided with a peeling means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming substance removing apparatus of this type uses water and a surfactant as a destabilizing liquid in order to remove only an image forming substance without relatively damaging an image carrier. Containing at least one water or aqueous solution selected from the group consisting of an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble polymer, and an aqueous solution containing a surfactant and a water-soluble polymer. It is heated so as to melt or soften, and the image forming substance is brought into contact with a peeling member having an adhesive force larger than the adhesive force between the image holding body and the image forming substance, and the peeling member and the image holding body are brought into contact with each other. A device that separates the image forming substance from the image carrier when separating the image forming member has been proposed by the present applicant (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-25 / 1990).
No. 5916, Japanese Patent Application No. 5-239075).

[0003]

By the way, the experiment of removing the image forming substance from various image holders and the like by the above image forming substance removing method and its apparatus was repeated. It has been found that the releasability of the image forming substance or the separating property between the release member and the image carrier may be reduced depending on the type of the image, the characteristics of the image forming substance, and the like.

For example, when a paper having low rigidity at the time of applying a liquid and easily peelable, such as recycled paper or paper having a small weight, is used as the image holding member, good separability is obtained. May not be possible.

[0005] Further, the image on the image carrier is a black solid image or a halftone image in the form of minute dots (granular image or linear image).
In the case of (1), there is a peeling condition suitable for each type of image. For example, when the solid image 101a is formed on the paper 100 as shown in FIG.
The toner is peeled from the paper 100 as a bulk by the cohesive force of the toner as the image forming material constituting the a.
02, and the peeling process can be performed in a relatively low temperature range. On the other hand, FIG.
A granular or linear image 101b is formed on the paper 100 as shown in FIG.
Is formed, the peeling force is reduced because the toner is present individually, but a peeling condition in a high-temperature range or a high-pressure range in order to make the peeling member 102 and the granular or linear image 101b adhere to each other, It is preferable to use a thinner film-like release member. Also, a granular or linear image 101b
In the case where the toners are individually present as in the above, the area occupied by the destabilizing liquid such as water per unit area on the paper 100 and the area occupied by the exposed surface of the paper become large, and the toner is softened even when the same heating energy is applied. Since the amount of heat used for heating of the substrate becomes relatively small, the peeling condition in a high-temperature region occurs.
Further, in the case of the peeling condition in a high temperature range, the amount of evaporation of water also increases, and poor separation of the image carrier (paper) from the peeling member is likely to occur. If an attempt is made to remove the image forming substance constituting the image from the image carrier on which an image in which such a solid black image, a granular image, and a linear image coexist is formed at one time, the high temperature region or the high pressure region is inevitable. It is necessary to take the conditions for peeling off, resulting in poor separation of the image holding member and the occurrence of jams.

Further, for example, when a fine particle type toner is used as an image forming substance for forming an image on paper as an image holding member, the adhesion of the toner to paper fibers becomes strong,
It is necessary to adopt a high-pressure peeling condition, which also causes poor separation of the image carrier. Further, when a color toner is used as the image forming substance, the softening temperature range of the toner is narrow, and the phenomenon that the toner layer is broken or the toner cannot be removed at all tends to occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above technical background, and aims at the type of image carrier, the type of image formed on the image carrier, and the type of image forming material. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for removing an image-forming substance from an image-holding member provided with a peeling means capable of obtaining a highly reliable image-forming substance-peeling property and an image-holding member-separating property even if the characteristics and the like differ.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is directed to an image holding member having a surface to which an image forming substance is stably adhered. A destabilizing liquid applying means for applying a destabilizing liquid to make the attached state of the image unstable, and heating the image forming substance on the image holding member to which the destabilizing liquid has been applied and the image forming substance. An image forming substance removing apparatus for removing an image forming substance from the image holding body by bringing the same into contact with a separating member and then separating the image forming substance from the image holding body. A plurality of peeling means are provided so as to sequentially perform a plurality of peeling treatments, and the heating temperature of the image forming substance in the peeling means for treating the image carrier in advance, and in the peeling means for treating the image carrier thereafter. Set below the heating temperature of the imaging substance It is an feature.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image holding member having a surface to which an image forming substance is stably adhered, comprising a destabilizing liquid for making the state of adhesion between the surface and the image forming substance unstable. The destabilizing liquid applying means to be applied, and the image forming substance on the image holding body to which the destabilizing liquid has been applied are brought into pressure contact with the peeling member, and then separated to form an image from the image holding body. In an apparatus for removing an image forming substance from an image carrier having a peeling means for peeling and removing a substance, a plurality of peeling means are provided so as to sequentially perform a plurality of peeling processes on the same image carrier. Then, the pressure at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for processing the image holding member is set to be equal to or less than the pressure at the time of pressure contact at the peeling means for subsequently processing the image holding member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image holding member having a surface to which an image forming substance is stably adhered, comprising a destabilizing liquid for making the state of adhesion between the surface and the image forming substance unstable. The destabilizing liquid applying means to be applied, and the image forming substance on the image holding body to which the destabilizing liquid has been applied are brought into pressure contact with the peeling member, and then separated to form an image from the image holding body. In an apparatus for removing an image forming substance from an image carrier having a peeling means for peeling and removing a substance, a plurality of peeling means are provided so as to sequentially perform a plurality of peeling processes on the same image carrier. The nip width at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for processing the image carrier is set to be equal to or less than the nip width at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for processing the image carrier thereafter. .

[0011]

According to the first, second or third aspect of the present invention, the same image carrier is sequentially subjected to a plurality of peeling treatments by a plurality of peeling means, so that the image forming material is selected according to the type of the image carrier. Is peeled off step by step. In addition, the peeling force of each peeling means can be reduced to a necessary minimum as compared with a case where the image forming material on the image carrier is peeled off at one time, and the image forming material on the image carrier is gradually removed. By successive peeling, the contact area between the image carrier and the image forming substance gradually decreases and the separation drag decreases, so that the separation of the image carrier from the peeling member in each peeling means is improved.

In particular, in the first aspect of the present invention, the heating temperature of the image forming material in the peeling means for treating the image carrier in advance, and the heating temperature of the image forming material in the peeling means for treating the image carrier thereafter. By setting the following, the degree of softening of the image forming substance in each peeling means is gradually increased to improve the peeling performance, and after the image forming substance that is easily peeled off is first peeled off, the image forming substance that is harder to peel off is gradually removed. Are sequentially peeled off. Then, a minimum amount of heat necessary for softening the image forming substance that is peeled off stepwise in each peeling means is supplied, and the image forming substance is separated from the image holding body so that the image holding body is not dried more than necessary. , That is, the peeling resistance of the image carrier is prevented from increasing.

In particular, in the invention of claim 2, the pressure at the time of pressurized contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier in advance and the pressure at the time of pressurized contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier thereafter By setting as follows, the contact pressure between the peeling member and the image forming substance in each peeling means is gradually increased to improve the peeling performance, and after the image forming substance which is easily peeled off is first peeled off, the image forming which is more difficult to peel off is performed. The material is peeled off step by step. Then, a minimum pressure required for peeling of the image forming substance in each peeling means is applied at the time of pressurized contact, and the adhesive force of the image forming substance peeled off from the image carrier and adhered to the surface of the peeling member of each peeling means is reduced. To facilitate cleaning of the surface of the peeling member.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the nip width at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier in advance is determined by the nip width at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier. By setting the nip width or less, the peeling performance is improved by gradually increasing the contact distance between the peeling member and the image forming substance in each peeling means, and after the image forming substance that is easily peeled is peeled off, the peeling is more difficult. The imaging substance is peeled off in a stepwise manner. Then, the image forming substance is sequentially peeled off from the image carrier with the minimum nip width necessary for the peeling of the image forming substance in each peeling means, and the destabilizing liquid in the image carrier is not squeezed out more than necessary. The image forming substance to be peeled off from the image carrier is prevented from re-adhering to the image carrier.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention is applied to an image holding apparatus for removing an electrophotographic toner (hereinafter, referred to as a toner) as an image forming substance from a transfer paper as an image holding member on which an image is formed by a transfer type electrophotographic copying machine. An embodiment applied to an apparatus for removing an image forming substance from a body (hereinafter, referred to as a toner removing apparatus) will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a toner removing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. This toner removing device includes a liquid application unit that applies liquid to the transfer paper 1 sent from a paper supply unit (not shown) via the registration roller pair 2 and the conveyance guide plate 3, and a transfer unit 1 that applies the liquid to the transfer paper 1. A first toner peeling unit 10 and a second toner peeling unit 20 are provided as two peeling units provided to perform a peeling process for peeling the toner in two stages.

The above-mentioned liquid application unit applies the processing liquid 4 as a destabilizing liquid such as water or an aqueous solution containing a surfactant to the transfer paper 1 in order to improve the permeability to the transfer paper 1. is there. In the illustrated example, a liquid container 5 for storing the processing liquid 4 and a processing liquid 3 which is provided so as to be partially submerged in the liquid in the liquid container 5 and is pumped up by rotation to form a toner image on the transfer paper 1 The apparatus includes a liquid supply roller 6 to be applied and a liquid supply roller 7 provided so as to face the liquid supply roller 6 with the paper conveyance path interposed therebetween. As the liquid supply roller 6, a material having a liquid retaining property, for example, a hydrophilic porous material,
A roller composed of a sponge or the like, a roller composed of an elastic material such as rubber, or a rigid material such as metal can be used.

The transfer paper 1 is transported between the liquid applying unit and the next first toner peeling unit 10 and between the first toner peeling unit 10 and the second toner peeling unit 20, respectively. Are provided.

The first toner peeling unit 10 includes a peeling belt 14 as a peeling member wound around a heating block 13 having built-in support rollers 11, 12 and a heating lamp 13a, and a heating block 13 with the peeling belt 14 interposed therebetween. An upper heating roller 15 with a built-in heating lamp 15a provided so as to be in pressure contact with the toner, a rotating brush roller 16 for removing toner from the surface of the peeling belt 14, and a toner collection for collecting toner scraped off by the rotating brush roller 16 Container 17
And Further, the second toner peeling unit 2
Similarly to the first toner peeling unit 10, a peeling belt 24 as a peeling member wound around a heating block 23 having support rollers 21 and 22 and a heating lamp 23 a built therein.
And an upper heating roller 25 with a built-in heating lamp 25a provided so as to be pressed against the heating block 23 with the peeling belt 24 interposed therebetween, a rotating brush roller 26 for removing toner from the surface of the peeling belt 24, and a rotating brush roller 26. A toner collection container 27 for collecting the scraped toner.

At least the surfaces of the peeling belts 14 and 24 are exposed to the transfer paper 1 against the toner softened by heating.
Is formed of a material having an adhesive force greater than the adhesive force between the surface of the toner and the toner. For example, the belt itself is aluminum,
It is formed of a metal material such as copper or nickel, or a polymer material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in which titanium oxide is dispersed. In particular, when a film-like peeling member such as a wrapping film (Saran Wrap (trademark) or the like) for food or the like is used, even toner particles having a diameter of 7 μm or less can be reliably captured and transferred. It can be peeled off from the paper 1 and removed.

Further, the heating block 13 on the downstream side in the belt moving direction from the press contact portion with the upper heating rollers 15 and 25,
Each of 23 has a predetermined radius of curvature that sharply changes the moving direction of the peeling belts 14 and 24 downward, for example, 1 mm.
A bent portion having the following radius of curvature is formed, and the curvature of the transfer paper 1 from the peeling belts 14 and 24 is separated at the bent portion.

The upper heating rollers 15, 25 are urged toward the heating blocks 13, 23 with a predetermined pressing force, for example, 64 kgf, by urging means such as a spring (not shown). Upper heating rollers 15, 25 and heating blocks 13, 2
The nip width formed between the surface of the peeling belts 14 and 24 on the nip 3 is 10 mm, and the nip length is 29 mm.
Since it is 7 mm (length in the longitudinal direction of A4 size), the pressing force per unit area is about 2.2 kgf / cm ² .

The heating blocks 13, 23 and the upper heating rollers 15, 25 are for softening the toner on the transfer paper 1, and the heat of the heating blocks 13, 23 and the upper heating rollers 15, 25 is reduced. By being transmitted to the toner on the transfer paper 1 via the release belts 14 and 24 and the transfer paper 1, the toner on the transfer paper 1 is heated and softened. Here, the heating lamps 13a and 23a built in the heating blocks 13 and 23, and the upper heating roller 15 and 25, respectively.
The heating lamps 15a and 25a incorporated in the controller are configured to be independently controlled by a controller (not shown). Then, as shown below, the heating temperature of the toner in the first toner peeling unit 10 is set to be lower than the heating temperature of the toner in the second toner peeling unit 20.

[0024] Figure 3, the transfer sheet 1 of the A4 size toner image S ₃ chart is formed to include a general document image pattern (line-point-black solid), the first or second toner FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram illustrating a relationship between a temperature of an upper heating roller and a toner transfer rate from the transfer paper 1 to a peeling belt when a toner removing process is performed by a peeling unit alone. The data indicated by reference numerals A, B, and C in FIG. 3 indicate that the supply amount of the processing liquid 4 is 3.8 g, 3.5 g, and 3.0 g per sheet, respectively.
3 shows data when the toner removal processing is performed on the transfer paper 1 which is the transfer paper 1. The temperature of the heating block during the toner removal process is 95 ° C. Further, a temperature range D in FIG. 3 shows a temperature control range (135 ± 10 ° C.) of the upper heating roller in a case where the toner is removed satisfactorily by one conventional toner removing unit.

In this embodiment, for example, based on FIG. 3, the supply amount of the processing liquid 4 per transfer sheet (A4) is set to 3.
8 g, the temperature of the upper heating roller 15 of the first toner peeling unit 10 is set to about 100 ° C. as shown by an arrow a ₁ , and approximately 70% of the toner image on the transfer paper 1 is transferred to the peeling belt 14. Then, the temperature of the upper heating roller 25 of the second toner peeling unit 20 is set to about 120 ° C., which is lower than the conventional processing temperature (135 ° C.), and approximately 30 ° C. of the first toner image is set.
% Of the toner image can be transferred to the peeling belt 24. Here, the temperature of the upper heating roller 25 of the second toner peeling unit 20 may be set to the same temperature as that of the upper heating roller 15 of the first toner peeling unit 10.

FIG. 4 shows the top view of the A4 size transfer paper 1 on which a solid black toner image with no leading margin is formed, when the toner removal processing is performed by the first or second toner peeling unit alone. FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram illustrating a relationship between a temperature of a heating roller and a toner transfer rate from a transfer sheet 1 to a release belt. The symbol E (符号) in FIG. 4 indicates that the temperature of the heating block is 95 ° C. and the pressure of the upper heating roller is 64 kgf, and the symbol F (□) indicates that the temperature of the heating block is 90 ° C. In the case where the processing is performed at a pressure of 64 kgf, the symbol G (〇) indicates the data when the temperature of the heating block is 90 ° C. and the pressure of the upper heating roller is processed at 80 kgf. Here, the nip width due to the pressure of the upper heating roller is about 10 mm, and the nip length is 297 mm (the length in the longitudinal direction of A4 size). The transfer paper (A4) 1
The supply amount of the processing liquid 4 per sheet was set to 3.8 g. In addition, the data symbols in FIG. 4 with an x mark inside represent the lower limit temperature of the upper heating roller at which the liquid content in the transfer paper 1 decreased and the separation of the transfer paper 1 became unstable. Represents the data. As can be seen from FIG. 4, especially in the case of a solid black toner image without a leading margin, a single toner peeling unit can satisfactorily remove the transfer paper 1 without causing separation failure.
It can be seen that the temperature range of the upper heating roller for removing 00% toner is narrow. (Hereinafter, margin)

In this embodiment, based on FIG. 4, for example, the supply amount of the processing liquid 4 per transfer paper (A4) is set to 3.8 g and the temperature of the heating blocks 13 and 23 is set to 95 °.
And C, above the pressure of the heating roller 15 and 25 is set to 64Kgf, arrows e ₁ first toner separation unit as shown in 1
0, the temperature of the upper heating roller 15 is set to about 100 ° C., and approximately 30% of the toner image
The temperature of the upper heating roller 25 of the second toner peeling unit 20 is set to about 120 ° C. as shown by an arrow e ₂ , and a toner image corresponding to approximately 70% of the first toner image is formed on the peeling belt 24. It can also be configured to transfer to Here, the temperature of the upper heating roller 25 of the second toner peeling unit 20 may be set to the same temperature as that of the upper heating roller 15 of the first toner peeling unit 10.

In the toner removing apparatus having the above-described configuration, the transfer paper 1 sent from the paper supply unit (not shown) via the pair of registration rollers 2 and the conveyance guide plate 3 is supplied with a liquid on the toner image surface by the liquid supply roller 6. The toner is uniformly supplied and sent to the first and second toner peeling units 10 and 20. In this toner peeling unit, the toner adhered to the transfer paper 1 is softened by heating from the heating blocks 13 and 23 and the upper heating rollers 15 and 25, and adheres to the surfaces of the peeling belts 14 and 24. Then, the transfer paper 1 is bent at the bent portions of the heating blocks 13 and 23.
When the toner is separated from the separation belts 14 and 24, the toner adhered to the surfaces of the separation belts 14 and 24 is separated from the transfer paper 1, whereby the toner is removed from the transfer paper 1. The processing liquid 4 is supplied to the transfer paper 1 to which the toner has adhered, and the toner is peeled off in a state where the liquid permeates the interface between the transfer paper 1 and the toner, so that the toner is removed without damaging the paper fibers. it can.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the toner T on the transfer paper 1 is set by the toner separation units 10 and 20 in which the toner heating temperature is set lower than when the toner T on the transfer paper 1 is separated once. Is separated and removed in two stages, so that the separation drag when separating the transfer paper 1 from the peeling belts 14 and 24 is reduced. Further, as the toner T is sequentially peeled off by each of the toner peeling units, the contact area between the transfer paper 1 and the toner T is gradually reduced, and the separation drag is reduced. The peeling process proceeds while the separation property of 1 is gradually improved. Therefore, even if the type of the transfer paper 1 is different, highly reliable toner releasability and separation property of the transfer paper 1 can be obtained. For example, when the treatment liquid 4 is applied, the rigidity is reduced and the paper is easily peeled. Recycled paper, a transfer paper having a black solid surface with no blank space at the top, or a toner image formed with a toner having a small particle diameter is used. Even when the transfer paper or the transfer paper on which a toner image is formed using a color toner having a narrow temperature range for softening is subjected to the toner removal processing, highly reliable toner release property and separation property of the transfer paper 1 can be obtained. Can be

In particular, according to the present embodiment, the toner heating temperature in the first toner peeling unit 10 is set to be equal to or lower than the toner heating temperature in the second toner peeling unit 20, so that the toner peeling units 10 Only needs to supply the minimum amount of heat necessary to soften the toner T to be removed, so that the transfer paper 1 is not dried more than necessary, unlike the case where the toner T on the transfer paper 1 is peeled off once. . Therefore, it is possible to prevent an increase in the peeling force for peeling the toner T from the transfer paper 1, and to obtain a sufficient separation performance of the transfer paper 1.

In the above embodiment, the heating temperature of the toner in the first toner peeling unit 10 is set to be equal to or lower than the heating temperature of the toner in the second toner peeling unit 20. The pressing force of the upper heating roller 15 in the toner removing unit 10 may be set to be equal to or less than the pressing force of the upper heating roller 25 in the second toner removing unit 20. For example, to set the pressure of the upper heating roller 15 to about 1.8 kgf / cm ² in the first toner separation unit 10 as shown by the arrow h ₁ in FIG. 5, the transfer sheet 1
About 50% of the toner image is transferred to the peeling belt 14, and the pressing force of the upper heating roller 15 in the second toner peeling unit 2 is set to about 2.0 kgf / cm ² , to about 50% of the first toner image. The corresponding toner image is configured to be transferred to the peeling belt 24. In the case of this configuration, since the minimum pressure required for peeling the toner T in each of the toner peeling units 10 and 20 may be applied at the time of pressure contact, the transfer paper 1
Unlike the case where the upper toner T is peeled off at one time, the toner T is sequentially peeled off by the necessary minimum pressure. Therefore, the release belt 1 of each of the toner release units 10 and 20
The adhesion of the toner T adhered to the surfaces of the transfer belts 1 and 24 can be reduced, and the surface of the peeling belts 14 and 24 can be easily cleaned. Peelability is obtained. Further, the upper heating roller 15 in each of the toner peeling units 10 and 20,
Since the pressing force of 25 can be set lower than before, the driving torque of the driving device for the upper heating rollers 15 and 25 and the peeling belts 14 and 24 decreases.

In the above embodiment, the nip width of each of the toner peeling units 10 and 20 is set at about 10 mm by pressing the upper heating rollers 15 and 25. Since the processing liquid 4 may be squeezed out more than necessary and the toner may be reattached to the transfer paper 1 from the peeling belt, the first toner peeling unit 1
The nip width at 0 may be set to be equal to or less than the nip width at the second toner peeling unit 20 so that each nip width is smaller than in the related art. For example, the nip length by pressing the upper heating rollers 15 and 25 is set to 297 mm corresponding to the length in the longitudinal direction of the A4 size, and the nip width by the upper heating roller 15 of the first toner peeling unit 10 is set to 5 to 6 mm. Approximately 50 of the toner image on the transfer paper 1 by setting
% To the peeling belt 14, the nip width of the upper heating roller 25 of the second toner peeling unit 20 is set to 8 to 10 mm, and a toner image corresponding to approximately 50% of the first toner image is transferred to the peeling belt 24. It is constituted so that. In the case of this configuration, it is sufficient that each of the toner removing units 10 and 20 has a minimum nip width required for toner removal, so that unlike the case where the toner T on the transfer paper 1 is removed only once, the necessary minimum nip width is required. The toner T is sequentially peeled at the reduced nip width. Therefore, the processing liquid 4 in the transfer paper 1 is not squeezed out more than necessary, and the toner T does not adhere to the transfer paper 1 again. Also in this case, each of the toner peeling units 10,
20 and the upper heating rollers 15 and 25 and the peeling belt 1
The drive torque of the drive devices 4 and 24 can be reduced.

Further, when the surfaces of the peeling belts 14 and 24 are brought into close contact with the entire toner image on the transfer paper 1, a large separation resistance is generated, and a separation failure such as entrainment of the transfer paper 1 may occur. Therefore, in order to prevent such separation failure, the surface of the peeling belt 14 in the first toner peeling unit 10 contacts 50% or less of the toner image forming surface of the transfer paper 1 and the second toner peeling unit 20
, The surface of the peeling belt 24 may contact the remaining portion of the transfer paper 1 on the toner image forming surface.

In the above embodiment, two-stage toner peeling units 10 and 20 are provided. However, three or more toner peeling units may be provided. In this case, the treatment liquid 4 per A-size transfer paper is used.
It is preferable that the entire toner peeling process is completed in a state where the content of the toner is 1 g or more to prevent the toner from re-adhering to the transfer paper 1.

In the above-described embodiment, a finishing unit may be provided as a finishing means for drying the transfer paper 1 from which the toner has been removed and finishing the surface of the transfer paper 1 to be flat. This finishing unit is, for example, 1 of paper weight.
Transfer paper 1 containing about 0% to 100% processing solution 4
The drying device is a device for drying the transfer paper 1 so that the liquid holding amount of the transfer paper 1 is 10% or less. And a paper pressing belt that is wound around the heating drum and moves endlessly while being wound around the peripheral surface of the heating drum by a predetermined angle. As the material of the paper pressing belt 14, a material having heat resistance, air permeability, and water supply, for example, a cloth such as canvas, cotton, and tetron can be used. By bringing the paper pressing belt having such water absorbency into contact with the transfer paper 1, in addition to drying by heating from a heating lamp inside the heating drum, the processing liquid 4 of the transfer paper 1 is applied to the paper pressing belt. Can also exert a drying promoting function by adhering.

Next, although not an embodiment of the present invention, a toner having a release belt with improved abrasion resistance during cleaning, capable of continuous processing of a large amount of transfer paper, and having a low frequency of replacement of the release belt. One configuration example of the removing device will be described. The overall configuration of the toner removing device of this configuration example is the same as that of the above-described embodiment (FIG. 1) except that only one-stage toner peeling unit 10 is provided as a peeling unit.

According to experiments conducted by the present inventors, TiOx
A 100-μm-thick release belt made of a PET, ETFE or polyimide material is used, and a SUS loop material or a brass brush material or the like is used as a rotating brush for cleaning the release belt. °
When cleaning the surface of the peeling belt cooled from about C to about 50 ° C. with a cooling fan, the pressing force and the number of rotations (rpm) of the rotating brush are currently suppressed, so that an A4-size transfer paper can be obtained with one peeling belt. It is known that about 10,000 sheets can be removed from the toner. However, recently, it has been necessary to remove at least 100,000 sheets of toner with one peeling belt. In order to achieve this number of sheets by increasing the thickness of the peeling belt, the thickness of the peeling belt needs to be from 100 μm to 400 μm. Further, when the thickness of the peeling belt is quadrupled, the thermal conductivity is reduced to 1/4. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the sheet passing speed for softening the toner on the transfer paper 1 to 1/4. . Furthermore, the frictional resistance at the bent portion of the heating block 13 separating the transfer paper 1 and the tension of the peeling belt are increased, so that the torque of the motor of the driving device is increased, and the electric power required by the device is increased.

Therefore, in the present configuration example, in order to improve the durability of the peeling member without increasing the thickness, the surface of the base film having sufficient flexibility has abrasion resistance higher in hardness than the cleaning member. A release belt provided with a layer is used as a release member.

FIG. 6A shows an example of the peeling belt 14 provided with the wear-resistant layer. Release belt 1 according to this example
As the material of the base film 14a of No. 4, a PET material, which is a polymer material, was used. However, the material is not limited thereto, and for example, a polyimide material, a polyamide material, an ETFE material, or the like can be used. Further, the wear-resistant layer 14b is made of a base film 14a.
, Al, Ni, Cr, Ti,
A metal thin film of an alloy of W, Ni-P, Ni-Co-P or the like was formed by sputtering or bonding with an adhesive. As a method of forming the wear-resistant layer 14b, a method that can be formed so that the wear-resistant layer 14b does not peel or fall off from the base film 14a is preferable. Further, the thickness of the wear-resistant layer 14b was made as thin as possible, and cracks may be formed following expansion and contraction of the base film 14a. Further, according to the experience of the present inventors, all of the metal thin films mentioned as the material of the wear-resistant layer 14b have good adhesion to the toner and have no practical problem.

FIG. 6B shows another example of the peeling belt 14 provided with the wear-resistant layer. In this example, a wear-resistant material, which is inferior in toner adhesion to the base film 14c but excellent in abrasion resistance, is formed on the base film 14c made of the polymer material in a mesh shape. Examples of the wear-resistant material include SiC, SiN, TiN, Al ₂ O ₃ , Z
It can be selected from ceramics such as rO ₃ . The size of the mesh pattern was set to 1 to 3 μm, and the brush tip of the rotary brush roller 26 was designed so that it did not directly contact the surface of the base film 14c, and could contact toner having a diameter of 5 to 15 μm. In the case of an intermittent pattern such as the mesh pattern of this example, since all changes in the length of expansion and contraction due to heat are absorbed by the base film 14c, it can be used even under severe peeling conditions. .

The peeling belt 1 shown in FIG. 6 (a) or (b)
When the toner removing process was performed by using No. 4, it was possible to perform the toner removing process on 100,000 or more sheets of A4 size with one peeling belt 14. The conditions at the time of this toner removal processing are as follows. Upper heating roller 15
The pressing force at the pressure contact portion between the belt and the peeling belt 14 is 10 to 40 g / mm.
Set within ² range, the nip width was set in the range of 3 to 15 mm. The peripheral speed of the surface of the rotating brush roller 16 is set within a range of 5 to 25 m / sec, and the pressing force of the rotating brush roller 16 against the surface of the peeling belt 14 is 10 to 3 m.
It was set within the range of 0 kgf.

When a release belt having a wear-resistant layer is used as described above, the wear resistance of the release belt is greatly improved, and toner is removed from a larger amount of transfer paper per one release belt than before. The processing can be performed, and the durability of the apparatus has been improved. In addition, the frequency of exchanging the peeling belt was reduced, and the economy was improved.

The peeling belt provided with the wear-resistant layer as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B is used to separate the toner removing units 10 and 20 of the toner removing device of the above embodiment (FIG. 1). Of course, it can be used also as the belts 14 and 24, and a similar effect can be obtained.

[0044]

According to the first, second or third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of peeling processes are sequentially performed on the same image carrier by a plurality of peeling means, so that a plurality of peeling processes are performed according to the type of the image carrier. The imaging substance can be peeled off step by step. In addition, the peeling force in each peeling means can be reduced to the minimum necessary, and the contact area between the image carrier and the image forming material gradually increases by sequentially peeling the image forming material on the image carrier in a stepwise manner. Since the separation force is reduced due to the narrowing, the separation of the image holding member from the separation member in each separation unit is improved. As described above, the image forming substance is peeled off step by step by a plurality of peeling means, and the separability of the image carrier is improved, so that the image forming substance on the image carrier is peeled off at one time. Even if the type of the image carrier is different, there is an effect that a highly reliable peeling property of the image forming substance and a separability of the image carrier can be obtained.

In particular, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the heating temperature of the image forming substance by the peeling means for treating the image carrier in advance, and the image forming substance in the peeling means for treating the image carrier thereafter. By setting the heating temperature below the heating temperature, the degree of softening of the image forming substance in each peeling means is gradually increased to improve the peeling performance, and after the image forming substance which is easily peeled off is first peeled off, the image forming substance which is harder to peel off Are peeled off step by step. Then, a minimum amount of heat necessary for softening the image forming substance that is peeled off stepwise in each peeling means is supplied, and the image forming substance is separated from the image holding body so that the image holding body is not dried more than necessary. Is prevented from increasing. As described above, the image forming substance is peeled off in a stepwise manner by the plurality of peeling means, and an increase in the peeling force of the image forming substance from the image carrier is prevented. Unlike the case of peeling, even if the type of the image carrier is different, there is an effect that a more reliable peeling property of the image forming substance and the separability of the image carrier can be obtained.

In particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the pressure at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier in advance and the pressure at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier thereafter. By setting the pressure to be equal to or less than the pressure, the contact pressure between the peeling member and the image forming substance in each peeling means is gradually increased to improve the peeling performance. The forming material is peeled off step by step. Then, a minimum pressure required for peeling of the image forming substance in each peeling means is applied at the time of pressurized contact,
The adhesive force of the image forming substance peeled off from the image carrier and adhered to the surface of the peeling member of each peeling means is reduced, and the cleaning of the surface of the peeling member is facilitated. As described above, the image forming substance is peeled off step by step by a plurality of peeling means,
Since the surface of the peeling member is easily cleaned, unlike the case where the image forming material on the image carrier is peeled off at one time, even if the type of the image carrier is different, the more reliable peeling of the image forming material is possible. There is an effect that the properties and the releasability of the image forming substance can be obtained. Further, since the image forming substance is sequentially peeled off from the image carrier by the necessary minimum pressure, there is an effect that the torque for driving the peeling member by each peeling means can be reduced.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the nip width at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier in advance, and the nip width at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier thereafter By setting the nip width less than
The peeling performance is improved by gradually increasing the contact distance between the peeling member and the image forming material in each peeling means. First, the image forming material that is easily peeled off is peeled off, and then the image forming material that is harder to peel off is peeled off step by step. I do. Then, the image forming substance is sequentially peeled off from the image carrier with the minimum nip width necessary for the peeling of the image forming substance in each peeling means, and the destabilizing liquid in the image carrier is not squeezed out more than necessary. The image forming substance to be peeled off from the image carrier is prevented from re-adhering to the image carrier. As described above, the image forming substance is peeled off in a stepwise manner by the plurality of peeling means, and the image forming substance is prevented from re-adhering to the image carrier, so that the image forming substance on the image carrier is peeled off at one time. Unlike the above case, even if the type of the image carrier is different, there is an effect that it is possible to maintain good releasability of the image forming substance and separability of the image carrier.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating a schematic configuration of a toner removing device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram of a solid image peeling process. (B)
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a peeling process of a granular or linear image.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram illustrating a relationship between a temperature of an upper heating roller and a toner transfer rate when processing a transfer sheet on which a general image is formed.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a temperature of an upper heating roller and a toner transfer rate when processing a transfer sheet on which an image having no solid black and no leading margin is formed.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram illustrating a relationship between a pressing force of an upper heating roller and a toner transfer rate.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross-sectional views of a peeling belt provided with a wear-resistant layer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transfer paper 4 Processing liquid 5 Liquid container 6 Liquid supply roller 7 Liquid supply conveyance roller 10 1st toner peeling unit 13 Heating block 13a Heat lamp 14 Release belt 14a Base film 14b Abrasion resistant layer 15 Upper heating roller 15a Heating of upper heating roller Lamp 16 Rotating brush roller 17 Toner collecting container 20 Second toner peeling unit 23 Heating block 23a Heating lamp 24 Peeling belt 25 Upper heating roller 25a Heating lamp of upper heating roller 26 Rotating brush roller 27 Toner collecting container T Toner

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-356088 (JP, A) JP-A-6-27710 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 21/00 570-578 B41J 29/26-29/373

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An instability wherein an image stabilizing liquid is applied to an image carrier having an image forming substance stably adhered to a surface thereof, the destabilizing solution rendering the state of adhesion between the surface and the image forming substance unstable. A liquid application unit, and heating the image forming substance on the image holding body to which the destabilizing liquid has been applied, bringing the image forming substance into contact with the peeling member, and thereafter separating the image forming substance from the image holding body, In an apparatus for removing an image forming substance from an image carrier having a peeling means for peeling and removing a forming substance, a plurality of peeling means are provided so as to sequentially perform a plurality of peeling processes on the same image carrier, The heating temperature of the image forming substance in the peeling means for processing the image carrier in advance, and the heating temperature of the image forming material in the peeling means for processing the image carrier thereafter. Image forming substance removing device. 2. An instability wherein an image stabilizing liquid is applied to an image carrier having an image forming substance stably adhered to a surface thereof, the destabilizing solution rendering the state of adhesion between the surface and the image forming substance unstable. The liquid applying means and the image forming substance on the image holding body to which the destabilizing liquid has been applied are brought into pressure contact with the peeling member, and then separated to separate the image forming substance from the image holding body. An apparatus for removing an image forming substance from an image carrier, comprising: a plurality of peeling means for sequentially performing a plurality of peeling processes on the same image carrier; Wherein the pressure at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier is set to be equal to or lower than the pressure at the time of pressure contact at the peeling means for treating the image carrier thereafter. . 3. An instability wherein an image stabilizing liquid is applied to an image carrier having an image forming substance stably adhered to a surface thereof, the destabilizing solution rendering the state of adhesion between the surface and the image forming substance unstable. The liquid applying means and the image forming substance on the image holding body to which the destabilizing liquid has been applied are brought into pressure contact with the peeling member, and then separated to separate the image forming substance from the image holding body. An apparatus for removing an image forming substance from an image carrier, comprising: a plurality of peeling means for sequentially performing a plurality of peeling processes on the same image carrier; Characterized in that the nip width at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for treating is set to be equal to or less than the nip width at the time of pressure contact in the peeling means for treating the image carrier thereafter. Removal device.