JPS6256509B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing contaminants from an image bearing member in an electronic copying machine.

Here, contaminants include toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier after transfer, deposits of oxidized substances such as nitrogen, silicon, or sludge generated by a corona discharger for charging the image carrier, etc. It is. The former removal web and the latter removal paper and the like will be hereinafter expressed as a strip-shaped removal member or simply a removal member.

The image carrier forms an electrostatic image by being charged and exposed to light.
The electrostatic image is transferred onto another image carrier, or the electrostatic image is developed and transferred onto a transfer material, which is used repeatedly for cleaning.

Although residual toner is wiped off with each cycle, the oxidizing material gradually accumulates. Since these materials generally have low resistance, they reduce the resistance of the surface of the image carrier, and because they are highly hygroscopic, they further reduce the surface resistance. As a result, the electrostatic charge retention ability of the image carrier is reduced, making it impossible to form a high-contrast electrostatic image, and partial adhesion causes image deletion. Therefore, there is a problem in that the quality of the developed and visualized copy is significantly impaired.

Therefore, after using the image carrier for a certain period of time, it is necessary to use a removal member to scrape off the deposits on the surface of the image carrier.The removal device is incorporated into the copying machine, and the deposits are removed in a timely manner to maintain the high performance of the copying machine. It is necessary to.

Therefore, conventionally, a configuration device as shown in FIG. 1 has been used. FIG. 1 will be explained below. 1 exemplifies a photosensitive drum as an image carrier. 2 is a strip-shaped removing member, 3 is a pressure roller that presses the removing member 2 against the photosensitive drum 1, 4 is a supply roller thereof, and 5 is a winding roller thereof.

Since these photosensitive drums 1 and 3 rollers are usually supported in parallel on separate bearings, the positions of each roller and photosensitive drum are determined mechanically, and it is difficult to obtain correct parallelism. This results in non-uniform removal action in the circumferential direction and generatrix direction. The same applies when the pressure roller 2 is made of an elastic body.

It is difficult to improve the machining accuracy so that the pressure roller 3 uniformly presses each part of the photosensitive drum 1 in the generatrix and circumferential directions. So the pressure roll 3
The shafts at both ends of the spring 8 are supported by separate swing arms 6.
A floating support that acts on the photosensitive drum 1 is considered, but even if the uniformity in the generatrix direction is improved, that in the circumferential direction is not improved.

In that case, even if the pressure roller 3 is supported so that it can conform to the surface shape of the photoconductor in the circumferential direction, the axis positions of the supply/take-up rollers 4 and 5 are immovable, so the generatrix and roller 3 becomes non-parallel to the generatrix line. Therefore, problems such as twisting of the removing member 2 between the rollers 3, 4, 3, and 5 and breakage occur.

The present invention has been improved in view of the above-mentioned problems, and allows the three rollers 3, 4, and 5 to move together while maintaining their axes parallel to each other, and
The pressure roller 3 is configured to be able to move along the contact surface of the photoreceptor 1.

That is, the present invention provides a supplying member that supplies a belt-shaped contaminant removal member, a pressing member that presses the supplied removal member against an image carrier, a winding member that winds up the removal member after being pressed, and a winding member that winds up the removal member after being pressed. supply parts,
A contaminant removing apparatus comprising: a support member that integrally supports a pressing member and a winding member; and a pressing means that presses the removal member to the image carrier via the pressing member. A support shaft that supports the image carrier so as to be tiltable in the generatrix direction of the image carrier, and a support shaft that supports the support member so as to be tiltable in the circumferential direction of the image carrier are configured as a cross shaft mechanism. The main point is the contaminant removal equipment.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment based on the present invention.
The rollers 3, 4, 5 are mounted parallel to a common bearing plate 10, 10, and the bearing plate is supported on a shaft 12 via a frame plate 11, and the shaft 12 is connected to the shaft 1 in a direction perpendicular to the axis.
3 to support. The shaft 13 is supported by a copying machine frame which is not shown in the figure. A spring 14 is stretched between the bearing plate 10 and pins 15 and 16 provided on the main body (not shown) and presses the pressure roller 3 onto the photoreceptor 1.

According to the above configuration, the pressure roller 3 tilts around the shaft 12 in the generatrix direction of the photosensitive drum 1, and around the shaft 13 in the circumferential direction (radial direction) of the photosensitive drum. It can move according to the surface of the photoreceptor 1.

In this case, both the supply and take-up rollers 4 and 5 move together with the pressure roller 3 and maintain their axes parallel to each other, so that the removal member 2 does not twist.

Therefore, the pressure roller 3 allows the removal member 2 to act uniformly on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 at all times, so that no deposits remain locally due to uneven action, and the charging function of each part is made uniform to improve image quality. improves. Also, between the rollers 3, 4, 3, 5, the removal member 2
There is no problem of twisting or breaking, so the action is carried out smoothly.

In other words, the device of the present invention can make the pressure contact state of the band-shaped contaminant removing member against the image carrier more uniform and more stable, so that the removal action becomes extremely reliable.

Note that the present invention can be applied as is to the web for removing residual toner.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a configuration example leading to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention. 1 is an image carrier, 2 is a removal member, 3 is a pressure roller, 4 is a supply roller, 5 is a winding roller, 10
is a bearing plate, and 12 and 13 are shafts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A supply member that supplies a belt-shaped contaminant removal member, a pressing member that presses the supplied removal member against an image carrier, and a winding member that winds up the removal member after being pressed. , these supply members, pressing members,
A contaminant removing device comprising: a support member that integrally supports a winding member; and a pressurizing means for pressing the removal member onto the image carrier via the pressing member; A support shaft that supports the support member so as to be tiltable in the generatrix direction of the image carrier, and a support shaft that supports the support member so as to be tiltable in the circumferential direction of the image carrier are configured as a cross-axis mechanism. removal device.