JPS6349230B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning the surface of an object to be cleaned, such as a photosensitive drum or an insulating drum, and particularly to a cleaning device using a cleaning web.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a conventional web cleaning device for removing residual toner on an object to be cleaned such as a photosensitive drum in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, in which 1 is an object to be cleaned, 2 is a nonwoven fabric, etc. 3 is a pressure roller made of an elastic body for pressing the web against the object to be cleaned 1, 4 is a web winding shaft, and 5 is a feeding shaft.

By the way, when the web is wound by rotating the winding shaft 4 at a constant rate with the above configuration, the diameter of the winding web on the shaft 4 side increases as the web winding progresses, and the diameter of the shaft 4 is substantially reduced. As a result, the amount of web feed increases at the beginning and end of winding. That is, FIG. 2 is a graph showing the change in the web feed amount with respect to the substantial change in the diameter of the web winding shaft 4 due to web winding, and shows that the actual diameter of the web winding shaft 4 changes from the start of winding _d0 . When the end _d1 changes, the web feed amount per unit time changes from the initial value _l0 to the final value _l1 . At this time, the feed amount is set so that complete cleaning can be performed even with the minimum value _l0 . Therefore, if the feed amount is l ₀ or more, the web is being fed by an amount greater than the required amount, and this shortens the web replacement interval of the web cleaning device. In other words, it has become a drawback that shortens the lifespan.

In order to solve this drawback, a pinch roller 6 that rotates at a constant speed, as shown by the broken line in FIG.
A possible method is to sandwich the web 2 between the rollers and feed the web in a fixed amount. This method is well known in the field of tape recorders and the like. However, in the case of a web cleaning device, unlike a tape recorder, such an extremely precise feeding speed is not required. In addition to at least the take-up shaft 4, the feed shaft 5, and the pressure roller 3, one roller that rotates at a constant speed is required. Moreover, in order to realize this method, it is necessary to apply tension to the web to prevent the web from sagging, that is, to rotate the winding shaft 4 a little faster than the roller 6. Therefore, two driving sources are required.
Moreover, if the torque of the winding shaft 4 becomes greater than that of the roller 6, the roller 6 will be of no use, and the amount of web winding will be determined by the winding shaft 4. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to provide a sliding mechanism or the like on the winding shaft to absorb a large amount of winding, but this has the drawback of complicating the device and increasing costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, to provide a cleaning device that has a simple configuration, can wind up a substantially constant amount of web from beginning to end, and can extend the time for replacing the web. , a feed-out shaft that sends it out, a take-up shaft that winds it up, a cam that rotates at a constant cycle,
a swinging lever that is in contact with the cam and swings as the cam rotates; a rotational force transmission mechanism that transmits only the rotational force generated by the swinging motion in one direction of the swinging lever to the web take-up shaft; and the web delivery shaft. and the web winding shaft, and the connecting plate changes position according to an increase or decrease in the amount of web, and regulates the swing angle of the swing lever according to the amount of change. The gist of the present invention is a web cleaning device characterized by the following configuration.

With the above configuration, the rotation angle of the take-up shaft can be limited according to the amount of web on the take-up shaft or the feed-out shaft, so the web can be fed by a nearly constant amount at all times, reducing the time required for changing the web. can be extended.

A detailed explanation will be given below based on an embodiment of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Reference numerals 11 and 12 (Fig. 4) denote left and right parallel side plates in the drawing for assembling and holding various parts constituting the cleaning device, and the pair of side plates 11 and 12 are connecting means such as stays (not shown in the figure). They are fixedly connected to each other at a constant distance. 13 and 14 are the left and right side plates 11 and 1
These are a pair of left and right web winding bearing retaining shafts, which are opposed to each other with their axes substantially aligned with each other, and are supported with opposing ends protruding inside the side plates. Each shaft 13, 14 is supported at its approximate center by first bearings 15, 16 attached to the side plates themselves in order to stably hold them on the side plates 11, 12, respectively, and brackets 17, 18 are provided on the outside of the side plates. The outer end of the side plate of the shaft (hereinafter referred to as the rear end or rear end of the shaft) is also supported by the second bearings 19 and 20 held therebetween. Numerals 21 and 22 are set screws for each bracket 17 and 18 to each side plate 11 and 12.

23 is a knob attached to the rear end of the left shaft 13;
24 is a snap spring provided on the shaft portion of the shaft 13 between the first and second bearings 15 and 19 near the first bearing 15, 25 is a coil spring compressed between the ring 24 and the second bearing 19, and 26 is a A cylindrical metal loosely fitted to the tip side of the shaft 13; 27 a snap spring provided near the tip of the shaft 13; 28 a coil spring compressed between the first bearing 19 and the cylindrical metal 26; The pressing force of the coil spring 28 keeps it pressed against the ring 27 at all times. In addition, the shaft 13 itself also has a coil spring 2.
It is constantly urged in the direction a toward the opposing shaft 14 by forces 5 and 28.

Reference numeral 30 designates a one-way clutch (ratchet) attached to the shaft portion of the right shaft 14 protruding inward from the side plate 12 near the first bearing 16, and its inner ring member ₃₀₁ is integrally fixed to the shaft 14. There is a armrest 31 (hereinafter referred to as a swing lever) on the outer ring member ₃₀₂ .
are fixed together. And that lever 31
A pin shaft 3 is installed approximately perpendicularly to the lever inside the tip of the lever.
2 ₁ is provided, and a cylindrical cam follower 32 is loosely fitted onto the pin shaft 32 ₁ and held therein. Reference numeral 33 designates a cylindrical metal fitting loosely fitted to the tip end of the shaft 14, and reference numeral 34 designates an engagement pin with an end of the web winding shaft, which will be described later, which is fixed to the end of the shaft 14 by penetrating the shaft at right angles. The shaft 14 is prevented from moving in the axial direction by the contact between a snap ring 35 provided at the rear end of the shaft and the second bearing 20, and the contact between the one-way clutch 30 and the first bearing 16.

Reference numerals 35 and 36 denote a pair of left and right arms (hereinafter referred to as connecting plates) which are integrally fixed to the tube metals 26 and 33 of the left and right shafts 13 and 14, and 37 and 38 denote the connecting plates 3 thereof.
5 and 36 are web feeding bearing retaining shafts provided opposite to each other on the inside of the tips.

39 is an eccentric cam disposed above the cam follower 32, and the cam shaft 39 is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown).
It is rotated at a constant cycle in the direction of arrow C (FIG. 4) about center point ₁ .

As shown in FIG.
_2, that is, the cam follower 32 is always urged to rotate in the clockwise direction d about the shaft 14, so that the cam follower 32 is normally brought into contact with the lower side of the right connecting plate 36. Also, the left connecting plate 36
is constantly biased to rotate in the counterclockwise direction e around the tube metal 33, that is, the shaft 14, by a tension spring 41.

4 is a hollow web winding shaft held between the tips of shafts 13 and 14;
3 and 14, pinch the knob 23 of the left shaft 13, pull out the shaft 13 in the direction b against the tension of the springs 25 and 28, and adjust the distance between the tips of the shafts 13 and 14. The hole at the right end of the winding shaft 4 is fitted into the tip of the right shaft 14, and the notch groove ₄₁ formed on the right end surface of the shaft 4 is engaged with the right angle pin 34 on the shaft 14 side. In addition, the hole at the left end of the winding shaft 4 corresponds to the tip of the left shaft 13, and the knob 23
When you release your hand, the shaft 13 moves back in the direction a due to the tension of the springs 25 and 28, and its tip fits into the hole at the left end of the shaft 4, and the ring 27 at the tip of the shaft 13 locks into the shaft. Press against the left end surface of 4. As a result, the winding shaft 4 is stably installed and held between the tips of the shafts 13 and 14 without wobbling, and the right end of the shaft 4 and the tip of the right shaft 14 are connected to the groove 4 ₁ and the right angle pin 34.
Since they are in an engaged state with each other, when the right shaft 14 is rotationally driven, the winding shaft 4 also rotates.

5 is the opposing shaft 3 at the tip of the left and right connecting plates 35, 36
This is a hollow web feeding shaft which is held between 7 and 38 so as not to rotate, and a large amount of cleaning web 2 is wound around the shaft 5 in the form of a roll. The cleaning web 2 may be a conventionally used woven or nonwoven fabric made of synthetic resin.

The above-mentioned web feeding shaft 5 is installed between the shafts 37 and 38 by sliding the left connecting plate mounting sleeve 26 on the shaft 13 in the direction of the first bearing 15 against the tension of the spring 28. The distance between the tips 37 and 38 is widened, and the hole at the right end of the web feed shaft 5 is fitted into the right shaft 38. Then, by aligning the hole at the left end of the feed shaft 5 with the tip of the left shaft 37, and releasing the cylindrical metal 26, the cylindrical metal 26 is moved back toward the ring 27 by the tension of the spring 28, and the shaft 3
7 fits into the hole at the right end of the delivery shaft 5. As a result, the web feed shaft 5 is mounted and held between the shafts 37 and 38 at the tips of the left and right connecting plates in a freely rotatable manner.

The mounted rolled web 2 is slightly unwound and its leading edge is wound around the web winding shaft 4 or locked by a locking portion (not shown) provided on the shaft 4.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an object to be cleaned, and the rolled web 2 mounted above is always kept in contact with the object by its own weight and the tensile force of a spring 41.

Next, the effect will be explained. When the eccentric cam 39 rotates at a constant cycle in the direction of arrow C in synchronization with the paper feed of the image forming apparatus, and its cam surface contacts the cam follower 32, the cam follower 32 receives a downward force, which causes the eccentric cam to continue rotating. With this movement, the swing lever 31 rotates counterclockwise against the tension of the spring 40. In the one-way clutch 30, the outer ring member 30 ₂ and the inner ring member 30 ₁ engage in the rotation direction of the lever 31, and the outer ring member 3 engages in the opposite direction.
0 ₂ is in a relationship in which it idles on the inner ring member 30 ₁ .Therefore, as the lever 31 rotates counterclockwise, the shaft 14 is rotationally driven via the clutch 30 , and thereby the shaft 14 The web winding shaft 4, which is engaged with the pin 34 through the groove ₄₁ , also rotates together with the shaft 14, so that the web 2 is wound.

The web 2 is wound up while the lever 31 is rotated counterclockwise by the continued rotation of the eccentric cam 39. Next, when the highest point P of the eccentric cam 39 passes the cam follower 32, the cam 3
Since the lever 9 rotates to escape from the cam follower 32, the lever 31 rotates back clockwise in response to the escape displacement of the cam 39 from the cam follower 32 due to the tensile force of the spring 40. When the lever 31 is rotated back, the outer ring member 30 ₂ of the clutch 30 idles around the inner ring member 30 ₁ , so that the shaft 14 and the web winding shaft 4 are not reversed.

During the rotation of the cam 39 to escape from the cam follower 32, when the cam follower 32 hits the lower side of the connecting plate 36 and is received, the return rotation of the lever 31 is stopped.

In this way, the shaft 4 is intermittently rotated by the reciprocating swing of the lever 31 as the cam 39 rotates, and the web on the shaft 5 side is sequentially wound up and consumed. As the rolled web 2 on the shaft 5 side is sequentially consumed and its winding diameter gradually decreases, the connecting plate 36 is gradually rotated in the counterclockwise direction e about the shaft 14. Accordingly, the return position of the cam follower 32 is also sequentially displaced accordingly. In other words, the return rotational position of the lever 31 is determined by the current displacement position of the connecting plate 36, and the return rotational position of the lever 31 is determined by the movement of the cam follower 32 into the cam as the intermittent winding cycle of the web 2 progresses. Axis 39 ₁
It is successively displaced in the direction away from. As a result, as the web winding cycle progresses, the lever 31
The swing angle by the cam 39 gradually decreases.

The counterclockwise swing angle of the lever 31 by the cam 39 is determined by the shape of the cam, so as the return angle of the swing lever 31 decreases as the web winding cycle progresses, the web The web winding rotation angle of the winding shaft 4 gradually decreases. It is generally known that as the diameter of the web wound around the winding shaft 4 increases, the amount of winding per unit rotation angle increases. Therefore, with the configuration of this embodiment, the amount of web taken up remains approximately constant throughout, regardless of the outer diameter of the web taken up on the shaft 4. In other words, the outer diameter x rotation angle = web feed amount, so as the outer diameter increases, the web winding rotation angle of the web winding shaft 4 decreases and the web winding increases as shown in the graph in Figure 5. The amount taken is almost constant from beginning to end.

In addition to drum-shaped or endless belt-shaped photoreceptors, the object to be cleaned 1 applicable to the present invention includes
- an insulator used in a screen-type electrophotographic device described in Publication No. 133841, or a magnetic drum in a device that obtains an image using a magnetic latent image;
Toner adheres to the surface of the fixing roller, etc.
Needless to say, this includes everything that needs to be wiped away.

In particular, when the present invention is applied to a fixing roller cleaning device, since the fixing roller becomes quite hot, using Nomex (trade name) nonwoven fabric for the web 2 has excellent cleaning performance, can be made thin, and has good heat resistance. It is preferable because there is.

As described above in detail, the present invention provides the cam 39
is rotated at a constant cycle to swing the swinging lever 31 in contact with the swinging lever 31, and only the rotational force caused by the swinging of the swinging lever in one direction is transmitted to the web winding shaft 4 by the rotational force transmission mechanism 30. In addition, since the swing angle of the swing lever 31 is regulated by the regulating member 36 in accordance with the amount of web on the shaft, the web can be fed by a substantially constant amount at all times, extending the life of the web. It has a certain effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional web cleaning device, FIG. 2 is a graph showing changes in web feed amount with respect to changes in the diameter of the web take-up shaft, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of an embodiment of the device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the diameter of the web to be wound and the amount of web feed in the apparatus of this embodiment. 1 is an object to be cleaned, 2 is a cleaning web, 4 is a web winding shaft, 5 is a feeding shaft, 30 is a one-way clutch, 31 is a lever, and 39 is an eccentric cam.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A cleaning web, a feed-out shaft that sends it out, a take-up shaft that winds it up, a cam that rotates at a constant cycle, and a swinging lever that contacts the cam and swings as the cam rotates. , comprising a rotational force transmission mechanism that transmits only the rotational force caused by the swinging movement of the swinging lever in one direction to the web winding shaft, and a connecting plate that connects the web feeding shaft and the web winding shaft; A cleaning device using a web, characterized in that the connecting plate is configured to change its position according to an increase or decrease in the amount of the web, and to regulate the swing angle of the swing lever according to the amount of change. 2 The outer periphery of the web on the delivery shaft contacts the object to be cleaned, and when the amount of web decreases, the position of the connecting plate connecting the delivery shaft and the take-up shaft changes and comes into contact with the swing lever. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning device is configured so that the swing angle of the swing lever decreases as the position changes.