JPH049307B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to improve a cleaning roller used for an intermediate transfer member, and more specifically, to transfer a toner image formed on a toner image forming member to the intermediate transfer member, and to reprint it onto recording paper from the intermediate transfer member. The present invention relates to an improvement in a cleaning roller that is used in contact with the surface of an intermediate transfer member whose temperature is higher than the temperature at which toner softens in a recording device that transfers and fixes toner.

Conventionally, the intermediate transfer bodies of the above-mentioned recording devices have been provided with an elastic layer such as silicone rubber as a transfer layer on the surface. Unlike cleaning of toner image forming bodies and fixing pressure rollers, which are formed smoothly with high hardness, a rubbing method using a blade or heat-resistant cloth does not provide a sufficient cleaning effect, and the transfer surface is easily damaged. For this reason, a method for cleaning an intermediate transfer member is known from US Pat. No. 3,649,992, which utilizes the fact that metal has a greater toner adhesion force than a transfer layer such as silicone rubber. In this method, a metal cylinder is rotated in contact with the intermediate transfer body to clean the intermediate transfer body, but there are still problems in that it is difficult to obtain a sufficiently satisfactory cleaning effect and the transfer surface is easily damaged.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to sufficiently clean the intermediate transfer member so that the transfer surface is not damaged.
To provide a cleaning roller for an intermediate transfer member.

The cleaning roller of the present invention is characterized in that the outer layer portion consists of a porous or fibrous base layer on which toner or a resin identical to the toner or a resin compatible with the resin is adhered to at least the outer surface,
This feature achieves the above objective.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 are side views of a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a cleaning roller of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a drum-shaped toner image forming body that rotates in the direction of the arrow, 2 is a latent image forming mechanism, 3 is a dry developing mechanism, 4 is a belt-shaped intermediate transfer body, 5 is a transfer pressure roller, and 6 is a A heating roller with a built-in heat source 6A such as an infrared lamp or a resistance heating element, 7 a tension roller, 8 a cleaning roller for the intermediate transfer body 4, 9 a fixing pressure roller, 10 a heater that also serves as a recording paper guide, 11 12 is a cleaning roller for the fixing pressure roller 9, and 12 is a cleaning mechanism for the toner image forming body 1. If the recording device is based on electrophotography, the toner image forming body 1 has a photoconductor on its surface, and the latent image forming mechanism 2 includes a charging mechanism that uniformly charges the surface of the photoconductor and its charging mechanism. The device is equipped with an exposure mechanism that projects an original image onto the surface. Further, in the case of electrostatic recording, the toner image forming body 1 has a dielectric material on the surface consisting of a conductive base and a dielectric surface layer, and the latent image forming mechanism 2 forms a dielectric material according to an image signal. It is equipped with a multi-stylus electrode or an ion control electrode that forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface. Also,
When the magnetic recording method is used, the toner image forming body 1 has a magnetic material on its surface, and the latent image forming mechanism 2 includes a magnetized head that forms a magnetic latent image on the surface of the magnetic material in accordance with an image signal. It becomes something.
If the latent image formed on the image forming body 1 as described above is an electrostatic latent image, the dry developing mechanism 3 charges the toner to a polarity opposite to that of the electrostatic latent image, and charges the toner on the surface of the toner image forming body 1. The cleaning mechanism 12 is equipped with a mechanism for removing static electricity from the surface of the image forming body 1 and a mechanism for removing residual toner. When the latent image is a magnetic latent image, the dry developing mechanism 3 supplies magnetic toner to the surface of the toner image forming body 1, and the cleaning mechanism 12 supplies the demagnetized head and residual toner on the surface of the toner image forming body 1. It is equipped with a removal mechanism. Mechanisms based on such differences in recording methods are well known. Also,
The intermediate transfer body 4 includes a transfer layer made of a heat-resistant elastic material such as silicone rubber or fluorine-based rubber, and a stainless steel plate or a heat-resistant resin film made of polyimide, polyimide amide, aromatic polyamide, polyarylate, polyester, etc. It is formed from a laminate with a substrate, especially the transfer layer is LTV type or
It is preferable to use RTV type silicone rubber because it has excellent transfer efficiency from the toner image forming body 1 and retransfer efficiency to the recording paper P.

FIG. 2 shows an example in which the recording device is an electrophotographic copying machine, in which a charging mechanism 2A and an exposure mechanism 2B constitute a latent image forming mechanism 2, a static eliminating mechanism 12A using a halogen lamp, etc., and a toner Removal mechanism 12
B constitutes the cleaning mechanism 12. Further, in this example, the intermediate transfer body 4 is formed in the shape of a roller, and the fixing pressure roller 9 is configured to have a heat source 9A inside thereof so that the heater 10 can be omitted. The intermediate transfer body 4 has a structure in which a transfer layer made of silicone rubber or the like is provided around the outer periphery of a metal base made of aluminum or the like, which is provided with a heat source 4A inside. In addition, 1
3, 13' are feeding rollers for the recording paper P; 14,
Reference numeral 14' denotes a feed roller for the recording paper P on which the toner image has been fixed, and the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 indicate the same functional members.

In the recording apparatus using the intermediate transfer body 4 as described above, the surface of the toner image forming body 1 from which residual toner has been removed by the cleaning mechanism 12 is coated by the latent image forming mechanism 2 and the dry developing mechanism 3. The formed toner image is efficiently transferred to the intermediate transfer member 4,
The transferred toner image is efficiently retransferred and fixed onto the recording paper P. However, some toner remains attached to the intermediate transfer body 4, and while the recording paper P is not being fed, the toner attached to the intermediate transfer body 4 is removed by the fixing pressure roller 9. Cleaning rollers 8 and 11 are used for the intermediate transfer body 4 and the fixing pressure roller 9, respectively. The outer layer of the cleaning roller 8 of the intermediate transfer body 4 is made of a porous or fibrous base layer, and at least the toner itself, the same resin as the toner, or a resin compatible with the resin of the toner is attached to the outer surface of the cleaning roller 8. The present invention uses a device having such a structure.

FIG. 3 shows an example of such a cleaning roller 8, and this cleaning roller 8 has a paper tube 8A.
so that the same resin as the toner or a resin compatible with it forms a thin resin phase 8B on the outer periphery of the toner.
The cleaning roller 8 is attached by impregnation or coating, and when such a cleaning roller 8 is used for the intermediate transfer body 4, the heating roller 6 and the heater 10 or the heat source 4A and the fixing pressure roller 9 are attached.
The adhering toner on the intermediate transfer member 4, which has been heated to some extent by the heat source 9 or the like, is extremely efficiently adhered to and removed by the resin layer 8B of the cleaning roller 8, resulting in an extremely excellent cleaning effect. can get. This effect is that the surface temperature of the cleaning roller 8 easily adapts to the temperature of the intermediate transfer member 8, and that the toner taken by the cleaning roller 8 is easily integrated with the resin layer 8B of the cleaning roller 8. This is thought to be obtained by showing a tendency to bite into the paper tube 8A. Therefore, the cleaning roller 8 of the present invention
has many excellent features such as its cleaning performance does not deteriorate even after being used for a considerable period of time, the surface of the intermediate transfer member 4 is less likely to be worn out, and it can be obtained at a low cost and can be easily replaced. . Note that the cleaning roller of the present invention is preferably used so as to be driven and rotated by the intermediate transfer member.

The cleaning roller of the present invention is not limited to a paper tube as a base, and may be made of any convenient material such as a porous resin formed on a metal roll, for example, a sponge rubber or polyamide felt. Further, the cleaning roller of the present invention can also be used for a fixing pressure roller whose surface is provided with a layer of silicone rubber, fluorine-based rubber, fluorine-based resin, or the like.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are side views of a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a cleaning roller of the present invention. 1... Toner image forming body, 2... Latent image forming mechanism,
3... Dry developing mechanism, 4... Intermediate transfer body, 4A...
...Heat source, 5...Transfer pressure roller, 6...Heat roller, 6A...Heat source, 7...Tension roller, 8
...Cleaning roller, 8A...Paper tube, 8B...
... Resin layer, 9 ... Fixing pressure roller, 9A ... Heat source, 10 ... Heater, 11 ... Cleaning roller, 12 ... Cleaning mechanism, 13, 13' ...
...Feeding roller, 14,14'...Feeding roller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An intermediate transfer body whose temperature is higher than the temperature at which the toner of a recording device that transfers a toner image formed on a toner image forming body to an intermediate transfer body, retransfers from the intermediate transfer body to recording paper, and fixes the toner. A cleaning roller used in contact with a surface, the outer layer of which consists of a porous or fibrous base layer on which toner or the same resin as the toner or a resin compatible with the resin is adhered to at least the outer surface. A cleaning roller for an intermediate transfer body. 2. A cleaning roller for an intermediate transfer member according to claim 1, wherein the base layer is made of a paper tube.