JP2008111970A - Toner removing device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner removing device in which a mass applying part disposed on an elastic member applies a mass to the elastic member to change the natural frequency of the elastic member, thereby the resonance of the elastic member is suppressed, the vibrational energy is absorbed to perform damping, and abnormal sound is suppressed. <P>SOLUTION: In the toner removing device, a removal member 52 is slid relatively with respect to a photoreceptor drum 14 and scrapes toner remaining on the photoreceptor drum 14 by rotation of the photoreceptor drum 14. When the removal member 52 is slid with respect to the photoreceptor drum 14, the removal member 52 vibrates and the vibration sometimes appears as abnormal sound via the elastic member 58. Hence a mass body 70 is disposed on the elastic member 58 and a mass is applied to the elastic member 58. Thereby, the natural frequency of the elastic member 58 is changed to suppress the resonance thereof, the vibrational energy is absorbed to perform damping, and abnormal sound is suppressed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner removing device and an image forming apparatus.

  As a toner removing device, a cleaning device using a cleaning blade that removes toner remaining on a photosensitive drum as an image holding member is known.

  Some cleaning blades include a urethane rubber blade attached to the tip of an elastic member such as SUS formed in a plate shape, and the rear end of the elastic member supported by a blade holder member.

  In such an apparatus, during cleaning, the rubber blade may slide with the image carrier, and the elastic member may resonate due to vibration during the sliding to generate high-frequency noise.

  As countermeasures against squeaking of conventional types of cleaning blades, well-known methods are commonly used to reduce the contact thickness of the image carrier, change the thickness and width of the urethane rubber braid part, change the area of the adhesive part, and increase the thickness of the elastic member. Known as a method.

Further, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which the surface layer of a blade is modified to smoothly slide with a mating member to generate abnormal noise and increase the wear resistance of the blade.
Japanese Patent No. 3533510

  However, it is possible to reduce the contact thickness, the thickness and width of the urethane rubber braid part, the adhesive part due to restrictions on the choice of urethane material due to manufacturing problems, restrictions on the shape of the elastic member, and parameter window restrictions that can ensure the cleaning performance of the cleaning device. There are cases where it is difficult to reduce the sound to the target level by changing the area.

  Also, at the current technical level, the blade surface modification configuration is worn out when the blade contact surface wear is accelerated due to the stress mode of the device or due to changes in the condition of the contact member. Disappears and wear resistance is lost. As a result, the blade and the elastic member vibrate and abnormal noise is generated.

  In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a toner removing device that can suppress the generation of abnormal noise.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner removing apparatus, comprising: a removing member that contacts the image carrier and removes toner remaining on the image carrier; an elastic member having the removal member fixed to one end; A support portion that supports the other end portion of the elastic member, and a mass addition portion that is provided on the elastic member and adds mass to the elastic member.

  According to this configuration, the removing member comes into contact with the image carrier and removes the toner remaining on the image carrier. The vibration of the removing member generated at this time may appear as abnormal noise through the elastic member.

  Here, in the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, the mass adding portion provided in the elastic member adds mass to the elastic member. Therefore, the resonance frequency is suppressed by changing the natural frequency of the elastic member and vibration energy is reduced. Absorbs and suppresses vibrations and suppresses abnormal noise.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the toner removing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the mass adding portion is provided in a part of the elastic member.

  According to this structure, since it is provided in a part of elastic member, there is little influence on the bending of an elastic member.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the toner removing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the mass adding portion is provided at a predetermined portion of the elastic member whose deformation amount is larger than other portions. It is characterized by.

  According to this structure, since the mass addition part is provided in the predetermined site | part of the elastic member whose deformation amount is larger than another site | part, the damping effect is exhibited effectively.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the toner removing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the mass adding portion is a mass body in close contact with the elastic member.

  According to this configuration, the mass adding portion is a mass body that is in close contact with the elastic member. Thus, by using a mass body that is separate from the elastic member, it can be applied to a conventional toner removing device.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the toner removing device according to the fourth aspect, wherein the mass body is formed in a columnar shape and makes point contact with the elastic member.

  According to this structure, since it is formed in a cylindrical shape and makes point contact with the elastic member, there is little influence on the deflection of the elastic member.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the toner removing device according to the fourth aspect, wherein the mass body is formed in a sheet shape or a film shape.

  According to this structure, since the mass body is formed in the sheet form or the film form, it can be easily stuck to the elastic member.

  An image forming apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention includes the toner removing device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects.

  Since the present invention has the above configuration, it is possible to suppress the generation of abnormal noise.

  Below, an example of an embodiment concerning the present invention is described based on a drawing.

(Whole structure of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment)
First, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes an image forming unit 12Y that forms toner images of each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). 12M, 12C, 12K. In the following, when it is necessary to distinguish YMCK, description will be made by adding any of Y, M, C, and K after the reference. When YMCK does not need to be distinguished, Y, M, C, K is omitted.

  The image forming units 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K are configured to perform image processing with respect to the traveling direction (the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1) of the endless intermediate transfer belt 30 stretched by the backup roll 34 and the plurality of stretch rolls 32. The forming units 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K are arranged in series in the order. In addition, the intermediate transfer belt 30 is a photosensitive drum 14 as an image holding member disposed in each of the image forming units 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K, and a primary disposed to face the photosensitive drums 14, respectively. It is inserted between the transfer roll 18.

  Next, the configuration of each of the image forming units 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K and the image forming operation will be described using the image forming unit 12Y that forms a yellow toner image as a representative. FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of the image forming unit 12Y according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the photosensitive drum 14 rotates in a predetermined direction (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2), and the surface of the photosensitive drum 14 is uniformly charged by the charging roll 15. Next, image light 16 corresponding to the yellow image is irradiated by an exposure device (not shown), and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the yellow image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 14. Note that an arrow 16 in FIG. 2 schematically represents image light from the exposure apparatus.

  The electrostatic latent image corresponding to the yellow image is developed with the toner held on the developing roll 19 to which the developing bias of the developing device 17 is applied, and becomes a yellow toner image. The yellow toner image is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 30 by the pressure contact force of the primary transfer roll 18 and the electrostatic attraction force due to the transfer bias applied to the primary transfer roll 18.

  In this primary transfer, the entire yellow toner image is not transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 30, and a part thereof remains on the photosensitive drum 14 as transfer residual yellow toner. After the primary transfer, the photosensitive drum 14 passes through a position facing the cleaning device 50, and the transfer residual toner and the like are removed by a cleaning blade 53 provided in the cleaning device 50. The configuration of the cleaning blade 53 will be described later.

  Thereafter, the surface of the photosensitive drum 14 is charged again by the charging roll 15Y for the next image forming cycle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the image forming apparatus 10, the image forming process similar to the above is performed at each image forming unit 12 </ b> Y at a timing that considers the relative position difference between the image forming units 12 </ b> Y, 12 </ b> M, 12 </ b> C, 12 </ b> K. , 12M, 12C, and 12K, and sequentially superimpose Y, M, C, and K color toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 30 to form a multiple toner image.

  Then, the multiple toner images are batched from the intermediate transfer belt 30 by the electrostatic attraction force of the secondary transfer roll 36 to which the transfer bias is applied to the recording paper P conveyed to the secondary transfer position 38 at a predetermined timing. Then, it is transferred onto the recording paper P.

  The recording paper P onto which the multiple toner images have been transferred is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 30 and then conveyed to a fixing device (not shown), and is fixed on the recording paper P by heat and pressure to form a full color image. The

The transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 30 that has not been transferred to the recording paper P is collected by the intermediate transfer belt cleaner 40.
(Configuration of cleaning blade according to this embodiment)
Next, the cleaning blade 53 provided in the cleaning device 50 will be described.

  3 and 4 show the overall configuration of the cleaning blade 53. FIG. FIG. 5 shows a method of attaching the mass body to the elastic member. FIG. 6 shows a state where the elastic member is displaced.

  A cleaning blade 53 for cleaning the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 14 is provided at the lower part of the casing 51 of the cleaning device 50 (on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 14), as shown in FIG. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the cleaning blade 53 includes a removing member 52 that contacts the photosensitive drum 14 and removes toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 14. The removal member 52 is in contact with the photosensitive drum 14 at a predetermined contact angle, and slides relative to the photosensitive drum 14 as the photosensitive drum 14 rotates, and after the transfer at the edge 52A. The toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 14 is scraped off.

  The removal member 52 is formed with a predetermined thickness and a predetermined width. In addition, the arrow L shown in FIG. 4 shows the length direction of each member, the arrow W shows the width direction of each member, and the arrow T shows the thickness direction of each member.

  A film-like seal member 60 is fixed to the outer wall of the upper portion of the casing 51 (upstream in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 14). The seal member 60 is in contact with the photosensitive drum 14 and prevents residual toner or the like removed by the cleaning blade 53 from leaking from the inside of the housing 51 to the outside.

  The casing 51 also has a waste toner transport that transports the toner scraped from the photosensitive drum 14 to a waste toner collection box (not shown) obliquely below the contact portion between the removal member 52 and the photosensitive drum 14. A portion 54 is provided.

  Further, the removing member 52 is attached to the tip of a plate-like elastic member 58 such as a SUS plate and is pressed against the removing member 52 with a predetermined contact pressure. The free length of the elastic member 58, that is, the length of the portion on the tip side of the portion where the elastic member 58 is fixed to the blade holder 56 (the portion where the elastic member 58 is in a free state) is set to a predetermined length. Has been.

  The rear end portion of the elastic member 58 is fixed to a blade holder 56 as a support portion, and the blade holder 56 supports the elastic member 58.

  As described above, the elastic member 58 is disposed between the removing member 52 and the blade holder 56 by fixing the removing member 52 to the front end portion and supporting the rear end portion by the blade holder 56.

  The elastic member 58 is provided with a mass body 70 as a mass adding portion that adds mass to the elastic member 58.

  The mass body 70 is provided separately from the elastic member 58, and is attached in close contact with the surface of the elastic member 58 on the back side (the side where the removal member 52 is not attached). The mass body 70 is a portion where the elastic member 58 is in a free state, and is provided in a portion closer to the blade holder 56 than the portion where the removal member 52 is attached.

  The mass body 70 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a part of the peripheral surface thereof is in close contact with the back surface of the elastic member 58 and is in point contact. As shown in FIG. 5, the mass body 70 is adhered to the elastic member 58 by the adhesive member 72 and is in close contact with the elastic member 58. For example, an adhesive or a double-sided tape is used as the adhesive member.

  Moreover, as the mass body 70, SUS and lead are used, for example. Further, a mass body 70 (for example, a resin member) having a large attenuation coefficient may be used.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the mass body 70 is provided in a predetermined portion of the elastic member 58 where the amount of deformation is larger than the other portions. Specifically, it is desirable to provide the elastic member 58 at a portion where the amount of deformation is the largest or in the vicinity thereof.
(Operation according to this embodiment)
Next, the operation according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 shows a graph showing the relationship between the mass of the mass body and the generated sound pressure.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 14 without being transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 30 is sent to the cleaning device 50, and the transfer residual toner is scraped from the photosensitive drum 14 by the removing member 52. The discharged toner is transported to a waste toner collection box (not shown) by the waste toner transport unit 54.

  Here, in the configuration of the present embodiment, when the photosensitive drum 14 rotates, the removing member 52 slides relative to the photosensitive drum 14 and the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 14 is scraped off. . As described above, when the removing member 52 slides with respect to the photosensitive drum 14, the removing member 52 vibrates, and the vibration may appear as abnormal noise through the elastic member 58. In particular, as an abnormal sound, a high-frequency sound becomes unpleasant noise for humans.

  In this embodiment, since the mass body 70 provided in the elastic member 58 adds mass to the elastic member 58, the resonance frequency is suppressed by changing the natural frequency of the elastic member 58, and vibration energy is absorbed to suppress vibration. And suppress abnormal noise. This makes it possible to intentionally suppress high-frequency sounds that are uncomfortable for humans.

  Furthermore, it is not necessary to set parameters such as the material, thickness and width of the removal member 52, the contact area and contact pressure with respect to the photosensitive drum 14, and the thickness of the elastic member 58 to parameters in consideration of noise reduction. The degree of freedom can be increased, and the cleaning performance can be set to a parameter with the highest priority. Thereby, the stable cleaning property can be exhibited over a long period of time.

  Further, since the mass body 70 is in point contact, the influence on the contact pressure of the removing member 52 due to the change in the amount of deformation of the elastic member 58 is small. Thereby, the damping effect by addition of the mass of the mass body 70 increases.

  Further, when the mass body 70 (for example, a resin member) having a large attenuation coefficient is used, the diffusion vibration can be suppressed, the vibration damping effect is higher, and the generation of abnormal noise can be further suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the relationship between the mass of the mass body 70 and the silencing effect was analyzed. In this analysis, a cylindrical mass 70 having a diameter of 1.5 mm was used. As a result, the greatest silencing effect was obtained at a mass of 0.015 g / mm.

(Modification of mass body)
Next, modified examples of the mass body will be described.

  FIG. 8 shows a modification in which the shape of the mass body is modified. FIG. 9 shows a modification in which the mass body is integrated with the elastic member. FIG. 10 shows a modification in which the mass body is provided on the surface of the elastic member. FIG. 11 shows a modification in which the mass body is formed into a sheet shape or a film shape.

  In the above embodiment, the mass body 70 has a cylindrical shape. However, the shape of the mass body 70 is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a prismatic shape as shown in FIG. Can be set freely. Further, the mass body 70 may be configured to be in point contact with the elastic member 58 instead of the cylindrical shape.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the mass body 70 was formed separately from the elastic member 58, the mass body 70 is the structure formed integrally with the elastic member 58, as shown in FIG. Also good.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the mass body 70 was the structure attached to the back side of the elastic member 58, it was the structure closely_contact | adhered to the surface of the surface side (side to which the removal member 52 is attached). May be.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the mass body 70 was carrying out the column shape, as shown in FIG. 11, as the mass body 70, the structure formed in a sheet form or a film form may be sufficient. In this configuration, the removal member 52 can be improved in cleaning performance by performing in a range where the influence on the deflection and normal force (normal stress) of the elastic member 58 is small or the influence can be predicted and adjusted. There is no impact.

  In the present embodiment, only one mass body 70 is provided, but a plurality of mass bodies 70 may be provided.

  The present invention is not limited to the present embodiment, and various modifications, changes, and improvements can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the image forming unit according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the overall configuration of the cleaning blade according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the cleaning blade according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a method of attaching the mass body to the elastic member according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state where the elastic member is displaced in the cleaning blade according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the mass of the mass body and the generated sound pressure according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a side view showing a modified example in which the shape of the mass body is modified in the cleaning blade according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a side view showing a modification in which the mass body is integrated with the elastic member in the cleaning blade according to the present embodiment. FIG. 10 is a side view showing a modification in which the mass body is provided on the surface of the elastic member in the cleaning blade according to the present embodiment. FIG. 11 is a side view showing a modification in which the mass body is formed in a sheet shape or a film shape in the cleaning blade according to the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 14 Photosensitive drum (Image holding body)
50 Cleaning device (toner removal device)
52 Removal member 56 Blade holder (holding part)
58 Elastic member 70 Mass body (mass addition part)

Claims (7)

A removing member that contacts the image carrier and removes toner remaining on the image carrier;
An elastic member in which the removal member is fixed to one end;
A support portion for supporting the other end of the elastic member;
A mass adding portion that is provided on the elastic member and adds mass to the elastic member;
A toner removing device comprising:   The toner removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mass adding unit is provided in a part of the elastic member.   The toner removing device according to claim 1, wherein the mass adding portion is provided at a predetermined portion of the elastic member that has a deformation amount larger than that of other portions.   The toner removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mass adding unit is a mass body closely attached to the elastic member.   The toner removing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the mass body is formed in a cylindrical shape and makes point contact with the elastic member.   The toner removing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the mass body is formed in a sheet shape or a film shape.   An image forming apparatus comprising the toner removing device according to claim 1.

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