JPH11219080A - Image forming material removing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image forming material removing device which is capable of stably removing an image forming material from an image holder formed with images and is capable of preventing the splashing of the removed image forming material and efficiently recovering the material for a long period of time. SOLUTION: This device 10 is wound with the image releasing belt 18 on heating rolls 12, 14 and a paper separating plate 16. When this image releasing belt 18 circulates, the part near the surface layer of the hot meltable resin layer of the image releasing belt 18 comes into contact with a layer thickness maintaining blade 34 fixed below the heating roll 12 and the hot meltable resin layer is maintained at a specified thickness. The flowing down hot meltable resin scraped by the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 adheres to the surface of the adhesion body of a recovering roll 40 and is accumulated thereon. This hot meltable resin is thereafter air cooled and solidified. When the hot meltable resin adhered to the recovering roll 40 attains a specified amt., this roll exchanged with a recovering roll 40 to which the hot meltable resin is not adhered.

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, and more particularly, to an image forming material removing apparatus for removing an image forming material from an image carrier formed with an image forming material containing a hot-melt resin. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, from the viewpoint of protecting the natural environment, image forming materials such as ink and toner are removed from an image carrier such as paper on which an image is formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer. Attempts have been made to make image carriers reusable. As one of these attempts, the paper on which the image was formed was recovered as used paper, and once beaten into fibers,
Further, a method of removing ink, toner, and the like and making the paper reusable by paper making has become common.

However, in this method, when waste paper is re-pulped, the quality of pulp deteriorates, and the quality of recycled paper may also deteriorate. In addition, in the process of beating used paper and the process of removing ink and toner from fibers after beating, etc., almost the same energy as in newly producing paper is required. In addition, new energy is consumed even when used paper is collected, which may increase costs.

[0004] To solve such inconvenience, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
Japanese Patent No. 50569 discloses an image carrier regenerating method for easily removing an image forming material from an image carrier. That is, in this method, water as a destabilizing agent, an aqueous solution containing a surfactant,
At least one kind of water or an aqueous solution selected from the group consisting of an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble polymer and an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble polymer and a surfactant is held, and the image forming material is adhered to the image peeling member by heat or pressure. The image peeling member is peeled off from the image holding member in a state where the ink is thermally melted and the image forming material is removed from the image holding member.

However, in this method, since the image carrier is wetted with water or an aqueous solution, a large amount of energy is consumed for drying the wet image carrier, and the reproduction cost is high. Further, in this method, when only the black toner is used as the image forming material, the black toner can be removed from the image carrier, but the image forming material can be a color toner such as cyan, magenta, or yellow. In this case, the color toner cannot be removed from the image holding member due to a difference in toner characteristics. This can be explained as follows from the difference in characteristics between the black toner and the color toner.

[0006] The black toner contains a highly elastic resin and is in a rubbery state even when the melting temperature is exceeded, whereas the color toner is a sharp melt resin whose viscosity rapidly decreases when the melting temperature is exceeded. Contains. In general, when the toner is heated on the image carrier and the viscosity is reduced, the toner adheres to the image peeling body by its own adhesive force. However, the color toner significantly penetrates into the image carrier because the viscosity is significantly reduced by heating. Would. For this reason, although the color toner adheres to the image peeling member, the fixing strength with the image holding member is further increased, and it is difficult to completely remove the color toner from the image holding member.

In order to eliminate such inconveniences, it is necessary to control the temperature of the color toner so that the color toner does not penetrate into the inside of the image carrier and that sufficient adhesion with the image peeling member is obtained. Conceivable. However, in this state, since the viscosity of the color toner is high, the color toner peeled off on the image peeling body remains as unevenness. For this reason, the next time the color toner is removed, the contact property with the paper deteriorates, and the color toner cannot be reliably removed from the next paper.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-64472 discloses an eraser for removing the color toner from the image carrier by utilizing the thermal characteristics of the color toner as described above.

This eraser uses an endless sheet of a hot-melt resin suspended on a heating roll and a cold roll, presses the eraser paper against the softened or molten hot-melt resin, and then cools the hot-melt resin. The erasable paper is separated from the erasable paper, and the toner is removed from the erasable paper.

However, in this erasure, when a large number of erasable papers are continuously processed, the thickness of the heat-meltable resin layer on the endless sheet becomes thick, and as a result, poor conveyance of the erasable paper may occur. Further, since the heat capacity increases as the thickness of the heat-meltable resin layer increases, the temperature control becomes unstable, and defective removal may occur. In particular, in the case of a color image, the amount of toner is larger than that of a black-and-white image, so the thickness of the heat-fusible resin layer on the endless sheet is thicker than in the case of a black-and-white image. Become.

As described above, when a large amount of hot-melt resin is deposited on the endless sheet, a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-64472 will be described.
As described in the above document, it is conceivable to keep the thickness of the heat-meltable resin layer on the endless sheet constant by scraping off excess heat-meltable resin with a removing means such as a blade.

However, even if the hot-melt resin is scraped off from an image peeling member such as an endless sheet by the removing means,
Since the hot-melt resin scraped off by the removing means is deposited, the hot-melt resin is scattered, and the inside of the apparatus is soiled, or the image forming material once adheres to the removed image carrier. It will also be.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-56481 discloses an image forming substance removing apparatus in which toner on a roller peeled off from a transfer sheet is scraped off by a scraper blade. In order to forcibly scrape off the uncured toner, an excessive load is applied to the rotation of the roller, and the scraped-off toner scatters, thereby contaminating the inside of the apparatus and removing the image forming material once. It may also adhere to the holder.

[0014]

In view of the above, the present invention can stably remove an image forming material from an image holding member on which an image has been formed, and can prevent the removed image forming material from scattering. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming material removing apparatus that can efficiently collect for a long time.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image peeling member having an image peeling layer containing a hot-melt resin, a heating means for heating the image peeling layer, Contact means for contacting the image forming surface of the image holding member, on which the image forming material containing a heat-fusible resin is melt-fixed to the image peeling layer, and the image forming surface contacted with the image peeling layer, A separating unit that separates the release layer and the image forming material from the image release layer in a state where the cohesive force between the release layer and the image forming material is larger than the adhesive force between the image formation material and the image holding member; and the image release layer melted by heating. At a position corresponding to the image peeling member is arranged at a predetermined interval from the image peeling member and at least a part of the image peeling member is detachable, and by maintaining the predetermined interval and relatively moving with the image peeling member, And the layer thickness maintaining means for maintaining by attaching heat-fusible resin constituting the image peeling layer of melt state the layer thickness of the image peeling layer in a predetermined thickness, and having a.

The image forming surface of the image carrier is brought into contact with the image peeling layer of the image peeling member softened by heating by the contact means. On the image forming surface, an image is formed by melting and fixing an image forming material containing a heat-fusible resin,
This image forming material becomes integral with the image release layer of the image release member.

The separating means separates the image forming surface from the image peeling layer in a state where the cohesive force between the integrated image peeling layer and the image forming material is larger than the adhesive force of the image forming material to the image holding member. Therefore, the image forming material adheres to the image peeling member integrally with the image peeling layer and is removed from the image holding member.

The layer thickness maintaining means provided corresponding to the melted image peeling layer moves relatively while maintaining a predetermined distance from the image peeling member, so that a fixed thickness image peeling film is formed on the surface of the image peeling member. Is configured.

Since at least a part of the layer thickness maintaining means is detachably attached to the image peeling member, by removing the detachable part, the heat fusible resin ( Image forming material) can be collected integrally with the layer thickness maintaining means. Since the image forming material is not forcibly scraped off as in the prior art, it does not fly into the apparatus. Also, the energy required for recovery is smaller than in the past, and the recovery can be performed efficiently. Further, by exchanging at least a part of the layer thickness maintaining means and collecting an unnecessary heat-fusible resin (image forming material), the image forming material can be removed from the image holding member for a long period of time.

In the present invention, the term "melting" means that the viscosity of the heat-fusible resin constituting the image peeling layer is reduced, and the outer shape is easily changed by a small shear stress. (If it is placed in a container of a certain shape, the shape changes according to the shape of the container.) However, sufficient adhesive force acts between the image peeling member and the image even if gravity acts. It means a state in which it does not fall from the separating member. Specifically, the surface temperature (M) of the hot-melt resin constituting the image peeling layer, the melting point of the heat-meltable resin as a m _p, m _p
It has been confirmed that this can be achieved by controlling the range of + 10 ≦ M.

The term "softening" in the present invention means that although the viscosity of the hot-melt resin constituting the image peeling layer is reduced, the viscosity is higher than that in the above-mentioned "melted" state and the outer shape is changed. Refers to a state in which a greater force is required than in the "melted" state and an adhesive force is formed between the image forming material and the hot-melt resin. Specifically, the surface temperature of the hot-melt resin constituting the image peeling layer (M), the melting point of the hot-melt resin m _p, a glass transition temperature as _{T g, T g ≦ M ≦} m p +10 It has been confirmed that this can be achieved by controlling to within the range.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the layer thickness maintaining means is arranged at a predetermined distance from the image peeling member, and maintains the predetermined distance. The heat-fusible resin forming the molten image peeling layer is relatively moved and is attached to the heat-fusible resin. And accumulating means.

For this reason, by removing only the collecting means from the attaching means, it is possible to collect the hot-melt resin in a state of being accumulated on the collecting means, and the collecting operation becomes efficient. In addition, since it is not necessary to remove the entire layer thickness maintaining means, the recovery of the hot-melt resin becomes easy.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the accumulating means is movable relative to the attaching means.

Therefore, when a large amount of the heat-fusible resin is accumulated on the accumulating means, a clearance is formed between the accumulating means and the adhering means by separating the accumulating means from the adhering means, so that more heat is melted. The fusible resin material can be accumulated on the accumulation means.

Further, the collecting means can be moved with respect to the attaching means so that the accumulating position of the hot-melt resin accumulated on the accumulating means from the attaching means changes. This makes it possible to accumulate the heat-meltable resin evenly in the accumulating means. For example, when the heat-meltable resin is naturally dropped from the adhering means and is accumulated on the accumulating means, the accumulating means is moved so as to have a horizontal component with respect to the adhering means, so that the heat-melting resin is evenly distributed on the accumulating means. Conductive resin can be accumulated. Furthermore, for example, by forming the accumulating unit in a columnar or cylindrical shape and rotating the accumulating unit around an axis, the hot melt resin can be collected using the entire outer periphery of the accumulating unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the accumulating means has a plurality of recesses for accommodating the hot-melt resin adhered to the adhering means. It is a rotating body rotatable in the direction in which the recess is formed.

Therefore, when the heat-fusible resin is accumulated in one concave portion and the concave portion is filled with the heat-meltable resin, the rotating body can be rotated to accumulate the heat-meltable resin in the next concave portion. Thereby, a large amount of heat-meltable resin can be accumulated on the rotating body.

Further, since the rotating body relatively moves with respect to the attaching means by rotation and its position relative to the attaching means does not change, a space is provided around the rotating body in consideration of such a position change. There is no need to waste space.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, the attaching means and the accumulating means are insulated between the attaching means and the accumulating means. A heat insulating means is provided.

Therefore, even when the temperature of the attaching means is raised, the transfer of heat from the attaching means to the collecting means is prevented by the heat insulating means, and the heat capacity of the entire layer thickness maintaining means is reduced. . Therefore, loss of heat energy from the layer thickness maintaining means can be minimized.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, a low surface energy layer is formed on the surface of the layer thickness maintaining means.

For this reason, the resistance of the heat-fusible resin to movement is reduced in the portion in contact with the layer thickness maintaining means.
Further, even when the heat-fusible resin is cured and fixed to the layer thickness maintaining means, the heat-fusible resin can be easily separated from the layer thickness maintaining means.

[0034]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The image forming material removing apparatus 10 has a box (not shown), and the heating roll 12 is rotatably supported on the box by supporting means (not shown). Above the heating roll 12, a heating roll 14 having the same length as the heating roll 12 is supported rotatably in parallel with the heating roll 12. Further, a paper separating plate 16 is disposed above the heating roll 12, and an image peeling belt 18 is wound around the heating rolls 12 and 14 and the paper separating plate 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, a part of the image peeling belt 18 is formed by forming a heat fusible resin layer 28 on the outer surface of a polyimide belt 19 as a base material. . As the substrate, an appropriate material can be appropriately selected in consideration of strength, durability, dimensional stability against heat, and the like. For example, in addition to polyimide, resin-based materials can be selected from polyamide, polyamide-imide, and the like, and metal materials can be selected from stainless steel, nickel, and the like.

The hot-melt resin layer 28 is made of the same hot-melt resin as the toner 30 (image forming material) to be removed by the image forming material removing device 10, and has a thickness of 20 to 200 μm. Desirably 50 to 100 μm
It is.

The heating roll 12 is constituted by a steel roll formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a halogen lamp 20 for heating the heating roll 12 is provided inside the heating roll 12. Further, the image peeling belt 18 is provided on the heating roll 12.
The temperature sensor 22 is disposed at a position where the temperature sensor 22 does not contact with the surface of the heating roll 12.

The heating roll 14 is composed of a steel roll formed in a substantially cylindrical shape and a silicone rubber of a predetermined thickness coated on the outer circumference thereof. A halogen lamp 2 for heating the heating roll 14 is provided inside the heating roll 14.
4 are provided. A temperature sensor 26 is arranged on the heating roll 14 at a position not in contact with the image peeling belt 18, and is in contact with the surface of the heating roll 14.

When the surface temperature of the heating rolls 12, 14 is detected by the temperature sensors 22, 26, the halogen lamps 20, 24 are feedback-controlled by a control circuit (not shown), and the surfaces of the heating rolls 12, 14 are set in advance. The predetermined temperatures T1 and T2 are maintained. These temperatures T1 and T2 correspond to the image peeling belt 18.
The temperature is set to a predetermined temperature sufficient to bring the surface of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 into a molten state and a softened state, respectively.

A gear (not shown) is attached to one end of the heating roll 14 in the axial direction so as to be rotatable integrally with the heating roll 14. Driving force is transmitted to this gear from a driving device (not shown), and the heating roll 14 rotates at a predetermined angular velocity in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. Thereby, the image peeling belt 18 also circulates counterclockwise in FIG. Also,
A predetermined tension is applied to the image peeling belt 18 from the heating roll 12 by a pressing mechanism (not shown).

The heat-meltable resin layer 28 is formed by the halogen lamp 2 transmitted from the heating roll 12 via the image peeling belt 18.
By the heat of 0, a molten state is formed in the vicinity of the heating roll 12. The heat-meltable resin layer 28 in the molten state is gradually separated from the heating roll 12 by the circulation of the image peeling belt 18 and naturally cooled.
The halogen roller 24 is again heated by the heat of the halogen lamp 24 transmitted from the heating roll 14 via the image peeling belt 18, and becomes a softened state.

The temperature sensors 22 and 26 need not be in contact with the heating rolls 12 and 14, respectively, and may be separated by a predetermined interval.

The paper separating plate 16 disposed above the heating roll 12 has a predetermined center angle in a side view and an outer peripheral surface 16A having a predetermined radius of curvature smaller than the radius of the heating rolls 12 and 14. It is formed in an arc shape. The image peeling belt 18 is provided on the outer peripheral surface 16 of the sheet separation plate 16.
The portion wound around A is sharply curved. Further, a low surface energy layer is formed on the outer peripheral surface 16A of the paper separating plate 16 by performing Teflon treatment, so that the image peeling belt 18 slides smoothly.

The supporting means (not shown) includes a heating roll 14
The pressure roll 32 is rotatably supported opposite to. The pressure roll 32 is pressed toward the heating roll 14 by a pressure mechanism (not shown).
4 and the pressure roll 32 sandwich the image peeling belt 18.

Below the heating roll 12, a stainless steel layer thickness maintaining blade 34 formed in a rectangular plate shape is fixed to face the heating roll 12. The longitudinal direction of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 coincides with the axial direction of the heating roll 14 (the normal direction of the paper surface in FIG. 1), and the upper end side 34A of the blade 34 has a predetermined interval between itself and the polyimide belt 19. . Further, when the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is viewed from the transport direction of the image peeling belt 18 (direction of arrow B), the upper end side 34 is a straight line parallel to the image peeling belt 18. Therefore, when the image peeling belt 18 circulates in a state where the thickness of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 is larger than this interval,
The portion near the surface of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 comes into contact with the layer thickness maintaining blade 34, and the heat-meltable resin layer 28 is leveled to have a constant thickness.

The layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is fixed so as to have a predetermined mounting angle θ1 as measured from the upstream side in the circulation direction of the image peeling belt 18 in a side view. As a result, the hot-melt resin scraped off by the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is stored between the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 and the image peeling belt 18 while being in contact with the surface of the hot-melt resin layer 28.

The surface of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is subjected to Teflon treatment to form a low surface energy layer. Therefore, the friction between the stored hot-melt resin and the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is smaller than the friction with the hot-melt resin layer 28. Therefore, when the image peeling belt 18 circulates, the stored hot-melt resin rotates due to friction with the surface of the hot-melt resin layer 28.

The mounting angle θ1 of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is appropriately determined by the viscosity of the hot-melt resin, the coefficient of friction with the surface of the hot-melt resin layer 28, the circulation speed of the image peeling belt 18, and the like. . Accordingly, in the drawing, the mounting angle θ1 of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is an acute angle, but may be a right angle or an obtuse angle as long as it is mounted so as to satisfy the above conditions.

A ceramic heater 36 is mounted on the back surface of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. Further, a temperature sensor 38 is attached to the ceramic heater 36. The thickness maintaining blade 34 is controlled by the temperature sensor 38.
Is detected, the ceramic heater 36 is feedback-controlled by a control circuit (not shown), and the surface of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is maintained at a predetermined temperature T3. This temperature T3 is a predetermined temperature sufficient to bring the heat-fusible resin forming the heat-fusible resin layer 28 into a molten state. Therefore, the heat of the ceramic heater 36 is transmitted to the heat-meltable resin layer 28 via the thickness-maintaining blade 34 and melts the heat-meltable resin layer 28. Further, since the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is heated by the ceramic heater 36 in this way, the surface of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 (the surface on which the ceramic heater 36 is not attached) also has a melting temperature of the hot-melt resin. Thus, a heated molten region is formed.

The temperature sensor 38 does not need to be in contact with the ceramic heater 36, but may be separated by a predetermined interval.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 and 11, a collection roll 40 is further mounted below the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 via a support box 60. The collection roll 40 includes a shaft 62 and a cylindrical attachment 64 formed around the shaft 62.
The hot-melt resin stored in the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 and further moved downward is collected by attaching to the surface of the attached body 64 of the collecting roll 40.

The support box 60 has a substantially square side wall 66 and is formed in a box shape which is open upward as a whole. Further, a predetermined clearance is formed between the inner surface of the support box 60 and the surface of the collection roll 40, and a certain amount of the heat-meltable resin adhered to the surface of the adhered body 64 is removed.
No contact is made with the inner surface of the zero.

The side wall 66 of the support box 60 has
A guide groove 68 having a constant width is formed downward from the center of the upper side (in the direction of arrow A), and the end of the shaft 62 of the collection roll 40 is inserted into the guide groove 68. A support bracket 61 for supporting an end of the shaft 62 is provided on the side wall 66.
Are supported by the support bracket 61. Further, the support bracket 61 can be moved along the guide groove 68 by moving means (not shown). Accordingly, when the support bracket 61 is moved by a moving means (not shown), the shaft 62 is also moved along the guide groove 68 in the direction of arrow A and in the opposite direction, and the entire collection roll 40 is moved with respect to the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. Contact. Thus, the collection roll 40 is connected to the layer thickness maintaining blade 3.
By being separated from 4, even if the recovery roll 40 becomes substantially thick due to the attached hot-melt resin, the hot-melt resin can always be stably adhered to the surface of the recovery roll 40.

The support box 60 is provided with the image forming material removing device 10.
Is detachably attached to a box (not shown) that constitutes. Therefore, by removing the support box 60 from the box, the support box 60 can also be removed from the box. And if the recovery roll 40 is further lifted in this state,
It can be easily removed from the support box 60.

As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 10, at least one of the side walls 66 may be rotatably supported by a rotation support means such as a hinge 67. Thus, by rotating the side wall 66 to open the support box 60 to the side,
By moving the collection roll 40 in the axial direction, the collection roll 40 can be removed from the support box 60. Therefore, the support box 60
Can be removed from the box (not shown) of the image forming material removing apparatus 10 alone.

Note that a rotating means may be provided at one axial end of the collecting roll 40, and the collecting roll 40 may be rotated by the rotating means. Thereby, the collection roll 40
The heat-fusible resin can be uniformly attached to the periphery of the substrate.

The material of the recovery roll 40 is not particularly limited, and it is possible to use metals such as iron, stainless steel, copper, copper, and aluminum, as well as polyimide and ceramic. Further, the surface of the collection roll 40 may be coated with a material similar to the toner 30 (for example, a polyester resin or the like) to enhance the adhesiveness (fusibility) of the hot-melt resin.
Furthermore, by appropriately increasing the surface roughness of the outer periphery of the collection roll 40 or by providing a projection of a predetermined shape,
The solidified hot-melt resin may be prevented from falling off.

By providing a heating means (for example, a heating element such as a halogen lamp or a ceramic heater) inside or inside the collecting roll 40, the outer peripheral surface of the collecting roll 40 is maintained at a predetermined temperature, and the heat-meltable resin is formed. The viscosity may be reduced to facilitate migration from the layer thickness maintenance blade 34. In this case, by setting the temperature of the outer peripheral surface of the collection roll 40 to be equal to or lower than the temperature at which the hot-melt resin melts, it is possible to prevent the hot-melt resin from being melted and flowing down from the collection roll 40.

At a position on the right side of the heating roll 14 in FIG. 1, a paper tray 42 is detachably attached to a box (not shown). One or more sheets of paper P are stored in the paper tray 42.
Is housed. A color image is formed on the sheet P with a color toner as an image forming material including a heat-fusible resin, and is accommodated in the sheet tray 42 with the image forming surface facing down. These papers P
Delivery roll 44 disposed above the paper tray 42
Are fed out of the paper tray 42 one by one. Further, the paper P is transported by a pair of transport rolls 46 disposed between the delivery roll 44 and the heating roll 14 and the pressure roll 32.
And is fed between the heating roll 14 and the pressure roll 32.

Above the image peeling belt 18, a plate-shaped paper chute 48 is fixed in parallel with a portion bridged between the pressure roll 32 and the paper separation plate 16, and conveys the paper P. Guide in the direction (arrow B direction).

Next, the operation of the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. From the paper tray 42, the paper is sent out by the sending roll 44, and the transport roll pair 4
The paper P conveyed by 8 is sent between the heating roll 14 and the pressure roll 32.

The heating roll 14 is rotated at a predetermined angular speed by a driving device (not shown).
8 also circulates at a predetermined speed, the paper P is conveyed at a predetermined conveyance speed in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1 while the image forming surface of the paper P is pressed against the hot-melt resin layer 28 of the image peeling belt 18. Is done.

At this time, in the vicinity of the heating roll 14, the heat from the halogen lamp 24 causes
Are in a softened state, and have a cohesive force with the toner 30 of the paper P while maintaining rubber-like elasticity. Therefore, when the image forming surface of the sheet P is pressed against the heat-meltable resin layer 28 of the image peeling belt 18, the heat-meltable resin of the image peeling belt 18 adheres to the toner 30.

By circulating the image peeling belt 18, the paper P
While maintaining the state of contact with the image peeling belt 18,
The sheet is guided by the sheet chute 48 and further conveyed in the direction of arrow B. In the transport process, the heat of the heat-fusible resin layer 28 is transmitted to the toner 30, so that the temperature of the heat-fusible resin layer 28 and the temperature of the toner 30 become the same. Further, heat is radiated from the heat-meltable resin layer 28 and the toner 30 to the surroundings, and the heat-meltable resin layer 28 and the toner 30 are gradually cooled.

When the sheet P reaches the position of the sheet separating plate 16, the temperature of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 and the toner 30 becomes slightly higher than the glass transition point of the heat-meltable resin due to natural cooling. As a result, the heat fusible resin layer 28 and the toner 30
Means that the viscosity increases and the cohesive force becomes larger than the adhesive force of the toner 30 to the paper P, but still has rubber-like elasticity. Therefore, when distortion occurs between the sheet P and the toner 30, the interface between the toner 30 and the sheet P is easily separated.

The image peeling belt 18 is bent with a small radius of curvature by circulating while sliding on the outer peripheral surface 16A of the sheet separating plate 16, so that the toner 30 adhered to the heat-meltable resin layer 28 also has a small curvature. It is bent at the radius. The cohesive force between the hot-melt resin layer 28 and the toner 30
Is larger than the adhesive strength of the paper P
The toner 30 is distorted. Further, the paper P is bent with a radius of curvature larger than that of the image peeling belt 18 due to so-called stiffness (elasticity against deformation in the paper thickness direction). As a result, the interface between the toner 30 and the paper P is separated, and the toner 30 is removed from the paper P. The paper P from which the toner 30 has been removed is discharged to a discharge tray (not shown).

The toner 30 removed from the paper P reaches the vicinity of the heating roll 12 together with the heat-meltable resin layer 28 of the image peeling belt 18 by the circulation of the image peeling belt 18. Here, since the heat from the halogen lamp 20 is transmitted to the heat-meltable resin layer 28 and the toner 30, the heat-meltable resin layer 28 and the toner 30 are in a molten state. As a result, the viscosity of the toner 30 is reduced and the surface tension is also reduced, so that the toner 30 is integrated with the heat-meltable resin layer 28. Therefore, on the outer surface of the image peeling belt 18, a convex portion 28A in which the thickness of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 is increased is formed.

The protrusion 28 A reaches the position of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 by the circulation of the image peeling belt 18 and contacts the upper end 34 A of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. In addition to the heat from the halogen lamp 20, the heat from the ceramic heater 36 is transmitted to the heat-meltable resin layer 28 via the layer thickness maintenance blade 34, and the heat-meltable resin near the layer thickness maintenance blade 34 The layer 28 always stably maintains a molten state. For this reason, the convex portion 28A of the image peeling belt 18
Circulates without receiving excessive resistance even if it contacts the upper end side 34A of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. Then, the protrusions 28A are leveled by this circulation, and the heat-meltable resin layer 28 has a constant thickness.

As described above, the thickness maintaining blade 34 is directly heated by the ceramic heater 36, and the heat-meltable resin layer 28 near the thickness maintaining blade 34 is maintained in a molten state. The molten state can be stably maintained as compared with the case where the hot-melt resin is heated to be in the molten state only by using the resin alone. Thus, the heat-meltable resin layer 28 can be formed at low cost without imposing a large load on driving means for rotating the heating roll 12.
Can be maintained at a constant thickness.

Since the unevenness and unevenness on the surface of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 are eliminated, the contact between the heat-meltable resin layer 28 and the paper P is not reduced, and the toner 30 is reliably removed from the paper P. can do. In particular, even when a color image is formed on the paper P, the toner 30 can be continuously and stably removed from the paper P for a long time even if the amount of the toner 30 forming the image is large.

By the circulation of the image peeling belt 18, a part of the hot melt resin constituting the hot melt resin layer 28 in a molten state is scraped off by the layer thickness maintaining blade 34, and the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 and the image peeling belt 18 and stored. Since the hot-melt resin is kept in contact with the surface of the hot-melt resin layer 28, when the image peeling belt 18 circulates, the friction with the hot-melt resin layer 28 causes friction in the clockwise direction in FIG. And a substantially cylindrical rod having an axis parallel to the heating roll 12. The surface of the heat-fusible resin layer 28 is constantly refreshed by the rod-shaped heat-fusible resin (indicated by reference numeral 50 in FIGS. 2 to 4) coming into contact with the heat-fusible resin layer 28 while rotating. And deterioration is prevented.

As the diameter of the rod-shaped hot-melt resin 50 increases, the cohesive strength decreases. For this reason, when the hot-melt resin is further scraped off by the layer thickness maintaining blade 34, a part of the hot-melt resin flows down along the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 without being aggregated. Since a predetermined melting region is formed in the layer thickness maintaining blade 34, the hot-melt resin flows down while maintaining the molten state, and adheres to the surface of the recovery roll 40 (this hot-melt resin is denoted by reference numeral 52). Shown).

As shown in FIG. 3, the recovery roll 40 is moved by the driving means in the direction away from the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 (in the direction of arrow A) while being rotated by rotating means (not shown). 52 is a collection roll 4
It can be stably attached to the surface of No. 0 and evenly around the surface. After the hot-melt resin 52 adheres to the collection roll 40, it is naturally cooled and solidified.

As described above, since the unnecessary heat-meltable resin is collected in the molten state by the collecting roll 40 and removed from the layer thickness maintaining blade 34, for example, compared with the case where the heat-meltable resin is removed in the solidified state, Therefore, the load required for removal is reduced. Further, by scraping off the solidified hot-melt resin, the hot-melt resin is not powdered and scattered, and does not adhere to the members in the image forming material removing apparatus 10, the paper P, or the like.

Further, since the unnecessary heat-fusible resin is sequentially removed from the layer thickness maintaining blade 34, the heat capacity does not increase when the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 and the heat-fusible resin adhered thereto are considered integrally. . Therefore, even if the calorific value of the ceramic heater 36 is small, the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 can be maintained at the predetermined temperature T3.

Since the collection roll 40 is detachably attached to a box (not shown), the collection roll 4
When a certain amount of the hot-melt resin adheres to 0, the hot-melt resin can be removed from the box and replaced with a recovery roll 40 to which no hot-melt resin has adhered. At the time of replacement, since the heat-fusible resin is solidified, it does not scatter or adhere to the operator.

Further, since a low surface energy layer is formed on the layer thickness maintaining blade 34, for example, the energization of the ceramic heater 36 may be stopped in a state where the hot melt resin adheres to the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. Thus, even when the hot-melt resin is cooled and solidified, the hot-melt resin can be easily separated from the layer thickness maintaining blade 34.

Incidentally, instead of the above-mentioned collection roll 40,
The collection means shown in FIG. 11 may be provided. That is, a collection box 77 formed substantially in a box shape and opened upward is disposed corresponding to the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. Thereby, the hot-melt resin scraped off by the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is collected in the collecting box 77 in an integrated state.
(In other words, the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is divided into two parts, the upper part maintains the layer thickness of the image peeling layer 28 with respect to the image peeling belt 18 at a constant thickness, and the lower part heat-melts the lower part. A curved portion capable of accumulating a conductive resin is configured).

In this case, the thickness maintaining blade 3
A heat insulating sheet 78 may be interposed between the collecting box 4 and the collecting box 77 as heat insulating means. This allows
The heat of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 is not transmitted to the recovery box 77, and the substantial heat capacity of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 does not increase. For this reason, the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 can be maintained at a constant temperature without excessively increasing the calorific value of the ceramic heater 36. The heat insulating means for preventing the heat of the layer thickness maintaining plate 34 from being transmitted to the recovery box 77 is not limited to the above-described heat insulating sheet 78. In short, the heat insulating means can prevent a substantial increase in the heat capacity of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. Should be fine. For example, a constant air layer (a gap or the like) is formed between the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 and the collection box 77, and the air layer is used as a heat insulating means, and the layer thickness maintaining plate 3 is used.
The heat of No. 4 may not be transmitted to the recovery box 77. Further, the ceramic heater 36 and the collection box 77
If there is a possibility that the ceramic heater 3
The heat insulation means described above may be provided between the recovery box 77 and the recovery box 77 so that the heat of the ceramic heater 36 is not transmitted to the recovery box 77.

A low surface energy layer may be formed on at least the inner surface of the recovery box 77 by Teflon treatment or the like so that the hot-melt resin accumulated in the recovery box 77 can be easily separated.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a part of an image forming material removing apparatus 80 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Image forming material removing device 8 according to the second embodiment
In the case of 0, as compared with the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, only the attaching means constituting the layer thickness maintaining means is different, and all the others are the same. Hereinafter, the same elements and members as those of the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the image forming material removing apparatus 80, as the attaching means, the layer thickness maintaining roll 8 formed in a substantially cylindrical shape is used instead of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 according to the first embodiment.
2 are used. The layer thickness maintaining roll 82 is rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the heating roll 12, and
The outer periphery is supported by a box (not shown) so as to be spaced apart from the image peeling belt 18 by a predetermined distance. The layer thickness maintaining roll 82 is driven by a driving unit (not shown) as shown in FIG.
It is designed to rotate counterclockwise. The halogen lamp 20 is mounted inside the layer thickness maintaining roll 82, and the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 is maintained at a predetermined temperature T3 by a temperature sensor and a control circuit (not shown). The surface of the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 is subjected to a Teflon treatment to form a low surface energy layer.

The first diagonally below the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 is
Like the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment,
The collection roll 40 is detachably attached to a box (not shown).

Therefore, the convex portions 2 are formed on the surface layer of the hot-melt resin layer 28.
When the image peeling belt 18 circulates in a state where 8A is formed, the convex portion 28A comes into contact with the layer thickness maintaining roll 82,
The thickness of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 is kept constant. Especially,
By rotating the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 5, the relative speed of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 to the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 increases, so that excess heat-meltable resin can be more effectively removed. Can be scraped. However, the rotation direction of the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 is not particularly limited as long as the excess heat-meltable resin can be scraped off, and may be, for example, stopped or rotated clockwise in FIG.

Also in this image forming material removing apparatus 80, the heat of the halogen lamp 84 provided inside the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 is transmitted to the heat-meltable resin layer 28, so that the heat-meltable resin layer 28 is formed. It is always stably maintained in a molten state. Therefore, the thickness of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 can be maintained at a constant thickness without causing an excessive load in the circulation of the image peeling belt 18.

By setting the rotational angular velocity of the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 to a predetermined rotational angular velocity, the storage in which the scraped hot-melt resin is stored between the image peeling belt 18 and the layer thickness maintaining roll 82. The unit may be configured. The surface of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 is constantly refreshed by the heat-meltable resin stored in the storage portion being constantly rotated and brought into contact with the heat-meltable resin layer 28 due to friction with the image peeling belt 18, so that the deterioration is prevented. Is prevented.

When the amount of the heat-fusible resin scraped off by the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 increases, the heat-fusible resin rotates together with the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 while maintaining the molten state, and And gradually accumulate. Due to the rotation of the collecting roll 40 and the separation from the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 (movement in the direction of arrow A), a large amount of the heat-fusible resin is stably adhered to the surface of the collecting roll 40 and evenly adhered to the periphery thereof. be able to. After the hot-melt resin adheres to the recovery roll 40, it is naturally cooled and solidified.

As described above, since the unnecessary heat-meltable resin is sequentially removed from the layer thickness maintaining roll 82, when the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 and the heat-meltable resin adhered thereto are considered integrally, the heat capacity is reduced. Halogen lamp 84
, The layer thickness maintaining roll 82 can be maintained at the predetermined temperature T3. In addition, the solidified hot-melt resin does not scatter and adhere to members in the image forming material removing device 10, paper P, or the like.

Since the collection roll 40 is detachably attached to a box (not shown), the collection roll 4
When a certain amount of the hot-melt resin adheres to 0, the hot-melt resin can be removed from the box and replaced with a recovery roll 40 to which no hot-melt resin has adhered. At the time of replacement, since the heat-fusible resin is solidified, it does not scatter or adhere to the operator.

The surface of the recovery roll 40 may be subjected to Teflon treatment to form a low surface energy layer. As a result, the recovery roll 40 is torsionally deformed or vibrated to cause a distortion between the adhered hot-melt resin and the surface of the recovery roll 40, and the hot-melt resin is removed from the recovery roll 40.
Can be easily separated from.

FIG. 6 schematically shows a part of an image forming material removing apparatus 90 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. This image forming material removing apparatus 90 is different from the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment only in the configuration of the layer thickness maintaining means, and all other parts are the same. Hereinafter, the same elements and members as those of the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In this image forming material removing apparatus 80, as the layer thickness maintaining means, instead of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 according to the first embodiment, an arc-shaped layer thickness maintaining curved plate 9 in a side view is used.
2 is attached to a box (not shown). The thickness maintaining roll plate 92 is formed by the thickness maintaining roll 8 according to the second embodiment.
It is curved with a constant radius of curvature larger than the radius of 2, and is mounted so as to be upwardly convex and symmetric in FIG. Further, a predetermined space is provided between the upper surface 92A of the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92 and the image peeling belt 18. Furthermore, the upper surface 92A of the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92
Is flattened by polishing. In particular, when the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92 is viewed from the direction of arrow D, its upper surface 92A is parallel to the outer surface of the image peeling belt 18, and the surface roughness is
The upper edge 34A of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 according to the first embodiment (see FIGS. 2 to 4) and the outer peripheral surface of the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 according to the second embodiment are smoother. I have.

A ceramic heater 94 is attached to the lower surface of the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92, and the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92 is maintained at a predetermined temperature T1 by a temperature sensor and a control circuit (not shown).

Below the upstream end of the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92, the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment is provided.
Similarly, the collection roll 40 is detachably attached to a box (not shown).

Therefore, the convex portions 2 are formed on the surface layer of the hot-melt resin layer 28.
When the image peeling belt 18 circulates in a state where the 8A is formed, the convex portion 28A comes into contact with the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92, so that the layer thickness of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 is maintained at a constant thickness. Especially,
The upper surface 92A of the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92 is parallel to the outer surface of the image peeling belt 18, and the surface roughness is the upper end side 34A of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 according to the first embodiment, or the second embodiment. Since the outer peripheral surface of the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 according to the embodiment is even smoother, the surface of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 can be smoothed.

In the image forming material removing apparatus 90, the heat of the ceramic heater 94 is
8, the thermally fusible resin layer 28 is always stably maintained in a molten state. For this reason, the image peeling belt 18
No excessive load is applied to the circulation.

For example, the upper side 34A of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 according to the first embodiment and the outer peripheral surface of the layer thickness maintaining roll 82 according to the second embodiment can be smoothed by polishing. However, in the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92 according to the third embodiment, the radius of curvature is set to the layer thickness maintaining roll 82.
Polishing can be easily performed by making the radius larger than the radius.

The heat-meltable resin scraped off by the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92 flows down along the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92 while maintaining the molten state, adheres to the surface of the recovery roll 40, and gradually accumulates. Is done. By the rotation of the collection roll 40 and the separation from the layer thickness maintaining roll 82, a large amount of the heat-meltable resin 52 can be stably adhered to the surface of the collection roll 40 and evenly adhered to the periphery thereof. After the hot-melt resin 52 adheres to the recovery roll 40, it is naturally cooled and solidified.

As described above, since unnecessary heat-meltable resin is sequentially removed from the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92, the layer thickness maintaining curved plate 9 is removed.
2 and the heat-meltable resin adhered thereto, the heat capacity does not increase, and the ceramic heater 94
, The layer thickness maintaining curved plate 92 can be maintained at the predetermined temperature T3. In addition, the solidified hot-melt resin does not scatter and adhere to members in the image forming material removing device 10, paper P, or the like.

Since the collection roll 40 is detachably attached to a box (not shown), the collection roll 4
When a certain amount of the hot-melt resin adheres to 0, the hot-melt resin can be removed from the box and replaced with a recovery roll 40 to which no hot-melt resin has adhered. At the time of replacement, since the heat-fusible resin is solidified, it does not scatter or adhere to the operator.

The surface of the recovery roll 40 may be subjected to Teflon treatment to form a low surface energy layer so that the hot-melt resin can be easily separated from the recovery roll 40.

FIG. 7 schematically shows a part of an image forming material removing apparatus 100 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. This image forming material removing apparatus 100 is different from the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment in the configuration of the layer thickness maintaining means. Hereinafter, the same elements and members as those of the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the image forming material removing apparatus 100, as the layer thickness maintaining means, instead of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 according to the first embodiment, an endless layer thickness formed of an elastically deformable material is used. A belt 102 is used. The layer thickness maintaining belt 102 is rotatably attached to a box (not shown) below the heating roll 12, and is rotatably attached to a box (not shown) diagonally below the drive roll 104. And a follower roll 106 attached to the driven roll 106. The driven roll 106 is the driving roll 1 of the layer thickness maintaining belt 102.
The angle θ2 between the portion 102A extending from the roller 04 to the driven roller 106 and the image peeling belt 18 is different from the layer thickness maintaining belt 10
7 so as to form an acute angle when measured from the upstream side in the conveying direction of FIG.
Is mounted at a position on the left side of the drive roll 104. Further, the driven roll 106 is
4, the image peeling belt 18 has a smaller diameter than the driven roll 10
The portion wrapped around 6 is curved with a smaller radius of curvature.

The drive roll 104 rotates in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 7 by receiving a driving force from a drive unit (not shown), and the layer thickness maintaining belt 102 also circulates in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. .

Inside the driving roll 104, a halogen lamp 109 is provided. Halogen lamp 109
Is the layer thickness maintaining belt 10 of the outer circumference of the drive roll 104.
Feedback control is performed by a temperature sensor 108 and a control unit (not shown) that come in contact with a portion where the roller 2 is not wound, and the drive roll 104 is maintained at a predetermined temperature T3.

A portion 102A of the layer thickness maintaining belt 102 from the driving roll 104 to the driven roll 106
Also, the heat of the halogen lamp 109 is transmitted to the portion wound around the driven roll 106, so that the temperature of the hot-melt resin is restored to a predetermined level.

Below the driven roll 106, as a collecting means, a collection cartridge 110 formed in a box shape and having an open upper surface is detachably attached to a box (not shown) in a horizontal direction (the direction indicated by the arrow F in FIG. 7). It is mounted so as to be movable in the direction of the normal to the paper surface and in the direction in which these are combined vectorwise.

In the image forming material removing apparatus 100, when the image peeling belt 18 circulates in a state where the toner 28 removed from the paper P forms the convex portion 28A on the surface layer of the hot melt resin layer 28, the convex portion 28A Is layer thickness maintenance belt 1
02, the thickness of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 is kept constant. The layer thickness maintaining belt 102 circulates counterclockwise in FIG. 7 and the relative speed between the heat-meltable resin layer 28 and the layer thickness maintaining belt 102 is increased, so that excess heat-meltable resin is effectively removed. Can be scraped off.

Since the heat of the halogen lamp 109 is transmitted to a portion 102A of the layer thickness maintaining belt 102 from the drive roll 104 to the driven roll 106, the scraped hot-melt resin maintains a molten state. As it circulates together with the image peeling belt 18, it flows downward.

In the vicinity of the driven roll 106, the heat-meltable resin is cooled and recovers a predetermined elasticity. In this state, when the layer thickness maintaining belt 102 is curved with a small radius of curvature along the driven roll 106, a distortion is generated between the layer thickness maintaining belt 102 and the heat-meltable resin having recovered a predetermined elasticity, and the heat-melting resin is deformed. The conductive resin is separated from the layer thickness maintaining belt 102 and falls.

The dropped hot-melt resin is stored in the recovery cartridge 110, is gradually accumulated, and is solidified by cooling. When the amount of the hot-melt resin stored in the collection cartridge 110 reaches a certain amount, it can be replaced with a new collection cartridge 110.

By moving the collection cartridge 110 in the horizontal direction, the hot-melt resin can be stored without generating useless space in the collection cartridge 110. Further, the recovery cartridge 110 may be attached to a box (not shown) so as to be movable in the up-down direction, and the hot-melt resin may be stored without generating useless space in the recovery cartridge 110. . The surface (at least the inner surface) of the collection cartridge 110 may be subjected to Teflon treatment to form a low surface energy layer so that the stored hot-melt resin can be easily separated from the collection cartridge 110. .

Note that the circulation direction of the layer thickness maintaining belt 102 is not particularly limited as long as the excess heat-meltable resin can be scraped off, and, of course, may be stopped, for example.

Further, the circulation speed of the layer thickness maintaining belt 102 is set to a predetermined speed, or the position of the driven roll 106 is set to a predetermined position, and the driving roll 104
By adjusting the inclination angle of the layer thickness maintaining belt 102A that is equal to 06, a storage section for storing the scraped hot-melt resin is formed between the image peeling belt 18 and the layer thickness maintaining roll 82. You can also make it. The surface of the heat-meltable resin layer 28 is constantly refreshed by the heat-meltable resin stored in the storage portion being constantly rotated and brought into contact with the heat-meltable resin layer 28 due to friction with the image peeling belt 18, so that the deterioration is prevented. Is prevented.

FIG. 8 shows a main part of an image forming material removing apparatus 120 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The image forming material removing apparatus 120 differs from the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment only in the stacking means, and is otherwise the same. Hereinafter, the image forming material removing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment will be described.
The same reference numerals are given to the same elements, members, and the like, and description thereof will be omitted.

That is, the image forming material removing device 12
At 0, a collection roll 122 is used instead of the collection roll 40 according to the first embodiment.

The collection roll 122 includes a support shaft 124 detachably and rotatably supported on a box (not shown), and disk-shaped flanges 12 formed at both axial ends of the support shaft 124.
6 and a plurality of (six in FIG. 8) partitions 128 radially extending from the outer periphery of the support shaft 124.
The outer peripheral surface of the support shaft 124, the inner surface of the flange 126, and the opposing surface of the partition wall 128 provide a plurality of fan-shaped accommodation portions 130 in side view (the same number as the partition walls 128, and therefore FIG. 8).
6).

The support shaft 124 rotates by receiving a driving force from a driving means (not shown). Then, when the rotation stops at a predetermined position, the specific storage unit 130 is located below the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. Accordingly, the entire recovery roll 122 rotates in the direction in which the storage portion 130 is formed (the circumferential direction of the support shaft 124), and by this rotation,
A specific storage unit 130 among the plurality of storage units 130 is sequentially
It will be located below the layer thickness maintenance blade 34.

The support shaft 124, the flange 126, and the partition wall 12
8 is subjected to a Teflon treatment to form a low surface energy layer.

Therefore, the image forming material removing device 120
In this case, when the hot-melt resin scraped off by the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 flows down along the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 while maintaining the molten state, the resin is accommodated in the accommodating portion 130 located below the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. You. Since the heat of the ceramic heater 36 is not transmitted in the housing 130, the heat-meltable resin is naturally cooled and solidified.

When a predetermined amount of the heat-fusible resin is accommodated in one accommodating portion 130 in this way, the supporting shaft 124 is rotated by the driving means (not shown), and no heat-fusible resin is accommodated. The storage section 130 is located below the layer thickness maintaining blade 34. This is repeated until all accommodation units 1
30 can accommodate a hot-melt resin.

As described above, the accommodating portion 13 having a fixed capacity is provided.
When the heat-fusible resin stored in the storage unit 0 reaches the storage limit, the heat-fusible resin is stored in the next storage unit 130 and collected in an integrated state, so that the space efficiency of the collection is increased. In particular, when the installation space for the collection member is limited,
By using the collection roll 122 as the collection member, the collection density can be improved.

When the hot-melt resin is accommodated in all the accommodating sections 130, the collecting roll 122 can be removed from the box (not shown) and replaced with a new collecting roll 122. Since the collection roll 122 and the heat-fusible resin are integrated, the replacement operation can be performed easily and efficiently.

The support shaft 124, the flange 126, and the partition wall 12
8 is subjected to a Teflon treatment to form a low surface energy layer, so that the removed recovery roll 122 is torsionally deformed or vibrated, for example, and the surface of the recovery roll 122 is solidified with the heat-meltable resin. If a strain is generated between the heat-meltable resin and the recovery roll 122, the heat-meltable resin is easily separated from the recovery roll 122.

Note that the support shaft 124 constituting the storage section 130 is provided.
The surface is appropriately roughened or at least a part of the opposing surface of the inner surface of the flange 126 and the partition wall 128 is roughened or provided with projections of a predetermined shape. Even when the storage unit 130 storing the heat-fusible resin faces downward, the hot-melt resin may be prevented from falling off.

The paper separating plate 16, the layer thickness maintaining blade 34, the migrating roll 40, the collecting box 77, the collecting cartridge 110, the support shaft 124, the flange 126, and the partition 1
The method of forming a low surface energy layer on the surface of the Teflon 28 is only an example of the Teflon treatment described above, and is not limited thereto.

[0128]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples. (Example 1) Using the image forming material removing apparatus 10 (see FIG. 1) according to the first embodiment,
Was removed.

As the paper P from which the image forming material is removed by the image forming material removing apparatus 10, a silicone resin is applied on plain paper to such an extent that the unevenness of the paper is not impaired (about 1 μm).
A special paper formed with a thickness of 1 mm was used. A color toner as an image forming material is transferred to the special paper by a color image forming apparatus or the like, and further heated and fixed to form a color image. The color toner is a polyester resin containing at least yellow, magenta, cyan, and black pigments. The thermal characteristics of the polyester resin are such that the glass transition point is about 70 ° C. and the melting temperature is about 115 ° C.
It is. FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the temperature and the viscosity of the polyester resin. As is clear from this graph, in a temperature region exceeding the glass transition point, the resin is a sharp melt resin whose viscosity sharply decreases as the temperature rises.

As the image peeling belt 18, a polyimide belt having a circumferential length of 300 mm, a width of 340 mm and a thickness of 75 μm was used as a base material. One used.

The heating roll 12 has an outer diameter of 25 mm,
Using a steel roll having a thickness of 0.3 mm, a heating roll 14
A steel roll having an outer diameter of 25 mm and a wall thickness of 0.3 mm coated with a 0.1 mm thick silicone rubber was used. As the paper separating plate 16, a steel plate having a curved surface with a radius of curvature of 3 mm on the outer periphery and subjected to Teflon treatment on the surface was used.

The layer thickness maintaining blade 34 has a thickness of 0.1 mm.
A 5 mm stainless steel plate was used, and a gap of 100 μm was provided from the image peeling belt 18.

The temperature T1 of the heating roll 12 was 150 ° C., the temperature T2 of the heating roll 14 was 110 ° C., and the temperature T3 of the layer thickness maintaining blade 34 was 150 ° C.

The circulation speed of the image peeling belt 18 is set to 8
It was set to 0 mm / sec. When the color toner fixed on the paper P was removed under the above conditions, the color toner was successfully removed. Also, a plurality of sheets of paper P
When the color toner was continuously removed from, good removal performance could be maintained over a long period of time.

In addition, it was confirmed that the toner adhered to the layer thickness maintaining plate 34 was collected on the collection roll 40. (Example 2) The color toner fixed on the sheet P is removed under the same conditions as in Example 1 by using the image forming material removing apparatus 120 (see FIG. 8) according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Was. Also in this case, as in Example 1, the color toner was successfully removed. Further, after the color toner is continuously removed from the 2,000 sheets of paper P, the recovery roll 122 is removed, and when the recovery roll 122 is vibrated, the solidified hot-melt resin drops off from the recovery roll 122 as a lump. Then, the collection roll 122 can be reused.

[0136]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image peeling member having an image peeling layer containing a hot-melt resin, a heating means for heating the image peeling layer, and the image peeling softened by heating. A layer, a contact unit for contacting an image forming surface of an image holding member on which an image forming material containing a hot-melt resin is melt-fixed, and the image forming surface contacted with the image peeling layer, the image peeling layer, A separating unit that separates the cohesive force with the image forming material from the image peeling layer in a state where the cohesive force with the image forming material is larger than the adhesive force between the image forming material and the image holding member by cooling, and corresponding to the image peeling layer melted by heating. At a predetermined distance from the image peeling member and at least a part of the image peeling member is detachable from the image peeling member at the position where the image peeling member is maintained. Means for maintaining the thickness of the image peeling layer at a constant thickness by adhering the heat-fusible resin constituting the image peeling layer in a dry state, so that the heat-fusible resin (image forming material) The energy required for collecting the unnecessary heat-meltable resin is less than that of the conventional resin, and the resin can be efficiently collected. Further, the image forming material can be removed from the image holding member for a long time.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the layer thickness maintaining means is arranged at a predetermined distance from the image peeling member, and maintains the predetermined distance. The heat-fusible resin forming the molten image peeling layer is relatively moved and is attached to the heat-fusible resin, and the heat-fusible resin is detachably attached to the adhering means and is attached to the adhering means. , The collection operation is efficient and easy.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the accumulating means is relatively movable with respect to the adhering means. It can be integrated on an integrating means. In addition, it is possible to accumulate the heat-fusible resin evenly in the accumulating means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the accumulating means has a plurality of recesses for accommodating the hot-melt resin adhered to the adhering means. Since the rotating body is rotatable in the direction in which the concave portion is formed, a large amount of heat-meltable resin can be accumulated without wasting space.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects of the present invention, the attaching means and the accumulating means are insulated between the attaching means and the accumulating means. Since the heat insulating means is provided, loss of heat energy from the layer thickness maintaining means can be minimized.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of any one of the first to fifth aspects, a low surface energy layer is formed on the surface of the layer thickness maintaining means. The resistance of the heat-fusible resin to movement is reduced in the portion in contact with the resin. Further, the hot-melt resin can be easily separated from the layer thickness maintaining means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming material removing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing a part of the image forming material removing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing a part of the image forming material removing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view showing a part of the image forming material removing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view showing a part of an image forming material removing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view showing a part of an image forming material removing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view showing a part of an image forming material removing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged side view showing a part of an image forming material removing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the relationship between the temperature and the viscosity of the polyester resin constituting the image forming material removed by the image forming material removing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view showing the vicinity of a collecting roll of the image forming material removing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing the vicinity of a collection box of the image forming material removing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming material removal apparatus 16 Paper separation plate (separation means) 18 Image peeling belt (image peeling member) 20 Halogen lamp (heating means) 24 Halogen lamp (heating means) 28 Heat-fusible resin layer (image peeling layer) 32 Addition Pressure roll (contact means) 34 Layer thickness maintaining blade (adhering means, layer thickness maintaining means) 40 Collection roll (stacking means, layer thickness maintaining means) 70 Image forming material removing device 77 Collection box (stacking means) 79 Thermal insulation sheet (heat insulation) Means) 80 image forming material removing device 82 layer thickness maintaining roll (adhering means, layer thickness maintaining means) 92 layer thickness maintaining curved plate (adhering means, layer thickness maintaining means) 100 image forming material removing apparatus 102 layer thickness maintaining belt (adhering) Means, layer thickness maintaining means) 110 Collection cartridge (stacking means) 122 Collection roll (stacking means, layer thickness maintaining means)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image peeling member having an image peeling layer containing a heat-meltable resin, a heating unit for heating the image peeling layer, and a heat-meltable resin in the image peeling layer softened by heating. Contact means for contacting the image forming surface of the image holding member on which the image forming material is melted and fixed; and Separating means for separating from the image peeling layer in a state where the adhesive strength between the forming material and the image holding member is larger, and a predetermined distance from the image peeling member at a position corresponding to the image peeling layer melted by heating. At least a part of the image peeling member is detachably arranged and detachable from the image peeling member. The heat fusibility constituting the molten image peeling layer by moving relative to the image peeling member while maintaining the predetermined interval is maintained. Image forming material removing apparatus and the layer thickness maintaining means that by adhering fat to maintain the thickness of the image peeling layer in a predetermined thickness, characterized in that it has a. 2. The thermal melting device according to claim 1, wherein said layer thickness maintaining means is arranged at a predetermined distance from said image peeling member, and moves relative to said image peeling member while maintaining said predetermined distance to form an image peeling layer in a molten state. 2. An attaching means to which a conductive resin is attached, and accumulating means detachably attached to the attaching means and accumulating the hot-melt resin attached to the attaching means. An image forming material removing apparatus as described in the above. 3. The image forming material removing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the accumulating unit is movable relative to the attaching unit. 4. The accumulating means is a rotating body formed with a plurality of recesses for accommodating the hot-melt resin adhered to the attaching means, and rotatable in a direction in which the recesses are formed. The image forming material removing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: 5. The heat-insulating means for heat-insulating the adhering means and the accumulating means is provided between the adhering means and the accumulating means. An image forming material removing apparatus as described in the above. 6. The image forming material removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a low surface energy layer is formed on a surface of said layer thickness maintaining means.