JP2007264420A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is not limited to the arrangement of an intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 and a cleaner auger 24. The cleaner auger 24 can be set to an arbitrary rotational speed, the rotational speed of the cleaner auger 24 can be easily changed, and a device is further provided. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can be reduced in size and reduced in cost.
[Solution]
The tandem full-color copying machine 1 is provided with a motor (not shown) that drives the intermediate transfer belt driving roller 13 and a transmission mechanism (not shown) that transmits the driving force from the motor. An intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28 and a cleaner auger input gear 27 that mesh with the transmission mechanism are provided on the rotation shaft of the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13. Further, a cleaner auger drive gear 25 that meshes with the cleaner auger input gear 27 is provided on the rotating shaft of the cleaner auger 24.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus in which the rotation speed of a cleaner auger can be easily adjusted.

  Conventionally, there has been an image forming apparatus that once transfers a toner image formed on a photosensitive member to an intermediate transfer belt, and transfers the toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt to a recording medium.

In such an image forming apparatus, an intermediate transfer belt cleaner which is a removing device for cleaning residual toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt is provided. The structure of the intermediate transfer belt cleaner and the conventional drive mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. FIG.

The intermediate transfer belt cleaner 22 includes a cleaning blade 23 that scrapes off toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 16, a cleaner auger 24 that transports waste toner scraped off from the cleaner blade 23, and a cleaning blade 23 and a cleaner auger 24. A cleaner case 26 is provided. The cleaner auger 24 has a rotation shaft provided in parallel with the rotation shaft of the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 that rotates the intermediate transfer belt 16, and is driven by a motor (not shown) that drives the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13. It is like that.

  That is, the intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28 provided on the rotation shaft of the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 and the cleaner auger drive gear 25 which is a removing device drive gear provided on the rotation shaft of the cleaner auger 24 are not shown. It is connected to one motor via a drive mechanism.

  By the way, in the intermediate transfer belt cleaner, the installation position of the cleaner auger is determined to some extent from conditions such as the linear pressure of the cleaning blade and the contact angle of the cleaning blade to the intermediate transfer belt. Therefore, the distance between the axes of the cleaner auger and the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 is determined.

  Here, since the rotation speed of the intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28 is set in advance, the rotation speed of the cleaner auger 24 is automatically determined. For this reason, when the cleaner auger drive gear 25 is driven by the intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28, if the rotation speed of the cleaner auger 24 is changed in order to adjust the transport amount of the waste toner, the intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28 and At least one idler gear 29 is provided between the cleaner auger drive gear 25 and the rotational speed is adjusted.

In addition, there are some which achieve cost reduction and space saving by causing the pair of rollers to perform forward and reverse rotation. (Patent Document 1)
JP 2001-192139 A (first item, FIG. 2)

  However, when the cleaner auger 24 is set to an arbitrary number of rotations, an idler gear 29 is provided to obtain a predetermined number of rotations. However, there is sufficient space for providing the idler gear 29 depending on the arrangement relationship between the intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28 and the cleaner auger 24. May not be secured. In this case, the rotation speed of the cleaner auger cannot be adjusted.

  Further, when the process speed is changed and the rotation speed of the cleaner auger 24 is changed to a predetermined rotation speed, the intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28 and the cleaner auger drive gear 25 need to be designed again, but an idler gear 29 is provided. If it is, the idler gear 29 needs to be redesigned. In the case where a plurality of idler gears 29 are provided, it is necessary to design the number of idler gears 29, which is difficult.

  Even when the idler gear 29 can be provided, the number of parts increases, the apparatus becomes larger, and the cost increases. Further, when the rotational speed of the cleaner auger 24 is changed, the cost increases because all gears provided until the drive from the motor is transmitted to the cleaner auger 24 are redesigned new gears.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and is not limited to the arrangement of the intermediate transfer belt driving roller 13 and the cleaner auger 24. The cleaner auger 24 can be set to an arbitrary rotational speed, and the rotational speed of the cleaner auger 24 can be set. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can easily change the size of the image forming apparatus and that can further reduce the size of the apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a photoconductor on which a toner image is formed, an intermediate transfer belt on which a toner image is primarily transferred from the photoconductor, and a surface remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt. A removing device that removes toner, a driving roller that rotationally drives the intermediate transfer belt, an input gear that is provided on a rotating shaft of the driving roller and transmits a driving force to the removing device, and a rotating shaft of the removing device; And a removal device drive gear that meshes with the input gear and transmits a driving force from the input gear to the removal device.

  Not only the arrangement of the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 and the cleaner auger 24 but also the cleaner auger 24 can be set to an arbitrary rotational speed, and the rotational speed of the cleaner auger 24 can be easily changed. An image forming apparatus that can be reduced in size and reduced in cost can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a tandem full-color copying machine as an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a tandem type full-color copying machine, and a paper feed cassette 3 storing a recording medium 2 is provided below the tandem type full-color copying machine 1.

  The recording medium 2 is conveyed to the upper side of the tandem type full-color copying machine 1 via the conveyance roller 4. An image reading unit 5 (scanner) for reading a document is provided above the tandem type full-color copying machine 1, and each photosensitive drum of the color image forming unit 6 from the exposure device 7 based on information read by the image reading unit 5. 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) is irradiated with laser light to form a visible image.

  The visible images formed on the respective photosensitive drums 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) are developed, and these developers are multiplex-transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 16 of the transfer unit 17 to form a full color image.

  Further, a secondary transfer roller 18, a fixing device 19, a paper discharge roller 20, and a paper discharge tray 21, which will be described in detail later, are provided along the conveyance path of the recording medium 2. The conveyed recording medium 2 is transferred with the toner image from the intermediate transfer belt 16 by the secondary transfer roller 18, and the toner image transferred to the recording medium 2 is fixed by the fixing device 19. Thereafter, the recording medium 2 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 21 via the paper discharge roller 20.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the color image forming unit 6 and the transfer unit 17. As shown in the figure, the color image forming unit 6 is configured by arranging four image forming units of black, yellow, magenta, and cyan side by side.

  Each image forming unit is provided with four photosensitive drums 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) on which electrostatic latent images are formed. Around each photosensitive drum 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d), a charging charger 9 (9a, 9b, 9c, 9d) for negatively charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 8 in order along the rotation direction, static A developing device 10 (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) is provided that attaches toner to the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image.

  The transfer unit 17 includes an intermediate transfer belt driving roller 13, a driven roller 14, the intermediate transfer belt driving roller 13, an endless intermediate transfer belt 16 stretched around the driven roller 14, and the intermediate transfer belt 16. A tension roller 15 for applying tension is provided. Further, the transfer unit 17 has a primary transfer roller 11 (11a, 11b, 11c, 11d) for transferring and adhering the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 8 to the intermediate transfer belt 16, and the photosensitive drum without being transferred. 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) is provided with a cleaner 12 (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d) that removes residual toner remaining on the surface.

  Here, the operation of each apparatus during image formation will be described. First, a document image is read by the image reading unit 5. Here, the surface of the photosensitive drum 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) is charged by the charging charger 9 (9a, 9b, 9c, 9d). Based on the read image information, the surface of the photosensitive drum 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) is irradiated with a laser beam whose intensity is modulated by the image information from the exposure device 7, whereby the photosensitive drum 8 (8a) is irradiated. 8b, 8c, 8d), an electrostatic latent image is formed in which the charge of the image to be copied is left.

  The electrostatic latent images formed on the photosensitive drums 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) are black, yellow, magenta, and cyan toners that are negatively charged by the developing units 10 (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d). The toner image is attached. The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 8 (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 16 by the primary transfer roller 11 (11a, 11b, 11c, 11d) to which a transfer voltage is applied. Thus, a primary transfer toner image is formed.

  Note that the laser beam emission timing of the exposure device 7 is the earliest in the photosensitive drum 8a on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the intermediate transfer belt 16, and the exposure to each of the photosensitive drums 8b to 8d is delayed in accordance with the intermediate transfer belt. 16 is controlled to be overlaid with color.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the primary transfer toner image is superimposed on the recording medium 2 conveyed from the paper feed cassette 3, and the reverse polarity of the charging polarity of the toner is reversed by the secondary transfer roller 18 from the back side of the recording medium 2. A voltage is applied to the recording medium 2 and transferred to the recording medium 2 by electrostatic force. The recording medium 2 onto which the toner has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 19 where heat or pressure or both are applied by the fixing device 19 to fuse the toner. The recording medium 2 on which image formation has been completed is discharged to a paper discharge tray 21 via a paper discharge roller 20.

  Next, the intermediate transfer belt cleaner 22 of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described. An intermediate transfer belt cleaner 22 is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 via the intermediate transfer belt 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the intermediate transfer belt cleaner 22 is a cleaning blade 23 that scrapes off the toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 16, and a cleaner auger 24 that transports the toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 23 to a toner collecting unit (not shown). , A cleaner auger drive gear 25, and a cleaner case 26 covering them.

  The cleaner auger 24 has a rotation shaft provided in parallel with the rotation shaft of the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13, and this rotation shaft is a helical splash for conveying toner along the rotation shaft by rotation. Is provided. A cleaner auger drive gear is provided on the rotating shaft of the cleaner auger 24.

  A cleaner auger input gear 27 and an intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28 are provided on the rotation shaft of the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13.

  The cleaner auger input gear 27 meshes with the cleaner auger drive gear 25, and the intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28 meshes with a drive transmission means (not shown). The drive transmission means meshes with a drive source (not shown). The driving force from the intermediate transfer belt drive source is transmitted to the intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear via the drive transmission means, and the drive force is transmitted to the intermediate transfer belt drive roller.

  Further, the driving force transmitted to the intermediate transfer belt driving roller 13 is transmitted to the cleaner auger driving gear 25 that meshes with the cleaner auger input gear 27. As a result, the driving force is transmitted to the cleaner auger 24.

  Next, a mechanism for driving the intermediate transfer belt driving roller 13 and the cleaner auger 24 will be described with reference to FIG. The intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 is driven by a drive source as drive means for rotating the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 and the cleaner auger 24. The driving force from the driving source is transmitted to the intermediate transfer belt driving roller gear 28 via a driving transmission means (not shown) meshed with the driving source. Here, the drive transmission means and the intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 28 are designed so that the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 to which the drive force from the drive source is transmitted rotates at a predetermined rotational speed.

  Next, transmission of the driving force to the cleaner auger 24 is transmitted by a cleaner auger input gear 27 provided on the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 and a cleaner auger drive gear 25 that meshes with the cleaner auger input gear 27. The cleaner auger input gear 27 and the cleaner auger drive gear 25 are designed such that the cleaner auger 24 rotates at a predetermined rotational speed.

  In this manner, by providing a dedicated gear for driving the cleaner auger designed so that the cleaner auger 24 rotates at a predetermined rotation speed on the rotation shaft of the intermediate transfer driving roller 13 and the rotation shaft of the cleaner auger 24. The cleaner auger 24 can be driven at an arbitrary rotational speed. Further, since the driving force of the cleaner auger 24 can be transmitted by the two gears of the cleaner auger driving gear 25 and the cleaner auger input gear 27, the apparatus can be miniaturized. Further, since the number of parts can be reduced, cost can be reduced.

  Further, when the process speed is changed and the rotation speed of the cleaner auger is changed, it is only necessary to change the gear ratio between the cleaner auger input gear 27 and the cleaner auger drive gear 25, so that the rotation speed can be easily changed.

1 is an internal configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus main body according to an embodiment of the present invention. Sectional view of color image forming unit 6 Perspective view showing configuration of intermediate transfer belt cleaner The figure explaining the drive mechanism of the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 and the cleaner auger 24 FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a conventional drive mechanism for an intermediate transfer belt drive roller 13 and a cleaner auger 24.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tandem type full color copying machine 2 Recording medium 3 Paper feed cassette 4 Conveying roller 5 Image reading part 6 Color image formation part 7 Exposure apparatus 8 Photosensitive drum (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d)
9 Charging charger (9a, 9b, 9c, 9d)
10 Developer (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d)
11 Primary transfer roller (11a, 11b, 11c, 11d)
12 Cleaners (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d)
13 Intermediate transfer belt drive roller 14 Driven roller 15 Tension roller 16 Intermediate transfer belt 17 Transfer unit 18 Secondary transfer roller 19 Fixing device 20 Paper discharge roller 21 Paper discharge tray 22 Intermediate transfer belt cleaner 23 Cleaning blade 24 Cleaner auger 25 Cleaner auger drive Gear 26 Cleaner case 27 Cleaner auger input gear 28 Intermediate transfer belt drive roller gear 29 Idler gear

Claims (3)

A photoreceptor on which a toner image is formed;
An intermediate transfer belt on which a toner image is primarily transferred from the photoreceptor;
A removing device for removing toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt;
A driving roller for rotating the intermediate transfer belt;
An input gear provided on a rotation shaft of the driving roller and transmitting a driving force to the removing device;
A removing device driving gear provided on a rotating shaft of the removing device and meshing with the input gear to transmit a driving force from the input gear to the removing device;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The removing device scrapes off the toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt;
A cleaner auger that conveys the toner scraped off by the cleaning blade along the rotation axis of the drive roller;
A cleaner case covering the cleaning blade and the cleaner auger;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the removing device driving gear is provided on a rotation shaft of the cleaner auger.

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