JP2002258710A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device which prevents the occurrence of a cleaning defect on the image carrier, reduces hazards received at the time of cleaning of recovered toner to be used again to prevent occurrence of an abnormal image at the time of forming a toner image by the toner used again, improves the maintainability, is superior in durability, has a simple structure, is made small-sized and forms images of high quality. SOLUTION: The image forming device is comprised of a developing means 2 which forms the toner image on an image carrier 1, a first cleaning means 4 which is brought into contact with the image carrier 1 after transfer by a transfer means 3 to turnably hold and remove remaining toner stuck there, a second cleaning means 5 which is arranged to the upstream of the first cleaning means 4 and faces the surface of the image carrier 1 with a space between them to remove the remaining toner stuck there, a third cleaning means 6 which removes remaining toner stuck to the first cleaning means 4, and a toner recycling means 7 which returns recovered toner to the developing means 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a method of removing a residual toner adhering to an image carrier after a formed toner image is transferred to an image receiving member and reusing the collected toner. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, or a multifunction machine for forming an image using the image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Residual toner adhering to a drum-shaped photosensitive member of an image carrier after transferring a formed toner image to a transfer paper of a transfer-receiving member is brought into contact with the drum-shaped photosensitive member of the image carrier. It is known to form an image by removing it with a rotating fur brush roller and a cleaning blade provided (JP-A-5-40437, JP-A-5-22456).
No. 5, etc.). However, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for image quality of a formed image in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method. In order to improve the image quality of the formed image, it has been found that reducing the particle size and sphering of the toner are effective means. If an attempt is made to produce a small particle size toner or a spherical toner by a conventional mechanical pulverization and classification method, the production capacity and the yield are remarkably reduced and the cost is increased. Thus, when the polymerization method is used, a small particle size toner and a spherical toner having a narrow particle size distribution can be efficiently produced. Therefore, many proposals have been made on a method for producing a spherical toner having a small particle diameter by a polymerization method. However, it is known that the polymerized toner having a small particle diameter and a spherical shape obtained by the polymerization method has some problems. The most important problem is that it is difficult to completely remove the untransferred toner on the drum-shaped photosensitive member surface of the image carrier by a cleaning unit, and cleaning failure occurs, thereby deteriorating the quality of a formed image. In particular, in the blade cleaning method, when the amount of residual toner after transferring a toner image to a transfer sheet on a transfer receiving member is large, the toner is most likely to be moved between the drum-shaped photosensitive member of the image bearing member and the cleaning blade during cleaning. The first-layer toner, which is close to the densely packed state and has a strong adhesive force to the drum-shaped photoconductor of the image carrier,
The toner slips between the layer toner and the first layer toner remaining on the drum-shaped photosensitive member of the image carrier as a cleaning failure. This problem tends to be more pronounced as the particle size of the spherical toner is smaller and as the particle size distribution is narrower.

When the next image formation is performed with the residual toner remaining on the drum-shaped photosensitive member of the image carrier after such transfer, the formed image is referred to as a positive residual image. A streak pattern is generated, or light irradiation is interrupted by residual toner in the exposure process, a necessary post-exposure potential is not obtained, and a pattern called a negative afterimage in which the image density of the part is reduced occurs, This has led to a reduction in image quality. Accordingly, in a cleaning method of an image forming apparatus in which a cleaning blade is pressed against the surface of a drum-shaped photoconductor of an image carrier to remove residual toner on the surface of the drum-shaped photoconductor of the image carrier, the cleaning blade is electrically conductive. Using a member, an AC bias voltage and a DC bias voltage having the same polarity as the charge of the toner during development are applied thereto to remove residual toner attached to the surface of the drum-shaped photoconductor of the image carrier. Is also known (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-265360). In order to clean even toners that are difficult to wipe with a cleaning blade such as a small particle toner or a polymerized toner, a low friction coefficient material is charged to a charging roller or a transfer roller in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. With provision means for giving
Using a charging roller or a transfer roller as an intermediate medium, a low friction coefficient substance is applied to the photosensitive member of the image bearing member. The charging roller contacts the photosensitive member of the image bearing member and charges it, but since the applying means gives the charging roller a substance having a low coefficient of friction, the photosensitive member of the image bearing member is charged via the charging roller. A coefficient of friction material is provided. As a result, the effect of wiping residual toner on the photoreceptor surface of the image carrier by the blade is enhanced, and the charging roller is used for applying a material having a low friction coefficient to the photoconductor of the image carrier. It is also known that equipment for applying a coefficient substance is low-cost and space-saving (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-3).
05131). Even in these methods, when a polymerized toner, a small particle size toner, or a spherical toner is used, the cleaning performance is still insufficient, such as generation of image stains determined to be caused by poor cleaning. Therefore, there has been proposed an image forming apparatus of a simultaneous-development-cleaning type in which a residual toner on an image carrier is collected by a developing device using a polymerized toner produced by a polymerization method as a toner (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-346751). Gazette).

This image forming apparatus is provided with a rotary brush charger which contacts the surface of the image carrier and charges the surface while rotating, and applies a charging voltage from an AC power supply and a DC power supply to the charger. Further, a developing bias having the same polarity as the charging polarity of the surface of the image carrier is applied to the developing device from a DC power supply. In this image forming apparatus, when a latent image on an image carrier is reversely developed by a developing device using a negatively charged polymerized toner to form a toner image, and the toner image is transferred to paper P by a roller transfer device,
After the toner remaining on the image carrier without being transferred to the paper P is once trapped on the surface of the brush by a rotating brush charger, the toner is again attached to the surface of the image carrier,
The attached toner is collected by the developing device simultaneously with the development. However, in the image formation according to this proposal, since the residual toner is finally collected by the developing device, when the image formation is performed continuously, the same as when a cleaning failure occurs, when the latent image is formed by the exposure device. As a result, residual toner is present on the image carrier, and as a result, a negative afterimage may be generated due to defective writing of the electrostatic latent image, thereby deteriorating the image quality. or,
If the transfer residual toner cannot be completely collected by the developing device, a positive residual image is generated. Furthermore, in recent years, while effective use of resources has been demanded in recent years, the collected toner removed and collected by a cleaning device including a cleaning roller and a cleaning brush which is in contact with or separated from the image carrier is transported by a developing device. Many image forming apparatuses provided with a toner recycling apparatus for reusing and reusing toner have been proposed (JP-A-8-179667, JP-A-11-133696).
No., JP-A-2000-284664, etc.).

However, when the collected toner collected from the image carrier by the cleaning device is reused,
When the collected toner is cleaned by the cleaning device, the collected toner is subjected to a large hazard, and the characteristics of the toner are changed, which may adversely affect the image quality. More specifically, the recovered toner scraped from the image carrier using a cleaning device, particularly a cleaning blade, has a higher content of fine powder than fresh toner, and tends to cause abnormal images such as toner scattering and background contamination. Has a defect. For example, the average particle size of the toner used is 9 μm.
, The fine toner having a particle size of 5 μm or less is 1 at the time of the new toner.
Although it is 0% or less, the recycled toner collected from the cleaning device increases the toner of 5 μm or less to 40%. Due to the effect of the fine powder toner, an abnormal image such as toner scattering or background smear of an output image due to a decrease in developer fluidity, a decrease in charging ability, and the like occurs. Many image forming apparatuses and methods including a toner recycling apparatus for preventing the occurrence of abnormal images such as toner scattering and output image soiling have been proposed. For example, in performing toner recycling, the number of times of reuse is limited, and a configuration is adopted in which collected toner used more than a predetermined number of times is not returned to the developing device. It is known that a stable quality image can be obtained even in a high-humidity environment (JP-A-7-10463).
No. 1). Attached to the hopper that stores toner, a remaining amount detection sensor that detects the amount of unused toner in the hopper, and collects the toner remaining on the photoconductor after transferring the image on the photoconductor, and puts it in the hopper as recycled toner. It is also known to have a transport unit for transporting, and to control the transport amount of the recycled toner transported into the hopper by the transport unit according to the amount of unused toner in the hopper detected by the remaining amount detection sensor. (See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-316529). Recycled toner collected by the toner recycling organization is
The toner is returned to the toner tank and supplied to the housing of the developing device by a predetermined amount. Fresh toner is also supplied to the housing by a predetermined amount by a toner hopper. The ratio between the recycled toner supplied via the toner tank and the fresh toner supplied from the toner hopper is determined based on the fog of the toner image on the photosensitive drum detected by the on-drum image density sensor. It is also known that the control is performed so as to change within the range (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-1997).
No. 281783).

However, any image forming apparatus having a toner recycling apparatus is an apparatus using a function such as a sensor and requires complicated control, and requires a space for mounting the sensor, resulting in an increase in size and cost. I was Therefore, in a conventional image forming apparatus that forms an image by removing the residual toner attached to the image carrier after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer receiving body and reusing the collected toner to form an image, In particular, the small-diameter or spherical polymerized toner in the first layer, which is in direct contact with the image carrier after the transferred toner image is transferred to the transfer-receiving member and cleaned, causes cleaning failure and causes the image-image carrier to be damaged. It adhered and was formed as residual toner, deteriorating the image quality. Further, since the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning is subjected to a great hazard during cleaning, when forming a toner image by reusing, in order to prevent the occurrence of abnormal images such as toner scattering and background contamination, Since a space for mounting a sensor or the like that requires complicated control is required, there has been a problem that the apparatus becomes large and the cost increases.

[0007]

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such a problem. That is, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a cleaning failure on the image carrier after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer-receiving member, and to reduce a hazard when cleaning the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning. To provide an image forming apparatus that forms a small-sized, low-cost, high-quality image with a simple structure that has improved durability, has improved durability, has a simple structure, and prevents occurrence of an abnormal image when forming a toner image to be reused. The purpose is to.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, comprising: In an image forming apparatus for forming an image by recycling the collected toner, an image carrier that is rotatably supported and carries the formed image, a developing unit that forms a toner image on the image carrier, A transfer unit for transferring the toner image formed by the developing unit to the transfer target; and a first unit for rotatably holding and removing residual toner adhering to the image carrier after transfer by the transfer unit. A cleaning unit, and a second cleaning unit that is disposed upstream of the first cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier, and that removes residual toner that is separated from and adheres to the surface of the image carrier. And above A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning unit, and a toner recycling unit for conveying and returning the collected toner removed by the first cleaning unit or the second cleaning unit to the developing unit. The most important feature is that the image forming apparatus comprises: According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the image carrier is an image forming apparatus including an organic photoreceptor. A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the image carrier is an image forming apparatus made of an amorphous silicon photoconductor. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, the amorphous silicon photosensitive member is an image forming apparatus including a heater. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third or fourth aspect, the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is an image forming apparatus comprising a support having a thickness of 10 μm or more and a photoconductive layer. Characteristics. Claim 6
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third, fourth or fifth aspect, the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is an image forming apparatus including a surface layer having a layer thickness of 0.01 μm to 3.0 μm. Main features. According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus of the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth aspect, the amorphous silicon photoreceptor includes a charge injection blocking layer having a layer thickness of 0.1 μm to 5.0 μm. The main feature is that it is an image forming apparatus.

The present invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to claim 5, 6, or 7.
The main feature of the image forming apparatus described in (1) is that the photoconductive layer is formed on the undercoat layer and has a layer thickness of 1 μm to 100 μm. Claim 9
According to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, the amorphous silicon photoreceptor includes at least silicon atoms, carbon atoms, and fluorine atoms, and has a layer thickness of 5 μm to 5 μm. The main feature is that the image forming apparatus comprises a charge transport layer having a thickness of 50 μm. A tenth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the ninth aspect, wherein the charge transport layer is an image forming apparatus containing oxygen atoms. According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth or tenth aspect, the amorphous silicon photoreceptor comprises at least silicon atoms, carbon atoms, and fluorine atoms. The main feature is that the image forming apparatus comprises a charge generation layer having a layer thickness of 0.5 μm to 15 μm. The invention according to claim 12 is based on claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
The image forming apparatus according to 8, 9, 10 or 11,
The main feature of the developing unit is that the developing unit is an image forming apparatus that forms a toner image by attaching a polymerized toner to the formed electrostatic latent image and visualizing the image. A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the twelfth aspect, wherein the polymerized toner is spherical and has a weight average diameter of 4 μm to 15 μm. Claim 1
The present invention according to claim 4 is based on claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
In the image forming apparatus described in 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13, the main feature is that the first cleaning unit is an image forming apparatus that rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the image carrier. And

The present invention according to claim 15 is based on claims 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Alternatively, in the image forming apparatus described in Item 14, the first cleaning unit is mainly characterized in that the first cleaning unit is an image forming apparatus that applies a voltage obtained by superimposing an AC voltage on a DC voltage. According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects, the first cleaning unit is detachably mounted on a process cartridge detachably mounted on the main body. The main feature is that it is a forming device. According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to sixteenth aspects, the first cleaning unit is an image forming apparatus including an elastic cleaning roller. Features. An eighteenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the image forming apparatus according to the seventeenth aspect, the cleaning roller is an image forming apparatus comprising an elastic conductive layer. A nineteenth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the seventeenth or eighteenth aspect, characterized in that the cleaning roller is an image forming apparatus comprising a medium resistance layer. According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the seventeenth aspect, the cleaning roller has a volume resistivity of 1%.
The main feature of the present invention is that the image forming apparatus comprises a surface protective layer having a thickness of from 0 ⁶ (Ωcm) to 10 ¹² (Ωcm). According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to sixteenth aspects, the first cleaning means is mainly an image forming apparatus including a brush roller. . According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the twenty-first aspect, the brush roller comprises a cored bar and a brush portion which is set in a roll shape so that the cored bar is concentric. Is the main feature. The present invention of claim 23 is the invention of claims 1 to 22
The main feature of the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects is that the second cleaning unit is an image forming apparatus including a cleaning blade. Claim 24
The present invention is characterized in that, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 23, the third cleaning means is an image forming apparatus including a scraper.

[0011]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming unit provided with a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming unit removes residual toner adhering to an image carrier after transferring a formed toner image to a transfer target. Forming Apparatus 0 for Recycling Collected Toner Collected and Forming Image
Denotes an image carrier 1 (a drum-shaped photoconductor) that is supported rotatably in the direction of the arrow (A) shown and carries a formed image.
A charging unit 9 for uniformly charging the photoconductor 1; an electrostatic latent image forming unit 10 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 1 uniformly charged by the charging unit 9; Developing means 2 for forming a toner image of an electrostatic latent image formed on photoreceptor 1 by latent image forming means 10; and feeding the toner image formed by developing means 2 in the direction of arrow (B) shown Transfer means 3 for transferring the transferred object (P) to the transfer paper
A transfer roller 3a of the transfer means 3 and a transfer roller 3a of the transfer means 3 contact and remove the residual toner adhered to the photoreceptor 1 after being transferred so as to be rotatably held in the direction of arrow (C) shown in FIG. And a cleaning roller 4a made of an elastic body of the cleaning means 4 and a cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning means 4 which is disposed upstream of the cleaning roller 4a in the direction of rotation of the photosensitive member 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow (A). , Photoreceptor 1
The cleaning blade 5a having a simple structure of the second cleaning means 5 for removing the residual toner adhering to the surface of the first cleaning means 4 and the residual toner adhering to the cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning means 4 are removed. The scraper 6a having a simple structure of the third cleaning means 6 to be removed, and the collected toner removed by the cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning means 4 or the cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning means 5 A toner recycle unit 7 that conveys and returns the toner to the developing unit 2, a charge removing unit 11 that removes the charge on the surface of the photoconductor 1 after being cleaned by the cleaning roller 4 a of the first cleaning unit 4, To fix the toner image on the transfer paper of the transfer receiving body (P) onto which the toner image has been transferred Of the photoreceptor 1 after the formed toner image is transferred to the transfer paper of the transfer-receiving member (P), and the collected toner image is collected and re-used after the cleaning. Hazard received during cleaning of collected toner used is reduced to prevent the occurrence of abnormal images during toner image formation to be reused, and high-quality images with excellent durability and small size are manufactured at low cost. ing.

As the photoreceptor 1, an organic photoreceptor 1a such as a negatively-charged organic optical semiconductor OPC or the like is used for forming a high quality image at low cost. The photoconductor 1 is the organic photoconductor 1 described above.
In addition to a, an amorphous silicon photoreceptor 1b and the like are also used. The amorphous silicon photoreceptor 1b has a high surface hardness, a high sensitivity to a long wavelength light of 770 nm to 800 nm such as a semiconductor laser, is less deteriorated by repeated use, and has excellent durability. The photoconductor 1 is heated by the heater 1c at low temperature and low humidity, particularly when the amorphous silicon photoconductor 1b is used. This prevents the occurrence of an abnormal image due to image blur. The charging means 9 uses a scorotron charging device including an electrode wire and a grid electrode, is arranged in a non-contact manner at a predetermined distance on the surface of the photoreceptor 1, and applies a predetermined voltage to the electrode wire and the grid electrode. The body 1 is charged to a predetermined polarity and a predetermined potential. For example, the photoconductor 1 of the organic photoconductor 1a of the organic photoconductor of the organic photoconductor 1a which is negatively charged is uniformly charged to a negative polarity. Although not shown, the charging device 9 may use a charging roller arranged in contact with or non-contact with the surface of the photoconductor 1.

The electrostatic latent image forming means 10 forms an electrostatic latent image by irradiating light to the surface of the photoreceptor 1 based on image data using an LD or LED as a light emitting element. I have. The developing means 2 includes a rotatable developer carrier 2a having a magnet roller fixed inside to hold the developer, and a first screw 2b and a second screw 2b for conveying the developer while stirring. 2c. It should be noted that the first screw 2b and the second screw 2c are not necessarily required to have two in particular, and may be one or not if the developer can be agitated and conveyed well. The developer used in the developing means 2 includes:
Although the description has been made using the two-component magnetic brush development using a two-component developer including a toner and a magnetic carrier, a configuration of one-component development that does not require a carrier may be used. A voltage is applied to the developer carrier 2a from a developing bias power supply. The potential difference between the developing bias and the potential of the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 1 causes a polymerized toner having a weight average diameter of 4 μm to 15 μm charged on the electrostatic latent image in the developing area to adhere to the developing area. I do. Polymerized toners having a small particle diameter and easy spherical processing can be produced by a polymerization method by adding a monomer which is a raw material of a binder resin as a main component, a coloring agent such as a dye or a pigment, a charge controlling agent, a wax, etc. Is mixed and dispersed into a polymerizable composition, and then the composition is dispersed in an aqueous continuous phase containing a dispersion stabilizer by a dispersing device to form a dispersion of fine particles. Is subjected to suspension polymerization in a reaction vessel in the presence of a polymerization initiator to obtain granules, and the granules are obtained by a classifier to obtain toner particles having a desired particle size. ing. Polymerized toner by other manufacturing method, specifically, a liquid medium in which the polymerizable monomer which is a raw material of the binder resin is dissolved but the binder resin obtained by the monomer is not dissolved, and the liquid medium is a polymer dispersion stabilizer. A method using a so-called dispersion polymerization method in which toner particles are obtained by dispersion polymerization in a dissolved solution, or a soap-free polymerization method in which toner particles are formed by directly polymerizing in the presence of a water-soluble polar polymerization initiator. It is also possible to apply a production method using an emulsion polymerization method represented by

Examples of the binder resin include acrylate polymers such as polymethyl acrylate, polyethyl acrylate, polybutyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl polyacrylate, and lauryl polyacrylate, polymethyl methacrylate, and polymethacrylic acid. Ethyl, poly (butyl methacrylate), poly (2-ethylhexyl methacrylate), methacrylic acid ester polymers such as poly (lauryl methacrylate), copolymers of styrene-based monomers and acrylic or methacrylic esters, polyvinyl acetate,
Ethylene polymers such as polyvinyl polypropionate, polyvinyl butyrate, polyethylene and polypropylene and copolymers thereof, styrene copolymers such as styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-isoprene copolymer and styrene-maleic acid copolymer Polymers, polyvinyl ethers, polyvinyl ketones, polyesters, polyamides, polyurethanes, rubbers, epoxies, polyvinyl butyral, rosin, modified rosin, terpene resins, phenol resins and the like can be used alone or as a mixture. Further, the resolution of an image is improved by using a toner having a weight average diameter of 4 μm to 15 μm.

The weight average diameter is measured by the following procedure. First, 0.1 ml to 5 ml of a surfactant, preferably an alkylbenzene sulfonate, is added as a dispersant to 100 ml to 150 ml of an aqueous electrolytic solution. Here, the electrolytic aqueous solution is about 1% using primary sodium chloride.
NaCl aqueous solution is prepared, for example, ISOTON
-II (manufactured by Coulter) can be used. Here, 2 mg to 20 mg of the measurement sample is further added. The electrolyte in which the sample is suspended is subjected to a dispersion treatment for about 1 to 3 minutes by an ultrasonic disperser, and the volume and number of the toner particles or toner are measured by the measuring device using an aperture of 100 μm as the aperture. , Volume distribution and number distribution. From the obtained distribution, the weight average particle diameter and the number average particle diameter of the toner can be determined. 2.00 μm to less than 2.52 μm; 2.52 μm
To 3.17 μm or less; 3.17 μm to 4.00 μm
Less than 4.00 to 5.04 μm; 5.04 to 6.3
7.5 μm or less; 6.35 μm to less than 8.00 μm;
00 μm to less than 10.08 μm; 10.08 μm to less than 12.70 μm; 12.70 μm to 16.00 μm
m; less than 16.00 μm to less than 20.20 μm; 2
0.20 μm to less than 25.40 μm; 25.40 μm
To less than 32.00 μm; 32.00 μm to 40.3
Using 13 channels of less than 0 μm, particle size of 2.00 μm
m to less than 40.30 μm. The transfer roller 3a of the transfer means 3 transfers the photosensitive member 1 during transfer.
The toner image on the surface of the photoreceptor 1 is transferred from the surface of the photoreceptor 1 at a transfer nip portion between the photoreceptor 1 and the transfer roller 3a of the transfer unit 3 by applying a voltage to the surface of the transfer member 3 when a predetermined pressure is applied to the surface. Transfer to the transfer paper of (P). The transfer unit 3 may use a corotron or a transfer belt (not shown) in addition to the transfer roller 3a.

The charge removing means 11 removes the residual charge of the photoreceptor 1 and uses an LED. The fixing unit 12 includes a heating roller 12a and a pressure roller 12b, and a transfer sheet of a transfer target (P) on which the toner image conveyed between the heating roller 12a and the pressure roller 12b is transferred. Is heated and pressurized to fix the toner image on the surface of the transfer sheet of the transfer-receiving body (P), and is discharged to the discharge tray 13 for storage. The first cleaning unit 4 removes the residual toner adhered to the photoreceptor 1 after the transfer by the transfer roller 3a of the transfer unit 3 and is held rotatably in the direction of the arrow (C) shown in FIG. The cleaning roller 4a made of an elastic material and the cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning means 4 are arranged on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the photosensitive member 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow (A) of FIG. The cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning means 5 for removing the residual toner adhering to the surface at a distance from the surface, and the first cleaning means 4
The scraper 6a of the third cleaning means 6 for removing the residual toner attached to the cleaning roller 4a
a, and the first cleaning means 4
The collected toner removed by the cleaning roller 4a or the cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning unit 5 is transported to the toner recycling unit 7 by a transport screw 14b.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a unit provided with a toner recycling means.
The transport screw 1 of the cleaning unit 14
The toner reservoir 7a connected to the developing device 2 and the toner reservoir 7b connected to the developing means 2 are connected by a toner transfer pipe 7c. The toner transfer pipe 7c has a toner conveying screw 7c ₁ is provided therein, the collected toner in the toner reservoir 7a has a configuration for transferring to the toner storage section 7b. When the image formation is repeatedly performed, the transfer target (P) is moved by the cleaning roller 4 a of the first cleaning unit 4 or the cleaning blade 5 a of the second cleaning unit 5.
The remaining toner which is not transferred to the transfer paper and adheres to the surface of the photoconductor 1 is removed. The residual toner collected from the surface of the photoreceptor 1 is transported by the transport screw 14b of the cleaning unit 14, and is collected in the toner reservoir 7a of the toner recycling unit 7, and the toner transport screw in the toner transport pipe 7c is removed. by 7c ₁ is fed into the toner storage section 7b, the developing means 2
Returned to and reused.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the structure and operation of the cleaning device. In the main body cover 14a of the cleaning unit 14, residual toner adhering to the photoreceptor 1 is brought into contact with the cleaning unit 14 in the direction of the arrow (C) shown in FIG. The cleaning roller 4a made of an elastic body of the first cleaning means 4 which is rotatably held and removed by the first cleaning means 4; A) the cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning means 5 which is disposed on the upstream side in the direction of rotation in the direction of rotation and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the photoreceptor 1; The scraper 6a of the third cleaning means 6 for removing residual toner adhering to the cleaning roller 4a of the cleaning means 4 is disposed. It has been. The cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning means 4 is brought into contact with the photoconductor 1 at a predetermined contact pressure so that its rotation axis is parallel to the rotation axis of the photoconductor 1, and a rotation drive source (not shown) Is a rotating body that rotates in the direction of the arrow (C) shown in the same direction as the direction of the arrow (A) in the direction of rotation of the photoconductor 1, and the bias power source 4c
, A bias voltage is applied, and the collected toner collected by the scraper 6a of the third cleaning means 6 is scraped off. The cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning unit 4 rotates in the illustrated arrow (C) direction, which is the same direction as the illustrated rotation (A) direction of the photoconductor 1, so that the cleaning roller 4a on the photoconductor 1 is rotated. The cleaning performance of the residual toner has been improved, and in particular, the cleaning of the spherical toner has become possible. The cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning unit 5 and the first cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning unit 5 are located below the cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning unit 4 and the cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning unit 5. The collected toner collected by the cleaning roller 4a of the cleaning unit 4 and the scraper 6a of the third cleaning unit 6 is conveyed to the toner reservoir 7a of the toner recycling unit 7 by the conveying screw 14b. ing.

[0019] Figure 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cleaning device according to another embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning unit 4, the core metal 4a ₀
Polyurethane mainly rubber, silicone rubber, having carbon black in the elastic material such Burajiengomu, titanium, an elastic conductive layer 4a ₁ where the conductive fine particles made of an oxide of a metal such as aluminum or an ion conductive agent is dispersed I have.
Further, above the surface of the first of said cleaning roller 4a of the cleaning unit 4, and a medium resistance layer 4a ₂ provided in order to prevent the leakage of a bias current due to pinholes on the surface of the photosensitive member 1. In some cases, in order to prevent the surface of the cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning means 4 from being stained, the volume resistivity is set to 10 ⁶ (Ωcm).
To 10 ¹² surface protective layer 4a ₃ it was prepared so that the ([Omega] cm) is provided. The cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning unit 4 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow (C) shown at a predetermined peripheral speed in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the arrow (A) of the photoconductor 1 and the counter in the direction opposite to the counter. By contacting the surface of the photoconductor 1 with a speed difference, the photoconductor 1
Since the upper residual toner is cleaned, the cleaning performance of the residual toner on the photoreceptor 1 is improved, and particularly, the spherical toner can be cleaned. The above metal core 4a ₀ and the bias power source 4c is connected, the cleaning bias from the bias power source 4c to the cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning unit 4 is applied, the residual toner on the photosensitive member 1 is static By the electric force, the cleaning roller 4 of the first cleaning means 4
a of the first cleaning unit 4
The cleaning can be performed by rotating the cleaning roller 4a. The toner attached to the cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning means 4 is scraped off by the scraper 6a of the third cleaning means 6 which comes into contact with the surface of the cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning means 4. The toner is conveyed to the toner recycling unit 7 by the conveying screw 14b. As the cleaning bias applied from the bias power supply 4c to the cleaning roller 4a of the first cleaning means 4, a bias obtained by superimposing an AC voltage on a DC voltage is applied. The residual toner on the photoconductor 1 is vibrated by the AC voltage to
And the first cleaning means 4
Thus, the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning roller 4a can be improved, and the spherical toner can be easily cleaned.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the structure and operation of a cleaning device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The inside of the main body cover 14a of the cleaning unit 14 is brought into contact with the residual toner adhering to the photoreceptor 1. Arrow (C)
The brush roller 4b of the first cleaning means 4 which is held so as to be rotatable in the direction of removal, and the brush roller 4b of the first cleaning means 4 are more than the brush roller 4b of the first cleaning means 4 in the direction of the arrow (A) shown in the drawing of the photosensitive member 1. The cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning means 5 which is disposed on the upstream side in the rotation direction and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the photoreceptor 1; and the first cleaning means 4
The scraper 6a of the third cleaning means 6 for removing residual toner adhering to the brush roller 4b.
Is arranged. The brush roller 4b of the first cleaning means 4 is brought into contact with the photoreceptor 1 at a predetermined contact pressure so that the rotation axis thereof is parallel to the rotation axis of the photoreceptor 1, and a rotation drive source (not shown) And a rotating body that rotates in the direction of the arrow (C) shown in the same direction as the direction of rotation of the photosensitive member 1 in the direction of the arrow (C). A bias voltage is applied by the bias power supply 4c and the third cleaning is performed. The toner collected by the scraper 6a of the means 6 is scraped off. The first cleaning means 4
The above-mentioned brush roller 4b rotates in the illustrated arrow (C) direction, which is the same direction as the illustrated arrow (A) direction of rotation of the photoconductor 1, so that the cleaning performance of the residual toner on the photoconductor 1 is improved. As a result, cleaning of the spherical toner in particular has become possible. Also, below the brush roller 4b of the first cleaning means 4 and the cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning means 5, the cleaning blade 5a of the second cleaning means 5 and the first The toner collected by the brush roller 4b of the cleaning means 4 and the scraper 6a of the third cleaning means 6 is conveyed to the toner reservoir 7a of the toner recycling means 7 by the conveying screw 14b. ing.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a cleaning device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The brush roller 4b of the first cleaning means 4 has a metal core 4b having a diameter of 14 mm and also serving as an electrode. _0, a conductive rayon fiber as the brush portion 4b ₁ by winding tapes in pile spirally, in which the roll brush. Brush the brush portion 4b ₁ is 300 denier / 50 filament, 1 a roll shape is the density of 155 fibers per square millimeter, narrowing it refers while rotating in one direction, so that the metal core 4b ₀ is concentric Is set. The material of the brush the brush portion 4b ₁ is Unitika Ltd. of REC-B, REC-C, REC-M1, R
EC-M10, further obtained by dispersing carbon in SA-7 manufactured by Toray Industries Co., Ltd., Sandaron manufactured by Nippon Sericulture Co., Ltd., Bertron manufactured by Kanebo Co., Ltd., Clacarbo, rayon manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd., Robal made by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. is used. One is 3 denier to 10 denier and 10
A filament / bundle to 100 filaments / bundle, a density of 80 filaments / mm to 600 filaments / mm is preferred. 1 hairy
mm to 10 mm is preferred. The brush roller 4b of the first cleaning means 4 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow (C) at a predetermined peripheral speed in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the photosensitive member 1 in the direction of the arrow (A) and the counter. ,
Since the residual toner on the photoconductor 1 is cleaned by contacting the surface of the photoconductor 1 with a speed difference, the cleaning performance of the residual toner on the photoconductor 1 is improved. It is now possible. The core metal 4
The bias power source 4c is connected to b ₀ , and a cleaning bias is applied from the bias power source 4c to the brush roller 4b of the first cleaning unit 4 so that the residual toner on the photoreceptor 1 becomes an electrostatic force. Thus, the first cleaning means 4 is drawn to the brush roller 4b side, and the brush roller 4b of the first cleaning means 4 rotates to perform cleaning. The bias roller 4b of the first cleaning means 4 is supplied from the bias power supply 4c.
Is applied as a cleaning bias that is obtained by superimposing an AC voltage on a DC voltage. The residual toner on the image carrier 1 is vibrated by the AC voltage to reduce the adhesion to the photoreceptor 1 and improve the efficiency of the first cleaning means 4 cleaning the brush roller 4b.
Spherical toner can be easily cleaned.

FIGS. 7 to 10 are cross-sectional views each showing a configuration of a main part of the organic photoreceptor.
a) In addition to the photoconductor such as OPC of a negatively charged organic optical semiconductor,
The amorphous silicon photoconductor 1b or the like is used.
The amorphous silicon photoreceptor 1b heats the conductive support 1b ₁ to 50 ° C. to 400 ° C.
b ₁ Vacuum evaporation method, sputtering method, ion plating method, thermal CVD method, optical CVD method, plasma CVD
It can be used by being formed by a film forming method such as a method. Of these plasma CVD method, i.e., the raw material gas is decomposed by DC or high-frequency or microwave glow discharge to form an a-Si deposited film on the support 1b ₁ is used as suitable. Layer structure of the amorphous silicon photosensitive member 1b is, a-Si on said substrate 1b _1: what H, the photoconductive layer 1b ₂ having a photoconductive consists X is provided (see Figure 7) If, on the support _{1b 1, a-Si: H} , and the photoconductive layer 1b ₂ having a photoconductive consists X, which the surface layer 1b ₃ of amorphous silicon are provided (FIG. 8 and the reference), a-Si on said substrate 1b _1: H, and the photoconductive layer 1b ₂ having a photoconductive consists X, and the surface layer 1b ₃ of amorphous silicon, amorphous silicon charge that implantation blocking layer 1b ₄ is provided (see FIG. 9), a-S onto the support 1b ₁ of
i: The photoconductive layer 1b composed of H and X and having photoconductivity.
_2, the photoconductive layer 1b ₂ is a-Si: H, made from the charge generation layer 1b ₂₃ and a charge transport layer 1b ₂₂ Metropolitan consisting X,
Moreover there is the above surface layer 1b ₃ of amorphous silicon are provided (see Figure 10).

On the amorphous silicon photoreceptor 1b
Support 1b₁Are electrically conductive or electrically insulating.
You may. The conductive support 1b₁As Al,
Cr, Mo, Au, In, Nb, Te, V, Ti, P
Metals such as t, Pd, Fe and alloys thereof, for example
For example, stainless steel is used. In addition, polyester, po
Polyethylene, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate
, Polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene,
Film or sheet, synthetic resin such as polyamide
The above-mentioned electrically insulating support 1b such as lath, ceramic, etc. ₁of
Conductive treatment at least on the surface on which the photosensitive layer is formed
Can be. The support 1b₁Is a smooth table
Cylindrical or plate-like, endless belt-like surface or uneven surface
The thickness of the amorphous silicon is as desired.
It is determined appropriately so that the photosensitive member 1b can be formed.
The amorphous silicon photoreceptor 1b needs flexibility.
If required, the support 1b₁Function
As thin as possible within the range
You. However, the support 1b₁Is manufacturing and handling
In addition, the thickness is usually 10 μm or more from the viewpoint of mechanical strength and the like.

The amorphous silicon photoreceptor 1b is
Between the support 1b ₁ and the photoconductive layer 1b ₂ conductive as needed, conductive the charge injection blocking layer 1b with a function of inhibiting charge injection from the support 1b ₁ side _Four
Is more effective (see FIG. 9). That is, when the photosensitive layer has been subjected to a charging treatment with a fixed polarity on its free surface, the charge injection blocking layer 1b ₄ is used as the support 1b _1.
Has a function to prevent the charge to the photoconductive layer 1b ₂ from the side is injected, such functions when subjected to charging of opposite polarity is not exhibited, has a so-called polar dependence ing. In order to impart such a function, in the above charge injection blocking layer 1b ₄ is relatively large content compared with atoms for controlling conductivity in the photoconductive layer 1b _2. The layer thickness of the charge injection blocking layer 1b ₄ is that desired electrophotographic characteristics can be obtained, and, preferably in view of such economic effects 0.1
μm to 5.0 μm, more preferably 0.3 μm to 4.0 μm, and most preferably 0.5 μm to 3.0 μm. The photoconductive layer 1b ₂ can optionally be formed on the undercoat layer 1b _21, the layer thickness of the photoconductive layer 1b ₂ it and economic desired electrophotographic characteristics excellent in durability can be obtained It is appropriately determined as desired from the viewpoint of effects and the like, and is preferably 1 μm to 100 μm, more preferably 20 μm.
To 50 μm, optimally 23 μm to 45 μm.
The charge transport layer 1b ₂₂ is mainly achieved layer a function of transporting charges when the work separate the photoconductive layer 1b _2. The charge transport layer 1b ₂₂ contains at least silicon atoms, carbon atoms, and fluorine atoms as its constituent elements,
A-SiC containing hydrogen atom and oxygen atom if necessary
(H, F, O), having the desired photoconductive properties, particularly charge retention properties, charge generation properties and charge transport properties, and particularly preferably containing oxygen atoms. The layer thickness of the charge transport layer 1b ₂₂ is that the desired electrophotographic characteristics can be obtained, and is determined according to the appropriate desired in view of economic effects, preferably 5μm to 50 [mu] m, more preferably 10μm to 40μm , Optimally between 20 μm and 3
0 μm. The charge generation layer 1b ₂₃ is mainly achieved layer a function of generating charges when the work separate the photoconductive layer 1b _2. The charge generation layer 1b ₂₃ contains at least silicon atoms as a component, substantially free of carbon atoms, if necessary containing a hydrogen atom a-Si:
H and has desired photoconductive properties, in particular, charge generation properties and charge transport properties. The layer thickness of the charge generating layer 1b ₂₃ is determined according to appropriate desired in terms of such possible and economic effects desired electrophotographic characteristics can be obtained, preferably 0.5μm to 15.0 .mu.m, more preferably 1μm
To 10 μm, optimally 1 μm to 5 μm.

The amorphous silicon photoreceptor 1b is
If necessary, as described above onto the support 1b ₁ above photoconductive layer 1b ₂ formed on, further, it is preferable to form the surface layer 1b ₃ of amorphous silicon. The surface layer 1b ₃ has a free surface, mainly moisture resistance, continuous repeated use characteristic, electrical breakdown strength, use environment characteristic, is provided in order to achieve the object of the present invention in durability. The layer thickness of the surface layer 1b ₃ in the present invention,
Usually 0.01 μm to 3.00 μm, preferably 0.05
It is desirable that the thickness be from μm to 2 μm, optimally from 0.1 μm to 1.0 μm. Layer thickness 0.01μm
If it is thinner, the surface layer is lost due to abrasion or the like during use. Therefore, both the life of the photoconductor 1 and the life of the first cleaning means 4 and the like can be extended, and the toner image formed is transferred to a transfer sheet (not shown) on a transfer sheet (not shown). Prevents the occurrence of defective cleaning on the photoreceptor 1 and reduces the hazard that occurs during cleaning of the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning, thereby preventing the occurrence of an abnormal image when forming a toner image to be reused. As a result, it is possible to provide the image forming apparatus 0 which is excellent in durability and forms a high-quality image at a small size at a low cost.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are a perspective view showing the structure of a unit to which the present invention is applied and a schematic view of a mounted state, respectively. The photosensitive member 1, the developing means 2, the first cleaning means 4, The second cleaning means 5 and the third cleaning means 5
Cleaning means 6, the toner recycling means 7,
Of the components such as the charging means 9 and the like, a plurality of components are integrally connected as a process cartridge 8, and the process cartridge 8 is connected to a main body 0a of an image forming apparatus 0 such as a copying machine or a printer. It is constituted so that attachment and detachment are possible. The toner recycling unit 7, the first cleaning unit 4, the second cleaning unit 5, and the third cleaning unit 5.
In the image forming apparatus 0 having the process cartridge 8 including the cleaning means 6, the photosensitive member 1 is driven to rotate at a predetermined peripheral speed. In the course of rotation, the photosensitive member 1 is uniformly charged with a predetermined positive or negative potential on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 1 by the charging means 9, and then the above-described exposure such as slit exposure or laser beam scanning exposure is performed. Upon receiving image exposure light from the electrostatic latent image forming means 10, an electrostatic latent image is sequentially formed on the peripheral surface of the photoreceptor 1.
The transferred toner (P) is fed from the paper feeding means 15 between the photoreceptor 1 and the transfer means 3 in synchronization with the rotation of the photoreceptor 1. Are sequentially transferred to the transfer paper by the transfer means 3. The transfer paper of the transfer-receiving body (P) onto which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the surface of the photoreceptor 1 and introduced into the fixing means 12, where it is fixed, and as a copy (copy), the paper discharge tray outside the apparatus 1
3 is printed out. The surface of the photoreceptor 1 after the transfer of the toner image is cleaned by the first cleaning means 4, the second cleaning means 5, and the third cleaning means 6 to remove transfer residual toner. After being further neutralized, it is repeatedly used for image formation. As described above, by providing the first cleaning means 4, the second cleaning means 5, and the third cleaning means 6 in the detachable process cartridge 8, maintenance is also improved. As a result, it can be easily exchanged with another device.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, a toner image is formed on an image carrier that is rotatably supported and carries a formed image. A first cleaning means for rotatably holding and removing residual toner adhering to the image carrier after transfer by a transfer means for transferring the toner image formed by the developing means to the transfer target; A second cleaning unit and a first cleaning unit that are disposed upstream of the first cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier and that remove residual toner that is separated from and adheres to the surface of the image carrier; A third cleaning means for removing residual toner adhering to the toner and a toner recycling means, wherein the toner is recycled by the first cleaning means or the second cleaning means. The collected toner thus collected is transported back to the developing means to form an image, so that the occurrence of a cleaning failure on the image carrier after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer-receiving member is prevented. Reduced hazards experienced during cleaning of collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning to prevent the occurrence of abnormal images when forming toner images to be reused. An image forming apparatus for forming an image can be provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the organic photoreceptor of the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred to the transfer object. Cleaning means for rotatably holding and removing the residual toner adhering to the organic photoreceptor of the image carrier after the transfer by the transfer means for transferring the image onto the image carrier, and an image carrier more than the first cleaning means A second toner removing unit that is disposed on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the organic photoreceptor and that is separated from and adheres to the surface of the organic photoreceptor of the image carrier.
Cleaning means, a third cleaning means for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning means, and a toner recycling means, and the recovery removed by the first cleaning means or the second cleaning means by the toner recycling means. Since the toner is conveyed to the developing unit and returned to form an image, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a cleaning failure on the organic photoconductor of the image carrier after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer target, Reduced hazards when cleaning collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning Prevents occurrence of abnormal images when forming toner images to be reused and reused, forming images at low cost with excellent durability Can be provided at a low cost, and an image forming apparatus for forming a higher quality image can be provided. .

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the amorphous silicon photosensitive member of the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner adhering to the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier after the transfer by the transfer unit that transfers the image to the body, and an image that is better than the first cleaning unit; A second cleaning means which is disposed on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the carrier and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier; A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning unit and a toner recycling unit. First cleaning means Te or the second
The recovered toner removed by the cleaning means is transported to the developing means and returned to form an image. Therefore, the surface hardness of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is high and the sensitivity is high for long wavelength light of 770 nm to 800 nm such as a semiconductor laser. The deterioration due to repeated use is small, the occurrence of poor cleaning on the image carrier amorphous silicon photoreceptor after the formed toner image is transferred to the transfer receiving body is prevented, and it is collected and reused after cleaning. An image forming apparatus that forms a small, low-cost, and high-quality image that is more durable and prevents the occurrence of an abnormal image at the time of forming a toner image that is reused by reducing the hazard received during cleaning of the collected toner. Can now be provided. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the amorphous silicon photoreceptor, which is rotatably supported and comprises a heater of the image carrier for carrying the formed image, is transferred. First cleaning means and first cleaning means for rotatably holding and removing residual toner adhering in contact with an amorphous silicon photoreceptor comprising a heater of an image carrier after transfer by a transfer means for transferring to a body Removes residual toner adhering to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoconductor composed of the heater of the image carrier, which is arranged on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the amorphous silicon photoconductor composed of the heater of the image carrier and is spaced apart from and adheres to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoconductor composed of the heater of the image carrier And a third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning unit and a toner cleaning unit. The recovered toner removed by the first cleaning unit or the second cleaning unit by the toner recycling unit is transported back to the developing unit to form an image. The surface of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor has a high surface hardness of 770 nm for a semiconductor laser or the like. High sensitivity to long-wavelength light of 800 to 800 nm, little degradation due to repeated use, and prevention of poor cleaning on the image carrier amorphous silicon photoreceptor after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer receiving body To reduce hazards when cleaning collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning It has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus which can prevent abnormal images from being generated at the time of forming a toner image to be reused and form a higher quality image at a lower cost, which is more durable. .

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the amorphous silicon photosensitive member of the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner adhering to the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier after the transfer by the transfer unit that transfers the image to the body, and an image that is better than the first cleaning unit; A second cleaning means which is disposed on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the carrier and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier; A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the cleaning unit, and a toner recycling unit. First cleaning means Te or the second
The recovered toner removed by the cleaning means is transported back to the developing means and the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is composed of a support having a thickness of 10 μm or more and a photoconductive layer so as to form an image. High surface hardness and high mechanical strength of 7
High sensitivity to long-wavelength light of 70 nm to 800 nm, less deterioration due to repeated use, and prevention of poor cleaning on the image carrier amorphous silicon photoconductor after transferring the formed toner image to the receiver, Reduced hazards when cleaning collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning to prevent the occurrence of abnormal images during toner image formation to be reused. An image forming apparatus that forms a quality image can be provided.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the amorphous silicon photosensitive member of the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner adhering to the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier after the transfer by the transfer unit that transfers the image to the body, and an image that is better than the first cleaning unit; A second cleaning means which is disposed on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the carrier and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier; A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning unit and a toner recycling unit. First cleaning means Te or the second
The recovered toner removed by the cleaning means is conveyed back to the developing means, and the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is formed of a surface layer having a layer thickness of 0.01 μm to 3.0 μm to form an image. Excellent in properties, continuous repeated use characteristics, electrical pressure resistance, use environment characteristics, and durability. Deterioration of electrophotographic properties such as loss of surface layer or increase in residual potential during use due to wear and the like is prevented, and the surface hardness of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is high, and it is high for long wavelength light of 770 nm to 800 nm such as a semiconductor laser. Demonstrates sensitivity and shows little deterioration due to repeated use.Prevents poor cleaning on the image carrier amorphous silicon photoreceptor after the formed toner image is transferred to the transfer receiving body, and is collected and reused after cleaning. An image forming apparatus that forms a small-sized, low-cost, and high-quality image with improved durability by preventing the occurrence of an abnormal image at the time of forming a toner image that is reused by reducing a hazard received during cleaning of collected toner. Can now be provided.

According to the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner adhering to the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier after the transfer by the transfer unit that transfers the image to the body; A second cleaning means which is disposed on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the carrier and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier; A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the cleaning unit, and a toner recycling unit. First cleaning means Te or the second
The collected toner removed by the cleaning means is transported back to the developing means and the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is formed of a charge injection blocking layer having a thickness of 0.1 μm to 5.0 μm so as to form an image. The photosensitive layer has a function of preventing the charge from being injected into the photoconductive layer from the support when the photosensitive layer is subjected to a charging treatment of a fixed polarity on its free surface. It does not exhibit such a function, has a so-called polarity dependency, has a high surface hardness of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor, has high sensitivity to long wavelength light of 770 nm to 800 nm of semiconductor lasers and the like, and has little deterioration due to repeated use. Preventing the occurrence of cleaning failure on the image carrier amorphous silicon photoreceptor after transferring the toner image to the transfer target,
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of an abnormal image at the time of forming a toner image to be reused by reducing the hazard received when cleaning the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning,
Further, it has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus which is excellent in durability and forms a high quality image at a small size at a low cost.

According to the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the amorphous silicon photosensitive member of the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner adhering to the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier after the transfer by the transfer unit that transfers the image to the body, and an image that is better than the first cleaning unit; A second cleaning means which is disposed on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the carrier and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier; A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the cleaning unit, and a toner recycling unit. First cleaning means Te or the second
The recovered toner removed by the cleaning means is transported back to the developing means, and the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is formed on a support having a thickness of 10 μm or more and a subbing layer, and has a thickness of 1 μm to 100 μm. Since an image is formed by using a conductive layer, the surface hardness and mechanical strength of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor are high, and high sensitivity to long-wavelength light of 770 nm to 800 nm of a semiconductor laser or the like is exhibited. Of defective cleaning on the amorphous silicon photoreceptor after the transferred toner image has been transferred to the transfer receiving body, and reduces the hazards experienced when cleaning the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning. Prevents the occurrence of abnormal images when forming toner images that are reused and reused, further improving durability It has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus for forming an image of high quality at low cost type.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the amorphous silicon photosensitive member of the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner adhering to the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier after the transfer by the transfer unit that transfers the image to the body; A second cleaning means which is disposed on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the carrier and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier; A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the cleaning unit, and a toner recycling unit. First cleaning means Te or the second
The recovered toner removed by the cleaning means is transported back to the developing means, and the amorphous silicon photoreceptor comprises a charge transporting layer comprising at least silicon atoms, carbon atoms and fluorine atoms and having a layer thickness of 5 to 50 μm. Is formed, so that desired electrophotographic characteristics can be obtained and economical effects can be obtained, and the surface hardness of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is high, and high sensitivity to long wavelength light of 770 nm to 800 nm such as a semiconductor laser is exhibited. Deterioration due to repeated use is small, preventing the occurrence of cleaning failure on the image carrier amorphous silicon photoconductor after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer target,
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of an abnormal image at the time of forming a toner image to be reused by reducing the hazard received when cleaning the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning,
Further, it has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus which is excellent in durability and forms a high quality image at a small size at a low cost.

According to the tenth aspect, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner adhering to the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier after the transfer by the transfer unit that transfers the image to the body, and an image that is better than the first cleaning unit; A second cleaning means which is disposed on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the carrier and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier; A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the cleaning unit and a toner recycling unit. The recovered toner removed by the first cleaning means or the second cleaning means is transported back to the developing means, and the amorphous silicon photoreceptor comprises at least silicon atoms, carbon atoms and fluorine atoms and has a layer thickness of 5 μm. Since an image is formed from a charge transport layer containing oxygen atoms having a thickness of from about 50 μm to about 50 μm, desired and favorable electrophotographic characteristics can be obtained, and favorable economic effects can be obtained. It has high sensitivity to long wavelength light of 770 nm to 800 nm such as a semiconductor laser and has little deterioration due to repeated use, and the occurrence of cleaning failure on the image carrier amorphous silicon photoreceptor after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer target. Collection toner that is collected and reused after cleaning To provide an image forming apparatus that forms a high-quality image at low cost with excellent durability, while preventing the occurrence of an abnormal image at the time of forming a toner image to be reused by reducing a hazard received during cleaning. Is now available.

According to the eleventh aspect, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the amorphous silicon photosensitive member of the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner adhering to the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier after the transfer by the transfer unit that transfers the image to the body; A second cleaning means which is disposed on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the carrier and removes residual toner which is separated from and adheres to the surface of the amorphous silicon photoreceptor of the image carrier; A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the cleaning unit and a toner recycling unit. Thus, the recovered toner removed by the first cleaning means or the second cleaning means is transported back to the developing means, and the amorphous silicon photoreceptor is composed of at least silicon atoms, carbon atoms and fluorine atoms and has a layer thickness of 0.1 mm. Since an image is formed from a charge generation layer having a thickness of 5 μm to 15 μm, desired electrophotographic characteristics can be obtained and economical effects can be obtained. High sensitivity to long-wavelength light of 800 to 800 nm, little deterioration due to repeated use, and prevention of poor cleaning on the image carrier amorphous silicon photoreceptor after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer receiving body When cleaning collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing abnormal images from being generated during toner image formation for reuse by reducing the amount of toner used, and forming a small, low-cost, high-quality image with higher durability. Became. According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing unit that forms the toner image on the image carrier that is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred by the transfer unit that transfers the toner image to the transfer target. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner that comes into contact with the subsequent image carrier and is disposed upstream of the first cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier; A second cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the surface of the image bearing member at a distance from the surface of the image carrier; a third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning unit; and a toner recycling unit. Transferring the collected toner removed by the first cleaning means or the second cleaning means by the toner recycling means to the developing means and returning the developing means; Since the polymerized toner is applied to the formed electrostatic latent image and visualized to form a toner image to form the image, the resolution of the formed image is improved, and the formed toner image is transferred to the transfer target. To prevent the occurrence of a cleaning failure on the image carrier after the cleaning, and to reduce the hazard received during cleaning of the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning, and to recycle the abnormal image during toner image formation. It has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus which can prevent the occurrence of the image and which is excellent in durability, and which can form a small size, low cost and higher quality image.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred to the transfer object. A first means for removing the remaining toner which is in contact with and adheres to the image carrier after the transfer by means of means, while being rotatably held;
And a second cleaning unit disposed upstream of the first cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier with respect to the first cleaning unit and configured to remove residual toner that is separated from and adheres to the surface of the image carrier. A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning unit; and a toner recycling unit. The collected toner removed by the first cleaning unit or the second cleaning unit by the toner recycling unit is developed by the developing unit. The developing means attaches a spherical polymerized toner having a weight average diameter of 4 μm to 15 μm to the formed electrostatic latent image and visualizes it to form a toner image to form an image. As a result, the resolution of the formed image is surely improved, and the toner image formed on the image carrier Prevents the occurrence of defective toner, reduces the hazard received during cleaning of collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning, prevents reuse, and prevents the occurrence of abnormal images when forming toner images. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus which forms a higher quality image at a low cost and is excellent in size. According to the invention of claim 14, the image forming apparatus is rotatably supported and carries the formed image. A transfer unit that transfers a toner image formed by a developing unit that forms a toner image on the image carrier to a transfer-receiving member is rotatably held with residual toner that abuts and adheres to the transferred image carrier. The first cleaning unit to be removed and the residual toner that is disposed upstream of the first cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier and is separated from and adheres to the surface of the image carrier while being separated from the surface of the image carrier. And a third cleaning means and toner recycling means for removing residual toner adhering to the second cleaning means and the first cleaning means, first by the toner recycling means
The collected toner removed by the cleaning means or the second cleaning means is transported back to the developing means, and the first cleaning means is rotated in the same direction as the rotation direction of the image carrier to form an image. As a result, the cleaning performance of the residual toner on the image carrier is improved, and in particular, the spherical toner can be cleaned, and the occurrence of cleaning failure on the image carrier after the formed toner image is transferred to the transfer-receiving member. To prevent the occurrence of an abnormal image when forming a toner image to be reused by reducing the hazard received during cleaning of the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning. It has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus that forms a high-quality image at low cost.

According to the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred to the transfer object. A first means for removing the remaining toner which is in contact with and adheres to the image carrier after the transfer by means of means, while being rotatably held;
And a second cleaning unit disposed upstream of the first cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier with respect to the first cleaning unit and configured to remove residual toner that is separated from and adheres to the surface of the image carrier. A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning unit; and a toner recycling unit. The collected toner removed by the first cleaning unit or the second cleaning unit by the toner recycling unit is developed by the developing unit. And the first cleaning unit applies a voltage obtained by superimposing an AC voltage on the DC voltage to form an image. Therefore, the residual toner on the image carrier is vibrated by the AC voltage, and the image is carried. Clean the spherical toner by reducing the adhesive force to the body and improving the cleaning efficiency to the first cleaning means. Grayed the now easily can perform, the formed toner image by preventing the occurrence of cleaning failure on the image bearing member after transferring to a transfer member,
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of an abnormal image at the time of forming a toner image to be reused by reducing the hazard received when cleaning the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning,
It has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus which is excellent in durability, and which can form a high quality image at a small size at a low cost. According to the sixteenth aspect, the toner image formed by the developing device that forms the toner image on the image carrier that is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred by the transfer device that transfers the toner image to the transfer object. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner that comes into contact with a subsequent image carrier, and is disposed upstream of the first cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier. A second cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the surface of the image carrier while being separated from the surface of the image carrier; a third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning unit; and a toner recycling unit. First by toner recycling means
The collected toner removed by the cleaning means or the second cleaning means is conveyed back to the developing means, and the first cleaning means is mounted on a process cartridge which is detachable from the main body so as to be detachable to form an image. Therefore, by providing the first cleaning means in a detachable process cartridge, the maintainability is improved, and the integrated cleaning with another apparatus can be easily performed. Prevents the occurrence of defective cleaning on the image carrier after the toner image is transferred to the transfer-receiving member, and reduces and reuses the hazard received when cleaning the collected toner collected and reused after cleaning. Prevents the occurrence of abnormal images during toner image formation and forms high quality images at low cost with excellent durability That is to provide an image forming apparatus has become possible.

According to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred to the transfer object. A first means for removing the remaining toner which is in contact with and adheres to the image carrier after the transfer by means of means, while being rotatably held;
The cleaning roller of the elastic member of the cleaning means and the cleaning roller of the elastic member of the first cleaning means are disposed on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier, and are attached to the surface of the image carrier at a distance from each other. A second cleaning unit for removing residual toner, a third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to the elastic cleaning roller of the first cleaning unit, and a toner recycling unit. The collected toner removed by the elastic cleaning roller of the cleaning means or the second cleaning means is conveyed back to the developing means to form an image, so that the formed toner image is transferred to the transfer object. After cleaning to prevent the occurrence of cleaning failure on the image carrier after Hazard received during cleaning of collected toner that is collected and reused is further reduced to prevent the occurrence of abnormal images during toner image formation to be reused. An image forming apparatus to be formed can be provided.

According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred to the transfer object. A first means for removing the remaining toner which is in contact with and adheres to the image carrier after the transfer by means of means, while being rotatably held;
A cleaning roller formed of an elastic conductive layer of an elastic body of the cleaning means and a cleaning roller formed of an elastic conductive layer of an elastic body of the first cleaning means, which is arranged on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier and A second cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to and facing away from the surface of the first cleaning unit and a third cleaning unit for removing residual toner adhering to a cleaning roller formed of an elastic conductive layer of an elastic body of the first cleaning unit. And a toner recycling unit. The toner recycling unit conveys the collected toner removed by the cleaning roller formed of the elastic conductive layer of the first cleaning unit or the second cleaning unit to the developing unit. Since the image is formed, after the formed toner image is transferred to the transfer Prevent the occurrence of defective cleaning on the image carrier, further reduce the hazards experienced during cleaning of the collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning, and reduce the occurrence of abnormal images during toner image formation for reuse. Thus, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus which forms a high quality image at low cost with excellent durability and small size. According to the nineteenth aspect, the toner image formed by the developing device that forms the toner image on the image carrier that is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred by the transfer device that transfers the toner image to the transfer object. An elastic cleaning roller composed of a medium resistance layer of the first cleaning means for rotatably holding and removing residual toner adhering to the subsequent image carrier and removing the residual toner from the medium resistance layer of the first cleaning means A second cleaning unit that is disposed upstream of the elastic cleaning roller in the rotation direction of the image bearing member and removes residual toner that is separated from and adheres to the surface of the image bearing member. A third cleaning means for removing residual toner adhering to an elastic cleaning roller formed of a medium resistance layer of the cleaning means and a toner recycling means; Means for recovering the toner removed by the second cleaning means by transporting the recovered toner removed by the second cleaning means to the developing means, and forming an image by forming the image. The bias current is prevented from leaking due to pinholes on the body surface, and the occurrence of cleaning failure on the image carrier after the formed toner image is transferred to the transfer body is prevented. An image that forms a high-quality image with excellent durability, small size, low cost, by preventing the occurrence of an abnormal image at the time of forming a toner image to be reused by further reducing the hazard received when cleaning the used collected toner. A forming apparatus can be provided.

According to the twentieth aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing means for forming the toner image on the image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred to the transfer object. A first means for removing the remaining toner which is in contact with and adheres to the image carrier after the transfer by means of means, while being rotatably held;
The first cleaning means has a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ (Ωcm) to 10 ¹² (Ωcm) and the first cleaning means has a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ (Ωcm) to 10 ¹² (Ωcm). Ωcm) is disposed on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier with respect to the elastic cleaning roller formed of the surface protection layer, and removes the residual toner adhered to the surface of the image carrier while being separated from the surface of the image carrier. And a third cleaning means for removing residual toner adhering to an elastic cleaning roller comprising a surface protective layer having a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ (Ωcm) to 10 ¹² (Ωcm). The first cleaning means has a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ (Ωcm).
Since the recovered toner removed by the elastic cleaning roller or the second cleaning means having a surface protective layer having a thickness of from 10 to 10 ¹² (Ωcm) is conveyed back to the developing means to form an image, the surface of the cleaning roller is formed. To prevent the occurrence of a cleaning failure on the image carrier after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer-receiving body, and to receive the collected toner which is collected and reused after cleaning at the time of cleaning. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing a generation of an abnormal image at the time of forming a toner image to be reused by further reducing a hazard and forming a high quality image at low cost with excellent durability. Became. According to the twenty-first aspect, the toner image formed by the developing unit that forms the toner image on the image carrier that is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred to the transfer target by the transfer unit. A first method for rotatably holding and removing residual toner adhering to the subsequent image carrier in contact therewith.
The brush roller of the cleaning means and the brush roller of the first cleaning means are arranged on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier, and remove the residual toner adhering to the surface of the image carrier while being separated from the surface of the image carrier. The cleaning device includes a second cleaning unit, a third cleaning unit that removes residual toner attached to the brush roller of the first cleaning unit, and a toner recycling unit. The toner recycling unit controls the brush roller of the first cleaning unit or the second cleaning unit. The collected toner removed by the cleaning means is transported back to the developing means to form an image, so that the occurrence of a cleaning failure on the image carrier after the formed toner image is transferred to the transfer-receiving body. Prevent and receive when cleaning collected toner that is collected and reused after cleaning It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that forms a high-quality image at low cost with excellent durability, by preventing the occurrence of an abnormal image when forming a toner image to be reused by further reducing the zard. became.

According to the twenty-second aspect, transfer for transferring a toner image formed by developing means for forming a toner image on an image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries a formed image onto a transfer-receiving member. A first means for removing the remaining toner which is in contact with and adheres to the image carrier after the transfer by means of means, while being rotatably held;
A brush roller composed of a brush portion which is set so that the core bar is concentric with the core bar of the cleaning means in a roll shape, and the core bar is concentric with the core bar of the first cleaning means in a roll shape. A second cleaning unit that is disposed on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier with respect to the brush roller including the set brush unit and removes residual toner that is separated from and adheres to the surface of the image carrier; Means and first
A third cleaning unit and a toner recycling unit for removing residual toner adhering to a brush roller composed of a core bar of the cleaning unit and a brush unit which is set so that the core bar is concentric with the roll shape. Developing means for developing toner by means of a brush roller comprising a core metal of the first cleaning means and a brush portion which is set so that the core metal is concentric in roll form by the toner recycling means or a developing means; To transfer the toner image to the image receiving member to prevent the occurrence of defective cleaning on the image carrier after transferring the formed toner image to the image receiving member. Hazard received during cleaning of used toner is reduced more reliably and reused. To prevent the occurrence, it has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus for forming a high-quality image excellent small, low-cost durability. According to the twenty-third aspect of the present invention, the toner image formed by the developing unit that forms the toner image on the image carrier that is rotatably supported and carries the formed image is transferred by the transfer unit that transfers the toner image to the transfer object. A first cleaning unit that rotatably holds and removes residual toner that comes into contact with the subsequent image carrier and is disposed upstream of the first cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier; A cleaning blade of a second cleaning means for removing residual toner adhering to the surface of the image bearing member at a distance, a third cleaning means for removing residual toner adhering to the first cleaning means, and a toner recycling means And the collected toner removed by the cleaning blade of the first cleaning unit or the second cleaning unit by the toner recycling unit. Is transported back to the developing means to form an image, thereby preventing the occurrence of a cleaning failure on the image carrier after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer receiving body, and recovering the toner image after cleaning. Reduced hazards when cleaning collected toner that is reused and reused to prevent the occurrence of abnormal images when forming a toner image to be reused. An image forming apparatus for forming an image can be provided.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, a toner image formed by a developing means for forming a toner image on an image carrier which is rotatably supported and carries a formed image is transferred to a transfer object. A first means for removing the remaining toner which is in contact with and adheres to the image carrier after the transfer by means of means, while being rotatably held;
And a second cleaning unit disposed upstream of the first cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier with respect to the first cleaning unit and configured to remove residual toner that is separated from and adheres to the surface of the image carrier. A third cleaning unit for removing residual toner attached to the first cleaning unit; and a toner recycling unit. The toner recycling unit removes the collected toner removed by the first cleaning unit or the second cleaning unit. Since the image is formed by being transported back to the developing unit, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a cleaning failure on the image carrier after transferring the formed toner image to the transfer-receiving member, and to collect the toner image after cleaning. When forming a toner image to reduce the hazard received during cleaning of the collected toner that is reused and reused To prevent the occurrence of abnormal image, it has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus for forming an image of high quality at low cost a compact with a simple structure excellent in durability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory diagram illustrating another main part of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory diagram illustrating another main part of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged explanatory view illustrating a main part of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged explanatory diagram illustrating another main part of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged explanatory view illustrating a main part of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged explanatory view illustrating a main part of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged explanatory view illustrating a main part of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged explanatory diagram illustrating a main part of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating another main part of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another main part of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

0 image forming apparatus, 0a main body 1 image carrier, 1a organic photoconductor, 1b amorphous silicon photoconductor, 1b ₀ heater, 1b ₁ support, 1
b ₂ photoconductive layer, 1b ₂₁ undercoat layer, 1b ₂₂ charge transport layer, 1b ₂₃ charge generating layer, 1b ₃ surface layer, 1b ₄ charge injection blocking layer, 1c heater 2 developing unit, 2a developer carrying member, 2b first 1 screw, 2c second screw 3 transfer means, 3a transfer roller 4 first cleaning means, 4a cleaning roller, 4a ₀ core metal, 4
a ₁ elastic conductive layer, 4a ₂ medium resistance layer, 4a ₃ surface protective layer, 4b brush roller, 4b ₀ core, 4b ₁ brush portion, 4c bias power supply 5 second cleaning means, 5a cleaning blade 6 third cleaning Means, 6a scraper 7 toner recycling means, 7a toner reservoir, 7b
Toner storage section, 7c Toner transfer pipe, 7c ₁ Toner transport screw 8 Process cartridge 9 Charging means 10 Electrostatic latent image forming means 11 Static elimination means 12 Fixing means, 12a Heating roller, 12b Heating roller 13 Discharge tray 14 Cleaning unit, 14a Body cover, 1
4b transport screw 15 paper feeding means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03G 9/087 G03G 21/00 326 15/08 507 9/08 384 21/00 350 15/08 507D 21 / 00 312 314 318 (72) Inventor Osamu Naruse 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Ricoh Co., Ltd. (Reference) 2H005 AB06 2H035 CA07 CB03 CD05 CD14 CZ03 2H068 AA53 DA01 DA24 DA25 DA55 DA61 DA69 2H077 AA37 AB02 AC02 AC16 AD06 AD36 EA03 EA11 2H134 HA01 HA03 HA09 HA13 HA14 HA17 HB01 HB16 HB17 HB19 HD01 JA02 JA11 KA20 KD04 KD05 KD07 KD08 KD12 KG05 KH01 KH03 KH17

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus which forms an image by removing a residual toner adhered to an image carrier after transferring a formed toner image to a transfer receiving body and recycling the collected toner to form an image. An image carrier that supports the formed image and that is supported on the image carrier; a developing device that forms a toner image on the image carrier; a transfer device that transfers the toner image formed by the developing device to a transfer object; First cleaning means for rotatably holding and removing residual toner adhering to the image carrier after transfer by the means;
A second cleaning unit that is disposed upstream of the cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the image carrier and removes residual toner that is separated from and adheres to the surface of the image carrier and adheres to the first cleaning unit; A third cleaning unit that removes residual toner adhering to the unit; and a toner recycling unit that conveys and returns the collected toner removed by the first cleaning unit or the second cleaning unit to the developing unit. An image forming apparatus comprising: 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image carrier is made of an organic photoreceptor. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image carrier is made of an amorphous silicon photoreceptor. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the amorphous silicon photoconductor has a heater. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the amorphous silicon photoconductor has a thickness of 10 μm.
An image forming apparatus, comprising: m or more of a support and a photoconductive layer. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the amorphous silicon photoreceptor has a surface layer having a layer thickness of 0.01 μm to 3.0 μm. apparatus. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the amorphous silicon photoreceptor includes a charge injection blocking layer having a layer thickness of 0.1 μm to 5.0 μm. Image forming apparatus. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the photoconductive layer is formed on the undercoat layer, and has a layer thickness of 1 μm to 100 μm. apparatus. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the amorphous silicon photoreceptor comprises at least silicon atoms, carbon atoms, and fluorine atoms, and has a layer thickness of 5 μm to 5 μm. An image forming apparatus comprising a charge transport layer having a thickness of 50 μm. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the charge transport layer contains oxygen atoms. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the amorphous silicon photoreceptor comprises at least silicon atoms, carbon atoms, and fluorine atoms, and has a layer thickness of at least one of silicon atoms, carbon atoms, and fluorine atoms. Is 0.5 μm to 15.0 μm
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a charge generation layer. 12. The method of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
The image forming apparatus according to 8, 9, 10 or 11,
An image forming apparatus, wherein the developing unit forms a toner image by attaching a polymerization toner to the formed electrostatic latent image and visualizing the polymerized toner. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the polymerization toner is spherical and has a weight average diameter of 4 μm to 15 μm. 14. The method of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
The image forming apparatus according to any one of 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, wherein the first cleaning unit rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the image carrier. 15. The method of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
The image forming apparatus according to any one of 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, wherein the first cleaning unit applies a voltage obtained by superimposing an AC voltage on a DC voltage. 16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first cleaning unit is detachably mounted on a process cartridge detachably mounted on the main body. Image forming apparatus. 17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first cleaning unit includes an elastic cleaning roller. 18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the cleaning roller includes an elastic conductive layer. 19. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the cleaning roller includes a medium resistance layer. 20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the cleaning roller includes a surface protective layer having a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ (Ωcm) to 10 ¹² (Ωcm). Image forming device. 21. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first cleaning unit includes a brush roller. 22. The image forming apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the brush roller comprises a core bar and a brush portion which is set in a roll shape so that the core bar is concentric. Forming equipment. 23. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second cleaning unit includes a cleaning blade. 24. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the third cleaning unit is a scraper.