JP2002258717A - Process cartridge and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a process cartridge and image forming device, which accommodates paper powder accumulating around a resist roller, thereby preventing the paper powder from entering a photoreceptor drum and contaminating the inside of the device. SOLUTION: A support 18 is provided on a device main body so as to be located close to the resist roller 14, and a paper powder scraping member 17 is attached to the support. An accommodating member 20 is detachably provided below the process cartridge 15, in order to form an accommodating chamber 19 used for accommodating paper powder p scraped by the scraping member 17. Thus, the paper powder p sticking to the resist roller 14 is scraped off by the member 17, is accommodated in the accommodating chamber 19, and is kept in the chamber 19 without entering the photoreceptor drum 1. Even after the process cartridge 15 is pulled out, the device main body is free from the paper powder and, therefore, has a clean appearance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a process cartridge used for an image forming apparatus and an image forming apparatus using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of a laser printer as an example of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a photosensitive drum, around which a transfer roller 2, a registration roller 3, a toner hopper 4 and a developing roller 5, which constitute a developing unit, a charging roller 6, and a cleaning blade 8 of a cleaning unit 7 are arranged. Has an optical writing unit 11, a fixing unit 12, a paper feed tray 13, and a paper feed roller 14.

[0003] This laser printer is a general digital laser printer, and the processes from sheet conveyance to image formation and sheet ejection are well-known, and therefore description thereof is omitted. Further, the photosensitive drum 1, the developing unit 4, the toner hopper 4, the developing roller 5, the charging roller 6, and the cleaning unit 7 are integrated into a process cartridge 15,
Is composed.

Further, in this laser printer, as shown in FIG. 2, after the process cartridge 15 is set in the apparatus main body 10 and the cover 16 is closed, the printer can be operated.

Further, in this laser printer, as shown in FIG. 3, a paper dust scraping member 17 is provided for the registration roller 14, and the paper powder adhered to the registration roller 14 is transferred and adhered by electrostatic force and Van der Waals force. Let it be removed.

That is, in this type of image forming apparatus, transfer paper fed from the paper feed tray 13 generates paper dust due to rubbing or the like when the paper is conveyed by many paper feed rollers or registration rollers 14. If the paper dust enters the photosensitive drum 1 side, it may cause defective filming of the photosensitive drum 1 or cleaning by the cleaning blade 8, and may cause an abnormal image.

This intrusion of the paper dust can be considerably prevented by providing a member 17 that slides on the registration roller 14 to scrape the paper dust as shown in the figure. Accumulates on the photosensitive drum 1
Invading the side, causing an abnormal image. In addition, when the process cartridge 15 is removed by jam processing or the like, since a large amount of paper powder is accumulated on the registration roller 14, the appearance from the user is poor, and the user may stain clothes and hands during jam processing. is there.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a process cartridge and a process cartridge capable of preventing accumulated paper dust from entering the photosensitive drum and contaminating the machine by accommodating the accumulated paper dust around the registration roller. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus using the same.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge for achieving the above object.
An electrophotographic photosensitive member, a charging unit for uniformly charging the electrophotographic photosensitive member, a developing unit for visualizing a latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member with a developer, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member after transferring the developer. A process cartridge having at least one of cleaning means for cleaning to remove residual developer and being detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus main body; It is characterized in that an accommodating portion for the scraped paper powder is detachably provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in the process cartridge according to the first aspect, the accommodation portion is provided detachably.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein a paper dust scraping member is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising:
In order to achieve the above object, an electrophotographic photoreceptor, charging means for uniformly charging the electrophotographic photoreceptor, developing means for visualizing a latent image formed on the electrophotographic photoreceptor with a developer, and the electrophotography An image forming apparatus having at least one process means of cleaning means for removing a residual developer by cleaning a photosensitive member after transferring a developer, and having a process cartridge detachably mounted to an image forming apparatus main body; , A paper dust scraping member for scraping paper dust from a registration roller on the image forming apparatus main body side and an accommodating portion for the paper dust scraped from the registration roller are provided, and the registration roller is provided on the process cartridge side. Provide a cleaning member that can slide and
The paper dust is taken into the storage section on the image forming apparatus main body side by the attachment / detachment operation of the process cartridge.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the accommodation portion is detachable from the image forming apparatus main body.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, portions common to the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view (A) showing the first embodiment of the present invention and enlarged sectional views (B) and (C) of an essential part. As shown in the figure, the present embodiment is similar to the conventional example in that a support portion 18 is provided on the apparatus main body side close to the registration roller 14 and a paper dust scraping member 17 is attached thereto. At the bottom, a paper dust scraping member 17
An accommodation chamber 19 for accommodating the paper dust p scraped off by means of is formed.

The accommodation chamber 19 contains the process cartridge 15.
A pair of support protrusions 15a and 15b is provided at the lower part of the housing, and the housing member 20 is detachably fitted between the support protrusions 15a and 15b as shown in FIG. 4C. Housing member 2
0 contacts the paper dust scraping member 17 on the opening side of the storage chamber 19, and the paper dust p adhered to the registration roller 14.
Is scraped off by the paper dust scraping member 17, is stored in the storage chamber 19 via the tip of the storage member 20, and stays in the storage chamber 19 without entering the photosensitive drum 1 side. Also, when the process cartridge 15 is removed, no paper dust remains on the apparatus main body side, so that there is no problem in appearance. When the storage chamber 19 is full of paper dust, the process cartridge 15 may be removed, the storage member 20 may be removed, and maintenance such as cleaning may be performed.

The storage chamber 19 may be fixedly formed directly below the process cartridge 15. However, when recycling or refilling is considered, maintenance becomes necessary. It is desirable to be able to maintain it because it is easier to maintain.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a paper dust scraping member 17 is attached to a housing member 20 which is detachably provided between supporting protrusions 15a and 15b projecting below the process cartridge 15. For this reason, the structure is simplified, and the paper dust p is easily stored in the storage chamber 19 of the process cartridge 15. In this embodiment as well, the storage chamber 19 may be fixedly formed directly below the process cartridge 15, but it is better to be detachable for better maintenance.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the protrusion 1 is attached to the support member 18 provided on the image forming apparatus main body side.
8a is provided, and a housing member 20 for forming a housing room 19 for paper dust is detachably attached to a projection 18b for attaching the paper dust scraping member 17. The registration roller 1 is provided on the lower surface of the process cartridge 15.
Four cleaning members 22 are attached.

When the process cartridge 15 is removed (the removal direction is indicated by an arrow in the drawing), the paper dust p accumulated on the registration roller 14 is cleaned by the cleaning member 22 and collected in the storage chamber 19 on the apparatus body side. Is done. Therefore, the paper dust p does not spill out of the process cartridge 15 when the process cartridge 15 is attached or detached. When the storage chamber 19 is full of paper dust, the process cartridge 15 is taken out, the storage member 20 is removed from the support member 18 and maintenance such as cleaning may be performed, so that the maintainability is improved.

In this embodiment as well, the storage chamber 19 may be fixedly formed directly on the support member 18, but it is better to maintain the storage chamber 19 when it is detachable.

[0021]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, paper dust can be collected in the accommodating portion provided in the process cartridge. This has the effect of preventing abnormal images and in-machine contamination due to the above.

As described above, the process cartridge according to the second aspect of the present invention is provided with the paper dust accommodating portion detachably provided. There is an effect that it can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, as described above, the process cartridge is provided with the paper dust removing member. There is an effect that collection can be performed more smoothly and the structure is simplified.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, as described above, when the process cartridge is removed by the cleaning member provided in the process cartridge, the paper dust of the registration roller portion can be cleaned, and Since the paper dust is collected in a short time, there is an effect that paper dust does not drop from the process cartridge when the process cartridge is attached / detached.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, as described above, the accommodating portion of the paper dust can be detachably attached to the main body of the image forming device. There is an effect that the maintainability when the powder is full can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a laser printer as an example of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration for mounting and removing a process cartridge in the laser printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating the vicinity of a process cartridge and a registration roller in the laser printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view (A) showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and an enlarged cross-sectional view (B) and (C) of a main part.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 photosensitive drum 2 transfer roller 3 registration roller 4 toner hopper 5 developing roller 6 charging roller 7 cleaning unit 8 cleaning blade 10 device body 11 optical writing unit 12 fixing unit 13 paper feed tray 14 paper feed roller 15 process cartridges 15a, 15b support projection Part 16 Cover 17 Paper dust scraping member 18 Supporting parts 18a, 18b Projecting part 19 Housing room 20 Housing member 22 Cleaning member p Paper dust

Claims (5)

[Claims] An electrophotographic photosensitive member, charging means for uniformly charging the electrophotographic photosensitive member, developing means for visualizing a latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member with a developer, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member. A process cartridge that has at least one process unit of cleaning means for removing the residual developer by cleaning after transfer of the developer, wherein the process cartridge is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus main body; A process cartridge, comprising a detachably provided storage section for paper dust scraped off from a provided registration roller. 2. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said housing portion is detachably provided. 3. The process cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a paper dust scraping member. 4. An electrophotographic photosensitive member, charging means for uniformly charging the electrophotographic photosensitive member, developing means for visualizing a latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member with a developer, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a process cartridge having at least one process unit of cleaning means for removing a residual developer by cleaning after transfer of a developer, and having a process cartridge detachably attached to the image forming apparatus main body. A paper dust scraping member for scraping paper dust from the registration roller and an accommodating portion for the paper dust scraped from the registration roller are provided on the image forming apparatus main body side, and the registration roller is in sliding contact with the process roller on the process cartridge side. A cleaning member is provided, and paper dust is taken into the accommodation section on the image forming apparatus main body side by the operation of attaching and detaching the process cartridge. An image forming apparatus comprising: 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said housing portion is detachable from said image forming apparatus main body.