JP2005315987A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus for configuring a transfer device in a compact manner. <P>SOLUTION: The surface of a secondary transfer conveying belt 21 is cleaned with cleaning devices 60 and 70. The cleaning devices 60 and 70 are provided with conductive fur brushes 24 and 25 and collection rollers 26 and 27. A drive roller 22 for driving the secondary transfer conveying belt 21 is arranged so as to push a backup roller 28, by sandwiching an intermediate transfer belt 15, and has the function as a transfer roller for making secondary transfer of a toner image carried on the intermediate transfer belt 15 on paper P. In addition, the drive roller 22 and a follower roller 23 are earthed together, and transfer bias is applied by a transfer bias applying device 80 via a power supply roller 29 on the backup roller 28. Thus, the drive roller 22, adjacent to the fur brushes 24 and 25, has the function as a counter electrode of the cleaning devices 60 and 70. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine of these.

In an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine using an electrophotographic system, an electrostatic latent image formed by a known electrophotographic process on the surface of an image carrier made of an organic photoreceptor is developed on a toner image carrier, Next, the toner image is electrostatically transferred to a recording medium (such as paper) by a transfer device, and then the toner image is fixed to the recording medium by, for example, a heat fixing mechanism, thereby forming an image.
The toner remaining in the transfer device adheres to the back surface of the recording medium and becomes dirty on the next transfer, and is removed and collected from the transfer unit of the transfer device by the cleaning device. For example, in the case where a transfer belt is provided, the cleaning device is a conductive brush that is applied with a bias voltage having the same polarity as the toner charge polarity of the toner image and contacts the surface of the transfer belt for cleaning, and the back side of the transfer belt And a plate-like counter electrode disposed opposite to the conductive brush is proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-260587 (pages 3 to 4, FIG. 1)

  However, in the vicinity of the transfer belt, not only the conductive brush and the counter electrode described above, but also a driving roller and a driven roller around which the transfer belt is wound, and a photosensitive drum as an image carrier are arranged and transferred. A transfer roller that contacts the back surface of the belt is disposed. For this reason, the peripheral length of the transfer belt becomes large, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the image forming apparatus due to layout restrictions, and it is difficult to reduce costs due to the large number of components. There are also concerns. In this patent document, there is also proposed a drive roller configured to function as a counter electrode (page 5, FIG. 4), but the above problem has not been sufficiently solved yet.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus in which a transfer device can be made compact.

For this purpose, the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied includes a cleaning unit that cleans the surface of the paper transport belt, and the drive roller of the transfer belt serves as both the transfer unit and the opposing member of the cleaning unit. doing. That is, a carrier on which a toner image is carried, a transfer belt that transfers the toner image carried on the carrier to a recording material, a cleaning unit that cleans the surface of the transfer belt, and a carrier to the recording material In the transfer region, it is disposed so as to press the carrier through the transfer belt, and includes a driving roller that functions as a counter electrode of the cleaning means and drives the transfer belt.
The cleaning means includes a conductive fur brush that removes dirt on the surface of the transfer belt and a collecting roller that collects dirt removed by the fur brush, and applies a bias larger than that of the fur brush to the collecting roller. Can be a feature. With this configuration, incomplete cleaning due to blade turning or the like can be avoided.

In addition, a plurality of cleaning units may be provided, and biases having different polarities may be applied to the adjacent cleaning units. If comprised in this way, it can be set as the highly reliable cleaning performance.
Further, two cleaning means are provided, and further includes a toner collection bias control means for controlling the bias applied to each cleaning means so as to have opposite polarities every predetermined print cycle. it can. With this configuration, the two cleaning units can collect the toner evenly.
Two cleaning units are provided along the rotation direction of the transfer belt, and each cleaning unit includes a conductive fur brush that removes dirt on the surface of the transfer belt, and a collection roller that collects dirt removed by the fur brush. And a toner recovery bias control means for reversing the magnitude of the bias applied to the fur brush and the bias applied to the recovery roller in the cleaning means positioned downstream in the rotation direction of the transfer belt. Can do. With this configuration, the fur brush on the downstream side can be periodically refreshed.

  Further, a combined resistance value measuring unit that measures a combined resistance value excluding the recording material in a transfer region from the carrier to the recording material, and a bias corresponding to the combined resistance value measured by the combined resistance value measuring unit are used as a cleaning unit. And a bias control means for applying toner recovery to be applied. With this configuration, it is possible to apply an appropriate bias to the cleaning unit, and it is possible to perform reliable cleaning.

From another point of view, an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied includes an intermediate transfer belt on which a toner image is carried, a transfer belt that transfers the toner image carried on the intermediate transfer belt to a recording material, A support roller for supporting the intermediate transfer belt in the transfer area from the intermediate transfer belt to the recording material, a cleaning unit for cleaning the surface of the transfer belt, and an intermediate transfer belt and a transfer belt in the transfer area from the intermediate transfer belt to the recording material. A driving roller that is disposed so as to press the support roller therebetween, functions as a counter electrode of the cleaning unit, and drives the transfer belt.
Here, a transfer bias applying means for applying a transfer bias to the support roller and a grounding means for grounding the drive roller can be further provided.

The transfer bias applying means may be characterized in that the transfer bias is applied to the support roller with a reverse polarity when transferring to the recording material and at other times. If comprised in this way, the cleaning apparatus of an intermediate transfer belt can be utilized.
Further, the transfer bias applying means may apply the transfer bias to the support roller by either constant voltage application or constant current application. If comprised in this way, the application mode according to a condition can be selected.

  According to the present invention, since the drive roller is configured to serve as both the transfer roller and the counter electrode of the cleaning unit, there is no need to arrange the transfer roller and the counter electrode of the cleaning unit in the transfer belt. The circumference of the belt can be shortened, the transfer device can be made compact, and the entire image forming apparatus can be miniaturized.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a so-called tandem type image forming apparatus, for example, a plurality of image forming units 10 (10Y, 10M, 10C, 10K) in which toner images of respective color components are formed by electrophotography. An intermediate transfer belt (toner image carrier) 15 for sequentially transferring (primary transfer) and holding each color component toner image formed by each image forming unit 10, and an overlap transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 15 A secondary transfer device 20 that batch-transfers (secondary transfer) images to a sheet P as a transfer material, and a fixing device 30 that fixes the secondary-transferred image on the sheet P are provided. Moreover, it has the control part 40 which controls operation | movement of each apparatus (each part).

  In the present embodiment, each of the image forming units 10 (10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K) includes a charger 12 around the photosensitive drum 11 that rotates in the direction of arrow A, and a charger 12 that charges the photosensitive drum 11. A laser exposure unit 13 (an exposure beam is indicated by a symbol Bm in the drawing) in which an electrostatic latent image is written on the photosensitive drum 11 and each color component toner is accommodated to generate an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 11. The developing device 14 that visualizes the toner image, the primary transfer roll 16 that transfers the color component toner images formed on the photosensitive drum 11 to the intermediate transfer belt 15, and the residual toner on the photosensitive drum 11 are removed. Electrophotographic devices such as a drum cleaner 17 are sequentially disposed. These image forming units 10 are arranged in the order of yellow (Y color), magenta (M color), cyan (C color), and black (K color) from the upstream side of the intermediate transfer belt 15.

The intermediate transfer belt 15 that is an intermediate transfer member is made of a resin such as polyimide or polyamide containing an appropriate amount of a conductive agent such as carbon black, and has a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ to 10 ¹⁴ Ω · cm. The thickness of the endless belt is, for example, about 0.1 mm. The intermediate transfer belt 15 is configured to be circulated and driven (rotated) at a predetermined speed in the direction B shown in the drawing by various rolls. As these various rolls, there are provided a drive roll 31 that is driven by a motor (not shown) to rotate the intermediate transfer belt 15 and a function of giving a constant tension to the intermediate transfer belt 15 and preventing meandering of the intermediate transfer belt 15. A tension roll 32, a driven roll 35 that supports the intermediate transfer belt 15 and applies a constant tension, and a backup roll (support roll) 28 provided in a secondary transfer portion.

  In the IBT module 18 provided facing each photoconductor drum 11, a voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner is applied to each primary transfer roll 16 provided inside the intermediate transfer belt 15 that extends substantially linearly. It has come to be. As a result, the toner images on the respective photosensitive drums 11 are sequentially electrostatically attracted to the intermediate transfer belt 15, and a superimposed toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 15.

The secondary transfer device 20 includes a secondary transfer conveyance belt (transfer belt) 21 disposed on the toner image carrying surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 15. The backup roll 28 as the opposite roll is a tube of EPDM and NBR blend rubber with carbon dispersed on the surface, and the inside is made of EPDM rubber, the surface resistivity is 10 ⁷ to 10 ¹⁰ Ω / □, and the roll diameter is It is formed to be 28 mm, and the hardness is set to 70 degrees (Asker C), for example. The backup roll 28 is disposed on the back surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 15 to form a counter electrode of the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21, and a metal power supply roll 29 for stably applying a secondary transfer bias is disposed in contact therewith. Has been.

On the other hand, the secondary transfer transport belt 21 is stretched by a drive roll (transfer roll) 22 made of a metal such as SUS or a semiconductive rubber roll having a volume resistance of 10 ⁹ Ω or less, and a driven roll 23 made of a rubber roll, for example. For example, a semiconductive endless belt having a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ to 10 ¹⁰ Ω · cm and a material having a 100% elongation modulus of 3.8 MPa is used. The secondary transfer transport belt 21 is transported at a predetermined speed by the drive roll 22, and a predetermined tension is applied by the drive roll 22 and the driven roll 23.

  The drive roll 22 is disposed in pressure contact with the backup roll 28 with the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 and the intermediate transfer belt 15 interposed therebetween, and performs secondary transfer on the paper P conveyed on the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21. It functions as a secondary transfer roll. In addition, the contact state of the secondary transfer member can be changed by changing the pressure state between the backup roll 28 and the drive roll 22, and alignment adjustment and image parallelism adjustment can be performed. The diameter of the driven roll 23 is small enough not to be wound around the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 even when thin paper coated paper or the like is conveyed. Further, the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 includes a first cleaning device 60 provided with a conductive fur brush 24 and a collection roller 26 in the vicinity of the upstream side of the secondary transfer portion that is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 15. A second cleaning device 70 provided with a neutral fur brush 25 and a collection roller 27 is disposed. The conductive fur brushes 24 and 25 are disposed in contact with the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 to remove dirt attached to the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21. The collection rollers 26 and 27 are disposed adjacent to the fur brushes 24 and 25 and collect the dirt removed by the fur brushes 24 and 25.

  Further, on the downstream side of the backup roll 28, a belt cleaner 41 that removes residual toner and paper dust on the intermediate transfer belt 15 after the secondary transfer and cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15 is provided so as to be contactable and separable. ing. On the other hand, on the upstream side of the yellow image forming unit 10Y, a reference sensor (home position sensor) 43 that generates a reference signal serving as a reference for taking an image forming timing in each image forming unit 10 is disposed. The reference sensor 43 recognizes a predetermined mark provided on the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 15 to generate a reference signal, and each image forming unit 10 receives the instruction from the control unit 40 based on the recognition of the reference signal. It is configured to start image formation. Further, an image density sensor 42 for adjusting image quality is disposed on the downstream side of the black image forming unit 10K.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as a paper transport system, a paper tray 50 that stores the paper P, a pickup roll 51 that picks up and transports the paper P accumulated in the paper tray 50 at a predetermined timing, and a pickup roll 51. , A transport roll 52 that transports the paper P fed out by the transport roller 52, a transport chute 53 that feeds the paper P transported by the transport roll 52 to a secondary transfer position by the secondary transfer device 20, and a paper P after the secondary transfer Are provided with conveying belts 54 and 55 for conveying the paper P to the fixing device 30, and a chute 56 for guiding the paper P between the conveying belts 54 and 55.

  Next, a basic image forming process of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. Image data output from an image reading device (IIT) (not shown), a personal computer (PC) (not shown), or the like is input to the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. In the image forming apparatus, after predetermined image processing is performed by an image processing apparatus (IPS) (not shown), an image forming operation is performed by the image forming unit 10 or the like. In the image processing apparatus (IPS), the input reflectance data is subjected to image processing such as shading correction, position shift correction, brightness / color space conversion, gamma correction, frame deletion, color editing, and movement editing. . The image data that has been subjected to image processing is converted into color material gradation data of four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K), and is output to the laser exposure unit 13. .

  The laser exposure unit 13 irradiates each photosensitive drum 11 of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K with, for example, an exposure beam Bm emitted from a semiconductor laser according to the input color material gradation data. Yes. In the photosensitive drum 11 of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K, the surface is charged by the charger 12, and then the surface is scanned and exposed by the laser exposure unit 13 to form an electrostatic latent image. The formed electrostatic latent image is developed as a toner image of each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) in each of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K. Is done.

  The toner images formed on the photosensitive drums 11 of the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 15 at the primary transfer portion where the photosensitive drums 11 and the intermediate transfer belt 15 are in contact with each other. Transcribed. More specifically, in the primary transfer portion, the primary transfer roll 16 applies a voltage having a polarity opposite to the charged polarity of the toner to the base material of the intermediate transfer belt 15, and the unfixed toner image is transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15. Are sequentially superposed on each other to perform primary transfer. The unfixed toner image primarily transferred in this way is conveyed to the secondary transfer device 20 as the intermediate transfer belt 15 rotates.

  On the other hand, in the paper transport system, the pickup roll 51 rotates in synchronization with the image formation timing, and the paper P of a predetermined size is supplied from the paper tray 50. The paper P supplied by the pickup roll 51 is transported by the transport roll 52 and reaches the secondary transfer device 20 via the transport chute 53. Before reaching the secondary transfer device 20, the conveyance chute 53 rises in conjunction with the ascending operation (advance operation) of the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 to form a conveyance path to the secondary transfer device 20. Yes. The sheet P is temporarily stopped, and the registration roll (not shown) rotates in accordance with the movement timing of the intermediate transfer belt 15 carrying the toner image as described above, whereby the position of the sheet P and the position of the toner image are detected. And alignment.

  In the secondary transfer device 20, the drive roll 22 is connected to the backup roll 28 in a state where the semiconductive secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 and the intermediate transfer belt 15 are sandwiched therebetween in accordance with the timing of the secondary transfer onto the paper P. Pressed. At this time, the sheet P transported at the same timing is sandwiched between the intermediate transfer belt 15 and the secondary transfer transport belt 21. At this time, when a voltage (normal transfer bias) having the same polarity as the toner charging polarity is applied to the power supply roll 29, a transfer electric field is formed on the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 as a counter electrode, and the drive roll 22 and the backup roll 22 are backed up. The unfixed toner image carried on the intermediate transfer belt 15 is electrostatically transferred onto the paper P at the secondary transfer position pressed by the roll 28.

  Thereafter, the sheet P on which the toner image has been electrostatically transferred is conveyed as it is while being peeled off from the intermediate transfer belt 15 by the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21, and is provided downstream of the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 in the sheet conveyance direction. It is conveyed at a constant speed to the conveyor belt 54. The paper P transported to the end of the transport belt 54 is transferred to the transport belt 55 via the chute 56. The conveyance belt 55 changes the speed according to the optimum conveyance speed in the fixing device 30 and conveys the paper P to the fixing device 30. The unfixed toner image on the sheet P is fixed on the sheet P by being subjected to a fixing process by heat and pressure by the fixing device 30, and the sheet P on which the fixed image is formed is discharged by a discharge roll (not shown). Is discharged outside. On the other hand, after the transfer onto the paper P is completed, the residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 15 is conveyed to the cleaning unit as the intermediate transfer belt 15 rotates, and is removed from the intermediate transfer belt 15 by the belt cleaner 41. Removed.

Next, the secondary transfer unit of the secondary transfer device 20 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration around the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the drive roll 22 for driving the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 is configured to press the backup roll 28 with the intermediate transfer belt 15 interposed therebetween, and the toner carried on the intermediate transfer belt 15. It has a function as a transfer roller for secondary transfer of the image onto the paper P. The drive roll 22 and the driven roll 23 are both grounded, and the drive roll 22 adjacent to the fur brushes 24 and 25 also has a function as a counter electrode of the cleaning devices 60 and 70. In order for the drive roll 22 to function as the counter electrode of the cleaning devices 60 and 70, the volume resistance of the drive roll 22 is set to 10 ⁹ Ω · cm or less. Further, in order to make the drive roll 22 difficult to walk, the hardness of the drive roll 22 is set to 25 ° or more by Asker C. If the hardness is too low and too soft, wrinkles are generated by the walk of the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21, and the hardness of the drive roll 22 is defined in consideration of incomplete cleaning by the fur brushes 24 and 25. Yes.
The cleaning device 60 includes a scraper 61 that scrapes off the toner on the collection roller 26, and the cleaning device 70 includes a scraper 71 that scrapes off the toner on the collection roller 27.

Bias having different polarities are applied to the cleaning device 60 located on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 15 and the cleaning device 70 located on the downstream side thereof. That is, since the toner remaining on the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 after transfer varies in charge, a positive polarity bias is applied to the cleaning device 60 to attract the negatively charged toner, and the cleaning device A negative polarity bias is applied to 70 in order to adsorb the positively charged toner.
In the cleaning device 60, the + polarity is applied so that the bias is different between the fur brush 24 and the collection roller 26. That is, the fur brush 24 has a smaller bias and the collection roller 26 has a larger bias. Further, in the cleaning device 70, a negative polarity is applied so that the fur brush 25 and the collection roller 27 have different biases. That is, the fur brush 25 has a smaller bias, and the collection roller 27 has a larger bias. In this way, by setting the collection rollers 26 and 27 to a bias larger than that of the fur brushes 24 and 25, the toner collected by the fur brushes 24 and 25 can be smoothly transferred to the collection rollers 26 and 27. The cleaning ability by the fur brushes 24 and 25 can be maintained.

  In the present embodiment, the CPU 90 is configured to reverse the polarities of the cleaning device 60 and the cleaning device 70 every predetermined print cycle. The toner usually has one of the polarities, and generally, the toner charged negatively is more than the toner charged positively. For this reason, first, a large amount of negatively charged toner is removed by the cleaning device 60, and then a relatively small amount of toner that is positively charged is removed by the cleaning device 70. Since the toner removal amount of the cleaning device 60 is larger than the toner removal amount of the cleaning device 70, the increase rate of the toner collection box (not shown) is larger in the cleaning device 60 than in the cleaning device 70. In consideration of such circumstances, by reversing the polarities of the cleaning device 60 and the cleaning device 70 for each predetermined print cycle, the accumulation in the toner recovery box can be made uniform, and the capacity of the toner recovery box can be increased. It can be used effectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, a transfer bias applying device 80 is provided on the power supply roll 29 disposed in contact with the backup roll 28. That is, the transfer bias is applied from the backup roll 28 side. As described above, the drive roll 22 is grounded.
The reason for this configuration is as follows. When a transfer bias is applied from the drive roll 22 side, the drive roll 22 cannot function as a counter electrode of the cleaning devices 60 and 70. On the other hand, if a transfer bias is applied from the backup roll 28 side located on the inner surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 15 and the drive roll 22 is grounded, the transfer roller and the counter electrode of the cleaning device are shared by one roller. be able to.

  The transfer bias applying device 80 is configured so that the CPU 90 can switch between two polarities. Usually, a negative polarity bias that is the same as the polarity of the toner is applied as a transfer bias, but when the paper P is not running (when paper is not passing), the opposite polarity is the positive polarity. The bias is applied. For example, when a paper jam (jam) occurs and a large amount of toner is transferred to the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21, it cannot be handled by the cleaning devices 60 and 70 alone. A belt cleaner 41 for 15 (see FIG. 1) is used. That is, when a paper jam or the like occurs, the CPU 90 sends a signal to the transfer bias applying device 80 so as to apply a positive polarity, which is a polarity opposite to the transfer bias. The toner is transferred to the transfer belt 15, and the toner transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 15 is removed and collected by the belt cleaner 41. In this way, the surface of the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 can be reliably cleaned.

Here, the transfer bias applying device 80 applies a bias in one of a constant voltage application mode and a constant current application mode. In the constant voltage application mode, an electric field having a substantially constant potential gradient is stably formed, so that various types of paper P can be handled. On the other hand, the constant current application mode is a mode that is used when the paper P is not in the secondary transfer portion (when no paper is passed), and is a mode that is performed when the combined resistance in the secondary transfer portion is obtained. That is, when the sheet is not fed, the CPU 90 applies a bias to the transfer bias applying device 80 from the backup roll 28 side, and the combined resistance value of the backup roll 28, the intermediate transfer belt 15, the secondary transfer conveyance belt 21 and the drive roll 22 is obtained. Perform the combined resistance detection cycle (setup cycle) to be detected.
A bias to be applied to the fur brushes 24 and 25 is determined according to the detected combined resistance value. Specifically, it is as shown in the following table. The monitor value (A) by the combined resistance detection cycle indicates the voltage (V) when a current of 60 μA is applied to the secondary transfer portion.

By controlling the applied bias in this way, an optimum bias that varies depending on the resistance of the drive roll 22 can be applied, and the surface of the secondary transfer transport belt 21 can be reliably cleaned by the fur brushes 24 and 25. .
In addition to the case where the set-up cycle is carried out every fixed number of prints (for example, 200 sheets), the temperature and / or humidity is monitored by a sensor (not shown), for example, when the temperature change is 2 ° C. For example, when the humidity change is 10% RH.

In the cleaning device 70 located on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 15, a refresh cycle can be performed in which the magnitudes of the biases of the fur brush 25 and the collection roller 27 are reversed.
As described above, the cleaning device 70 is normally applied with a negative bias and applies a larger bias to the collection roller 27 than the fur brush 25. When the magnitude relationship is reversed, it acts like a cleaning device 60 to which a positive polarity bias is applied, as if the polarity was reversed. Focusing on this, it is configured such that negatively charged toner can be cleaned by the cleaning device 70. That is, the negatively charged toner is attracted to the fur brush 24 of the cleaning device 60 to which a positive polarity bias is applied, but the negatively charged toner cannot be completely attracted by the fur brush 24. The toner accumulates in the fur brush 25 of the cleaning device 70. Therefore, if a refresh cycle is performed to reverse the magnitude of the bias of the fur brush 25 and the bias of the collecting roller 27, the toner accumulated in the fur brush 25 can be transferred to the collecting roller 27, thereby preventing poor cleaning. become able to.

  Although the cleaning devices 60 and 70 may be configured to perform cleaning with a blade, when a fur brush is used as in the present embodiment, incomplete cleaning due to blade turning or the like can be avoided. Further, although two cleaning devices 60 and 70 are used, only one cleaning device may be used. Further, in this embodiment, a system using the secondary transfer transport belt 21 as a means for transferring the toner image onto the paper P by contacting the intermediate transfer belt 15 and transporting the paper is employed. 11 may be applied to a system in which a toner image is directly transferred onto a sheet P.

  Examples of use of the present invention include use in a developing device that forms an image with a developer and an image forming device such as a printer or a copying machine.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus to which the exemplary embodiment is applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration around a secondary transfer conveyance belt illustrated in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Intermediate transfer belt, 21 ... Secondary transfer conveyance belt, 22 ... Drive roll, 23 ... Driven roll, 24, 25 ... Fur brush, 26, 27 ... Collection roller, 28 ... Backup roll, 29 ... Power supply roll, 41 ... Belt cleaner, 60, 70 ... cleaning device, 61, 71 ... scraper, 80 ... transfer bias applying device, 90 ... CPU

Claims (10)

A carrier on which a toner image is carried;
A transfer belt for transferring a toner image carried on the carrier to a recording material;
Cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the transfer belt;
A drive roller that is disposed so as to press the carrier through the transfer belt in the transfer region from the carrier to the recording material, functions as a counter electrode of the cleaning unit, and drives the transfer belt; An image forming apparatus including: The cleaning means includes a conductive fur brush that removes dirt on the surface of the transfer belt, and a collection roller that collects dirt removed by the fur brush,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a bias larger than that of the fur brush is applied to the collecting roller. A plurality of the cleaning means are provided,
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein biases having different polarities are applied to the cleaning units adjacent to each other. Two cleaning means are provided,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a toner collection bias control unit that controls the bias applied to each of the cleaning units so as to have an opposite polarity every predetermined print cycle. Two cleaning means are provided along the rotation direction of the transfer belt,
Each of the cleaning means includes a conductive fur brush that removes dirt on the surface of the transfer belt, and a collection roller that collects dirt removed by the fur brush,
The toner recovery bias control unit further reverses the magnitude of the bias applied to the fur brush and the bias applied to the recovery roller in the cleaning unit positioned on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the transfer belt. Item 2. The image forming apparatus according to Item 1. A combined resistance value measuring means for measuring a combined resistance value excluding the recording material in the transfer region from the carrier to the recording material;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a toner collection bias control unit that applies a bias corresponding to the combined resistance value measured by the combined resistance value measuring unit to the cleaning unit. An intermediate transfer belt on which a toner image is carried;
A transfer belt for transferring the toner image carried on the intermediate transfer belt to a recording material;
A support roller for supporting the intermediate transfer belt in a transfer region from the intermediate transfer belt to the recording material;
Cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the transfer belt;
In the transfer region from the intermediate transfer belt to the recording material, the intermediate transfer belt and the transfer belt are disposed so as to press the support roller, and the transfer belt functions as a counter electrode of the cleaning unit. An image forming apparatus comprising: a driving roller for driving the motor. Transfer bias applying means for applying a transfer bias to the support roller;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a grounding unit that grounds the driving roller.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the transfer bias applying unit applies the transfer bias to the support roller with a reverse polarity when transferring to the recording material and when not transferring to the recording material.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the transfer bias applying unit applies a transfer bias to the support roller by applying a constant voltage or a constant current.

Images