JP2009003327A - Cleaning device and image forming apparatus with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device capable of restraining a quantity of toner consumed for polishing an image carrier, by suppressing the occurrence of a jitter image during image formation and by effectively using recovered toner as a polishing material, and to provide an image forming apparatus with the cleaning device. <P>SOLUTION: The housing 5aa houses: a conveyance spiral 23; a friction roller 21 that recovers toner and polishes a photoreceptor drum 1a; and a toner restricting plate 30 extending from the upper wall face of the housing 5aa so as to be close to the friction roller 21. The toner restricting plate 30 has windows 30a. The friction roller 21 is rotated opposite to the photoreceptor drum 1a. The toner restricting plate 30 supplies some of the recovered toner in order to polish the photoreceptor drum 1a and stores the predetermined amount of rest of the recovered toner between the toner restricting plate 30 and the friction roller 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device that removes untransferred toner remaining on the surface of an image carrier and an image forming apparatus including the same.

  In an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system such as a copying machine, a printer, or a FAX, a powder developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) is mainly used, and an electrostatic image formed on an image carrier such as a photosensitive drum. In general, the latent image is visualized with toner in the developing device, and the toner image is transferred onto a recording medium, and then a fixing process is performed. In such an image forming apparatus, a cleaning device for removing residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum is mounted.

  Further, the surface of the photosensitive drum is usually made of amorphous silicon (α-Si) or the like, but it is known that the surface of the α-Si tends to be oxidized when image formation is repeated. . When oxidation occurs on the α-Si surface, the oxidized portion may become an image stream and affect the image quality.

  Therefore, in order to maintain the surface of the photoconductor drum in a clean state, the cleaning device is provided with a rubbing roller, the rubbing roller is brought into contact with the photoconductor drum, and the rotation direction of the photoconductor drum is the same as the contact surface. The toner is rotated in the direction to collect the residual toner on the photosensitive drum, and a part of the collected toner is supplied to the surface of the photosensitive drum to polish the surface.

  FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a conventional cleaning device. The cleaning device 5 a includes a rubbing roller 21, a cleaning blade 22, and a conveying spiral 23 that are in line contact with each other in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 1 a by a spring (not shown) in the housing 5 aa. The rubbing roller 21 is directly connected to a motor (not shown), and the conveying spiral 23 is connected to the motor via a gear (not shown), and is driven to rotate at a predetermined speed. The cleaning blade 22 is fixed to the housing 5aa via a mounting bracket 37.

  The residual toner scraped off from the surface of the photosensitive drum 1a by the cleaning blade 22 and the residual toner collected by the rubbing roller 21 are dropped by gravity and gradually accumulate in the housing 5aa as waste toner. Then, as the conveyance spiral 23 rotates, the toner in the housing 5aa is sequentially conveyed, and is discharged to the outside of the apparatus from a toner discharge port (not shown) provided on the bottom surface of the housing 5aa.

  When the photoconductive drum 1a is polished by the rubbing roller 21 during image formation, the rubbing roller 21 rotates in the same direction on the photoconductive drum 1a and its contact surface, and is supplied from a developing device (not shown). Residual toner that has not been used for image formation is used as an abrasive. Part of the toner collected by the rubbing roller 21 is inserted between the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a again, and used for polishing the photosensitive drum 1a. In order to satisfactorily polish the photosensitive drum 1a, it is necessary to make the rubbing force of the toner constant. Therefore, the scraper 24 regulates the amount of toner used for polishing among the collected toner.

  However, when the photosensitive drum 1a is polished at the time of image formation, the amount of toner supplied from the developing device is limited by the printing rate of the image to be formed, so that the toner is supplied between the rubbing roller and the photosensitive drum. The amount of toner to be used may be insufficient. On the other hand, when the photosensitive drum 1a is polished during non-image formation, a large amount of toner can be supplied from the developing device. However, even if a large amount of toner is supplied from the developing device, the toner that is not used for polishing is collected by the transport spiral 23, and thus the toner consumption may increase.

  Further, it is known that if a large peripheral speed difference is generated between the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a, the polishing efficiency is increased. However, if a peripheral speed difference is generated during image formation, a jitter image due to a gear pitch difference may occur due to a change in the drive gear ratio between the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a. There is a risk that image quality will be greatly reduced.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for collecting residual toner on a photosensitive drum and polishing the surface of the photosensitive drum using a cleaning device provided with a rubbing roller and a cleaning blade as shown in FIG. Has been.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-185303

  However, the technique of Patent Document 1 collects magnetic toner and non-magnetic toner remaining on the photosensitive drum by a rubbing roller, and provides a conductive member in the vicinity of the rubbing roller to provide a layer pressure of the toner on the rubbing roller. This is intended to prevent excessive scattering of the collected non-magnetic toner inside the cleaning device by applying a bias between the rubbing roller and the conductive member. It is not disclosed with respect to image suppression.

  Therefore, the peripheral speeds of the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a are made to coincide with each other so that a jitter image does not occur during image formation. It is conceivable to perform polishing by rotating in the opposite direction to the drum 1a. However, even if the rubbing roller 21 is rotated in the opposite direction, the amount of toner necessary for polishing the surface of the photosensitive drum 1a is insufficient, and there is a possibility that the polishing performance cannot be secured. Therefore, in order to ensure the polishing performance, it is necessary to supply a large amount of toner from the developing device, and it becomes difficult to suppress the toner consumption.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention can suppress the generation of a jitter image during image formation, and can effectively use the collected toner as an abrasive to reduce the amount of toner consumed for polishing the image carrier. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device and an image forming apparatus including the same.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a housing disposed to have an opening on the image carrier side, a housing disposed on the opening and rotatably abutting on the image carrier. A cleaning member that collects a part of the residual toner and supplies a part of the collected toner to the surface of the image carrier to polish the surface, and a rotational direction downstream of the surface of the image carrier with respect to the cleaning member A toner removing unit that is disposed on the side and scrapes off residual toner that has not been collected by the cleaning member; and for transporting the toner that has been collected and scraped off from the surface of the image carrier by the cleaning member and the toner removing unit. In the cleaning device including the toner conveying unit, the cleaning member rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the image carrier at the contact surface with the image carrier during image formation. It is possible to perform a second rotation that rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the image carrier on the contact surface during non-image formation, and at a predetermined position on the surface of the cleaning member. A toner regulating member that is disposed adjacent to the cleaning member and is capable of forming a toner reservoir is provided on the upstream side in the second rotational direction of the cleaning member.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that an opening for adjusting a storage amount of the toner storage portion is formed in the toner regulating member.

  The present invention also provides an image forming apparatus equipped with the cleaning device having the above-described configuration.

  According to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the cleaning device is disposed on a lateral side of the image carrier and on a downstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier.

  According to the first configuration of the present invention, the toner regulating member capable of forming the toner storage portion is provided on the upstream side in the second rotational direction of the cleaning member in the vicinity of the predetermined position of the cleaning member, When the image is formed, a first rotation that rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the image carrier is performed on the contact surface with the image carrier, and when the non-image is formed, the rotation direction is opposite to the rotation direction of the image carrier. By causing the second rotation to rotate, residual toner can be collected while avoiding the occurrence of a peripheral speed pitch difference between the cleaning member and the image carrier during image formation. On the other hand, at the time of non-image formation, a predetermined amount of toner can be supplied to the polishing of the image carrier while storing the collected toner in the toner storage portion formed between the toner regulating member and the cleaning member.

  Therefore, the occurrence of jitter images due to the circumferential speed pitch difference between the cleaning member and the image carrier is further prevented to prevent deterioration of the image quality, and the residual toner on the image carrier is collected. Furthermore, it is possible to suppress the toner consumption necessary for maintaining the polishing ability of the surface of the image carrier, and it is excellent in maintaining image quality and economy.

  Further, according to the second configuration of the present invention, in the cleaning device of the first configuration, the toner regulating member is provided with the opening portion that adjusts the storage amount of the toner storage portion, so that excessive recovery can be performed through the opening portion. Since the toner can be discharged to the toner conveying means, the amount of stored toner can be regulated without complicated adjustment. Therefore, the complexity of the apparatus can be avoided. Further, it is possible to avoid the possibility of toner clogging or toner leakage due to excessively stored toner.

  Further, according to the third configuration of the present invention, by mounting the cleaning device of the first or second configuration, it is possible to avoid the generation of a jitter image at the time of image formation and prevent a decrease in image quality, An image forming apparatus capable of collecting the residual toner on the image carrier and further reducing the toner consumption necessary for maintaining the polishing ability of the surface of the image carrier. Therefore, it is excellent in maintaining image quality and economy.

  According to the fourth configuration of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus having the third configuration, the cleaning device is provided on the side of the image carrier and on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier. During the second rotation, the toner collected between the cleaning member and the toner regulating member can be stored more easily, and the toner storage amount can be increased. Therefore, the toner consumption from the developing device can be further suppressed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a tandem color image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the main body of the image forming apparatus 100, four image forming portions Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd are sequentially arranged from the upstream side in the transport direction (the right side in FIG. 1). These image forming portions Pa to Pd are provided corresponding to images of four different colors (magenta, cyan, yellow, and black), and magenta, cyan, and yellow are respectively subjected to charging, exposure, development, and transfer processes. And a black image is formed sequentially.

  Photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d that carry visible images (toner images) of the respective colors are disposed in the image forming portions Pa to Pd, and are formed on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d. The toner images thus transferred are sequentially transferred (primary transfer) onto an intermediate transfer belt 8 that moves adjacent to each image forming portion while rotating clockwise (in the direction of the arrow) in FIG. 1 by a driving means (not shown). After that, the toner image is transferred onto the paper P at the secondary transfer roller 9 (secondary transfer) at a time, and further fixed on the paper P at the fixing unit 7 and then discharged from the apparatus main body. An image forming process for each of the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d is executed while rotating the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d counterclockwise in FIG.

  The paper P onto which the toner image is transferred is housed in a paper cassette 16 at the lower part of the apparatus, and is conveyed to the secondary transfer roller 9 via the paper feed roller 12a and the registration roller pair 12b. A sheet made of dielectric resin is used for the intermediate transfer belt 8, and a belt in which the flange portions are overlapped and joined to each other to form an endless shape, or a belt without a seam (seamless) is used. Further, a cleaning blade 19 for removing toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 8 is disposed on the downstream side of the secondary transfer roller 9.

  Next, the image forming units Pa to Pd will be described. Around the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d disposed rotatably, there are chargers 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d for charging the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d, and image signals to the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d. The exposure unit 4 that exposes the toner, the developing devices 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d that supply toner to the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d to form toner images, and the developer remaining on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d ( Cleaning portions 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d for removing toner are provided.

  Each of the photosensitive drums 1 a to 1 d is formed, for example, by laminating a photosensitive layer on an aluminum drum, and the surface is charged by the charging unit 4. Then, an electrostatic latent image in which charging is attenuated is formed on the surface that has received a laser beam from the exposure unit 5 described later. The photosensitive layer is not particularly limited, but for example, an amorphous silicon layer (a-Si) or an organic photosensitive layer (OPC) having excellent durability is preferable. Examples of the developer contained in the developing devices 3a to 3d include a two-component developer composed of a toner component and a carrier and a one-component developer composed only of a toner component. The details of the cleaning devices 5a to 5d will be described later.

  When the image formation start is input by the user, first, the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d are uniformly charged by the chargers 2a to 2d, and then light is irradiated by the exposure unit 4 to each of the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal is formed on the top. Each of the developing devices 3a to 3d includes a developing roller (developer carrying member) disposed opposite to the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d, and each of magenta, cyan, yellow, and black toners is supplied by a replenishing device (not shown). A predetermined amount is filled. This toner is supplied onto the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d by the developing rollers of the developing devices 3a to 3d, and electrostatically adheres to the electrostatic latent image formed by exposure from the exposure unit 4. A toner image is formed.

  After an electric field is applied to the intermediate transfer belt 8 at a predetermined transfer voltage, magenta, cyan, yellow, and black toner images on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 8 by the transfer rollers 6a to 6d. The primary transfer. These four color images are formed with a predetermined positional relationship predetermined for forming a predetermined full-color image. Thereafter, the toner remaining on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d is removed by the cleaning units 5a to 5d in preparation for the subsequent formation of a new electrostatic latent image.

  The intermediate transfer belt 8 is stretched over a driven roller 10, a drive roller 11, and a tension roller 20, and the intermediate transfer belt 8 starts to rotate clockwise as the drive roller 11 is rotated by a drive motor (not shown). Then, the sheet P is conveyed from the registration roller 12b to the secondary transfer roller 9 provided adjacent to the intermediate transfer belt 8 at a predetermined timing, and the sheet P is conveyed at a nip portion (secondary transfer nip portion) with the intermediate transfer belt 8. A full color image is secondarily transferred onto P. The paper P on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 7.

  The sheet P conveyed to the fixing unit 7 is heated and pressurized when passing through the nip portion (fixing nip portion) of the pair of fixing rollers 13 to fix the toner image on the surface of the sheet P, and a predetermined full-color image is formed. It is formed. The paper P on which the full-color image is formed is distributed in the transport direction by the branching section 14 that branches in a plurality of directions. When an image is formed on only one side of the paper P, it is discharged as it is onto the discharge tray 17 by the discharge roller 15.

  On the other hand, when forming images on both sides of the paper P, a part of the paper P that has passed through the fixing unit 7 is once projected from the discharge roller 15 to the outside of the apparatus. Thereafter, the paper P is distributed to the paper transport path 18 by the branching section 14 by rotating the discharge roller 15 in the reverse direction, and is transported again to the secondary transfer roller 9 with the image surface reversed. Then, after the next image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is transferred to the surface of the paper P on which the image is not formed by the secondary transfer roller 9 and conveyed to the fixing unit 7 to fix the toner image, It is discharged to the discharge tray 17.

  2 and 3 are side sectional views showing the configuration in the vicinity of the cleaning device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the rotation direction of the rubbing roller during image formation. FIG. 3 is a non-image. It is a figure which shows the rotation direction of the rubbing roller at the time of formation. Portions common to FIG. 6 of the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. Although the cleaning device 5a will be described here, the description is omitted because 5b to 5d have the same configuration and operation.

  After the toner image is transferred to the sheet, the toner (residual toner) remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1a is removed, and a rubbing roller 21 and a cleaning blade 22 that are in line contact with the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 1a. Etc. (see FIG. 6).

  The cleaning device 5a includes a housing 5aa that forms an exterior having an opening toward the photosensitive drum 1a, and a slide that removes residual toner from the surface of the photosensitive drum 1a and that rubs and polishes the surface of the photosensitive drum 1a. A rubbing roller 21 (cleaning member), a cleaning blade 22 (toner removing means) for removing residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1a, a conveying spiral 23 (toner conveying means) as a toner discharging means, and a rubbing roller 21 includes a toner regulating plate 30 (toner regulating member) for storing toner on the surface and supplying a predetermined amount of toner for polishing, and a urethane seal 33 for preventing waste toner in the housing 5aa from leaking outside. It is a configuration.

  The rubbing roller 21 is in contact with the photosensitive drum 1a, and is rotatably supported on a front and rear side plate (not shown) of the housing 5aa by a rotating shaft 21a (see FIG. 5). When the image is formed, the rubbing roller 21 is connected to a gear (not shown) connected to a drive motor (not shown) of the photosensitive drum 1a in the same direction as the photosensitive drum 1a on the contact surface with the photosensitive drum 1a. It connects via a gear (not shown) so that rotation, ie, a driven rotation (1st rotation), may be carried out.

  Further, the peripheral speed difference between the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a is set to coincide with each other during the driven rotation. Thereby, it is possible to further avoid the possibility that a jitter image is generated due to the peripheral speed difference between the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a. Here, although the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a are connected via a gear, the rubbing roller 21 is rotated by the rotational force of the photosensitive drum 1a without applying a driving force to the rubbing roller 21. You can also

  On the other hand, during non-image formation, the rubbing roller 21 rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1a on the contact surface with the photosensitive drum 1a via a gear (not shown) to the drive motor. So that it is directly connected. For this reason, the rubbing roller 21 rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1a on the contact surface with the photosensitive drum 1a, that is, reversely rotates (second rotation).

  As a result, a load is applied between the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a that are in contact with each other in the direction opposite to the rotation direction, and the polishing efficiency is improved by the load. The peripheral speed of the rubbing roller 21 during non-image formation is appropriately set according to the load generated between the photosensitive drum 1a, polishing efficiency, the amount of toner supplied for polishing, and the like.

  Examples of the rubbing roller 21 include a structure in which a foam layer made of an elastic material is formed as a roller body around a metal shaft. The material of the roller body may be EPDM rubber having a foam layer formed thereon, or rubber or foam rubber body of other materials.

  The cleaning blade 22 is fixed to the housing 5aa via the mounting bracket 37 in a state where the cleaning blade 22 is in contact with the photosensitive drum 1a on the photosensitive drum 1a surface upstream of the contact surface with the rubbing roller 21 in the rotational direction. ing. Here, a cleaning blade 22 made of polyurethane rubber is used, and the free end of the cleaning blade bites into the photosensitive drum 1a at the contact portion, and a predetermined pressure contact with the tangential direction of the photosensitive drum 1a at the contact point. It is attached at an acute angle with force. The material, hardness, dimensions, the amount of biting into the photosensitive drum 1a, the pressure contact force, and the like of the cleaning blade 22 are appropriately set according to the specifications of the photosensitive drum 1a.

  Residual toner removed from the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 a by the cleaning blade 22 stays below the housing 5 aa, but is discharged to the outside of the cleaning device 5 a as the conveyance spiral 23 rotates.

  Further, a urethane seal 33 is attached to a side plate of the housing 5aa located upstream in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1a (upper side in the drawing) so as to have an acute angle with respect to a tangent at a contact point with the photosensitive drum 1a. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the toner regulating plate 30 is bent in an L shape in cross section, the short side of the L shape is fixed to the upper wall surface of the inner surface of the housing 5aa, and the long side is a free end. 2 and 3, the surface of the rubbing roller 21 is close to the leftmost position S at a predetermined interval, and extends beyond the position S to the vicinity of the position S on the side of the conveying spiral 23. Here, the toner regulating plate 30 passes through a position close to the position S and is disposed in a direction parallel to the tangential direction at the position S on the surface of the rubbing roller 21, that is, in the vertical direction.

  In a portion (hereinafter referred to as “toner storage portion”) T formed by the toner regulating plate 30 and the rubbing roller 21 on the upstream side in the reverse rotation direction of the rubbing roller 21, the rubbing roller 21 rotates reversely and is collected. The stored toner is stored, and a toner layer regulated to a predetermined layer thickness passes through a gap formed between the members at a predetermined interval. This toner layer moves to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1a by the rotation of the rubbing roller 21, and is used for polishing. The predetermined interval between the toner regulating plate 30 and the rubbing roller 21 is not particularly limited, and can be appropriately set according to the amount of toner necessary for polishing. Further, the length of the toner regulating plate 30 can be set as appropriate according to the predetermined interval.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the toner regulating plate. FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of the vicinity of the toner regulating plate and the rubbing roller as seen from the direction A in FIGS.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, on the upper wall side of the housing 5aa on the long side of the toner regulating plate 30, a window portion 30a (opening portion) is provided along the axial direction of the rubbing roller 21 rotated by the rotating shaft 21a. ) Are provided. By providing the window portion 30a, even when the toner is excessively stored in the toner storage portion T, it is possible to discharge the excessive collected toner to the transport spiral 23 through the window portion 30a. Therefore, the amount of stored toner can be regulated. Therefore, the complexity of the apparatus can be avoided. Further, it is possible to avoid the possibility of toner clogging or toner leakage due to excessively stored toner.

  The size, quantity, and the like of the window portion 30a can be appropriately set according to the toner storage amount, and are not particularly limited. Further, for example, instead of the window portion 30a, both ends in the width direction of the toner regulating plate 30 can be cut out and opened.

  The toner regulating plate 30 is an elastic plate made of SUS, for example, but as a material, a weak magnetic SUS304, a nonmagnetic SUS plate, various resin or metal blade plates, a rubber blade plate, or the like can be used. . Further, the thickness of the toner regulating plate 30 can be set as appropriate according to the amount of stored toner.

  In this embodiment, the position S is the leftmost side (see FIGS. 2 and 3), and the angle with respect to the position S of the toner regulating plate 30 is the tangential direction. It is not limited, and can be set as appropriate depending on the toner storage amount and the positional relationship with the housing 5aa. Further, the material, hardness, dimensions, and the like of the toner regulating plate 30 are appropriately set according to the specifications of the rubbing roller 21.

  Next, operations during image formation and non-image formation in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. explain.

  At the time of image formation, as shown in FIG. 2, the rubbing roller 21 rotates following the rotation of the photosensitive drum 1a. The peripheral speed difference between the photosensitive drum 1a and the rubbing roller 21 is constant. For this reason, it is possible to avoid the generation of a jitter image due to such a peripheral speed difference. On the other hand, a part of the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 a is collected by the rubbing roller 21, and the rest is collected by the cleaning blade 22. The amount of toner collected by the rubbing roller 21 is regulated between the rubbing roller 21 and the conveying spiral 23 side of the position S on the toner regulating plate 30, and a part of the collected toner is rubbing roller 21. Supplied to.

  However, although the supplied toner becomes an abrasive and polishing is performed between the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a, the amount of toner used for image formation supplied from the developing device 3a is formed. Therefore, the polishing performance of the photosensitive drum 1a may not be sufficiently maintained.

  On the other hand, at the time of non-image formation, as shown in FIG. 3, the rubbing roller 21 rotates backward with respect to the rotation of the photosensitive drum 1a. In this case, the polishing toner is supplied from the developing device 3a (see FIG. 1), a part is collected by the rubbing roller 21, and the rest is removed by the cleaning blade 22. Part of the toner collected by the rubbing roller 21 is regulated to a predetermined amount by the toner regulating plate 30 and supplied to the polishing of the photosensitive drum 1a. At this time, since the load due to the reverse rotation is applied between the rubbing roller 21 and the photosensitive drum 1a, the polishing ability is improved as compared with the driven rotation.

  Further, the toner that has not been supplied is stored in a toner storage portion T formed by the toner regulating plate 30 and the rubbing roller 21. As described above, since the toner that has not been supplied for polishing can be stored in the toner storage portion T without being discharged by the conveying spiral 23, the amount of toner necessary for polishing can be sufficiently supplied. Furthermore, since the collected toner can be stored, the amount of toner supplied from the developing device 3a for polishing can be suppressed, and the amount of toner consumption required to maintain the polishing ability can be suppressed. .

  When the amount of collected toner increases by a predetermined amount or more, a part of the toner is discharged from the window 30a, so that the amount of stored toner can be regulated without complicated adjustment. Therefore, the complexity of the apparatus can be avoided. Further, it is possible to avoid the possibility of toner clogging or toner leakage due to excessively stored toner.

  In this embodiment, since the cleaning device 5a is provided on the side of the photosensitive drum 1a and on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1a, the rubbing roller 21 and the toner regulating plate are rotated when the rubbing roller 21 rotates backward. 30, the collected toner can be stored more easily, and the toner storage amount can be increased. Therefore, the toner consumption from the developing device 3a can be further suppressed. However, the arrangement of the cleaning device 5a is not limited to the present embodiment, and can be arranged below the photosensitive drum 1a according to the layout of the image forming apparatus 100, for example.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the tandem image forming apparatus of the intermediate transfer system, but it can be applied to other image forming apparatuses, and is not particularly limited. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a direct transfer tandem type image forming apparatus, a vertical conveyance type image forming apparatus, a monochrome printer, a monochrome copying machine, and the like.

  The present invention provides a housing arranged to have an opening on the image carrier side, a part of residual toner on the surface of the image carrier, which is arranged in the opening and rotatably contacts the image carrier. A cleaning member that supplies a portion of the recovered toner to the surface of the image carrier and polishes the surface, and is disposed downstream of the cleaning member in the rotation direction of the surface of the image carrier. A toner removing unit that scrapes off residual toner that has not been collected by the cleaning member; and a toner conveying unit that conveys the toner collected and scraped off from the surface of the image carrier by the cleaning member and the toner removing unit. In the cleaning device provided, the cleaning member performs a first rotation that rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the image carrier on the contact surface with the image carrier at the time of image formation, and at the time of non-image formation. Is capable of performing a second rotation that rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the image carrier on the contact surface, and is disposed in proximity to a predetermined position on the surface of the cleaning member, A toner regulating member capable of forming a toner reservoir is provided upstream of the cleaning member in the second rotational direction.

  This prevents the generation of jitter images due to the circumferential speed pitch difference between the cleaning member and the image carrier to prevent the image quality from deteriorating, collects residual toner on the image carrier, and It is possible to suppress the amount of toner consumption required to maintain the polishing ability of the surface of the carrier, and it is possible to provide a possible cleaning device that is excellent in image quality maintenance and economy.

  In addition, by forming an open part on the toner regulating member, excess collected toner can be discharged into the spiral, so the amount of stored toner can be regulated without complicated adjustments, and the apparatus becomes complicated Can be avoided. Further, it is possible to avoid the possibility of toner clogging or toner leakage.

  In addition, by mounting the cleaning device of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of jitter images during image formation to prevent degradation of image quality, collect residual toner on the image carrier, Therefore, it is possible to reduce the amount of toner consumption required to maintain the polishing ability, and the image forming apparatus is excellent in maintaining image quality and economy. Further, by disposing the cleaning device on the side of the image carrier and on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier, the toner can be easily stored during the second rotation of the cleaning member, and the storage amount is increased. Therefore, the toner consumption from the developing device can be further suppressed.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus including the cleaning device of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view showing the configuration in the vicinity of the cleaning device of the present invention, and is a view showing a state in which the rubbing roller is driven to rotate with the photosensitive drum during image formation. FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view showing the configuration in the vicinity of the cleaning device of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a state in which the rubbing roller rotates backward with respect to the photosensitive drum during non-image formation. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a toner regulating plate. FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of the vicinity of a toner regulating plate and a rubbing roller as seen from the direction A in FIGS. These are sectional side views which show the structure of the conventional cleaning apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photosensitive drum 3a-3d Developing device 5a-5d Cleaning device 5aa Housing 21 Rub roller (cleaning member)
21a Rotating shaft 22 Cleaning blade (toner removing means)
23 Conveying spiral (toner conveying means)
30 Toner regulating plate (toner regulating member)
30a Window part (open part)
33 Urethane seal 100 Image forming device

Claims (4)

A housing arranged to have an opening on the image carrier side; and a housing arranged in the opening, rotatably contacting the image carrier and collecting a part of residual toner on the surface of the image carrier. A cleaning member that supplies a part of the collected toner to the surface of the image carrier and polishes the surface, and is disposed downstream of the cleaning member in the rotation direction of the surface of the image carrier, and is collected by the cleaning member. A cleaning device comprising: a toner removing unit that scrapes off the residual toner that has not been removed; and a toner conveying unit that conveys the toner collected and scraped off from the surface of the image carrier by the cleaning member and the toner removing unit. In
The cleaning member performs a first rotation that rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the image carrier at the contact surface with the image carrier during image formation, and the image carrier at the contact surface during non-image formation. A second rotation that rotates in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the body,
A cleaning device provided with a toner regulating member disposed near a predetermined position on the surface of the cleaning member and capable of forming a toner reservoir on the upstream side in the second rotation direction of the cleaning member. .   The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein an opening portion that adjusts a storage amount of the toner storage portion is formed in the toner regulating member.   An image forming apparatus on which the cleaning device according to claim 1 is mounted.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning device is disposed on a lateral side of the image carrier and on a downstream side in the rotation direction of the image carrier.