JP3469040B2 - Image forming substance removal device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming substance removing device for adhering and removing an image forming substance recorded on an image carrier to a peeling belt, and particularly to efficiently removing the image forming substance attached to the peeling belt, It is intended to improve the quality of the reproduced image carrier and the durability of the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image formed by an electrophotographic copying machine or a facsimile machine and an image formed by thermal transfer, hot melt ink jet, etc. are removed from a recording material to reproduce the recording material. Has been. For example, in an image forming substance removing device for a recording paper, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-324601, etc., an aqueous solution containing a surfactant or the like is applied to a recording paper holding an image made of an image forming substance, and the aqueous solution is applied. The recording sheet is reproduced as a blank sheet by heat-adhering or pressure-adhering a transfer roller, which is an image peeling member, to the surface of the recording sheet having the image forming substance, and adhering the image forming substance to the transfer roller. Then, in order to clean the image forming substance adhered to the transfer roller, the image forming substance is cut off by a peeling knife or a rotary peeling knife which is in contact with the transfer roller and is stored in a recovery container. However, when the surface of the transfer roller and the adhesion surface of the image forming substance are wide, the adhesive force becomes strong, so that the image forming substance cannot be sufficiently removed.

Therefore, in the apparatus for removing the image forming substance from the image carrier disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-262937, etc., as shown in the sectional view of the peeling belt in FIG. By uniformly disperse the low-adhesive portions 2b on the surface with the high-adhesive portions 2a as a base, the adhesion surface of the image-forming substance 1 can be reduced, and the image-forming substance 1 can be formed by a rotating brush roller, a cleaning roller, a peeling knife or the like. When scraping off, the image forming substance end 1a adhered to the low-adhesion part 2b becomes a starting point for contacting and removing the brush end of the cleaning roller or the blade end of the peeling sword, and other parts are easily pulled and peeled off easily. As a result, the ability to remove the image forming substance 1 adhered to the peeling belt 2 is improved.

[0004]

However, in the apparatus for removing an image-forming substance from the above-mentioned image carrier, since the low-adhesive portion exists on the adhesive surface of the peeling belt, the image-forming substance is sufficiently peeled from the image carrier. There were times when you couldn't.

Further, since the thickness of the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt is about 10 μm, it is difficult to properly set the conditions such as the contact pressure or the cutting depth to the peeling belt such as the rotating brush or the peeling knife. However, it was very difficult to maintain the ability to remove the image-forming substance adhered to the release belt. When using a peeling knife or a rotary peeling knife,
Depending on the conditions such as the depth of cut, the peeling belt may be damaged.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above disadvantages, and reliably secures the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt without deteriorating the peeling ability of the image forming substance from the image carrier by the peeling belt. An object of the present invention is to obtain a device for removing an image-forming substance, which maintains the peeling ability by removing and improves the quality of a reproduced image carrier.

[0007]

An image forming substance removing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that a peeling belt is heat-bonded or pressure-bonded to a surface of an image holding member having an image forming substance. In an image forming substance removing device having a peeling device that peels off and adheres to a peeling belt, and a cleaning device that removes an image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt, a peeling belt having elasticity and a cleaning device Has a dividing part for applying tension to the peeling belt before removing the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt, and the peeling belt expands by applying tension from the dividing part to divide or separate the adhered image forming substance It is characterized by

Further, it is preferable that a tension having a stronger force than the binding force of the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt is applied to the dividing portion.

Further, it is desirable that the dividing section applies tension to a section of the peeling belt including a portion for removing the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt by the cleaning device.

Further, the peeling belt has slits in the form of a lattice or a line pattern on the adhesive surface of the image forming substance, and when the tension is applied by the dividing portion and the slit portion is opened, the adhered image is formed. It is preferable to divide or peel the substance.

The dividing section has a conveying roller and a deceleration roller, the conveying roller is located downstream of the cleaning device in the moving direction of the peeling belt and conveys the peeling belt, and the decelerating roller moves from the cleaning device to the peeling belt. It is advisable to add tension to the peeling belt by reducing the conveying speed of the peeling belt located upstream in the direction.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The image forming substance removing apparatus according to the present invention is an image carrier for an image formed by an electrophotographic copying machine or a facsimile machine and an image formed by thermal transfer or hot melt ink jet. For example, in order to remove it from PPC paper or the like and reproduce it on a blank sheet,
For example, a belt-shaped peeling belt is heat-bonded or pressure-bonded to the toner-attaching surface of the image carrier, which is an image-forming substance,
A peeling device that peels off the image-forming substance from the image carrier and attaches it to the peeling belt, a cleaning device that removes the image-forming substance adhered to the peeling belt, for example, a brush roller or a rotary peeling knife, and a peeling device having elasticity. It has a belt and, for example, a dividing portion provided upstream of the cleaning device in the moving direction of the peeling belt.

Then, the dividing section applies tension to the peeling belt before the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt is removed by the cleaning device. The peeling belt is stretched by the application of tension from the dividing portion and divides or peels the adhered mass of the image-forming substance. The cleaning device is, for example, a brush roller for a brush roller or a blade end for a rotary peeling knife, and the blade end is hooked on the cross section of the image forming substance to separate the divided image forming substance from the peeling belt to remove it.

Before the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt is removed by the cleaning device as described above, the elastic peeling belt is stretched by the tension applied from the dividing portion to remove the image forming substance adhered to the belt surface. Since the lumps are divided or peeled, the cleaning device can efficiently remove the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt by using the divided image forming substance as a starting point of the removal.

Further, by applying a tension of a force stronger than the binding force of the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt to the peeling belt, the dividing portion surely divides or peels the lump of the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt. can do.

Further, the dividing section applies tension to a section of the peeling belt including a portion for removing the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt by the cleaning device,
Since the peeling belt is conveyed to the cleaning device in a state where the peeling belt is extended, that is, in a state where the divided image forming substances are spaced apart from each other, for example, the brush end or the blade end of the cleaning device is easily caught on the cross section of the image forming substance. The separated image forming substance can be reliably removed from the peeling belt.

Further, slits in the form of a lattice or a line pattern are provided on the surface of the peeling belt on which the image forming substance is adhered, and when the tension is applied by the dividing portion and the slit portion is opened when extended, the image forming substance is divided. Since the distance between the brush end or the blade end of the cleaning device can be set deeper than the thickness of the divided cross section of the image forming substance, the separated image forming substance can be reliably removed from the peeling belt. . Further, even if the tension applied from the dividing portion is small, a sufficient amount of elongation of the peeling belt can be obtained, and the lump of the image-forming substance adhered to the peeling belt can be reliably divided or peeled.

The dividing section is composed of a conveying roller and a deceleration roller, the conveying roller is located downstream of the cleaning device in the moving direction of the peeling belt and conveys the peeling belt, and the decelerating roller is in the moving direction of the peeling belt from the cleaning device. The tension is applied to the peeling belt by reducing the conveying speed of the peeling belt located upstream. As described above, since the lump of the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt can be reliably divided or peeled with a simple structure, for example, the lump of the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt in addition to the brush roller of the cleaning device, for example. The image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt can be efficiently removed without providing a special rotary peeling knife or the like for dividing or peeling.

[0019]

1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the image forming substance removing device is an image holding member for an image formed by an electrophotographic copying machine or a facsimile device and an image formed by thermal transfer or hot melt ink jet, for example, a PPC. In order to remove it from the paper or the like and recycle it to a blank sheet, the peeling belt 2 is heat-bonded or pressure-bonded to the toner-attached surface of the image carrier, which is the image-forming substance, and the image-forming substance 1 of the image carrier is peeled. A peeling device (not shown) that adheres to the peeling belt 2, a cleaning device 3, and a dividing unit 4 that is provided upstream of the cleaning device 3 in the moving direction of the peeling belt, for example.

The peeling belt 2 is composed of, for example, a belt made of a silicon rubber type material and a polyethylene terephthalate type adhesive layer formed on the surface of the belt, and is sufficient for dividing or peeling the image forming substance 1 adhered to the adhesive layer. It has excellent elasticity. The cleaning device 3 includes, for example, a brush roller 31 in which a brush is formed into a roller shape, and a brush roller 3
1 is arranged to face the peeling belt 2 by contacting the peeling belt 2 moved from the peeling device with a rotating brush, which is composed of a pressing roller 32 for bringing the peeling belt 2 into contact with the brush roller 31 with an appropriate pressure. The adhered image-forming substance 1 is removed. The dividing unit 4 is located, for example, at the upstream side of the conveying roller 42 in the moving direction of the peeling belt, which conveys the conveying belt 2 in the direction A by rotating the peeling belt 2 with the pressure roller 41 and rotating. It is composed of a deceleration roller 44 which applies a pressing force F1 by sandwiching 2 with a pressure roller 43, and a tension F2 is added to the peeling belt 2 by decelerating the conveying speed of the peeling belt 2.

The operation of removing the image-forming substance adhered to the peeling belt 2 in the image-forming substance removing device configured as described above will be described with reference to the side view of the dividing portion of FIG.

The dividing section 4 is shown in FIG. 2B so that the image forming substance 1 adhered to the surface of the peeling belt sent from the peeling apparatus shown in FIG. 2A can be easily removed by the cleaning device 3.
Tension F2 is applied to the peeling belt 2 by the conveyance roller 42 and the deceleration roller 44 shown in FIG. The peeling belt 2 is stretched by applying a tension F2 from the dividing portion 4 to peel the adhered mass of the image-forming substance from the dividing surfaces 1a and 1b or the bonding surface 1c. Then, the brush roller 31 of the cleaning device 3 hooks the brush end on the cross section of the image forming substance 1 to separate the image forming substance 1 from the separating belt 2 and remove it.

As described above, before the image forming substance 1 adhered to the peeling belt 2 is removed by the cleaning device 3, the tension F is applied to the elastic peeling belt 2 from the dividing portion 4.
By adding 2, the peeling belt 2 is extended to divide or separate the lump of the image forming substance 1 adhered to the belt surface, so that the cleaning device 3 uses the divided image forming substance 1 as a starting point of the removal. The image forming substance 1 adhered to the peeling belt 2 can be efficiently removed.

Further, in the above embodiment, the conveying roller 42 and the deceleration roller 44 are used as the dividing portion 4 for applying the tension to the peeling belt 2, but it is stronger than the bonding force of the image forming substance 1 adhered to the peeling belt 2. In order to apply a tension of force to the peeling belt 2, the rotational speed of the transport roller 42 or the pressing force F against the peeling belt 2 by the deceleration roller 44.
2 should be set. In this way, by applying a stronger tension to the peeling belt 2 than the bonding force of the image forming substance 1 adhered to the peeling belt 2, the lump of the image forming substance 1 adhered to the peeling belt 2 is surely divided or peeled. can do.

Further, in the above embodiment, the dividing section 4 is provided upstream of the cleaning device 3 in the moving direction of the peeling belt to apply tension to the peeling belt 2, but the image adhered to the peeling belt 2 by the cleaning device 3 The dividing portion 4 may be provided so as to apply tension to the section of the peeling belt 2 including the portion where the forming substance 1 is removed.

For example, as shown in the configuration diagram of the second embodiment of FIG. 3, the conveying roller 42 of the dividing section 4 is located downstream of the cleaning device 3 in the moving direction of the peeling belt, and the peeling belt 2 is directed in the direction A. The deceleration roller 44 is located upstream of the cleaning device 3 in the moving direction of the peeling belt, and decelerates the conveying speed of the peeling belt 2 to apply the tension F2 to the peeling belt 2. The peeling belt 2 is conveyed to the cleaning device 3 in a state where the tension F2 is applied from the dividing portion 4 and the peeling belt 2 is extended, that is, in a state where the divided image forming substances 1a and 1b are opened. This allows
The brush end of the brush roller 31 of the cleaning device 3 is easily caught on the cross section of the image forming substance, and the divided image forming substances 1a and 1b can be reliably removed from the peeling belt 2.

Further, the conveyance speed of the peeling belt 2 which is located downstream of the cleaning device 3 in the moving direction of the peeling belt and which conveys the peeling belt is located upstream of the cleaning device 3 in the moving direction of the peeling belt. Since the lump of the image-forming substance 1 adhered to the peeling belt 2 is surely divided or peeled by the simple structure of the decelerating roller 44 for decelerating, for example, it is adhered to the peeling belt 2 in addition to the brush roller 31 of the cleaning device 3, for example. The cleaning device 3 can efficiently remove the image forming substance 2 adhered to the peeling belt 2 without providing a special rotary peeling knife or the like for dividing or peeling the lump of the image forming substance.

Further, in the above embodiment, the peeling belt 2 having sufficient elasticity to divide or peel the image forming substance 1 adhered to the adhesive layer is used. For example, the peeling belt of FIG. As shown in the cross-sectional view, grids or line pattern slits 2S may be provided on the adhesive surface of the peeling belt 2 to which the image forming substance 1 is attached. In this case, in the peeling belt 2, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the tension F2 is applied by the dividing section 4 and the extension is extended, the interval h between the image forming substances 1a to 1d divided by opening the slit 2S portion is increased. At the same time, the catching surface d of the brush end of the brush roller 31 of the cleaning device 3 can be made deeper than the thickness of the cross section of the image forming substance. As a result, the cleaning device 3 can reliably remove the divided image forming substance 1 from the peeling belt 2. Even if the tension F2 applied from the dividing section 4 is small, a sufficient amount of extension of the peeling belt 2 can be obtained, and the lump of the image forming substance 1 adhered to the peeling belt 2 can be reliably divided or peeled. it can.

Further, in the above embodiment, the cleaning device 3
The operation of removing the image forming substance 1 adhered to the peeling belt 2 by the brush roller 31 has been described as an example.
The image forming substance 1 is cut off by a sliding roller or a plurality of rotating blades which slides off the image forming substance 1 by the unevenness of the roller surface which is in contact with the peeling belt 2 or by a blade which is in contact with the peeling belt 2. A rotary peeling knife or the like may be used.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, before the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt is removed by the cleaning device, tension is applied from the dividing portion to the stretchable peeling belt to thereby remove the peeling belt. The cleaning device efficiently removes the image-forming substance adhered to the peeling belt by using the divided image-forming substance as a starting point of the removal because the mass of the image-forming substance adhered to the belt surface is divided or separated. By doing so, the peeling ability of the image forming substance by the peeling belt is maintained, and the quality of the reproduced image carrier and the durability of the apparatus are improved.

Further, since the dividing portion applies a tension of a force stronger than the binding force of the image-forming substance adhered to the peeling belt to the peeling belt, the block of the image-forming substance adhered to the peeling belt is surely divided or cut. Peeling is possible, and the cleaning device can more efficiently remove the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt by using the divided image forming substance as a starting point of the removal.

Further, the dividing section applies tension to a section of the peeling belt including a portion for removing the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt by the cleaning device, and the peeling belt is extended to open the interval of the divided image forming substance. Since the cleaning device is conveyed to the cleaning device in this state, for example, the brush end or the blade end of the cleaning device is likely to be caught in the cross section of the image forming substance, and the divided image forming substance can be reliably removed from the peeling belt.

Further, slits in the form of a lattice or a line pattern are provided on the surface of the peeling belt on which the image forming substance is adhered, and when the tension is applied by the dividing portion and the slit portion is opened, the gap between the divided image forming substances is opened. And the catching surface of the cleaning device, for example, the brush end or the blade end, is deeper than the thickness of the divided cross section of the image forming substance, the cleaning device surely removes the divided image forming substance from the peeling belt. be able to. Further, even if the tension applied from the dividing portion is small, a sufficient amount of elongation of the peeling belt can be obtained,
It is possible to further improve the durability of the device by reducing the mechanical rigidity of the dividing portion and the like.

Further, the dividing section is located downstream of the cleaning device in the moving direction of the peeling belt and the carrying roller for carrying the peeling belt, and upstream of the cleaning device in the moving direction of the peeling belt, the feeding speed of the peeling belt is reduced. Since it is formed with a simple structure of the deceleration roller, the peeling belt can be formed on the cleaning device without providing a special rotary peeling knife or the like for dividing or separating the mass of the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt. The adhered image-forming substance can be efficiently removed, and the quality of the reproduced image carrier and the durability of the device can be improved without significantly increasing the cost of the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the dividing unit showing the operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a peeling belt according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional peeling belt.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image forming substance 2 Peeling belt 3 cleaning device 31 brush roller 32 pressing roller 4 divisions 42 Conveyor roller 44 deceleration roller

Front page continuation (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 21/00 G03G 21/00 570-578 G03G 15/20

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A peeling device for peeling the image forming substance of an image carrier and adhering the peeling belt to the peeling belt by heat-bonding or pressure-bonding a peeling belt to the surface of the image carrier having the image-forming substance. In an image forming substance removing device having a cleaning device for removing the adhered image forming substance, a tension is applied to the peeling belt having elasticity and the peeling belt before the cleaning device removes the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt. An image forming substance removing device, comprising: a dividing portion to be added, wherein the peeling belt is extended by applying tension from the dividing portion, and divides or peels the adhered image forming substance. 2. The apparatus for removing an image forming substance according to claim 1, wherein the dividing portion applies a tension having a force stronger than a binding force of the image forming substance adhered to the peeling belt. 3. The apparatus for removing an image-forming substance according to claim 1, wherein the dividing section applies tension to a section of the peeling belt including a portion for removing the image-forming substance adhered to the peeling belt by a cleaning device. 4. The peeling belt has slits in the form of a lattice or a line pattern on the adhesive surface of the image forming substance, and when the tension is applied by the dividing portion and the slit portion is opened, the adhered image is formed. The apparatus for removing an image-forming substance according to claim 1, which divides or peels the substance. 5. The dividing unit has a conveyance roller and a deceleration roller, the conveyance roller is located downstream of the cleaning device in the moving direction of the peeling belt and conveys the peeling belt, and the deceleration roller moves from the cleaning device to the peeling belt. The image forming substance removing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein tension is applied to the peeling belt by reducing the conveying speed of the peeling belt located upstream in the direction.