JPH0950181A - Electrostatic latent image developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To constitute projecting amount of an acting part of a control member so as to be always maintained almost a specific amount, in a state of being held in contact with the circumferential surface of a developing roller, by disposing the control member whose processing part onto the circumferential surface of the developing roller is furnished with a projecting curved surface provided with a specified curvature, in a control means for controlling the developer amount. SOLUTION: The control means 22 is provided with a blade 50 as the control member consisting of a rigid member held in press contact with the circumferential surface of the roller 26 of the developing roller 16, and an elastic energizing means 51 for pressing one side of the blade 50 in the direction to be in press contact with the circumferential surface of the roller 26 of the developing roller 16. The blade 50 consisting of the rigid member is constituted of a planer member extended in the width direction along the circumferential surface of the roller 26 of the developing roller comprising the developing roller 16. Then, on the bottom surface of the blade 50 from the bottom part on the one face of the side held in press contact with the circumferential surface of roller 26 of the developing roller 16, the processing part 501 is formed while provided with the projecting curved surface of the specific curvature on the circumferential surface of the developing roller 26.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrostatic latent image developing apparatus used for developing an electrostatic latent image into a toner image in an image forming machine such as an electrostatic copying machine or a laser printer, and more specifically, An electrostatic device having a developing roller that holds the developer on the surface and conveys it to the developing area, and a regulating member that includes a rigid member that acts on the surface of the developing roller and regulates the amount of the developer retained on the surface. The present invention relates to a latent image developing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, in order to develop an electrostatic latent image into a toner image in an image generator, an electrostatic latent image developing device having a developing roller that is rotationally driven in a predetermined direction is widely used. Have been served. When the developing roller is driven to rotate in a predetermined direction, the developer holding area, the developer amount regulating area, and the developing area can be sequentially moved. In the developer holding region, toner as a developer supplied by an appropriate mode is held on the surface of the developing roller. In the developer amount regulation area, the regulation means acts on the toner as the developer retained on the surface of the developing roller to regulate the toner retained on the surface of the developing roller to a required amount. In the developing area, toner as a developer is applied to the surface of an electrostatic latent image bearing member such as a rotating drum having an electrophotographic photosensitive layer on the peripheral surface to form a toner on the surface of the electrostatic latent image bearing member. The electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image. In order to achieve good development, the amount of toner retained on the surface of the developing roller is appropriately regulated by the regulating means so that the toner layer retained on the surface of the developing roller has a predetermined thickness and an axial direction. It is important to form the film sufficiently uniformly.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-16736 discloses an electrostatic latent image developing device having a regulating means having a blade made of a rubber elastic body made of synthetic rubber such as urethane rubber and silicon rubber. The rubber elastic body constituting the developer regulating means has one surface or the leading edge thereof pressed against the surface of the developing roller to regulate the amount of toner held on the surface of the developing roller to a considerably small amount, and the toner on the surface of the developing roller. To form a thin layer of. Further, a blade of the developer regulating means is constituted by a stainless steel thin plate for spring having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.2 mm, which has been put into practical use. However, in the developer regulating means using an elastic blade such as a rubber elastic body or a stainless thin plate, both ends of the elastic blade are low in rigidity and inferior in regulation force to the central portion, so that they are formed on the surface of the developing roller. The toner layer at both ends is thicker at both ends than the center portion. According to the experiments by the present inventors, when the urethane blade is used, the toner layer at both ends is 3.5 times thicker than the center portion.
It was found that the thickness was about 7.0 μm. As described above, when the elastic blade is used, it is difficult to form the toner layer formed on the surface of the developing roller to have a uniform thickness in the entire axial direction, and thus it is difficult to obtain a uniform image. In addition, the elastic blade has low wear resistance and is not always satisfactory in terms of prolonging its service life.

In order to solve the above problems of the elastic blade, the applicant of the present invention has disclosed an invention in which the blade as a regulating member constituting the developer regulating means is made of a rigid member such as glass, and is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 36277/1987. As proposed. By forming the blade from plate glass, the layer thickness of the toner layer formed on the surface of the developing roller can be uniformly controlled in the width direction, and abrasion resistance is also improved, which is also satisfactory in terms of long life. It became possible.

[0005]

Thus, in the case where the blade as the regulating member constituting the developer regulating means is formed of a rigid member such as glass, the tip of the blade is located from the contact center between the developing roller and the blade. The thickness of the toner layer formed on the surface of the developing roller changes depending on the protrusion amount up to. That is, when the amount of protrusion is longer than a predetermined value, the toner that adheres to and moves on the surface of the developing roller has an area on one side of the blade that is larger than the predetermined value, so that the force that acts in the direction of escaping the blade increases. The toner layer formed on the surface of the developing roller becomes thick. On the other hand, if the amount of protrusion is shorter than a predetermined value, the toner that adheres to and moves on the surface of the developing roller has an area on one side of the blade smaller than a predetermined value, so that the force that acts in the direction of letting the blade decrease decreases, The thickness of the toner layer formed on the surface of the developing roller becomes thin. However, in the blade support structure disclosed in the above publication, the protrusion amount cannot be adjusted after the blade is assembled, and therefore, the accuracy of the protrusion amount depends on the manufacturing precision of each component of the blade and the support structure. Is decided. However, increasing the manufacturing accuracy of the blade and the above-mentioned components unnecessarily increases the cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and its main technical problem is that the amount of protrusion is always approximately a predetermined value in a state where the action portion of the regulating member is in contact with the peripheral surface of the developing roller. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrostatic latent image developing device having a developer regulating means that can be configured as described above.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned main technical problems, according to the present invention, a developing housing,
A developing roller for holding the developer on the surface in the developer holding area and conveying the held developer to the developing area and applying it to the electrostatic latent image; and the developer holding area. An electrostatic latent image developing device comprising: a regulating means that acts on the peripheral surface of the developing roller in a developer regulating area located between the developing area and the developing roller and regulates the amount of developer retained on the surface. An electrostatic latent image developing device is provided, wherein the regulating means comprises a regulating member whose action portion on the peripheral surface of the developing roller has a convex curved surface having a predetermined curvature.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an electrostatic latent image developing device in which the acting portion formed on the convex curved surface is formed in an angle range of approximately 90 degrees or more.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an electrostatic latent image developing device in which the regulating member is a rod-shaped member having a circular cross section.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an electrostatic latent image developing device in which a rod-shaped member constituting the above-mentioned regulating member is rotatably supported.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an electrostatic latent image developing device in which a rod-shaped member which is rotatably supported and constitutes the above-mentioned regulating member is transmission-connected to a driving means.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of an electrostatic latent image developing device constituted according to the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an image generator equipped with an electrostatic latent image developing device constructed according to the present invention. The illustrated image generator includes a rotary drum 1 as an image carrier having a photosensitive layer on its peripheral surface. The rotary drum 1 is rotatably mounted in a machine body housing (not shown) by a rotary shaft 2. Around the rotating drum 1 which is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow 3, a charging corona discharger 4 for sequentially charging the photosensitive layer of the rotating drum 1 to a specific polarity in the direction of rotation, and the charging corona discharger. A laser optical section 5 as an exposing means for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive layer of the rotary drum 1 which is charged with a specific polarity by an electrostatic latent image formed by the laser beam emitted from the optical section 5. An electrostatic latent image developing device 6 for developing a toner image, a transfer corona discharger 7, a peeling corona discharger 8, a cleaning device 9, and a charge eliminating lamp 10 are provided.

The developing device 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The developing device 6 is provided with a developing housing 12 which can be made of synthetic resin. The developing housing 12 has a bottom wall 13 and front and rear side walls 14 and 15 which stand upright from both ends of the bottom wall 13 (see FIG. 3). And FIG. 4). In the developing housing 12 having the above-mentioned structure, the developing roller 16 and the supplying unit 1 are provided.
8, a stirring means 20 and a regulating means 22 are provided.
Further, although not shown, a toner cartridge containing toner is mounted on the developing housing 12.

The developing roller 16 is the developing housing 1 described above.
2, a rotary shaft 24 rotatably mounted between the two side walls, a roller 26 fixed to the rotary shaft 24, and the roller 26.
And a collar member 27 rotatably mounted on the rotary shaft 24 on both sides of the. The rotating shaft 24 can be formed of a suitable metal material such as stainless steel. The roller 26 is made of a relatively soft and conductive material, for example, a conductive solid rubber such as urethane rubber. The hardness of the roller 26 is 60 to 8 as Asker C hardness.
It is preferably about 5, particularly about 67 to 80, and the volume resistance of the roller 26 is preferably about 10 ^{6 to} 10 ⁹ Ω · cm. The collar member 27 is made of an appropriate synthetic resin and has an outer diameter slightly smaller than that of the roller 26. The developing roller 16 thus configured is positioned so as to face the rotary drum 1 by exposing the roller 26 and the color member 27 through the opening formed in the developing housing 12. By bringing the peripheral surface of the collar member 27 into contact with the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 1, the roller 26 is positioned with respect to the rotary drum 1 as required. Laura 2
Since the outer diameter of 6 is formed to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the collar 27, the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is pressed against the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 1, and the roller 2 is pressed in the pressure contact area.
The peripheral surface of 6 is slightly elastically compressed. The difference between the outer diameter of the roller 26 and the outer diameter of the collar 27, that is, the amount of compression of the roller 26 varies somewhat depending on the outer diameter of the roller 26, etc., but is generally set to about 0.05 to 0.15 mm. To be done. Developing roller 1 configured as described above
The rotary shaft 24 of No. 6 is continuously driven to rotate in a direction shown by an arrow 28 in FIG. Rotating shaft 2
By the above rotation of 4, the roller 26 is also continuously driven to rotate in the direction shown by the arrow 28, and the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is sequentially conveyed through the developer holding area 30, the developer regulating area 32 and the developing area 34.

The supply means 18 includes a rotating shaft 36 rotatably mounted between both side walls of the developing housing 12.
An auxiliary roller 38 fixed to the rotating shaft 36 is included. The auxiliary roller 38 is preferably made of foam such as foam silicon or foam urethane. The auxiliary roller 38 is pressed against the roller 26 of the developing roller 16. The hardness of the foam forming the auxiliary roller 38 is considerably smaller than the hardness of the roller 26 (for example, the Asker C hardness is about 35), and the auxiliary roller 38 is pressed against the roller 26 so that the auxiliary roller 3 is pressed in the pressing area.
It is desirable that 8 is elastically compressed by about 0.15 to 0.25 mm. The auxiliary roller 38 is continuously driven to rotate in the direction shown by an arrow 39 in FIG. The stirring means 20 includes a rotating shaft 40 rotatably mounted between both side walls of the developing housing 12, and a stirring member 42 fixed to the rotating shaft 40. On arrow 4
It is driven to rotate continuously in the direction indicated by 4.

Driving means for driving the developing roller 16, the supplying means 18 and the stirring means 20 will be described mainly with reference to FIG. The rotary shaft 24 of the developing roller 16, the rotary shaft 36 of the supply unit 18, and the rotary shaft 40 of the stirring unit 20.
Respectively extend through the rear wall 15 of the developing housing 12 and project rearward. At the rear end of each rotary shaft 24, a drive gear 45, a drive gear 46 and a drive gear 47 are provided.
Is installed. The drive gear 46 and the drive gear 47 mesh with each other. The drive gear 45 and the drive gear 46 are
The intermediate gears 49 mounted on the short shaft 48 rotatably supported by the developing housing 12 are in mesh with each other. The gear mechanism configured as described above is transmission-coupled to a drive source such as an electric motor via a power transmission mechanism (not shown).

Next, the regulating means 22 will be described. The restricting means 22 presses the blade 50 as a restricting member made of a rigid member pressed against the peripheral surface of the roller 26 constituting the developing roller 16 and one side of the blade 50 in the direction of pressing against the peripheral surface of the roller 26. Elastic urging means 51 for

The blade 50 composed of the rigid member is composed of a plate-shaped member extending in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1) along the peripheral surface of the roller 26 constituting the developing roller 16. . An action portion 501 that contacts the circumferential surface of the roller 26 is formed from the lower end portion to the lower end surface of one surface of the blade 50 that is pressed against the circumferential surface of the roller 26, and the action portion 501 is a convex curved surface having a predetermined curvature. It is composed by. The convex curved surface forming the acting portion 501 is formed in an angle range of approximately 90 degrees in the illustrated embodiment. The blade 50 configured in this way
Surface roughness of the convex curved surface forming at least the working portion 501 is sufficiently small, and the center line average roughness Ra defined in JIS B 0601 is 6.00 or less, particularly 0.20 or less, and particularly 0.02. The following is preferable. If the surface roughness of one side of the blade 50 becomes excessively large, the thin layer surface of the developer formed on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 of the developing roller 16 is not sufficiently flattened and tends to be uneven. There is. Therefore, as a suitable rigid material having a sufficiently small surface roughness and high hardness and abrasion resistance even though the blade 50 can be formed at a relatively low cost, a commercially available plate glass is used. Can be mentioned. The plate glass may have a thickness of about 3 mm. If it is desired to apply the required voltage to the blade 50 to control the charging characteristics of the toner, a conductive coating can be applied to one side of the plate glass. As the plate glass having a conductive coating on one surface, a plate glass commercially available under the trade name "Nesa glass" can be conveniently used. Instead of the plate glass, the blade 50 may be made of a rigid member made of an appropriate metal plate such as stainless steel.

The elastic biasing means 51 has a leaf spring 511 for mounting the blade 50 as a regulating member. The leaf spring 511 is made of a stainless steel thin plate for spring, and has a mounting portion 512 having a length substantially the same as that of the blade 50 at a lower end portion in correspondence with a width direction length of the blade 50,
The other surface of the blade 50 is mounted on the mounting portion 512 by a fixing means such as an adhesive. The upper end of the leaf spring 511 is mounted on a rotary shaft 513 rotatably mounted between the both side walls 14 and 15 of the developing housing 12 via a mounting bracket 514. The front end of the rotary shaft 513, which can be formed of a stainless steel rod, is projected forward beyond the front side wall 14 of the developing housing 12, and the connecting member 515 is fixed to the front end. On the other hand, an L-shaped bracket 516 is fixed to the front surface of the front side wall 14 of the developing housing 12, and a screw hole is formed in a supporting portion of the bracket 516. A screw rod 517 is screwed into the screw hole of the bracket 516, and a lock nut 518 is screwed into the screw rod 517. A tension spring 518 is stretched between the tip of the screw rod 517 and the free end of the connecting member 515. The tension spring 519 elastically biases the rotary shaft 514 clockwise in FIG. 1, and thus the lower end of the leaf spring 511 having the upper end attached to the rotary shaft 514,
That is, in the blade 50 mounted on the contact portion 512, the action portion 501 formed on the convex curved surface is the roller 2 of the developing roller 16.
Pressed to 6 side. Therefore, the action portion 501 formed by the convex curved surface at the lower end portion of the blade 46 has the roller 26.
Is pressed against the peripheral surface of.

The electrostatic latent image developing device according to the illustrated embodiment is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described below. When the operation of the electrostatic latent image developing device is started, the roller 26 of the developing roller 16, the auxiliary roller 38 of the supplying means 18, and the agitating means 20 drive the power transmission mechanism and the drive gears 45, 46 and 47 by the power of a drive source (not shown). It is rotationally driven in the direction indicated by the arrow. The roller 26 of the developing roller 16 is continuously driven to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 28, and the supplying means 18 acts on the roller 26 in the developer holding area 30 to carry out the development held on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 until then. The developer is peeled off from the roller 26, and the developer is newly supplied to the peripheral surface of the roller 26. In the developer regulation area 32, the blade 50 of the regulation means 22 acts on the developer retained on the peripheral surface of the roller 26,
The developer retained on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is regulated to a required amount to form a thin layer. Further, by the action of the blade 50, the toner constituting the developer is frictionally charged to have a predetermined polarity, for example, a positive polarity. In addition, in order to set the thickness of the toner layer formed on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 to a predetermined amount, the blade 50 that constitutes the regulating means 22.
It is important to maintain the amount of protrusion from the contact portion with the roller 26 to the tip of the blade 46 at a predetermined value, but in the illustrated embodiment, the blade 5 that constitutes the regulating means 22.
Since the zero acting portion 501 is formed by a convex curved surface having a predetermined curvature, as shown in FIG. 5, the contact position, the contact angle, and the roller of the roller 26 on the peripheral surface are caused by the manufacturing error of the elastic biasing means 51 and the like. Even if the parallelism between the blade 26 and the blade 50 is slightly changed, the amount of protrusion can be maintained substantially constant. Therefore, the roller 26 constituting the developing roller 16 is
The toner layer formed on the peripheral surface of the can be made uniform. Next, in the developing area 34, a developer is applied to the electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic photoconductor disposed on the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 1 to develop the electrostatic latent image into a toner image. . For example,
The electrostatic latent image has a non-image area charged to about + 700V and an image area charged to about + 120V, and toner is attached to the image area (so-called reversal development). The rotary drum 1 is continuously driven to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 3 in FIG. 1, so that the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 1 and the peripheral surface of the roller 26 of the developing roller 16 are moved in the same direction in the developing zone 34. . The moving speed V2 of the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is the moving speed V2 of the peripheral surface of the rotating drum 1.
It is set somewhat larger than 1, 1.2V1 ≦ V2
It is preferable that ≦ 2.2V1. In this case, a sufficient amount of the developer is conveyed to the developing area 34 by the roller 26, and the peripheral surface of the roller 26 is rubbed against the peripheral surface of the rotating drum 1 to once adhere to the non-image portion of the electrostatic latent image. The formed toner is appropriately peeled off, and thus a good toner image having an appropriate development density and no fog can be obtained. As the developer, a volume average particle diameter (Vol.
0%: toner having a volume average particle size or less and toner having a volume average particle size or more have the same volume) of 8.0 to 12.0 μm
A developer consisting of only a toner having a volume resistance of 10 ⁸ Ω · cm or more is preferably used.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the restricting member constituting the restricting means 22. The regulating member 52 in this embodiment has an action portion 521 formed on its end face, and the convex curved surface forming the action portion 521 is formed in an angle range of approximately 180 degrees in the illustrated embodiment.
In this embodiment, since the convex curved surface forming the action portion 521 is formed in an angle range of approximately 180 degrees, the contact angle of the regulating member 52 to the peripheral surface of the roller 26 constituting the developing roller 16 is the same as in FIG. Even if it changes further from the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the amount of protrusion can be kept substantially constant.

7 and 8 show an image generator equipped with an electrostatic latent image developing device equipped with a regulating means according to another embodiment of the present invention. In addition, in this embodiment, except for the regulation means 60, the above-mentioned FIG.
Since it may be substantially the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the same reference numerals are given to the same members and the description thereof will be omitted. The regulating means 60 in this embodiment is the developing housing 12
Support holder 61 that can be mounted on the support holder, a holding member 62 slidably disposed on the support holder 61, and the holding member 62.
Member 63 attached to the front surface of the holding member 62 and the holding member 62.
It is provided with a plurality of compression coil springs 64 for pressing the back surface of the above and a closing plate 65. The support holder 61 is provided with a storage chamber 611 having a width direction length (length in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 7) corresponding to the length of the roller 26 constituting the developing roller 16, and the openings 612 and 613 are formed in the front and rear. Has been formed. A mounting flange 614 is provided at the rear end of the support holder 61.
Are attached to the developing housing 12 by screws 66. The holding member 62 has a length in the width direction corresponding to the length of the roller 26 that constitutes the developing roller 16, a semi-circular mounting portion 621 is formed in the width direction on the front surface, and a rear surface on the back surface thereof. Is provided with a plurality of support protrusions 622 (six in the illustrated embodiment) at predetermined intervals in the width direction. The restricting member 63 is made of a solid rod or a hollow rod having a circular cross section such as glass, stainless steel, or synthetic resin. The diameter of the regulation member 63 having a circular cross section is adjusted by the diameter of the developing roller 16, the pressing force of the compression coil spring 64, etc., but a rod material of about 0.5 to 10 mm can be used. The restriction member 63 formed of a rod having a circular cross section is attached to the semicircular attachment portion 621 formed on the front surface of the holding member 62 by a fixing means such as an adhesive. The holding member 62 to which the regulating member 63 is attached is used as the holding chamber 6 of the support holder 61.
11 through the rear end opening 613. The plurality of compression coil springs 64 (six in the illustrated embodiment)
Of the developing housing 12 has one end fitted to a supporting protrusion 622 provided on the back surface of the holding member 62 and the other end penetrating a rear end of the supporting holder 61 and a hole 121 formed in the developing housing 12. It is arranged so as to project from the outer surface. In this way, if the holding member 62 to which the regulating member 63 is attached and the compression coil spring 64 are arranged in the support holder 61, the hole 1 formed in the developing housing 12
A closing plate 65 for closing 21 is attached by screws 67. A plurality of support projections 651 (six in the illustrated embodiment) are provided on the front surface of the closing plate 65 corresponding to the support projections 622 provided on the back surface of the holding member 62. By fitting the support protrusion 651 to the other end of the compression coil spring 64 when the 65 is mounted, the compression coil spring 64 can be reliably incorporated in a predetermined position,
Therefore, the compression coil spring 64 can exert a predetermined pressing force on the holding member 62 and the restriction member 63.
In this way, the regulating means 60 mounted on the developing housing 12 presses the regulating member 63 against which the pressing force of the compression coil spring 64 acts on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 constituting the developing roller 16.

The regulating means 60 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is constructed as described above, and since the regulating member 63 is constituted by a rod member having a circular cross section, the regulating member 63 is the developing roller 1.
No matter which position on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 that constitutes 6 is pressed, the protruding length of the contact portion is always constant, so that the toner layer formed on the surface of the roller 26 of the developing roller 16 is made uniform. can do.

9 and 10 show another embodiment of the regulating means. Note that this embodiment is configured to rotatably hold the restricting member 63 that constitutes the restricting means 60 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Therefore, it may be substantially the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 except for the holding member that rotatably holds the regulating member 63. The holding member 620 which constitutes the regulation means in this embodiment is a case 625 having a channel-shaped cross section.
And a plurality of bearings 626 (six bearings in the illustrated embodiment) arranged in the case 625 at predetermined intervals in the width direction. The plurality of bearings 626 are formed in a substantially semi-circular shape, and the plurality of bearings 626 hold the restriction member 63 rotatably. In addition, a plurality of support protrusions 627 with which one end of the compression coil spring 64 is fitted are provided on the back surface of the case 625.

The regulating means 60 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is constructed as described above, and the regulating member 63 made of a rod having a circular cross section is rotatably held by the holding member 620. When is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow 28, the regulating member 63 is driven in the direction of the arrow. Therefore, the pressure contact portion of the regulation member 63 with the developing roller 16 constantly changes, so that uneven wear of the regulation member 63 can be prevented and the durability of the regulation member 63 can be improved. Further, since the regulating member 63 is driven by the rotation of the developing roller 16, the driving torque of the developing roller 16, especially the driving torque at the initial stage of rotation can be reduced.

FIG. 11 shows a structure in which one end portion of the regulating member 63 constituting the regulating means shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is extended and the gear 70 is attached to this one end portion. This gear 70
Are transmission-coupled to suitable drive means. The regulating member 63 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 10 so that the peripheral speed of the restricting member 63 is substantially the same as the peripheral speed of the developing roller 16 by the driving means and the gear 70. As described above, in this embodiment, since it is configured to be rotationally driven by the regulating member 63 driving means, the driving torque of the developing roller 16 can be further reduced as compared with the regulating means shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0028]

The electrostatic latent image developing device according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and the regulating means that acts on the surface of the developing roller to regulate the amount of developer retained on the surface is the peripheral surface of the developing roller. Since the action portion of the regulating member is provided with the regulating member having the convex curved surface having a predetermined curvature, the contact position on the peripheral surface of the developing roller, the contact angle, and the parallelism with the developing roller may be slightly different due to the mounting error of the regulating member. Even if it changes, the amount of protrusion from the contact portion with the developing roller can be kept substantially constant. Therefore, the toner layer formed on the peripheral surface of the roller 26 constituting the developing roller 16 can be made uniform.

Further, according to the present invention, since the operating portion formed on the convex curved surface is formed in an angle range of approximately 90 degrees or more, the contact position with the developing roller, the contact angle, and the parallel with the developing roller. Even if the degree further changes, the amount of protrusion from the contact portion with the developing roller can be kept substantially constant.

Further, according to the present invention, the protruding length of the contact portion is always constant no matter which position on the peripheral surface of the developing roller the pressure regulating member is formed by a rod-shaped member having a circular cross section. You can

Further, according to the present invention, since the rod-shaped member constituting the regulating member is rotatably supported, the regulating member is driven by the rotation of the developing roller.
The pressure contact portion of the regulating member with the developing roller constantly changes, so that uneven wear of the regulating member can be prevented and the durability of the regulating member can be improved. Further, since the regulating member is driven by the rotation of the developing roller, the driving torque of the developing roller, particularly the driving torque at the initial stage of rotation, can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the rod-shaped member which is rotatably supported and constitutes the above-mentioned regulating member is drivingly connected to the driving means, the driving torque of the developing roller can be further reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration diagram of an image generator equipped with an electrostatic latent image developing device according to an embodiment configured according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of the electrostatic latent image developing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a front surface portion of a developing housing in the electrostatic latent image developing device shown in FIG.

4 is a partial perspective view showing a rear surface portion of a developing housing in the electrostatic latent image developing device shown in FIG.

5 is an enlarged explanatory view showing a relationship between a developing roller of the electrostatic latent image developing device shown in FIG. 1 and a regulating member which constitutes a regulating means.

6 shows another embodiment of a regulating member which constitutes a regulating means provided in the electrostatic latent image developing device shown in FIG.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged explanatory view showing a relationship with a developing roller.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration diagram of an image generator equipped with an electrostatic latent image developing device according to another embodiment configured according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a regulation member that constitutes regulation means installed in the electrostatic latent image developing device shown in FIG. 7 and a holding member that holds the regulation member.

9 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a restricting member that constitutes a restricting unit equipped in the electrostatic latent image developing device shown in FIG. 7 and a holding member that holds the restricting member.

10 is an enlarged explanatory view showing a relationship between a developing roller and a regulating member that constitutes the regulating means shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of a regulating member that constitutes the regulating means installed in the electrostatic latent image developing apparatus shown in FIG. 7 and a holding member that holds the regulating member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Rotating drum 4: Corona discharger for charging 5: Laser optical part 6: Electrostatic latent image developing device 7: Corona discharger for transfer 8: Corona discharger for peeling 9: Cleaning device 10: Static elimination lamp 16: Development roller 18: Supplying Means 20: Stirring Means 22: Restricting Means 26: Developing Roller Rollers 30: Developer Holding Area 32: Developer Restricting Area 34: Developing Area 38: Auxiliary Roller of Supplying Means 45: Drive Gear 46: Drive Gear 47 : Drive gear 49: Intermediate gear 50: Regulation member (blade) 51: Elastic biasing means 52: Regulation member 60: Regulation means 61: Support holder 62: Holding member 63: Regulation member 64: Compression coil spring 65: Closure plate 70 : Gear 501: Action part 511: Leaf spring 512: Mounting part 513: Rotating shaft 514: Mounting bracket 515: Connecting member 516: L-shaped bracket 517 Threaded rod 518: retaining nut 519: tension spring 521: acting portion 620: holding member 625: Case 626: Bearing

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takahisa Nakaue 1-22-28 Tamazo, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. Within Mita Engineering Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A developing housing, and a developer for holding a developer on a surface in a developer holding area provided in the developing housing and conveying the held developer to the developing area to apply it to an electrostatic latent image. A roller, and a regulating means for regulating the amount of the developer retained on the peripheral surface of the developing roller in the developer regulating area located between the developer retaining area and the developing area. In the electrostatic latent image developing device, the regulating means comprises a regulating member having a convex curved surface having a predetermined curvature in a portion acting on the peripheral surface of the developing roller. Image developing device. 2. The acting portion formed on the convex curved surface is substantially 9
The electrostatic latent image developing device according to claim 1, wherein the electrostatic latent image developing device is formed in an angle range of 0 degrees or more. 3. The electrostatic latent image developing device according to claim 1, wherein the regulating member is formed by a rod-shaped member having a circular cross section. 4. The electrostatic latent image developing device according to claim 3, wherein the rod-shaped member constituting the regulating member is rotatably supported. 5. The electrostatic latent image developing device according to claim 4, wherein the rod-shaped member that is rotatably supported and constitutes the regulating member is transmission-coupled to the driving means.