JPH11143324A - Attaching mechanism of blade member, process cartridge and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the efficient reuse of a recovered elastic blade part and to facilitate disassembling work as well. SOLUTION: A cleaning blade 11a is attached to a cleaning container 12b and the edge part 11h is abutted on a photoreceptor drum. When the edge part 11h is worn/damaged, the cleaning blade 11a is attached in such a manner that it is turned upside down and an edge part 11i is abutted on the photoreceptor drum.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine and the like, and relates to a mounting mechanism of a blade member used for image formation, a process cartridge, and an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus such as a printer forms a latent image on a uniformly charged electrophotographic photosensitive member, visualizes the latent image with toner, and transfers the toner image to a recording medium. To record images. In such an apparatus, the toner must be replenished each time the toner runs out. However, this toner replenishment operation is not only troublesome, but also involves contamination. In addition, maintenance of each member can only be performed by a specialized service technician, which often causes inconvenience to the user.

Therefore, the image carrier, the charging device, the developing device, the cleaning unit, and the like are integrated into a cartridge to form a cartridge. When the user mounts the cartridge in the apparatus main body, the toner is supplied and the life is extended. An image carrier in which parts can be replaced and maintenance is facilitated has been put to practical use.

[0004] When such a cartridge runs out of stored toner, it has been conventionally discarded. For this reason, reusable parts, such as various rollers, have been disposed of together. However, with the recent increase in global environmental protection, used cartridges are being collected and parts are being recycled and reused for the purpose of resource saving, energy saving and reduction of waste.

As a conventional technique of this type, there is a mounting structure of a blade member, a process cartridge, and an image forming apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-77897.

[0006]

However, each component in the cartridge usually deteriorates gradually with use, and it is often difficult to continue using it as it is at the time of recovery. For example, in the case of an elastic blade type cleaning unit, the elastic body always slides on the photosensitive drum during image formation. Therefore, when printing is performed up to the life of the process cartridge, the blade edge is often worn or damaged, and cannot be reused as it is.

[0007] Usually, the elastic blade part and the sheet metal part holding the blade part are disassembled, the elastic blade part is incinerated, and only the sheet metal part is reused. Therefore, there have been problems such as poor reuse efficiency and troublesome dismantling work.

The present invention solves such a problem and makes it possible to reuse the collected elastic blade portion, thereby improving the efficiency of reuse and facilitating dismantling work, a process cartridge, and an image forming apparatus. It is intended to provide a device.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a blade member mounting mechanism for supporting a blade member having a predetermined thickness, and a mounting member for fixing the supporting member at a predetermined position. A blade member mounting mechanism for contacting an edge portion of the blade member with an image carrier used for image formation, wherein an arbitrary one edge portion is selected from a plurality of edge portions formed on the blade member. And contacting the image carrier. With such a configuration, when one end of the blade member is worn or damaged, an unused edge portion of the blade member is brought into contact with the image carrier, so that the efficiency of reuse of the blade member can be improved. .

[0010] The blade member mounting mechanism of the present invention includes:
When both sides of the tip of the blade member are edge portions, and the support member is inverted and fixed at a predetermined position, the contact position of the edge portion of the blade member with respect to the image carrier is the edge of the blade member before inversion. It is characterized in that it is configured to be substantially the same as the contact position of the part. With such a configuration, when the edge at one end of the blade member is worn or damaged, the blade member is turned over so that an unused edge portion is brought into contact with the image carrier, thereby reusing the blade member. Efficiency can be improved.

[0011] The blade member mounting mechanism of the present invention includes:
The blade member is constituted by an elastic member. With such a configuration, the blade member can be appropriately brought into contact with the image carrier.

A process cartridge according to the present invention is a process cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus main body, comprising: an image carrier; and a process means acting on the image carrier and having the above-described blade member mounting mechanism. It is characterized by having. With such a configuration, when the process cartridge is collected and reused, if the process cartridge can be reused and the blade member is worn, an unused edge portion of the blade member is replaced with the image carrier. , The efficiency of reuse of the blade member and the process cartridge can be improved.

Further, in the process cartridge of the present invention, the edge portion of the blade member to be brought into contact with the image carrier is changed so as to be different before and after collection, and is re-mounted on the image forming apparatus main body. It is characterized by the following. With such a configuration, an unused edge portion of the blade member is brought into contact with the image carrier, so that the efficiency of reusing the blade member and the process cartridge can be improved.

Further, the process cartridge of the present invention is characterized in that the process means is a developing means or a cleaning means, and the image carrier is integrally formed as an electrophotographic photosensitive member into a cartridge. With this configuration, when replenishing new toner or disposing of waste toner,
The edge portion of the blade member to be brought into contact with the image carrier can be changed.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the process means is at least one of a developing means and a cleaning means, and the image carrier is integrally formed as a cartridge as an electrophotographic photosensitive member. With such a configuration, maintenance such as replenishment of new toner or disposal of waste toner can be easily performed.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the process means is a developing means, the image carrier is an electrophotographic photosensitive member, and at least the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed as a cartridge. . With such a configuration, it is possible to easily supply new toner.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: an image carrier used for image formation; and various kinds of processing means acting on the image carrier. Finally, the above-mentioned blade mounting mechanism is provided. With such a configuration, the reusability of each member constituting the image forming apparatus can be improved.

Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is an electrophotographic copying machine. Further, it is a laser beam printer. Further, it is a facsimile machine. With such a configuration, it is possible to provide an apparatus using an electrophotographic method in which component members are highly reusable.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, wherein 1 is an optical system, 2 is a recording medium made of cut paper, 3 is a conveying means, 4 is a transfer means, Denotes a fixing unit, 6 denotes a paper discharge unit formed on an image forming apparatus main body (hereinafter, simply referred to as main body) A, 7 denotes a photosensitive drum, 8 denotes a charging unit, 9 denotes exposure from the optical system 1, and 10 denotes development. means,
Reference numeral 11 denotes a cleaning unit.

Photosensitive drum 7, charging means 8, developing means 1
The cleaning unit 11 and the cleaning unit 11 are configured as a process cartridge B that is integrally detachably attached to the main body A. When the process cartridge B is mounted in the main body A, a charging means 8, a transfer means 4, a developing means 10 and a cleaning means 11 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 7, and the charging means 8, the developing means 10 The exposure 9 is guided to the surface of the photosensitive drum 7 during the period.

The photosensitive drum 7 is rotated, and its surface is uniformly charged by the charging means 8.
Is exposed to the photosensitive drum 7 to form an electrostatic latent image, and the developing unit 10 forms a toner image corresponding to the latent image. After the toner image is transferred to the recording medium 2 by the transfer unit 4, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 7 is removed by the cleaning unit 11.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the process cartridge. Reference numeral 12 denotes a resin housing. The housing 12 is provided with a toner developing container 12 a for storing toner to be supplied to the developing unit 10 and a cleaning container 12 b for storing toner collected by the cleaning unit 11. The process cartridge B is configured to be detachable from the main body A by arranging the charging unit 8, the developing unit 10, and the cleaning unit 11 around the photosensitive drum 7, and covering them with the housing 12 to integrate them. doing.

The cleaning means 11 includes a cleaning blade 11a for contacting the surface of the photosensitive drum 7 and scraping off the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 7;
It is composed of a squeeze sheet 11b which is located below the cleaning blade 11a for scooping the scraped toner and is weakly in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 7, and a waste toner reservoir 11c for storing the scraped waste toner. ing.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a mounting structure of the cleaning blade.
“e” denotes a blade supporting member, and the cleaning blade 11a is configured by attaching the elastic blade 11d to the blade supporting member 11e. Screw holes 11f and 11g are provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the blade supporting member 11e.
Are formed, and one screw hole 11g is formed as a long hole. Further, the screw holes 11f and 11g are provided with a center line C perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the blade supporting member 11e.
Are symmetrical with respect to Also, the blade support member 1
An elastic blade 11d is provided at one end of the center line 1e in the direction of the center line C, and the other is bent in an L-shape.
Further, as shown in FIG.
The blade supporting member 11e is fixed to the blade supporting member 11e so as to have a sectional shape symmetrical with respect to a center line D of the section. That is, two edges 11h and 11i are formed at the tip of the elastic blade 11d, and the edges 11h and 11i are located symmetrically with respect to the center line D.

In the cleaning container 12b, seating surfaces 13, 13 for mounting the blade supporting member 11e are provided near the waste toner collecting port.
3, 13 are provided with projections 12c, 12c having screw holes. The protrusions 12c have a cylindrical shape into which the screw holes 11f and 11g can be fitted, and a screw hole is formed at the center thereof. Then, as shown in FIG. 5A, the screw holes 11f, 11g are fitted into the protrusions 12c, 12c, and the head screw 1 having a diameter larger than the protrusion 12c is formed.
By screwing with the blades 4 and 14, the blade supporting member 11e is attached to the housing 12. At this time, the edge portion 11h contacts the photosensitive drum 7.

By the way, in the cleaning means using an elastic blade, a place where abrasion or damage occurs when used for image formation is almost at the leading edge portion of the elastic blade. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the collected blade is mounted in an inverted manner as shown in FIG. 5B, and the unused end opposite to the worn blade edge, that is, the edge portion 11i is attached to the photosensitive drum 7 , The elastic blade 11d can be reused without being worn or damaged.

As shown in FIG. 4, the elastic blade 11d is fixed to the blade supporting member 11e so as to have a symmetrical cross section with respect to the center line D of the cross section of the blade supporting member 11e. And screw holes 11f,
11g and the projections 12c, 12c
It is disposed at a position symmetrical with respect to a center line C perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of 1e. Therefore, the dimension and shape of the elastic blade 11d do not change, and the setting of the elastic blade 11d does not change even if the initial assembly position is maintained. In addition, since it is not necessary to cut the tip of the elastic blade as disclosed in JP-A-7-77897, the elastic blade 11d can be reused more easily.

Further, the process cartridge B according to the present invention is not limited to the case of forming a monochromatic image,
The present invention can be suitably applied to a cartridge that is provided with a plurality of developing means and forms a plurality of color images (two-color image, three-color image, full-color image, etc.).

Various developing methods such as a known two-component magnetic brush developing method, a cascade developing method, a touch-down developing method, and a cloud developing method can be used as the developing method.

In the above-described embodiment, a so-called contact charging method is used for the charging means. Alternatively, a metal shield made of aluminum or the like may be provided around three sides of a conventionally used tungsten wire to form a tungsten wire. A configuration may be used in which positive or negative ions generated by applying a high voltage to the photosensitive drum are moved to the photosensitive drum, moved to the surface of the photosensitive drum, and uniformly charged on the surface of the photosensitive drum. Further, the charging means may be of a blade type (charging blade), a pad type, a block type, a rod type, a wire type, etc. other than the roller type.

The process cartridge has, for example, an electrophotographic photosensitive member or the like as an image carrier, and has a blade member at least as a process means in contact with the image carrier, and is limited to the process cartridge of the above-described embodiment. Not something. Therefore, as a mode of the process cartridge, in addition to the above-described embodiment, for example, an image carrier and a developing unit are integrally formed into a cartridge and can be detachably attached to the apparatus main body. There is an example in which two or more processing means are combined to form a cartridge integrally and made detachable from the apparatus main body. That is, the above-described process cartridge is one in which at least one of the charging unit, the developing unit, and the cleaning unit, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge and can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body.

In the above-described embodiment, the photosensitive drum and the developing means are formed into cartridges, and an apparatus for forming an image by mounting the process cartridge is illustrated. However, the photosensitive drum 7 and the developing means 10 are formed into cartridges. Instead, the present invention can be similarly applied to an image forming apparatus directly attached to the apparatus main body.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a laser beam printer is exemplified as an image forming apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, other image forming apparatuses such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, and a word processor May be applied.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, as described above, since two or more types of edge portions of the blade member to be brought into contact with the image carrier used for image formation can be set, the used cartridge can be used. When the edge of the blade member is worn or damaged, an unused edge different from the worn or damaged edge can be properly brought into contact with the image carrier.

In addition, it is possible to reuse the recovered blade member without cutting, which is performed in the blade member mounting structure described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-77897, thereby improving the reuse efficiency. Since it is not necessary to remove the blade member from the support portion, the dismantling operation is also facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a process cartridge.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a mounting structure of a cleaning blade.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a support structure of an elastic blade with respect to a blade support member.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a support structure of an elastic blade on a blade support member before and after collection of a toner cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical system 2 Recording medium 3 Conveying means 4 Transfer means 5 Fixing means 6 Discharge part 7 Photoconductor drum 8 Charging means 9 Exposure 10 Development means 11 Cleaning means 11a Cleaning blade 11b Squeeze sheet 11c Waste toner storage 11d Elastic blade 11e Blade support Members 11f, 11g Screw holes 11h, 11i Edge 12 Housing 12a Toner developing container 12b Cleaning container 12c Projection 13 Seat 14 Screw

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a support member for supporting a blade member having a predetermined thickness; and a mounting member for fixing the support member at a predetermined position. An attachment mechanism for a blade member to be brought into contact with the blade member, wherein an arbitrary one edge portion is selected from a plurality of edge portions formed on the blade member and is brought into contact with the image carrier. mechanism. 2. When both sides of the tip of the blade member are edge portions, and the support member is inverted and fixed at a predetermined position, the contact position of the edge portion of the blade member with respect to the image carrier is determined before the inversion. The blade member mounting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the blade member is configured to be substantially the same as an abutting position of an edge portion of the blade member. 3. The blade member mounting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said blade member is constituted by an elastic member. 4. A process cartridge detachable from a main body of an image forming apparatus, comprising: an image carrier; and a process means acting on the image carrier and having a blade member mounting mechanism according to claim 1. A process cartridge. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an edge portion of the blade member, which is brought into contact with the image carrier, is changed before and after the collection and is re-mounted on the image forming apparatus main body. Item 5. The process cartridge according to Item 4. 6. The process cartridge according to claim 4, wherein said process means is a developing means or a cleaning means, and said image bearing member is integrally formed as an electrophotographic photosensitive member into a cartridge. 7. A process cartridge according to claim 4, wherein said process means is at least one of a developing means and a cleaning means, and said image bearing member is integrally formed as a cartridge as an electrophotographic photosensitive member. 8. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said process means is a developing means, said image bearing member is an electrophotographic photosensitive member, and at least said developing means and said electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed as a cartridge. The process cartridge as described. 9. An image forming apparatus comprising an image carrier used for image formation and various kinds of processing means acting on the image carrier, wherein at least one of the process means is provided. An image forming apparatus comprising a blade member mounting mechanism. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the image forming apparatus is an electrophotographic copying machine. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the image forming apparatus is a laser beam printer. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the image forming apparatus is a facsimile machine.