Cleaning apparatus, developing apparatus, and image forming apparatus

Abstract

To solve the problem in which: a cleaning device is known which is provided with a space in a seal member to remove a residual substance attached to an end of an image carrier; however, when the cleaning device is used for a long period, the residual substance passing through the seal member does not separate from the image carrier, and cleaning may not be sufficiently performed.SOLUTION: A cleaning device has: an outer casing 63 that has an opening 63c facing a photoreceptor drum 51; a cleaning blade 61 that faces the photoreceptor drum 51 and removes a residual toner 71; and a cleaning member that is provided at least one end side in a rotation axis direction and is in contact with an end of the photoreceptor drum 51. The cleaning member has a first cleaning member 41 that is provided on the upstream side in a rotation direction of the photoreceptor drum 51 and has foam in an open-cell structure, a second cleaning member 42 that is provided on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photoreceptor drum and has foam in a closed-cell structure, and a space 43 that is formed by the first cleaning member 41 and the second cleaning member 42.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus used in an electrophotographic recording method such as a printer, a fax machine, and a copier, and a developing device mounted on the image forming apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in order to remove residues adhering to the end of an image carrier, a cleaning device provided with a void in a seal member is known. (For example, see Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, when used for a long period of time, there is a problem that residues passing through the seal member do not separate from the image carrier and may cause slippage. An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device capable of sealing residues remaining on an image carrier over a long period of time.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The cleaning device according to the present invention is a cleaning device that cleans residues on a rotatably supported image carrier, having an opening with respect to the image carrier, a container that houses the residues inside, and a cleaning member that extends in the rotation axis direction of the image carrier and cleans the residues facing the image carrier. The image carrier has a sealing portion provided on at least one end in the direction of the rotation axis, which seals the gap between one end of the cleaning member and the image carrier, and which contacts the image carrier on the end side of the image carrier that is closer to the cleaning member. The aforementioned sealing portion is The image carrier has a first sealing member provided on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the image carrier, a second sealing member provided on the downstream side in the rotational direction of the image carrier, and a void formed by the first sealing member and the second sealing member. The first sealing member is characterized by having a foam with an open-cell structure, and the second sealing member is characterized by having a foam with a closed-cell structure. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the present invention, it is possible to seal off residues that remain on the image carrier over a long period of time. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing the main components of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1, which is equipped with a developing device based on the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram showing the main components of the black (K) image forming unit. [Figure 3] Figure 2 shows the main components of the cleaning unit of the image forming unit, viewed from the direction of paper transport (arrow A), near the left end. [Figure 4] This is a block diagram showing the control system of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 5] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the DD cross-section, and is an explanatory diagram used to explain the residual toner scraping operation. [Figure 6] This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the scraping operation of residual toner in Modification Example 1, and is a schematic diagram of the position corresponding to the DD cross-section in Figure 3. [Figure 7]This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the scraping operation of residual toner in Modified Example 2, and is a diagram showing the main components of the cleaning unit of Modified Example 2 as seen from the same position as in Figure 3, near the left end. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] Embodiment 1. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the main components of an image forming apparatus 1 of Embodiment 1 equipped with a developing device according to the present invention, and Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the main components of a black (K) image forming unit 11K.

[0009] In the figure, a paper feed cassette 32 for storing recording paper 35 as a recording medium is mounted in the lower part of the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus 1, and a hopping roller 22 is positioned at the upper end of the paper feed cassette 32 to separate the recording paper 35 into single sheets and feed them into the paper transport path 33. The paper transport path 33 is formed in a roughly S-shape from the hopping roller 22 to the discharge roller pair 27 that discharges the recording paper 35 to the outside, and the transport path for the recording paper 35 is sequentially transported by transport roller pairs 23, 24, 25, and 26 arranged along this paper transport path 33.

[0010] Furthermore, within the housing 2, four image forming units 11K, 11C, 11M, and 11Y (sometimes simply referred to as image forming unit 11 when there is no need to distinguish between them) that form toner images of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) are arranged in order from the upstream side along a portion of the paper transport path 33 that extends linearly in the direction of arrow A.

[0011] These image forming units 11, which function as developing devices, have the same configuration except that they each use a predetermined color of toner. Therefore, here, referring to Figure 2, we will explain the configuration using the black (K) image forming unit 11K as an example. In Figure 2, the X, Y, and Z axes are defined as follows: the X axis is in the transport direction (arrow A direction) when the recording paper 35 passes through the image forming unit 11; the Y axis is in the direction of the rotation axis of the photoreceptor drum 51; and the Z axis is in a direction perpendicular to these two axes. Furthermore, when the X, Y, and Z axes are shown in other figures described later, these axis directions will be considered to represent a common direction.

[0012] In Figure 2, the toner 71 is composed of a binder resin, an internal additive such as a charge control agent, a release agent, a colorant, and an external additive, and the appropriate mixture of the toner 71 and the carrier 72 corresponds to the developer. The photoreceptor drum 51, which serves as the image carrier, is an organic photoreceptor with an aluminum metal pipe serving as a conductive support, on which charge generation layers and charge transport layers serving as photoconductive layers are sequentially laminated. A gear (not shown) is provided for driving, and it is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow B.

[0013] Around the photoreceptor drum 51 are a charging roller 52, which is a charging device that contacts the photoreceptor drum 51 and uniformly charges the surface of the photoreceptor drum 51 with a high voltage; an LED head 65, which is an exposure device that selectively exposes the charged surface of the photoreceptor drum 51 to form an electrostatic latent image; a developing sleeve 54, which is a developer carrier that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 51 by the LED head 65 with toner 71; and a cleaning unit 64, which is a cleaning device.

[0014] The charging roller 52 consists of a metal shaft coated with a semiconductive epichlorohydrin rubber layer, and the LED head 65 is positioned opposite the lower part of the photoreceptor drum 51. The developing sleeve 54 has a magnetic material inside and is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow by a gear (not shown) for driving, and the doctor blade 55, which is a metal thin-layer former, forms a uniform thin layer of developer supplied to the surface of the developing sleeve 54.

[0015] Toner is supplied to the developer container 58 through a toner conveyance path (not shown) from the toner container 31 (FIG. 1). The agitation spirals 56 and 57 as developer agitation and conveyance members are rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow by providing gears (not shown) for driving, agitate and convey the developer enclosed in the developer container 58 that houses the developer, and make the mixing ratio of the toner and the carrier substantially constant.

[0016] The charging roller cleaning roller 53 removes deposits such as external additives adhering to the charging roller 52. The cleaning unit 64 includes a cleaning blade 61 made of urethane rubber as a cleaning member that scrapes off the toner 71 adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 51, a waste toner conveyance spiral 62 as a conveyance member that conveys the scraped-off toner 71 to the waste toner storage section 67, and an outer casing 63 as a container that holds the waste toner conveyance spiral 62 and the cleaning blade 61 and has a movement path for the conveyed toner 71. The cleaning unit 64 will be further described later.

[0017] The waste toner storage section 67 as a storage section is detachably attached to the outer casing 63, and stores the toner 71 conveyed by the waste toner conveyance spiral 62 through a waste toner discharge port 63a (FIG. 3) formed in the outer casing 63, as will be described later. Thereby, the toner 71 stored in the waste toner storage section 67 can be discarded.

[0018] In FIG. 1, above the four image forming units 11 arranged along the paper conveyance path 33, a transfer unit 12 is arranged through the paper conveyance path 33. The transfer unit 12 includes a driving roller 14, a driven roller 15 arranged at a predetermined distance from the driving roller 14, a transfer belt 16 stretched and driven by the driving roller 14 and the driven roller 15, and a part facing the paper conveyance path 33 traveling in the direction of arrow A, and four transfer rollers 17 as transfer devices arranged to face each photosensitive drum 51 (FIG. 2) of the four image forming units 11 through the transfer belt 16 and having a urethane sponge layer coated on a metal shaft.

[0019] In the paper transport direction (direction of arrow A), a fixing device 13 is positioned downstream of the transfer unit 12. The fixing device 13 includes a heating roller 29 and a pressure roller 30 that presses against it, fusing the toner image transferred to the recording paper 35 by heat and pressure. The discharge roller pair 27 discharges the recording paper 35, on which the toner image has been fixed and transported by the transport roller pair 26, onto a stacker 19 located outside the housing 2. The toner storage sections 31K, 31C, 31M, and 31Y each contain toner of each color that is supplied to the corresponding developer storage unit 58 (Figure 2) via a toner transport path (not shown).

[0020] Figure 3 is a diagram showing the main components of the cleaning unit 64 of the image forming unit 11K shown in Figure 2, viewed from the direction of transport of the recording paper 35 (direction of arrow A). Here, in order to clearly show the internal structure of the cleaning unit 64, only the outer shape of the photoreceptor drum 51 is shown with a dotted line. Note that, as shown in Figure 3, the top, bottom, left, right, front, and back of the image forming unit 11 may be identified when viewed from the direction of arrow A. Also, the direction of arrow A is parallel to the X-axis direction.

[0021] As shown in Figure 3, a flange portion 51a, corresponding to the end of an aluminum metal pipe serving as a conductive support, is formed on the left end of the photoreceptor drum 51 adjacent to the end of the charge transport layer 51b, which is its surface layer, so as to be flush with the surface of the charge transport layer 51b. On the other hand, the cleaning unit 64, which serves as a cleaning device, has a first cleaning member 41 formed in a U-shape in cross-section and a second cleaning member 42 that closes the U-shaped recess 41b of the first cleaning member 41 and forms a cavity 43 with the first cleaning member 41. These are arranged in order along the direction of movement of the outer circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 51, which rotates in the direction of arrow B, and are roughly opposite the flange portion 51a. The first cleaning member 41, the second cleaning member 42, and the cavity 43 correspond to a sealing portion.

[0022] The first cleaning member 41, which serves as the first sealing member, is made of a urethane sponge with open cells, and as will be described later, its contact surface 41a is positioned to press against the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 51 in order to suppress the leakage of toner 71 from the left end of the photoreceptor drum 51. The second cleaning member 42, which serves as the second sealing member, is made of a urethane sponge with closed cells, and as will be described later, its contact surface 42a is positioned to press against the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 51 in order to scrape off any toner 71 that cannot be scraped off by the first cleaning member 41.

[0023] For simplicity, Figure 3 only shows the contact surface 41a of the first cleaning member 41 and the contact surface 42a of the second cleaning member 42, but these cleaning members have a predetermined thickness, as will be described later. Also, although the configuration of the left end of the cleaning unit 64 has been described here, the first cleaning member 41 and the second cleaning member 42 are similarly formed in a substantially symmetrical manner at the right end of the cleaning unit 64.

[0024] At the left end of the outer casing 63 of the cleaning unit 64, a waste toner discharge port 63a is formed for discharging toner 71, which is carried to the left end by the waste toner transport spiral 62, to the waste toner storage section 67 (see Figure 2). In addition, as will be described later, the outer casing 63 has an opening 63c (see Figure 5) which serves as an opening to guide the toner 71 scraped off by the first cleaning member 41 and the second cleaning member 42 into the interior of the outer casing 63.

[0025] Here, we will explain the structures of open-cell and closed-cell bubbles. 1. Prepare a sample for measuring air permeability (in this case, a piece of urethane sponge) with an area of ​​1 cm x 2 cm and a thickness of 1.0 mm. Place it on the top surface of a metal plate jig with a φ9 mm hole and secure it with tape to prevent air from escaping.

[0026] 2. To measure the air permeability of the sample, a Fragile-type air permeability tester DAP-360 (Daiei Kagaku Seiki Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) is used. This tester applies a constant suction pressure (differential pressure) to the sample and measures the airflow rate (cc) passing through the sample at that time. Therefore, a φ25 mm hole, which serves as an air vent, is provided in the center of the test stand of the above tester, and the measurement is performed in the area of ​​this hole.

[0027] 3. In the measurement here, a metal plate jig is attached to the testing machine so that the hole in the test stand of the testing machine is sufficiently blocked by the sample fixed to the jig as described in 1. The machine is set up so that the airflow rate passing vertically above and below the sample can be measured, and three measurements are taken for each sample, and the average is calculated. The differential pressure range is 125 Pa.

[0028] 4. Air permeability (1cm 2 A physical quantity that indicates how much airflow (cc) passes through per unit, 0.1 cc / cm³ 2 Those less than this have a closed-cell structure. 0.1 cc / cm³ 2 The above constitutes an open-cell structure. In this example, a urethane foam (urethane sponge) is used to form both open-cell and closed-cell structures, but a silicone foam may also be used.

[0029] In other words, a foam with an open-cell structure is a foam that allows a predetermined amount or more of gas to pass through its interior when a predetermined differential pressure is applied, while a foam with a closed-cell structure is a foam that does not allow a predetermined amount or more of gas to pass through when a predetermined differential pressure is applied.

[0030] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the control system of the image forming apparatus 1.

[0031] In the figure, the interface (I / F) control unit 102 is a control unit that receives print data and control commands from a higher-level device (not shown), and the print control unit 101 is composed of a microprocessor, ROM, RAM, input / output ports, timers, etc., and receives print data and control commands via the interface control unit 102 to sequence control the overall printing operation of the image forming apparatus 1.

[0032] The receiving memory 103 temporarily records print data input from a higher-level device via the interface control unit 102, and the image data editing memory 104 receives the print data recorded in the receiving memory 103 and records image data, i.e., image data, formed by editing that print data.

[0033] The operation unit 105 includes an LED for displaying the status of the image forming apparatus 1, and switches and a display unit for giving instructions to the image forming apparatus 1 from the operator. The sensor group 106 consists of various sensors for monitoring the operating status of the image forming apparatus 1, such as a paper position detection sensor, a temperature and humidity sensor, a print density sensor, a toner level detection sensor, and the like.

[0034] The high-voltage power control unit 107 controls the voltage applied to each part of the image forming apparatus 1 according to instructions from the printing control unit 101, the charging voltage power supply 121 applies the voltage instructed by the high-voltage power control unit 107 to the charging roller 52, the developing sleeve voltage power supply 122 applies the voltage instructed by the high-voltage power control unit 107 to the developing sleeve 54, the doctor blade voltage power supply 123 applies the voltage instructed by the high-voltage power control unit 107 to the doctor blade 55, and the transfer voltage power supply 124 applies the voltage instructed by the high-voltage power control unit 107 to the transfer roller 17.

[0035] The head drive control unit 108 drives the LED head 65 by sending image data recorded in the image data editing memory 104 to the LED head 65 based on instructions from the print control unit 101. The fuser control unit 109 applies voltage to the fuser device 13 to fix the transferred toner image onto the recording paper 35 based on instructions from the print control unit 101. The fuser device 13 includes a heater for melting the toner 71 that constitutes the toner image on the recording paper 35, and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature. The fuser control unit 109 reads the sensor output of the temperature sensor and controls the heater to reach a predetermined temperature based on the sensor output.

[0036] The transport motor control unit 110 controls the paper transport motor 125 for transporting the recording paper 35, and transports or stops the recording paper 35 at predetermined timings according to instructions from the print control unit 101. For example, during printing, the recording paper 35 contained in the paper feed cassette 32 is transported along the paper transport path 33 in the direction of arrow A by the hopping roller 22, transport roller pairs 23, 24, 25, 26, and discharge roller pair 27 shown in Figure 1.

[0037] The drive control unit 111 drives the drive motor 126 to operate the photoreceptor drum 51 according to the instructions of the printing control unit 101, and the drive transmission unit 130 transmits the rotational driving force of the photoreceptor drum 51 driven by the drive motor 126 to the developing sleeve 54, agitation spirals 56, 57, and charging roller 52 via a gear train or the like.

[0038] In the configuration described above, the printing operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be explained first.

[0039] When a print command is input from a higher-level device (not shown), such as a personal computer, the print control unit 101 of the image forming apparatus 1 drives the drive motor 126 via the drive control unit 111, causing the photoreceptor drum 51 to rotate at a constant peripheral speed in the direction of arrow B. The rotational driving force of the photoreceptor drum 51 is transmitted to the developing sleeve 54, agitation spirals 56, 57, and charging roller 52 by a drive transmission unit 130 (not shown) consisting of a gear train, causing them to rotate in the respective directions of the arrows shown in Figure 2.

[0040] Next, the print control unit 101 applies a voltage from the charging voltage power supply 121 to the charging roller 52, which is provided in contact with or pressed against the surface of the photoreceptor drum 51, to uniformly charge the surface of the photoreceptor drum 51. Then, the LED head 65 irradiates the surface of the photoreceptor drum 51 with light corresponding to the image signal to form an electrostatic latent image, and the developing sleeve 54 moves and deposits toner 71 onto this electrostatic latent image to form a developed toner image.

[0041] Meanwhile, the print control unit 101 sends the recording paper 35 to the transfer unit 12 using the hopping roller 22 and the transport roller pairs 23, 24, and 25. The transfer unit 12 transports the transported recording paper 35 in the direction of arrow A using the transfer belt 16, and simultaneously transfers the toner images of each color formed on each photoreceptor drum 51 onto the recording paper 35 sequentially using four transfer rollers 17 to which a predetermined voltage is applied by the transfer voltage power supply 124. The recording paper 35 with the transferred toner images is then transported to the fuser unit 13.

[0042] The fixing device 13, as the recording paper 35 passes through the nip between the heating roller 29 and the pressure roller 30, heats and pressurizes to melt the toner image transferred to the recording paper 35, allowing it to penetrate between the fibers of the recording paper 35 and fix it in place, before sending it to the transport roller pair 26. The sent-out recording paper 35 is then further sent by the transport roller pair 26 to the discharge roller pair 27, which then sends it to the stacker 19 outside the housing 2.

[0043] Furthermore, the photoconductor drum 51 contains a small amount of toner 71 that could not be transferred to the recording paper 35 (hereinafter referred to as residual toner), toner 71 that adheres to the non-printed areas (hereinafter referred to as excess toner), and toner 71 that is recovered by the image forming unit 11 located downstream (hereinafter referred to as reverse transfer toner). However, these remaining toners 71 are removed by the cleaning blade 61 of the cleaning unit 64 and stored in the waste toner storage unit 67 via the waste toner transport spiral 62, which passes through a waste toner transport path not shown. In this way, the photoconductor drum 51 is reused repeatedly.

[0044] Next, we will explain the operation of the cleaning unit 64 to scrape off toner 71 remaining on the edge of the photoreceptor drum 51 during printing. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the DD cross-section of Figure 3, and is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of scraping off toner 71. The toner 71 that adheres to and remains on the peripheral surface 51c of the photoreceptor drum 51 may hereafter be referred to as residual toner 71. In addition to residual toner 71, other residues such as paper dust and carrier 72 may also be present, but only residual toner 71 will be described here.

[0045] As shown in the figure, the roughly rectangular first cleaning member 41 and the second cleaning member 42 have a predetermined thickness d and are positioned on the upstream and downstream sides in the direction of arrow C through an opening 63c formed in the outer casing 63 of the cleaning unit 64, and are arranged on the outer casing 63 such that the contact surfaces 41a and 42a facing the photoreceptor drum 51 are in pressure contact with the circumferential surface 51c. In the schematic Figure 5, the circumferential surface 51c, which has a cross-sectional arc shape, is approximated by a straight line.

[0046] As shown in Figure 5, when the photoreceptor drum 51 rotates in the direction of arrow B around the rotation axis 51d (Figure 3), its circumferential surface 51c moves in the direction of arrow C, and the residual toner 71 adhering to the circumferential surface 51c is first scraped off by the first cleaning member 41. The first cleaning member 41 holds onto this scraped-off residual toner 71, but since it is formed of open bubbles, it becomes unable to hold onto it over time, and the residual toner 71 that can no longer be held passes through the first cleaning member 41.

[0047] The residual toner 71 that has passed through the first cleaning member 41 passes through the void 43 and reaches the second cleaning member 42. However, since the second cleaning member 42 is formed of closed bubbles, the toner is not stored in the second cleaning member 42 but is scraped off from the photoreceptor drum 51. The scraped-off residual toner 71 falls from the opening 63c into the outer casing 63b, is transported by the waste toner transport spiral 62 to the waste toner discharge port 63a (Figure 3), and is discharged to the waste toner storage section 67 (Figure 2) via the waste toner discharge port 63a.

[0048] As described above, according to the cleaning unit 64 of this embodiment, by using a material that the residual toner 71 cannot pass through in the second cleaning member 42 disposed on the downstream side, the residual toner 71 that the first cleaning member 41 can no longer hold can be scraped off, and toner leakage from the left and right ends of the cleaning blade 61 can be suppressed over a long period of time.

[0049] (Variation 1) Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the scraping operation of residual toner 71 in Modification 1 of this embodiment, and is a schematic diagram of the position corresponding to the DD cross-section in Figure 3.

[0050] As shown in Figure 6, in Modification 1, only the shape of the second cleaning member 142 of the cleaning unit 164 differs from the shape of the second cleaning member 42 of the original cleaning unit 64 shown in Figure 5. That is, in this Modification 1, the inclination and arrangement of the inclined surface 142b, which is an extending surface facing the first cleaning member 41, are considered so that the second cleaning member 142 can easily scrape off residual toner 71 and the scraped-off residual toner 71 can easily fall vertically downward.

[0051] That is, at the contact surface 142a of the second cleaning member 142 that contacts the peripheral surface 51c of the photoreceptor drum 51, the upstream end in the direction of arrow C is defined as the apex 145, and when the angle of the tangential direction of the peripheral surface 51c at the apex 145 with respect to the horizontal plane H is θ1, and the angle of the inclined surface 142b extending in the Y-axis direction with respect to the horizontal plane H is θ2, then the angle θ3 of the inclined surface 142b with respect to the tangential direction, i.e., the angle θ3 of the apex 145, is (θ1-θ2), and here 45° < θ3 < 90° Furthermore, the angle θ2 is set to 90° or greater. However, in this explanation, it is assumed that the cleaning member mounting surface 63d is positioned parallel to the tangential direction described above.

[0052] In the above configuration, when the photoreceptor drum 51 rotates in the direction of arrow B around the rotation axis 51d (Figure 3), its circumferential surface 51c moves in the direction of arrow C, and the residual toner 71 adhering to the circumferential surface 51c is first scraped off by the first cleaning member 41. The first cleaning member 41 holds onto this scraped-off residual toner 71, but since it is formed of open bubbles, it becomes unable to hold onto it over time, and the residual toner 71 that can no longer be held passes through the first cleaning member 41.

[0053] The residual toner 71 that has passed through the first cleaning member 41 reaches the second cleaning member 42. However, since the second cleaning member 42 is formed of closed bubbles, the toner is not accumulated in the second cleaning member 42 but is scraped off from the photoreceptor drum 51.

[0054] Furthermore, in the cleaning unit 164 of the modified example 1, the angle of the top 145 of the second cleaning member 42 is acute, making it easier for the residual toner 71 scraped off by the top 145 to move to the inclined surface 142b. Also, since the inclined surface 142b exists between the vertical surface J extending downward from the top 145 and in the Y-axis direction and the contact surface 142a, the residual toner 71 scraped off by the top 145 is more likely to fall downward due to its own weight.

[0055] Note that, considering space limitations, the angle θ3 was set to greater than 45° here, but it may be set to 45° or less if conditions permit.

[0056] (Modification 2) Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the scraping operation of residual toner 71 in Modification 2 of this embodiment, and is a diagram showing the main components of the cleaning unit 264 of Modification 2 as seen from the same position as in Figure 3, near the left end.

[0057] The cleaning unit 264 of Modified Example 2 differs from the original cleaning unit 64 shown in Figure 3 in the shape of the first cleaning member 241 and the second cleaning member 242. Specifically, the first cleaning member 41, which is formed in a U-shape in cross-section in Figure 3, has one side wall portion on the end side removed in the first cleaning member 241 of Modified Example 2, resulting in an L-shaped cross-section. Similarly, the second cleaning member 42, which closes the U-shaped recess 41b of the first cleaning member 41 in Figure 3, is formed in an L-shape in cross-section in the second cleaning member 242 of Modified Example 2 to compensate for the removed side wall portion of the first cleaning member 41. The other configurations of the cleaning unit 264 of Modified Example 2 are the same as those of the cleaning unit 64 shown in Figure 3.

[0058] In the above configuration, when the photoreceptor drum 51 rotates around the rotation axis 51d in the direction of arrow B, residual toner 71 adhering to its circumferential surface 51c (see Figure 5) is supplied from the direction of arrow E. Residual toner 71 may also leak from the end of the cleaning blade 61, and this residual toner 71 is supplied from the direction of arrow F. The residual toner 71 supplied from the directions of arrows E and F is stored in the cells within the sponge by the first cleaning member 241, which is formed of open bubbles. Residual toner 71 that can no longer be stored here is scraped off by the second cleaning member 242, which is formed of closed bubbles, after passing through the first cleaning member 241, or its further movement toward the end of the cleaning unit 264 is prevented.

[0059] As described above, according to the cleaning unit 264 of the modified example 2, by providing a first cleaning member 241 on the upstream side and a second cleaning member 242 on the downstream side in the directions of arrows E and F to which residual toner 71 is supplied, the residual toner 71 can be stored in the first cleaning member 241, and any residual toner 71 that can no longer be stored there can be scraped off by the second cleaning member 242 or prevented from moving further.

[0060] Furthermore, although terms such as "up," "down," "left," "right," "front," and "back" were used in the above-mentioned claims and descriptions of embodiments, these are for convenience only and do not limit the absolute positional relationships in the state in which the image forming apparatus is arranged. [Industrial applicability]

[0061] In the embodiments described above, the present invention was explained using a color electrophotographic printer as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this and can also be used in image forming devices such as copiers, facsimile machines, and MFPs that form images on recording materials using an electrophotographic method. Furthermore, although the description focused on color printers, monochrome printers may also be used. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0062] 1 Image forming apparatus, 2 Housing, 11 Image forming unit, 12 Transfer unit, 13 Fixing device, 14 Drive roller, 15 Driven roller, 16 Transfer belt, 17 Transfer roller, 19 Stacker, 22 Hopping roller, 23 Transport roller pair, 24 Transport roller pair, 25 Transport roller pair, 26 Transport roller pair, 27 Discharge roller pair, 29 Heating roller, 30 Pressure roller, 31 Toner storage section, 32 Paper feed cassette, 33 Paper transport path, 35 Recording paper, 41 First cleaning member, 41a Contact surface, 41b Recess, 42 Second cleaning member, 42a Contact surface, 43 Void, 51 Photoreceptor drum, 51a Flange section, 51b Charge transport layer, 51c Peripheral surface, 51d Rotating shaft, 52 Charging roller, 53 Charging roller cleaning roller, 54 Developing sleeve, 55 Doctor blade, 56 Agitation spiral, 57 Agitation spiral, 58 Developer container, 61 Cleaning blade, 62 Waste toner transport spiral, 63 Outer casing, 63a Waste toner outlet, 63b Inside the outer casing, 63c Opening, 63d Cleaning component mounting surface, 64 Cleaning unit, 65 LED head, 67 Waste toner storage section, 71 Toner (residual toner), 72 Carrier, 101 Printing control unit, 102 Interface (I / F) control unit, 103 Receiving memory, 104 Image data editing memory, 105 Operation unit, 106 Sensor group, 107 High-voltage power supply control unit, 108 Head drive control unit, 109 Fixing control unit, 110 111 Transport motor control unit, 121 Drive control unit, 121 Charge voltage power supply, 122 Developing sleeve voltage power supply, 123 Doctor blade voltage power supply, 124 Transfer voltage power supply, 125 Paper transport motor, 126 Drive motor, 130 Drive transmission unit, 142 Second cleaning member, 142a Contact surface, 142b Inclined surface, 145 Top, 164 Cleaning unit, 241 First cleaning member, 242 Second cleaning member, 264 Cleaning unit.

Claims

1. In a cleaning device for cleaning residue on a rotatably supported image carrier, A container having an opening facing the image carrier and containing the residue inside, A cleaning member extending in the direction of the rotation axis of the image carrier and facing the image carrier to clean the residue, The image carrier is provided with at least one end in the direction of the rotation axis, which seals the gap between one end of the cleaning member and the image carrier, and has a sealing portion that contacts the image carrier on the end side of the image carrier that is closer to the cleaning member. It has, The aforementioned sealing portion is A first sealing member provided on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the image carrier, A second sealing member provided on the downstream side in the rotational direction of the image carrier, The void formed by the first sealing member and the second sealing member It has, The first sealing member has a foam with an open-cell structure, The second sealing member has a closed-cell foam structure. A cleaning device characterized by the following features.

2. When viewed from the direction of the rotation axis, the contact surface in which the second sealing member contacts the image carrier has a vertex at the upstream end of the image carrier in the rotation direction, forming a part of the cavity, and the surface extending from the vertex is defined as the extending surface. At a first angle θ1 of the tangent to the image carrier at the top with respect to the horizontal direction, and at a second angle θ2 of the extension of the extending surface with respect to the horizontal direction, 45°<θ1-θ2<90° The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that it satisfies the relationship.

3. When viewed from the direction of the rotation axis, the contact surface in which the second sealing member contacts the image carrier is defined as having the upstream end of the image carrier in the rotation direction as the apex, forming a part of the cavity, with the surface extending from the apex as the extending surface, and a virtual surface extending vertically downward from the apex and parallel to the rotation axis as the vertical surface, The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the extended surface is located between the contact surface and the vertical surface.

4. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the residue scraped off by the second sealing member is moved from the surface of the image carrier to the cavity.

5. The cleaning member side of the image carrier in the rotation axis direction, surrounding the aforementioned cavity, is formed by the first sealing member. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the side facing the first sealing member in the rotation axis direction, surrounding the aforementioned cavity, is formed by the second sealing member.

6. The aforementioned void overlaps with a part of the opening, Inside the container, there is a transport member for transporting the residue, A storage unit for storing the residue conveyed by the conveying member. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by having the following features.

7. A developing apparatus characterized by having a cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2.

8. An image forming apparatus characterized by comprising the developing apparatus of claim 7.

Images