Cleaning Blade Deformation in Image Forming Apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image forming apparatuses face issues with the cleaning blade deforming significantly when scraping toner images off the intermediary transfer belt, leading to reduced image quality due to insufficient belt cleaning, especially with increased belt speeds and shock occurrences.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus is designed to form a lubricational toner image before adjustment toner images, ensuring a toner layer is formed along the cleaning blade, reducing the shock and deformation by controlling the order and conditions of toner image formation and transfer, with the most downstream image formation station forming the toner strip first.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cleaning blade is placed in contact with the intermediary transfer belt to scrape toner images, then the belt is cleaned effectively, but the cleaning blade deforms due to shock and friction, reducing image quality
Solution Approach 1:
A lubricational toner image is formed on the intermediary transfer belt before the adjustment toner image. This lubricational toner layer is applied in advance to the belt surface at the location where the cleaning blade will contact it, creating a protective cushion that reduces shock and friction during the scraping process, thereby preventing cleaning blade deformation while maintaining cleaning effectiveness
2Productivity
If the belt speed is increased to improve productivity, then more images can be formed per unit time, but the shock occurring when toner images collide with the cleaning blade increases, causing greater deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The lubricational toner image serves as a pre-applied cushioning layer on the intermediary transfer belt. When the cleaning blade scrapes adjustment toner images at high belt speeds, this lubricational toner layer absorbs and distributes the impact forces, reducing the peak shock forces that would otherwise cause cleaning blade deformation, thus enabling high-speed operation without compromising blade integrity
3Reliability
If the contact pressure between the cleaning blade and belt is increased to improve cleaning, then more toner is removed, but friction increases causing the belt to fluctuate in moving speed
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state and properties of the toner layer by forming a lubricational toner image with specific characteristics (lower toner concentration, different composition). This modified toner layer reduces the coefficient of friction between the cleaning blade and belt, allowing effective cleaning at lower contact pressures, thereby preventing belt speed fluctuations while maintaining cleaning efficiency
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces the deformation and damage to the cleaning blade, ensuring proper cleaning of the intermediary transfer belt and maintaining image quality by minimizing the load on the cleaning blade during toner image scraping.
Implementation Method 1
forming a lubricational toner image before adjustment toner images, ensuring a toner layer is formed along the cleaning blade, reducing the shock and deformation
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable belt; a cleaning blade contacted to the belt; image forming stations including a first station and a second station for forming first and second adjustment toner images, respectively, on the belt, the second station being disposed downstreammost position, and the first station being disposed upstream of the second station and downstream of the cleaning blade with respect to a rotational direction of the belt; a detector for detecting the first image and the second image, at a position opposing the belt; a changing portion for changing image forming conditions of the stations on the basis of a result of detection of the detector, a controller for controlling the stations such that in a region between adjacent ones of the same images in a continuous image formations, the second image reaches the blade before the first image reaches the blade.