Cleaning Device With Tilted Brush Roller For Image Carrier
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cleaning devices for image forming apparatuses face issues with cleaning failures due to toner residue accumulation and vibration-induced image quality degradation, particularly with high-speed brush rollers that cause banding and uneven cleaning, leading to reduced image quality.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning device comprising a cleaning blade, a lubricant applying roller, a cleaning brush roller, and a flicker that performs a partial-area flicking operation, with the brush roller's bristles aligned at a tilt angle to prevent simultaneous contact and separation, reducing vibration and improving cleaning efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a cleaning blade mechanically scrubs the photosensitive material surface, then untransferred toner is removed, but residue accumulates between the blade tip and surface causing cleaning failure
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning function is divided into multiple components working in sequence: a cleaning brush roller with multiple rows of bristles performs initial cleaning, followed by a cleaning blade for final scraping. This segmentation allows each component to handle different aspects of toner removal, preventing residue accumulation that would occur with a single mechanical blade.
Solution Approach 2:
A lubricant is introduced as an intermediary substance between the cleaning components and the photosensitive material surface. The lubricant reduces friction and prevents toner residue from adhering to the blade tip and surface interface, eliminating the accumulation problem that causes cleaning failure.
2Reliability
If a lubricant is applied to reduce friction, then filming is prevented and transferability is increased, but toner residue may accumulate on the lubricant applying components
Solution Approach 1:
The lubricant is applied locally at specific positions where friction occurs, rather than uniformly across the entire photosensitive material surface. The cleaning brush roller and blade are positioned to receive lubricant only at the contact points with the photosensitive material, reducing overall toner attachment while maintaining where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The lubricant is applied in advance to the cleaning components or the photosensitive material surface before the cleaning operation begins. This preliminary lubrication creates a protective layer that prevents toner from adhering to the cleaning components during the cleaning process, while still allowing effective toner removal.
3Area of stationary object
If brush roller bristles are aligned parallel to the axial direction, then cleaning coverage is maximized, but simultaneous contact and separation causes vibration and banding
Solution Approach 1:
The bristles of the cleaning brush roller are arranged at an angle relative to the axial direction rather than parallel to it. This asymmetric arrangement causes the bristles to contact and separate from the photosensitive material surface at different times during rotation, distributing the impact forces and eliminating the simultaneous contact that causes vibration and banding, while still maintaining adequate cleaning coverage.
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
The solution effectively prevents toner residue accumulation and vibration-induced image quality issues, enhancing cleaning ability and maintaining high image quality by dispersing the flicking operation's impact force, thus reducing banding and improving overall image fidelity.
Implementation Method 1
a lubricant is applied onto the surface of the photosensitive material, for example, to reduce a friction resistance between the photosensitive material and the cleaning member
Implementation Method 2
a cleaning brush roller that removes residual toner from the surface of the image carrier
Implementation Method 3
a flicker that removes toner from the cleaning brush roller, and performs a flicking operation corresponding to a part of an entire area in an axial direction of the cleaning brush roller at one time
Data Source
AI summary
A cleaning device that cleans the surface of an image carrier, includes a cleaning blade that contacts the surface of the image carrier, a lubricant-applying brush roller that applies a lubricant to the surface of the image carrier, a cleaning brush roller that removes residual transfer toner from the surface of the image carrier, and a flicker that removes toner from the cleaning brush roller. The flicker performs a flicking operation corresponding to a part of the entire area in the axial direction of the cleaning brush roller at one time. A process cartridge and an image forming apparatus include the image carrier and the cleaning device.