JP2001337557A - Lubricant coater and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lubricant coater where variance in coefficient of static friction can be kept down by preventing the cleaned toner from being pooled in the vicinity of lubricant. SOLUTION: In the lubricant coater 1 provided with a means 8A to apply the lubricant 20 to decrease the coefficient of friction on a surface of an image carrier against the image carrier 2 where an image is carried on its surface, it is characteristic that the lubricant 20 is installed in a direction of movement of the lubricant coating means 8A that is moved toward the image carrier 2 and upstream of a position of contact of the lubricant coating means 8A and the image carrier 2 and brought into contact with the lubricant coating means 8A.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lubricant applying apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for reducing a friction coefficient of an image carrier used in an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process, such as a printer, a copying machine, or a facsimile machine, a charging step and an image writing step are performed on a photosensitive member serving as an image bearing member, so that the photosensitive member is formed on the photosensitive member. The electrostatic latent image is formed in the developing process, and the electrostatic latent image is subjected to visible image processing in a developing process. The visible image is electrostatically transferred to a recording medium such as transfer paper in a transfer step, and the transferred visible image is fixed in a fixing step to form a copy.

[0003] In the transfer step, the visible image transferred from the photoreceptor to the transfer sheet is not all of the developer constituting the visible image is transferred to the transfer sheet, but a part of the developer is transferred onto the photoreceptor. It may remain. For this reason, a cleaning step of removing the developer together with the remaining charge is performed on the photoconductor before forming a new image. In the cleaning process for the photoconductor, a blade or a brush that comes into contact with the surface of the photoconductor is used, and the remaining developer is removed by rubbing the blade or brush with the surface of the photoconductor. The residual charge is removed by using a charge removing lamp or a charge removing charger for providing a charge having a polarity opposite to that of the residual charge.

The blade or brush used to remove the residual developer causes abrasion of the surface of the photoreceptor by rubbing the surface of the photoreceptor during a cleaning process. For this reason, the photoreceptor having a worn surface has deteriorated photosensitive characteristics, which hinders formation of an appropriate electrostatic latent image. In this case, in addition to the case where the transfer step is performed directly on the transfer sheet from the photoconductor, the transfer process in this case is performed on the transfer sheet via an intermediate transfer body such as an intermediate transfer belt provided opposite to the photoconductor. In some cases, transfer is performed.

As a countermeasure for preventing abrasion of the photoreceptor in the cleaning step, it is effective to reduce the friction coefficient of the photoreceptor surface, and a means for this is proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-342236). Gazette, JP-A-7-
181860). The former publication discloses a configuration in which a lubricant is applied to a rotatable charging roller that is in contact with an image carrier, and the linear velocity of the charging roller can be changed with respect to the linear velocity of the image carrier. ing. The latter publication discloses a configuration in which, in an image forming apparatus provided with a charging roller, a cleaning brush applies a small amount of zinc stearate to an image carrier while rubbing it.

FIG. 10 shows an example of an image forming apparatus to which a conventional lubricant applying apparatus is applied. In FIG. 10, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a photosensitive member 2 as an image carrier,
The photoreceptor 2 is formed in a drum shape and can rotate in a direction indicated by an arrow in the figure.

Around the photoreceptor 2, a discharging lamp 3, a charging device 4, an optical writing device (only the optical axis is shown in the figure) 5, a developing device 6, and a transfer device 7 along the rotation direction thereof And a cleaning device 8, and before reaching the transfer device 7, a registration roller pair 9 and a conveyance guide 10 for setting registration timing of transfer paper fed from a paper feeding device (not shown) are provided. ing. In FIG. 10, reference numeral 11 denotes a separation claw that separates the transfer sheet after transfer from the photoreceptor 2 and transfers the transfer sheet to a fixing device (not shown).

The developing device 6 is provided with a developing sleeve 6B capable of carrying a developer inside a housing 6A and a developer conveying screw 6C.
Is carried on the developing sleeve 6 </ b> B and supplied toward the photoconductor 2. The thickness of the developer carried on the developing sleeve 6B is regulated to a predetermined thickness by the regulating blade 6D, and the developer faces the photosensitive member 2. The cleaning device 8 includes a brush roller 8A that rotates in the direction of the arrow while contacting the surface of the photoconductor 2, a cleaning blade 8B that contacts the photoconductor 2, and a developer that collects the residual developer collected from the photoconductor 2. And a transfer screw 8 </ b> C for transferring toward the collection unit.

In the image forming apparatus 1, when a print start button is operated on an operation unit (not shown), a predetermined voltage or current is applied to the discharge lamp 2, the charging device 3, the developing device 6 and the transfer device 7, respectively. The photosensitive drum 2, the developing sleeve 6B in the developing device 6, the conveying screw 6C, the transfer device 7, and the brush roller 8A of the cleaning device 8 are applied almost simultaneously with this timing.
Start rotating in predetermined directions. Photoconductor 2 is
After static elimination by the static elimination lamp 2, the charging device 3 uniformly charges (negative charge: -950V), and performs optical writing using laser light to form an electrostatic latent image (black solid potential is -150V). And it is).

The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor 2 is developed by a magnetic brush held by a developing sleeve 6B of the developing device 6 (developing bias is -600V).
The visible image is processed as a toner image. When the transfer paper fed from the paper feeding device is fed to the transfer position with the registration timing set by the registration roller pair 9, the transfer image is transferred to the transfer paper by the transfer device 7. (+10 μA applied). The transfer paper is separated from the photoreceptor 2 by the separation claw 11, and is conveyed toward the fixing device. Then, the image is fixed in the fixing device and is discharged. The residual developer is removed from the photoconductor 2 after the transfer by the cleaning blade in the cleaning device 8.

In the cleaning device 8, the brush roller 8A has a function of reducing the coefficient of friction on the surface of the photoreceptor 2, and therefore, the brush roller 8A is disposed horizontally with respect to the photoreceptor 2 with the brush roller 8A interposed therebetween. A lubricant 12 is in contact with the opposite side. As the lubricant 12, for example, a configuration shown in FIG. 11 is used. In FIG. 11, a lubricant 12 is one in which zinc stearate is fixed, and a holder 13.
The spring 14 is pressed against the brush roller 8A.

[0012]

In the technology disclosed in each of the above publications, a lubricant for reducing the friction coefficient on the surface of a photoconductor as an image carrier through a charging roller or a cleaning brush is disclosed. Is supplied. However, in this configuration, since the lubricant is configured to be elastically pressed against the charging roller or the cleaning brush as the application unit, a special configuration such as a pressing unit is required, for example, If a brush is used, the brush will have a habit when stopped for a long time,
There was a problem that the lubricant could not be uniformly applied due to a change in the state of contact of the brush with the image carrier.

In order to solve such a problem, a lubricant applying means is provided by using a cleaning brush, and a structure of a member for holding the lubricant has an aspect corresponding to a shape of the cleaning brush. Has a configuration in which the outer diameter is deformed in accordance with the bite into the image carrier, thereby preventing an increase in the number of parts and eliminating the deformation habit of the applying means, thereby enabling uniform application of the lubricant to the image carrier. There are also configurations.

However, depending on the position where the lubricant is provided,
It has been found that there is a case where a normal lubricant cannot be applied. Specifically, in order to obtain a desired photoreceptor wear amount, it is necessary to (1) rotate the cleaning brush with a slight linear velocity difference (about 1.2 times) in the counter direction with respect to the photoreceptor rotation direction. (2) A considerable difference in linear velocity between the cleaning brush in the trailing direction and
(About three times), a method of using a current cleaning device and attaching a lubricant to the lower case is common.

However, in the case of (1), the cleaned toner accumulates in the lower jaw portion (between the cleaning seal and the lubricant) of the cleaning case over time, and the accumulated portion is formed of the lubricant. Since the amount of supply is small, the coefficient of static friction on the surface of the photoreceptor is high, and as a result, there is a problem that the amount of wear of the photoreceptor increases.
Since the cleaning brush is configured to scrape off the lubricant with a certain amount of penetration into the lubricant, when the cleaning brush tip is released from the lubricant, the scraped-off lubricant is vigorously blown off There are cases. For this reason, depending on the release position, the scraped-off lubricant is not efficiently supplied to the photoconductor, whereby the coefficient of friction of the photoconductor surface does not decrease, and as a result,
The amount of wear on the surface of the photoconductor increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional lubricant applying apparatus, and as a first object, it is possible to suppress variations in the coefficient of static friction by preventing the cleaned toner from collecting near the lubricant. An object of the present invention is to provide a lubricant applying device.

A second object of the present invention is to make it possible to supply the lubricant efficiently by bringing the position where the lubricant applying means is released from the state of biting into the lubricant close to an image carrier such as a photoreceptor. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lubricant applying device capable of suppressing variation in the coefficient of static friction.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a lubricant capable of preventing the life of the image carrier from being shortened by controlling the coefficient of static friction within a predetermined range by setting the state in which the lubricant is removed to an appropriate state. An object of the present invention is to provide an agent application device.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide the above-described first to third aspects.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of suppressing the deterioration of the photosensitive characteristics of an image carrier by achieving the above object.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In a lubricant applying apparatus provided with means for applying a lubricant for reducing a friction coefficient of the surface of the image carrier to an image carrier carrying an image on the surface, the lubricant moving toward the image carrier A lubricant is disposed upstream of a contact position between the lubricant applying unit and the image carrier in the moving direction of the applying unit, and the lubricant is brought into contact with the lubricant applying unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the lubricant applying apparatus according to the first aspect, the position of the lubricant applying means at which the contact with the lubricant is released is determined by the lubricant applying means. It is characterized by being located close to the body.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the lubricant applying apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the lubricant is blown toward the image carrier when the contact with the lubricant applying means is released. It is characterized by being.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the lubricant applying apparatus according to the first aspect, the lubricant is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the lubricant applying apparatus according to the first aspect, the amount of the lubricant and the image carrier that bites into the lubricant applying means is such that the lubricant has a thickness of 2 mm. When using a tetrafluoroethylene sheet, 1.5 mm
The lubricant is 1.2 mm, the contact width is set to 5 to 12 mm, and the friction coefficient of the image carrier is set to 0.1 to 0.35. I have.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the lubricant applying apparatus according to the first aspect, the lubricant applying means comprises a brush roller using a brush made of a resin fiber.
The brush roller is used for cleaning the image carrier.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lubricant applying apparatus according to one of the first to sixth aspects.

[0027]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus to which a lubricant applying device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The configuration of a cleaning device except for a brush roller and a lubricant is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. It has been. 1, the same components as those shown in FIG. 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, the cleaning device 8 includes:
The lubricant 20 is provided so as to contact the brush roller 8A. For this reason, the brush roller 8A constitutes a lubricant applying means capable of contacting and scraping the lubricant 20 and applying the lubricant to the surface of the photoreceptor 2, and a resin fiber such as polyester or acrylic resin is used. Used.

The lubricant 20 has a charge series of "negative charge series".
Higher-order polytetrafluoroethylene is used, and has a characteristic of being charged to a negative polarity by friction. FIG. 7 shows the molecular structure of the lubricant 20. In FIG. 7, polytetrafluoroethylene (P
TFE) stands for “Chemical structure in which _one CF unit simply repeats”
7 (A) is a perspective view, and FIG. 7 (B) is a cross-sectional view. Further, it is a non-polar polymer, the intermolecular cohesion is very weak, and the molecular chain surface is very smooth. Such PTFE has a small coefficient of friction because of a small intermolecular cohesive force and small irregularities on the molecular chain surface. PTFE is a very soft substance and has a small cohesive force between molecules, so that slippage easily occurs between PTEF molecules.
When PTEFE as a lubricant is applied to the surface of the photoconductor 2, a part of the applied PTFE adheres to the cleaning blade 8B and the like.

The friction at the contact portion between the photosensitive member 2 and the cleaning blade 8B is the friction between the PTFE. PTFE
Has a very small coefficient of friction, so that a large shearing force by the cleaning blade 8B does not act on the photoconductor 2, and wear of the photoconductor 2 is effectively reduced. After a part of the PTFE applied to the photoconductor 2 is transferred to a member such as the cleaning blade 8B that rubs the photoconductor 2, the PTFE becomes dominant after the friction between the two becomes dominant.
Since the friction coefficient between them is extremely small, the wear of the PTFE is reduced. For this reason, depending on the contact pressure between the photoreceptor 2 and the member rubbing against the photoreceptor 2 and the sliding conditions, the amount of PTFE applied is automatically limited, and the application of a certain amount or more of the lubricant may be suppressed. is there.

Collapse between PTFE molecules occurs due to abrasion between PTFE. For this reason, the PTF adhered on the photoreceptor 2
For E, attachment and removal are repeated at a certain fixed rate. The removal is performed by, for example, the cleaning device 8, the developing device 6, or the transfer paper. On the surface of the photoconductor 2,
Usually, the discharge product (N
O _X, the foreign substances SO _X) or the like adheres. When the lubricant is not applied, abrasion (scraping) of the surface of the photosensitive member caused by the cleaning blade 8B or the like is performed, and foreign substances are also removed. When the lubricant is applied, the wear of the photoreceptor 2 is reduced,
It is not possible to remove foreign substances, which may cause image defects. However, lubricants that are repeatedly supplied and removed like PTFE will repeatedly adhere and remove foreign substances, effectively reducing image defects. it can.

In this embodiment, the lubricant 20 is arranged under the following conditions. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the moving direction of the brush roller 8A moving toward the photoconductor 2, a lubricant fixing member 8D (FIGS. 1 and 2) is located upstream of the contact position between the brush roller 8A and the photoconductor 2. 2) or a casing 8E (see FIG. 3). FIG. 2 shows that the brush roller 8A rotates clockwise,
FIG. 3 shows a state in which the brush roller 8A moves in the same direction at the contact position with the photoconductor 2 in the opposite direction to FIG. Is shown. In any case, the lubricant 20
The brush roller 8A is arranged on the upstream side of the contact position with the photoconductor 2 in the moving direction of the brush roller 8A.

Since the present embodiment has the above configuration,
A part of the lubricant 20 scraped off by the brush roller 8A is transferred to the photoreceptor 2 and passes through the cleaning blade 8B to reach the developing device 6, where a part is collected, and then the transfer device 7 A part is also collected.
When the lubricant remaining on the photoconductor 2 without being collected reaches the cleaning device 8, it is applied again by the brush roller 8A. By repeating such a process, the coefficient of friction on the surface of the photoconductor 2 is reduced to 0.08 to 0.4. The coefficient of friction on the surface of the photoreceptor 2 is almost constant by the balance between the amount of the lubricant 20 applied and the above-mentioned amount of recovery.

The purpose of lowering the coefficient of friction on the surface of the photosensitive member 2 is to prevent the photosensitive layer from being scraped off by the cleaning blade 8B by the cleaning blade 8B, thereby extending the life of the photosensitive member 2. For this reason, it is necessary to eliminate wear of the photoreceptor 2 and eliminate shaving by the cleaning blade 8B. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the coefficient of surface friction and the amount of wear of the photoconductor 2, and the solid line shown in FIG.
/ Sec, 200K in the case where A4 size transfer paper is horizontally fed to form two continuous images, and a 15 mm straight hair brush is used as the brush roller 8A, and the bite amount into the photoreceptor 2 is 1.5 mm. (200,000 sheets) after the image formation. As is clear from this result, it is understood that the lower the coefficient of friction, the better the wear amount.

However, when the coefficient of friction decreases, the surface of the photosensitive member 2 is no longer abraded, and in the wear area (4 μm or less) shown by the dashed line in FIG. 8, NO _X generated in the charging section and the transfer section. NO _X in the surface of the photosensitive member 2 when high temperature and high humidity by the accumulation of drops the resistance by absorbing moisture, a phenomenon that a latent image formation can not be performed due to inherent charging characteristics, "image blurring" occurs. For this reason, it is not preferable to reduce the friction coefficient excessively, and it is necessary to keep the friction coefficient within a certain range. In this embodiment, a sheet-like solid polytetrafluoroethylene (P
When TFE) is used, the amount of bite into the photoreceptor 2 is 1.
5 mm, the bite amount of the brush roller 8A into PTFE was 1.2 mm, the contact width was 5 to 12 mm, and the friction coefficient was changed in the range of 0.1 to 0.35. When the maximum coefficient of friction at this time was constant at 0.35, the result was that the amount of wear of the photoreceptor 2 was about 12 μm after forming 200K images. On the other hand, when the photoconductor 2 was used under the same conditions and the lubricant 20 was not used, the abrasion loss of the photoconductor 2 was about 2
Considering that the thickness was 0 μm, an effect of about 40% was obtained.

The coefficient of friction of the photosensitive member 2 is measured by the configuration shown in FIG. FIG. 9 shows a measurement method referred to as the Euler belt method (A3 Mechanics / Mechanical Mechanics P35 (issued in 1986), Handbook of Mechanical Engineering, Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers). In this method, for example, weight (W) = 1
00g, μ = In (F / 100) / (π / 2))
Is the value obtained in

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lubricant 20 is supported by a lubricant fixing member 8D provided in the cleaning device 8 (FIG. 2), or in the casing 8E formed in the cleaning device 8. It is supported near a seal member 8F disposed near the photoconductor 2.

In the above embodiment, the following differences were obtained as compared with the conventional example shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a case where the lubricant 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is arranged downstream of the contact position with the photoconductor 2 in the moving direction of the brush roller 8A, and FIG. )
Since the lubricant 20 is disposed on the downstream side of the contact position with the photoconductor 2, the developer T collected from the photoconductor 2 with time in the gap between the lubricant 20 and the seal member 8F.
Is accumulated, and the lubricant 20 by the brush roller 8A
The amount of shaving will be different. That is, the developer T and the lubricant 20 from the photoreceptor 2 are mixed in the brush roller 8A, and an appropriate state of application to the photoreceptor 2 is hindered. As a result, the friction coefficient of the photoconductor 2 varies, and it becomes impossible to reduce the amount of wear on the photoconductor 2. FIG.
In (B), similarly, the developer T collected from the photoconductor 2 accumulates over time in the gap between the lubricant fixing member 8D and the cleaning blade 8B, and as in the case described above, the photoconductor 2 The friction coefficient varies, and it becomes difficult to achieve a desired amount of wear.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The embodiment shown in FIG.
The position where the contact with the brush roller 8A is released is a position where a part of the brush roller 8A approaches the photosensitive member 2 in the moving direction (rotation direction) of the brush roller 8A. When it is released, it is blown toward the photoconductor 2. In FIG. 5A, the position where the brush roller 8 </ b> A and the lubricant 20 are in contact with each other is released at a position where the tip of the brush roller 8 </ b> A is separated from the lubricant 20 near the photoconductor 2. . Brush roller 8A for lubricant 20 in this case
Is about 1.2 mm.

Since the present embodiment has the above configuration,
When the brush roller 8A is released from contact with the lubricant 20, a part of the brush roller 8A tries to return to its original shape. For this reason, a part of the scraped lubricant 20 is blown toward the photoreceptor 2 by the force (rotational force) acting in the moving direction of the brush roller 8A, as indicated by the symbol A in the drawing. As a result, a part of the lubricant 20 that has been blown off is efficiently supplied to the photoreceptor 2 and used to reduce the friction coefficient. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5B, the same lubricant 2 as in the case shown in FIG.
In this example, as in the example shown in FIG. 5A, when the brush roller 8A is released from contact with the lubricant 20, one of the scraped lubricant is removed. The portion is made to fly toward the photoreceptor 2 as indicated by reference numeral A ′ in the drawing by using the shape restoring force of the brush roller 8A.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration in which this configuration is not used in the configuration of the present embodiment shown in FIG.
11A and 11B, similarly to the configuration shown in FIG. 11, the lubricant 20 is arranged on the opposite side of the photosensitive member 2 in the horizontal direction with the brush roller 8A interposed therebetween.
The position where the contact between the toner and the lubricant 20 is released is a position apart from the photoconductor 2. In any configuration, depending on the rotation direction of the brush roller 8A, a part of the lubricant 20 scraped off by the brush roller 8A is denoted by reference characters B and B '.
As shown by, it is not skipped toward the photoconductor 2. 6C and 6D, similarly to the configuration shown in FIG. 4, a configuration is used in which the lubricant 20 is disposed downstream of the contact position with the photoconductor 2 in the rotation direction of the brush roller 8A. Also in this case, a part of the scraped lubricant 20 is blown away in a direction not facing the photoreceptor 2 from the rotation direction of the brush roller 8A.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the lubricant 2
A position that contributes to the reduction of the friction coefficient of the photoconductor 2 can be obtained only by relating the position at which the contact between the brush roller 8A and the brush roller 8A is released with the rotation direction of the brush roller 8A and the arrangement position of the lubricant 20. .

[0043]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the lubricant is disposed upstream of the contact position with the image carrier in the moving direction of the lubricant applying means, the lubricant is recovered from the image carrier. The developer does not reach the lubricant applying means. As a result, the lubricant application means contains only the lubricant, and the amount of the lubricant applied to the image carrier can be made constant. For this reason, it is possible to suppress the variation in the friction coefficient of the image carrier due to the unstable application amount of the lubricant.

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, the position at which the contact between the lubricant applying means and the lubricant is released is determined as the position at which the lubricant applying means approaches the image bearing member. Since the lubricant is blown toward the image carrier, a part of the lubricant scraped off by the lubricant applying means is efficiently supplied to the image carrier. As a result, it is possible to suppress variations in the amount of lubricant on the surface of the image bearing member and to prevent variations in the friction coefficient on the image bearing member.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is used as the lubricant, the coefficient of friction on the surface of the image carrier can be efficiently reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the amount of wear on the image carrier can be reduced by setting the amount of bite into the lubricant and the image carrier and the friction coefficient in the lubricant applying means. It becomes possible.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the lubricant applying means is a brush roller made of resin fiber, and this brush roller is provided in a cleaning device which symmetrically cleans the image carrier. It is possible to reduce the abrasion amount of the image carrier at a low cost without requiring a special lubricant application structure.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, by setting the relationship between the lubricant applying means with respect to the lubricant and the relationship between the lubricant applying means with respect to the image bearing member, the amount of wear of the image bearing member can be reduced and the image bearing member can be reduced. The life of the carrier can be extended.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus to which a lubricant application device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a configuration of a lubricant application device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view for explaining a partially modified example of the lubricant application device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a problem that occurs when the configuration shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is not used.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a configuration of a lubricant application device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a problem when the configuration shown in FIG. 5 is not used.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a molecular structure of a lubricant used in a lubricant application device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the coefficient of friction and the amount of wear on the image carrier when the lubricant applying device according to the embodiment of the present invention is used.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method of calculating a friction coefficient shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of an image forming apparatus using a conventional lubricant applying device.

11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a lubricant application device in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG.

[Description of Signs] 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Photoconductor as image carrier 8 Cleaning device 8A Brush roller as lubricant applying means 20 Lubricant

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A lubricant applying device comprising means for applying a lubricant for reducing a friction coefficient of a surface of an image carrier to an image carrier carrying an image on a surface thereof. A lubricant disposed in the moving direction of the moving lubricant applying means upstream of a contact position between the lubricant applying means and the image carrier, and contacting the lubricant applying means; Coating device. 2. The lubricant applying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a position at which the lubricant applying means releases the contact with the lubricant is a position at which the lubricant applying means approaches the image carrier. A lubricant application device, characterized in that: 3. The lubricant applying device according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant is blown toward the image carrier when the contact with the lubricant applying means is released. Lubricant application device. 4. The lubricant applying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said lubricant is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
A lubricant application device, characterized in that: 5. The lubricant applying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant and the image carrier in the lubricant applying means use a polytetrafluoroethylene sheet having a thickness of 2 mm. In this case, the thickness is set at 1.5 mm for the image carrier, 1.2 mm for the lubricant, the contact width is set at 5 to 12 mm, and the friction coefficient of the image carrier at 0.1 mm. 1 to 0.3
5. A lubricant application device, wherein the lubricant application device is set to 5. 6. A lubricant applying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said lubricant applying means comprises a brush roller using a brush made of resin fiber, and said brush roller is used for cleaning said image carrier. A lubricant applying device, characterized in that the lubricant is applied. 7. An image forming apparatus using the lubricant applying apparatus according to claim 1.