JP2005230662A - Cleaning device of roller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-sized and inexpensive cleaning device excellent in cleaning performance which does not require any complicate constitution such as water-proof in a process of cleaning the surface of a roller by high-pressure water. <P>SOLUTION: In a cleaning device of a roller which has a cleaning box having a charging opening and a discharging opening of the roller, a cleaning nozzle and a roller transferring jig. The roller is held between one end of the transferring jig inserted toward the charging opening of the cleaning box from the discharging opening and the other end of another transferring jig arranged to face the above transferring jig. The transferring jig is moved relatively to the cleaning box, thereby the roller is transferred from the charging opening of the cleaning box into the cleaning device in the axis direction of the roller as the moving direction, the surface of the roller is cleaned by jetting high-pressure water from the cleaning nozzle arranged in the cleaning box and the roller is taken out from the discharging opening of the cleaning box in the roller axis direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is used for cleaning various rollers such as a developing roller, a charging roller, and a transfer roller incorporated in various apparatuses adopting an electrophotographic system such as a laser printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile apparatus, or the roller in the middle of manufacturing. The present invention relates to a cleaning device.

  Various apparatuses employing an electrophotographic system such as a laser printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile apparatus incorporate rollers such as a developing roller, a charging roller, and a transfer roller. An example of such a roller is shown in FIG. The roller 10 generally has a shaft 11, a molded body 12 made of resin, and a surface layer 13 made of resin.

  In this roller manufacturing method, first, a molded body 12 is formed in the outer peripheral longitudinal direction of the shaft 11, and a surface layer resin is applied to the outer periphery of the surface for the purpose of further improving functions such as electrical characteristics, triboelectric charging properties and durability. It is common to do.

  As a method of forming the molded body 12 in the outer peripheral longitudinal direction of the shaft 11, a resin material to be the molded body 12 is extruded into a hollow cylindrical shape and the shaft 11 is inserted, or the shaft 11 is placed in an appropriate molding die. There is a method of setting in advance and injection molding the resin molded body 12.

  Further, as a method for applying the surface layer, a roll coater method, a dip method, a spray method, and the like are known, and a method of drying the surface layer resin applied by any of the methods by hot air is common.

  In the step of applying the surface layer, the surface layer resin is applied in a state where dust, fibers, and molding resin debris generated in the step of forming the resin molding portion 12 are adhered to the roller surface before application. Then, foreign matters such as dust are trapped between the roller surface and the surface layer resin, and convex protrusions due to the foreign matter are formed on the roller surface.

  For example, when the roller is a developing roller, the protrusions due to foreign matters on the surface of the roller become dot-like shading in an image output from a printer or the like, resulting in poor image quality.

  Therefore, the protrusions due to these foreign matters are processed as defective products in the appearance inspection of the shipping inspection, which greatly affects the yield.

  Therefore, a process for cleaning the roller surface is required immediately before the surface layer coating process. As a cleaning method, a method of rubbing with a brush, a sponge, or the like is conceivable. However, depending on the characteristics of the resin molded portion, there is a problem that the surface has tackiness (adhesiveness) and dust or the like is easily adsorbed. However, the adhesiveness is often weakened through a liquid such as water, and washing with high-pressure water is often performed.

  For example, a cleaning device (for example, a patent) that includes a rotating mechanism that supports the shaft portion at the end of the roller and applies a rotational force to the roller and a mechanism that moves a nozzle that injects high-pressure water in the axial direction of the roller. (Refer to Reference 1 and Patent Reference 2). However, it is necessary to waterproof the rotation mechanism for imparting rotational force to the roller and the moving mechanism of the nozzle, or the high pressure water is ejected from the roller inlet to the cleaning device. Is necessary.

  Therefore, by taking these countermeasures, the cost of the apparatus is increased, and as a result, the cost of the product is increased.

  In addition, for example, if a complicated mechanism such as a shutter is provided at the inlet of the cleaning device in accordance with the introduction of the roller as a measure to prevent the high-pressure water from being ejected from the cleaning device, it may cause trouble of the device, It is obvious that those movable parts have a short life.

  Further, in the case of an apparatus provided with a mechanism for transporting a roller in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the roller in the cleaning device (for example, see Patent Document 3), the transport is performed in order to improve the processing capability within a certain time. For the purpose of reducing the interval, it is necessary to put a plurality of rollers in the cleaning device, and the cleaning device becomes large. Further, as described above, this roller is a roller used in a printer or the like, and the length of the roller in the axial direction includes the size of the output paper, such as A4 size, A3 size, and A2 size. This is well known, and the size of the device that puts the entire roller into the cleaning device is immeasurable.

Further, water drops still remain on the rollers taken out from these cleaning devices, and in order to remove the water drops, a post-drying process must be performed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-607 JP 2001-327932 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-44270

  In the apparatus for cleaning the surface of the roller in this way, it is necessary to take measures such as a waterproof mechanism in the cleaning apparatus and prevention of high-pressure water ejection, and since it is an apparatus for cleaning the entire roller, Saga is much larger than the roller, and there is a problem that the cost of the apparatus is increased and there is concern about stable operation of the apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of the present situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device that allows a small cleaning device to be formed, and that does not eject high-pressure water using only a simple mechanism. That is.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor has found that a cleaning box having a roller inlet and outlet, a cleaning nozzle, and a roller cleaning apparatus having a roller conveying jig, the cleaning box outlet The roller is held between one end of the transfer jig inserted from the feed port toward the loading port and the other end of the transfer jig arranged to face the transfer jig, and the transfer jig is set relative to the cleaning box. By moving, the roller is carried in the cleaning box with the axial direction of the roller as the traveling direction, and the surface of the roller is cleaned by spraying high-pressure water from the cleaning nozzle placed in the cleaning box, and the cleaning box is taken out. A roller cleaning device has been developed, which is characterized by removing the roller in the axial direction from the mouth. In addition, the roller cleaning device has been developed, which further rotates the roller in the circumferential direction.

  Further, the roller cleaning device has been developed, characterized in that high-pressure water is ejected at an acute angle with respect to the cleaning surface of the roller.

  Further, the cleaning box has two or more cleaning nozzles, and the cleaning nozzles are arranged so that high-pressure water does not directly collide with each other on an axial extension line connecting the centers of the inlet and the outlet. The roller cleaning device has been developed.

  Further, the spray pattern of the cleaning nozzle is elliptical, and the major axis thereof is arranged so as to be perpendicular to the moving direction of the roller surface synthesized by the conveying speed and rotational speed of the roller. The roller cleaning device was developed.

  Furthermore, the roller cleaning device has been developed, wherein a ring nozzle that blows out air is disposed at least one selected from an inlet and an outlet.

  Further, the roller cleaning device has been developed, which has a mechanism for applying a surfactant or a solvent to the roller before the roller is carried into the inlet of the cleaning box.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cleaning device that has a simple structure and has a small size and excellent high-capacity water ejection, and as a result, it is possible to provide a resin roller cleaning device that is inexpensive and requires stable operation. It becomes possible.

  Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated using drawing, various structures can be utilized in the range which does not impair the main point of this invention.

  One embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. A cleaning nozzle 14 for injecting high-pressure water, an input port 16a for introducing a roller, and a cleaning box 15 having a take-out port 16b for taking out the roller, and a pair of conveying jigs 18a and 18b are provided.

  First, the roller 10 to be cleaned is inserted from the input port 16a of the cleaning box 15, and the roller passes near the nozzle 14 that injects high-pressure water, whereby foreign matters such as dust on the roller surface are removed with the high-pressure water. The roller is taken out from the take-out port 16b. The inlet 16a and the outlet 16b of the cleaning box are preferably set to have an inner diameter that is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the roller to be cleaned, from the viewpoint of reducing the ejection of cleaning water. Note that the same opening can be used as an inlet and an outlet.

  As the spray pattern (cross-sectional shape) of the cleaning nozzle, various shapes such as a circle, an ellipse (the overall shape is substantially conical), and a quadrangle (the overall shape is a pyramid) can be used. It is also possible to use a ring nozzle and make the ejection pattern cylindrical.

  One or more cleaning nozzles can be installed in the cleaning box. When passing the roller through the cleaning box, considering the nozzle spray pattern, the number of nozzles, the cleaning effect, etc. At the same time, it can be selected that the roller is rotated or not rotated. In the case of rotating the roller, it is preferable that at least one of the conveying jigs 18a and 18b is connected to a driving source that applies a rotational force to the roller 10.

  In addition, when two or more cleaning nozzles are installed, a plurality of high-pressure water sprayed from the cleaning nozzles may be spouted from the inlet or outlet of the cleaning box, and the purpose is to prevent this. Therefore, it is preferable to arrange the cleaning nozzle so that the high-pressure water does not directly collide with each other on the axial extension line connecting the center of the inlet and outlet, for example, by shifting the mounting position of the cleaning nozzle in the roller traveling direction of the cleaning box It is also effective to install it in the washing box.

  Ring nozzle that discharges high-pressure air from the inner surface of the cylinder to prevent the injection of high-pressure water from the cleaning box and removal of cleaning liquid adhering to the roller surface after cleaning at the inlet and outlet of the cleaning box Can be installed.

  In addition, various liquids can be used as the cleaning liquid used for the high-pressure cleaning. For the purpose of enhancing the cleaning effect, a cleaning liquid containing a surfactant or a solvent such as alcohol can also be used. However, it is desirable to use pure water in order to omit the step of removing the cleaning liquid additive in the subsequent step.

  In addition, before putting the roller into the cleaning box, spray the surface of the roller with a solvent such as surfactant, alcohol, acetone, etc. to float the foreign matter from the roller surface and easily remove the foreign matter by high-pressure water cleaning in the cleaning box. (It is also preferable that the apparatus has such a mechanism).

  3, 4, and 5 are diagrams for explaining the outline of the operation using an example of the cleaning apparatus of the present invention.

First, the transport jig 18b is inserted in advance from the take-out port 16b of the cleaning box 15 (not shown because it is arranged in the shadow portion) toward the input port 16a, and the roller 10 is connected to the other transport jig 18a. Hold between. (Figure 3)
Next, while being held by the conveying jig, the roller 10 is rotated or not rotated, and the axial direction of the roller is set as the traveling direction, and the roller 10 is gradually inserted into the cleaning box 15. At this time, if necessary, an air ring nozzle 17a may be arranged in the inlet 16a.

  The cleaning box 15 has cleaning nozzles 14a and 14b connected to a high-pressure pump for delivering water at a high pressure (in this description, there are two cleaning nozzles, but one or two or more cleaning nozzles). Various numbers can be provided.) In addition, an exhaust duct 19 is connected to discharge high-pressure water sprayed into the cleaning box or air blown from an air ring nozzle, and these are exhausted by an exhaust pump. Since the exhaust pump contains air, cleaning liquid, foreign matter, etc., an exhaust pump called a so-called mist separator is preferably used, and is separated into air and cleaning liquid. The collected cleaning liquid passes through a filter that removes foreign matter, and is sent to, for example, a water supply tank for reuse.

Next, while the roller 10 passes through the cleaning box 15 (FIG. 4), for example, the ring ring 17b of air attached to the take-out port (not shown because it is arranged in the shadow portion. The cleaning liquid is sequentially removed and the roller 10 completely passes through the cleaning box. For example, the roller 10 is chucked by another mechanism, and the conveying jig 18a is used. , 18b release the roller 10, and the roller 10 is taken out. (Fig. 5)
In this example, the roller is transported in the axial direction of the roller by the transport jig, but it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained by moving the cleaning box in the axial direction of the roller.

  FIG. 6 shows an example in which three high-pressure water spray nozzles are evenly arranged on the outer periphery of the roller.

  FIG. 7 shows an example in which the cleaning nozzle 14 is inclined and installed in the cleaning box in order to eject high-pressure water at an acute angle with respect to the cleaning surface of the roller. By inclining the cleaning nozzle 14 so that the angle θt becomes an acute angle, the foreign matter can be more efficiently removed by injecting high-pressure water between the foreign matter 20 and the roller surface. Considering the efficiency of cleaning, it is preferable to inject high-pressure water in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction as shown in FIG. 7, but the high-pressure water to be injected is very high, and the conveyance speed of the rollers is generally slower than this. Therefore, in such a case, it is possible to inject in the same direction as the transport direction. The injection angle θt is improved by injecting high-pressure water into the gap between the foreign matter and the roller surface (for this reason, if θt is too large, the effect is reduced). Since it becomes severe, 10 to 60 degrees is desirable.

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which a nozzle having an elliptical cleaning nozzle spray pattern is used. In this case, it is preferable that the ellipse major axis is arranged so as to be perpendicular to the moving direction of the roller surface synthesized by the conveyance speed and the rotation speed (rotation speed) of the roller because foreign matter can be removed suitably. It is particularly preferable (even if the injection pattern is a quadrangle or the like, it is preferable that the long side is arranged so as to be perpendicular to the moving direction of the roller surface).

When the outer diameter of the roller is D (mm), the conveying speed in the axial direction of the roller is V (mm / sec), and the rotation speed of the roller is R (rpm), the feed pitch P = V / (R / 60 ) (Mm / sec), and the inclination angle θp of the cleaning nozzle formed by the major axis direction of the elliptical injection pattern of the cleaning nozzle and the axial direction of the roller is
θp = tan ⁻¹ (P / (πD))
It becomes. The setting tolerance of θp calculated above is preferably provided within ± 20 ° so as to improve the mechanical dimensional accuracy of each component.

  In addition, it is particularly preferable that the diameter of the cleaning nozzle spray pattern is circular when it is circular, and that the major axis is larger than the feed pitch P when it is elliptical (in order to inject high-pressure water over the entire surface of the roller). is important). Therefore, it is necessary to satisfy the conditions such as the rotational speed R of the roller, the conveyance speed V, the nozzle distance, the nozzle ejection pattern, and the use of a plurality of cleaning nozzles.

  FIG. 9 shows an example in which air ring nozzles 17a and 17b are attached to the inlet and outlet provided on the side surface of the cleaning box 15 for the purpose of preventing high-pressure water from being ejected and taking measures to drain the roller.

  These have a cylindrical shape at the roller inlet and outlet and ring nozzles 17a and 17b in which high-pressure air is uniformly injected from the inside of the cylinder to create an air curtain to prevent the cleaning liquid from being ejected from the cleaning box.

  The air ring nozzle installed at the take-out port is also used as a means for sequentially removing water droplets of the cleaning liquid adhering to the surface of the roller when the roller is conveyed.

  In order to enhance the effect of these air ring nozzles, a plurality of ring nozzles can be connected in series.

  In addition, when two or more cleaning nozzles are arranged in the cleaning box, the center of the inlet and outlet is used to prevent the high-pressure water sprayed from the cleaning nozzle from being ejected from the inlet and outlet of the cleaning box. It is preferable to arrange the washing nozzles so that the high-pressure water does not directly collide with each other on the shaft extension line connecting the two. For this purpose, in FIG. 9, the attachment positions of the washing nozzles 14a and 14b are shifted in the roller conveyance direction of the washing box. In the cleaning box.

  In the following, non-limiting examples of the present invention will be described.

  The used roller has a roller outer diameter of φ16 mm, a resin molded portion length of 250 mm, and an outer diameter of the shaft end portion of φ8 mm.

  The cleaning box is cylindrical, has an outer diameter of 140 mm and an axial length of 150 mm.

  Two cleaning nozzles # 2501 manufactured by Spraying Co., Ltd. are used, and the two cleaning nozzles are arranged at a 90 degree angle in a radial manner from the center of the cleaning box to a cylindrical cleaning box. The distance was set to 10 mm. In addition, the attachment position of the cleaning nozzle is shifted by 20 mm in the roller conveyance direction, and the angle θt established between the roller cleaning surface and the roller conveyance direction is inclined 45 degrees for nozzle A and 30 degrees for nozzle B. Yes.

  The inclination angle θp of the cleaning nozzle formed by the major axis direction of the elliptical jet pattern of the cleaning nozzle and the axial direction of the roller was set to 15 ° for both nozzle A and nozzle B.

  The rotation speed of the roller is 500 rpm, and the conveyance speed is 60 mm / sec.

  High-pressure water was pure water, and the pressure was 4 MPa.

  An air ring nozzle is attached to the inlet and outlet of the cylindrical cleaning box, and the air pressure is set to 0.4 MPa.

  Under the above conditions, the roller surface was cleaned of foreign matter such as dust, fibers and resin residue. As a result, the foreign matter on the roller surface was completely removed.

It is sectional drawing of a general resin roller. It is an example of the washing | cleaning apparatus in one embodiment of this invention. Operation | movement explanatory drawing of the process using the washing | cleaning apparatus of this invention (The holding | maintenance of the roller by a conveyance jig). Operation | movement explanatory drawing of the process using the washing | cleaning apparatus of this invention (a roller passes the inside of a washing box). Explanatory drawing of operation | movement of the process using the washing | cleaning apparatus of this invention (release of a roller from a conveyance jig). The cleaning apparatus in one embodiment of this invention. An example of the present invention in which a washing nozzle is inclined. An example of this invention which inclined the nozzle with the washing nozzle of the elliptical injection pattern. The washing | cleaning apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Roller 11 Shaft 12 Resin molding part 13 Surface layers 14, 14a, 14b, 14c Cleaning nozzle 15 Cleaning box 16 Input port, output port 16a Input port 16b Output port 17, 17a, 17b Air ring nozzles 18, 18a, 18b Jig 19 Exhaust duct 20 Foreign material 21 Moving direction of roller surface synthesized by roller conveyance speed and rotation speed

Claims (7)

In the roller cleaning device having a cleaning box having a roller inlet and outlet, a cleaning nozzle, and a roller conveying jig,
A roller is held between one end of the transport jig inserted from the outlet of the cleaning box toward the input port and the other end of the transport jig disposed to face this,
By moving the conveyance jig relative to the cleaning box, the roller is carried into the cleaning box from the insertion port with the axial direction of the roller as the traveling direction,
High pressure water is sprayed from a cleaning nozzle placed in the cleaning box to clean the roller surface.
A roller cleaning apparatus, wherein a roller is removed in an axial direction from an outlet of a cleaning box.   The roller cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller is rotated in a circumferential direction.   The roller cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein high-pressure water is ejected at an acute angle with respect to the cleaning surface of the roller.   The cleaning box has two or more cleaning nozzles, and the cleaning nozzles are arranged so that high-pressure water does not directly collide with each other on an axial extension line connecting the centers of the inlet and the outlet. The roller cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The spray pattern of the cleaning nozzle is elliptical, and further, the major axis thereof is arranged so as to be perpendicular to the moving direction of the roller surface synthesized by the conveying speed and the rotational speed of the roller. The roller cleaning apparatus according to any one of 2 to 4.   The roller cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a ring nozzle that blows out air is disposed in at least one selected from an inlet and an outlet.   The roller according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a mechanism for applying a surfactant or a solvent to the roller before the roller is carried into the charging port of the cleaning box. Cleaning equipment.

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