JP4910861B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

  In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using toner, toner is scattered inside the apparatus and adheres to a light projection window of a laser exposure device, thereby causing a decrease in image quality or causing a malfunction of the sensor. May occur.

  In particular, in an image forming apparatus of a type that holds a plurality of developing cartridges in the developing rotary, the light projection window of the laser exposure device is often behind the developing rotary and is placed at a position that is difficult to see from the opening of the apparatus. . For this reason, it is not easy to clean the projection window of the laser exposure device, and it is also difficult to confirm whether or not it has been sufficiently cleaned. In addition, there is not enough space around the projection window of the laser exposure unit, and there is a risk that the hand may come into contact with other members during cleaning, and the hand may be soiled with toner or scratched. Often expensive.

The image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 can be easily cleaned by opening the cover so that an exposure device and an optical sensor for neutralizing the photosensitive member can be pulled out of the device. Yes. However, the structure of the cover becomes complicated and results in an increase in cost, and an exposure device for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member is still in the back of the apparatus and cannot be easily cleaned.
JP-A-11-161118

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily cleaning the inside.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a cylindrical image carrier and a plurality of developments capable of developing a toner image by supplying toner to an electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier. A cartridge, and a plurality of developing cartridges arranged around a rotation axis, and having a developing rotary that rotates and selects any of the developing cartridges to face the image carrier, In order to clean a predetermined member to be cleaned, at least one of the developing cartridges is taken out, the developing rotary is rotated, and the space occupied by the taken out developing cartridge is arranged in the vicinity of the member to be cleaned. A cleaning mode shall be provided.

  According to this configuration, by arranging the space created by removing the developing cartridge in the vicinity of the member to be cleaned, the member to be cleaned can be easily seen from the outside of the apparatus, and the space for cleaning work is enlarged. Cleaning can be facilitated.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the member to be cleaned includes a light projection window of a laser exposure device that selectively exposes the charged image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image, and a memory mounted in the developing cartridge. A contact point that is in conductive contact with the medium or a sensor disposed in the vicinity of the developing rotary may be used.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention may further include an operation unit that allows a user to select to start the cleaning mode.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, there may be a plurality of members to be cleaned, and the user can select which member to be cleaned is to be cleaned via the operation unit.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the space occupied by the removed developing cartridge is arranged near the member to be cleaned by rotating the developing rotary, an operation is instructed to the user. You may have the display part which performs the display for this.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, in the cleaning mode, after the member to be cleaned is cleaned, a confirmation operation for confirming a cleaning state of the member to be cleaned may be performed.

  According to the present invention, since the space formed by taking out the developing cartridge is arranged in the vicinity of the member to be cleaned, the work space is large and the visibility is good, so that the member to be cleaned can be easily cleaned.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a main body 2 and a photoreceptor 3 that is an image carrier capable of forming a toner image on a cylindrical surface, and an intermediate transfer belt 4 on which the toner image formed on the photoreceptor 3 is primarily transferred. And a photosensitive unit 6 holding a primary transfer roller 5 for moving a toner image from the photosensitive member 3 to the intermediate transfer belt 4 by electrostatic force, and irradiating the photosensitive member 3 with laser light from a light projection window 7a. A laser exposure unit 7 that forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive member 3 and four developing cartridges that can develop toner images by supplying cyan, magenta, yellow, or black toner toner to the electrostatic latent images, respectively. Developing rotary 9 that holds the ring 8 around the rotation axis, a paper feed tray 10 on which recording paper is placed, a paper feed roller 11 for taking out the recording paper one by one from the paper feed tray 10, and intermediate transfer by electrostatic force It has a secondary transfer roller 12 for transferring the toner image on the recording sheet from the belt 4, and a fixing device 13 for fusing the toner image on a recording sheet by heating while pressurizing the recording sheet.

  Each developing cartridge 8 has a memory substrate 14 provided with a storage medium that records attribute information such as the type and color of the toner contained therein, and the image forming apparatus 1 has a contact point that makes conductive contact with the memory substrate 14. And a reading member 15 capable of reading the attribute information from the storage medium is provided. The main body 2 is provided with a sensor (not shown) for confirming the rotational position of the developing rotary 9 in the vicinity of the developing rotary 9.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a side cover 16 and an upper cover 17 that open the main body 2, an operation unit (not shown) including a plurality of operation buttons, and a display unit (not shown) including a liquid crystal panel. have.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, at the time of image formation (printing), as shown in the figure, the developing rotary 9 is set at a rotational position so that the developing cartridge 8 containing toner of the color to be developed faces the photoreceptor 3.

  The image forming apparatus 1 selects and selects a member to be cleaned from the projection window 7a of the laser exposure device 7 and the contact of the reading member 15 by the user operating the operation unit. It shifts to the cleaning mode for cleaning the member to be cleaned.

  2 and 3 show the control flow of the cleaning mode of the image forming apparatus 1. First, in step S1, the operator operates the operation panel to select a member to be cleaned and start the cleaning mode.

  Then, in step S 2, the developing rotary 9 rotates and is positioned at a predetermined developing cartridge attaching / detaching position shown in FIG. 4, and one developing cartridge 8 is positioned in the vicinity of the side cover 16.

  When the developing rotary 9 is positioned at the developing cartridge attaching / detaching position, an instruction to the operator is displayed so that the side cover 16 is opened on the display unit and the developing cartridge 8 is taken out in step S3. This instruction preferably displays the necessary procedures in an easy-to-understand manner, such as the need to open the side cover 16 and the position of the unlocking lever necessary for removing the developing cartridge 8.

  If the operator who sees this display opens the side cover 16 and takes out the developing cartridge 8 from the developing rotary 9 as shown in FIG. 5, it is checked in step S5 whether the side cover 16 is closed. If the side cover 16 is open, a message is displayed to the operator to close the side cover 16 on the display unit in step S6.

  If it is confirmed in step S5 that the cover is closed, the developing rotary 9 is rotated in step S7, and the space occupied by the taken out developing cartridge 8 is set to the cleaning position where it is arranged in the vicinity of the selected member to be cleaned. Position it. FIG. 6 shows the cleaning position when the member to be cleaned is the light projection window 7 a of the laser exposure device 7.

  When the developing rotary 9 is positioned at the cleaning position, the display unit is displayed to instruct the operator to clean the member to be cleaned. For example, when the member to be cleaned is the projection window 7a of the laser exposure unit 7, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper cover 17 should be opened, or the photosensitive unit 6 is removed and the projection window of the laser exposure unit 7 is removed. It is preferable to display the detailed procedure of the cleaning work such as that 7a should be cleaned in an easy-to-understand manner. For simplicity, the detailed procedure may be left to the description of a manual, and a simple display such as LED lighting may be performed.

  In this case, the space created by removing the developing cartridge 8 is disposed above the projection window 7a of the laser exposure device 7 which is a member to be cleaned, so that the member to be cleaned is opened by the upper cover 17 and the photosensitive unit. When 6 is removed, the operator can directly see from above, and a cleaning operation can be performed by inserting a hand or a cleaning tool into the space created by removing the developing cartridge 8. At this time, since the space for the cleaning work is large, there is no fear that the hand touches other members and the attached toner becomes dirty or scratched, and the cleaning work is easy. Moreover, since the light projection window 7a of the laser exposure device 7 can be directly viewed, reliable cleaning is possible.

  If the operator cleans the member to be cleaned in step S9, it is checked in step S10 whether all the covers 16, 17 are closed. If any of the covers 16, 17 is open, the display unit is displayed in step S11. Display to instruct the operator to close the cover.

  If it is confirmed in step S10 that the covers 16 and 17 are closed, the developing rotary 9 is rotated in step S12 and positioned again at the developing cartridge attaching / detaching position. In step S13, the display unit displays a message prompting the operator to attach the developing cartridge 8.

  If the operator attaches the developing cartridge 8 in step S14, the cover 16 or 17 is confirmed to be closed in step S15. If all the covers 16 or 17 are not closed, the cover 16 or 17 is closed on the display unit in step S16. Display a prompt.

  If it is confirmed in step S15 that the cover is closed, in step S17, the reading member 15 accesses the memory substrate 14 of the developing cartridge 8, reads information on the developing cartridge 8, and checks information on the developing cartridge 8. If an appropriate developing cartridge is not attached, it is displayed on the display section that an appropriate developing cartridge should be attached in step S18.

  If it is confirmed in step S17 that the appropriate developing cartridge 8 has been mounted, in step S19, the printer enters a print standby state in which an image forming operation can be started, and the cleaning mode ends.

  In the above description, the example in which the member to be cleaned is the light projection window 7a of the laser exposure device 7 has been described. For example, when the member to be cleaned selected by the operator is a contact point of the reading member 15, The cleaning position of the developing rotary 9 in step S7 may be a position as shown in FIG. 8, and in the cleaning procedure displayed in step S8, the side cover 16 should be opened to clean the contact of the reading member 15. Is displayed.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, in addition, an optical sensor or the like disposed in the vicinity of the developing rotary 9 can be selected as a member to be cleaned, and an optimum cleaning position and cleaning procedure are set for each.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 1, the cleaning state may be confirmed before shifting to the print standby state in step S19. For example, if the member to be cleaned is the light projection window 7a of the laser exposure device 7, a predetermined pattern image is developed so that the operator can confirm whether a uniform toner image is formed in the main scanning direction. be able to. When the member to be cleaned is a contact point of the reading member 15, whether or not the attribute information of the memory substrate 14 can be read is an optical sensor disposed in the vicinity of the developing rotary 9. The developing rotary 9 may be rotated to check whether the optical sensor is turned on / off.

  Further, as in the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of developing cartridges 8 are removed and larger depending on the position and shape of the member to be cleaned (projecting window 7a of laser exposure device 7). A space may be formed and arranged near the member to be cleaned.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a printing operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a flowchart showing the first half of control of a cleaning mode of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing the second half of the control of the cleaning mode of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cartridge attachment / detachment position of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating removal of a developing cartridge of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a cleaning position of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a cleaning state of a member to be cleaned of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a cleaning state of different cleaning members of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a cleaning state of a member to be cleaned of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Main body 3 Photoconductor 6 Photoconductor unit 7 Laser exposure device 7a Light projection window (member to be cleaned)
8 Developing Cartridge 9 Developing Rotary 14 Memory Board 15 Reading Member 16 Side Cover 17 Upper Cover

Claims (8)

A cylindrical image carrier;
A plurality of developing cartridges capable of developing toner images by supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier;
The plurality of developing cartridges can be mounted while being arranged around a rotation axis, and have a developing rotary that rotates and selects any one of the developing cartridges to face the image carrier,
In order to clean a predetermined member to be cleaned, at least one of the developing cartridges is taken out, the developing rotary is rotated, and the space occupied by the taken out developing cartridge is arranged in the vicinity of the member to be cleaned. An image forming apparatus comprising a cleaning mode.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member to be cleaned is a light projection window of a laser exposure unit that selectively exposes the charged image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member to be cleaned is a contact that makes conductive contact with a storage medium mounted on the developing cartridge.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member to be cleaned is a sensor disposed in the vicinity of the developing rotary.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an operation unit that allows a user to select to start the cleaning mode.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein there are a plurality of members to be cleaned, and a user can select which member to be cleaned is to be cleaned through the operation unit.   A display unit for displaying a display for instructing a user to perform work when the space occupied by the developer cartridge taken out by rotating the developing rotary is disposed in the vicinity of the member to be cleaned; An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the cleaning mode, after the member to be cleaned is cleaned, a confirmation operation for confirming a cleaning state of the member to be cleaned is performed.

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