Patent Application
20180101126
This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-201137 filed Oct. 12, 2016.
The present invention relates to an exposure window component used in an exposure device, and an exposure device and an image forming apparatus using the same.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an exposure window component that is provided so as to be separated from an exposure device housing and that is attached to an opening through which light from the exposure device housing passes, the exposure window component including: a transmitting member that allows light from the exposure device housing to pass therethrough; a holding frame that holds the transmitting member; a receiving member that is provided at a periphery of the opening to receive the holding frame when the transmitting member is attached and that removably supports the transmitting member; and a grasping part that is provided at a portion of the holding frame and is grasped when the transmitting member is attached and removed.
Exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:
In
In this example, the exposure device 10 includes an exposure device housing 11 disposed on a support member 1, an exposure light source 12 provided in the exposure device housing 11, an optical component 13 that is provided in the exposure device housing 11 and guides light from the light source 12 to the outside of the exposure device housing 11 along a predetermined optical path, and an exposure window component 3 that allows the light from the exposure device housing 11 to pass therethrough. Herein, the optical component 13 widely includes a rotary polygon mirror, a lens, a reflecting mirror, etc. Note that the image carrier 15 only needs to form an electrostatic latent image with the exposure device 10, and it may be either drum-shaped or belt-shaped. Furthermore, when an image is transferred to the recording material 16, the image on the image carrier 15 may be either directly transferred or indirectly transferred via an intermediate transfer body.
The exposure window component 3 in this example is provided so as to be separated from the exposure device housing 11 and is attached to an opening 2 through which light from the exposure device housing 11 passes. The exposure window component 3 includes: a transmitting member 4 that allows light from the exposure device housing 11 to pass therethrough; a holding frame 5 that holds the transmitting member 4; a receiving member 6 that is provided at the periphery of the opening 2 to receive the holding frame 5 when the transmitting member 4 is attached and that removably supports the transmitting member 4; and a grasping part 7 that is provided at a portion of the holding frame 5 and is grasped when the transmitting member 4 is attached and removed.
In this technical component, the exposure window component 3 widely includes those provided so as to be separated from the exposure device housing 11 and attached to the opening 2 through which the light from the exposure device housing 11 passes. Because the exposure window component 3 in this example is provided so as to be separated from the exposure device housing 11, there is low risk of shaking or deforming the exposure device housing 11 when the transmitting member 4 is attached and removed, thus adversely affecting the optical component 13 in the exposure device housing 11.
Although the transmitting member 4 is basically made of glass, those made of synthetic resin are also included.
In addition, the holding frame 5 only needs to hold the transmitting member 4. Although it is desirable that the overall circumference of the transmitting member 4 be held to effectively prevent damage to the transmitting member 4, those partially having a non-holding region may also be used.
In addition, the receiving member 6 only needs to receive the holding frame 5 when the transmitting member 4 is attached. At this time, a configuration in which a portion of the transmitting member 4 is received when the holding frame 5 is received by the receiving member 6 is also included. Furthermore, the receiving structure of the holding frame 5 with respect to the receiving member 6 only needs to allow attachment and removal of the transmitting member 4.
Furthermore, to which part and in what form the grasping part 7 is provided on the holding frame 5 may be selected, as appropriate, as long as the grasping part 7 is grasped when the transmitting member 4 is attached and removed.
In this way, in this exemplary embodiment, because the transmitting member 4 of the exposure window component 3 is configured to be attachable and removable, the transmitting member 4 can be cleaned from both the front and rear sides by removing the transmitting member 4.
Next, representative and desirable aspects of the exposure device, in particular, the exposure window component 3, according to this exemplary embodiment will be described.
First, in a representative aspect of the exposure window component 3, the opening 2 is provided in the support member 1, on which the exposure device housing 11 is disposed, and serves as a passage opening, through which the light from the exposure device housing 11 passes. In this example, the exposure window component 3 is attached to the opening 2 (passage opening) provided in the support member 1, on which the exposure device housing 11 is disposed, and, because the exposure window component 3 is provided outside the exposure device housing 11, the transmitting member 4 can be easily attached or removed without needing to open the interior of the exposure device housing 11.
In another representative aspect of the exposure window component 3, the transmitting member 4 is formed as an elongated member extending along the opening 2, which is elongated, and the grasping part 7 is provided at one longitudinal end portion of the holding frame 5 for the transmitting member 4 and allows the insertion and removal of the transmitting member 4 in the longitudinal direction. In this aspect, the elongated transmitting member 4 is inserted and removed from one longitudinal end.
Furthermore, in a desirable aspect of the receiving member 6, the receiving member 6 has a guide part that guides the holding frame 5 in a sliding manner along the periphery of the opening 2. In this example, because the holding frame 5 is guided along the guide part of the receiving member 6, the attachment and removal of the transmitting member 4 can be smoothly performed.
Furthermore, in another desirable aspect of the receiving member 6, the receiving member 6 has a resin seal having low sliding resistance on the surface thereof that receives the holding frame 5. In this aspect, the resin seal is provided on the receiving surface of the receiving member 6, and, because the sliding (sliding movement) resistance of the resin seal is low, the frictional resistance with respect to the holding frame 5 can be reduced, and the airtightness between the receiving member 6 and the holding frame 5 can also be ensured to some extent by the resin seal.
Furthermore, in another desirable aspect of the receiving member 6, the receiving member 6 has, in a holding-frame receiving surface extending along the periphery of the opening 2, positioning parts that can position the holding frame 5 at several portions in the direction along the periphery of the opening 2 in the transmitting member 4. In this aspect, a transmitting-member positioning structure is added to the receiving member 6.
Furthermore, in another desirable aspect of the receiving member 6, the receiving member 6 includes a position detector for detecting whether the transmitting member 4 has been attached to a predetermined position. In this example, a transmitting-member position detector is incorporated into the receiving member 6. The position detector may be a microswitch, an optical sensor, or the like.
Furthermore, in a desirable aspect of the grasping part 7, the grasping part 7 has, at an end thereof, a tab 7a for enabling the transmitting member 4 to be pulled out. In this example, because the grasping part 7 has the tab 7a, which can be pulled out, at the end, an operator can easily pull out the transmitting member 4 by grasping the tab 7a.
Furthermore, in a desirable aspect of the image forming apparatus, as shown in
Furthermore, in another desirable aspect of the image forming apparatus, as shown in
The present invention will be described in more detail below on the basis of the exemplary embodiments shown in the attached drawings.
In
Component Other than Exposure Device
In this example, the charging device 22 is a non-contact-type corona charger that includes: a charging housing 22a; multiple (in this example, two) charging wires 22b provided in the charging housing 22a; and a grid electrode 22c for controlling, which is disposed between the charging housing 22a and the wires 22b and that charges the circumference of the photoconductor 21 to a predetermined charging electric potential. However, the charging device 22 is not limited to thereto, and the design may be changed, as appropriate, such that, for example, a roller-shaped charging member is disposed in contact with the photoconductor.
Furthermore, the developing device 24 includes: a developer housing 24a, which can accommodate developer that is made of, for example, toner and carrier and which has an opening facing the photoconductor 21; a developing roller 24b that is disposed in the opening in the developer housing 24a and is subjected to a developing electric field; developer stirring members 24c and 24d that are paired, for example, and are disposed inside the developer housing 24a, at a rear side of the developing roller 24b; and a layer-thickness restriction member 24e that is, for example, roller-shaped and can restrict the thickness of the layer of the developer held on the developing roller 24b, the layer-thickness restriction member 24e being disposed upstream of the developing roller 24b in the rotation direction. The developing device 24 develops the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 21 with the developer held on the developing roller 24b. However, the developing device 24 is not limited thereto, and the design may be changed, as appropriate, such that, for example, a one-component developer, which does not use carrier in the developer, is used, multiple developing rollers 24b are arranged side-by-side, or the developer stirring members are vertically disposed.
Furthermore, for example, the transfer device 25 includes: a transfer housing 25a; and a transfer roller 25b disposed therein so as to be in contact with and thus rotated by the photoconductor 21. The transfer device 25 transfers the toner image on the photoconductor 21 to a recording material S by applying a predetermined transfer electric field between the photoconductor 21 and the transfer roller 25b. However, the transfer device 25 is not limited thereto, and, for example, a non-contact-type charger using a corona charging method may also be used.
Furthermore, the cleaning device 26 includes: a cleaning housing 26a that can accommodate residue, such as residual toner, paper dust, etc.; a cleaning member 26b, which is, for example, plate-shaped and is disposed at the periphery of an opening in the cleaning housing 26a; and a roller-shaped or a brush-shaped cleaning member 26c disposed at a portion facing the opening in the cleaning housing 26a. The residue on the photoconductor 21 is cleaned with the cleaning members 26b and 26c, and the residue accommodated in the cleaning housing 26a is collected with the transport member 26d into a collection box (not shown) from one end of the cleaning housing 26a. However, the cleaning device 26 is not limited thereto, and the design may be changed, as appropriate, such that, for example, the type of the cleaning member or the cleaning method is changed.
In this exemplary embodiment, as shown in
In this exemplary embodiment, as shown in
Furthermore, in this example, the bottom surface of the exposure device housing 40 is a very small distance z (for example, 2 mm to 5 mm) away from the surface of the support plate 50.
Furthermore, in this example, a light source 42, which is, for example, a semiconductor laser light source, and various optical components that emit the light from the light source 42 as raster-scanning light are built in the exposure device housing 40. Herein, the various optical components include a collimating lens 43 that collimates the beam emitted from the light source 42, a rotary polygon mirror (polygon mirror) 44 that converts the beam passing through the collimating lens 43 into a beam corresponding to each of scanning lines by high-speed rotation, an image-forming lens 45 that forms an image of the beam from the rotary polygon mirror 44 on the photoconductor 21, reflecting mirrors 46 to 48 that form a predetermined optical path in the exposure device housing 40, etc.
Furthermore, a scanning beam Bm is emitted toward the photoconductor 21 from the reflecting mirror 48 provided at the final stage in the exposure device housing 40, and the support plate 50, which intersects the exposure path of the scanning beam Bm, is provided with a slit-shaped elongated passage opening 51 through which the scanning beam passes.
In this example, the scanning beam Bm coming from the reflecting mirror 48 in the exposure device housing 40 exits to the outside of the exposure device housing 40 through a preliminarily formed opening 40a, passes through the passage opening 51 in the support plate 50, and reaches the exposure position in the photoconductor 21.
In particular, in this exemplary embodiment, an exposure window component 60 is provided at the passage opening 51 in the support plate 50.
In this example, as shown in
Herein, the receiving bracket 61 is formed by pressing a steel plate having a thickness of, for example, 0.6 mm to 1.0 mm in the form a hat in section. The receiving bracket 61 has an elongated receiving body 62 having a groove shape (in this example, a substantially U-shaped groove shape) in section, and outwardly projecting flanges 63 formed along the longitudinal edges of the receiving body 62. The receiving bracket 61 is held by the passage opening 51 in such a manner that the receiving body 62 is fitted into the passage opening 51, the flanges 63 are hung on the upper edges of the passage opening 51, and the flanges 63 are fixed to the support plate 50 at several portions with fasteners 64, such as screws.
In this example, as particularly shown in
The receiving bracket 61 is provided with, at the bottom of the receiving body 62, a rectangular elongated hole 66 having a size substantially corresponding to the size of a transmitting glass 71 (see
The transmitting unit 70 basically includes the transmitting glass 71 that is formed of an elongated glass plate having a width smaller than the width of the receiving body 62 of the receiving bracket 61, and a holding frame 72 that holds the transmitting glass 71 and is formed of a resin, such as modified polyphenylene ether (PPEI) resin. The transmitting unit 70 is received by the bottom of the receiving body 62 of the receiving bracket 61 and is accommodated in the receiving body 62 so as not to project upward from the top surface of the flanges 63.
Hence, in this example, the transmitting unit 70 covers the passage opening 51 in the support plate 50, together with the receiving bracket 61.
The transmitting unit 70 is configured to be removable from the receiving bracket 61. This configuration will be described in detail below.
Next, the peripheral structure of the exposure window component 60 according to this exemplary embodiment will be described.
Now, as shown in
However, in this exemplary embodiment, the maximum particle diameter of the foreign bodies W on the support plate 50 is about 200 μm, and, even if the foreign bodies W are shaken on the support plate 50, the foreign bodies W are blocked by the step portions 65 provided around the passage opening 51 and having a height h from the surface of the support plate 50. Hence, it is considered that there is a very low possibility of the foreign bodies W moving over the step portions 65.
Even if the foreign bodies W move over the step portions 65, because the passage opening 51 is covered by the transmitting unit 70 and the receiving bracket 61, there is no risk of the foreign bodies W that have moved over the step portions 65 falling off the passage opening 51 and reaching the photoconductor 21.
It is understood that, in Comparative Embodiment 1, which is not provided with the exposure window component 60 used in the exemplary embodiment, foreign bodies W falling off the passage opening 51 in the support plate 50 are deposited on the surface of the photoconductor 21 and may deteriorate the image quality.
In this exemplary embodiment, in order to ensure ease of cleaning of the transmitting glass 71, the exposure window component 60 is configured such that the transmitting unit 70 can be inserted into and removed from the receiving bracket 61.
Furthermore, when enabling the insertion and removal of the transmitting unit 70, if the transmitting unit 70 is removed with the photoconductor 21 inside the image-forming-apparatus housing 27, foreign bodies W may fall off the passage opening 51 in the support plate 50 and may be deposited on the surface of the photoconductor 21 at the time when the transmitting unit 70 is pulled out. Hence, removal of the transmitting unit 70 is enabled when the photoconductor 21 is not inside the image-forming-apparatus housing 27, more specifically, only when the process cartridge 30 has been removed.
In this exemplary embodiment, as shown in
Conversely, as shown in
In this example, as shown in
Furthermore, in this example, a grasping part 77 projecting toward the front side of the image-forming-apparatus housing 27 is formed on the holding frame 72. A downwardly bent tab 78 is formed at an end of the grasping part 77, and a flange-shaped stopper piece 79 projecting around the grasping part 77 is formed at a position away from the end of the grasping part 77.
As shown in
In this exemplary embodiment, as shown in
When the process cartridge 30 is inserted and attached at a set position in the image-forming-apparatus housing 27, even in a state in which the transmitting unit 70 is not set at a predetermined set position, the projection 33 comes into contact with the tab 78 and presses the transmitting unit 70 into the predetermined set position.
A positioning pin 35 for positioning the process cartridge 30 is provided on the housing plate 27a of the image-forming-apparatus housing 27 (see
In this exemplary embodiment, as shown in
In this example, as shown particularly in
Meanwhile, as shown in
In particular, in this example, when the transmitting unit 70 is inserted along the receiving body 62 of the receiving bracket 61, the receiving body 62 serves as a guide part for the transmitting unit 70. Furthermore, the transmitting unit 70 always passes through the first positioning mechanism 110 to reach the second positioning mechanism 120. Hence, it is desirable to set the elastic urging forces of the pressing springs 111 to 113 of the first positioning mechanism 110 smaller than those of the pressing springs 121 to 123 of the second positioning mechanism 120.
In this exemplary embodiment, as shown in
Furthermore, because the elastic seal 140 ensures the airtightness with respect to the transmitting unit 70, the airtightness between the transmitting unit 70 and the receiving bracket 61 is also maintained in a good condition, which is desirable.
Note that the elastic seal 140 may be provided on the holding frame 72 of the transmitting unit 70, not the receiving bracket 61.
In this exemplary embodiment, it is desirable to provide a position detector 150 for checking whether the transmitting unit 70 is set at the predetermined position.
The position detector 150 may include, as shown in, for example,
Another example of the position detector 150 may include, as shown in
Next, attachment and removal of the exposure window component according to this exemplary embodiment will be described.
As shown in
In contrast, as shown in
At this time, even if the inserted transmitting unit 70 does not reach the set position and remains unset, as shown in
In Comparative Embodiment 2, in which the exposure window component 60 as shown in this exemplary embodiment is not used, a transmitting glass 71′ is built in the exposure device housing 40, as shown in
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-201137 | Oct 2016 | JP | national |
