Patent Grant
8515322
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a color copier or color printer which uses an electrophotographic process.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic process using a toner is often used for an image forming apparatus such as a copier, laser printer, or facsimile machine. The electrophotographic process includes a transfer step of transferring toner images, i.e. developer images, carried on a photosensitive drum which acts as an image bearing member to a surface of a transfer material conveyed by a transfer material conveying belt or intermediate transfer belt. A transfer belt such as a transfer material conveying belt or intermediate transfer belt are stretched around multiple tension rollers and configured to rotate and move when a driving roller rotates. The transfer belt could move to one side along a belt width direction orthogonal to a rotational direction during the rotating movement. For restricting a movement in the belt width direction crossing the rotational direction of the belt, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-223971, ribs are installed as guide portions along opposite ends of an inner circumferential surface of the transfer belt. The ribs are abutted against flanges provided on a driving roller, and the movement in the belt width direction crossing the rotational direction of the belt is restricted by the ribs.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-215943, a rib is installed along one end of an inner circumferential surface of a transfer belt and rib guides (grooves) are installed at one end of multiple rollers (a driving roller and driven roller) around which an intermediate transfer belt is stretched. The grooves guide the rib by putting the rib therein so that the ends of the belt will not bend inward due to belt tension. The rib guide placed on the driven roller restricts the belt-move in the belt width direction. The rib guide placed on the driving roller is movable by a predetermined amount in the belt width direction, and thus does not block the movement of the rib in the belt width direction.
Normally, to stably convey the transfer belt, a rubber layer with a high coefficient of friction μ is provided on a surface of the driving roller which drives the transfer belt. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-223971, a moving force on the driving roller in the belt width direction is increased. When restriction forces of rib guides on the ribs increase, loads on the belt and ribs increase. Consequently, ribs of the transfer belt become less durable, resulting in breakage in some cases.
The belt-move is restricted as the belt bumps against the flanges which serve as restriction members. Consequently, when the moving force increases, the ribs may run on the flanges. If the ribs run on the flanges, the transfer belt floats up minutely from a surface of the driving roller, causing changes to driving diameter of the belt and thereby resulting in changes in rotational speed of the transfer belt. This destabilizes position detection of the transfer belt, making it difficult to synchronize image write positions and thereby resulting in color misregistration.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-215943, the use of an intermediate transfer belt with a short circumferential length results in an increased travel amount D of the belt in the belt width direction on the driving roller, increasing a D/B ratio, where B is a center distance between the driving roller and driven roller. This in turn increases an amount of diagonal deformation of the belt itself, causing the belt to undulate and thereby affecting images. To solve this problem, it is conceivable to use high-rigidity material such as polyimide for the intermediate transfer belt or perform feedback control of alignment of the driving roller by using an actuator to prevent the belt from moving in the belt width direction, but these methods will result in cost increases.
The present invention provides an image forming apparatus which can restrict a belt-move in the belt width direction at low costs with extended service life and form high quality images. Hereinafter, the belt-move in the belt width direction is called “skew”.
The present invention provides an image forming apparatus, which transfers a toner image to a rotatable endless belt or transfers a toner image to a transfer material carried by a rotatable endless belt, including: the rotatable endless belt; guide portions each provided in strips on opposite ends of an inner circumferential surface of the endless belt; a driving roller supporting and rotating the endless belt; a driven roller supporting the endless belt and driven by the rotation of the endless belt; first restriction members each provided on opposite ends of the driven roller in an axial direction of the driven roller, the first restriction members having first contact surfaces which come into contact with the guide portions when the endless belt moves in a belt width direction crossing a rotational direction of the endless belt; and second restriction members each provided on opposite ends of the driving roller in an axial direction of the driving roller, the second restriction members having second contact surfaces which come into contact with the guide portions when the endless belt moves in the belt width direction crossing the rotational direction of the endless belt, wherein the second contact surfaces of the second restriction members are placed nearer to a center in the belt width direction than the first contact surfaces of the first restriction members, and an angle between the first contact surfaces of the first restriction members and the inner circumferential surface in the belt width direction is larger than an angle between the second contact surfaces of the second restriction members and the inner circumferential surface in the belt width direction.
The present invention provides an image forming apparatus, which transfers a toner image to a rotatable endless belt or transfers a toner image to a transfer material carried by a rotatable endless belt, including: the rotatable endless belt; a guide portion provided in a strip at one end of an inner circumferential surface of the endless belt; a driving roller supporting and rotating the endless belt; a driven roller supporting the endless belt and driven by the rotation of the endless belt; a first restriction member provided on the driven roller on the side of the one end in an axial direction of the driven roller, the first restriction member having a first contact surface which comes into contact with the guide portion when the endless belt moves in a belt width direction crossing a rotational direction of the endless belt; and a second restriction member provided on the driving roller on the side of the one end in an axial direction of the driving roller, the second restriction member having a second contact surface which comes into contact with the guide portion when the endless belt moves in the belt width direction crossing the rotational direction of the endless belt, wherein the second contact surface of the second restriction member is placed nearer to a center in the belt width direction than the first contact surface of the first restriction member, and an angle between the first contact surface of the first restriction member and the inner circumferential surface in the belt width direction is larger than an angle between the second contact surface of the second restriction member and the inner circumferential surface in the belt width direction.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail in accordance with the accompanying drawings. However, the sizes, materials, shapes and relative locations of the components described in the following embodiments are to be changed as required depending on the configuration and conditions of the apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.
A schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is illustrated in
A charge roller 2, an exposure unit 3, a rotary developing unit 4A and a cleaning blade 6 are placed around the photosensitive drum 1. A laser beam emitted from the exposure unit 3 is irradiated on the photosensitive drum 1.
The rotary developing unit 4A can rotate by supporting developing devices 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4Bk containing yellow toner, magenta toner, cyan toner and black toner, respectively. The developing devices 4Y, 4M, 4C and 4Bk have the same internal configuration. Thus, names of the developing devices are not distinguished and will be referred to as the developing device(s) 4 when the tonners contained therein are not distinguished particularly.
All the developing devices 4 are configured to be mountable on the rotary developing unit 4A. The rotary developing unit 4A is rotatably supported with the developing devices 4 mounted and is able to move a desired developing device 4 to a position placed in face-to-face contact with the photosensitive drum 1.
An intermediate transfer belt 5a which is a transfer belt (hereinafter referred to simply as a “transfer belt”) is placed below the photosensitive drum 1 by being stretched around multiple rollers 40, 42 and 41. A primary transfer roller 5i is placed across the transfer belt 5a from the photosensitive drum 1. A secondary transfer roller 11 is placed on the opposite side of the transfer belt 5a from the roller 40 which is one of the rollers over which the transfer belt 5a is stretched. The secondary transfer roller 11 is configured to be able to abut against and separate from the transfer belt 5a.
Image forming operation of the image forming apparatus will be described.
A sheet stacked on a stacking tray 19 is separated and fed by a pickup roller 18 and conveyed to a nip (secondary transfer portion) between the belt 5a and secondary transfer roller 11 by a conveyance roller pair 7d. The sheet conveyed to the secondary transfer portion is subjected to secondary transfer of toner images by the secondary transfer roller 11. Then, toner images of multiple colors are fixed on the sheet by a fixing device 8, and the sheet is ejected to a delivery tray 10 by a delivery roller 9.
A surface of the photosensitive drum 1 rotating at 100 mm/sec is charged to a predetermined potential by the charge roller 2. Electrostatic latent images are formed on the photosensitive drum 1 at an exposure position by a laser beam emitted according to image signals of different colors. The electrostatic latent images thus formed are developed at a developing position by the developing devices 4 to form toner images. The developing devices 4 developing at the developing position have been established according to the image signals of respective colors, and the developing device 4 of a desired color is placed at the developing position in advance by rotating the rotary developing unit 4A. The toner images are developed in a predetermined order of colors. According to the present embodiment, the toner images are formed in the order: yellow, magenta, cyan and black.
The toner images formed on the photosensitive drum 1 are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 5a at a primary transfer position. As the transferred toner images are superimposed one over another in order, a full-color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 5a. The secondary transfer roller 11 is located away from the transfer belt 5a until the full-color toner image is formed, and is abutted against the transfer belt 5a after the full-color toner image is formed. The sheet is conveyed, being timed with arrival of the formed full-color toner image at a secondary transfer position. The sheet stacked on the stacking tray 19 is separated and fed by the pickup roller 18 and conveyed to the nip (secondary transfer position) between the belt 5a and secondary transfer roller 11 by the conveyance roller pair 7d. The sheet conveyed to the secondary transfer position is subjected to secondary transfer of toner images by the secondary transfer roller 11. Then, toner image is fixed on the sheet by the fixing device 8, and the sheet is delivered to the delivery tray 10 by the delivery roller 9.
The transfer belt and multiple tension rollers are unitized into a transfer belt unit 21.
As shown in
The pressure roller (tension roller) 41 applies a predetermined tension to the belt 5a by being urged outward from an inner surface of the belt by a compression spring 44. The pressure roller 41 follows rotation of the belt 5a. The driving roller 40 is rotatably held at opposite ends by a bearing 201 and bearing 205 as shown in
The belt 5a is made of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyimide (PI), or other resin film. The driving roller 40 is made of an aluminum pipe or the like whose surface is covered with a rubber layer (surface layer) having a high coefficient of friction μ to transmit a rotational force reliably to the belt 5a. The pressure roller 41 is made of metal (aluminum pipe or the like) and treated to give a smooth surface so as to keep down the coefficient of friction μ of the surface.
The photosensitive drum unit 20 includes the photosensitive drum 1 and charge roller 2. The charge roller 2 is pressure contacted with the photosensitive drum by a compression spring 26 via a bearing 25. The photosensitive drum 1 is rotatably held at opposite ends by a bearing 202 and bearing 206 as shown in
The transfer belt unit 21 is provided with an optical sensor 70 which is a position detection unit. A marker 71 which is a light reflector is pasted outside an image forming area at an end of the belt 5a in the belt width direction (in a direction orthogonal to a rotational direction of the belt 5a). The optical sensor 70 irradiates light on the marker 71 and detects reflected light and thereby detects a reference position for the image write position in a conveyance direction of the belt 5a (in a direction orthogonal to the belt width direction). Timing for the exposure unit 3 to write image data onto the photosensitive drum 1 is controlled in synchronization with a detection signal. Consequently, positions of toner images of different colors to be superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt are registered with each other.
The rotational speed of the belt 5a has to be stable in order to synchronize image write timing. If the rotational speed is unstable, the image write timing cannot be synchronized, resulting in a color misregistration of the image.
A correction mechanism of the intermediate transfer belt 5a will be described.
The ribs 5r which serve as guide portions are provided in strips along the rotational direction of the belt 5a on opposite ends of an inner circumferential surface of the belt 5a. The ribs 5r are made of an elastic material such as polyurethane foam or urethane rubber. The ribs 5r are pasted with an adhesive such as double-faced tape to maintain straightness. The restriction members 100 are provided on opposite ends of the driving roller 40 rotatably around a shaft of the driving roller 40.
Spacers (not shown) coated with fluorine or the like and made of a material with a low coefficient of friction μ are provided between inner surfaces of the restriction members 100 and the driving roller 40. The restriction members 100 have opposing surfaces which oppose the ribs, where the opposing surfaces are inclined surfaces which are inclined from the outer side to the inner side in the belt width direction as shown in
As shown in
The skewing forces acting on the belt 5a are generated on shafts with a high coefficient of friction. Thus, the largest skewing force is applied to the belt 5a on the driving roller 40 having a rubber layer with a high coefficient of friction μ. Therefore, even if the skewing of the belt 5a is restricted by the restriction members 102 on the shaft of the pressure roller 41, the belt 5a may tend to skew outward along the belt width direction on the shaft of the driving roller 40. In that case, although the skewing of the belt 5a on the shaft of the pressure roller 41 is restricted, the skewing of the belt 5a on the shaft of the driving roller 40 cannot be avoided.
The skew generated on the shaft of the driving roller 40 is restricted as the belt 5a abuts the restriction members 100 by further moving the distance A in the belt width direction from the position where the belt 5a bumps against the restriction members 102. Specifically, the belt skew is restricted as the restriction members 100 apply an outward return force along the belt width direction to the belt 5a abutting the restriction members 100.
According to the present embodiment, as shown in
In terms of the run-on part, when the ribs 5r run on the restriction members, the circumferential length of the belt 5a becomes longer. An increase in the circumferential length in even a part of the belt 5a causes speed fluctuations. In particular, the rotational speed of the belt 5a is determined on the shaft of the driving roller 40, and thus the smaller the amount by which the ribs 5r run on the driving roller 40, the better. Thus, according to the present embodiment, an inclination angle α of the restriction member 100 on the shaft of the driving roller is smaller than an inclination angle τ of the restriction member 102 on the shaft of the pressure roller. According to the present embodiment, a situation in which the ribs 5r contacts with the restriction members 100 is a situation in which the restriction members 102 with large restriction forces impart forces to cancel out the skew. Thus, even a small inclination angle brings about sufficient effects.
Since the surface of the pressure roller 41 is made of a smooth aluminum pipe or the like which has a low coefficient of friction μ, the restriction members 102 can restrict skew with a small force. On the other hand, since the surface of the driving roller 40 is covered with a rubber layer having a high coefficient of friction μ, a large force is required to restrict skew. Since the skew is restricted first with a small force by the restriction members 102 provided on the pressure roller 41, the restriction of the skew by the restriction members 100 provided on the driving roller 40 becomes small. Thus, loads on the belt 5a and ribs 5r are reduced and resulting in extended service life. This stabilizes conveyance speed of the belt 5a, prevents unsynchronized image write timing, prevents color misregistration, and thereby executes high-quality image forming.
When the distance between the inclined surface of the restriction member 100 and inclined surface of the restriction member 102 is A and the center distance between the driving roller 40 and pressure roller 41 is B, the components are placed so as to satisfy 0.0052≦A/B≦0.0116. If A/B is less than 0.0052, the restriction members 100 start to restrict the skew of the belt before the restriction members 102 can restrict the skew sufficiently. This increases the force with which the ribs 5r are restricted on the driving roller 40 by the restriction members 100, increasing in turn the loads on the belt and ribs 5r and resulting in reduced resistance to damage and the like. On the other hand, if A/B is larger than 0.0116, an amount of diagonal deformation of the belt itself increases, causing the belt to undulate and thereby resulting in wavy images.
A support roller 42 is placed sufficiently away from the ribs 5r to prevent opposite ends of the support roller 42 from restricting the ribs 5r. The center distance B between the pressure roller 41, on which restriction members restricting the skew of the belt are provided, and driving roller 40 is larger than the center distance between the support roller 42, on which restricting of the skew of the belt is not executed, and driving roller 40. The increase in the distance B reduces A/B, and thereby decreases the amount of diagonal deformation of the belt itself. This prevents the belt from undulating and thereby prevents wavy images.
Also, as shown in
In the present embodiment, a rotary type color image forming apparatus having a single photosensitive drum has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to a tandem type color image forming apparatus having multiple photosensitive drums. Also, the present invention is not limited to intermediate-transfer type image forming apparatus, and is applicable to transfer/conveying belts of direct-transfer type image forming apparatus.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-108626, filed May 10, 2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-108626 | May 2010 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090311013 | Hara | Dec 2009 | A1 |
| 20100310283 | Okamoto | Dec 2010 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 11-223971 | Aug 1999 | JP |
| 2003-215943 | Jul 2003 | JP |
| 2007-79399 | Mar 2007 | JP |
| 2007-304230 | Nov 2007 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20110274472 A1 | Nov 2011 | US |
