Belt unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10274873-B2
Application number	US-201815907116-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2018
Priority date	Mar 1, 2017
Publication date	Apr 30, 2019
Grant date	Apr 30, 2019

Abstract

First and second abutment portions are disposed in a cleaning container. The first abutment portion is arranged on the outer side relative to a first cleaning member in a width direction of a belt at a position corresponding to the first cleaning member in a circumferential direction of the belt and abuts against the outer peripheral surface of the belt. The second abutment portion is arranged on the outer side relative to a second cleaning member in the width direction at a position corresponding to the second cleaning member in the circumferential direction and abuts against the outer peripheral surface of the belt. The outer end of the first abutment portion is located on the inner side relative to the end of the first roller, and the inner end of the second abutment portion is located on the outer side relative to the end of the second roller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a belt rotatably disposed, and configured to carry toner;
a first roller configured to support the belt;
a second roller configured to support the belt;
a first cleaning member facing the first roller with the belt interposed therebetween, and configured to clean an outer peripheral surface of the belt;
a second cleaning member facing the second roller with the belt interposed therebetween, and configured to clean the outer peripheral surface of the belt;
a cleaning container configured to rotatably support the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member;
projecting members projecting from an inner peripheral surface of the belt on end portions of the belt to restrict a position in a width direction of the belt;
a first abutment portion disposed in the cleaning container and configured to abut against the outer peripheral surface of the belt at one end portion of the belt, the first abutment portion being arranged at a position corresponding to the first cleaning member in a circumferential direction of the belt and arranged on an outer side relative to the first cleaning member in the width direction of the belt; and
a second abutment portion disposed in the cleaning container and configured to abut against the outer peripheral surface of the belt at the one end portion of the belt, the second abutment portion being arranged at a position corresponding to the second cleaning member in the circumferential direction of the belt and arranged on an outer side relative to the second cleaning member in the width direction of the belt,
wherein the second roller is shorter than the first roller in the width direction od the belt, and the projecting member at the one end portion of the belt is configured to abut against an end portion of the first roller when the belt is moved in the width direction,
wherein an outer end of the first abutment portion is located on an inner side relative to the end portions of the first roller, and an inner end of the second abutment portion is located on an outer side of the second roller in the width direction of the belt.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a third abutment portion is configured to abut against the outer peripheral surface of the belt and configured to connect the first abutment portion and the second abutment portion each other.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the outer end of the first abutment portion is located on an inner side relative to the inner end of the second abutment portion in the width direction of the belt.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second abutment portion is arranged so as to satisfy tan −1 (d/x)<5°, where x denotes a gap between the second abutment portion and the second roller in the width direction of the belt, and d denotes an entry amount of the second abutment portion into a virtual cylindrical surface that is formed by extending an outer diameter of the second roller in the axial direction.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second abutment portion is a brush.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first roller includes: a roller portion; and end members disposed on ends of the roller portion and configured to abut against the projecting members when the belt is moved in the width direction, and the outer end of the first abutment portion is located on an inner side in the width direction of the belt relative to the end members.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member is a fur brush.

8. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a belt rotatably disposed, and configured to carry toner;
a first roller configured to support the belt;
a second roller configured to support the belt;
a first cleaning member facing the first roller with the belt interposed therebetween, and configured to clean an outer peripheral surface of the belt;
a second cleaning member facing the second roller with the belt interposed therebetween, and configured to clean the outer peripheral surface of the belt;
a cleaning container configured to rotatably support the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member;
projecting members projecting from an inner peripheral surface of the belt on end portions of the belt to restrict a position in a width direction of the belt;
a first abutment portion disposed in the cleaning container and configured to abut against the outer peripheral surface of the belt at one end portion of the belt, the first abutment portion being arranged at a position corresponding to the first cleaning member in a circumferential direction of the belt and arranged on an outer side relative to the first cleaning member in the width direction of the belt; and
a second abutment portion disposed in the cleaning container and configured to abut against the outer peripheral surface of the belt at the one end portion of the belt, the second abutment portion being arranged at a position corresponding to the second cleaning member in the circumferential direction of the belt and arranged on an outer side relative to the second cleaning member in the width direction of the belt,
wherein the second roller is shorter than the first roller in the width direction of the belt, and the projecting member at the one end portion of the belt is configured to abut against an end portion of the first roller when the belt is moved in the width direction,
wherein an outer end of the first abutment portion is located on an inner side relative to the end portions of the first roller, and an outer end of the second abutment portion is located on the inner side relative to the end of the second roller in the width direction of the belt.

9. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a belt rotatably disposed, and configured to carry toner;
projection portions provided on end portions of the belt, and projecting in a direction from an outer peripheral surface of the belt to an inner peripheral surface of the belt to restrict a position in a width direction of the belt;
a first cleaning member configured to clean an outer peripheral surface of the belt;
a second cleaning member provided at a position different from the first cleaning member in a circumferential direction of the belt and configured to clean the outer peripheral surface of the belt;
a cleaning container configured to rotatably support the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member;
a first roller opposed to the first cleaning member with the belt interposed therebetween;
a second roller opposed to the second cleaning member with the belt interposed therebetween,
wherein the second roller is shorter than the first roller in the width direction of the belt;
first abutment portions disposed in the cleaning container and configured to abut against the outer peripheral surface of the belt, the first abutment portions being each arranged at a position corresponding to the first cleaning member in the circumferential direction of the belt and arranged at a position outside relative to the first cleaning member in the width direction of the belt; and
second abutment portions disposed in the cleaning container and configured to abut against the outer peripheral surface of the belt, the second abutment portions being each arranged at a position corresponding to the second cleaning member in the circumferential direction of the belt and arranged at a position outside relative to the second cleaning member in the width direction of the belt,
wherein an outer end of each of the first abutment portions is located o

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Shigihara Keita

Classifications

• G03G15/6529

  Transporting (G03G15/6555 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G03G21/0035

  using a brush; Details of cleaning brushes, e.g. fibre density (G03G21/0064 takes precedence; magnetic brushes G03G21/0047) · CPC title

• B65G45/12

  comprising scrapers · CPC title

• G03G15/168

  with means for conditioning the transfer element, e.g. cleaning · CPC title

• B65G39/20

  attached to moving belts or chains · CPC title