Cleaning apparatus for electrophotography

Abstract

A cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic apparatus comprising an elastic cleaning blade with a holder arranged along a surface of a photosensitive member for cleaning the toners which still remain on the surface of a photosensitive member even after transferring of developed images to a copying paper is finished. The elastic cleaning blade preferably contacts with the surface of the photosensitive member in such a way that the axis of the blade and a tangent to said surface at the pre-cleaning side subtends an obtuse angle specified in relation with the axis line of the blade in the holder. The holder disposes the elastic cleaning blade relative to the photosensitive member to engage a substantially upwardly moving surface portion of the photosensitive member.

We claim: 
     
       1. A cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic copying device wherein an electrophotographic latent image formed on the surface of a photosensitive member is moved past a series of processing stations including a developing station at which said latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image and a transfer station at which said toner image is transferred to copying material, comprising an elastic cleaning blade for removing residual toner from said photosensitive member after transfer of said toner image to said copying material, said residual toner being scratched off in the direction opposite to that of the movement of said photosensitive member, one end of said elastic cleaning blade having a cleaning edge, and holder means for supporting the opposite end of said elastic cleaning blade and disposing said cleaning edge in contact against the surface of said photosensitive member, said holder means disposing said elastic cleaning blade relative to said photosensitive member to engage a substantially upwardly moving surface portion of said photosensitive member, said elastic cleaning blade being placed above the horizontal axis of a rotary member carrying said surface, said holder means disposing said elastic cleaning blade relative to said photosensitive member at an angle θ 1 , at the pre-cleaning side, subtended by the axis of the end portion of the blade contacting the photosensitive member with said cleaning edge and a straight line touching the surface of the photosensitive member at the contact point, and at an angle .[.θ.]..Iadd.φ.Iaddend. 1 , at the pre-cleaning side, subtending by the axis of a portion of the blade near said .[.opposide.]. .Iadd.opposite .Iaddend.end which is supported by said holder means and said line, said angles θ 1  and .[.θ.]..Iadd.φ.Iaddend. 1  satisfying the following relation:   θ.sub.1 >φ.sub.1 >π/2.     
     
     
       2. A cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic copying device wherein an electrophotograhpic latent image formed on the surface of a photosensitive member is moved past a series of processing stations including a developing station at which said latent image is developed with a toner to form a toner image and a transfer station at which said toner image is transferred to copying material, comprising, in combination, an elastic cleaning blade for removing residual toner from said photosensitive member after transfer of said toner image to said copying material, one end of said elastic cleaning blade having a cleaning edge, and holding means for supporting the opposite end of said elastic cleaning blade and disposing said cleaning edge in contact against the surface of said photosensitive member to scratch off said residual toner in a direction opposite to that of the movement of said photosensitive member, said holder means disposing said elastic cleaning blade relative to said photosensitive member to engage a substantially upwardly moving surface portion of said photosensitive member. 
     
     
       3. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 2 in which there are a plurality of cleaning blades and holder means. 
     
     
       4. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said plurality of blades are placed above the horizontal axis of a rotary member carrying said surface and there is provided a sheet for guiding the toner scratched off said photosensitive member to a toner receiver, said toner being collected by gravitationally falling. 
     
     
       5. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 2 in which said cleaning blade has a toner scratching part and a toner receiving part. 
     
     
       6. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising an elastic cleaning roller coated with a cleaning member arranged after said cleaning blade and a toner collecting portion for collecting toners scratched off said photosensitive member. 
     
     
       7. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 2 in which said cleaning blade consists of a first layer and a second layer, the modulus of elasticity of said first layer being substantially greater than the modulus of elasticity of said second layer. 
     
     
       8. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 2 in which only the end portion of said cleaning blade having said cleaning edge is composed of an elastic member having high abrasion resistance and high solvent resistance. 
     
     
       9. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 2 in which said holder means is provided movably with respect to said photosensitive member and said cleaning blade is removably fitted to said holder means in a cartridge type .[.fit.]. .Iadd.system.Iaddend.. .Iadd. 10. A cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic copying device wherein an electrophotographic latent image formed on the surface of a medium is moved past a series of processing stations including a developing station at which said latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image and a transfer station at which said toner image is transferred to copying material, said cleaning apparatus comprising an elastic cleaning blade for cleaning the surface of said medium for repeated use after transfer of said toner image to said copying material, said elastic blade having a cleaning edge, and cartridge system holder means for holding the other edge of said elastic cleaning blade and disposing the cleaning edge in contact with the surface of said medium to be cleaned, said cartridge holder means including a main support member for supporting one side of said cleaning blade and an opposed support member for supporting the other side of said cleaning blade, said main and opposed support members removably supporting said cleaning blade in said cartridge holder means. .Iaddend..Iadd. 11. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 10, wherein said cartridge holder means disposes said cleaning blade against said surface in counter-direction with respect to the direction of movement of said surface. .Iaddend..Iadd. 12. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 10 wherein said cleaning blade includes a support plate adjacent said other edge. .Iaddend..Iadd. 13. A cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic copying device wherein an electrophotographic latent image formed on the surface of a medium is moved past a series of processing stations including a developing station at which said latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image and a transfer station at which said toner image is transferred to copying material, said cleaning apparatus comprising an elastic cleaning blade for cleaning the surface of said medium for repeated use after transfer of said toner image to said copying material, said elastic blade having a cleaning edge, and cartridge system holder means for holding the other edge of said elastic cleaning blade and disposing the cleaning edge in contact with the surface of said medium to be cleaned, said cartridge holder means including a main support member for supporting one side of said cleaning blade and an opposed support member for supporting the other side of said cleaning blade, said main and opposed support members removably supporting said cleaning blade in said cartridge holder means and means for rotatably mounting said cartridge holder means relative to said surface of said medium for movement of said cleaning blade away from the surface of said medium. .Iaddend..Iadd. 14. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 13, wherein said cartridge holder means disposes said cleaning blade against said surface in counter-direction with respect to the direction of movement of said surface. .Iaddend..Iadd. 15. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 13, wherein said cleaning blade includes a support plate adjacent said other edge. .Iaddend..Iadd. 16. A cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic copying device wherein an electrophotographic latent image formed on the surface of a medium is moved past a series of processing stations including a developing station at which said latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image and a transfer station at which said toner image is transferred to copying material, said cleaning apparatus comprising an elastic cleaning blade for cleaning the surface of said medium for repeated use after transfer of said toner image to said copying material, said elastic blade having a cleaning edge, and cartridge system holder means for holding the other edge of said elastic cleaning blade and disposing the cleaning edge in contact with the surface of said medium to be cleaned, said cartridge holder means including a main support member for supporting one side of said cleaning blade and an opposed support member for supporting the other side of said cleaning blade, said main and opposed support members removably supporting said cleaning blade in said cartridge holder means and means for supplying a fluid to the area where the cleaning edge of said cleaning blade is in contact with said surface of said medium whereby deposit of toner during cleaning operation is prevented. .Iaddend..Iadd. 17. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 16, wherein said cartridge holder means disposes said cleaning blade against said surface in counter-direction with respect to the direction of movement of said surface. .Iaddend..Iadd. 18. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 16, wherein said cleaning blade includes a support plate adjacent said other edge. .Iaddend..Iadd. 19. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 16, wherein said fluid is a liquid. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 20. A cleaning apparatus for electrophotographic copying device wherein an electrophotographic latent image formed on the surface of a photosensitive medium is moved past a series of processing stations including a developing station at which said latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image and a transfer station at which said toner image is transferred to copying material, comprising an elastic cleaning blade for cleaning the surface of said photosensitive medium for repeated use after transfer of said toner image to said copying material, said elastic blade having a cleaning edge, and cartridge system holder means for supporting the other edge of said elastic cleaning blade and disposing the cleaning edge in contact against the surface of said photosensitive medium to be cleaned after transfer of said toner image, said cartridge holder means having a main support member for supporting one side of said cleaning blade and an opposed support member for supporting the other side of said cleaning blade, said main and opposed support members removably supporting said cleaning blade in said cartridge holder means, means for rotating said cartridge holder means for movement relative to said surface medium to permit movement of said cleaning blade away from said medium and means for ejecting fluid adjacent the area where the edge of cleaning blade is in cleaning position to prevent deposit of toner during cleaning operation. .Iaddend..Iadd. 21. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 17, wherein said cartridge holder means disposes said cleaning blade against said surface in a counter-direction with respect to the direction of movement of said surface. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 22. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 20, wherein said cleaning blade includes a support plate adjacent said other edge. .Iaddend..Iadd. 23. A cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic copying device wherein an electrophotographic latent image formed on the surface of a medium is moved past a series of processing stations including a developing station at which said latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image and a transfer station at which said toner image is transferred to copying material, said cleaning apparatus comprising an elastic cleaning blade for cleaning the surface of said medium for repeated use after transfer of said toner image to said copying material, said elastic blade having a cleaning edge, and cartridge system holder means for holding the other edge of said elastic cleaning blade and disposing the cleaning edge in contact with the surface of said medium to be cleaned, said cartridge holder means including a main support member for supporting one side of said cleaning blade and an opposed support member movable relative to said main support member for supporting the other side of said cleaning blade, said opposed support member being resiliently urged against said other side of said cleaning blade to removably support said cleaning blade in said cartridge holder means. .Iaddend..Iadd. 24. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 23, wherein said opposed support member includes a relatively thin plate spring. .Iaddend..Iadd. 25. A cleaning apparatus as in claim 23, wherein said cleaning blade includes a support plate adjacent said other edge. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 26. A cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic copying device wherein an electrophotographic latent image formed on the surface of a photosensitive member is moved past a series of processing stations including a developing station at which said latent image is developed with a toner to form a toner image and a transfer station at which said toner image is transferred to copying material, comprising, in combination, an elastic cleaning blade for removing residual toner from said photosensitive member after transfer of said toner image to said copying material, one end of said elastic cleaning blade having a cleaning edge, holding means for supporting the opposite end of said elastic cleaning blade and disposing said cleaning edge in contact against the surface of said photosensitive member to remove said residual toner, said holder means disposing said elastic cleaning blade relative to said photosensitive member to engage a substantially upwardly moving surface portion of said photosensitive member, and a sheet having one edge disposed to allow the residual toner to pass between the photosensitive member surface and said sheet, below said engagement between said blade and photosensitive member, said sheet being positioned to receive the toner removed by said cleaning blade for guiding the removed toner to a toner receiver. .Iaddend..Iadd. 27. A cleaning apparatus for an electrophotographic copying device wherein an electrophotographic latent image formed on a surface of a photosensitive member is moved past a series of processing stations including a developing station at which said latent image is developed with a toner to form a toner image and a transfer station at which said toner image is transferred to copying material, comprising, in combination: an elastic cleaning blade for scratching off said residual toner in a direction opposite to that of the movement of said photosensitive member, after transfer of said toner image to said copying material, said blade having two abutting layers; holding means for supporting first ends of said abutting two layers, wherein the opposite ends of said layers project outside of said holding means toward said photosensitive member, and wherein one of said layers has a cleaning edge disposed in contact with the surface of said photosensitive member to remove said residual toner, said holding means disposing said one layer to engage a substantially upwardly moving surface portion of said photosensitive member, wherein the other layer of said blade has a higher modulus of elasticity than that of said one layer and is provided on the upstream side of said one layer. .Iaddend.