IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

• US 20100239340A1
• Filed: 09/18/2009
• Published: 09/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: NISHIMURA, Shigeki, AKAIKE, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 8,346,151 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 399/358
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 21/105 Arrangements for conveying toner waste
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/0827 Augers

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes: a plurality of image forming sections respectively including developing portions and first removing portions as defined herein; a plurality discharging pipes as defined herein; and a delivery pipe as defined herein, the delivery pipe includes a changing portion in which a direction of delivering the coloring materials is changed to an upper side, and, among the discharging pipes, a discharging pipe that is downward extended from one of the first removing portions that is placed on a most downstream side in the oblique direction is disposed downstream from the changing portion of the delivery pipe in the delivering direction, and has a length shorter than lengths of the other discharging pipes.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a plurality of image forming sections respectively comprising;

developing portions that develop latent images formed on image carriers with different coloring materials; and

first removing portions that, after the images developed by the developing portions are transferred to a transfer member, remove the coloring materials remaining on the image carriers, the image forming sections being provided in a direction oblique to an installation surface of a main unit of the apparatus;

a plurality of discharging pipes that are provided below the plurality of image forming sections, that deliver the coloring materials removed by the first removing portions of the plurality of image forming sections, and that are downward extended from the first removing portions, respectively; and

a delivery pipe that delivers the coloring materials introduced through the discharging pipes, to a recovery container,

wherein the delivery pipe comprises a changing portion in which a direction of delivering the coloring materials is changed. an upper side, and,

among the discharging pipes, a discharging pipe that is downward extended from one of the first removing portions that is placed on a most downstream side in the oblique direction is disposed downstream from the changing portion of the delivery pipe in the delivering direction, and has a length shorter than lengths of the other discharging pipes.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in one of the plurality of image forming sections that is placed on a most downstream side in the delivering direction, the developing portion uses a black coloring material.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recovery container is provided in a space surrounded by the delivery pipe that is disposed downstream from the changing portion in the delivering direction, a recording member conveying path through which a recording member is conveyed, and an exposing device that exposes a photosensitive member.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the apparatus further comprises a conveying member which is in the delivery pipe, which has a rotation shaft that is disposed along the delivering direction, and a vane that is formed in a periphery of the rotation shaft, and in which the rotation shaft is rotated by a driving source, so as to convey the coloring materials in the delivering direction.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus further comprises a second removing portion that, after the images transferred to the transfer member is transferred to another transfer member, removes the coloring materials remaining on the transfer member, and

the delivery pipe introduces the coloring materials removed by the second removing portion, into the recovery container through a discharging pipe that is downward extended from the second removing portion.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, in the rotation shaft of the conveying member, a diameter of a portion that is disposed in the changing portion is smaller than a diameter of another portion.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the vane of the con member in an upstream side of a position where the recovery container is placed is formed in a dir opposite to a direction of the vane of the conveying member in a downstream side.