An image forming apparatus

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member on which a toner image is formed; transfer material carrying member for carrying thereon a transfer material; a transfer device for transferring the toner image from the image bearing member to a transfer material carried on the transfer material carrying member at a transfer position; a discharging device disposed downstream of the transfer position in a movement direction of the transfer material carrying member for acting on the transfer material on the transfer material carrying member corresponding to separation of the transfer material from the transfer material carrying member, the discharging device includes a first discharger, disposed at a transfer material carrying side of the transfer material carrying member and supplied with a voltage having a DC component of a polarity which is the same as the polarity of the toner image upon an image transfer operation.

Description: The present invention relates to an image transfer device and also to an image forming apparatus, including an image transfer device, more particularly to an image forming apparatus whereby a toner image formed on an image bearing member by an electrophotographic or electrostatic recording process can be transferred onto a transfer material supported on a transfer material carrying emans. Examples of such an image forming apparatus include monochromatic or full-colour electrophotographic copying machines, printers and other recording machines. Known examples are disclosed in EP-A-0298505. Various multi-colour (full-colour, for example) image forming machines have been proposed. Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a typical full-colour electrophotographic copying aparatus which is provided with a so-called rotary type developing apparatus. The copying machine includes an image bearing member in the form of a photosensitive drum 1 supported for rotation in the direction indicated by an arrow, and various image forming means are disposed around the outer periphery thereof. The image forming means may be of any type. In the example, it comprises a primary charger 2 for uniformly charging the photosensitive drum 1, exposure means 3 for projecting onto the photosensitive drum 1 a colour-separated light image or a sight image corresponding thereto, in the form of a laser beam exposure means, for example, and a rotary type developing apparatus 4 for developing an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1. The rotary type developing apparatus 4 comprises developing devices 4Y, 4M, 4C and 4BK for respectively containing yellow colour developer, a magenta colour developer, cyan colour developer and black colour developer. It further comprises a generally cylindrical frame rotatably supporting the four developing decives 4Y, 4M, 4C and 4BK. The rotary type developing apparatus 4 presents a desired one of the developing devices to a position where it is facing the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum 1, by rotation thereof, and the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 is developed by the presented developing device. When the developing apparatus 4 is rotated through one full-turn, a full-colour development is carried out in four colours. The developed image, that is, the toner image on the photosensitve drum 1 is transferred onto a transfer material P fed to the image transfer device 5. In this example, the transfer device 5 is in the form of a rotatably supported transfer drum. As shown in Figure 2, the transfer drum 5 includes a cylinder 5a, a transfer charger 5b disposed therein and a transfer material gripper 5c for gripping the transfer material fed from an unshown sheet feeding device. At the inside and the outside of the transfer drum 5, an inside discharger 5d and an outside discharger 5e which constitute a discharging means, are disposed, respectively. A transfer material carrying member 501 is stretched around the drum 5 each side of an open area 5a. The transfer material carrying member 501 is usually in the form of a dielectric sheet or film which may be of polyethylene terephthalate or polyvinylidene fluoride resin. The full-colour image forming process steps will be described briefly for a full-colour electrophotographic copying apparatus having the structure described above. The charger 2 and the image exposure means 3 are operated, by which a blue component electrostatic latent image is formed on the outer surface of the photosensitive drum, and the electrostatic latent image is developed with a yellow developer contained in the developing device 4Y. On the other hand, the transfer material supplied to the transfer drum 5 is gripped by a gripper 5c, and is brought into contact with the toner image formed on the outer surface of the photosensitive drum 1 during rotation of the transfer drum 5. The toner image is transferred onto the transfer material by the operation of the transfer charger 5b and simultaneously, the transfer material is attracted to and retained on the transfer material carrying member 501. These image forming and image transfer operations are repeated for the magneta, cyan and black colour components. When the developed images in the four colours are superposedly transferred onto the transfer material P, the transfer material P is electrically charged by the inside discharger 5d and the outside discharger 5e. Thereafter, the transfer material P is separated from the transfer drum 5 and is conveyed to a heat roller fixing device 6 which fuses the colour toners to fix the image. Then, the transfer material P is discharged outside the apparatus. On the other hand, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum is removed by the cleaner 7 and the photosensitive drum is subjected to the next image forming process. The electrophotographic copying machine having such a structure is operated in very good order. However, the inventors' experiments and investigations have revealed that the image transfer process involves a problem when the transfer material carrying member 501 of the transfer device 5 is made of polyvinylidene fluoride resin film or the like with the use of image transfer paper as the transfer material P and particularly when the humidity is low. The description will be made as to this point. As will be understood from Figure 3, the discharging means for electrically discharging the transfer material P onto which the toner image has been transferred usually comprises the inside discharging corona charger 5d in the form of an AC charger to which a DC bias is applicable and an outside discharging corona charger 5e in the form of an AC charger. Referring to Figure 4, there is shown a sequence of the operation of the image forming apparatus. The inside charger 5d and the outside charger 5e are operated only during a so-called pre-rotation which is the rotation of the image bearing member before the image formation process of the image forming apparatus is started (the number of drum rotations is 3 and 4) and during the period from the start of the image formation process for the last color separated image, through the separation of the transfer material from the transfer drum to the end of the image formation process (the number of photosensitive drum rotations is 10, 11 and 12). The polarity of the transfer voltage supplied to the transfer charger 5b is, for example, positive, when the latent image is formed with negative electric charge, and the toner of the developer is negatively charged. The experiments and investigations have revealed that when the inside discharger 5d and the outside discharger 5e are operated (number of photosensitive drum rotations is 10 - 12) after completion of the image transfer operation under a low humidity ambient condition, the toner is scattered from the transfer material P with the result of contamination of the shield of the outside discharger 5e. When the quantity of the scattered toner is large, the image on the transfer material is disturbed, so that the image quality is degraded. The problem of toner scattering has been further investigated, and it has been found that toner scattering tends to occur upon the electric discharging operation effected prior to separation of the transfer material from the transfer drum (particularly when the DC bias supplied to the inside discharger 5d is large) after the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum with a relatively large transfer current under the low humidity condition. Figure 5 illustrates the mechanism of toner scattering. The DC component supplied to the inside discharger 5d has a polarity opposite to that of the voltage applied to the transfer charger in order to remove the electric charge from the transfer material carrying member 501 prior to a subsequent image transfer operation during a continuous copying mode operation. Under the low humidity condition in which the image transfer operation is carried out with a larger transfer current, it is required that the DC component current supplied for the electric discharge is also increased. If the electric charge having the same polarity as that of the toner is deposited by the inside charger 5d on such a side of the transfer material carrying member 501 as is near the transfer charger 5b, the electric field produced by the electric charge repels toner particles having the same polarity, so that the toner particles are separated from the transfer material. The reason why the transfer current is to be increased under the low humidity condition is that the resistivity of the transfer material P is high and that under this condition, when the image transfer operations are to be repeated on the same transfer material as in the full-colour image formation, the charge-up of the transfer material carrying member 501 and the transfer material P have to be compensated to assure a good image transfer operation. As to the toner particles on the photosensitive drum, a relatively larger transfer current is required to attract the transfer material if the electric charge of the toner per unit volume of the toner particles is high. If the particle size of the toner used in the development is decreased, the electric charge of the toner applied in the developing device is increased. Therefore, with the use of small size toner particles suitable for improving the image quality, the above-described problems more easily arise. The experiments and investigations by the inventors have shown that the tendency is increased when the average particle size of the toner is not more than 10 µm instead of 12 µm usually employed. An image transfer device and an image forming apparatus including a transfer device according to the present invention are defined in the claims appended. A particular feature of the invention claimed is that the dischargers each side of the transfer material carrier have upstream and downstream discharge electrodes, these electrodes being spaced at greater and lesser distances, respectively, from the transfer material carrier. As will be explained hereinbelow, such arrangement can be used to reduce loss of transferred image toner, which can be particularly prevalent under low humidity conditions. How the invention may be carried out will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a sectional view of a known multi-colour electrophotographic copying apparatus; Figure 2 is a perspective view of an image transfer device used in the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view of an image transfer device part of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a sequence of operation of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a schematic view illustrating the phenomenon of toner scattering of the device of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a sectional view of an image transfer device as a comparative example; Figure 7 shows an operational sequence of the transfer device and discharging means relative to the number of revolutions of the photosensitive drum and the transfer drum in the apparatus of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a somewhat schematic view illustrating the effect of the charging means of Figure 6; Figure 9 illustrates constant water content regions in air on a graph of humidity vs. temperature; Figure 10 is a graph of DC component applied to the discharging current vs. the water content in the air; Figure 11 is a graph of the amount of toner scattered vs. toner particle size, illustrating the effects of the comparative example (m) and of the preferred embodiment of the present invention (n); Figure 12 is a sectional view of an image transfer device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 13 is a sectional view of a multi-colour electrophotographic apparatus in which the image transfer device of Figure 12 can be incorporated; and Figure 14 is a graph of a DC component applied to the discharge current vs. the water content in the air. Before describing the preferred embodiment, a description will be given of a comparative example. The structure of the image forming apparatus in the portions not described in the following are similar to that of the Figure 1 apparatus. The diameter of the photosensitive drum 1 is 80 mm, for example; and the image transfer drum 5 of the transfer device has a diameter of 160 mm (twice the diameter of the photosensitive drum, for example). The photosensitive drum is rotated in the direction A at a peripheral speed of 160 mm/sec, and the surface of the photosensitive drum is charged by the primary charger 2 to -500 to +500 V. The charged photosensitive drum 1 is exposed to an imagewise modulated laser beam by an exposure means 3 such as a laser beam scanner, and the potential of the portion to receive the toner is attenuated down to -50 - -200 V, so that a latent image is formed. Each of the developing devices of the rotary type developing apparatus 4 contains various colour toner particles charged to a negative polarity, and therefore, they develop the latent image into a toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 through a reverse development. Referring now to Figure 6, the developed image, that is, the toner image, is transferred from the photosensitive drum 1 to a transfer material, P carried on the transfer device 5. The transfer device 5 has a structure similar to that of Figure 2. The transfer device includes a transfer drum rotatably supported, which includes a cylinder 5a having two opposite ring portions, connecting portions for connecting the rings and a cut-away portion without them, a transfer material carrying member 501 stretched in the cut-away portion of the cylinder 5a, a transfer charger 5b disposed in the transfer drum 5, and a transfer material gripper 5c, disposed on the connecting portion, for gripping the transfer material P supplied from a sheet feeding device (not shown). At the inside and outside of the transfer drum 5, there are disposed an inside discharger 5d and an outside discharger 5e which together constitute discharging means. The transfer material carrying member 501 is in the form of a dielectric sheet made of polyvinylidene fluoride resin film having a thickness of 10 - 175 µm and a volume resistance of 10 13 ohm.cm, for example. The usable dielectric sheet has a volume resistivity of not less than 10 8 ohm.cm. As will be understood from Figure 6, the transfer charger 5b is a corona charger having a wire electrode and a shield electrode enclosing it. To the wire electrode, a voltage of +6 KV - +9 KV is applied from a DC source 50 to provide a transfer current of +100 - +500 micro-amperes. There is discharging means for discharging a transfer material having received the toner image at a position downstream of an image transfer position where the transfer charger is faced to the photosensitive drum 1 and upstream of a separating position where the transfer material P is separated from the transfer material carrying member 501, with respect to the movement direction of the periphery of the transfer drum 5. The discharging means comprises an inside discharging corona charger 5d and an outside discharging corona charger 5e. The inside discharging corona charger 5d is an AC charger (12 KVpp and 800 micro-amperes) to which a DC bias (-0.7 to -3.7 KV and -50 to -265 micro-amperes) upon an AC oscillation is applicable from an AC source 53 and a DC source 54. The outside discharging corona charger 5e is an AC corona charger (8 KV and 600 micro-amperes) to which a DC bias (-0.2 - -1.0 KV and -10 - -50 micro-amperes) upon an AC oscillation, by an AC source 51 and a DC source 52. The phases of the AC components by the outside discharger 5d and the inside discharger 5e are controlled to be opposite. The discharging means that is a combination of the inside and outside dischargers 5d and 5e as shown in Figure 7 (operational sequence), and as in the conventional image forming apparatus, is operated during the pre-rotation period before the start of the image forming process operation of the image forming apparatus (revolutions 3 and 4 of the photosensitive drum), and during a period from the start of the image formation process for the last colour component image to the end of the image formation process after the transfer material is separated from the transfer drum (revolutions 10 - 12). In addition, the outside discharger 5e of the discharging means is supplied with a negative DC (the same polarity as the toner) during a period from the image transfer of the last colour component (the image transfer immediately before the separation) to the transfer material separating operation (revolutions 10 - 12 of the photosensitive drum). The outside discharger 5e acts on the transfer material and on the transfer material carrying member. It is possible that the negative DC, that is, the DC having the polarity which is the same as the toner, applied to the outside to confine the toner on the transfer material when the inside and outside charger are operated. Figure 8 shows the principle. The negative charge (the same polarity as the toner) applied to the toner on the transfer material P by the outside discharger 5e is effective to suppress the amount of the negative charge deposited onto the transfer material carrying member 501 from the inside charger 5d, and therefore, effective to reduce the force to the toner in the direction of separation from the transfer material. Therefore, the application of the negative charge to the toner is preferably such that it does not obstruct the discharging of the transfer material carrying member 501 positively charged by the transfer charger 5b. The DC bias to the outside charger 5e is preferably -25 micro-amperes (-0.6 KV) when the DC bias to the inside discharger 5d during the AC application is -260 micro-ampere (-3.7 KV). Various experiments and investigations by the inventors in the actually used conditions have concluded that it is preferable that the discharge current is larger under a low humidity condition, and it is small or zero under a high humidity condition. The reason why is considered as being that the large discharge current is desirable under the low humidity condition because the charge of the toner is increased, and that the large current is desirable when the transfer material carrying member and the transfer material are discharged upon the transfer material separation because the resistance of the transfer material and the transfer material carrying member is high. On the other hand, under a high humidity condition, the discharging is easy, while on the other hand, if the discharge current is large, the electric charge having the same polarity as the toner reaches the transfer position from the outside through the transfer material, thus weakening the transfer electric field, and therefore, incomplete image transfer occurs. Figures 9 and 10 show a relation between the humidity and the currents of the inside and outside dischargers. Figure 9 shows the relation between humidity of the ambience and temperature, and Figure 10 shows the optimum DC current applied during the operations of the inside and outside dischargers in each of the zones H1 - H6. In each of the zones H1 - H6, the water content in the air shown in Figure 9 is substantially constant. In the Figure, reference character h is the DC current supplied to the inside discharger, and reference character i is the DC current applied to the outside discharger. The inventors have further investigated the relation between the particle size of the toner of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 and the amount of the toner particles scattered away from the transfer material. The results of experiments are shown in Figure 11. In the experiments, the amount of the scattered toner is determined on the basis of the weight of toner particles deposited on the outside charger 5e, and a comparison is made on the basis of the amount thereof after 1000 sheets (A4 size) having the same image is processed. The image has 30 % by area of each of the yellow, magenta, cyan and black portions. A reference character l in Figure 11 designates an amount of scattered toner in the conventional apparatus, and a reference character m designates the amount of scattered toner in the comparative example. When the amount of the toner deposited is at the level indicated by a reference character X, the shield of the outside discharger 5e is contaminated with the result of the non-uniform discharge at the discharging operation, and therefore, the discharging of the transfer material carrying member upon the pre-rotation (revolutions 3 and 4 of the photosensitive drum) is also non-uniform with the result of improper image formations. When the particle size of the toner is reduced, the amount of the scattered toner is increased for the following reasons. The thickness of the toner layer on the transfer material is smaller when the particle size of the toner is small, and the total amount of charge is substantially the same as in the case of the larger particle toner, but then they are closer to the discharging charge (the charge having the same polarity as the toner) on the backside of the transfer material carrying member, and therefore, the repelling force is increased. Accordingly, when toner having an average particle size of not more than 10 µm is used, the toner scattering which occurs upon the low humidity condition when the average particle size is larger than 10 µm, more easily occurs under the usual conditions. As described in the foregoing, the transfer device includes a discharging means for discharging the transfer material from the transfer material carrying member, disposed at a position between an image transfer position where the toner image is transferred from the image bearing member to the transfer material and a separation position where the transfer material is separated from the transfer material carrying member. The discharging means also includes a discharger, disposed at the transfer material side, for effecting alternating electric discharge in the positive and negative directions biased toward the same polarity as the toner during the transfer operation, and a discharging charger, disposed at the transfer material carrying member side, for effecting alternating electric discharge in the positive and negative directions biased toward the same polarity as the toner on the transfer material. The discharging means acts on the transfer material from the image transfer operation immediately before the transfer material separating operation to the transfer material separation operation. That is, the discharging means acts on the entirety of the transfer material in the moving direction. It can be avoided that the toner on the transfer material is scattered upon the transfer material separating operation under the low humidity conditions with the result of image deterioration. Even when the small particle size toner is used to improve the image quality, the toner scattering tending to occur not only in low humidity conditions can be prevented, so that good quality images can be provided. As shown in Figure 6, the dischargers 5d and 5e are supplied with an AC voltage biased with a DC voltage having the same polarity as the toner upon the image transfer operation, that is, DC biased AC voltage is applied. The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Figures 12 and 13, respectively, show an image transfer device and an image forming apparatus embodying the present invention. The structures of the parts other than the dischargers are the same as in the comparative example. An inner discharger 5f is connected with an AC voltage source 53 and a DC voltage source 54. An outer discharger 5g is connected with an AC voltage source 51 and a DC voltage source 52. The discharger 5f effects a corona discharge of a polarity opposite to that of the transfer charger 5b. Each discharger is supplied with a voltage having a DC component of a polarity opposite to the polarity of the toner upon the image transfer. The discharging means 5f and 5g are disposed across the transfer material carrying member 501 and the transfer material P, that is, at the inside and outside of the transfer material 5 as if they sandwich the transfer drum 5, at a position downstream of the transfer charger 5b with respect to the movement detection of the transfer drum 5. As shown in Figure 12, the dischargers 5f and 5g have plural discharging portions (discharging electrodes) 5f', 5f", 5g' and 5g" arranged along the movement direction of the transfer drum 5. The distances from the upstream discharging portions 5f' and 5g' to the transfer material P or to the transfer material carrying member 501 are larger than those of the downstream discharging portions 5f" and 5g". The discharger 5f has an AC charger (12) KVpp and 800 micro-ampere) to which a DC bias (-0.7 - -3.7 KV and -50 - -265 micro-amperes) is applicable upon an AC oscillation. The discharger 5g has an AC charger (8KV and 600 micro-amperes) to which a DC bias (-0.2 - -1.0 KV and -10 - -50 micro-amperes) is applicable upon the AC oscillation. The phases of the AC components of the dischargers 5f and 5g are controlled to be opposite. The dischargers 5f and 5g, similarly to the case of Figure 7, are operated during the pre-rotation (revolutions 3 and 4 of the photosensitive drum 1) before the start of the image formation process and during a period from the start of the lastcolour component image forming process to the completion of the image forming process after the separation of the transfer material P from the transfer drum 5 (revolutions 10 - 12 of the photosensitive drum 1). The dischargers 5f and 5g act on the transfer material P from the image transfer operation immediately before the transfer material separation to the end of the transfer material separating operation. As a result of the negative DC voltage application of the same polarity as the toner upon the transfer operation to the discharging means 5g, the electric field is applied in the direction of confining the toner to the transfer material P, so that the toner is prevented from scattering. During the operation, the current distribution of the upstream discharging portions 5f' and 5g' of the discharging means 5f and 5g are weak as shown by chain lines j and k, in Figure 12, but the current distribution by the discharging portions 5f'' and 5g'' is stronger. Therefore, the toner G having the negative polarity on the transfer material is gradually discharged electrically, and therefore, the toner particles are not scattered, and are fixed on the transfer material P as it is by the fixing device 6. Accordingly, toner is not deposited on the shield of the discharger 5g (contamination), and the transferred image is not degraded. The surface potentials of the transfer material P and the carrying member 501 after the discharging operation were measured and were confirmed as being equivalent. In addition, image transfer efficiency after continuous image transfer are the same as the case of conventional discharging means. The application of the negative charge to the toner is desired to be such an extent that the electric discharge of the carrying member 501 charged by the transfer is not obstructed. In this embodiment, the DC bias of -25 micro-amperes (-0.6 KV) applied to the discharging means 5g was optimum when the DC bias upon the AC application to the inside discharging means 5f was -265 micro-ampere (-3.7 KV). Figure 11 shows (n) a relation between toner particle size and amount of the scattered toner in the embodiment of Figure 12, similar to the comparative example of Figure 6. In the embodiment, it is easily understood that the amount of scattered toner is smaller than for the foregoing comparative example (m). In the embodiment, the dischargers 5f and 5g each have two discharging portions. However, the number may be three or more. In the embodiment, the electric current supplied to the transfer charger 5b to transfer the toner image from the photosensitive drum to the transfer material P is set as shown in Table 1 in the case of the toner being negatively charged. Transfer current Humidity 20 % 50 % 80 % 1st color T1 275 µA 175 µA 100 µA 2nd color T2 375 225 125 3rd color T3 425 275 150 4th color T4 475 325 175 As a result of the experiments and investigations by the inventors, it has been found in conventional apparatus that if the inside discharger 5d and the outside discharger 5e are operated after completion of image transfer under a low humidity condition (revolutions 10 - 12 of the photosensitive drum in Figure 2), the toner on the transfer material P is easily scattered. Further investigations of toner scattering by the inventors have concluded that toner scattering easily occurs if the transfer current for transferring the toner image from the photosensitive drum is increased under low humidity conditions, and after the image transfer, the DC component added particularly to the inside charger 5d upon the discharging operation prior to the separation of the transfer material from the transfer drum is strong. Further, when single colour, two colour, three colour and four colour copying operations are performed with a constant DC component, the amount of scattered toner is larger if the number of transfer operations is smaller. When the voltage applied to the discharging means is changed in accordance with the number of transfer operations, the toner scattering can be prevented. Here, the voltage applied to the discharger disposed at the side of the transfer material carrying member, opposite from the side carrying the transfer material, is preferably increased with the number of superposing toner transfer operations onto the transfer material, and the discharging charger at the transfer material carrying side preferably effects an alternating positive and negative discharge biased toward the same polarity as the toner. The transfer material carrying member is preferably made of a dielectric sheet or film. The discharging means preferably effects stronger discharge of the same polarity as the toner polarity under the low humidity conditions, whereas under high humidity conditions the discharge of the same polarity as the toner is decreased. This will be described in conjunction with Figure 6, but it is similarly applicable to the discharging means of Figures 11 and 12. The operational timing of the inside discharger and the outside discharger which constitute the discharging means is the same as described in conjunction with Figure 7. The discharging means acts on the transfer material during the time period from the transfer immediately before the separation to the separation. The inventors have investigated the above-described structure under actual operating conditions. It has been found that it is preferable that the discharging current is made larger under the low humidity conditions, and the discharging current is made smaller or made zero under the high humidity conditions. Under the low humidity conditions, the DC component applied to the inside discharging charger is -260 micro-amperes (-3.7 kV) in the case of four colour transfer. If, however, the copies which are only in a single colour, only in two colours or only in three colours, the toner is easily scattered because the DC component is too much. Figure 14 shows the relation between the humidity and the currents through the inside and outside chargers in this embodiment. In Figure 14, in each of the zones H1 -H6, the water content contained in the air shown in Figure 9 is constant. Figure 14 shows the optimum DC current to be applied to the inside and outside dischargers in each of the zones. In the Figure, reference h j (j = 1 - 4) indicates the DC component applied to the inside discharger, and reference i indicates the DC component applied to the outside discharger. Assuming that the transfer current for the first colour is T1, for the second colour is T2, for the third colour is T3 and for the fourth colour is T4 under each of the humidity conditions H1 - H6, the curve h j (j = 1 - 4) indicative of the DC component applied to the inside discharger indicates that when a single colour image formation is performed on the transfer material, the transfer current T1 is used, and the DC component indicated by h1 is applied. Therefore, h4 shows the DC component applied during the separating operation after the four colour images are transferred with the transfer currents T1, T2, T3 and T4. The following Table 2 shows a DC bias applied to the inside discharger shown in Figure 14. H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 h1 100 75 50 30 17 0 h2 150 105 70 40 20 0 h3 200 130 80 50 23 0 h4 265 160 100 55 25 0 (micro-ampere) The amount of electric discharge from the transfer material and from the transfer material carrying member by the inside discharger is decreased with the decrease of the number of transfer operations, by which the amount of scattered toner is reduced as compared with the case wherein the amount of discharge is not changed in accordance with the number of transfer operations. Therefore, the contamination of the outside discharger 5e and the non-uniform discharge upon the discharging operation can be prevented. It is also effective for the prevention of toner scattering to decrease the amount of electric discharge by the outside discharger with the decrease of the number of transfer operations. The prevention of toner scattering from the transfer material upon the transfer material separation and the resultant image deterioration can be prevented under low humidity conditions irrespective of the number of transfer operations. Even when a small particle size toner (an average particle size of not more than 10 µm) for the purpose of improving image quality, toner scattering which occurs easily not only in low humidity conditions can be prevented effectively and therefore, a good quality image can be assured. In the foregoing embodiment, the transfer material carrying means is in the form of an image transfer drum, but it is possible to use an image transfer belt.

Claims: An image transfer device, comprising: transfer material carrying means (501) for carrying thereon a transfer material (P); transfer charging means (5b) for performing an image transfer operation at an image transfer position for electrostatically transferring a toner image from an image bearing member (1) onto a transfer material (P) carried on said transfer material carrying means (501); and discharging means (5f,5g) disposed downstream of the transfer position with respect to a movement direction of said transfer material carrying means (5), having first and second dischargers (5g,5f) disposed each side of said transfer material carrying means (5) to act on a transfer material (P) carried on said transfer material carrying means (501) and on said transfer material carrying means (501), respectively, after transfer of the toner image; characterised in that: each first and second discharger (5g,5f) has respective discharge electrodes (5g',5g",5f',5f") arranged upstream (5g',5f') and downstream (5g",5f"), in the movement direction of the transfer material carrying means (501), and wherein the respective discharge electrodes (5g',5f') arranged upstream are disposed at greater respective distances from said transfer material carrying means (501) than the discharge electrodes (5g",5f") arranged downstream. A device according to claim 1 wherein said transfer material carrying means (501) includes a dielectric sheet or film (501) for carrying the transfer material. A device according to either preceding claim including: first voltage applying means (50) for applying a first DC voltage to said transfer charging means (5b); and second voltage applying means (51-54) for applying first and second DC biassed AC voltages of opposite phase to the upstream and downstream electrodes (5g',5g") of the first discharger (5g) and to the upstream and downstream electrodes (5f',5f") of the second discharger (5f), respectively, the DC bias in each case being of opposite polarity to said first DC voltage. A device according to claim 3 wherein said second voltage applying means (51-54) is operable to adjust the first or second DC bias to increase the voltage for each repeated transfer of a toner image onto the same transfer material (P). A device according to any preceding claim wherein said second voltage applying means (51-54) is operable to adjust the first and second DC biases to decrease the amount of electric discharge with increase in ambient humidity. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image transfer device (5) according to any preceding claim; and in combination therewith, an image bearing member (1) for bearing a toner image. Apparatus according to claim 6 including a developing apparatus (4) including toner particles for developing and forming a toner image on said image bearing member (1). Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said toner particles have an average particle size of not more than 10 µm.

Inventors: AMEMIYA KOJI, INOUE MASAHIRO, AMEMIYA, KOJI, INOUE, MASAHIRO, Amemiya, Koji, c/o Canon K. K., INOUE, MASAHIRO, C/O CANON K. K.
Applicants: CANON KK, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G03G15
IPC codes: G03G15