EP0665963A1

EP0665963A1 - Printing or copying machine with a cooling device for the copying medium.

Info

Publication number: EP0665963A1
Application number: EP93922492A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Edmund Creutzmann; Joachim Hoffman; Walter Kopp
Original assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Current assignee: Canon Production Printing Germany GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1992-10-22
Filing date: 1993-10-13
Publication date: 1995-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 2013-10-13
Also published as: WO1994009409A1; DE4235667C1; US5557388A; EP0665963B1

Abstract

An electrophotographic printing or copying machine has a cooling device (K) for the heated recording medium arranged downstream of the thermofixing device (W) in the direction of transport of the copying medium. The cooling device (K) consists of a cooling saddle through which the cooling medium flows and which has a cooling surface (19) over which the recording medium is guided so as to cover the cooling surface (19). The cooling surface may have air outlets (20) through which air is supplied into a gap between the copying medium (17) and the cooling surface (19) so as to form an air cushion. Additional cooling devices may be provided for further cooling the copying medium by generating a current of cooling air blown over the surface of the copying medium against its direction of transport.

Description

Printer or copier with a cooling device for the recording medium

In the case of printing or copying machines which operate on the transfer printing principle, be it on the principle of electrophotography, ionography or magnetography, a toner image is generated on a recording medium consisting of individual sheets or continuous paper, and this toner image then thermally fixed in a heat setting station.

Such an electrophotographic printing device for continuous paper with a thermal printing fixing station is known from WO 91/09352.

In such printing or copying devices, the recording medium and the toner image fixed on it, after leaving the fixing station, have a temperature in the range from 90 "to 120 ° or higher, depending on the material properties of the recording medium, which generally consists of paper In the case of continuous paper printers, the paper web runs directly into a post-processing system after it has left the fusing station, or it is immediately stacked in a stacking device.

When stacking, it now happens that the printed image pages lie on top of one another with their toner images and thus also the one toner image on one side lies on the toner image on the other side. If the paper and thus the toner image temperature after stacking is still more than 60 °, the printed images lying on top of one another can stick. When the sheets lying on top of one another (adhesive toner images) are separated, disturbing pressure injuries then occur.

In order to avoid this sticking of the toner images, it is known from DE-Al 39 34 770 to arrange a blower in the area of the stacking device of an electrophotographic printing device which flows through the stack via an air flow that is perpendicular to the paper transport direction and cools it.

It is furthermore from the patent abstract of Japan P-1268 from 28.10.91, Vol. 15, No. 424 an image-generating device with a thermal printing fixing station consisting of a fixing roller and a pressure roller is known. A heat converter device with associated electrical generator, which has a heat transfer surface with an evaporator, is arranged downstream of the fixing station. The residual heat of the transfer medium is extracted via the heat transfer surface and heats a heating medium in the evaporator, the heating medium flowing through a turbine that drives a generator. The heat converter or generator is used to charge a storage battery in order to save the energy required to drive the imaging device.

In the patent abstract of Japan E-130 from August 15, 1979, vol. 3, no. 96 describes a heat-fixing station for an electrophotographic copier, which has a heating plate over which the record carrier is guided and which serves to melt the toner on the record carrier. So that the heating plate comes into close contact with the recording medium, a fan is arranged opposite the heating plate, which presses the recording medium against the heating plate via an air flow. When working on the principle of electrophotography

High-speed data printers, which work in the uppermost printing speed range with a paper transport speed of up to 1 m per second and more, are becoming more and more problematic, the paper in the short period between leaving the fixing station and stacking to a temperature of 60 ° cool down, ie approx. 60 ° Kelvin of the paper web must be cooled in approx. 0.5 sec. This means a power dissipation of approximately 4000 W in 0.5 sec. Since the heat transfer between air and paper is very poor, a correspondingly high volume of air must be brought into contact with the paper surface in the short time and also selectively again be dissipated. This requires correspondingly high-volume fans with high noise levels and large installation dimensions. Furthermore, the air speed must be correspondingly high in order to bring a reasonably large part of the air volume into contact with the paper surface. This can lead to fluttering movements of the record carrier, which have a disruptive effect during the stacking process.

The object of the invention is to provide a printing or copying device with a heat-fixing arrangement, in which the recording medium is cooled gently, quietly and effectively after leaving the fixing device.

This object is achieved according to the features of patent claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims.

By using an air-cooled cooling surface over which the record carrier is guided, effective cooling of the record carrier is possible without the disadvantages described above occurring. A metal saddle is provided as the cooling surface, which has uniformly distributed openings through which cool air is blown. The recording medium is slightly lifted from the saddle by the emerging air in a gap of 0.1 to 0.5 mm. The air moves at high speed in the narrow gap and can therefore be optimally heated by the hot paper web. This means that a smaller volume of air with a lower flow rate is required than when the recording medium web is blown on directly. When the recording medium web is blown on directly, only a small fraction of the air volume is brought into contact with the hot paper surface in a very short time.

Because the given cooling section in today's compact

Due to the very high paper speed, the cooling time is extremely short (100 msec to 200 sec). In a further embodiment of the invention, it can therefore be advantageous to provide additional cooling devices in addition to the actual cooling device with a cooling surface. These can consist of a blower with which the recording medium is blown against its direction of travel.

Another favorable place to arrange such an additional cooling device is the inlet area for a stacking device. Here it is possible to blow the record carrier on both sides. It is expedient to direct the air flow onto the surface of the recording medium against its direction of travel. This penetrates the surface boundary air layer on the recording medium with cooling air.

The cooling device is particularly suitable for use in a printing or copying device with a thermal printing film. Xiereinrichtung with upstream preheating low-temperature saddle in the direction of recording medium. The low-temperature saddle has a radius of curvature which ensures that the recording medium is pressed against the saddle surface over the entire length of the preheating saddle. The cooling device downstream of the pressure fixing device -us fixing roller and pressure roller advantageously has a radius of curvature similar to that of the preheating saddle with regard to its cooling surface. The recording medium is thus placed flat on the cooling surface. The recording medium passes through the fixing station with preheating saddle and the cooling device in a continuous undisturbed arc with a constant radius. The recording medium, which is preferably made of paper, is thus stressed as little as possible.

Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and are described in more detail below, for example. Show it

FIG. 1 shows a schematic sectional illustration of the paper run from an image-forming device to a stacking device in an electrophotographic printing device,

FIG. 2 shows a schematic sectional illustration of an embodiment of a cooling device for the heated recording medium with a cooling surface penetrated by air outlet nozzles for producing an air cushion between the cooling surface and the recording medium,

Figure 3 is a schematic sectional view of a Kühj. - device with an air-cooled Contact saddle than Kühi ^"laugh and

Figure 4 shows a cooling device with a liquid-cooled contact saddle as a cooling surface. An electrophotographic printing device (not shown here) for operation with continuous paper contains an image-forming device B for generating a toner image on the continuous paper, which can be designed, for example, in accordance with WO 91/09352, and a heat-fixing device W with a subordinate recording medium - Cooling device K and a stacking device S stacking the printed record carrier.

The heat fixing device W is designed as a thermal pressure fixing device. It contains a heating roller 11 heated by radiators 10 and a pressure roller 12 which can be pivoted and swiveled by an electric motor to the heating roller 11. The heating or fixing roller 11 consists of an aluminum cylinder with a heat-resistant coating arranged thereon, the pressure roller 12 of an aluminum cylinder with a coating of silicone. The heating or fixing roller 11 is driven by an electric motor. This is assigned an oiling device 13 for applying separating oil to the heating roller via an oil application element 14. Upstream of the rollers 11 and 12 in the recording medium transport direction is a heated preheating caliper 15 with associated vacuum brake 16, which is used to preheat a recording medium 17 designed as continuous paper and to feed the actual fixing gap between the rollers 11 and 12 in the preheated state. Braked by the vacuum brake 16 and driven by the rollers 11 and 12, the recording medium 17 is guided tightly over the preheating caliper 15. A loose toner image on the recording medium is preheated on the preheating saddle 15 and fixed between the rollers 11 and 12 by pressure and heat.

A cooling device K arranged downstream of the rollers 11 and 12 in the direction of the recording medium ensures that the heated recording medium 17 is cooled the cooling device in the embodiment shown has openings provided with a cooling surface 19 which is swept by the recording medium 17, cold air supplied via an air supply duct 20 flowing out of the openings and a cooling air cushion being created under the recording medium. At the same time, air is blown onto the concreted side of the record carrier via an opposite profile 18, specifically against the direction of travel of the record carrier.

In the heat-fixing device described, the continuous paper 17 is preheated via a preheating saddle 15, which consists of two heated saddles connected in series, namely a stationary preheating saddle 21 and a heating saddle 23 that can be pivoted about a pivot point 22 two separate heating zones. The entire preheating section has a length of approximately 500 to 700 mm. During the preheating process, the recording medium 17 slides with its toner-free side on sliding surfaces 24 of the preheating saddle 21 or heating saddle 23.

In order to make good contact between the saddles and the recording medium and thus keep temperature differences small, the sliding surfaces or the saddles have a radius of curvature which in the example shown is approximately 700 mm. Due to the curvature of the sliding surfaces 24 in connection with the train through the rollers 11 and 12 and the braking by the vacuum brake 16, a force component acts over the entire length of the saddle, which presses the recording medium 17 against the sliding surfaces 24. In addition, the saddles 21 and 23 have oblong depressions 25 transverse to the direction of the recording medium, which extend over the entire width of the saddles. They are connected to a vacuum channel 27 by lateral bores 26. The vacuum channel runs below the saddles 21 and 23 and is connected to a vacuum-generating device, for example a pump. Due to the negative pressure, the recording medium 17 (paper) is sucked onto the sliding surfaces 24 of the saddles and the water vapor released by the preheating is sucked off.

The saddles 21 and 23 are heated by electrical resistance elements in the form of exchangeably arranged heating cartridges 28. The saddles have through holes 29 for receiving the heating cartridges 28.

In order to keep the heat load for the recording medium 17 as low as possible, the preheating saddle comprising the preheating saddle and heating saddle 23 is designed as a low-temperature saddle with the greatest possible length, so that the temperature difference between the recording medium 17 and saddle 15 becomes as small as possible. The large overall length in connection with a regulation of the heating power of the electrical resistance elements via a control arrangement results in an approximately constant energy flow along the saddle from the saddle 15 to the recording medium 17.

The temperature supply in the fixing gap between the rollers 11 and 12 is important. The recording medium must also be heated in the area of this fixing gap in such a way that there is no high thermal load on the recording medium. Fluctuations in the temperature in the fusing gap lead to a deterioration in the fusing quality.

Depending on the material property of the recording medium used, the recording medium has a temperature in the range from 90 to 120 ° in the case of paper when it leaves the heat-fixing device W. This heat stored in the recording medium must be device K can be dismantled to the extent that the paper after stacking in the stacking device S has a temperature of below 60 °, so that there is no sticking of the printed images lying on top of one another. With the data given, this means that the paper web has to be cooled by 60 ° K in about 0.5 seconds. This corresponds to a power dissipation of approx. 4000 W in 0.5 sec.

In order to be able to achieve this high heat dissipation, the cooling device K is provided, which can be designed in accordance with the exemplary embodiments in FIGS. 2 to 4.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2 also shown in FIG. 1, the cooling device K contains a cooling surface 19 made of plastic or metal with a plurality of air outlet openings 30 arranged on the cooling surface. The cooling surface 19 extends over the entire width of the recording medium 17. It has a length which depends on the cooling capacity required. The cooling surface 19 is bandaged with an air supply duct 20 and a blower 31 via which air is supplied to the air supply duct 20. The cooling air exits through the air outlet openings 30 and lifts the air on the

Cooling surface 19 of the recording medium 17 lying on the cooling surface relative to the cooling surface by 0.1 to 0.5 mm, so that the recording medium 17 slides on the air cushion thus formed. The air moves at high speed in the narrow gap between the record carrier 17 and the cooling surface 19. This way you can optimally cool the hot paper web. To supply the air outlet openings 30 with cooling air, the air outlet openings 30 are supplied with a large volume of air at a relatively low flow rate via fans 31 and supply duct 20 via a distributor space 32. In order to be able to reliably guide the recording medium 17 along the cooling surface 19, the cooling surface has a radius of curvature which corresponds approximately to the radius of curvature of the preheating saddle 15. It is arranged in such a way that the recording medium 17 is guided step-free in a predetermined radius of curvature through the heat-fixing station including the preheating saddle and the cooling device.

For additional heat dissipation from the recording medium 17, an additional cooling device 18 is arranged in the paper running area receiving the cooling surface 19 on a side of the recording medium 17 facing away from the cooling device K. It consists of a hollow profile with air outlet openings 33 which are arranged in steps along the paper running area. The hollow profile 18 is connected to a blower 34 that supplies the hollow profile 18 with cooling air. The fan 34 can also be part of the fan 31. The cooling air supplied to the hollow profile 18 exits at the air outlet openings 33 in such a way that it sweeps over the record carrier on its concrete side against the direction of travel of the recording medium 17 and additionally cools it. If the air flow is directed in the direction of the record carrier running, the surface boundary air layer on the record carrier 17 is penetrated with cooling air, which increases the cooling effect.

In the embodiment of the cooling device shown in FIG. 3, the cooling surface 19 consists of a closed metal saddle. The surface geometry corresponds to the cooling saddle of FIG. 2. Cooling ribs 35 are formed on the inside of the cooling saddle, which protrude into the air distribution space 32. The cooling air supplied to the distribution space 32 via the blower 31 and the air supply duct 20 sweeps over the cooling fins 35 and is, for example, via lateral outlet openings and one optionally there arranged return channel derived. In this embodiment, the recording medium 17 slides with its non-concrete side directly on the cooling surface and is therefore in direct contact with it, so that the heat of the recording medium can be absorbed directly by the cooling surface 19. 3, the cooling surface 9 is an element of a cooling saddle through which gaseous cooling medium flows, in this case air.

According to the illustration in FIG. 4, the cooling surface 19 can also be an element of a cooling saddle through which liquid cooling medium flows. For this purpose, the one made of thermally conductive material, e.g. Aluminum existing cooling saddle cooling channels 36 through which water or other

Coolant is passed. The liquid cooling medium is supplied to the cooling channels 36 via an inlet 37 above and discharged via an outlet 38 below. The cooling medium is conveyed via a pump (not shown here), and a heat exchanger can be provided to remove the heat from the cooling medium. Instead of a heat exchange, the arrangement of cooling fins or the like is also possible.

As already explained at the beginning, the electrophotographic printing device shown contains a stacking device S. The purpose of this is to stack the recording medium 17 via conveyor rollers 39 on a storage surface (not shown here), from where it can be removed by job. The stacking device S can have air conveying profiles 40 with air outlet openings 41 arranged on both sides of the recording medium 17 in their inlet area, as shown in FIG. The air conveying profiles 40 extend over the entire width of the recording medium, the air outlet openings 41 being aligned such that they are one the two sides of the record carrier sweep the air flow which is directed against the direction of the record carrier. The air delivery profiles 40 could thus be connected to blowers or other air delivery devices. Instead of continuous air conveying profiles with air outlet openings, it is also possible to arrange individual separate blower elements distributed over the width of the recording medium or a blower element with a corresponding distributor device for the air flow.

In the exemplary embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a cooling saddle with an associated cooling surface is arranged in the paper running area. Instead of only one cooling saddle, a plurality of cooling saddles can also be arranged one behind the other, each of which the cooling medium flows through. They then form a common composite cooling surface.

Reference list

B = imaging device

W = heat fixing device

K = cooling device

S = stack

10 = heater, heating element

11 = heating roller, fixing roller

12 = pressure roller

13 = oiling device

14 = oil application element

15 = preheating saddle

16 = vacuum brake

17 = recording medium, continuous paper

18 = profile, hollow profile, cooling air duct

19 = cooling surface

20 = air supply duct

21 = preheating saddle

22 = pivot point

23 = heating saddle

24 = sliding surfaces

25 = openings, recesses

26 = hole

27 = vacuum channel

28 = heating cartridges, heating elements

29 = mounting holes for heating cartridges

30 = air outlet openings

31 = blower, air conveyor

32 = distribution room, air distribution room

33 = air outlet openings

34 = blower, air conveyor

35 = cooling fins

36 = cooling channels

37 = inflow

38 = process

39 = conveyor rollers 40 air conveying profiles, cooling air ducts 41 air outlet openings, nozzles

Claims

1. Printer or copier with a device (B) for generating a toner image on a recording medium (17), a heat-setting device (W) for fixing the toner images on the recording medium (17), a cooling device (K) for the heated recording ¬ tion carrier (17), the cooling device (K) being arranged in a paper running area downstream of the heat setting device (W) in the recording medium transport direction and having at least one cooling surface (19) over which the recording medium is guided over the cooling surface (19) with a plurality of air outlet openings (30) and an air conveying device (31) coupled to the air outlet openings (30) for generating an air flow such that an air cushion is formed between the recording medium (17) and the cooling surface (19).

2. Printing or copying device according to claim 1 with at least one in the paper running area on a side of the cooling device (K) facing away from the recording medium (17) arranged additional cooling device (18) for generating an air flow over the recording medium (17).

3. Printing or copying device according to one of claims 1 or 2 with a stacking device (S) arranged downstream of the cooling device (K) in the direction of the recording medium for the recording medium (17) and with an air flow device assigned to a recording medium entry area of the stacking device (S) ( 40) for generating an air flow passing over the recording medium on one or both sides.

4. Printing or copying machine according to one of claims 2 or

3 with an air stream sweeping over the recording medium (17), which is guided such that it sweeps over the recording medium (17) against its direction of travel.

5. Printing or copying machine according to one of claims 1 to

4 with a cooling surface (19) which has a surface geometry which is oriented to the direction in which the recording medium passes through the heat-setting device (W).

6. Printing or copying machine according to one of claims 1 to

5 with a heated preheating saddle (15) upstream in the direction of the recording medium of the thermofixing device (W) and designed as a low-temperature saddle.

7. Printing or copying machine according to claim 6 with a cooling surface (19) with a radius of curvature approximately corresponding to a radius of curvature of the preheating saddle (15).