JP3032249B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus such as a laser printer or a copying machine, and more particularly, to an image recording apparatus in which a developing device is detachably mounted on an image recording device main body. It concerns the device.

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a laser printer as an image recording apparatus has an upper structure 1a and a lower structure.
A photoreceptor 2 is installed at a central portion in a printer main body 1 as an image recording apparatus main body, which is connected to a main body 1b by a shaft 1c so as to be openable and closable, and a charging device 3, a developing device 4, An electrophotographic process means such as a transfer device 5 and a cleaning device 6 are sequentially arranged, a paper feed cassette 7 is mounted on an upper portion of the printer main body 1, and an optical writing device 8 is mounted on a lower portion in the printer main body 1. Having a configuration with
An optical writing device 8 is applied to the photoreceptor 2 whose surface is uniformly charged by the charging device 3 and which is rotationally driven counterclockwise in FIG.
A laser beam is applied to form an electrostatic latent image, and a toner is brought into contact with the electrostatic latent image by a developing device 4 to form a visible image. The paper 10 sent by the paper feed roller 9 is superimposed on the registration roller 11 in a timely manner, the toner is transferred by the transfer device 6, and the paper 10 after the toner transfer is separated from the fixing roller 12 and the pressure roller 13. The conveyance guide 16 guides the toner to the fixing device 14 having a heat fixing unit, and the fixed toner is discharged.The fixed paper 10 is discharged to the discharge unit 18 by the discharge roller 17 and guided by the discharge guide 19 to discharge. It can be stacked on the paper tray 20.

In the above laser printer, the printer body 1
The developing unit cover 15 is arranged on the lower side of the printer main body 1 so as to constitute a part of the printer main body 1, and the lower end thereof is rotatably supported by the printer main body 1 via the hinge 21.
As shown in the figure, the developing device 4 can be pulled out in the direction of the arrow with the developing unit cover 15 opened outward with the hinge 21 as a fulcrum and the sheet cassette 7 pulled out.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-described electrophotographic laser printer, even if the developing device 4 is pulled out to the outside as shown in FIG. If each process means operates, a blank sheet will be printed out. This is a problem in the case of a printer, in which an important image is lost due to the nature of producing a document. For this reason, conventionally, a switch for detecting whether or not the developing device 4 is set is provided. In this case, a detection switch for opening the cover is also provided on the developing unit cover 15 for extracting the developing device 4. It was provided and was expensive.

Accordingly, the present invention is intended to detect the unset state of the developing device from the outside even if the developing unit cover is closed and detect it by an inexpensive means, thereby preventing a blank paper from being printed out. Things.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an image recording apparatus in which a developing device is detachable from an image recording device main body. A functioning part is provided, a moving member is provided at a position corresponding to the functioning part of the developing device, and a detecting means for detecting the movement of the moving member is provided in the image recording apparatus main body in correspondence with the moving member, When the developing unit cover is closed, the action unit directly presses the moving member to move the moving member to the detecting unit side, and the detecting unit is pressed, whereby the detecting unit closes the developing unit cover, and the developing device Are simultaneously detected.

Further, the image recording apparatus may be provided with a function capable of executing a recording operation only when the detecting device detects both the closed state of the developing unit cover and the set state of the developing device.

[Operation] When the developing device is set and the developing unit cover is closed, the moving member is moved by the developing unit cover to activate the detection unit, and the recording operation can be performed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention.
Like the laser printer shown in FIGS. 3 and 4,
A developing unit cover 15 is provided on a part of the printer body 1 via a hinge 21 at the lower end so as to be freely opened and closed, and the developing device 4 can be attached to and detached from the printer body 1 with the developing unit cover 15 opened. In a certain configuration, a micro switch functioning as a detecting means for simultaneously detecting both a setting state of the developing device 4 on the printer main body 1 and an open / closed state of the developing unit cover 15 at a required position in the lower part of the printer main body 1. 23, and an interlocking mechanism 24 for turning on the micro switch 23 is provided between the developing device 4 and the developing unit cover 15, and only when the micro switch 23 is ON, An operation command is sent from the control device 25 to each process means so that the recording operation can be executed.

The interlocking mechanism 24 includes an outer case 26 that constitutes the developing device 4.
An intermediate lever 27, which is a movable member extending in the front-rear direction along the developing device attaching / detaching direction, is disposed at a lower portion of the side wall surface of the main body, and a long hole 28 formed in the intermediate lever 27 protrudes toward the outer case 26. A spring is slidably engaged with the intermediate lever 29 in the front-rear direction, and between the pin 29 and the intermediate lever 27, the intermediate lever 27 is constantly biased rearward toward the developing unit cover 15 to bias the rearward moving force. When the developing device 4 is set and the developing unit cover 15 is closed at a position facing the intermediate lever 27 at the lower end of the inner side of the developing unit cover 15, The configuration is such that a detection projection 22 serving as an action portion for pressing the end to turn on the micro switch 23 at the tip of the intermediate lever 27 is provided.

When the developing device 4 is set at a proper position in the printer main body 1 and the developing unit cover 15 is closed as shown in FIG. Since the rear end of the intermediate lever 27 on the developing device 4 side is pressed against the spring 30, the micro switch
23 is pushed by the tip of the intermediate lever 27 to be turned ON, so that each process means can be operated at any time by a command from the control device 25.

When the developing unit cover 15 is opened as shown in FIG. 2 to remove the developing device 4 from the printer main body 1 for maintenance or the like, the detection protrusion pressing the rear end of the intermediate lever 27 is detected.
22 is separated from the rear end of the intermediate lever 27 with the opening operation of the developing unit cover 15. On the other hand, the intermediate lever 27 releases the spring 30
The micro switch 23 is turned OFF because the micro switch 23 is moved backward within the range of the elongated hole 28 by the pulling force of. By providing the detection protrusion 22 at a position that does not hinder the movement trajectory of the intermediate lever 27 at the time of the extracting operation of the developing device 4, the developing device 4 can be extracted as it is in the conventional manner.

When the developing device 4 is inserted to a proper position as shown in FIG. 2 in order to set the developing device 4 in the printer main body 1 again, at this time, the intermediate lever 27 is urged rearward by the tensile force of the spring 30. Because the micro switch
23 is maintained in the OFF state. Therefore, in this state, since the operation command is not sent from the control device 25 to each process means, it is understood that the developing unit cover 15 is not yet closed. When the developing unit cover 15 is closed in this state, as shown in FIG. 1, the detection switch 22 directly pushes the rear end of the intermediate lever 27, so that the microswitch 23 is pushed by the tip of the intermediate lever 27 and turned on. Therefore, an operation command is sent from the control device 25 to each process means. On the other hand, even if the developing unit cover 15 is closed in a state where the developing device 4 is not set, the pressing force from the detection protrusion 22 is controlled by the micro switch.
Since there is no intermediate lever 27 that transmits to the micro switch 23, the micro switch 23 remains OFF. Accordingly, in this state, each process means does not operate, so that a blank sheet is not printed out.

As described above, in the present invention, only when the developing device 4 is correctly set and the developing unit cover 15 is closed, the micro switch 23 is turned ON by the operation of the interlocking mechanism 24 including the intermediate lever 27 and the detection protrusion 22. Therefore, even if the developing unit cover 15 is closed and the unset state of the developing device 4 cannot be determined from the outside, the micro switch 23 is turned on.
Since the setting is not performed, forgetting to set the developing device 4 can be detected.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the image recording apparatus of the present invention, since both the set state of the developing device and the closed state of the developing unit cover are simultaneously detected by one detecting means, the conventional developing method Compared to a system in which the set state of the apparatus and the open state of the developing unit cover are detected by separate detection switches, the cost can be reduced.

Also, since the developing device is provided with a moving member corresponding to the operating portion of the developing unit cover, even if the developing unit cover is closed and it is not possible to judge from the outside that the developing device has not been set, forget to set the developing device. Can be detected.

Further, when a function is provided that enables the recording operation only when the detecting means detects both the closed state of the developing unit cover and the set state of the developing device, the recording is performed in a state where the developing device is forgotten to be set. Since the operation is not executed, an excellent effect such as prevention of blank paper from being printed out can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the vicinity of a developing device showing an embodiment of the image recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a developing unit cover is opened from the state of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a laser printer showing an example of a recording apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a state of attachment and detachment of a developing device in the laser printer of FIG. 1 Printer main body (image recording apparatus main body), 4 Developing device, 15 Developing unit cover, 23 Micro switch (detection device), 24 Interlocking mechanism, 25 Control device.

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 550 G03G 21/16-21/18 G03G 15/08 G03G 21/00 370-540

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image recording apparatus in which a developing device is detachably mountable to an image recording device main body, wherein an operating portion is provided on a developing portion cover which opens and closes when the developing device is attached and detached, and which corresponds to the operating portion of the developing device. A moving member is provided at a position, and the image recording apparatus main body is provided with detecting means for detecting the movement of the moving member in correspondence with the moving member, and when the developing unit cover is closed, the operating unit is moved by the moving member. Is directly pressed to move to the detection means side, and the detection means is pressed, whereby the detection means simultaneously detects both the closed state of the developing unit cover and the set state of the developing device. Image recording device. 2. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a function for executing a recording operation only when said detecting device detects both a closed state of said developing unit cover and a set state of said developing device. The image recording apparatus as described in the above.