JPH03144678A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To securely prevent an excessive rise in the temperature of a heater lamp by directly applying the temperature of the heater lamp to the entire temperature fuse. CONSTITUTION:The heater lamp 40 is provided with the temperature fuse 100 so that it is directly in contact with, for example, the glass part of a foil 404 positioned in the part projecting from a heat roller 41. In the temperature fuse 100, its internal compound melts when the temperature of the part of the foil 404 reaches a certain fixed value. Therefore, supply of power to the heater lamp 40 can be securely stopped even when abnormal temperature-control occurs, by setting the operating temperature of the temperature fuse 100, that is, the temperature at which the organic compound is melted, to a value which is slightly lower than the melting temperature of the heat roller 41. Thus, before the heat roller 41 is melted, an excessive rise in its temperature can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer apparatus that includes a fixing unit that fixes a toner image transferred onto a sheet of paper.

(Prior Art) Generally, a laser printer device is provided with a fixing unit that fixes a toner image transferred onto a sheet of paper using heat and pressure.

This type of fixing unit usually includes a heat roller that includes a built-in heater lamp, and a pressure roller that is pressed against the heat roller. As the paper passes between the pair of rollers, the toner image is fused and fixed onto the paper.

By the way, the surface temperature of the heat roller is checked and the temperature is controlled to maintain the temperature necessary for fixing. Furthermore, even if a failure occurs in the temperature control circuit or the like, the temperature of the heat roller is prevented from exceeding a certain value so that the temperature does not rise excessively.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10, a temperature fuse 100 is attached at a position approximately 1.0 to 2.0 mm away from the surface of the heat roller 41.

The temperature fuse 100 is heated by heat conduction through the air when the surface temperature of the roller 41 becomes abnormally high, and the organic compound inside is blown out. As a result, the power supply to the heater lamp 40 is cut off, and the heat roller 41
Excessive temperature rise is prevented. but,
In this case, air heat conduction is utilized. Therefore, the error is large, for example, the distance between the heat roller 41 and the temperature fuse 100 is 0.1 to 0.2+gm.
Heat roller 41. temperature fuse 1 even though the surface of
There was a drawback that 00 did not work (the organic compound inside was not fused).

On the other hand, there is one in which a thermostat (bimetal) 46 is attached to the surface of the heat roller 41 via an elastic body (not shown).

In this case, the thermostat 46 is in direct contact with the surface of the heat roller 41. Therefore, the surface of the roller 41 may be damaged over time, and if the thermostat 46 is lifted due to a jam of paper wrapped around the heat roller 41, the thermostat 46 may no longer function after the jam is cleared.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, in the past, when a temperature fuse was attached at a position approximately 1.0 to 2.0+IIl away from the surface of the heat roller, heat conduction in the air was utilized. This has the disadvantage of large errors, and in the case of a thermostat attached to the surface of the heat roller, the roller surface may be damaged over time or may no longer function properly after a jam has been cleared.

Therefore, this invention can reliably cut off the power to the heater lamp before the surface temperature of the roller reaches the melting temperature without damaging the surface of the rotating roller, and more reliably prevents excessive temperature rise. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can perform

C Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a fixing means for fixing the developer image formed on the transfer material. a pair of rotating rollers, at least one of which forms a hollow portion, and which pinches and feeds the transfer material; a heater lamp, a portion of which is provided in the hollow portion of the rotating roller; and the heater lamp. a temperature fuse built into a protruding portion from the rotating roller and immersed in mineral oil and connected in series with the heat generating filament of the heater lamp to maintain the temperature of the heater lamp at a constant value; and control means for cutting off power supply to the filament by blowing the temperature fuse when the temperature exceeds the temperature limit.

(Function) In the present invention, the temperature of the heater lamp is directly applied to the entire temperature fuse by the above-described means, so that it is possible to more reliably prevent an excessive rise in the temperature of the heater lamp. be.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

6 to 9 show an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, taking a laser printer as an example.

This laser printer device is connected to a host device (not shown), which is an external output device such as a computer or a word processor, via a transmission controller such as an interface circuit. When it receives a print start signal from the host device, it starts image forming operation,
The image is recorded on paper as a transfer material and output.

In FIGS. 6 to 9, the device body 1 has an open portion 1a on its upper surface. Further, a main control board (engine control board) 2 is arranged in the center of the main body 1 of the apparatus. An electrophotographic process unit 3 for forming an image is disposed behind the monolithic A-substrate 2. Furthermore, at the front lower part of the main body 1, there are a plurality of control boards for adding functions (printer control boards) 4. A control board accommodating section 5 for accommodating the .

Said la function additional control board4. ... is the addition of functionality (
For example, up to three sheets can be installed depending on the degree of addition (for example, adding types of fonts, kanji, etc.).

Furthermore, a plurality (for example, three) of IC card connectors 16 are disposed on the front edge of the function-adding control board 4 located at the bottom of the control board accommodating section 5, and can be used as a storage medium. By inserting an IC card 17, further functions can be added.

The IC card 17 is a nonvolatile memory, for example, a static RAM with battery backup.

It is composed of E2 PROM, EPROM, Aiha mask ROM, etc. These IC cards 17
For example, text fonts, emulation programs, etc. are stored in memory.

On the other hand, two interfaces (not shown) are disposed on the left end surface of the control board 4 for adding functions located at the lowest stage of the control board accommodating section 5, and these interfaces are connected to the opening 18 of the device main body 1. It is located opposite to.

In addition, a large number of sheets of paper P are located at the bottom of the main body of the apparatus.

... constitutes a cassette storage section 8 that stores a paper feed cassette 7 that can be stored therein. The paper feed cassette 7 is inserted into and attached to the cassette accommodating portion 8 from the front lower part, and is detachable in the direction shown by the arrow.

The paper ejection section 6 consists of a recess formed one step lower on the front upper surface of the apparatus main body 1, and the front edge thereof has a rotatable hole that can be folded into the paper ejection section 6 or unfolded as shown in the figure. A paper discharge tray 9 is provided. A substantially U-shaped notch 9a is formed at the center of the front end of the paper ejection tray 9, and an auxiliary paper ejection tray 10 that can be housed or unfolded is provided in this cutout 9a. This allows the size of the paper discharge tray 9 to be adjusted according to the size of the paper to be discharged.

The left frame portion 1b of the apparatus main body 1 located on the left side of this paper ejection portion 6
An operation panel 14 is provided on the top surface, and a manual feed tray 1 for manually feeding paper is provided on the rear side of the device main body 1.
5 is provided.

The operation panel 14 is provided with a liquid crystal display that displays the number of sheets, mode, guidance messages, etc., an LED display that lights up and displays various statuses using an emitting diode, and switches that instruct various operations. There is.

The above LED display is connected to an external device (for example, a host device
1) "Ready" indicates that the online J1 device main unit 1 is ready for operation; "Data" indicates that the image is being transferred; It consists of indicators for "operator" for requesting a call, "service" for requesting a service call, and "mode" for indicating auto/manual.

The switches include, for example, a menu key, a value key, a numeric keypad, and the like. The above menu key is composed of two keys, "Next item j" and "Previous item", and the multiple menu information displayed on the left half of the liquid crystal display is incremented each time the "Next item" key is pressed. Also, each time the "previous item" key is pressed, the value is decremented. These display operations are cyclically repeated in response to key operations. The above value key also consists of two keys, "Next item" and "Previous item", and each time you press the "Next item" key, multiple value information corresponding to the menu information displayed on the left half of the LCD display is displayed. The value is incremented by 1, and decremented each time the ``previous item'' key is pressed. These display operations are also cyclically repeated in response to key operations.

Therefore, the operator can select and instruct a desired operation by operating the upper S menu keys and value keys.

Next, electrophotographic processes such as charging, image exposure, development, transfer, peeling, cleaning, and fixing will be explained. In other words, approximately in the center of the unit housing section,
A drum-shaped photoreceptor 20 serving as an image carrier is arranged. Around the photoreceptor 20, a charging means 21 made of a scorotron, a laser exposure unit 22 that forms an electrostatic latent image in an exposure section 22a, and a magnetic brush that simultaneously performs a development process and a cleaning process are arranged around the photoconductor 20 along the rotation direction. A type developing unit 23, a transfer means 24 consisting of a scorotron, a memory removing means 25 consisting of a brush member, and a pre-exposure means 26 are arranged in this order. Of these, the photoreceptor 20
, a charging means 21, a developing unit 23, and a memory removing means 25 are integrated into an electrophotographic process unit 3.
is removably provided within the device main body 1.

The developing unit 23 uses a two-component developer consisting of toner t and carrier C.

Further, inside the apparatus main body 1, a sheet P1 automatically fed from the sheet cassette 7 via the sheet feeding means 27 and a sheet P manually fed from the manual tray 15 are placed on the photoreceptor 20.
and the image transfer section 28 between the transfer means 24 and the paper discharge section 6.
A paper conveyance path 29 is formed that leads to.

A pair of transport rollers 30. A pair of aligning rollers 31 and a pair of conveying rollers 32 are arranged.

Further, a fixing unit 33 and a paper ejection roller unit 34 are respectively arranged on the downstream side.

A cooling fan unit 35 is provided above the location where the pair of transport rollers 32 are provided, and an aligning switch 36 is provided near the pair of aligning rollers 31.
Furthermore, a conveyance guide 37 is provided above the image transfer section 28 .

Note that a vapor empty switch 320 is provided near the paper feeding means 27, and the vapor empty switch 320 is installed near the paper feeding means 27.
It is designed to detect the presence or absence of Further, a manual feed switch 321 is provided near the transport roller pair 32, and a paper ejection switch 322 is provided near the paper ejection roller unit 34.

In the image forming operation, the photoreceptor 20 is first rotated by receiving a print start signal from the host device. The surface potential of the photoreceptor 20 is kept constant by the pre-exposure means 26, and the charging means 26
1 and is uniformly charged.

In this state, a laser beam a modulated in response to dot image data from the host device is emitted from the laser exposure unit 22 and irradiated onto the photoreceptor 20. That is, by scanning the surface of the photoreceptor 20 with n beams of laser beam a, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal is formed. This electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 2o is developed by the toner t in the developer magnetic brush D' of the development unit 23, and is made into a developed image (toner image).

Meanwhile, in synchronization with this toner image forming operation, the paper P1 taken out from the paper feed cassette 7 or the manual feed tray 15
The paper P manually fed from the aligning roller pair 3
1 to the image transfer section 28. As a result, the toner image previously formed on the photoreceptor 20 is transferred onto the paper P by the action of the transfer means 24.

Next, the paper P on which the toner image has been transferred is moved to a conveyance guide 3.
7, the toner image passes through the paper transport path 29 and is sent to the fixing unit 33, where the toner image is melted and fixed onto the paper P. Thereafter, the paper P is discharged to the paper discharge section 6 via the paper discharge roller unit 34.

Note that after the toner image has been transferred onto the paper P, the residual toner t remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor 20 is electrostatically attracted and removed by the memory removing means 25 consisting of an iJ# electric brush. As a result, it becomes uniformly distributed on the surface of the photoreceptor 20 and is mechanically and electrostatically absorbed by the developing unit 23.

Further, the fixing unit 33 is configured to include a heat roller 41 having a built-in heater lamp 40, and a pressure roller 42 that is pressed against the heat roller 41.

As the paper P passes between these rollers 41 and 42, the toner image is fused and fixed onto the paper P.

Further, the heat roller 41 and the pressure roller 42 are surrounded by a lower casing 43 and an upper casing 44. The structure is designed to prevent heat from escaping to the outside as much as possible to ensure a favorable temperature atmosphere necessary for fixing.

A cleaner 45 is in contact with the heat roller 41,
It is kept in a clean condition to ensure good fixing at all times. Further, the temperature of the heat roller 41 is checked and the temperature is controlled to maintain the temperature necessary for fixing.

Also, within the upper casing 44 and the heat roller 41
A paper guide 48 is disposed near the upstream side of the contact portion 47 between the heat roller 41 and the pressure roller 42 to ensure that the leading edge of the paper P guided to the fixing unit 33 is guided between the heat roller 41 and the pressure roller 42. It is now possible to guide you.

Furthermore, four paper guides are provided on the paper P exit side of the fixing unit 33 integrally with the lower casing 43 to guide the fixed paper P to the paper discharge roller unit 34.

The paper discharge roller unit 34 includes a lower roller 50 and an upper roller 51, and is provided with a static elimination brush 52 in contact with the non-image forming side of the paper P in the conveying direction.

A top cover 60 made of plastic is provided in the open portion 1a on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be openable and closable.
7, and the upper roller 51 of the paper discharge roller unit 34 including the static eliminating brush 52 is attached. The top cover 60 uses a support shaft 61 provided at the upper part of the rear end of the apparatus main body 1 as a rotation fulcrum, and can rotate upward up to a maximum of about 120''.

When the top cover 60 is rotated upward, the upper roller 51 including the transfer means 24, the conveyance guide 37, and the static elimination brush 52 is pulled out from the open portion 1a of the apparatus main body 1. This exposes most of the paper transport path 29 and most of the equipment in the electrophotographic process unit 3 facing the two paper transport paths. Therefore, it is possible to easily and efficiently perform work to remove paper P when it becomes clogged, as well as maintenance, inspection, and replacement work for each of the above-mentioned devices.

Furthermore, the rear cover 64 of the apparatus main body 1 can also be opened and closed via a support shaft 65 to open the starting ends of the two paper transport paths, that is, the curved transport section that guides the paper P taken out by the paper feed means 27. It is now possible to do so. therefore,
Paper P stuck in this area can also be easily removed.

Note that the ozone filter 62 is for removing generated ozone, and the toner cartridge 63 is for storing toner for replenishment.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the fixing temperature excessive rise prevention device, that is, it shows the heat roller 41 of the fixing unit 33 taken out.

That is, the heat roller 41 is hollow and is rotated while being in contact with a pressure roller 42 (not shown). The heater lamp 4o for heating the roller 41 is arranged in the hollow portion of the heat roller 41. This heater lamp 4o includes a power supply electrode 4o.

40, so as not to rotate.

The heater lamp 40 has a structure in which a shell 402, a heating filament 4o1, and a shell 40° are provided in this order inside a glass tube, and the filament 40. A portion of the heater lamp 4o corresponding to the heat roller 41 is accommodated in the heat roller 41.

That is, there are electrodes 4 for power supply at both ends of the heater lamp 4o.
0+ and 40+ are provided respectively, and the heat roller 4
A filament 403 for heating is arranged in the part accommodated in
．． Hakus 40□ and 404 are provided for connecting the two. Note that the holes 402 and 404 are fixed by pressure contact by squeezing the glass tube at that portion.

For the heater lamp 40 having such a configuration, for example, a heater lamp 4 located at a protruding portion from the heat roller 41 is provided.
A temperature fuse 100 is provided in direct contact with the glass portion of 04. In this case, the temperature fuse 100 is
The lead terminal 101.101 is fixed to the stand 102,
Further, by being pressed down by the leaf spring 103, contact with the glass tube wall is ensured.

This temperature fuse 100 is designed such that when the temperature of the nozzle 404 reaches a certain value, the internal organic compound is blown out. Therefore, the temperature fuse 10
By setting the operating temperature of 0, that is, the temperature at which the organic compound is melted, to a value slightly lower than the melting temperature of the heat roller 41, the heater lamp 40 can be reliably operated even if an abnormality occurs in temperature control. This makes it possible to prevent the heat roller 41 from being overheated before it is melted.

FIG. 2 shows a connection circuit for energizing the heater lamp 40. As shown in FIG.

This connection circuit includes a power plug 200, a power switch 20
1, SSR (solid e-state e-relay) 202, temperature fuse 100. and a heater lamp 40 are connected in series.

In the connection circuit having such a configuration, the power switch 20
1 is turned on, and when the 5SR 202 is turned on by a DC control circuit (not shown), power supply to the filament 403 in the heater lamp 40 is started. As the filament 40 generates heat, the heat roller 41 is heated. In this case, the heat roller 41
The surface temperature of D is set to the temperature necessary for fixing.
It is controlled by a C control circuit.

Here, for example, the above DC control circuit or 5SR20
2 fails and continues to remain on, the surface of the heat roller 41 becomes so high that it begins to melt.

However, the temperature of the tube wall of the heater lamp 40 rises faster than the surface temperature of the roller 41. Therefore, the temperature fuse 100 that is in direct contact with the heater lamp 40 is heated to the same temperature as the tube wall temperature of the heater lamp 40, and therefore, before the surface temperature of the heat roller 41 reaches the melting temperature, The temperature will rise excessively. When this temperature exceeds a temperature determined by the material, the organic compound inside the temperature fuse 100 is fused.

Then, the power supply to the heater lamp 40 is cut off, and a further rise in the surface temperature of the heat roller 41 can be prevented.

As mentioned above, the mounting position of the temperature fuse in this embodiment satisfies the following relationship. For this reason, with conventional installation, there are variations in the relative positional relationship with the heat roller for each device, and there is also a difference in the speed of temperature rise between the tube wall temperature of the heater lamp and the surface temperature of the heat roller. This problem can be resolved.

In other words, abnormal temperatures can be quickly picked up by the temperature fuse without any variation in the bag f&'l. Therefore, the circuit can be reliably cut off before the temperature rises too much, and power supply to the heater lamp can be blocked.
This makes it possible to more reliably prevent the surface of the heat roller from melting.

Further, the temperature fuse is attached to the tube wall of the heater lamp located outside the heat roller. Therefore, the surface of the heat roller will not be damaged or the mounting position will not be shifted due to paper jam.

Furthermore, by attaching a temperature fuse to the tube wall of the heater lamp located outside the heat roller, the surface temperature of the heat roller is lower than the inner wall temperature, and if it is properly controlled, the temperature of a commercially available temperature fuse The temperature is lower than the rated temperature, so there is no possibility that the internal organic compound of the temperature fuse will be accidentally blown out during normal operation.

In the above embodiment, the temperature fuse is attached to the tube wall of the heater lamp. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the temperature fuse may be housed in a glass tube and the temperature fuse and the heater lamp may be may be configured integrally. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, inside the glass tube are a cell 402, a heating filament 401, a cell 404, a temperature fuse 1001, and a cell 40. are arranged in order, and power feeding electrodes 4 are placed on both ends of the electrodes.
0. ．． The heater lamp 40a is configured by installing the heater lamp 401. According to such a configuration, the heater lamp 40a
Since it can be handled as a single component, in addition to the above-mentioned effects, assembly and replacement work can be performed easily and efficiently.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, the temperature fuse 100 and mineral oil 400 may be wrapped in a film 300 and placed in contact with the tube wall of the heater lamp 40.

That is, the temperature fuse 100 is immersed in mineral oil 400 and attached to the part of the glass tube where the filter 404 is placed. According to such a configuration, the tube wall temperature of the heater lamp 40 is transmitted to the mineral oil 400 via the film 300, and is uniformly applied to the entire temperature fuse 100 by temperature convection within the mineral oil 400. Become. As a result, the temperature fuse 100 is blown at the rated temperature (the temperature at which the temperature fuse is blown is specified in mineral oil).

Furthermore, in the heater lamp 40a having the above-mentioned temperature fuse 100- built in, the temperature fuse 100 is immersed in mineral oil 400, that is, the inside of the glass tube in which the temperature fuse 100 is arranged is filled with the mineral oil 400. Also good. In this case, it becomes possible to handle the temperature fuse 100 as a single component, and the temperature can be uniformly applied to the entire temperature fuse 100. therefore,
Effects similar to those obtained by combining the effects of the second and third embodiments described above can be expected.

It goes without saying that various other modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, electricity to the heater lamp is reliably cut off before the surface temperature of the roller reaches the melting temperature without damaging the surface of the rotating roller. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can more reliably prevent excessive temperature rise.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the fixing temperature overrise prevention device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the connection of an energizing circuit that energizes a heater lamp, and FIGS. FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a fixing temperature overrise prevention device, FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an energizing circuit, and FIG. 5 is a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of a laser printer device; FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of the same; FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a part of the configuration; FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the top cover in an open state, and FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the prior art and its problems. 33...Fixing unit (fixing means), 40 a-
5° Heater lamp, 401... Power supply electrode, 402° 404.405... Haku, 40 s... Heat generating filament, 41... Heat roller, 42... Pressure roller, 100...・Temperature fuse, 3oo...film, 400...mineral oil.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An image forming apparatus including a fixing means for fixing a developer image formed on a transfer material, comprising: a pair of rotating rollers, at least one of which forms a hollow portion, and which pinch and feed the transfer material. a heater lamp, a part of which is provided in a hollow portion of the rotating roller; and a heater lamp that is built in a portion of the heater lamp that protrudes from the rotating roller and is immersed in mineral oil. A thermal fuse connected in series with a heating filament of the lamp, and a control means for cutting off power supply to the filament by blowing the thermal fuse when the temperature of the heater lamp exceeds a certain value. An image forming apparatus characterized by: