JPS5997170A - Flash fixing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the size and cost of a device by blowing the outdoor air toward the evacuation direction of waste air and mixing the same in the waste air thereby decreasing the temp. of the waste air and enabling the reduction in the evacuation path. CONSTITUTION:The waste air discharged from a flash lamp light emitting part 1 and a flash fixing body part 6 into a duct 5 flows like an arrow in the duct 5 and is mixed with the outdoor air sucked by a propeller fan 10 in the place of an outdoor intake mechanism 9. The temp. of said air is decreased by such mixing and thereafter the air is released through the inside of the duct 5 to the outside of the device. The outdoor air from the fan 10 is guided by air guide fins 11 and is blown toward the evacuation direction of the waste air, by which the outdoor air is mixed with the waste air without disturbing the flow of the waste air.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a flash fixing device used for fusing a visible image such as toner or ink formed on a sheet of paper.

A flash fixing device uses flash energy from a xenon lamp or other source to fuse visible images such as toner and ink on the paper, and the flash energy is extremely powerful, so each component in the fixing device And the atmosphere absorbs light energy and becomes hot. In particular, the temperature of the flash lamp light emitting section increases significantly, and the exhaust air exhausted from this section may reach a temperature of 80.degree. C. or higher. Since the air exhausted to the outside of the fixing device has a considerably high temperature, it is necessary to cool the exhaust air before exhausting it to the outside of the fixing device. Therefore, in the past, the exhaust port was separated from the fixing device as much as possible to make the exhaust path long, thereby allowing natural cooling before being discharged to the outside. In this case, due to constraints such as the structure of the fixing device, the cross-sectional area of the exhaust path duct is reduced, and the path is no longer linear. Therefore, the flow loss in the exhaust path is large, and a high-performance fan must be used to completely exhaust the air, resulting in an increase in costs. Furthermore, natural cooling through the exhaust path has a problem in that the cooling efficiency is poor and the exhaust air, which remains at a high temperature, has to be exhausted to the outside.

The present invention solves the above problem, and is characterized in that the exhaust path of the exhaust air is equipped with an outside air intake mechanism that blows outside air into the exhaust path duct in the direction of exhaust air. .

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

In Figures 1 and 2, outside air is blown into the flash lamp light emitting part 1 from the lamp cooling fan intake side 2, the heat radiated from the flash lamp is absorbed by the outside air, and the outside air holding heat is used as exhaust air to cool the lamp. The light is discharged from the fan exhaust side 3 to the outside of the flash lamp light emitting unit 1 and further through the lamp exhaust duct 4 into the exhaust path duct 5.

On the other hand, the exhaust air that has cooled the flash fixing main body section 6 is passed through the flash fixing section exhaust mechanism 7 to the exhaust path duct 5.
discharged inside. 8 is a printer housing.

The present invention is equipped with an outside air intake mechanism 9 in the exhaust path that blows outside air into the duct 5 in the direction of exhaust air, and its specific configuration is shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the outside air intake mechanism 9 according to the present invention is composed of two propeller fans 10.10. '10, outside air is forcibly sent into the exhaust path duct 5, mixed with the exhaust air in the duct 5, and the exhaust air is cooled and exhausted.

Air guide fins 11 are provided on the outside air blowing side of each propeller fan 10.10 to blow out the blown outside air in the exhaust direction of the exhaust air. Incidentally, as the fan 10, something other than a propeller fan may be used.

In the present invention, the exhaust air discharged from the flash lamp light emitting section 1 and the flash fixing main body section 6 into the duct 5 flows inside the duct 5 as shown by the arrow, and the outside air intake mechanism 9
The outside air sucked in by the propeller fan 10.10 is mixed into the cylinder, the temperature of which is lowered, and then the outside air is discharged through the duct 5 to the outside of the apparatus. fan 10.1
Since the outside air from 0 is guided by the air guide fins 11 and blown out in the direction of exhaust air, it is mixed into the exhaust air without interfering with the flow of the exhaust air.

As described above, the present invention uses the outside air intake mechanism to blow outside air in the exhaust direction of the exhaust air and mix it into the exhaust air. Therefore, the temperature of the exhaust air can be lowered, and the exhaust path can be changed from the conventional one. There is no need to make the device long, therefore the flow loss is reduced, and the exhaust air can be exhausted using a small and simple exhaust mechanism, which has the effect of reducing the size and cost of the device. be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an electrophotographic printer to which the present invention is applied;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the outside air intake mechanism. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Flash lamp light emitting part 5...Exhaust path duct 6...Flash fixing body part 9...Outside air intake mechanism 10...Propeller 7 Ann 11...Air guide fin patent applicant NEC Corporation Company Figure 3-473-

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a flash fixing device that fuses a visible image of toner or ink formed on paper onto the paper, the exhaust air is routed through the exhaust path that discharges the high-temperature exhaust air generated within the fixing device. A flash fixing device characterized by being equipped with an outside air intake mechanism that blows outside air into an exhaust path duct in the exhaust direction.