JPS61200566A - Flash fixing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lower a driving voltage and to eliminate irregularity in fixation by providing a means which drive respective discharge tubes which are divided at right angles to the moving direction of a recording material on time-division basis. CONSTITUTION:The respective xenon lamps (Xe lamp) 16a, 16b, and 16c which are divided at right angles to the moving direction of the recording material illuminate repeatedly in order on time-division basis through a time-limit dividing means. Consequently, the recording body has respective areas fixed in the order of A1, B1, C1, A2, B2... and the Xe lamps illuminate repeatedly until the transfer paper P is fixed entirely; and the Xe lamps are made to stop illuminating when the whole of the transfer paper P is fixed. In this case, the timing of illumination is so set that there is no gap between adjacent fixation areas, e.g. A1 and A2 in the moving direction of the transfer paper; and the Xe lamps 16a, 16b, and 16c are so arranged that there is no gap between adjacent fixation areas, e.g. A1 and B1, and B1 and C1 at right angles to the moving direction of the transfer paper. Thus, the driving voltage is lowered and irregularity in fixation is eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a fixing device of a recording device such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a facsimile receiver, and in particular, to a fixing device of a recording device such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a facsimile receiver. The present invention relates to a flash fixing device that performs fixing using energy from a tube, and a recording device having this flash fixing device.

(Prior Art) This type of fixing device has no waiting time and low power consumption compared to other fixing methods, such as heat roller fixing.
It is also advantageous because there is no risk of overheating, the device is lighter than pressure fixing, there is less uneven driving, it does not depend on the quality and thickness of the pine wood paper, and the transfer paper does not expand or contract. It is advantageous in that it does not have a magnetic disk, and is used in small electrophotographic copying machines and the like.

Conventional flash fixing devices use xenon lamps (hereinafter referred to as
An unfixed image is formed using a developer, and a discharge tube such as a s-lamp is placed facing the recording material, and the discharge tube is discharged to melt the developer on the recording material by the flash energy. It's here to stay. A long discharge tube corresponding to the one in the manuscript was used. That is,
Due to the discharge tube that corresponds to the maximum recording capacity of the recording device,
It was also possible to fix small size recording materials. In addition, multiple types of discharge tubes are arranged to correspond to the width of the recording material, for example, 85 size, A4 size, etc., and the corresponding discharge tube is It is also possible that it will become established.

In this case, the area fixed by one light emission from the discharge tube is the entire width in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the recording material travels, and an area corresponding to a certain length in the direction of travel of the recording material, and it is necessary to emit light continuously. In this method, the recording material is sequentially fixed in the traveling direction and fixed over the entire surface of the recording material.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in the case of such a conventional example, in order to fix an area in the width direction of the recording material with a single discharge tube, the length of the discharge tube is long and the diameter is large. The amount of light emitted was high at the center of the discharge tube and weak near both ends, resulting in uneven fixation at the center and periphery of the recording material, and at both ends. There is a risk that the parts may be poorly fixed.

The present invention has been carefully designed to solve the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to lower the driving voltage by dividing the discharge tube, and also to prevent uneven fixation and to cover the entire surface of the recording material. An object of the present invention is to provide a flash fixing device that can uniformly fix images.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention divides a discharge tube into a plurality of parts in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the recording material, and divides each of the divided discharge tubes into A drive means for driving in division is provided, and of the fixing areas to be fixed by one discharge of the discharge tube on the recording material, adjacent fixing areas can be fixed continuously without at least a gap.

(Example) The present invention will be explained below based on the illustrated example. In FIG. 1 showing an electrophotographic copying machine using a flash fixing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, a document plate made of a transparent member is moved back and forth in the direction of the arrow. 1 is a condensing light transmitting member that exposes the light image of the original on the original table L onto the photosensitive drum 3 through a slit, and the photosensitive drum 3 rotates in the direction of the arrow. A corona charger 4 charges the photosensitive drum 3 uniformly. Numeral 5 is a developing device which exposes a uniformly charged photosensitive drum 3 to a light image using a condensing light transmitter 2, and then visualizes the electrostatic latent image. On the other hand, a transfer paper P serving as a recording material is fed to the surface of the drum by a paper feed roller 6 and a registration roller 7, and the image on the photosensitive drum 3 is transferred by a transfer charger 8. Thereafter, the transfer paper is separated from the photosensitive drum 3 by the separating means 9, and the guide 10
sent to. A fixing cartridge 11 in the form of a cartridge as a flash fixing device is arranged above the guide IO, and irradiates the transfer paper conveyed on the guide IO with seven lashes of light to melt and fix the toner on the transfer paper. It looks like this. Further, the transfer paper is sent to a paper ejection belt unit 12 and ejected onto a tray 13. Further, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 3 is removed by cleaning means 14.
It is scraped off and collected.

The fixing cartridge will be described in detail below. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fixing cart vudge 11 has a housing 15.
Three fixing device bodies 1 each having a discharge tube that emits flash light inside.
7a, 17b, and 17c are incorporated. The fixing device main body built into the housing 15, in this embodiment, the first fixing device main body 17a and the second fixing device in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the transfer paper as shown in FIG. A frame 17b and a third fixing device main body 17c are arranged in this order, and the transfer paper P is divided in the width direction so that areas corresponding to each fixing device are fixed. Furthermore, each fixing device main body 17a.

17b and 17c are arranged with their positions shifted with respect to the traveling direction of the transfer paper P.

Taking the first fixing device main body 17a as an example, each fixing device main body includes a xenon lamp (hereinafter referred to as X
s lamp) 16a, a reflective shade 18a that reflects the light emitted from the Xe lamp 16a, and a Xe lamp 16a.
It consists of a glass 19a that protects the. That is, a reflective shade 18a having a parabolic cross-sectional shape and a KXe lamp 16a are attached, and the opening of the reflective shade 18a is closed with a glass 19a. The second and third fixing device main bodies 17b and 17c are also similar to the first fixing device main body 17a.
It has the same configuration as .

The fixing cartridge 11 is removably attached to the copying machine body as shown in FIG. The fixing cartridge 11 is guided and supported and can be attached to and removed from the main body of the copying machine, and a handle portion 15a is formed on the front side of the fixing cartridge 11.

At the rear end of the fixing cartridge 11, each Xe lamp 16a, 1.6b, 16ct is electrically connected to a lamp drive circuit serving as a driving means for timed driving of each Xe lamp 16a, 16b, 16c provided on the copying machine main body side. Coupling terminal 21. is provided. Each fixing device main body 17a is connected to the coupling terminal 21.

Terminal 22 of each Xe lamp 17b, 17c. ... respectively code 23. ...is connected.

- As shown in FIG. When the fixing cartridge 11 is inserted, the coupling terminal 21 of the fixing cartridge 11 is connected to the main body connector 27 by being guided by the guide rail 2o.
The lamps 16a, 16b, 16c are electrically connected to a lamp drive circuit.

Also, the fixing cartridge 11 on the front side of the guide rail 20
A cleaner 2 is installed on the population side at right angles to the guide rail 20.
8 is not provided.

Control of driving each of the Xe lamps 16a, 16b, and 16c will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.

Figure 5 shows the drive circuit of the Xe lamp, and also...
R11 is a resistor, C1 to C2o are capacitors, D, ~) are diodes, Ll is a coil/L', SCR, ~SC&U?
Irista, T, ~T, is a transformer, Xe 1~Xe
3 is the Xe lamp, DR1 to DR6 are the drivers, PDFi
Photo sensor.

S1 to S6 are input SWs, and the CPU is a microcomputer. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing control.

First, power is supplied to the AC 100V line shown in Fig. 5 by the main SW (not shown), and low voltage power is supplied to the CPU etc. by the AC-DC converter (not shown). , ~D, from the voltage doubler boosted to DC280V, the Xe lamp X is sent to the main capacitor C1.
e, ~
It is input to the A/p input terminal of U and is constantly monitored. At this time, in the flowchart shown in FIG.
L, perform the t-th initialization to set predetermined conditions such as the memory and Ilo shown in step l, and in step 2, start with monitoring the charging voltage, and check various conditions such as the presence or absence of transfer paper, the number of copies, etc. Step 3 only when the checks and their conditions have been read and can be copied.
Proceed to. In step 3, a copy start switch (not shown) is checked, and if it is not pressed, the process returns to step 2 and this is repeated; if it is pressed, the process proceeds to step 4. Step 4 is to control the timing of various processes. To explain in more detail, first, the timing pulses obtained from the main motor etc. are counted by a counter etc., and the exposure lamp, document platen forward and backward equal volume loads are turned ON and OFF. The timing is set in advance in registers, etc., and the counter and these registers are compared, for example, at each count-up, to determine whether the corresponding load is ON or OFF. It is something to do. In step 5, whether or not the machine is operating normally is monitored using input means (not shown) provided at various locations.
Based on these conditions, necessary data is stored, rewritten, etc., and furthermore, in the event of an abnormality, the abnormality processing is also performed. In step 6, the fixing timing input means SI, which is an input to the CPU shown in FIG. The process returns to Step 2, and this process is repeated. When the process is completed, the process returns to Step 2 and enters the waiting state. If the fixing timing is received from the fixing timing input means S1 in step 6, the process proceeds to step 8. From this point on, based on the specific volume conditions obtained in step 2 or step 5, in step 8, the original density is read from the photosensor shown in Figure 5, inputted from the A/DI, and the converted value and charging voltage are calculated. ~tφ, and similarly performs 4-input conversion, calculates the appropriate light emitting time from the ratio value, and the cartridge signal input to the CPU's p1 (in the present invention, ON = black, 0FF = colored cartridge). This value is stored in a register, and in step 9, CPU (D
An appropriate number of times of light emission is selected based on the length of the transfer paper P in the feed direction input to Ipt and stored in register '2-. Depending on the length of the transfer paper P, the appropriate number of arc tubes (for example, assuming that approximately 701,111 arc tubes can be fixed with the Xe lamp 11F, in the present invention, the number of arc tubes is three,
It is possible to fix 210M in the main scanning direction, so T0
(the number of arc tubes in the main scanning direction can be controlled by the interval) is stored in the register. The values stored in these registers are used in step 4 as described above, and to explain the operation in more detail, the values stored in these registers are used in step 4 at the fixing timing.
The first trigger signal for the Xe lamp Xel is output from OPφ shown in the figure, and this signal is transmitted to the thyristors SCR, 5.
It is sent to the gate of CR4 via driver DR,'. This causes the thyristors SCR, , SCR, to turn ON.
I, thyristor SCR, is connected to Xe via transformer TI.
Apply a high voltage to the trigger electrode of lamp Xe 1. As a result, the Xe lamp Xel starts discharging and emits light. At the same time, the thyristor 5CR1 is also turned on and a discharge current flows, resulting in a complete light emitting state.

Next, if the above-mentioned luminescence time has been reached and the friend is a friend (T shown in Figure 7)
, -a) The CPU sends a cutoff signal from op to the gate of thyristor SCR through driver DR2t. This causes the thyristor SCR.

is turned ON, and as a result, the electric charge of the capacitor C6 that has been charged via the resistor R8 is transferred to the thyristor SCR.

The companion thyristor 5c is turned on in order to discharge through
Reverse bias is applied to Rt, and thyristor SC
R, turns off. Therefore, the Xe lamp Xe1 stops emitting light. Also, depending on the conditions (length in the main scanning direction), after T from the ON of the thyristor SCR, (charging time),
Lamp Xe, →XsXe lamp 11FXe lamp Xe
3. Xe lamp Xe1-4 Xe lamp Xe, or fi Xe lamp Xe1 is repeated a predetermined number of times.

Fig. 7 shows a timing chart of light emission from each Xe lamp, and shows 'r, + a+ Tl -bHT1-
C is the lighting time of each Xe lamp, T is the main capacitor C
t charging time is shown.

Next, the operation of the fixing device of this embodiment will be explained. First, the transfer paper P on which an unfixed toner image has been formed on the upper surface in the transfer process is conveyed onto the guide 9. Assuming that the width of the transfer paper is the maximum, as shown in FIG.
a Light is emitted and the area AI in the figure is fixed. Next, transfer paper P
While moving to the position of the second Xe lamp 16b, the main capacitor C1 is charged to a predetermined value (charging time is T), and the second Xe lamp 16b is charged for a predetermined time TI.
-b light is emitted and the area B in the figure is fixed. Next, while the transfer paper P moves to the position of the third Xe lamp 16c, the main capacitor C1 is charged to a predetermined value (charging time is Tt), and the third Xe lamp 16c is charged for a predetermined time TI-.
c. Light is emitted and the area CI in the figure is fixed. In this way, each Xe lamp 16a, 16b is divided into time periods.

16c repeatedly emits light in order, and then A, , B,
.

Ct, As, etc. are fixed, and the Xe lamp continues to emit light until the entire transfer paper P is fixed. When the entire transfer paper P is fixed, the Xe lamp stops emitting light. Each Xe
The number of times the lamps 16a, 16b, and 16c emit light is preset according to the size of the transfer paper P, as described above.

Here, the timing of the light emission is set so that there is at least no gap between the fixing areas adjacent in the direction of movement of the transfer paper, for example, the area A1 and the area A. an adjacent anchoring area at right angles to;
For example, A, B1 and B.

and C8 so that there is no gap between each Xe lamp 16a.

The arrangement of 16b and 16c is considered.

FIG. 9 shows the range in the direction of movement of the transfer paper that is effectively fixed by one light emission from the Xe lamp.
This changes relatively depending on the distance from the Xe lamp to the transfer paper, etc. However, this range also varies depending on the type of toner. In other words, the emission energy of the Xe lamp is smaller in the peripheral area, but
If the toner has a low melting point, the fixing area will expand and be fixed over a wide range, but if the toner has a high melting point, the fixing area will become narrow. Therefore, if the fixing area is narrow, for example, it is necessary to shorten the emission interval of each Xe lamp.

Further, FIG. 10 shows the light emission curve of the Xe lamp, and it is also possible to change the fixing area LI& by changing the light emission time like T or TI'. Furthermore, by increasing the number of flashes and irradiating the same spot with flashes, the fixing performance will be further improved.

In this embodiment, only the fixing device main body 17 is incorporated as the fixing cartridge 11, but as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the fixing device main body includes a photosensitive drum 3, a corona charger 4, a developing The container and the cleaning means 4 may be integrated into one.

The present invention can also be applied to a flash fixing device that is not made into a cartridge, that is, a device in which a discharge tube is provided in the main body of the copying machine and is directly attached to the T terminal. Furthermore, it can also be applied to a type in which the fixation is performed using a single discharge tube instead of a plurality of discharge tubes.

The above description has explained how the flash fixing device is applied to electrophotographic copying machines, but it is not limited to electrophotographic copying machines; it is also used in other applications such as peripheral receivers, laser beam printers, etc. that fuse unfixed images with developer. The present invention can be applied to various devices having a fixing process.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention has the above-described structure and operation, and since the length of the discharge tube can be made shorter and the diameter of the tube smaller than before, the driving voltage for a single discharge tube can be lowered than before. can be lowered,
Power consumption is reduced and costs can be reduced. It is no longer necessary to manufacture a long special discharge tube as in the past, and a general discharge tube used in camera strokes can be used, resulting in cost reduction. In addition, since the fixing area on the recording material is divided and fixed, even if there is uneven fixing in the center and periphery of a single discharge tube, it is possible to adjust the arrangement of the discharge tubes in each case. Various effects such as uniform fixing and always stable fixing performance can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electrophotographic copying machine using a flash fixing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the flash fixing device of the device shown in FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the flash fixing device shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 (a) is a perspective view showing the flash fixing device and guide rail of the device shown in FIG. )
1 is a side sectional view showing the vicinity of the connector on the main body side at the far end of the guide rail of the device in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a control circuit diagram of the flash fixing device of the device in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a diagram of the flash fixing device. Control flowchart, FIG. 7 is a timing chart of the control circuit diagram in FIG. 5, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the fixing area on the recording material fixed by the flash fixing device in FIG. 1, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the flash fixing A schematic side view of the vicinity of the discharge tube showing the fixing area fixed by one of the discharge tubes of the apparatus, FIG. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the flash fixing device shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the flash fixing device shown in FIG. Explanation of symbols 11...Flash fixing device 15...Cart
Ridges 16a, 16b, 16c ・Xe lamp (discharge tube) 17a, 17b, 17c -- Fixing device main body Fig. 8 Fig. 9 Fig. 7''' Time

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a flash fixing device that melts and fixes an unfixed image formed by a developer on a recording material using discharge energy from a discharge tube, the discharge tube is moved in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the recording material. A driving means is provided which divides the discharge tube into a plurality of parts and drives each of the divided discharge tubes in a time division manner, and among the fixing areas to be fixed by one discharge of the discharge tube on the recording material, the fixing areas adjacent to each other are at least A flash fixing device that is characterized by being capable of continuous fixing without gaps.