KR100297761B1 - Device for collecting carrier of wet electronograph printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A carrier collecting device of a wet electronograph printer is provided to prevent gas carrier form being discharged by circulating the carrier along a closed roof. CONSTITUTION: A carrier collector for a wet electronograph typed printer comprises a drying roller(110) absorbing liquid carrier from an organic photo receptor(100); a heating roller(120) evaporating the liquid carrier by being rotationally installed on a manifold(130); outlet and inlet ports(130a,130b) formed on the manifold; a circulating line(140) forming a circulating passage of the gas carrier; a driving fan(160) installed on the circulating line; a condensing unit(150) transferring the gas carrier into a cartridge(170) by condensing; a cooling fin(151) liquefying the gas carrier; and a radiating unit(152) receiving heat absorbed from the cooling fin. Thereby, the carrier collector for the wet electronograph typed printer prevents the gas carrier form being discharged by circulating the carrier along a closed roof.

Description

Carrier recovery device for wet electrophotographic printer

The present invention relates to a carrier recovery apparatus for recovering a carrier from a photosensitive belt in a wet electrophotographic printer.

For example, an electrophotographic printer such as a laser printer or a copying machine is classified into a dry type using a powder toner and a wet type using a toner mixed with a liquid carrier such as a Norpar according to the development method. In both of these systems, the toner is supplied to the photosensitive belt on which the electrostatic latent image is formed to develop a predetermined image, and then the developed image is printed on the sheet by passing the paper between the rotating transfer media in contact with the photosensitive belt. Recently, however, the wet developing method has been adopted in earnest.

1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a general wet electrophotographic printer.

As shown in the figure, a wet electrophotographic printer includes a printing unit 10 for transferring a predetermined image onto a paper 1 through a photosensitive belt 14, and a liquid carrier from the photosensitive belt 14 to be removed. The carrier collection | recovery apparatus 20 which collect | recovers is provided.

First, the printing unit 10 is supported by a plurality of guide rollers (11, 12, 13) to form a photosensitive belt (14) for traveling on an orbit, and the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive belt (14) A laser scanning unit (18a) (18b) (18c) (18d), a developer (15a) (15b) (15c) (15d) for supplying a toner mixed with a carrier on the electrostatic latent image to develop a predetermined image; And a transfer roller 16 for transferring the image developed on the photosensitive belt 14 to a sheet.

Next, the carrier recovery apparatus 20 shows an example thereof in FIG. 2.

First, in the manifold 21, the dry roller 22 which absorbs the liquid carrier from the photosensitive belt 14 while rotating in contact with the photosensitive belt 14 is absorbed by heating the dry roller 22. There is provided a heating roller 23 for evaporating the carrier in a gaseous state. The gas carriers vaporized therein are temporarily contained within the manifold 21 and then condense on the inner surface of the manifold 21. The condensed liquid carrier is collected along the inner surface of the manifold 21 and flows into the cartridge 26 through the first return pipe 25. In addition, the non-condensed gas carrier in the manifold 21 is sucked by the operation of the supply fan 29 and flows into the condensation tank 28 along the supply line 27. The condensation tank 28 is filled with the liquid condensation carrier 28a, and the gas carrier which flows in is liquefied by heat exchange with this condensation carrier 28a. When the water level of the carrier 28a for condensation is increased by the subsequent condensation process, a part of the carrier is recovered to the cartridge 26 through the second recovery pipe 31. In addition, the non-condensed gas carrier in the condensation tank 28 is filtered in the process of passing through the filter 30 is carried on the air discharged to the outside. In the drawing, reference numeral 19 denotes an exhaust line communicating with the outside via the filter 30 to remove moisture from the printing unit 10, and reference numerals 32 and 33 denote liquid carriers 28a stored in the condensation tank 28. The drain line and the water separator for separating the water from the water) are shown respectively.

However, in such a carrier recovery apparatus 20, since the non-condensed gas carrier in the condensation tank 28 is removed depending on the filtering capacity of the filter 30, when the filtration capacity of the filter 30 is deteriorated. There is a possibility that some unfiltered gas carriers will flow out. The old woman used as such a carrier is likely to contaminate the surrounding environment when it is leaked to the outside, so it is necessary to minimize the possibility of leakage. Accordingly, there is a demand for a carrier recovery apparatus having a structure capable of suppressing the outflow of carriers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above point, and an object thereof is to provide a carrier recovery apparatus for a wet electrophotographic printer having an improved structure so as to suppress the possibility of carrier leakage.

1 is a view schematically showing the internal structure of a general wet electrophotographic printer;

2 is a view showing a conventional carrier recovery apparatus,

3 is a view showing a carrier recovery apparatus for a wet electrophotographic printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a view showing a carrier recovery apparatus for a wet electrophotographic printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a view showing a carrier recovery apparatus for a wet electrophotographic printer according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

6 and 7 show a deformable example of the Peltier chip employed in the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

100 ... photosensitive belt 110 ... drying roller

120 ... heating roller 130 ... manifold

131 ... sealing blade 140 ... circulation line

151,251 Cooling 휜 152,252,352

160 ... Drive Fan 351 ... Metal Sponge

153,253,353,653a, 653b, 653c, 653d, 753a, 753b, 753c ... Peltier chips

154,254,354 ... cooling fan

In order to achieve the above object, a carrier recovery apparatus of a wet electrophotographic printer according to the present invention comprises: a drying roller for absorbing a liquid carrier remaining in the photosensitive belt while rotating in contact with the photosensitive belt; A heating roller for evaporating the absorbed carrier by heating the drying roller; A manifold surrounding the drying roller and the heating roller to temporarily receive the gas carrier evaporated by the heating roller and having an outlet and an inlet through which the gas carrier can enter and exit; A circulation line for forming a circulation movement path of the gas carrier accommodated in the manifold by forming a closed loop connecting the outlet and the inlet; A driving fan circulating the gas carrier along the circulation line; A carrier cooling unit installed in the circulation line to liquefy the carrier contained therein by cooling the hot gas discharged from the outlet; It is installed in the circulation line so as to be heat-exchangable with the carrier cooling unit, and sucks the heat absorbed by the carrier cooling unit, and then cooled by the low temperature gas flowing back into the inlet through the carrier cooling unit. A heat dissipation unit for dissipating one heat; And a heat exchange element installed between the carrier cooling unit and the heat dissipation unit to perform heat exchange between endothermic and heat dissipation on both sides.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 shows a carrier recovery apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, first, the dry roller 110 for absorbing the liquid carrier from the photosensitive belt 100 and the heating roller 120 for heating the dry roller 110 to evaporate the liquid carrier are each manifold. 130 is rotatably installed inside. Outlet 130a and inlet 130b are formed in the manifold 130 so that the evaporated gas carriers can escape or re-introduce, and the outlet 130a and the inlet 130b are closed loops. The circulation line 140 is provided to connect so as to form a circulation path of the gas carrier. Therefore, when the driving fan 160 installed in the circulation line 140 is driven, the gas carriers evaporated in the manifold 130 are circulated in the direction of the arrow along the circulation line 140. In addition, the circulation line 140 is provided with condensation means 150 for cooling and condensing the moving gas carrier to the cartridge 170. The condensation means 150 is a cooling fan 151, which is a carrier cooling unit for cooling a high temperature gas discharged from the outlet 130a to liquefy a gas carrier contained therein, and the cooling fan 151 in a cooling process. After receiving the heat absorbed by the cooling fan 151 through the cooling inlet 131b, the heat dissipation unit 152 is cooled by the low-temperature gas flowing back into the inlet 131b, the cooling fan 151 and the heat dissipation unit 152 And a heat exchange element, for example, a Peltier chip 153, which performs heat exchange between endothermic and heat dissipation on both sides. Here, the cooling fan 151 and the heat dissipation unit 152 are arranged to sequentially contact the gas in the circulation line 140. The heat dissipation unit 152 is cooled by air cooled while passing through the cooling fan 151. By cooling it is to avoid the need for installing a separate cooling fan (fan). Reference numeral 131 in the drawing represents a sealing blade installed in the manifold 130 to be in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the drying roller 110 to prevent the gap between the manifold 130 and the drying roller 110.

In the above configuration, the liquid carrier absorbed by the drying roller 110 from the photosensitive belt 100 is evaporated in a gaseous state by the heating roller 120, the air flow formed by the operation of the drive fan 160 Ride along the circulation line 140 is moved in the direction of the arrow. The gas carrier thus moved is brought into contact with the cooling fan 151 held at a low temperature by the Peltier chip 153 and cooled to condense on the surface of the cooling fan 151. The heat absorbed by the condensed crystal is transferred to the heat dissipation unit 152. The condensed carrier is recovered to the cartridge 170 through a predetermined recovery line 171. In addition, the gas, which is cooled while passing through the cooling fan 151, and the carrier is removed, cools the heat dissipation unit 152 and then flows back into the manifold 130 through the inlet 130b.

That is, the gas carrier evaporated by the heating roller 120 is condensed while continuously circulating the closed loop formed by the circulation line 140 and the manifold 130, and then exits and is recovered from the cartridge 170. Heat absorbed at the time of condensation exits through the heat dissipation unit 152, and the heat dissipation unit 152 is cooled by heat exchange with the cooled gas. Meanwhile, since the gas flowing into the inlet 130b is heated again by heat exchange with the heat dissipation unit 152, the evaporation efficiency of the heating roller 120 in the manifold 130 may be improved. It may be.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a carrier recovery apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals as those in the foregoing first embodiment denote the same members.

In this embodiment, the condensation means 250 for condensing the gas carrier includes a metal ball 255 filled between the cooling fan 251 and the cooling fan 251 as a carrier cooling unit, and the cooling fan 251. And a heat dissipation unit 252 for dissipating heat absorbed by the metal ball 255, and a Peltier chip 253 for performing heat exchange between endothermic and heat dissipation between the cooling fan 251 and the heat dissipation unit 252. It is composed. Reference numeral 256 denotes a mesh surrounding the carrier cooling unit so that the metal ball 255 does not fall.

The configuration of the second embodiment is characterized in that the metal balls 255 are filled between the cooling fans 251 to increase the contact area of the carrier cooling unit in contact with the gas carrier. That is, since the contact area where the heat exchange occurs in contact with the gas carrier increases by the surface area of the filled metal ball 255, the cooling and recovery efficiency of the gas carrier increases accordingly. Therefore, in the configuration of the second embodiment, the condensation and recovery of the vaporized gas carrier in the liquid phase while circulating moving is the same as the first embodiment described above, but the metal ball 255 is filled between the cooling fan 251 As a result, the cooling and recovery efficiency can be expected to increase.

5 shows a carrier recovery apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals are given to the same members as in the first and second embodiments described above. In the present embodiment, the vaporized gas carrier is condensed in the condensation means 350 while being circulated to the driving fan 160, and then recovered to the cartridge 170 is the same as described above. However, in the present embodiment, the carrier cooling unit which is in direct contact with the gas carrier is made of a porous medium, for example, a metal sponge 351, which is electrically heated and kept at a low temperature by the Peltier chip 353. Configured. That is, the purpose of the present invention is to improve the cooling efficiency of the gas carrier by using the feature of the large contact surface area of the porous medium. Carrier cooled in this way is recovered to the cartridge 170, the heat absorbed in the process is discharged through the heat dissipation unit 352 is cooled by the cooled gas.

On the other hand, in the first, second, and third embodiments described above, a single Peltier chip, which is a heat exchange element, is provided between the heat dissipation unit and the cooling fan. However, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the Peltier chips may be provided in parallel or in series. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, by installing a plurality of small Peltier chips 653a, 653b, 653c, and 653d in parallel between the cooling fan 651 and the heat dissipation unit 652, maintaining the temperature difference between both sides. To reduce energy consumption. As illustrated in FIG. 7, a plurality of Peltier chips 753a, 753b, and 753c may be stacked in series between the cooling fan 751 and the heat dissipation unit 752. In this case, the stacked Peltier chips may be used. The temperature difference between the cooling fan 751 and the heat dissipation unit 752, that is, the temperature difference between the low temperature part and the high temperature part, can be widened in proportion to the number of chips. Therefore, the arrangement of the Peltier chip can be appropriately selected in consideration of the cooling efficiency.

As described above, the carrier recovery apparatus of the wet electrophotographic printer according to the present invention cools and recovers the gas carrier evaporated in the manifold while circulating the closed loop, thereby eliminating the possibility that the carrier may leak out. Can be excluded.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that described above and illustrated in the drawings, and that more modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (9)

A drying roller for absorbing a liquid carrier remaining in the photosensitive belt while rotating in contact with the photosensitive belt; A heating roller for evaporating the absorbed carrier by heating the drying roller; A manifold surrounding the drying roller and the heating roller to temporarily receive the gas carrier evaporated by the heating roller and having an outlet and an inlet through which the gas carrier can enter and exit; A circulation line for forming a circulation movement path of the gas carrier accommodated in the manifold by forming a closed loop connecting the outlet and the inlet; A driving fan circulating the gas carrier along the circulation line; A carrier cooling unit installed in the circulation line to liquefy the carrier contained therein by cooling the hot gas discharged from the outlet; It is installed in the circulation line so as to be heat-exchangable with the carrier cooling unit, and sucks the heat absorbed by the carrier cooling unit, and then cooled by the low temperature gas flowing back into the inlet through the carrier cooling unit. A heat dissipation unit for dissipating one heat; And, And a heat exchange element installed between the carrier cooling unit and the heat dissipation unit to perform heat exchange between endothermic and heat dissipation on both sides. The method of claim 1, And the carrier cooling unit includes a plurality of cooling fans formed to contact and cool the gas carrier. The method of claim 2, The carrier cooling unit carrier recovery device of the wet electrophotographic printer, characterized in that further comprising a metal ball filled between the cooling fan. The method of claim 1, And the carrier cooling unit comprises a heat transfer porous medium. The method of claim 4, wherein The porous medium is a carrier recovery device for a wet electrophotographic printer, characterized in that the metal sponge. The method according to claim 1, wherein And the heat exchange element is at least one Peltier chip installed in close contact with the carrier cooling unit and the heat dissipation unit. The method of claim 6, The Peltier chip is a carrier recovery device for a wet electrophotographic printer, characterized in that installed side by side in parallel between the carrier cooling unit and the heat dissipation unit. The method of claim 6, The Peltier chip is a carrier recovery device for a wet electrophotographic printer, characterized in that stacked in series between the carrier cooling portion and the heat radiating portion. The method of claim 1, The manifold, the carrier recovery device for a wet electrophotographic printer, characterized in that the sealing blade is elastically in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the drying roller to seal the gap formed between the drying roller and the manifold.