KR100338080B1 - process cartridge of image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process cartridge of an image forming apparatus, wherein an inkjet printer and a laser printer are combined in a single device and applied to an image forming apparatus for selectively driving an inkjet printer or a laser printer during color image printing and black image printing It is installed to be in close contact with the paper alignment / feeding drum from the inside of the main body of the machine in order to enable it. By forming the color image, the inkjet printer and the laser printer are driven together and the laser printer is driven only when the black image is printed, thereby improving the printing speed and reducing the consumption of consumables.

Description

Process cartridge of image forming device

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which an inkjet printer and a laser printer are combined in one device to selectively drive an inkjet printer or a laser printer at the time of color image printing and black image printing. And a process cartridge of an image forming apparatus.

Applicant integrates inkjet printer and laser printer in one device, color printing is performed in inkjet printer, and black printing is performed in laser printer, so that the device can be miniaturized and high speed printing and high resolution image quality are obtained. An image forming apparatus and a method in which an ink printing method and a toner printing method are integrated are previously filed as a Korean Patent Application No. 1999 2390.

The contents of the pre- filed 'image forming apparatus and method' will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

The paper cassette 100 on which printing paper is loaded, the paper sorting / feeding drum 110 for feeding the picked up printing paper to the image forming means when the printing paper loaded on the paper cassette 100 is picked up, and the paper sorting / A laser printer mechanism 120 for printing a transfer photograph type printing on a printing paper supplied from a supply drum 110, an inkjet printer mechanism 130 for printing by ink spraying, and a printing job Is completed, the release rib 140 separating the printing paper attached to the paper alignment / feeding drum 110 and the image forming material sprayed onto the printing paper by the image forming means by applying heat and pressure to the separated printing paper. It consists of a fixing unit 150 to be fixed to. Reference numeral 171 denotes a registration roller, 172 a backup roller, and 173 denotes a registration sensor.

The laser printer mechanism 120 includes only black toner to perform black printing, and the inkjet printer mechanism 130 includes only three color inks such as yellow, magenta, and cyan to perform color printing. The mechanism 120 and the inkjet printer mechanism 130 are sequentially mounted around the paper alignment / supply drum 110 to perform an image forming operation on the printing paper supplied by the paper alignment / supply drum 110.

Looking at the configuration of the laser printer mechanism 120 to perform a black printing operation with only the black toner, the LSU 121 and the photosensitive member by the charger 124 to the image by scanning the light source according to the image information And a photosensitive drum 122 having an electrostatic latent image formed by the LSU 121 after being charged, and a developer 123 for injecting toner onto the photosensitive drum 122. At this time, the paper alignment / supply drum 110 is used as a transfer drum for transferring the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 122 to printing paper.

The ink cartridge of the inkjet printer in the process of specifically commercializing an image forming apparatus that is combined with the above-described inkjet printer and laser printer in one device to selectively drive the inkjet printer or laser printer during color printing and black printing; and There is a need for a cartridge incorporating a toner cartridge of a laser printer, and the present invention has been proposed to solve this problem.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge applied to an image forming apparatus in which an inkjet printer and a laser printer are combined in one device.

1 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus pre- filed by the present applicant.

2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of an image forming apparatus to which a process cartridge according to the present invention is applied;

3 is an external perspective view of a process cartridge according to the present invention;

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the carriage and the carriage driving unit of the ink kit applied to the present invention.

5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a process cartridge according to the present invention.

(Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing)

One ; Appliance body 2; Paper Feed / Align Drum

10; Developing kit 20; Waste Toner Box Kit

30; Ink kit 50; Cartridge cover

The process cartridge of the image forming apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object is provided with a paper alignment / supply drum which is provided on the paper feed path of the paper to selectively perform the inkjet printing and the printing of the toner developing method. An image forming apparatus comprising: an ink kit, which is installed to be in close contact with the sheet alignment / supply drum side, integrally includes an ink kit for color printing of paper, a developing kit for black printing of paper, and a waste toner box kit. Characterized in that formed.

The ink kit preferably includes an ink pen containing color ink, a carriage in which the ink pen is installed to reciprocate in the transverse direction with respect to the advancing direction of the paper, and a guide shaft and a guide rib for guiding the carriage movement.

It is preferable that a driving motor, a timing pulley and a timing belt, which are modules for driving a carriage, are provided on the upper cover side of the main body of the device, and a coupling pin for coupling the carriage to the timing belt is provided on the timing belt.

A carriage slide space portion is formed at an upper center of the cartridge cover to drive the carriage coupled to the timing belt, and an ink pen exchange window for exchanging the ink pen is formed at one side.

In addition, the developing kit includes a photosensitive drum for forming an electrostatic latent image, a developing roller for supporting a black toner as a developing material and developing the photosensitive drum, a metering blade for forming the developing material in a thin layer on the developing roller, and developing It is preferable to include a stirrer for supplying the developer to the developing roller side while stirring the ash.

In addition, the waste toner box kit preferably includes a cleaning blade for cleaning the toner remaining in the photosensitive drum after transfer, a space portion in which the waste toner is housed, and a charging roller for charging the photosensitive drum.

Meanwhile, as another embodiment of the present invention, the ink kit is separated from the developing kit and the waste toner box kit so that hooks are provided on both sides of the ink kit, and hook holes are formed on both sides of the developing kit and the waste toner box kit. A process cartridge of the forming apparatus can be provided.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention as described above will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus pre- filed by the present applicant, FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus to which a process cartridge according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a view of the process cartridge according to the present invention. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a carriage and a carriage driving unit of the ink kit applied to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the process cartridge according to the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, in the image forming apparatus to which the process cartridge of the present invention is applied, the paper cassette 2 is detachably installed in the lower side of the main body 1, and the paper cassette 2 is fed to the upper side of the paper cassette 2. A pickup roller 3 is provided, and an ink jet printer assembly and a laser printer assembly are provided so that the paper alignment / feed drum 4 is provided on the paper feed path so as to be in contact with the paper alignment / feed drum 4. The fuser 5 is provided on the path through which the printer is terminated and the paper is discharged.

The laser printer assembly is composed of a developing kit 10 and a waste toner box kit 2. The developing kit 10 carries a photosensitive drum 11 for forming an electrostatic latent image, and a black toner serving as a developing material, and a photosensitive drum. The developing roller 12 for developing in (11), the metering blade 13 for forming the developing material in a thin layer on the developing roller 12, and the developing material were stirred, and developed toward the developing roller 12 side. Although not shown in the figure, the drive means is composed of a motor and a gear for driving the photosensitive drum 11, and applying a bias voltage to the developing roller 12. High voltage power supply terminal is provided. Reference numeral 15 is a laser scanning unit.

In addition, the waste toner box kit 20 includes a cleaning blade 21 for cleaning the toner remaining in the photosensitive drum 11 after the transfer, a space portion 22 in which the waste toner is accommodated, and a photosensitive drum 11. It consists of a charging roller 23 and the like for charging.

The inkjet printer assembly is an ink kit 30, which includes an ink pen 31 containing color ink, a carriage 32 installed with the ink pen 31, and reciprocating in a transverse direction with respect to the advancing direction of the paper, and a carriage ( A guide shaft 33 and a guide rib 34 for guiding the movement of the 32, a drive motor 35 as a driving source for reciprocating the carriage 32, and a timing pulley 36 rotated by the drive motor 35. ) 37, a timing belt 38 installed on the pulleys 36 and 37, and a coupling pin assembly 39 mounted on the belt 38 to which the carriage is coupled.

Here, the drive motor 35, the timing pulleys 36 and 37, the timing belt 38, and the coupling pin 39, which are modules for driving the carriage 32, are fixed to the upper cover 1a side of the main body, and thus the upper cover. When 1a is closed, the coupling pin 39 is coupled to the carriage 32 so that the carriage 32 can be driven.

In addition, an ink pen station 41 in which the ink pen 31 is stored and stored is installed in the base 40 of the ink kit 30, and controls whether or not the ink is discharged by controlling the nozzle of the ink pen 31. A flexible cable 42 for sending a signal is connected to the ink pen 31, and one side of the cartridge cover 50 is provided with a connector 51 for connecting the flexible cable 42 to the printer body 1. have.

The cartridge sliding space 52 is provided at the center of the cartridge cover 50 so that the carriage 32 coupled to the coupling pin 39 can be driven by closing the upper cover 1a of the main body. On one side, the ink pen replacement window 53 is installed to replace the ink pen.

The operation of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above will be described.

First, an operation of printing a color image will be described.

When paper is supplied from the paper cassette 2 by the drive of the pickup roller 3, the paper alignment / feed drum 4 is rotated once and the carriage 32 is driven by the driving motor 35 to guide the shaft 33. And guided by the guide rib 34 is moved in the transverse direction to print the color portion on the paper. At this time, the sheet aligning / feeding drum 4 is rotated in the stepwise mode.

In this state, the black signal of the image to be printed on the paper forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum by the beam irradiated from the laser scanning unit 15, and developed into toner by the developing roller 12. do.

When the paper alignment / feed drum 4 is rotated for the second time, the black toner on the photosensitive drum 11 is transferred onto the paper wound on the paper alignment / feed drum 4, wherein the paper alignment / feed drum 4 is It rotates at constant speed.

When the leading edge of the paper comes to the paper separation position after the paper alignment / feeding drum 4 has been rotated two times, the paper is separated from the drum 4 by the separating device and transferred to the fixing unit 5, and colored by ink and toner. The paper on which image printing is completed passes through the fixing unit 5, the ink dries, and the toner is fixed, thereby completing image printing.

The initial recording time of the inkjet and laser beams when printing a color image as described above is determined by the home position sensor signal of the paper alignment / feeding drum, and thus the alignment between the color and the black and white image, that is, the image registration, is about 30 to 50 microns. Could reduce.

Next, an operation when printing a black image will be described.

The paper picked up from the paper cassette 2 is attached to the paper alignment / feeding drum 4 by the gripper and the static electricity, and at the same time, the laser beam irradiated from the laser scanning unit 15 is irradiated on the photosensitive drum 11. The electrostatic latent image is formed, and the toner is developed on the photosensitive drum 11 by the developing roller 12.

The black toner thus developed is transferred to the paper wound on the paper alignment / feed drum 4, where the paper alignment / feed drum 4 is rotated at a constant speed.

The toner of the black image is completely transferred onto the paper as the paper alignment / feeding drum 4 is rotated once, and when the leading edge of the paper reaches the separation position, the paper is separated from the drum 4 by the separating device, and the drum 4 The sheet separated from the sheet is passed through the fixing unit 5 while the toner transferred to the sheet is fixed on the sheet and then discharged to the outside of the machine.

As described above, the printing operation at the time of printing a black image is performed at the same printing speed as a general laser printer because printing is performed while the paper alignment / feeding drum is rotated at a constant speed.

On the other hand, the process cartridge to be applied to the present invention can be configured to separate the development kit and the ink kit as another embodiment. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the hooks 30a are formed on both sides of the ink kit 30, respectively, and the hook holes 10a are formed on both sides of the developing kit 10 corresponding thereto. Allow only the photo kit to be replaced separately.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention drives the inkjet printer and the laser printer together when printing a color image, and drives only the laser printer when printing a black image, thereby improving the printing speed and consumables. It is effective to reduce the amount of use.

In addition, by integrating a consumable part into a cartridge, it is easy for a user to directly replace a cartridge without a separate service measure, thereby improving serviceability of a product.

Claims (7)

An image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet alignment / feed drum provided on a paper feed path for selectively performing inkjet printing and toner printing; It is installed so as to be in close contact with the paper alignment / feeding drum inside the main body of the machine, and an ink kit for color printing of paper, a developing kit for black printing of paper, and a waste toner box kit are integrally formed. Configure but The ink kit includes an ink pen containing a color ink, a carriage in which the ink pen is installed to reciprocate in the transverse direction with respect to the advancing direction of the paper, and a guide shaft and a guide rib for guiding the carriage movement. Carriage slide spaces are formed in the upper center of the cover of the process cartridge to enable the sliding movement of the carriage, A driving motor, a timing pulley, and a timing belt having coupling pins for coupling the carriage to the timing belt, the coupling pins of the carriage driving module installed on the upper cover side of the main body of the carriage through the carriage sliding space part. And a carriage coupled to the carriage for reciprocating the carriage. delete delete delete The method of claim 1, The developing kit includes a photosensitive drum for forming an electrostatic latent image, a developing roller for supporting a black toner as a developing material and developing the photosensitive drum, a metering blade for forming the developing material in a thin layer on the developing roller, and a developing material. A process cartridge of an image forming apparatus including an agitator for stirring and supplying a developing material to a developing roller side. The method of claim 1, The waste toner box kit includes a cleaning blade for cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum after transfer, a space portion in which the waste toner is housed, and a charging roller for charging the photosensitive drum. The method of claim 1, The ink kit is separated from the developing kit and the waste toner box kit, and hooks are formed on both sides of the ink kit, and hook holes are formed on both sides of the developing kit and the waste toner box kit, so that the hook of the ink kit is connected to the hook hole. Process cartridge of the image forming apparatus, characterized in that coupled to be integrated.