KR100362391B1 - Carrier recovery apparatus for liquid type image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

A carrier recovery apparatus of a wet image forming apparatus for condensing and recovering carrier vapor into a liquid carrier from a drying unit that absorbs and dries a liquid carrier on a photosensitive medium, wherein the condenser receives and condenses carrier vapor evaporated from the drying unit. Wow; A carrier vapor movement path connecting the drying unit and the condenser; A recovery tank sequentially receiving the condensation carrier and air condensed in the condenser; A suction pump providing suction force for movement of the carrier vapor and movement of the condensation carrier, and installed in an air discharge path through which uncondensed air is discharged from the condenser; Disclosed is a carrier recovery apparatus for a wet image forming apparatus, comprising: a separator for separating a condensation carrier condensed on a movement path from a carrier vapor. According to the disclosed carrier recovery device, it is possible to improve the condensation efficiency of the condenser and to extend the life of the filter.

Description

Carrier recovery apparatus for liquid image forming apparatus

The present invention relates to a carrier recovery apparatus of a wet image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a carrier recovery apparatus of a wet image forming apparatus for recovering a carrier from a photosensitive medium.

In general, an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or a copying machine is classified into a dry type using a powder toner as a developer and a wet type using a toner mixed with a liquid carrier such as a noppar according to a developing method. do. Both of these methods supply toner to a photosensitive medium such as a photosensitive belt on which an electrostatic latent image is formed to develop a predetermined image, and then pass the paper through the transfer medium which is rotated in contact with the photosensitive belt to transfer the developed image onto the paper. Print it. Recently, the wet developing method has been adopted in earnest.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a general wet image forming apparatus.

As shown in the drawing, the wet color image forming apparatus is supported by a plurality of support rollers 11 and 12, and includes a photosensitive belt 10 for traveling in an orbit, and a laser for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive belt 10. A developing unit 14 for developing a predetermined image by supplying a scanning unit (LSU) 13, a developing solution in which a carrier and a toner having a predetermined color are mixed on the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive belt 10, and the developing unit 14; After passing through the drying unit 15 for drying the carrier remaining on the photosensitive belt 10, the transfer unit 16 and the drying unit 15 for transferring the image developed on the photosensitive belt 10 to the paper It comprises a carrier recovery device 17 for condensing and recovering the carrier vapor evaporated in the).

The drying unit 15 is configured to include a drying roller 15b installed in the unit body 15a and rotating in contact with the photosensitive belt 10, and a heating roller 15c in contact rotating with the drying roller 15b. do. In the above configuration, the drying roller 15b absorbs the liquid carrier remaining on the photosensitive belt 10, and the heating roller 15c heats the absorbed carrier to evaporate it. Here, the carrier condensed in the unit body 15a is directly recovered into the carrier storage tank 18 through a predetermined path.

On the other hand, the carrier vapor not condensed in the unit body (15a) is recovered by condensing in the carrier recovery device (17). The recovery device 17 includes a condenser 22 connected to the drying unit 15 by a carrier movement path 21, a recovery tank 23 for recovering a carrier condensed in the condenser 22, A suction pump 25 and a filter 26 are installed in the discharge path 24 for discharging the vapor, which is not condensed by the condenser 22, to the outside. Peltier chips 27 and heat sinks 28 for cooling the condenser 22 are installed outside the condenser 22, and the metal balls 22a for increasing the condensation efficiency of the carrier vapor are provided in the condenser 22. This is installed.

In the above configuration, the carrier vapor evaporated in the drying unit 15 by the suction force of the suction pump 25 flows into the condenser 22 through the movement path 21 and condenses. The condensed carrier is returned to the carrier recovery tank 23, and the uncondensed vapor is discharged out of the set via the discharge path 24, the suction pump 25 and the filter 26. Then, the carrier recovered in the recovery tank 23 can be sent to the carrier storage tank 18 installed in the set by the operation of the valve 29a provided on the predetermined recovery path 29 to be reused.

By the way, in the conventional carrier recovery apparatus having the configuration as described above, the carrier already condensed in the carrier movement path 21 is introduced into the condenser 22 to coat the surface of the metal ball 22a. As such, when the surface of the metal ball 22a is coated, there is a problem that the heat transfer efficiency is lowered.

In addition, when a large amount of carriers condensed in the carrier movement path 21 does not accumulate in the recovery tank 23, the life of the filter 26 is shortened when the carrier 26 is introduced into the filter 26 by the suction force of the suction pump 25. There is a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a carrier recovery apparatus of a wet image forming apparatus having an improved structure to more efficiently recover carrier vapors dried in a drying unit.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a carrier recovery apparatus of a conventional wet image forming apparatus.

2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a carrier recovery apparatus of the wet image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

10. Photosensitive belt 15. Drying unit

30..Capacitor 33..Metalball

35 .. Peltier chip 36. Heatsink

41. Carrier movement path 42. Carrier recovery path

43. Air discharge path 45. Secondary path

50. Recovery tank 60. Suction pump

70.Filter 80.Separator

Carrier recovery apparatus of the wet image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a wet image forming apparatus for condensing and recovering the carrier vapor to the liquid carrier from the drying unit for absorbing and drying the liquid carrier on the photosensitive medium A carrier recovery apparatus comprising: a condenser for receiving and condensing a carrier vapor evaporated from the drying unit; A carrier vapor movement path connecting the drying unit and the condenser; A recovery tank sequentially receiving the condensation carrier and air condensed in the condenser; A suction pump providing suction force for movement of the carrier vapor and movement of the condensation carrier, and installed in an air discharge path through which uncondensed air is discharged from the condenser; And a separator for separating the condensation carrier condensed on the movement path from the carrier vapor.

Hereinafter, a carrier recovery apparatus of a wet image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2, the carrier recovery apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the condenser 30 for receiving and condensing the carrier vapor evaporated from the drying unit 15 of the image forming apparatus, and the drying unit 15 and A carrier vapor movement path 41 connecting the cone sensor 30, a recovery tank 50 sequentially receiving the condensation carrier and air condensed in the condenser 30, and a carrier vapor and condensation carrier A suction pump 60 and a separator 80 are installed on the air discharge path 43 to provide suction force.

The drying unit 15 develops an image on the photosensitive belt 10 by the developing unit 14, and then removes and evaporates the liquid carrier which remains on the photosensitive belt 10. The drying unit 15 includes a drying roller 15b that is in contact rotation with the photosensitive belt 10 and a heating roller 15c that is in contact rotation with the drying roller 15b. Each roller 15b, 15c is wrapped by the unit main body 15a. Some of the condensation carriers, which are evaporated by the heating roller 15c and immediately condensed in the unit body 15a, are sent to the carrier storage tank 18 installed in the set via a predetermined path (not shown). On the other hand, the vaporized carrier vapor is sent to the condenser 30.

The condenser 30 is connected to the drying unit 15 by the carrier vapor movement path 41. The condenser 30 includes a case 31 having an inlet 31a through which carrier vapor is introduced, an outlet 31b through which a condensation carrier and air are discharged together, and a metal ball 33 installed in the case 31. Equipped. The movement path 41 is connected to the inlet 31a, and the recovery tank 50 is connected to the outlet 31b. The metal ball 33 is installed to accumulate a plurality in the case 31, and serves to condense the carrier vapor and reduce the flow rate of the carrier vapor.

In addition, as a heat dissipation means for dissipating heat in the capacitor 30 to the outside, a Peltier chip 35 and a heat sink 36 are provided. The Peltier chip 35 is attached to the outside of the case 31 to forcibly take away heat in the case 31, and the heat is radiated to the atmosphere by the heat sink 36 coupled to the Peltier chip 35.

The recovery tank 50 is directly connected to the condenser 30 so as to sequentially receive the condensed carrier and air condensed in the condenser 30. Preferably, the recovery tank 50 is provided directly below the condenser 30, so that the condensation carrier can flow down by gravity. In addition, the recovery tank 50 is provided with a carrier recovery path 42 for transferring the recovered condensed carrier to the storage tank 18. The recovery path 42 is provided with a valve 42a for selectively controlling the discharge of the condensed carrier recovered in the recovery tank 50.

In addition, the air discharge path 43 is connected to the recovery tank 50 to discharge the introduced air to the outside. The air pump 60 and the filter 70 are installed in the air discharge path 43. When the air pump 60 is driven, the carrier vapor of the drying unit 15 is introduced into the condenser 30, and the suction pump for sucking the condensed carrier and air condensed after the inflow into the recovery tank 50 is provided. do. In addition, the suction pump 60 forcibly discharges the air introduced into the recovery tank 50 to the outside through the air discharge path 43. The filter 70 filters only minute foreign matter, that is, a small amount of toner dust, included in the air discharged and installed in the air discharge path 43 so that only clean air can be discharged. Such a filter is preferably a charcoal filter having a sterilizing action or the like, and is preferably installed downstream of the suction pump 60.

The separator 80 is installed on the carrier vapor movement path 41 and separates the condensation carrier condensed during the movement on the movement path 41 from the carrier vapor. The separator 80 is connected to the recovery tank 50 by an auxiliary path 45. The auxiliary path 45 is provided with a valve 45a for selectively discharging the condensation carrier accumulated in the separator 80 to the recovery tank 50. The valve 45a may be a solenoid valve. In addition, the separator 80 is preferably installed above the recovery tank 50 so that the recovered condensation carrier can flow down into the recovery tank 50 by gravity.

The operational effects of the carrier recovery apparatus of the wet image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration will be described below.

First, during the printing operation, the drying unit 15 absorbs and evaporates the liquid carrier from the photosensitive belt 10. The evaporated carrier vapor is introduced into the condenser 30 via the carrier vapor movement path 41 by the pumping force of the suction pump 60. At this time, some of the carrier vapor is condensed on the movement path 41 and converted into the condensation carrier. This condensation carrier is collected in the separator 80 and stored. That is, the separator 80 separates the carrier vapor and the condensation carrier on the movement path 41. Therefore, since only carrier vapor flows into the capacitor 30, it is possible to suppress coating of the surface of the metal ball 33 in the condenser 30 by the condensation carrier as in the prior art. In addition, since the coating of the surface of the metal ball 33 by the carrier introduced in the condensed state is suppressed, the heat transfer efficiency of the metal ball 33 can be increased, and the condensation rate of the carrier vapor can be increased. In this way, the carrier vapor introduced into the condenser 30 by the metal ball 33 is condensed by heat exchange.

Subsequently, the condensed carrier and air are sequentially moved to the recovery tank 50 by the suction force of the suction pump 60. Therefore, the condensation carrier is finally recovered and stored in the recovery tank 50, and the air is discharged to the outside via the air discharge path 43 and the filter 70 by the suction force of the suction pump 60. Here, the minute amount of toner dust or foreign matter contained in the discharged air is filtered by the filter 70, so that the air discharged to the outside is in a clean state containing almost no harmful components or foreign matter.

On the other hand, the condensation carrier separated and stored in the separator 80 is recovered to the recovery tank 50 through the auxiliary path 45 during the opening and closing operation of the valve 45a. At this time, the recovery of the condensation carrier accumulated in the separator 80 is made in the state that the operation of the suction pump 60 is stopped after the end of printing. That is, when the valve 45a is opened while the suction pump 60 is stopped, the condensation carrier accumulated on the separator 80 is recovered to the recovery tank 50 by its own weight. Then, the condensed carrier recovered in the recovery tank 50 is sent to the carrier storage tank 18 installed in the set through a predetermined carrier recovery path 42 by selectively opening the valve 42a and reused. Can be.

According to the carrier recovery apparatus of the wet image forming apparatus according to the present invention as described above, by recovering the carrier condensed in the carrier movement path using the separator, it is possible to increase the heat transfer efficiency inside the condenser to increase the condensation efficiency.

In addition, since the life of the filter can be extended by suppressing the condensed carrier from entering the filter, the maintenance cost of the device can be reduced.

Claims (6)

In the carrier recovery apparatus of the wet image forming apparatus for condensing and recovering carrier vapor into a liquid carrier from a drying unit for absorbing and drying the liquid carrier on the photosensitive medium, A condenser for receiving and condensing the carrier vapor evaporated from the drying unit; A carrier vapor movement path connecting the drying unit and the condenser; A recovery tank sequentially receiving the condensation carrier and air condensed in the condenser; A suction pump providing suction force for movement of the carrier vapor and movement of the condensation carrier, and installed in an air discharge path through which uncondensed air is discharged from the condenser; And a separator for separating the condensation carrier condensed on the moving path from the carrier vapor. The method of claim 1, And an auxiliary path connecting the separator and the recovery tank to recover the condensation carrier accumulated in the separator to the recovery tank. 3. The carrier recovery apparatus of claim 2, wherein a valve for selectively supplying a condensation carrier accumulated in the separator to the recovery tank is installed in the auxiliary path. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, A Peltier chip installed outside the condenser to dissipate heat in the condenser to the outside; And a heat sink connected to the Peltier chip to forcibly cool the Peltier chip. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, And a plurality of metal balls installed in the condenser to reduce a moving speed of the sucked carrier vapor and increase a heat transfer rate. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The air discharge path is connected to the recovery tank, the carrier recovery device of the wet image forming apparatus, characterized in that it comprises a filter for filtering impurities contained in the air discharged to the outside by the suction pump.