KR100748101B1 - Space saving type image printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

There is provided an image forming apparatus for optimizing an installation space by changing a conveying direction of a recording medium. Such an image forming apparatus includes a paper feeder for supplying a recording medium, transport means for transporting the recording medium supplied through the paper feeder in the printing direction or the reverse direction, and recording for forming an image on the recording medium passing in the printing direction. Ejecting a print head, a guide frame and an image-formed recording medium that guide the front end of the recording medium to be bent at a predetermined angle when the recording medium is passed through the recording head into the apparatus. And a discharge lever for changing the transfer path of the recording medium in the discharge direction when the recording medium having passed the recording head in the direction of the apparatus is transferred in the reverse direction. Can be. According to the present invention, since the recording medium moves only inside the image forming apparatus in the process of printing the image, the installation space of the image forming apparatus can be optimized.

Image forming apparatus, printer, TPH, thermal transfer, guide frame, swing lever

Description

Space saving type image printing device

1 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus.

2 is a structure of a recording medium used in a conventional image forming apparatus.

3 is a perspective view of the structure of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention;

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in the perspective view of FIG. 3.

5 is a cross-sectional view when the B-B 'plane is cut in the perspective view of FIG.

6 is a perspective view of the rear projection surface of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

7 is a structure of a recording medium used in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

20, 70: recording medium 21, 71: printing area

22, 72: tab portion 100: conventional image forming apparatus

200: image forming apparatus of the present invention 110, 210: paper feed tray

120, 250: output trays 131, 231: pickup roller

132, 232: feed roller 133, 233: pressure roller

134, 234: platen roller 235: idle roller

140, 220: recording head 221: recording head pressing lever

222: recording head pressure spring 240: guide frame

251: Stacker 252: Push Film

260: swing lever 150, 270: ink ribbon cartridge

280: Separate Dam

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for optimizing an installation space by changing a discharge direction of a recording medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to recording by inducing a leading end of a recording medium passing through a recording head to bend at a predetermined angle. The medium includes a guide frame (in particular) inside the device, wherein the swing lever for changing the conveying path in the discharge tray direction when the recording medium passing through the recording head in the inner direction is conveyed in the opposite direction. (Swing Lever) further relates to an image forming apparatus characterized in that the recording medium in which the image is finally formed can be discharged to the discharge tray provided near the paper feed tray.

An operation structure of a conventional image forming apparatus comparable to this is described with reference to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 and the problems thereof will be described as follows.

In the conventional image forming apparatus 100, the input tray 110 and the output tray 120 are located at the front side of the image forming apparatus, and are stacked on the paper tray 110. The existing recording medium 20 is picked up by a pick-up roller 131 so that the printing start position is a bite point between the print head 140 and the platen roller 134 ( It is conveyed through the feed roller 132 until it is located in the nip).

If the image forming apparatus 100 supports color images, three colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow are sequentially printed to realize natural colors. It is necessary to minimize the feeding tolerance of the recording medium 20 as much as possible, since the quality of the vivid color image can be realized only when the positions of the corresponding images match exactly. The transfer error is caused by a backlash that occurs when the image forming apparatus 100 is driven through a mechanical driving element such as a gear and a motor. To solve this problem, three-color printing is performed only in a single direction. Specifically, printing is performed in such a manner that it is discharged after three transfer processes of "feed roller 132-> recording head 140-> print start position-> feed roller 132" are performed three times. Therefore, the printing direction of the recording medium becomes the same as the discharge direction of the recording medium on which an image is finally formed.

On the other hand, when the recording medium 20 is transferred to the printing start position by the pickup roller 132, the front end of the recording medium 20 is discharged to the rear portion of the image forming apparatus 100 to expose a predetermined portion to the outside. Therefore, the length required for printing in the conventional image forming apparatus 100 is " external exposed portion L1 of the recording medium + body L2 + paper feed tray L3 of the image forming apparatus " There has been a problem in that the installation space of the apparatus 100 is largely occupied. In addition, due to the structure in which the recording medium 20 is frequently exposed to the outside during printing, the recording medium may be damaged when the user is inadvertently handled, and the surface of the recording medium 20 may be contaminated and printed by foreign matters. Problems often deteriorate in quality.

Next, the characteristics of the recording medium used in the conventional image forming apparatus 100 and the problems thereof will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

The recording medium used in the prior art is composed of a print area 21 on which an image is to be formed and a tab portion 22 held by various conveying means of the image forming apparatus for conveyance, and the tab portions are provided on both sides of the recording medium. While being provided with one each, it is formed longer by a predetermined length (about 2 to 5 mm) than the distance between the axes of the feed roller 132 and the platen roller 134. At this time, the reason why the tab portion 22 is provided on both sides of the recording medium is to free the insertion direction of the recording medium to prevent the user from inserting the recording medium.

The tab portion 22 of the recording medium is gripped by the pickup roller 131 and transferred to the inside of the image forming apparatus 100, and then between the feed roller 132 and the pressure roller 133. When the nip reaches the nip, it is gripped by the feed roller 132 thereafter and conveyed in the printing direction or the reverse direction until image printing is completed. When the printing is completed and the recording medium 20 is discharged to the discharge tray 120, the user can remove both tab portions 22 from the discharged recording medium 20 to obtain a borderless printed matter.

However, according to the recording medium having such a tab structure, the production cost of the recording medium increases due to the tabs attached to both sides, which in turn increases the maintenance cost of the image forming apparatus, and it is necessary to repeat the cumbersome operation twice to remove the tab. There was discomfort.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and provides a means for allowing the recording medium to stay inside the image forming apparatus all the time while the image is printed on the recording medium to save the installation space of the image forming apparatus. For that purpose.

Another object of the present invention is to adopt a bin type paper tray to further save the installation space of the image forming apparatus, and to implement a tray in which paper feed and discharge are integrated by matching the printing direction and the discharge direction of the recording medium. To provide a means for separating the paper feed path and the discharge path of the recording medium.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the maintenance cost of the image forming apparatus by adopting a disposable tray as a feeding method, but having a recording medium loaded on the disposable feeding tray having only one tab for holding the transfer means.

The present invention for achieving the above object relates to an image forming apparatus for optimizing the installation space by changing the transfer direction of the recording medium, the paper feeder for supplying the recording medium, and the recording medium supplied through the paper feed in the printing direction Or a conveying means for conveying in the reverse direction, a print head for forming an image on the recording medium passing in the printing direction, and when the recording medium is conveyed into the apparatus through the recording head. And a guide frame for inducing the leading end to bend at a predetermined angle, and a discharge unit for discharging the recording medium having completed image formation.

In this case, the image forming apparatus may further include a swing lever for changing the transfer path of the recording medium in the discharge direction when the recording medium passing through the recording head in the direction of the apparatus is transferred in the opposite direction.

In addition, the paper feeding unit may be implemented as a bin type input tray. In this case, the transfer unit picks up one of the recording media loaded in the paper tray and transfers it to the inside of the apparatus. A pickup roller, a feed roller for transferring the recording medium conveyed by the pickup roller in the printing direction or the reverse direction thereof, and a recording medium in pairs with the feed roller, And a pressure roller for pressing the contact roller and a platen roller for allowing the recording medium to adhere to the recording head horizontally.

Here, the pickup roller may be further responsible for transferring the recording medium to the discharge unit. In this case, the transfer means may include an idle roller for allowing the recording medium to be delivered to the discharge unit to be in close contact with the pickup roller. It may further include.

In addition, the paper feed tray may include a loading part having a space for loading the recording medium to be loaded, and a lever plate for bringing the lower end of the loaded recording medium into close contact with the pickup roller. The paper feed tray may be implemented in a disposable type, while the recording medium loaded in the paper feed tray may include a tab on one side thereof for being gripped by a transfer means.

In addition, the discharge unit may include a stacker for supporting a lower end of the discharged recording medium and a push film for closely contacting the discharged recording medium in the ground direction. In this case, the stacker may include a stacker. The push film may be provided at a lower end of the upper plate surface of the paper tray, and the push film may be implemented to closely contact the discharged recording medium with the upper plate surface of the paper tray.

On the other hand, the guide frame may be formed of a U-shaped curved surface.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, in adding reference numerals to the elements of each drawing, it should be noted that the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible even if they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the printing ink adhered on the film is melted by the heat generation of the heat generating element provided in the recording head, and the image forming apparatus of the thermal transfer type which transfers the melted ink to the recording medium and prints the same color as the original. First, the structure of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described through the characteristics of each component, and the printing process of the recording medium in such a structure will be described along the transfer path.

3 is a perspective view of the internal structure of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B ′ of FIG. 3. 6 is a perspective view of the rear projection surface of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

The paper feeding unit 210 serves to supply the recording medium 70 to the image forming apparatus 200, and may be implemented as an input cassette or an input tray. It is preferable to implement with a bin type (Bin Type) to supply. The paper feeding unit 210 may include a stacking unit 211 having a space for loading the recording medium 70 to be fed thereon, and a lever plate for bringing the lower end portion of the loaded recording medium 100 into close contact with the pickup roller 231. (Lever Plate) 212 is made.

Here, the paper feeding unit 210 is preferably implemented in a disposable structure (disposable type), especially for the following reasons.

In other words, in the present invention, the tab portion 72 may be selectively provided on only one side of the recording area 71, whereas the recording medium used in the conventional method has tab portions on each side thereof. The structure of the recording medium can be seen in FIG. However, in this case, a user error may occur in a direction of inserting a recording medium as compared to the conventional method, and the inaccuracy of loading on the paper feeding unit 210 may cause a problem of deterioration of image printing. It is to adopt a disposable type paper feeding section 210 which loads the number of recording media in the correct insertion direction and the correct position and prevents further supply or refill later.

The print head 220 serves to form an image on the recording medium 70 passing in the printing direction, and it is preferable to use a TPH (Thermal Print Head) according to the premise of this embodiment. Here, the recording head press lever 221 which controls the recording medium 70 to be in close contact with the recording medium 70 as the recording medium 70 is fixed at the printing start position and printing is started or just before printing is started. And a recording head pressing spring 222 for providing a flexible resilience to the pressure exerted by the recording head pressing lever 221, may be connected to the recording head 220, and the recording head pressing lever 221 may be ink. Since it is advantageous in space-saving design to form a structure surrounding the ribbon cartridge 270, it is preferable that the one axis is formed of the 'b' shaped lever is fixed to the shaft.

The transfer means 231 to 235 serve to transfer the recording medium 70 supplied through the paper feeding unit 210 in the printing direction or the reverse direction thereof. Specifically, one of the recording mediums loaded on the paper feeding tray 210. Pick-up roller (231) for picking up and transporting the material to the inside of the apparatus, and a feed roller (Feed Roller) for transporting the recording medium 70 transferred by the pickup roller (231) in the printing direction or the reverse direction thereof ( And a pressure roller 233 and a recording medium 70 which are provided in pair with the feed roller 232 and pressurize the recording medium 70 to be in close contact with the feed roller 232. It is made to include a platen roller (Platen Roller) 234 to be in close contact with the horizontal. In this case, the pickup roller 231 may further play a role of transferring the recording medium 70 to the discharge unit 250 in a rotation in the opposite direction as the pickup, in addition to the above-mentioned role, in which case the transfer means is discharged to the discharge unit 250. It may further include an idle roller (Idle Roller) (235) to allow the recording medium 70 to be transferred to the close contact with the pickup roller (221).

Herein, the elements to which the rotational force is applied by a predetermined driving motor (not shown) are limited to the pickup roller 231 and the feed roller 232, and the remaining transfer means 233 to 235 are provided in pairs. It is preferable to provide the adhesion to the conveying means 231, 232 or the recording head 220 to play a role of stably engaging (holding) the recording medium 70 between the rollers.

The guide frame 240 guides the front end of the recording medium 70 to bend at a predetermined angle when the recording medium 70 passes through the recording head 220 into the apparatus 200. In charge of. Therefore, even if the recording medium 70 reaches the printing start position at the nip of the feed roller 232 and the pressure roller 233, the front end thereof does not protrude out of the image forming apparatus 200, 200 is stored inside. At this time, the bent and stored recording medium 70 may continue to be conveyed in the bent direction to reach the discharge part 250 provided separately from the paper feeding part 210, and may be bent and stored for a while and then transferred in the opposite direction. And may be headed toward the discharge unit 250 that is integrated with the paper feeding unit 210.

Meanwhile, the guide frame 240 may be formed as a curved surface having a 'b' shape of 90 °, a '∠' shape of 120 °, or a 'U' shape of 180 ° according to the angle at which the recording medium 70 is bent. In particular, in the embodiment in which the paper feeding part 210 and the discharge part 250 are integrally formed, it is preferable that the paper feeding part 210 and the discharge part 250 are formed in a curved surface having a 'U' shape.

The discharge unit 250 serves as a passage for discharging the recording medium 70 in which the image printing is completed, and according to the curved surface forming angle of the guide frame 240, the top plate front end, the top plate stop part, or the top plate rear end of the image forming apparatus. (When integrated with the paper feed unit).

The discharge unit 250 may include a stacker 251 for supporting a lower end of the discharged recording medium 70, and a push film for closely contacting the discharged recording medium 70 to the ground direction. 252, wherein the stacker 251 is provided at the lower end of the upper surface of the stacking portion 211 of the paper feed tray in the embodiment in which the discharge unit 250 and the paper feeding unit 210 are integrally provided. The push film 252 is implemented by bringing the discharged recording medium 70 into close contact with the upper plate surface of the loading part 211 of the paper feed tray.

The swing lever 260 feeds the feed path 210 of the recording medium 70 when the recording medium 70 which has passed the recording head 220 in the inner direction of the apparatus 200 is transferred in the reverse direction. It is responsible for changing the direction of the discharge unit 250, rather than), which is a component that is selectively provided for the case that the paper feeding unit 210 and the discharge unit 250 is implemented integrally.

In addition, when there are a plurality of recording mediums 70 picked up from the paper feeding unit 210, only one of them is separated by the pickup roller 231, and a separate dam 280 for transporting the inside of the apparatus 200 is provided. The paper feeder 210 and the pickup roller 231 may be further provided at the bottom.

In addition, the recording medium 70 has reached the printing start position, or the bite point (nip) between the recording head 220 and the platen roller 224, and the bite point between the feed roller 232 and the pressure roller 233 nip, one or more sensors (not shown) may be further provided to detect whether a nip between the pick-up roller 231 and the idle roller 235 has been reached, respectively.

Hereinafter, the path in which the recording medium 70 is transferred in the image forming apparatus 200 having the above-described structure and printing will be described in detail. Here, the image forming apparatus 200 adopts a thermal transfer recording head 220 supporting a color image, the paper feeding unit 210 is a bin type and is integrally formed with the discharge unit 250. Assume that the guide frame 240 is formed of a curved surface of the 'U' shape.

One of the recording mediums 70 loaded on the paper feed tray 21 mounted close to the vertical is picked up one by one by the separate dam 270 and the pick-up roller 231 and then picked up by the pick-up roller 231. 200 is conveyed inside.

The transferred recording medium 70 reaches a nip point nip between the feed roller 232 and the pressure roller 233, and then the printing start position thereof is the bleed point between the TPH 220 and the platen roller 234 ( nip) and continue to feed inward into the device. At this time, the front end of the transported recording medium 70 is bent at 180 degrees on the U-shaped curved surface of the guide frame 240 to stay inside the apparatus 200.

The TPH 220 is now in close contact with the recording medium 70 by the TPH pressure lever 221 and the TPH pressure spring 222 while the TPH 220 is heated to a specific color of three colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow). Printing is started and the feeding roller 232 is driven in the printing direction so that the printing area 71 of the recording medium 70 passes through the TPH 220. At this time, the rear end of the recording medium is moved to the top surface of the swing lever 260 to change the movement path to the discharge path instead of the previous paper feeding path.

When the printing end position of the recording medium 70 reaches a nip between the TPH 220 and the platen roller 234, the TPH pressing lever 221 is released and the TPH 220 connected thereto is connected to the recording medium ( 70, and at the same time, the feeding roller 232 is driven in the reverse direction of the printing direction and conveyed again in the inner direction of the apparatus 200 until the printing start position of the recording medium 70 is returned to its original position.

This transfer to the " print start position- > print end position " and the resulting image printing process are repeated three times for each of the three colors.

When a color image is finally formed on the recording medium 70 and the printing end position is reached, the feeding roller 232 causes the recording medium 70 to nip between the pickup roller 231 and the idle roller 235. It continues to be driven in the printing direction until it reaches, and the pickup roller 231 is driven again as the recording medium 70 reaches to discharge the recording medium 70 to the discharge unit 250. The discharged recording medium 70 is brought into close contact with the upper plate surface of the loading part of the paper feed tray by the push film 252 and is supported by the stacker 251 provided at the lower end of the upper plate surface.

At this time, the user removes the tab portion attached to one side of the discharged recording medium 70 to obtain a complete printed matter.

In the foregoing detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined not only by the scope of the following claims, but also by those equivalent to the scope of the claims.

According to the present invention having the above configuration, even after the recording medium passes through the recording head, since the conveying direction is changed by the guide frame and stays inside the image forming apparatus, the size of the longitudinal direction of the image forming apparatus can be reduced. On the other hand, since the recording medium can be discharged to a position other than the front portion of the image forming apparatus, the installation space of the image forming apparatus can be saved as much as the space occupied by the conventional discharge tray.

In addition, since the discharge of the recording medium can be performed in a reverse direction of the paper feeding direction by using the swing lever, the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus can be reduced by implementing the paper feed tray and the discharge tray integrally.

In addition, by adopting a recording medium having only one tab for holding the conveying means, the maintenance cost of the image forming apparatus can be reduced, and a paper feed tray method which is shipped with the recording medium loaded and used for one-time use can be used as one tap. The problem of the insertion direction error and the problem of incorrect image printing caused by it can be fundamentally prevented.

Claims (11)

An image forming apparatus which optimizes an installation space by changing a conveying direction of a recording medium, A paper feeder configured to be a disposable paper feed tray and supplying a recording medium; Conveying means for conveying the recording medium supplied through the paper feeding unit in a printing direction or the reverse direction thereof; A print head for forming an image on a recording medium passing in the printing direction; A guide frame which guides the front end of the recording medium to bend at a predetermined angle when the recording medium is passed through the recording head into the apparatus; And A discharge unit for discharging the recording medium having completed image formation; It is made, including The recording medium loaded in the paper feeding unit is provided with a tab for holding on the conveying means only on one side, and the conveying means is configured to convey the recording medium by holding the tab. Forming device. The method of claim 1, And a swing lever for changing a transfer path of the recording medium toward the discharge unit when the recording medium passing through the recording head in the direction of the apparatus is transferred in the reverse direction. . The method of claim 2, And the paper feeding unit is implemented as a bin type input tray. The method of claim 3, wherein the transfer means A pick-up roller which picks up one of the recording media loaded in the paper feed tray and transfers it into the apparatus; A feed roller which transfers the recording medium conveyed by the pickup roller in the printing direction or the reverse direction thereof; A pressure roller which is provided in pairs with the feed roller and presses the recording medium to be in close contact with the feed roller; And A platen roller which allows the recording medium to adhere to the recording head horizontally; Space-saving image forming apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 4, wherein The pickup roller is further responsible for transferring the recording medium to the discharge unit, In this case, the conveying means is a space-saving image forming apparatus further comprises an idle roller (Idle Roller) to allow the recording medium conveyed to the discharge unit to be in close contact with the pickup roller. The paper feed tray of claim 4, wherein the paper feed tray is A loading unit having a space for loading the recording medium to be fed; And A lever plate for attaching a lower end portion of the loaded recording medium to the pickup roller; Space-saving image forming apparatus comprising a. delete delete The method of claim 6, wherein the discharge unit A stacker for supporting a lower end of the discharged recording medium; And A push film for closely contacting the discharged recording medium in the paper direction; Space-saving image forming apparatus, characterized in that consisting of. The method of claim 9, The stacker is provided at the lower end of the upper surface of the loading portion of the paper tray, The push film is a space-saving image forming apparatus characterized in that the discharged recording medium is in close contact with the upper surface of the stacking portion of the paper feed tray. The method of claim 1, wherein the guide frame Space-saving image forming apparatus, characterized in that formed in a U-shaped curved surface.

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