KR19980057419A - Prevention Method of Paper Roll in Compression Roller of Image Forming Device - Google Patents

Abstract

end. TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to a method for preventing paper from curling in a pressing roller of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic developing method.

I. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a method of preventing paper from curling in a pressing roller of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic developing method, and notifying a user when paper is curled in the pressing roller.

All. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method of preventing the curling of a paper roller of an image forming apparatus comprising a paper feed sensor and a paper discharge sensor, using an electrophotographic development method, wherein a printing paper being conveyed in response to a printing command is defined. A process of checking whether the paper discharge sensor is reached within the process, and if the printing paper does not reach the paper discharge sensor within a predetermined time period, again driving the press roller to a predetermined value and checking whether the paper discharge sensor is reached again. When the printing paper does not reach the discharge detection sensor during the driving of the pressing roller, the process of reporting the occurrence of jam after stopping the driving roller is characterized in that it is made.

la. Important use of the invention: It can be used in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic developing method.

Description

How to prevent curling of the roller in the image forming apparatus

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic developing method, and more particularly to a method for preventing paper from curling in a pressing roller.

An image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic development method includes a laser beam printer, a copier, a facsimile, and the like. Such image forming apparatuses print a predetermined image on a paper through a series of electrophotographic developing processes of charging = exposure = developing = exhibiting = settlement = badge. Hereinafter, the electrophotographic development process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1.

Figure 1 shows a schematic engine mechanism diagram of a laser beam printer using an electrophotographic development method. In FIG. 1, the charging unit 100 forms a uniform charge on the photosensitive drum 102. The laser scanner unit 104 forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 102 by generating the laser beam L according to the image data to expose the photosensitive drum 102. The developing unit 106 transfers a developer (toner) to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 102. The pickup roller 110 picks up and loads paper loaded in the paper cassette 108. The conveying roller 112 conveys the paper fed by the pickup roller 110 to the register roller 114. The register roller 114 aligns the sheet conveyed by the pickup roller 110 and the transfer roller 112 and transfers the sheet to the transfer unit 116. The transfer unit 116 transfers the developer formed on the photosensitive drum 102 to the paper. The fixing unit 118 fixes the developer transferred to the paper on the paper by heat and pressure. The discharge rollers 120 and 122 discharge the finished paper out of the printer. Reference numeral 124 denotes a paper conveyance path. On the other hand, in the laser beam printer, sensors for detecting the operating state of each part of the printer or the conveying state of paper are usually installed. Among these sensors, sensors related to jam detection of paper are shown in FIG. 1. First, the first sensor S1 is installed on the paper feed path 124 between the feed roller 12 and the register roller 114 as a paper feed detection and feed detection sensor to detect the transfer of paper. The second sensor S2 is installed on the paper feed path between the fixing unit 118 and the discharge roller 120 as a discharge detection sensor. In the following description, the first and second sensors will be referred to as a paper feed sensor and a badge sensor, respectively, to aid in understanding the present invention.

Looking at the jam generation type in the conventional image forming apparatus having the above-described engine mechanism configuration is classified into three as follows. The first case is paper jam generated at the feeding stage, the second case is paper jam generated at the transfer stage, and the third case is paper jam generated at the fixing and discharging stage. Detection of such a paper jam occurs when the paper edge does not pass through the paper feed sensor and the paper discharge sensor within a predetermined distance. When the three types of jams are generated, the user needs to open the cover of the image forming apparatus and remove the jam generating paper. In order to solve this problem, the automatic jam generating paper removal method has recently been widely used. The automatic jam generating paper removal method is that when the user only opens and closes the cover when the jam is generated, except that the paper is very badly torn or crumpled in the image forming apparatus, the motor automatically rotates in the reverse direction and then rotates forward again. Is discharged out of the device. However, the following problem occurs in the conventional image forming apparatus employing the automatic jam generating paper described above. Referring to FIG. 2, firstly, FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed configuration diagram of the fixing unit 118 of FIG. 1. The fixing unit 118 includes a heating roller 118a and a pressing roller 118b. The pressing roller 118b is located in the support frame 118d. And the heating roller 118a is attached to the paper curl prevention tsume 118c to prevent the paper from curling on the heating roller 118a. On the other hand, the pressing roller 118b is usually made of rubber such as silicon, so that the contact type can not be installed, thereby preventing the paper from being rolled on the pressing roller 118b through the support frame 118d. However, when the pressing roller 118b is contaminated and the leading edge of the paper enters between the gap a between the pressing roller 118b and the support frame 118d, the jam is reported by the discharge sensor, and then the user generates the jam paper. When the cover is opened and closed, the paper is completely rolled onto the pressing roller 118b as the motor performs reverse rotation and forward rotation by the above-described automatic jam generating paper removal method. Therefore, the user is inconvenient to completely disassemble the image forming apparatus in order to remove the jam generating paper, and also a problem that the paper curled on the pressing roller 118b may catch fire by the high heat generated from the heating roller 118a. There was also.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for preventing the paper from curling in the pressing roller of the image forming apparatus using the electrophotographic development method.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for notifying a user of paper curled in a fixing roller of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic development method.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a feed sensor and a discharge sensor, and in the method of preventing curling of a paper roller of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic development method, the printing paper being conveyed in response to a printing command is defined. A process of inspecting whether the discharge sensor is reached within a time period, and a process of inspecting whether the discharge sensor is reached again while further driving the pressing roller to a preset value when printing paper does not reach the discharge sensor within a prescribed time period. And, when the printing paper does not reach the discharge detection sensor during the driving of the pressing roller is characterized in that the process of the jam occurs after stopping the driving roller is characterized in that the process of reporting.

1 is a schematic engine mechanism configuration diagram of a laser beam printer using an electrophotographic development method.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the fixing unit 118 of FIG. 1.

3 is a block diagram of a general laser beam printer.

Figure 4 is a flow chart for preventing the paper curl in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a flow chart for preventing the paper curl in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, many specific details such as the number of revolutions of the fixing roller and the specific processing flow are presented to provide a more general understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. And a detailed description of known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention will be omitted.

3 is a block diagram of a general laser beam printer. The laser beam printer includes a video controller 200, an OPE 202, and a print engine unit 204. The video controller 200 again includes a computer interface 206, a video controller 208, and an engine interface 210. The computer interface 206 interfaces the input / output signals between the host computer and the video control unit 208. The video controller 208 includes a ROM having a control program according to an embodiment of the present invention and a RAM for temporarily storing various data input from the OPE 202 and a host computer. The video controller 208 converts the data received from the computer interface 206 into video data that can be processed by the printer engine, and transmits the data to the print engine 204. The engine interface 210 interfaces an input / output signal with the print engine 204 under the control of the video controller 208. The OPE 202 is controlled by the video controller 208 and includes a plurality of keys for inputting various commands and a display device for displaying information according to a printer operation.

The print engine unit 204 includes a video interface 212, an engine control unit 214, an input / output (I / O) interface 216, a sensor circuit 218, an instrument driving unit 220, and an electrophotographic developing unit 222. It is configured to be connected to the video controller 200. The video interface 212 provides an interface for transmitting and receiving signals between the video controller 200 and the engine controller 214, and the engine controller 214 is electrophotographic with the mechanical driver 220 under the control of the video controller 200. The developing unit 222 is controlled and an image according to video data received from the video controller 200 is printed on paper. In addition, the engine control unit 214 detects an operation state (eg, jam occurrence / non-detection and developer amount) of each part of the print engine unit 200 through the sensor circuit 218. The I / O interface 216 is connected between the engine controller 214, the sensor circuit 218, the mechanical driver 220, and the electrophotographic developing unit 222 to interface the input / output signals of the engine controller 204. The sensor circuit 218 drives various sensors for monitoring the operation state of each portion of the print engine unit 200, jam occurrence detection, developer amount, and the like, and provides a detection signal of each sensor to the engine controller 24. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the sensor circuit 218 includes a third sensor S3 installed between the fixing unit 118 and the transfer unit 116. The mechanism driving unit 220 drives various mechanisms including a motor which is a main power source of the print engine unit 204 under the control of the engine control unit 214. Meanwhile, the electrophotographic developing unit 222 prints an image according to the video data received under the control of the engine control unit 214 in an electrophotographic developing method.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a control of the video controller 208 for preventing the curl of paper according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the paper is curled in the fixing roller 118b during printing with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. A control process of the video controller 208 to prevent the above will be described.

First, in step 300 of FIG. 4, the video controller 208 checks whether a print command is input from the host computer, and if there is an input of the print command, proceeds to step 310 to start feeding. Thereafter, the video controller 208 checks whether the paper being conveyed reaches the paper feed sensor within a prescribed time in step 320, and if not, proceeds to step 370 and reports the jam to the user through the OPE 202. On the other hand, if the inspection sheet in step 320 reaches the paper feed sensor within the prescribed time, the video controller 208 proceeds to step 330 to check whether the paper reaches the discharge detection sensor within the prescribed time. If the paper does not reach the discharge detection sensor within the prescribed time, the video controller 208 proceeds to step 340 to further drive the compression roller 118b by one revolution. At this time, the driving speed (1 rotation) of the pressing roller 118b is calculated as the distance that the user can remove the paper without disassembling the set even if the paper is rolled on the pressing roller 118b. Meanwhile, while driving the compression roller 118b one more revolution, the video controller 208 again checks whether the paper reaches the discharge detection sensor in step 350. If the paper does not reach the discharge detection sensor as a result of the inspection, the video controller 208 recognizes that the paper is curled in the pressing roller 118b, and stops the motor in operation 360 and proceeds to step 370. Thereafter, in step 370, the video controller 208 reports the jam occurrence to the user through the OPE 202, and then ends the control process according to the embodiment of the present invention. On the other hand, the user can contact the jam occurrence report through the OPE (202) and open the cover to be able to remove the paper roll on the pressing roller (118b).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control flow of the video control unit 208 for preventing the curl of paper according to another embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the compression roller during printing will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, and 5. A control process of the video controller 208 for preventing the paper from curling at 118b is as follows.

First, in step 400 of FIG. 5, the video controller 208 checks whether a print command is input from the host computer, and if there is an input of the print command, proceeds to step 410 to start feeding. Thereafter, the video controller 208 checks whether the paper being conveyed reaches the paper feed sensor within a prescribed time in step 420, and if not, proceeds to step 480 and reports the jam to the user through the OPE 202. On the other hand, if the transport paper reaches the paper feed detection sensor in step 420, the video controller 208 proceeds to step 430 to check whether the paper reaches the fixing unit 118 within the prescribed time. The process of checking whether the paper reaches the fixing unit 118 may be detected by a third sensor S3 installed on the paper transfer path between the fixing unit 118 and the transfer unit 116. If the paper does not reach the fixing unit 118 within the prescribed time, the video control unit 208 proceeds to step 480 and reports the jam occurrence. On the other hand, if the paper reaches the fixing unit within the prescribed time as a result of the check in step 430, the video control unit 208 proceeds to step 440 to check whether the paper reaches the discharge detection sensor within the prescribed time. If the paper does not reach the discharge detection sensor within the prescribed time, the video controller 208 proceeds to step 450 to drive the compression roller 118b one more revolution. At this time, the driving speed (one rotation) of the pressing roller 118b is calculated as the distance that the user can remove the paper without disassembling the set even if the paper is rolled on the pressing roller 118b as described above. On the other hand, while driving the compression roller 118b one more revolution, the video controller 208 checks whether the paper reaches the discharge sensor in step 460. If the paper does not reach the discharge detection sensor as a result of the inspection, the video controller 208 recognizes that the paper is curled in the pressing roller 118b, stops the motor in operation 470 and proceeds to step 480. In operation 480, the video controller 208 reports the jam occurrence to the user through the OPE 202, and then ends the control process according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the user can contact the jam occurrence report through the OPE 202 and open the cover to remove the paper rolled on the pressing roller (118b).

As described above, the present invention has an advantage of preventing the paper from being completely wound on the pressing roller by stopping the rotation of the driving motor when the sheet is wound on the pressing roller of the image forming apparatus using the electrophotographic development method.

Meanwhile, although an embodiment of the present invention has been described as a laser beam printer as an example, it may be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, a facsimile machine, a multifunction machine, etc. without using any modification.

Claims (4)

Claims [1] A method of preventing paper curl in a roller forming an image forming apparatus, comprising a paper feed sensor and a paper discharge sensor, In response to a printing command, checking whether the printing paper being conveyed reaches the discharge sensor within a prescribed time; If the printing paper does not reach the discharge sensor within the prescribed time, the process of checking whether the discharge sensor is reached again while driving the press roller further to the preset value; When the printing paper does not reach the discharge sensor during the driving of the pressing roller, stopping the driving roller is stopped, and then reporting the occurrence of jam. 2. The paper curling roller according to claim 1, wherein the preset value for further driving the pressing roller is set at a rotation speed capable of removing the rolled up paper without disassembling the set even if printing paper is wound on the pressing roller. Prevention method. In the feed roller discharge prevention method of the image forming apparatus in which a paper feed and discharge sensor for detecting paper feeding and discharge status, and a paper feed sensor on the paper transfer path between the transfer means and the fixing means , In response to a printing command, checking whether the paper being transported reaches the paper feed sensor within a prescribed time; Inspecting whether the printing paper passing through the paper feed sensor reaches the discharge sensor within a prescribed time; If the printing paper does not reach the discharge sensor within the prescribed time, the process of checking whether the discharge sensor is reached again while driving the press roller further to the preset value; When the printing paper does not reach the discharge sensor during the driving of the pressing roller, stopping the driving roller is stopped, and then reporting the occurrence of jam. 4. The curling roller paper curling method according to claim 3, wherein a predetermined value for further driving the pressing roller is set at a rotation speed capable of removing the rolled paper without disassembling the set even if printing paper is wound on the pressing roller. Prevention method.