WO1997035236A1

WO1997035236A1 - Electrophotographic printer

Info

Publication number: WO1997035236A1
Application number: PCT/JP1996/000708
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yasuhiro Shibuya; Shigeki Numata
Original assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
Priority date: 1996-03-18
Filing date: 1996-03-18
Publication date: 1997-09-25

Abstract

A printer comprises a photosensitive drum for changing print information to a toner image and a transfer roller for transferring the toner image to a sheet. The transfer roller touching the photosensitive drum can be opened or closed by electric means, or its contact pressure can be controlled. A printing transfer surface position of the photosensitive drum is disposed with a suitable quantity of offset from the conveying surface of an ordinary sheet. The surface of the sheet can be reliably brought into close contact with the photosensitive drum at the timing of printing by closing the transfer roller, and the sheet and the photosensitive drum are separated at times other than printing by opening (releasing) the transfer roller, so that the sheet can be conveyed without touching the drum. Further, a transfer roller which can be opened and closed by electric means by a pitch shorter than the length of the sheet is disposed at each of the front and rear sides of the photosensitive drum. During the period other than the printing processing (such as mere transfer processing, etc.), not only the opened sheet but also the closed sheet can be stably transferred in both normal and reverse directions without bringing it into contact with the photosensitive drum by closing the transfer roller.

Description

Description Title of the invention Electrophotographic printing device Technical field

The present invention relates to a print processing device that prints desired print information on a print medium, and in particular, prints a booklet (for example, a passbook used in a bank) bound to a plurality of sheets with high quality by a non-impact method. The present invention relates to an electrophotographic printing device that prints on a printer. Background art

In conventional printing devices such as booklets, the impact method typified by a wire dot has occupied the mainstream.However, it is possible to further increase the printing processing speed and achieve high printing quality. In recent years, non-inno-types such as thermal printers, inkjet printers, and LBP (Laser Beam Pinter) as electrophotographic printing processors have been developed. A printing device based on the cut method has been devised. However, in reality, in the non-impact printing apparatus, usable printing media are limited to single-thick sheets such as cut sheets and cut paper, and as printing apparatuses for booklets. There are many uneasy factors and the technical difficulty is extremely high.

An example of this type of related device is a technology described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 318856/1993. Disclosure of the invention

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, as a medium to be handled, only a sheet of uniform thickness such as a cut sheet or a cut sheet is used, and print data is collected for one page and printed only once. Limited to things. Therefore, the conventional non-impact method Is a booklet such as a passbook having binding stitches that are not uniform in thickness, and a specification that allows this booklet to be repeatedly printed one line or every predetermined line (for example, 24 lines per page of the booklet). If there is one print line and one line is printed at one time, it will be necessary to print 24 times repeatedly.)

For this reason, when printing a booklet with a conventional non-impact printing device, the printing may be misaligned due to the binding of the booklet, or repeated printing of a predetermined line on the same page may be performed multiple times (24 lines). If there is a print line, it is necessary to print up to 24 times), and excess toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum adheres to the surface of the booklet (lines already printed, etc.), and contaminates the paper. There is a point. Furthermore, the above-mentioned conventional printing apparatus assumes only one-way transport.For example, as one of the functions of a passbook printer, additional functions other than printing processing, such as page turning of a booklet and detection of a printed line, are provided. For this reason, a configuration in which the booklet can be reciprocated with the photosensitive drum for printing interposed therebetween has not been adopted. Also, no consideration was given to transporting the booklet in a closed state.

An object of the present invention is to handle not only a sheet of uniform thickness such as a cut sheet or a cut sheet as a medium to be handled, but also the repeated printing of a bound booklet on each line. High quality printing with no dirt on the surface is possible.Furthermore, even in the simple forward / reverse transport operation of booklets other than the printing process with the photosensitive drum as the function of book printer, even closed It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact and simple electrophotographic printing apparatus capable of realizing high reliability and securing the transport performance even in the transport of a booklet in a state.

In order to achieve the above object, the transfer roller which is in contact with the photosensitive drum is configured to be opened and closed by electric means when necessary (at the time of printing), and that the contact pressure can be controlled. In addition, the print transfer surface position of the photosensitive drum is offset by an appropriate amount from the normal booklet transport surface (an amount that can compensate that the surface of the booklet does not contact the photosensitive drum when transporting a booklet without printing). It is configured to be arranged. Furthermore, a transport roller configured to be able to open and close by an electrical means at a pitch shorter than the length of the booklet closed before and after the photosensitive drum is provided, and the printing process for the print medium transported from the insertion slot is provided. In this case, the transfer rollers before and after the photosensitive drum are opened, the transfer roller facing the photosensitive drum is closed, the medium is brought into contact with the photosensitive drum, and in the case of simple transfer processing other than printing, the transfer roller is opened. This is achieved by closing the transport rollers before and after the photosensitive drum.

Since the photosensitive drum is positioned at a certain offset from the normal transport surface of the medium, the transfer roller is opened immediately after the printing is completed, and The contact of the photosensitive drum is released, and the contamination of the paper surface due to excess toner on the photosensitive drum can be prevented.

Furthermore, by arranging the transport rollers before and after the photosensitive drum at a pitch equal to or smaller than the length of the closed booklet, printing and transport of the closed booklet can be performed smoothly, reliably, and stably.

By these actions, a closed booklet can be printed and conveyed, and a small, high-quality electrophotographic printing device free of excess toner other than the printing surface on the paper surface can be obtained. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram showing an entire passbook printer which is an example of a printing apparatus for an electrophotographic booklet according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an up-down passbook as an embodiment of the printing medium used in the passbook printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed configuration diagram in which the photosensitive section, which is the printing section in FIG. 1, and its periphery are enlarged.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a printing range of a passbook.

Fig. 5 (a) shows that a passbook with stitches is carried in the passbook printer in Fig. 1. FIG. 3 shows an operation explanatory diagram during a sending operation.

FIG. 5 (b) is an explanatory diagram of the operation during the printing process for a passbook having a binding in the passbook printer of FIG.

FIG. 5 (c) is an explanatory diagram of the operation when the printing process on the passbook having the binding in the passbook printer of FIG. 1 is completed.

FIG. 6 shows a drive system diagram of the photosensitive drum, the transfer port roller, and the transport roller of the apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation control method of the apparatus. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an electrophotographic printing device in booklets and the like will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the electrophotographic printing device according to the present invention is applied to a passbook printer 1 for printing booklets and the like (hereinafter, a passbook is shown as a specific example). The partial structure and operation of pudding 1 will be described.

Passbook pudding 1 is a printing device that is normally used when the user is registering passbook 30, etc., and 2 is an insertion device used when a user inserts passbook 30 into passbook 30. Show mouth. Then, toward the back of the printing device (left side in the drawing), a sensor 3A for detecting that the passbook 30 has been inserted, a transport roller 4A for transporting the passbook 30, and a sensor. 3 B and transfer port 4 B are provided. Further toward the back, the sensor 3C, the image reading unit 5 which knows the position by detecting the passbook 30 by the sensor 3C and reads the page mark or the printed line printed on the passbook 30 from the position. An MS reader 6 for reading and writing information on a magnetic stripe (abbreviated as MS) mounted on the passbook 30 is provided. Subsequent transport port —La 27 is a means for transporting passbook 30 to the printing section at the rear, as will be described later. The shorter the distance L from the printing unit, the more accurately the passbook 30 can be guided to the printing unit. Behind the transport roller 27, there is a sensor 3D for detecting the passbook 30, and further behind the photosensitive unit 8 and a fixing unit 18 as a printing unit for performing electrophotographic printing.

First, the photosensitive section 8 will be described. The photosensitive unit 8 is arranged around the photosensitive drum 9 around a photosensitive drum 9 that performs electrophotographic printing by directly contacting the passbook 30. The photosensitive drum 9 is moved from the transport surface 26 of the ordinary passbook 30 to an LP (slightly up and down while the passbook 30 is being conveyed) so that the passbook 30 does not contact the surface of the photosensitive drum 9. Distances). Above the photosensitive drum 9, a charger 10 for charging the photosensitive drum 9 to a uniform potential and an exposing device 1 for forming a print image to be printed on the passbook 30 on the photosensitive drum 9 are provided. 1, and a toner unit (also referred to as a developing unit) 7 for making a printed image of the electric charge on the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 a normally visible image, and the toner from the toner unit 7 is adhered to the photosensitive drum 9. Attachment sections 1 and 2 are installed. A transfer roller (pressing roller) for pressing from below is used to transfer a print image made of toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 to the passbook 30 below the transport path 26 in the photosensitive section 8. Behind the photosensitive drum 9 (on the left side of the drawing), a roller cleaner 13 for removing and collecting the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 9 after the completion of the transfer to the passbook 30 is provided. In addition, the opening and closing of the rollers can be controlled freely with a pitch of less than the closed length LR of the passbook 30 (corresponding to 1/2 of the length LS of the open passbook 30) before and after the photosensitive drum 9. As described above, the constituted transport rollers 28A and 28B and the corresponding press rollers 29A and 29B are provided. The opening and closing of these rollers are determined and controlled based on the printing process of the passbook 30 or the simple transport process as described later.

Next, the fixing unit 18 will be described. The fixing section 18 depends on the photosensitive section 8. The printed image of the passbook 30 printed with the toner is fixed to the paper surface (the printed surface of the passbook 30), and the toner (print image) is transferred to the passbook 30 by heating and heating by itself. A fixing roller 19 for fixing is provided, and a pressure roller 14 C which is in contact with the fixing roller 19 and is pressed from below when fixing the printing of the passbook 30 or conveying the passbook 30 is provided. . A sensor 3E is installed between the light sensing section 9 and the fixing section 18 to detect the position of the passbook. Based on this information, the pressure rollers 14A to 14C, 2 The opening and closing (pressing) operation of 9 A, 29 B, etc. is controlled.

On the back of the fixing unit 18, there is a page change roller 20 and a page change lever 21 for performing the page change operation of the passbook 30, and further, the convey of the passbook 30 toward the back. Sensor 3F for detecting the passbook, a transport roller 4C for transporting the passbook 30 are installed, and immediately after that, a collection box 2 2 for recovering the passbook 30 and for detecting the remaining passbook 30. Sensor 3G is provided.

In addition, the passbook printer 1, which is a printing device of the present invention, controls the transport rollers 4A to 4C, 27, etc., the transport motor 24 which drives all the transport rollers, and controls the entire apparatus of the passbook printer 1. A control unit 23, a power supply 25 for supplying power to each function in addition to the control unit 23 are provided.

Here, the electrophotographic printing method described as one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The electrophotographic printing method is one of the non-impact printing methods, which enables much faster, quieter, and higher-quality printing compared to the wire dot impact printing. .

Utilizing the photoconductive phenomenon of light in the photosensitive unit 8, the photosensitive drum 9 is charged to a uniform potential by the charger 10 and then electrostatically charged on the photosensitive drum 9 by the exposure unit 11. A charge image (also called an electrostatic latent image), that is, an image of print information is formed, and charged fine particles (also called a toner) having a polarity opposite to that of the formed photosensitive drum 9 adhere to the toner portion 7. According to part 1 and 2, the electrostatic latent image Attach and visualize. The printing information that has become a visible image is transferred to the passbook 30 by applying a charge of opposite polarity to the toner to the passbook 30 by the action of a press roller 14B (also referred to as a transfer roller). Toner is transferred to the surface (printing surface) of passbook 30.

Subsequently, the fixing roller 19 configured to generate heat in the fixing unit 18 comes into contact with the passbook 30 to apply heat to the toner on the printing surface of the passbook 30 to thereby obtain a desired image (described above). Print information) The passbook 30 is fixed and fixed on the print surface of the passbook 30 to realize printing.

FIG. 2 shows a passbook 30 used in the passbook pudding 1 of the present invention. As is clear from the drawing, the passbook 30 is opened up and down. As described above, electrophotographic printing is performed on the passbook 30 by the printing unit (corresponding to the photosensitive unit and the fixing unit of the present invention). Here, the length of the passbook 30 in the vertical direction with respect to the transport direction of the passbook printer 1 is set to L S. In the vicinity of the length 12 of the bankbook 30, there is a binding part 31 for closing each page of the bankbook 30.

Such a passbook 30 can print a plurality of lines (for example, 24 lines) for each page. When printed by the passbook printer 1, a predetermined line (for example, only one line 3 lines).

FIG. 3 shows the internal structure of the printing unit including the photosensitive unit 8 and the fixing unit 18 in FIG. 1, and shows a detailed view of the passbook 30 shown in FIG.

As is clear from the drawing, the passbook 30 is on the transport path 26.

When printing is performed while the passbook 30 moves in the transport direction from the right to the left of the drawing (printing processing of a predetermined line), the pressure rollers 29 A for the transport rollers 28 A and 28 B before and after the photosensitive drum 9 are used. , 29B open, and the photosensitive drum 9 on the cylinder installed in the photosensitive section 8 rotates around the center A shown in the drawing in the X direction of the arrow, and the pressure roller 14B closes. Then, the passbook 30 is pressed against the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 to contact the printing surface of the passbook 30 and transfer the image of the print information to the passbook 30 surface.

On the other hand, the fixing roller 19 on the cylinder installed in the fixing section 18 rotates in the X direction of the arrow with the center B shown in the drawing as a fulcrum, and the press roller 14 C closes to fix the fixing roller. 1 9 The surface contacts the passbook 30 and is fixed to the passbook 30 by the heat. Furthermore, as is clear from the drawing, the distance between the photosensitive drum 9 and the fixing roller 19, and the distance between the transfer rollers 28A and 28B before and after the photosensitive drum 9 are set to be LR. Reverse rotation in the Y direction so that the closed passbook 30 (although not shown, the length of the passbook is equivalent to LR = 1 2 LS) is returned to the user from the insertion slot 2 shown in Fig. 1. Reverse transport. As a result, since there is a function as a transport means for assisting the transport of the closed passbook 30, there is no need to install another dedicated transport roller or the like, which leads to a reduction in the size of the passbook printer 1.

Here, the structure of the photosensitive drum 9 and the transfer rollers 28A and 28B before and after the photosensitive drum 9 and the pressure rollers 29A and 29B will be briefly described.

The LP shown in the drawing is the offset amount from the conveying surface 26 of the ordinary passbook 30 of the photosensitive drum 9, and the paper surface (printing surface) of the passbook 30 is exposed when the pressure roller 15B is opened. This is a distance that guarantees that transport can be realized without contacting the surface of the drum 9. Further, the transport rollers 28 A and 28 B before and after the photosensitive drum 9 and the pressure rollers 29 A and 29 B sandwich the photosensitive drum 9 to transport the closed passbook 30. Open length of passbook 30 Half of LS (equivalent to LR)

"o

A sensor 3E is provided between the photosensitive section 8 and the fixing section 18 to control opening and closing of the pressure rollers 14A to 14C, which will be described later, by detecting a passbook 30. By bypassing the step of the binding section 31 of the passbook 30 Thus, the passbook 30 can be transported with high performance. That is, in the conventional technology, when the binding portion 31 of the passbook 30 passes through the positions of the fixing roller 19 and the pressure roller 14C, the transport speed of the passbook 30 changes due to a change in the thickness of the passbook 30. However, when the image of the print information was transferred from the photosensitive drum 9 to the passbook 30, the image was distorted and transferred. Therefore, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, when the binding portion 31 of the passbook 30 passes through the corresponding roller, the respective rollers are opened to bypass the steps, thereby realizing stable conveyance. This eliminates the problem of image distortion during transfer.

Next, the operation during printing and transport in the passbook printer 1 of the present invention in the passbook 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 5C.

As described above, the printing device of the present invention can be used to print the photosensitive drum and the passbook in a predetermined printing range (for example, when printing from the 3rd to 5th lines out of the 24th passable passbook surface). For example, by closing the transfer roller with the photosensitive drum and bringing the booklet into contact with the photosensitive drum to perform printing, it is possible to solve the problem of the conventional printing apparatus. The information on which position is to be printed includes the magnetic stripe information of the booklet described above, a method of obtaining the information in the image reading unit, and a method provided by a higher-level host (not shown).

Fig. 4 is a side view of the passbook 30 shown in Fig. 2, where the area indicated by L1 indicates the part without printing (already printed, etc.), and the area indicated by L2 is printed. Each part (for example, when printing from the third line to the fifth line) is shown.

First, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), when the passbook 30 is conveyed, the press roller 14B located below the photosensitive drum 9 is opened during a range L1 where printing is not performed, and the photosensitive drum is opened. The passbook 30 is conveyed by closing and rotating the press rollers 29 A and 29 B located before and after 9. Therefore, since the photosensitive drum 9 and the passbook 30 do not come into contact with each other, excess toner and the like adhering to the photosensitive drum 9 do not adhere to the range of L1.

Next, the printing process on the passbook 30 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, when the passbook 30 is printed while being conveyed from right to left as described above, the passbook 30 is printed during the printing range L2 shown in FIG. When the pressure roller 14B is closed and the pressure rollers 29A and 29B are open, they are pressed against the photosensitive drum 9 and are nipped by the pressure roller 14B to perform printing.

Here, when the sensor 3D detects the passbook 30, the detection information is sent to the control unit 23 shown in FIG. 1, and the control unit 23 receives the information to be printed at a predetermined position of the passbook 30. Is calculated, transmitted to the photosensitive drum 9 via the exposure device, and transferred to the passbook 30 by toner. On the other hand, the opening / closing control of each press roller corresponding to printing on the passbook 30 (from L1 to L2) is also controlled based on information from the control unit 23.

As shown in FIG. 5 (c), when the predetermined printing process is completed (the printing process of L2 is completed), the control unit 23 controls the opening of the pressure roller 14B at a predetermined timing. At the same time, by closing both or one of the pressure rollers 29 A and 29 B before and after the photosensitive drum 9, the conveyance continues, and as described above, the contact between the photosensitive drum 9 and the passbook 30 is eliminated, and the photosensitive drum 9 High-quality printing without paper stains due to excess toner, and accurate and stable conveyance are possible.

On the other hand, Fig. 2 shows the distance between the transport rollers 28A and 28B, and the pressure rollers 29A and 29B, which are arranged with the photosensitive drum 9 sandwiched between them. It can be achieved by placing it at a distance of less than 1/2 of the opened passbook 30 (that is, LR, 1 / 2LS). At the time of mere transport other than printing, the pressure roller 1 facing the photosensitive drum 9 Even if 4B is open, the press rollers 29A and 29B, which are opposite to the transport rollers 28A and 28B, are closed, so that even if the passbook 30 has a closed length, Stable and reliable transport can be realized.

As described above, the opening / closing control of the pressure rollers 14B, 29A, 2.9B, etc. is performed according to the detection of each sensor, depending on whether the passbook 30 is a print process or a simple transport process. Since the paper surface can be prevented from contacting the photosensitive drum 9 unnecessarily except when the passbook 30 is printed, the paper surface can be prevented from being stained by extra toner on the photosensitive drum 9.

FIG. 6 shows a pressure roller 14 B and a pressure roller 14 C disposed below the fixing roller 19, which are disposed below the photosensitive drum 9, which also has a function of transporting the passbook 30, and a transport roller 27. The configuration of the pressure roller 14A disposed below the conveyor rollers 28A, the press roller 29A disposed below the conveyor rollers 28A, and the press roller 29B disposed below the conveyor rollers 28B is shown. FIG. However, since these opposing conveying rollers have the same configuration with respect to the conveying function and the opening / closing control function, representatively, only the relationship between the photosensitive drum 9 and the pressure roller 14B will be described in detail. An embodiment will be described.

At one end of the photosensitive drum 9, there is a gear 32 A force, a gear 32 B engaging with the gear 32 A, and, assuming that the center of the gear 32 B is a fulcrum 33, from the fulcrum 33 A link 15 B is provided in the “U-shape”. Further, on the link 15B, there is provided a gear 32D force which engages with the gear 32B and transmits a driving force to the pressure roller 14B.

At the end of the link 15B, a spring 16B for pressing the pressure roller 14B against the photosensitive drum 9 with an appropriate pressure and a solenoid for controlling the opening and closing of the pressure roller 14B are provided. 17 B is provided. When it is pulled in the direction of this solenoid 17 B, the link 15

The photosensitive drum 9 and the pressure roller 14 Opening / closing control becomes possible. In addition, by adding a motor for driving the photosensitive drum 9, the pressure roller 14B is rotated by the rotation of each gear 32A to D, so that it can be configured with a small number of man-hours, and the size of the apparatus can be reduced. And a quiet passbook printer 1 can be realized.

Next, the transaction processing when the user inserts the passbook 30 from the insertion slot 2 into the passbook printer 1 of the present invention will be described in detail according to the control flow of FIG.

First, the passbook 30 sucked from the insertion slot 2 (step 101) is detected by the sensor 3A, and is sequentially transferred to the transfer roller 4A and the transfer roller 4B driven by the transfer motor 24. It is conveyed toward the back of the passbook printer 1. Next, the image reading unit (IMR) 5 captures the page information of the opened page of the passbook 30 being conveyed and the print line information (step 102). Then, the MS reading section (MSU) 6 reads information necessary for processing account numbers and the like, for example, from the magnetic stripe (MS) information of the passbook 30 (step 103). After that, it communicates with the upper host (step 104), checks whether it is a passbook to be processed, and information necessary for transaction processing, for example, the contents to be printed on the passbook, the pages to be printed, and updates. The information on the magnetic drive to be received is received, and if there is no problem, processing such as printing and page change is performed (steps 105 to 109). The printing process (step 105) will be described in detail below.

As described above, before the passbook 30 is printed, the photosensitive drum 9 is uniformly charged by the charger 10 in the photosensitive unit 8, and the desired print information is exposed by the exposure unit 11. Formed on drum 9 as an electrostatic latent image. Next, the toner is attached to the above-described electrostatic latent image by the toner BOX unit 7 and the toner attaching unit 12 to change the image into a visible image. Next, when printing is actually performed on the passbook 30 (step 110), when the leading end of the conveyed passbook 30 reaches the photosensitive drum 9, the photosensitive drum 9 contacts the paper. And press roller 1 4 B The visible image of the toner is transferred and the passbook 30 is conveyed to the next fixing unit 18 by the action of (1). On the other hand, when the transfer of the print information of the photosensitive drum 9 to the passbook 30 is completed, that is, when the printing is completed (step 11 1), the pressure roller 14 B disposed below the photosensitive drum 9 is opened (step 11 1). 2) Open the pressure rollers 29A and 29B disposed below the conveyance rollers 28A and 28B before and after the photosensitive drum 9 and convey it (Step 113). On the other hand, in the fixing unit 18, assuming that the passbook 30 is to be transported in advance, the fixing roller 19 is heated to a temperature suitable for fixing the toner to the paper surface, and the fixing roller 19 and the pressure roller 14 C are heated. The passbook 30 is pinched and conveyed by the action of, so that the toner indicating the print information is fixed on the paper surface by heat.

By the way, in the transport of the passbook 30, the pressure roller 14B of the photosensitive drum 9 and the pressure roller 14C of the fixing roller 19, the pressure roller 14A of the transport roller 27, and the pressure roller 29 of the transport roller 28A. A, the pressure roller 29 B of the transport roller 28 B is driven on both sides, so that a reliable and stable transport force can be applied to the passbook 30. In the description of FIG. 6, the photosensitive drum 9 and the fixing roller 19 described above, and the transfer ports — the pressure rollers 14 A to 14 B, 29 A, and 2 A of the rollers 27, 28 A, and 28 B are provided. 9B has an openable and closable configuration and structure under the control of the control unit 23 in FIG. 1, and the respective rollers are required (the pressure roller 14B of the photosensitive drum 9 and the fixing roller 19). Exactly the same operation for opening and closing the pressure roller 14C, the pressure roller 14A of the transfer port 27, the pressure roller 29A of the transfer roller 28A, and the pressure roller 29B of the transfer roller 28B. Therefore, here, the pressure roller 14 B of the photosensitive drum 9 will be described as a representative), and by sucking the solenoid 1 ΊB, the link 15 B rotates about the fulcrum 33 and the pressure roller 14 B Is the direction in which there is a gap with respect to the photosensitive drum 9 ( e direction). At this time, the rotational driving force of the pressure roller 14B is changed regardless of the opening / closing operation. Since the gear pitch between 32 A, gear 32 B, gear 32 C, and gear 32 D does not fluctuate, stable driving force can always be transmitted.

On the other hand, when the passbook 30 printing process is completed, the solenoid 17B is turned off, and the pressure roller 14B is closed by the restoring force of the spring 16B. Similarly, if necessary, the solenoid 17 C is opened by suctioning the solenoid 17 C, and the solenoid 17 C is opened by turning off the solenoid 17 C and closed. Due to the operation of the pressure roller described above, the passbook 30 can perform stable and smooth conveyance and printing both during printing processing and during simple conveyance processing. By the way, the toner that cannot be transferred to the passbook 30 and remains on the photosensitive drum 9 is removed and collected by the roller cleaner 13 of the photosensitive unit 8.

As described above, the embodiment in which the photosensitive drum 9 and the fixing roller 19 are rotationally driven by the conveyance drive via the press roller has been described, but the drive system of the photosensitive drum 9 and the fixing roller 19 is described. The present invention can also be implemented by adopting a configuration in which the motor can be rotated by independent driving without using the above-described link. Obviously, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the pressure roller is fixed and the photosensitive drum 9 and the fixing roller 19 themselves open and close vertically.

Briefly describing the final processing of the passbook printer 1, if printing of one page of the passbook 30 is completed and a page break is required, the page change roller 20 and the page change roller 20 shown in FIG. A page break is performed in the page change section composed of the change lever 21, and printing processing and the like are continued. When all the printing processes for the passbook 30 are completed, check the printed lines in the image reading unit 5 and the information on the magnetic stripe (MS) of the passbook 30 in the MS reading unit 6 as necessary. The passbook 30 is returned to the user from the insertion slot 2 and other processing is performed.

As described above, the passbook printer 1 of the present invention is an electrophotographic printing device, and is not limited to the passbook 30, but may be a stamp having a uniform thickness, such as a cut sheet or a cut sheet. It goes without saying that high-quality name printing can be performed on printed media. As described above, when printing a booklet having the binding portion 31 in the center, when the printing process is completed, the press rollers 14 B in contact with the photosensitive drum 9 are opened, and the transport rollers before and after the photosensitive drum 9 are opened. Opening / closing control such as closing the pre-stress rollers 29 A and 29 B in contact with 28 A and 28 B, and by driving the pre-stress rollers on both sides provides a stable transport force. It is possible to provide a small and inexpensive electrophotographic print processing apparatus that can achieve high quality printing without causing paper surface contamination due to excess toner due to the photosensitive drum 9. Industrial applicability

According to the present embodiment, a simple mechanism can be used not only for a cut sheet having a uniform thickness or a cut sheet but also for a booklet such as a passbook having a binding in the middle, and furthermore, a line by line. Even in repetitive printing (sequential printing), extremely high quality printing without contamination on the paper surface can be realized, and stable and reliable transport in both the forward and reverse directions with the photosensitive drum interposed can be realized. Therefore, a small and inexpensive electronic photo printing device can be realized.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A photosensitive unit that transfers print information to a print medium by a photosensitive drum that forms toner, and a fixing unit that fixes the transferred print information by a fixing roller, enabling printing on the print medium. An electrophotographic printing apparatus, wherein when the print information is transferred to a predetermined printing area, the photosensitive drum and the printing medium are brought into contact within the predetermined printing area. .

2. The electrophotographic printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an openable / closable transfer roller located below the photosensitive drum and configured to make contact or non-contact between the printing medium and the photosensitive drum. Characteristic electrophotographic printing device.

3. The electrophotographic printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing medium is located before and after the photosensitive drum, and the printing medium is sandwiched when the printing information is not transferred to a predetermined printing area of the printing medium. An electrophotographic printing apparatus comprising: a press roller which can be opened and closed so as not to sandwich the printing medium when transferring the printing information to a predetermined printing range.

4. The electrophotographic printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a distance between each of the pressure rollers is set to about 1/2 of the printing medium.

5. A photosensitive unit that transfers print information to a print medium by a photosensitive drum that forms toner, and a fixing unit that fixes the transferred print information by a fixing roller, enabling printing on the print medium. An electrophotographic printing apparatus, wherein the photosensitive drum is configured to be used when the print medium is transported from a transport path. An electrophotographic printing apparatus characterized in that the printing apparatus is arranged with an appropriate amount of offset along the transport path so as not to contact the surface of the medium.

6. A photosensitive unit that transfers print information to a booklet line by line by a photosensitive drum that forms a toner, a fixing unit that fixes the transferred print information by a fixing roller, and an opening / closing unit that is located below the photosensitive drum. An electrophotographic printing apparatus comprising: a transfer roller capable of being driven; and a first roller and a second roller positioned before and after the photosensitive drum and capable of freely opening and closing the booklet. When the print information is transferred in a range of a predetermined line, the transfer roller closes to contact the photosensitive drum and the booklet, and at least the first roller and the second roller An electrophotographic printing apparatus characterized in that one side is opened and the pinch with the booklet is released.