Patent Grant
9772590
This application is a U.S. National Stage Application, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCT International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2014/012689, filed Dec. 23, 2014, which claims the foreign priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0001108, filed Jan. 6, 2014, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0075660, filed Jun. 20, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a fixing apparatus configured to fix an image onto a print medium.
Generally, an electro-photographic image forming apparatus such as a laser printer forms a developer image corresponding to a certain image on a print medium, and uses a fixing apparatus that permanently fixes the developer image onto the print medium by applying heat and pressure to the developer image.
The fixing apparatus includes a pair of rollers, namely, a heat roller configured to generate heat to be applied to the print medium and a fixing roller configured to apply a predetermined pressure to the print medium.
However, these days, image forming apparatuses for high-speed printing have widely used a fixing apparatus configured to use a fixing belt of an endless belt instead of a heat roller.
However, since fatigue cracks occur at opposite ends of the fixing belt due to repetitive rotation of the fixing belt, there is a problem that the fixing apparatus using the fixing belt has a short life-span.
Accordingly, a fixing apparatus that can increase a service life by suppressing the fatigue crack at opposite ends of a fixing belt is required to be developed.
The present disclosure has been developed in order to overcome the above drawbacks and other problems associated with the conventional arrangement. An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a belt type fixing apparatus that can increase a life-span by minimizing fatigue crack at opposite ends of a fixing belt.
The above aspect and/or other feature of the present disclosure can substantially be achieved by providing a belt type fixing apparatus, which may include a fixing roller; a fixing belt disposed to face the fixing roller; a nip forming member disposed inside the fixing belt, the nip forming member supporting the fixing belt so that the fixing belt is in contact with the fixing roller to form a fixing nip; a pair of sliding members disposed to support inner surfaces of opposite ends of the fixing belt, the pair of sliding members configured to rotate with the fixing belt inside the fixing belt while supporting the inner surfaces of the fixing belt; and a pair of flange members configured to rotatably support the pair of sliding members.
When the fixing belt is rotated by the fixing roller, a first speed of the sliding member which rotates against the flange member may be larger than a second speed of the fixing belt which rotates against the sliding member.
The fixing belt may rotate integrally with the sliding members.
The sliding member may include an inner surface supporting portion supporting the inner surface of each of the opposite ends of the fixing belt; and a flange formed in a direction perpendicular to the inner surface supporting portion, the flange configured to restrict movement of the fixing belt in a central axis direction of the fixing belt.
The inner surface supporting portion and the flange of the sliding member may be formed as separate parts.
The inner surface supporting portion and the flange of the sliding member may be formed as a single body.
The flange of the sliding member may include an entry surface that is inclined to a surface perpendicular to the inner surface supporting portion.
The entry surface may include a plane that is inclined an angle between 15 degrees and 75 degrees with respect to the surface perpendicular to the inner surface supporting portion of the sliding member.
The entry surface may be formed as a curved surface, and a straight line connecting a start point and an end point of the curved surface may form an angle between 15 degrees and 75 degrees with respect to the surface perpendicular to the inner surface supporting portion of the sliding member.
The entry surface may include a convex curved surface.
The entry surface may include a concave curved surface.
The belt type fixing apparatus may include a heat source disposed inside the fixing belt and configured to generate heat.
A rotation center of each of the pair of sliding members may be located upstream in a moving direction of a print medium than a rotation center of the fixing roller.
A rotation center of each of the pair of sliding members may be located upstream in a moving direction of a print medium than a center line of the nip forming member.
The flange member may include a stationary body; and a sliding support portion extending from the stationary body and configured to rotatably support the sliding member.
The flange member may include a friction reducing portion that can reduce friction against the sliding member.
The friction reducing portion may include at least three first projections that are formed on a surface of the sliding support portion facing an inner surface of the sliding member.
The friction reducing portion may include at least three second projections that are formed on a surface of the stationary body facing a side surface of the sliding member.
The friction reducing portion may include at least three first projections that are formed on an outer surface of the sliding support portion facing an inner surface of the sliding member and at least three second projections that are formed on a surface of the stationary body facing a side surface of the sliding member.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a belt type fixing apparatus may include a fixing roller; a fixing belt disposed to face the fixing roller; a nip forming member disposed inside the fixing belt, the nip forming member supporting the fixing belt so that the fixing belt is in contact with the fixing roller to form a fixing nip; a pair of sliding members disposed to support inner surfaces of opposite ends of the fixing belt, the pair of sliding members configured to rotate with the fixing belt inside the fixing belt while supporting the inner surfaces of the fixing belt; and a pair of flange members configured to rotatably support the pair of sliding members, wherein the each of the pair of flange members may include a friction reducing portion capable of reducing friction against each of the pair of sliding members.
The friction reducing portion may be formed to be in line contact or point contact with the sliding member.
The friction reducing portion may include at least three first projections that are formed on a surface of the sliding support portion of the flange member facing an inner surface of the sliding member.
The friction reducing portion may include at least three second projections that are formed on one surface of the flange member facing a side surface of the sliding member.
The friction reducing portion may include at least three first projections that are formed on a surface of the sliding support portion of the flange member facing an inner surface of the sliding member and at least three second projections that are formed on one surface of the flange member facing a side surface of the sliding member.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an image forming apparatus may include an image forming unit configured to form an image on a print medium; and a belt type fixing apparatus configured to fix the image formed on the print medium in the image forming unit, the belt type fixing apparatus including at least one among the above-described features.
Other objects, advantages and salient features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses preferred embodiments.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood to refer to like parts, components and structures.
Hereinafter, certain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The matters defined herein, such as a detailed construction and elements thereof, are provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of this description. Thus, it is apparent that exemplary embodiments may be carried out without those defined matters. Also, well-known functions or constructions are omitted to provide a clear and concise description of exemplary embodiments. Further, dimensions of various elements in the accompanying drawings may be arbitrarily increased or decreased for assisting in a comprehensive understanding.
Referring to
The fixing roller 10 applies a predetermined pressure to a print medium P, and is formed in a roller shape. The fixing roller 10 includes a shaft 11 formed of a metal material, such as aluminum, steel, etc., and an elastic layer 13 to be elastically deformed to form a fixing nip N between the fixing belt 20 and the fixing roller 10. The elastic layer 13 may be formed of a silicon rubber. Although not illustrated in
The fixing belt 20 is to apply a predetermined heat to a print medium P. In the same way as a conventional heat roller, the fixing belt 20 is heated by the heat source 60 and transfers heat to a print medium P passing through the fixing nip N. Accordingly, the fixing belt 20 is disposed to face the fixing roller 10, and forms a fixing nip N through which the print medium P passes with the fixing roller 10. If the fixing roller 10 rotates, the fixing belt 20 is rotated by a friction force between the fixing belt 20 and the fixing roller 10. The fixing belt 20 is formed to have an axial length longer than an axial length of the fixing roller 10. The fixing belt 20 may be formed in a single layer of metal, heat resistant polymer, etc., or multi-layers including a base layer formed of metal or heat resistant polymer, an elastic layer, and a protection layer. The fixing belt 20 may be the same as or similar to the fixing belts used in conventional belt type fixing apparatuses. Therefore, a detailed description of the fixing belt 20 is omitted.
The nip forming member 30 is disposed inside the fixing belt 20, and supports an inner surface of the fixing belt 20 so that the fixing belt 20 is in contact with the fixing roller 10 to form the fixing nip N. The nip forming member 30 has a length longer than the length of the fixing roller 10. Accordingly, when the fixing roller 10 is in contact with the fixing belt 20 to form the fixing nip N, bending at the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20 by the fixing roller 10 is not generated. In detail, the nip forming member 30 includes a guide member 31, which is in contact with the inner surface of the fixing belt 20 and guides the fixing belt 20, and a supporting member 32 which is disposed above the guide member 31, and presses and supports the guide member 31.
The guide member 31 forms the fixing nip N by contacting the inner surface of the fixing belt 20, and guides the fixing belt 20 so that the fixing belt 20 can smoothly move in the fixing nip N. The guide member 31 is formed in a channel shape of which a cross-section is substantially U-shape with a flat bottom. The supporting member 32 is disposed inside the guide member 31. A heat blocking member 34 is disposed above the guide member 31, and both side ends of the heat blocking member 34 are secured to the opposite side surfaces of the guide member 31.
The supporting member 32 reinforces the guide member 31 so that bending deformation of the guide member 31 can be minimized. The supporting member 32 is formed in a channel shape of which a cross-section is substantially U-shape with a flat bottom. The supporting member 32 is disposed inside the guide member 31. The supporting member 32 may be formed in a structure having a large sectional moment of inertia, such as an I-beam, an H-beam, etc., in addition to a U-shape with a flat bottom.
The heat blocking member 34 prevents heat generated in the heat source 60 from directly radiating to the guide member 31. For this purpose, the heat blocking member 34 is disposed over the guide member 31 and supporting member 32 to cover the guide member 31 and supporting member 32. Specifically, the heat blocking member 34 is provided below the heat source 60 in the upper side of the supporting member 32 inserted in the guide member 31.
As illustrated in
The pair of sliding members 40 is disposed in the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20, supports the inner surfaces of the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20, and restricts movement of the fixing belt 20 in a central axis direction of the fixing belt 20. The pair of sliding members 40 is disposed in order to minimize the occurrence of the fatigue crack at the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20 when the fixing belt 20 is rotated by the fixing roller 10. Due to the pair of sliding members 40 and the arrangement of the nip forming member 30 as described above, the fixing belt 20 forms a profile as illustrated in
The pair of flange members 50 rotatably supports the pair of sliding members 40. Accordingly, when the fixing belt 20 is rotated by the friction force against the fixing roller 10, the fixing belt 20 rotates through the pair of sliding members 40 disposed between the fixing belt 20 and the flange members 50 without direct friction against the flange members 50.
Referring to
The sliding support portion 51 may be formed to be eccentric to the center of the stationary body 52. A through hole 54 into which the heat source 60 is inserted is formed below the sliding support portion 51. Two securing holes 55 in which the nip forming member 30 is disposed are provided below the through hole 54. As illustrated in
The sliding support portion 51 extends vertically from the front surface of the stationary body 52, and rotatably supports the sliding members 40. The sliding support portion 51 may be formed in various shapes as long as it can support rotation of the sliding member 40 and load being applied to the sliding member 40 during the rotation of the fixing belt 20.
Also, the flange member 50 may be provided with a friction reducing portion 70 that reduces friction between the sliding member 40 and the flange member 50 during rotation of the sliding member 50 to improve the service life of the fixing belt 20. The friction reducing portion 70 of the flange member 50 will be described in detail below.
The flange member 50 may be formed of a highly heat-resistant material. For example, the flange member 50 may be formed of poly phenylene sulfide (PPS), etc.
The sliding support portion 51 is formed to minimize the friction against the sliding member 40. For example, a plurality of protrusions 51a may be formed on an outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 so that the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 is not entirely in contact with an inner surface of the sliding member 40 so as to cause the surface friction to be generated. In this embodiment, as illustrated in
Although not illustrated, as another example, a plurality of protrusions for point contact may be formed on the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 to support the sliding member 40. Alternatively, as another example, although not illustrated, the sliding support portion 51 may be formed in a polygonal shape rather than a semicircular shape. For example, the sliding support portion 51 may be formed so that a strip-like member is bent in a triangular shape, a pentagonal shape, or a hexagonal shape and each vertex thereof supports the sliding member 40.
The heat source 60 is disposed inside the fixing belt 20, and generates heat, thereby heating the fixing belt 20 to a fixing temperature. As illustrated in
In the above description, a structure in which the heat source 60 is disposed above the nip forming member 30 and heats the fixing belt 20 by radiation has been explained. However, the heat source 60 may be formed to directly heat the fixing belt 20. In other words, a ceramic heater as the heat source 60 may be disposed on the bottom surface 31a of the guide member 31 near the fixing nip N so that the ceramic heater directly heats the inner surface of the fixing belt 20. As another example of the heat source 60, a planar heater (not illustrated) may be used. The planar heater is an electrical resistor that generates heat when current is supplied thereto, and may be formed in a layer sandwiched between the outer surface and the inner surface of the fixing belt 20.
Hereinafter, the sliding member 40 used in the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to
As illustrated in
A width W of the flange 42 extending from the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 is formed larger than the thickness of the fixing belt 20 so that the fixing belt 20 rotating along with the sliding member 40 does not clime over the flange 42. For example, if the thickness of the fixing belt 20 is 0.3 mm, the width W of the flange 42 may be formed to be 2.5˜3 mm.
Also, as illustrated in
At this time, in a point (a C portion of
In order to prevent noise generated by the contact impact of the fixing belt 20 and the flange 42 of the sliding member 40, an angle of entry surface 44 may be determined in an angle range between 15 degrees and 75 degrees. In detail, as illustrated in
The entry surface 44 of the sliding member 40 may be formed in a plane as illustrated in
On the other hand, when the fixing belt 20 is rotated by the fixing roller 10, the rotation of the fixing belt 20 is supported by the sliding support portion 51 of the flange member 50. In detail, when the fixing roller 10 rotates, the pair of sliding members 40 supporting the inner surfaces of the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20 is rotated with the fixing belt 20 due to the rotation of the fixing belt 20. Accordingly, if the fixing belt 20 is rotated, the sliding member 40 is rotated against the flange member 50. At this time, the fixing belt 20 may be relatively moved against the sliding member 40 or rotated along with the sliding member 40 without relative movement against the sliding member 40.
Hereinafter, a speed of the sliding member 40 which is rotated against the flange member 50 by the fixing belt 20 is referred to as a first speed, and a speed of the fixing belt 20 which rotates against the sliding member 40, namely, a relative speed between the fixing belt 20 and the sliding member 40 is referred to as a second speed.
In order to suppress the fatigue crack at the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20, the fixing belt 20 may be rotated as one body with the pair of sliding members 40 so that relative movement does not occur between the fixing belt 20 and the sliding member 40. If the sliding member 40 rotates integrally with the fixing belt 20, the first speed is the speed of the fixing belt 20, and the second speed is zero (0). However, if the inner diameter of the fixing belt 20 is larger than the diameter of the outer surface 41a of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 as the embodiment of the present disclosure, relative movement may occur between the sliding member 40 and the fixing belt 20. At this time, in order to suppress the fatigue crack of the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20, a relative speed between the fixing belt 20 and the sliding member 40 may be smaller than the speed of the sliding member 40 which rotates against the flange member 50. In other words, the second speed may be smaller than the first speed.
For this purpose, a friction force between the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 of the flange member 50 and the inner surface of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 may be smaller than a friction force between the outer surface 41a of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 and the inner surface of the fixing belt 20. By this configuration, when the fixing belt 20 rotates, the fixing belt 20 may rotate with the sliding member 40 without slipping against the sliding member 40 and the sliding member 40 may rotate against the sliding support portion 51 of the flange member 50 due to the friction force between the fixing belt 20 and the outer surface 41a of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40. If the friction reducing portion 70 is formed on the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 of the flange member 50 as described below, the friction force between the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 and the inner surface of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 may be made smaller than the friction force between the fixing belt 20 and the outer surface of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40.
Hereinafter, the friction reducing portion 70 of the flange member 50 used in the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to
As illustrated in
The plurality of first projections 71 is formed to minimize friction between the inner surface of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 and the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 of the flange member 50. The plurality of first projections 71 may be formed to prevent the inner surface of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 from causing surface friction by contacting as a whole with the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51. In detail, the plurality of first projections 71 may be formed to prevent the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 from being in surface contact with the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51, and to allow the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 support the sliding member 40 by being in line contact or point contact with the inner surface of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40.
For example, as illustrated in
As another example, the plurality of first projections 71 may be formed not in a pillar having a cross-section of an arc shape but in a polygonal pillar. For example, as illustrated in
As another example, as illustrated in
Further, as another example, without the plurality of first projections 71, the sliding support portion 51 may be formed not in a semicircular shape but in a polygonal shape so that the sliding support portion 51 itself is in line contact with and supports the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40. For example, the sliding support portion 51′ may be formed in a triangular, quadrangular, pentagonal shape or the like by bending a strip-shaped member, and each edge of the sliding support portion 51′ may be formed to support the inner surface of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40.
The plurality of second projections 72 is formed to reduce friction that is generated between the flange 42 of the sliding member 40 and a side surface of the stationary body 52 of the flange member 50 during rotation of the sliding member 40. The plurality of second projections 72 may be formed to prevent the flange 42 of the sliding member 40 from being in surface friction with the stationary body 52 of the flange member 50 as a whole. In detail, the plurality of second projections 72 may be formed on the stationary body 52 to support the flange 42 of the sliding member 40 by being in line contact or point contact with the flange 42. At this time, at least three second projections 72 may be provided on one surface of the stationary body 52 of the flange member 50 to stably support the flange 42 of the sliding member 40. For example, as illustrated in
The second projections 72 may be formed in a spherical surface as illustrated in
In
As another example, the second projections 72, as illustrated in
As another example, as not illustrated, the second projections 72 may be formed not in a pillar having a cross-section of an arc shape but in a polygonal pillar. For example, the second projections 72 may be formed in a triangular pillar, pentagonal pillar, hexagonal pillar, and the like. In the case of a triangular pillar, the second projections 72 may be formed similarly to the first projection 71 as illustrated in
In the above description, the friction reducing portion 70 provided in the flange member 50 includes the plurality of first projections 71 formed on the sliding support portion 51 and the plurality of second projections 72 formed on the stationary body 52. However, the friction reducing portion 70 provided in the flange member 50 does not need to be provided with both the first projections 71 and the second projections 72.
For example, the friction reducing portion 70 of the flange member 50 may include only the plurality of first projections 71 formed in the sliding support portion 51, and the plurality of second projections 72 may not be formed in the stationary body 52. As another example, the friction reducing portion 70 of the flange member 50 may include only the plurality of second projections 72 formed in the stationary body 52, and the plurality of first projections 71 may not be formed in the sliding support portion 51.
Hereinafter, an operation of the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure having the structure as described above will be described with reference to
When the fixing roller 10 rotates, the fixing belt 20 in contact with the fixing roller 10 is rotated by a friction force between the fixing roller 10 and the fixing belt 20. At this time, the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20 are supported by a pair of sliding members 40. Also, each of the pair of sliding members 40 is inserted in sliding support portion 51 of each of a pair of flange members 50. Accordingly, if the fixing belt 20 receives the friction force by the rotating fixing roller 10, the fixing belt 20 is rotated with the pair of sliding members 40 in a state in which the fixing belt 20 is supported by the sliding support portions 51 of the pair of flange members 50. At this time, since the friction force between the inner surface of the fixing belt 20 and the outer surface 41a of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 is larger than the friction force between the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 of the flange member 50 and the inner surface of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40, the fixing belt 20 is rotated along with the sliding member 40. In the case of the present disclosure, since the flange member 50 is provided with the friction reducing portion 70, the frictional force between the outer surface of the sliding support portion 51 of the flange member 50 and the inner surface of the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 is very small.
Even if the fixing belt 20 and the sliding member 40 do not rotate with the same speed, and the fixing belt 20 relatively moves against the sliding member 40, a relative speed of the fixing belt 20 against the sliding member 40 is slower than a speed of the sliding member 40 which rotates against the sliding support portion 51 of the flange member 50. As a result, the fatigue crack that is caused by the rotation of the fixing belt 20 against the flange member 50 may be reduced. An inventor tested the printing life to confirm the extended life of the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As a result, a conventional fixing apparatus was able to print up to 272,047 sheets, but the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure was able to print up to 1,241,775 sheets. Accordingly, if the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is used, it can be seen that the lifespan of the fixing apparatus 1 extends about four times or more. However, if flange member 50 is not provided with the friction reducing portion 70, the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may print approximately 600,000 sheets.
Further, with the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, since the inclined surface 44 is provided in the flange 42 of the sliding member 40, during rotation of the fixing belt 20, when a portion of the fixing belt 20 that was spaced apart from the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40 along the bottom surface 31a of the nip forming member 30 again enters the inner surface supporting portion 41 of the sliding member 40, noise generated by crash between the fixing belt 20 and the sliding member 40 may be reduced or removed.
In the above description, a case in which the sliding member 40 is formed in a single body, namely, the inner surface supporting portion 41 and the flange 42 configuring the sliding member 40 are formed in a single body has been described. However, the sliding member 40 may be formed in a split type sliding member of which an inner surface supporting portion 41 and a flange 42 are formed in separate parts.
Hereinafter, the split type sliding member 40′ will be explained in detail with reference to
Referring to
The other configurations of the inner surface supporting portion 41′ and flange 42′ of the split type sliding member 40′ are the same as or similar to the inner surface supporting portion 41 and the flange 42 of the integrated type sliding member 40. Therefore, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.
Also, the flange member 50′ for supporting the split type sliding member 40′ is the same as or similar to the flange member 50 for supporting the integrated type sliding member 40 as described above except that the slip-off preventing member 53 is provided at one end of the sliding support portion 51′. Therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted.
Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus 100 having the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be explained with reference to
Referring to
The main body 101 forms an external appearance of the image forming apparatus 100, and accommodates and supports the print medium supplying unit 110, the image forming unit 120, the belt type fixing apparatus 1, and the discharging unit 150 inside the main body 101.
The print medium supplying unit 110 is disposed inside the main body 101, supplies print media P to the image forming unit 120, and includes a paper feeding cassette 111 and a pickup roller 112. The paper feeding cassette 111 stores a certain sheets of print media, and the pickup roller 112 picks up the print media stored in the paper feeding cassette 111 one by one and supplies the picked print medium P to the image forming unit 120.
A plurality of conveying rollers 115 to convey the picked print medium P is disposed between the pickup roller 112 and the image forming unit 120.
The image forming unit 120 forms a certain image on the print medium P supplied from the print medium supplying unit 110, and may include an exposure unit 121, a developing cartridge 130, and a transfer roller 140. The exposure unit 121 emits light corresponding to print data depending on a printing command. The developing cartridge 130 may include an image carrier 131 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by light generated from the exposure unit 121 and a developing roller 132 which is disposed in a side of the image carrier 131 and supplies developer to the image carrier 131 so as to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier 131 into a developer image. In addition, the developing cartridge 130 may store a predetermined amount of developer, and include a developer supplying roller 133 for supplying developer to the developing roller 132, an agitator 134 for agitating the developer, a cleaning blade 135 for cleaning a surface of the image carrier 131, etc. The transfer roller 140 is rotatably disposed to face the image carrier 131 of the developing cartridge 130, and allows the developer image formed on the image carrier 131 to be transferred onto the print medium P.
The belt type fixing apparatus 1 applies heat and pressure to the print medium P while the print medium P onto which the developer image is transferred in the image forming unit 120 is passing through the belt type fixing apparatus 1, thereby fixing the developer image onto the print medium P. The structure and operation of the belt type fixing apparatus 1 are described above in detail; therefore, a detailed description thereof is omitted.
The discharging unit 150 discharges the print medium P on which the image is fixed by the belt type fixing apparatus 1 outside the image forming apparatus 100, and may be formed as a pair of discharging rollers to rotate while facing each other.
The belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure allows the transferred developer image to be fixed onto the print medium P. Also, in the belt type fixing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20 are supported by the pair of sliding members 40 so that fatigue crack of the opposite ends of the fixing belt 20, which occurs when the fixing belt 20 rotates in direct contact with the flange member 50, may be minimized.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2014-0001108 | Jan 2014 | KR | national |
| 10-2014-0075660 | Jun 2014 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2014/012689 | 12/23/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2015/102285 | 7/9/2015 | WO | A |
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