IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS TO FORM AN IMAGE USING A DISPLAY UNIT, AND PRINTING METHOD THEREOF

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a display unit which outputs image data in the form of a complete image, a photosensitive medium which forms an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image outputted from the display unit, a developing unit which develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive medium, a transfer unit which transfers the developed image of the photosensitive medium onto a printing medium, and a fixing unit which fixes the transferred developed image in the printing medium.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and utilities of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a conventional monochromatic image forming apparatus;

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a conventional multi-pass image forming apparatus;

FIG. 1C is a schematic view of a conventional single-pass image forming apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional laser scanning unit (LSU);

FIG. 3A is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 3B is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are views illustrating a printing method of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are views illustrating a printing method of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views illustrating a printing method of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views illustrating a printing method of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are views illustrating a phase variance due to precision error in a conventional photosensitive medium;

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a method of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept; and

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept by referring to the figures.

Referring to FIG. 3A, an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept may be of a monochromatic type, and includes a main body 110, a photosensitive medium 120 housed inside the main body 110, a developing machine 130, a display unit 140, a transfer roller 150 and a fusing unit 160. A paper feed unit 111 is provided at the lower part of the main body 110 to supply the printing medium (‘paper’).

The photosensitive medium 120 forms an image, and includes, according to one aspect of the present embodiment, a photosensitive belt running in one direction, on the support by a plurality of support rollers 121 and 123. The photosensitive belt 120 forms an image through the known processes such as electric charging, light exposure, image developing and image transfer. One of the support rollers 121 and 123 may be an idle roller or a tension roller, and the other are of the support rollers 121 and 123 may be a driving roller. The photosensitive belt 120 runs in one direction by the rotation of the driving roller 123.

The developing machine 130 may include a developing roller 131 and a developer reservoir 133 holding developer therein. The developing roller 131 supplies the developer, such as toner, to an electrostatic latent image region of the photosensitive belt 120 by contact, or, in a contactless manner. The operation and the structure of the developing machine 130 are already known in the art, and therefore, these will not be explained below for the sake of brevity.

The display unit 140 exposes the photosensitive belt 120 to light and thus forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive belt 120. The display unit 140 may include a liquid crystal display, light emitting device, plasma display panel, and CRT. That is, the display unit 140 does not adopt a scanning operation like the known laser scanning unit (LSU), but it adopts pixel-based illumination, in which the photosensitive belt 120 to form the electrostatic latent image is exposed in one or more pixel units. Accordingly, the display unit 140 may be implemented as a plate which is positioned to correspond to a horizontal travel of the photosensitive belt 120. The display unit 140 may be at a distance from the photosensitive belt 120.

The transfer roller 150 may rotate in contact with the photosensitive belt 120. Therefore, the image of the photosensitive belt 120 is transferred onto a paper sheet P which is passed between the transfer roller 150 and the photosensitive belt 120. The paper sheet bearing the image is passed through the fusing unit 160 and then discharged out.

In the construction explained above, image data to print is transmitted from a host (for example, a computer or a printing driver) to the display unit 140. The image data may be passed through optical density adjustments suitable for printing, and may be output to the display unit 140. Because the photosensitive belt 120 is sensitive to optical density, it may be necessary to adjust the optical density by separate processing. For example, the photosensitive belt 120 may be exposed using at least one of the RGB color lights, or using R and G light, or R and B light, or G and B light. Additionally, the photosensitive belt 120 may be exposed using all of the R, G, B light. In certain circumstances, output values of R, G, B light can be adjusted appropriately to form the electrostatic latent image with appropriate electric charge on the photosensitive belt 120.

According to the output values of the display unit 140, or in consideration of possible interferences between neighboring pixels, the display unit 140 may be in contact with, or at a distance from the photosensitive belt 120, while the display unit 140 outputs light beam in response to the image data to form the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive belt 120. When the display unit 140 is at a distance from the photosensitive belt 120, it is desirable to consider that the image may suffer contrast degradation or insufficient optical density, and therefore, the distance between the display unit 140 and the photosensitive belt 120 may be adjusted appropriately so as to avoid interference with the operation of the photosensitive belt 120 and also minimize interference-related problems. This can be done in the design state, by considering the amount of optical output of the display unit 140 and the characteristics of the photosensitive belt 120.

FIG. 3B is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus 100′ according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept. Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the image forming apparatus 100, may additionally include a movable unit 170 which distances the display unit 140 away to minimize interference with the photosensitive belt 120, and then moves the display unit close to the photosensitive belt 120 for exposure. The movable unit 170 may include a pressure member 171 which biases the display unit 140 to move away from the photosensitive belt 120, and a cam member 173 which forces the display unit 140 close to the photosensitive belt 120. The pressure member 171 may include at least one tension spring, and the cam member 173 may forcibly move the display unit 140 through its reciprocation by the rotation of a driving motor (not illustrated). To this end, the display unit 140 may be provided inside the image forming apparatus 100′ so as to move a predetermined distance, and move reciprocally by a guide member (not illustrated).

In alternative examples, an actuator, such as solenoid, may be used to move the display unit 140. The actuator may directly move the display unit 140 or move the cam 173 to bias the display unit 140 toward the photosensitive belt 120.

The printing operation, and especially the exposure by the display unit 140, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be explained below.

The image forming apparatus 100 may expose the photosensitive belt 120 using the following printing methods:

In a first printing all pixels of the display unit 140, that correspond to the input image data, are illuminated, during the running of the photosensitive belt 120 with speed V_B1 (FIGS. 4A and 4B). The pixels are disposed on a surface of the display unit 140 to face the 140 in the direction. This method is used especially when the value of the light output from the display unit 140 is bright enough to expose the photosensitive belt 120 regardless of the running speed thereof, and can be done in the design stage, by using advanced technologies related with the display unit 140 and adjusting the speed of the photosensitive belt 120 to correspond to the output value. The pixels of the display unit 140 may all be illuminated to simultaneously expose the photosensitive belt 120 with the output light corresponding to the pixels. A printer resolute of a printed image from the formed latent image relates the number of pixels.

In the above case, exposure time may be decreased to complete the formation of the latent image, because the display unit 140 carries out exposure relative to the photosensitive belt 120 by a unit of an entire page. Accordingly, after the exposure, the speed of the photosensitive belt 120 can be increased to exceed V_B1 until the electrostatic latent image region reaches the developing roller 131. As a result, the printing processing, especially from exposure to developing, is speeded up, and a printing operation faster than the conventional printing operation, using LSU, is provided.

The time (t1) to form an image by the first printing method can be expressed as follows:

t1=s/V_B1   [Equation 1]

where ‘s’ is the traveling distance of the photosensitive belt 120, and VB1 is the speed of the photosensitive belt 120.

Accordingly, when the leading end of the image formation region of the photosensitive medium (that is, photosensitive belt 120) reaches the position corresponding to the display unit 140, the image may be instantly formed by the display unit 140.

As expressed in equation 1, with this printing method, there is no need to provide a separate time interval to expose the photosensitive belt 120, as in the conventional LSU which determines the exposure time interval according to the rotational velocity of the polygon mirror driving motor, driving speed of the photosensitive medium, or the like. As a result, V_B1 can be increased sufficiently. Because V_B1 can be increased without limit according to the photosensitive characteristics of the photosensitive belt 120 or the light outputs of the display unit 140, the printing time can be decreased.

The size of the display unit 140, that is, the length in the traveling direction of the photosensitive belt 120, may be equal to, or larger than ‘s’. In other words, when it is assumed that the length of the final image is ‘s’, the basic length X of the display unit 140 according to the present embodiment of the present invention can be expressed as X≧s .

In the second printing methods the photosensitive belt 120 is driven at velocity (or speed) V_B2 as illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B. In order to expose the photosensitive belt 120, the display unit 140 outputs segments of the image data in series and in random order. More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, pixels indicated in circles output first light as a first segment of the image data, pixels in squares output second light as a second segment of the image data, and the pixels in triangles output third light as a third segment of the image data, to thus form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive belt 120. Although this embodiment carries out exposure by three stages, this should not be construed as limiting, as this is a matter of design and thus the number of stages can be varied appropriately. Because the display unit 140 outputs light corresponding to the image in multiple stages, interference of light between neighboring pixels can be minimized. Also in this example, considering a possible delay between the first, the second and the third light outputs, it is necessary to delay the output of image data accordingly. A composite result of the first, second, and third outputs should exactly match an original image of the first printing method illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B. However in the second printing method of FIGS. 3A and 3B, the original image may be distorted when it is directly formed to an electrostatic latent image due to a minute time difference Δt. In order to prevent such distortion of the image, the first, the second and the third light may be sequentially output at successive distances V_B2×Δt downstream from the previous output. Accordingly, in the case of outputting the light by three stages as in the present example of three stages, the second image is output V_B2×Δt downstream from the original position, and the third image is output V_B2×Δt×2 downstream from the original position, such that the resultant electrostatic latent image can match the original image. Accordingly, the display unit 140 having the basic length s may be extended by an additional length of V_B2×Δt×2 to enable such outputs. In other words, when the random outputs are carried out in (m) stages, an additional length of V_B2×Δt×(m−1) is necessary. Assuming that the length of the final image is s, the basic length X of the display unit 140 satisfies X≧{s+V_B2×Δt×(m−1)}, where m is the number of random outputs, and Δt is the delay interval between the output stages.

As mentioned above, the light is output from the display unit 140 by multiple stages, but successively and within a short period of time. Therefore, there may be no substantial difference between the exposure time of the first and the second printing methods. Additionally, in the second method, the overall printing can be carried out faster than the conventional system which uses the LSU for the exposure process, by driving the photosensitive belt 120 at a high speed.

The printing time t2 of the second method can be expressed as follows:

t2=[s /V_B2+(m−1)Δt]  [Equation 2]

where m is the number of random outputs, and Δt is a delay interval between the outputs. When the same conditions are imposed in the second method as in the first method, a time increase is expected in the second method due to (m−1)Δt, but this increase can be offset by sufficiently increasing the velocity V_B2 and sufficiently decreasing the time difference Δt. Therefore, there is no significant difference between the first and second printing methods. As a result, compared to a conventional system which uses a LSU such as that of FIG. 2, the printing time can be greatly reduced.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, in the third printing method, the photosensitive belt 120 is driven at the velocity of V_B3, and the display unit 140 outputs light to the photosensitive belt 120 in a pattern moving the direction opposite to the motion of the photosensitive belt 120 and with the pattern in multiple stages. That is, pixels of each segment are spaced in a direction and operate in order, in the direction from one side to the other side within the segment. Because the velocity V_D of scanning light in the opposite direction is combined with (vectorially added to) the speed V_B3, the time to expose an area of the photosensitive belt 120 can be decreased.

The printing time t3 of the third printing method can be expressed as follows:

t3=s/(V_B3+V_D)  [Equation 3]

Regarding V_D, because the light output from the display unit 140 is moving against the forward movement of the photosensitive belt 120, light exposure time is decreased due to the counter-speed of the light from the display unit 140 with respect to the photosensitive belt 120. As a result, the printing time can be decreased. In this case, the size of the display unit 140 in the forward movement of the photosensitive belt 120 can be decreased. In other words, assuming that the length of the final image is ‘s’, a basic length of the display unit 140 required for the third printing method may be reduced by X≧s×V_B3/(V_B3+V_D). The output from the display unit 140 may be carried out in series, in a line unit or lines of light, or in a random manner.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, in the fourth printing method the photosensitive belt is divided by exposure time from the photosensitive belt operating time. As illustrated in FIG. 7A, the display unit 140 is driven to expose the photosensitive belt 210 as a page unit, and in this state, the photosensitive belt 120 is still at a position. As illustrated in FIG. 7B, when the light exposure is completed, the photosensitive belt 120 is moved with a fourth speed V_B4 to the developing zone where the developing roller 131 is positioned. The speed V_B4 of the photosensitive belt 120 may be controlled to be faster than the previously described velocity (or speed) V_B1, V_B2, or V_B3.

An image forming time t4 can be expressed by the following:

t4=s/V_B4+t*   [Equation 4]

where t* is the time necessary for the light exposure while the photosensitive belt 120 is holding still.

Because the fourth velocity V_B4 is not related with the exposure speed of the photosensitive belt 120, it can be increased up to the maximum speed of the system. For example, V_B4 may be increased up to the maximum speed of the motor. As a result, t4 is smaller than the conventional printing time (t0=s/Vo, where Vo is velocity of the photosensitive medium or belt, s is traveling distance, or data realization length of original image, of the photosensitive medium or belt). In other words, by setting t* to satisfy t*<(S/V₀−s/V_B4), printing time can be reduced from using the conventional LSU. The fourth printing method can thus provide advantages such as setting the photosensitive medium to high speed, without being limited by the other components, while completely forming the image, and consequently reducing printing time.

The fifth printing method partially adopts the photosensitive belt exposing manner of the fourth methods. That is, instead of completely exposing the photosensitive belt 120 as in the fourth method, the fifth method performs exposure by multi-stages as in the second method of FIGS. 5A and 5B. This method can also shorten the time t* necessary for exposure, by the photosensitive characteristics of the photosensitive belt 120 and the light outputs of the display unit 140. Therefore, the printing time can be reduced to be shorter than the conventional system, and when considering the on-going advancements of this area, the speed is expected to be further reduced.

The sixth printing method partially adopts the exposure manner of the third and the fourth methods. That is, the sixth printing method drives the display unit 140 while the photosensitive belt 120 is still (as in the fourth method), and outputs the light against the forward movement of the photosensitive belt 120 as in the third method (scanning mode). Like the above printing methods, the sixth printing method can shorten the driving time for the exposure of the photosensitive belt 120 by the display unit 140, and the printing time can be reduced.

As discussed above regarding the printing methods, the printing time can be greatly decreased compared to the conventional system, and a high-speed printer can be provided.

Additionally, the pixels of the display unit 140, such as LCD or PDP type, can be fixed in their critical positions in the fabricating stage, and managed with high precision. The pixels are in fixed positions, and when viewed in terms of the line unit, the pixels in a leading end and pixels in a tail end of the display unit 140 output light almost at the same time. As a result, image distortion or skew, which are frequently caused by the movement of the photosensitive belt 120, can be prevented. That is, because the much decreased image forming time as compared to conventional systems basically removes the possibility of image distortion, so that separate effort or control to solve such a problem is unnecessary.

According to the embodiment of the present general inventive concept, abnormal irregularity of image density can be minimized. This will be explained below with reference to a conventional example which incorporates a drum type photosensitive medium. One line unit of image data is focused on the photosensitive drum from a laser scanning unit (LSU). The photosensitive drum may be formed to a circular configuration. When it is assumed that the scanning speed of the LSU and the velocity of the photosensitive drum are controlled to constant, the circular configuration of the photosensitive drum allows the image data to be scanned to an electrostatic image of one line unit at regular intervals. This will be explained in greater detail in FIG. 8A which illustrates a rough surface of the photosensitive drum in solid line, and an ideal circle in phantom line. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the plus-variation is the greatest at 90 degrees, and the minus-variation is the greatest at 270 degrees. The linear velocity at 90 degrees on the photosensitive drum 1 is the fastest by (r+δmax)×w. The linear velocity at 270 degrees is the slowest by (r−δmax)×w. Because the one-line scan speed of the LSU is constant, intervals between lines at 90 degrees are wider than designed distances. Accordingly, image is formed with lower density at 90 degrees. On the contrary, because intervals between the lines are narrower than designed distances, image is formed at 270 degrees with higher density. The photosensitive drum is sized such that it has generally a circumference shorter than the length of one page, and accordingly, the final image on a unit page would have images of high and low densities in alternate fashion. This will cause an image of alternating dark and lighter areas, and image quality is degraded.

The belt-type photosensitive medium has a similar problem. In the case of photosensitive belt, the image degradation is mainly caused by phase variations of driving and driven rollers of the photosensitive belt. However, with the display unit 140, in which the critical positions of the pixels are fixed at manufacture, image density can be managed with high precision. Depending on the characteristics of the photosensitive belt, an electrostatic latent image may be formed on the photosensitive belt in a moving state, or a standstill state, such that the electrostatic latent image formation time (exposure time) t* approaches zero (0). Accordingly, the leading and tail ends of the image are influenced by the speed of the photosensitive belt 120 almost at the same time. Because the time to form the entire image can be decreased to be shorter than the time when using the conventional LSU, the electrostatic latent image in pixel unit formed on the photosensitive belt 120 can be formed without substantial influences from the photosensitive belt 120 or the driving components, and as a result, abnormally irregular density of an electrostatic latent image due to speed variation over respective regions of the photosensitive belt 120 can be avoided.

Referring now to FIG. 9, which illustrates an image forming apparatus 200 according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept, the image forming apparatus 200 is exemplified as a multi-pass color image forming apparatus, which includes a main body 210, a photosensitive belt 220 housed in the main body 210, color developing rollers 231, 232, 233, 234, a display unit 240 to expose the photosensitive belt 220, first transfer rollers 250, an intermediate transfer belt 260 and a second transfer roller 270.

The main body 210 surrounds a feed part 211 to supply paper sheets, and a fixing part 280 to fix the transferred image onto the printing medium.

The photosensitive belt 220 has the same structure as the photosensitive belt 120 explained above with reference to FIG. 3A, which is movably supported on the driving roller 221 and the driven roller 223 to move in one direction.

The color developing rollers 231, 232, 233, 234 are arranged in turn along the movement direction of the photosensitive belt 220, and each forms an individual color image onto the photosensitive belt 220. First transfer rollers 250 are disposed on the inner side of the photosensitive belt 220 in tandem with the color developing rollers 231, 232, 233, 234.

The display unit 240 forms page units of electrostatic image onto the photosensitive belt 220 either at once, or by stages. The structure and operation of the display unit 240 are similar to those of the display unit 140 as explained above with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, and, for the sake of brevity, will not be explained below.

The intermediate transfer belt 260 is supported by a plurality of supporting rollers 261 and 263 and held in contact with the photosensitive belt 220, and moves in one direction (indicated by arrows). The intermediate transfer belt 260 receives a series of color images of the color developing rollers 231, 232, 233, 234 such that the color images are superimposed on one another.

The final color image on the intermediate transfer belt 260 is then transferred onto a printing medium P which is passed between the intermediate transfer belt 260 and the second transfer roller 270 rotating in intimate contact with the intermediate transfer belt 260.

The printing medium with the final color image is passed through the fixing part 280 and then discharged out.

In the multi-pass image forming apparatus 200 constructed as described above, individual Y, M, C and K color images are formed by four rotations of the photosensitive belt 220, and compositely formed onto the intermediate transfer belt 260 in series. In order to form the individual color image, the display unit 240 is also driven four times to expose the photosensitive belt 220 to each page unit. In other words, the multi-pas image forming apparatus 200 repeats one-page printing operation of a monochromatic image forming apparatus such as 100 of FIG. 3A, four times over.

The four times or phases of the image forming process to form individual color images may use any one of printing methods (1) to (6) illustrated above with reference to FIGS. 4A to 7B. Accordingly, the printing time of the multi-pass image forming apparatus 200 is decreased to become shorter than the multi-pass image forming apparatus of FIG. 1B which uses the conventional LSU.

In addition to the advantage of decreased printing time, the image forming apparatus 200 according to the third exemplary embodiment can provide the same advantages provided by the first exemplary embodiment.

Meanwhile, the multi-pass image forming apparatus 200 may have drawbacks of the type that are explained with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B. One of the drawbacks is that the image forming apparatus 200 may inherently acquire a degraded color image as the four colors of individual images are superimposed on one another on the intermediate transfer belt 260. A control technology of high complexity is required to solve such undesirable image degradation in a multi-pass type image forming apparatus and the same Applicant has proposed the “Roller, method of fabricating roller, a driving unit of an image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus” in Korean Patent application No. 10-2005-0043735 filed May 24, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference as non-essential material. The problems as illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B cause irregular densities of the unit color images, and then cause ripples over all of the final color image. As a result, image quality degrades.

With the image forming apparatus 200 according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention, because the leading and tail ends of the electrostatic latent image are formed by the display unit 240 almost at the same time as explained in the first exemplary embodiment, the conventional problems are basically solved.

Additionally, with reference to FIG. 10, the image forming apparatus 300 according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a photosensitive drum 320 house inside the main body 310, color developing machines 331, 332, 333, 334 arranged in turn in rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 320, a display unit 340, an intermediate transfer belt 350, a first transfer roller 360 and a second transfer roller 370.

A paper feed part 311 and a fixing part 380 are housed inside the main body 310.

In this embodiment, the photosensitive drum 320 takes the place of the photosensitive belt 240 of FIG. 9. The photosensitive drum 320 rotates four times, during which the unit color images are formed by the developing machines 331, 332, 333, 334 and transferred sequentially onto the intermediate transfer belt 350.

The color developing machines 331, 332, 333, 334 are arranged in turn in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 320, and moved by a driving means (not illustrated) close to, or away from the photosensitive drum 320. Accordingly, the color developing machines 331, 332, 333, 334 are driven individually to form respective unit color images onto the photosensitive drum 320.

The display unit 240 may have the curved surface that corresponds to the outer circumference of the photosensitive drum 340 so that the display unit 340 can expose the light of a page unit of image onto the photosensitive drum 340. The display unit 340 may be moved close to, or away from, the photosensitive drum 320 by a driving means (not illustrated). The display unit 340 may include a flexible liquid crystal display (LCD).

The intermediate transfer belt 350 receives a series of unit color images from the photosensitive drum 320, and transfers the full color image, in which the unit color images are superimposed on one another, onto the printing medium. The first transfer roller 360 is disposed on an inner side of the intermediate transfer belt 350 to correspond to the photosensitive drum 320.

The image forming apparatus 300 constructed as above according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a multi-pass type image forming apparatus using a drum type photosensitive medium, and the operations and effects thereof are similar to those of the image forming apparatus 200 of the third exemplary embodiment best illustrated in FIG. 9. Therefore, detailed explanations thereof will be omitted for the sake of brevity.

Referring to FIG. 11, an image forming apparatus 400 according to the fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention employs a single pass type image forming apparatus. According to the fifth exemplary embodiment, display units 460 are disposed in tandem with the color photosensitive drums 41, 42, 43, 44 instead of the LSU 60. The same, or like, elements of FIGS. 1C and 11 are referred to by the same reference numerals, and explanations thereof will be omitted for the sake of brevity.

According to the construction of FIG. 11, the display units 460 that are disposed in tandem with the color developing drums 41, 42, 43, 44 output image exposure light so that electrostatic images are formed on the color developing drums 41, 42, 43, 44. The electrostatic latent images are developed by the developing units 51, 52, 53, 54, sequentially transferred and superimposed on the surface of the transfer belt 45, transferred onto a printing medium, and released. The display units 460 corresponding to the photosensitive drums 41, 42, 43, 44 have the same construction and operation as the display unit 340 as illustrated in FIG. 10, and thus, the detailed explanations thereof will be omitted for the sake of brevity.

The image forming apparatus 400 according to the fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a shorter printing time in which the color developing drums 41, 42, 43, 44 form a color image, than the image forming apparatus using the conventional LSU. This is because the exposure time of the display units 460 is reduced, and the photosensitive drums 41, 42, 43, 44 are rotated to the developing zone at a faster velocity.

Again, the fifth exemplary embodiment can provide the same advantages as mentioned in the first through fourth exemplary embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 12, an image forming apparatus 500 according to a sixth exemplary embodiment has the unique feature that the image forming apparatus 500 further includes a lens 550 between the display unit 540 and the photosensitive belt 120. The same, or like elements of FIGS. 3A and 12 are referred to by the same reference numerals.

The lens 550 guides the light emitted from the display unit 540 such that the light is focused on the photosensitive belt 120 in the regular size and optical density. With the use of the lens 550, the size of the display unit 540 can be reduced, or the positions of the display unit 540 can be changed freely. The lens 550 may be implemented in the same body as the display unit 540, or may be employed as a separate component.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept. In operation 131, a photosensitive medium 120 is moved in a direction. In operation 132, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive medium in a unit of area or a unit of a page in the direction, or a direction opposite to the direction. In operation 133, the formed electrostatic latent image with a direction is developed.

The present general inventive concept can also be embodied as computer-readable codes on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer-readable recording media include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves (such as data transmission through the Internet). The computer-readable recording medium can also be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the computer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments to accomplish the present general inventive concept can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present general inventive concept pertains.

Referring to FIG. 14, an image forming apparatus according to a seventh exemplary embodiment of the present invention may have a photosensitive belt 120 as a photosensitive medium which runs in a direction with a predetermined speed (s). In this embodiment, a display unit 140 opposite to the photosensitive belt 120 is reciprocally movable in the running direction of the photosensitive belt 120 within a predetermined distance. The display unit 140 may be reciprocally moved by a reciprocating unit 600. The reciprocating unit 600 may be implemented in many different configurations, and should not be limited to a particular example. For example, the reciprocating unit 600 may be a linear motor, or a reciprocating structure using a cam.

According to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 14, the display unit 140 is moved by the reciprocating unit 600 in the same direction and with the same speed as the photosensitive belt 120. While the display unit 140 is moved along with the photosensitive belt 120, the display unit 140 forms an electrostatic latent image on the opposite face of the photosensitive belt 120. Because the display unit 140 forms an electrostatic latent image onto the photosensitive belt 120 while moving together with the photosensitive belt 120, it is not necessary to stop the photosensitive belt 120 to form an electrostatic latent image, and as a result, printing time can be shortened.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the faster printing speed is provided, compared to an image forming apparatus using a conventional laser scanning unit (LSU).

Instead of using a conventional LSU, the display unit 540 is used, and therefore, the number of required parts is reduced, so that an image forming apparatus of simple structure can be provided.

Additionally, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention can basically prevent the problems inherent in the use of the conventional LSU, such as non-straight formation of images or a requirement of control techniques to prevent a non-straight image. As a result, a printed image of higher quality can be provided.

Additionally, by performing light exposure of a photosensitive medium within a short time by using the display unit, or more particularly, by exposing an entire page unit onto the photosensitive medium, irregular image densities due to mechanical errors of the photosensitive medium and the driving components can be prevented, and especially, irregular densities in the unit color images can be prevented.

Additionally, because the manner of exposing a photosensitive medium varies according to the photosensitiveness of the photosensitive medium and the output characteristics of the display unit, a variety of printing methods and embodiments suitable for the model types of the image forming apparatus, can be provided and therefore, efficient design is achieved.

Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a display unit to output image data in the form of an image;a photosensitive medium to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image outputted from the display unit;a developing unit to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive medium;a transfer unit to transfer the developed image of the photosensitive medium onto a printing medium; anda fixing unit to fix the transferred developed image in the printing medium.

2. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of support rollers, wherein the photosensitive medium comprises a photosensitive belt to move in a direction, while being supported on the plurality of support rollers.

3. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the photosensitive medium comprises: a photosensitive drum to rotate in a direction.

4. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the developing unit comprises: a plurality of individually operating color developing units to develop the electrostatic latent image.

5. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display unit is flexibly formed such that the display unit is deformable to a configuration of the photosensitive medium.

6. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display unit comprises: a movable unit to move the display unit close to or away from the photosensitive medium.

7. The image forming apparatus of claim 6, wherein the movable unit comprises: a pressing member to press the display unit to move away from the photosensitive medium; anda driving unit to forcibly move the display unit close to the photosensitive medium against the force of the pressing member.

8. The image forming apparatus of claim 7, wherein the driving unit comprises: a cam member.

9. The image forming apparatus of claim 7, wherein the driving unit comprises: a solenoid.

10. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a lens disposed between the display unit and the photosensitive medium to guide an image output from the display unit toward the photosensitive medium.

11. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output image data is output in the form of an image including at least one of a red image, a green image and a blue image.

12. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display unit comprises: at least one of an LCD, a PDP, an LED and a CRT.

13. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a reciprocating unit to reciprocate the display unit in the same direction as the photosensitive medium for a predetermined distance.

14. The image forming apparatus of claim 13, wherein the photosensitive medium comprises a photosensitive belt which runs in a direction with a predetermined speed, and the reciprocating unit drives the display unit in the same direction and with the same speed as the photosensitive belt.

15. A printing method, comprising: forming an electrostatic latent image onto a photosensitive medium according to image data, using an image output from a display unit; anddeveloping the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive medium.

16. The printing method of claim 15, wherein the forming of the electrostatic latent image comprises: driving the photosensitive medium to move at a predetermined speed; andforming a page unit of the electrostatic latent image onto the photosensitive medium by driving the display unit.

17. The printing method of claim 16, wherein the forming of the page unit of electrostatic latent image, comprises: increasing the driving velocity of the photosensitive medium until the electrostatic latent image area arrives at a developing zone.

18. The printing method of claim 16, wherein the forming of the page unit of the electrostatic latent image comprises: forming the electrostatic latent image by driving image output pixels of the display unit.

19. The printing method of claim 18, wherein a relationship between a length (X) of the display unit and a length (s) of the image is expressed by a mathematical expression as follows: X≧s.

20. The printing method of claim 16, wherein the forming of the page unit of the electrostatic latent image comprises: forming the electrostatic latent image by driving image output pixels of the display unit by a plurality of stages and randomly.

21. The printing method of claim 20, wherein a relationship between a length (X) of the display unit and a length (s) of the image is expressed by a mathematical expression 2 as follows: X≧[s+VB2×Δt×(m−1)]where VB2 is a velocity of the photosensitive medium, Δt is a delay time between random outputs, and m is a number of the random outputs.

22. The printing method of claim 16, wherein the forming of the page unit of the electrostatic latent image comprises: forming the electrostatic latent image by driving image output pixels of the display unit in opposite direction to the driving direction of the photosensitive medium by a plurality of stages and randomly.

23. The printing method of claim 22, wherein a relationship between a length (X) of the display unit and a length (s) of the image is expressed by a mathematical expression 3 as follows: X≧s×VB3/(VB3+VD)where VB3 is the velocity of the photosensitive medium, and VD is the velocity at which the display unit is driven in an opposite direction to the photosensitive medium by stages.

24. The printing method of claim 15, wherein the forming of the electrostatic latent image comprises: stopping driving the photosensitive medium;driving the display unit and forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive medium in a standstill position; andmoving the photosensitive medium bearing the electrostatic latent image to a developing zone.

25. The printing method of claim 24, wherein the moving of the photosensitive medium bearing the electrostatic latent image comprises: moving the photosensitive medium at maximum velocity.

26. The printing method of claim 24, wherein the driving of the display unit comprises: simultaneously driving image output pixels of the display unit to form the electrostatic latent image at the same time.

27. The printing method of claim 24, wherein the driving of the display unit comprises: forming the electrostatic latent image by driving image output pixels of the display unit by a plurality of stages and randomly.

28. The printing method of claim 24, wherein the driving of the display unit comprises: forming the electrostatic latent image by driving image output pixels of the display unit in opposite direction to the driving direction of the photosensitive medium by a plurality of stages and randomly.

29. The printing method of claim 24, wherein: the stopping of driving the photosensitive medium comprises moving the display unit close to the photosensitive medium; andthe driving of the display unit comprises returning the display unit to an original position.

30. The printing method of claim 15, wherein the forming of the electrostatic latent image comprises: driving the photosensitive medium with a predetermined speed;driving the display unit in the same direction as the photosensitive medium; andcausing the display unit to form an electrostatic latent image while the display unit is driven.

31. The printing method of claim 31, wherein the driving the display unit comprises driving the display unit with the same speed as the photosensitive medium.

32. A computer readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program to execute a method, wherein the method comprises: forming an electrostatic latent image onto a photosensitive medium according to image data, using an image output from a display unit; anddeveloping the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive medium.