Patent Application
20090310997
This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2008-54629, filed Jun. 11, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus which displays a pattern and a method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus which displays a different preset pattern according to the operating state and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses print images corresponding to input image data onto a recording medium such as paper, and include printers, photocopiers, and facsimile machines.
In general, image forming apparatuses transfer color or mono images corresponding to image data onto paper, and the images are then fixed onto the paper by a fixing unit and discharged externally.
Since the fixing unit applies high heat and pressure to the paper onto which the image is transferred, the internal temperature of the image forming apparatus increases up to 50° C. to 60° C. However, there are no external changes to the image forming apparatus and thus a user may not be aware of the high temperature and may get burned when touching a cover of the image forming apparatus when fixing a paper jam or picking up the printed paper.
A warning sticker may be used to warn that the user may get burned when the fixing unit is heated, but it is difficult to determine the temperature of the image forming apparatus and such a system is not visibly efficient.
Therefore, there is a need for the image forming apparatus to have a different appearance according to the operation state.
Aspects of the present invention provide an image forming apparatus which displays a different preset pattern according to the operation state and a method thereof.
According to an embodiment of aspects of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including a fixing unit, and a cover unit which is mounted on a main body in which the fixing unit is installed, and displays a preset pattern if the cover unit is heated by the fixing unit.
According to aspects of the present invention, the color intensity of the pattern may vary according to an internal temperature of the main body due to heating of the fixing unit.
According to aspects of the present invention, the cover unit may be formed using a thermochromic resin formed in a shape corresponding to the pattern on an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin using double injection molding.
According to aspects of the present invention, the pattern may be formed on the cover unit using a thermochromic colorant.
According to aspects of the present invention, the pattern may be at least one of an image and text.
According to aspects of the present invention, the cover unit may be replaceable.
According to aspects of the present invention, the cover unit may include a pattern unit which displays the preset pattern, and the pattern unit can be replaced with a pattern unit which has a same pattern as the preset pattern or a pattern unit which has a different pattern from the preset pattern.
According to another embodiment of aspects of the present invention, there is provided a method for displaying a pattern according to the temperature of an image forming apparatus which includes a main body having a fixing unit and a cover unit covering the main body, the method including receiving a command to print data, warming up the fixing unit according to the received command, and outputting the data, wherein if the fixing unit is heated by the warming-up operation, a preset pattern is displayed on a pattern unit of the cover unit.
According to aspects of the present invention, the color intensity of the pattern may vary according to an internal temperature of the main body due to heating of the fixing unit.
According to aspects of the present invention, the pattern unit may be formed using a thermochromic resin formed in a shape corresponding to the pattern on an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin using double injection molding.
According to aspects of the present invention, the pattern may be formed on the cover unit using a thermochromic colorant.
According to aspects of the present invention, the pattern may be at least one of an image and text.
According to aspects of the present invention, the cover unit may be replaceable.
According to aspects of the present invention, the pattern unit can be replaced with a pattern unit which has a same pattern as the preset pattern or a pattern unit which has a different pattern from the preset pattern.
According to aspects of the present invention, there is provided a method of displaying the temperature of a printing apparatus, comprising activating a printing apparatus to print data; indicating an amount of heat radiating from the printing apparatus; and changing the indicating the amount of heat radiating from the printing apparatus corresponding to the changing amounts of heat radiating from the printing apparatus.
According to aspects of the present invention, the heat indication unit may be a thermochromic resin; a thermochromic resin formed in a pattern on an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin; at least one light emitting diode; an analog thermometer; a digital display; a light bulb; and, wherein the heat indication unit is replaceable.
Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the present invention, 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 invention by referring to the figures.
As illustrated, the color laser printer includes a photoconductive drum 10, a laser scanning unit 20 which forms an electrostatic latent image by scanning a laser beam onto the photoconductive drum 10, a developing unit 30 which develops the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive drum 10 using a toner, a transfer unit 40 which transfers a toner image on the photoconductive drum 10 onto paper, a paper feeding unit 50 which supplies the paper to the transfer unit 40, a fixing unit 60 which fixes the transferred toner image onto the paper, a paper discharge unit 70 which discharges a printed paper to a paper discharge tray 73, and a cover unit 80 which covers a printer body containing the above components.
An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductive drum 10 using a laser beam scanned by the laser scanning unit 20, and is developed by the developing unit 30 as a visible image using the toner. The visible toner image on the photoconductive drum 10 is transferred onto paper supplied from the paper feeding unit 50 by the transfer unit 40, and fixed onto the paper by the fixing unit 60. By this process, printing is performed.
The paper discharge unit 70 includes a paper guide frame 71 and a paper discharge roller 72 which is formed on the paper guide frame 71. The paper discharge unit 70 discharges the printed paper which has passed through the fixing unit 60 to the paper discharge tray 73.
The cover unit 80 forms the exterior of the color laser printer 100. In this embodiment of the present invention, a paper jam cover is illustrated as a part of the cover unit 80. Under the paper jam cover, the paper discharge unit 70 is formed. The paper jam cover is hinged on the printer body.
As the printing speed of the color laser printer gets faster, the temperature of the fixing unit 60 gets higher so as to increase the fixing speed. Accordingly, the fixing unit 60 emits a high amount of radiant heat which is transmitted to the paper discharge unit 70 and the cover unit 80 thereon.
As illustrated in
The cover unit 80 may be fabricated with a thermochromic resin formed in a shape corresponding to the pattern on a general acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin using double injection molding. The ABS resin is a styrene resin that consists of the three components styrene, acrylonitrile, and butadiene, and is generally easy to process, crashproof, and thermostable, so ABS resin can be used for car components, helmets, electronic components, and spinning machine components instead of metal.
A thermochromic resin is a material that changes color according to the temperature, and uses a thermochromic colorant which coats and encapsulates a pigment. The temperature at which color change occurs can be set within a wide range when developing the resin. Within the set temperature range, color changes can be reversed and colors can be freely selected by a manufacturer.
Alternatively, the pattern can be formed using a thermochromic colorant forming a preset pattern on the cover unit 80, which is formed using the ABS resin. The thermochromic colorant is the same colorant as the thermochromic resin, and the color varies according to the temperature.
As illustrated in
The pattern may take the form of diverse images or text in order to satisfy the user's demands. The pattern may be images, text or both images and text combined. The cover unit 80 may be replaceable. Alternatively, only the portion of the cover unit 80 where the pattern is displayed, that is a pattern unit 300, may be replaceable.
In this embodiment of aspects of the present invention, a paper jam cover is used as the cover unit 80 corresponding to the fixing unit 60, but this is merely an example. The cover unit 80 and the pattern unit 300 can be manufactured so that a pattern is displayed in a certain area of the cover unit 80 heated by a different component which generates heat in the image forming apparatus 100. That is, a pattern may be displayed on a side, front, back or another area of the image forming apparatus 100.
In greater detail,
As illustrated in
The pattern unit 300 may be fabricated with a thermochromic resin formed in a shape corresponding to the pattern on a general ABS resin using double injection molding. The cover unit 80 may be formed of a general ABS resin.
Alternatively, the pattern unit 300 may be formed using a thermochromic colorant forming a preset pattern on the cover unit 80, which is formed using the ABS resin.
If the internal temperature of the image forming apparatus 100 enters the set temperature range of color change for the colorant due to the warm-up operation, the thermochromic resin absorbs heat generated in the fixing unit 60 and the color intensity becomes lighter. Therefore, the pattern is displayed on the pattern unit 300 on which the thermochromic resin is molded.
After the warm-up (S820), if the received data are printed (S840), the color intensity of the pattern unit 300 changes and is reduced (S850). Accordingly, the preset pattern displayed when received data are printed is more distinct than the preset pattern when displayed in warm-up mode. If the image forming apparatus 100 does not receive print commands, the internal temperature falls and thus the thermochromic resin of the pattern unit 300 returns to its original color. Therefore, the pattern disappears.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-54629 | Jun 2008 | KR | national |
