Patent Application
20060181601
This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2005-13014, filed Feb. 17, 2005, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and, more particularly, to an image forming apparatus, which allows the cooling of an interior thereof, which is heated to a high temperature by heat generated at the time of the image forming apparatus being driven.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, an image forming apparatus, such as a composite machine, which is constructed by integrating a copying machine, a printer and a facsimile or other devices that operate similarly in a single appliance to compositely implement the operations, prints an image signal inputted into the image forming apparatus on a print medium.
One example of such a typical image forming apparatus is shown in
Meanwhile, as a series of print processes to develop and fix an image on a print medium P as described above are performed in the image forming apparatus, the interior of the image forming apparatus is heated to a high temperature by the driving heat. That is, a large amount of heat is inputted by the control unit 40 so that the image forming apparatus performs developing and fixing processes. As a result, the interior of the image forming apparatus may be heated to a high temperature.
If the interior of the image forming apparatus is heated as described above, the components mounted within the image forming apparatus, such as the developing part 10, the fixing unit 20, the feeding rollers 30, and the control unit 40 may be deformed by the heat.
In particular, a print medium P may be heated while passing through the interior of the image forming apparatus, which is itself heated to a high temperature, whereby the quality of printing and discharging the print medium P will deteriorate. In addition, as the control unit 40 is heated by the high temperature, the driving of the image forming apparatus may not be smoothly controlled.
The problems caused by the high temperature may result in a failure of the image forming apparatus, thereby lowering the reliability of the image forming apparatus when a user uses the image forming apparatus. Therefore, a cooling of the interior of the image forming apparatus to a predetermined temperature or less is beneficial.
Accordingly, aspects of the present invention solve the above-mentioned and/or other problems. Further, an aspect of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having an improved construction to allow the cooling of the interior thereof that is heated to a high temperature.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned and/or other aspects, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: a body of the image forming apparatus within which a developing part for developing an image on a print medium fed to the image forming apparatus is housed; a fixing unit installed within the body of the image forming apparatus to fix the image transferred to the print medium; a feeding unit to feed the print medium in such a way that a single side/both sides of a print medium is/are formed with an image/images while passing through the body of the image forming apparatus; a control unit to supply a voltage to the body of the image forming apparatus to control the body, the fixing unit, and the feeding unit of the image forming apparatus; and a cooling unit installed within the body of the image forming apparatus to cool the interior of the body of the image forming apparatus. The cooling unit concurrently cools the feeding unit, the fixing unit and the control unit. The cooling unit may comprise: a first cooling member to cool the fixing unit and the print medium when the print medium passes through the fixing unit; and a second cooling member to cool the control unit and the feeding unit neighboring the control unit. The first cooling member is positioned above the fixing unit.
The feeding unit comprises: a first passageway to discharge the print medium after one side of the print medium is printed with an image; and a second passageway to reverse a moving direction of the print medium which has passed through the first passageway and then to position the print medium so as to re-enter the first passageway to print an image on the other side of the print medium.
Here, the control unit is installed between the first passageway and the second passageway.
The first cooling member is positioned above the first passageway so as to cool the print medium while the print medium is passing through the first passageway.
In addition, the body of the image forming apparatus further comprises a rear panel provided to correspond to an area where the print medium is reversed while being entered into the second passageway from the first passageway, and that the second cooling member is installed on the rear panel to concurrently cool the print medium and the control unit. The rear panel may be installed to be capable of opening and shutting, wherein the rear panel includes a rear cover to support the second cooling member. The rear panel may be formed with a guide rib to guide and convey the print medium while the print medium is being conveyed and passing through the first and second passageways.
The rear panel comprises: a rear panel body fixed to the body of the image forming apparatus; and a rear cover installed in the body of image forming apparatus to be capable of opening and shutting, the rear cover being provided with a mounting area to mount the second cooling member.
Meanwhile, the first and second cooling members may be first and second fans to cause external air to flow into the body of the image forming apparatus to cool the interior of the body of the image forming apparatus.
Additional and/or other aspects and 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: The above aspects and features of the present invention will be more apparent from the description for certain embodiments of the present invention taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in 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.
Referring to
The surface of the photosensitive drum 111 is scanned by the laser scanning unit 112, so that a given electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface. The electrostatic latent image, formed in this manner, is developed as a visible image by one or more developers contained in the developing device 113. This visible image is then transferred to the print medium P while the print medium P passes through the developing part 110. As a result, an image is developed on the print medium P.
In addition, the body 100 of the image forming apparatus has a rear panel 120 that is selectively opened with respect to the body 100. The rear panel 120 has a rear panel body 121 and a rear cover 122 as shown in
The fixing unit 140 is installed within the body 100 of the image forming apparatus to fix the image that is transferred to the print medium P and comprises a heating roller 141 to heat the print medium P to a high temperature, and a compressing roller 142 to apply a high pressure to the print medium P.
The feeding unit 150 feeds the print medium P such that a single side and/or both sides of the print medium P is/are formed with an image/images while the print medium P passes through the interior of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus. That is, the feeding unit 150 feeds the print medium P such that the print medium P is conveyed via the developing part 110 and the fixing unit 140 installed within the body 100 of the image forming apparatus. To this end, the feeding unit 150 includes first and second passageways 151, 152.
The first passageway 151 discharges the print medium P out of the image forming apparatus after an image has been formed on one side of the print medium P. The second passageway 152 reverses the print medium P after the print medium P has passed through the first passageway and positions the print medium P so as to allow the print medium P to re-enter the first passageway 151 with an orientation such that an image may be printed on the other side of the print medium P.
Here, plural feeding rollers 153, 154 are installed on the first and second passageways 152 to convey the print medium P. The feeding roller 153 installed at the junction between the first passageway 151 and the second passageway 152 are driven forward and in reverse so as to reverse the moving direction of the print medium P and to introduce the print medium P into the second passageway 152.
More specifically, the feeding roller 153 rotates in the forward direction in the first passageway 151 so as to convey the print medium P, of which one side is formed with an image, toward a paper discharging unit 130. Thereafter, if the print medium P has been conveyed to the paper discharge unit 130 to a certain extent, the feeding roller 153 is driven in reverse. Then, the print medium P is reversed and conveyed along the second passageway 152, so that an image may be formed on the other side of the print medium P.
Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the invention, the rear panel 120 is provided to correspond to the area where the print medium P is reversed while being positioned to enter the second passageway 152 from the first passageway 151. In this position, the rear cover 122 selectively opens so as to allow for a discharge of the print medium P, of which the one side is formed with an image, out of the image forming apparatus. Thus, discharging the print medium out of the paper discharging unit 130, provided on the top of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus, is not required. In addition, by opening the rear cover 122, prevention of a jamming phenomenon, which may be otherwise caused within the body 100 of the image forming apparatus, is possible.
With reference to
The control unit 160 supplies voltage to the body 100 of the image forming apparatus to control the driving of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus. Considering the utilization of the space within the body 100 of the image forming apparatus, according to an embodiment of the invention, the control unit 160 is installed between the first and second passageways 151, 152. The control unit 160 may employ an SMPS (Switching Mode Power Supply) which converts an AC line frequency to a DC line frequency to transform electric power. Because such an SMPS is well known in the art, detailed description thereof is omitted.
The cooling unit 170 is mounted within the body 100 of the image forming apparatus to cool the interior of the body 100. More specifically, the cooling unit 170 may concurrently cool the feeding unit 150, the fixing unit 140 and the control unit 160. The cooling unit 170 includes first and second cooling members, which, according to an embodiment of the invention, are first and second fans 171, 172. Of course, it is understood that the first and second cooling members of the cooling unit 170 are not limited to comprising first and second fans 171 and 172, respectively. In fact, various modified elements may be employed to cool the interior of the body 100. For example, the cooling unit 170 may include a cooling device such as a cooling laminate having a characteristic of high heat conductivity or a liquid coolant capable of cooling the interior of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus.
The first fan 171 cools the fixing unit 140 and the print medium P as the print medium P passes through the fixing unit 140. As such, the first fan 171 is positioned above the fixing unit 140 and the first passageway 151. In addition, the first fan 171 is mounted on one side wall of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus to cool the heated air within the body 100. The second fan 172 cools the control unit 160 and the feeding unit 150 neighboring the control unit 160. Here, the second fan 172 is mounted on the rear panel 120. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the second fan 172 is mounted on the rear cover 122. Here, the rear cover 122 is provided with a fan mounting area 124, and the second fan 172 is mounted in the fan mounting area 124.
According to aspects of the invention, the air flow rate introduced into the interior of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus by the second fan 172 for cooling is to be not faster than the conveying rate of the print medium P conveyed along the guide ribs 123 on the rear cover 122. This prevents the print medium P from being interfered with by the second fan 172 or the air flow while the print medium P is being conveyed.
Now, the operation of the image forming apparatus, according to the embodiments of the present invention configured as described above, is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in
If the print medium P passes through the first passageway 151, the plural feeding rollers 153, 154 are forwardly rotated and the first and second fans 171, 172 are both driven to cool the interior of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus.
In particular, the first fan 171 cools the fixing unit 140 and the print medium P as the print medium P passes through the fixing unit 140. Here, the cooled print medium P prevents the top of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus from being heated while being discharged to and loaded onto the paper discharging unit 130, which is formed on the top of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus. In addition, the second fan 172 cools the high temperatures produced as the control unit 160 supplies a voltage to the body 100 of the image printing apparatus to control the image forming apparatus.
If a forming of an image on the other side of the print medium P on which an image is already formed on one side thereof is desired, the feeding roller 153 is rotated in reverse before the print medium P is discharged out of the image forming apparatus to reverse the movement of the print medium P. The reversed print medium P enters into the second passageway 152 along the guide ribs 123 and then enters into the first passageway 151 via the second passageway 152. At this time, when the print medium P enters into the second passageway 152, the print medium P is again cooled by the second fan 172 installed on the rear cover 122.
The print medium P, which has entered into the first passageway 151 again, is formed with an image on the other side thereof as the print medium P passes through the developing part 110 and the fixing unit 140 in sequence. The print medium P is again conveyed along the first passageway 151 and is again cooled by the first fan 171 positioned above the first passageway 151.
By providing the first and second fans 171, 172 as mentioned above, an efficient cooling of the interior of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus is possible. Moreover, by installing the second fan 172 in the fan mounting area 124 provided in the rear cover 122, the utilization of space in the body 100 of the image forming apparatus may be enhanced.
According to the second embodiment of the invention, the second fan 172′ is not installed on the rear cover 122 but, rather, on the rear panel body 121. That is, a fan mounting area 124′ is formed in the rear panel body 121 and the second fan 172′ is mounted in the fan mounting area 124′. Here, the second fan 172′ is mounted on the rear panel body 121 located below the rear cover 122.
With this arrangement, the second fan 172′ is installed more closely to the control unit 160, so that the second fan 172′ cools the control unit 160 and a print medium P which passes through the second passageway. Furthermore, because the second fan 172′ is installed on the rear panel body 121, which is fixed to the body 100 of the image forming apparatus, rather than on the rear cover 122, which is selectively opened, the power supply may be more easily connected to the second fan 172′.
As is described above, according to aspects of the invention, because the cooling unit 170 including first and second fans 171, 172; 172′ is provided, the interior of the body 100 of the image forming apparatus heated by the heat produced when the image forming apparatus is operated may be efficiently cooled. Moreover, because a print medium P is cooled by the first and second fans 171 and 172 and 172′ while passing through the first and second passageways 151, 152, the efficiency of printing and discharging the print medium P may be enhanced. As a result, the problems caused in the image forming apparatus due to a high temperature may be at least alleviated or solved.
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 these embodiments 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-13014 | Feb 2005 | KR | national |
