This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-39733 filed on Jul. 9, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for replacing a photoreceptive unit and a transfer unit in a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical printer, such as a printer or a copier, includes a photoreceptive unit developing an image and a transfer unit transferring the developed image to a sheet of paper. As the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit are used for a long period of time, a degree of accuracy of an image deteriorates. Thus, in order to maintain a clean image, the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit need to be replaced after being used for a longer period.
Referring to
In the above replacement system, however, the locking lever 30 is inconveniently lifted up and down whenever the photoreceptive unit 10 and the transfer unit 20 are pulled and installed. Also, since the respective units 10 and 20 are pulled by holding the first and second handles 11 and 21 installed at a front side thereof to be drawn, the photoreceptive and transfer units 10 and 20 may fall down at a moment of escaping from the first and second guide rails 41 and 42 and easily damaged if the photoreceptive and transfer units 10 and 20 are carelessly handled, for example, when the photoreceptive and transfer units 10 and 20 are strongly pulled out.
To solve the above and/or other problems, the present invention provides a photoreceptive unit and transfer unit replacement system of a printer by which a replacement work can be carried out safely and easily.
Additional 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.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a photoreceptive unit and transfer unit replacement system of a printer includes a door opening and closing an entrance formed above a portion where a photoreceptive unit and a transfer unit are installed in a main body of the printer, a first guide rail provided at a framed in the main body to guide the photoreceptive unit which enters through the entrance and descends, a second guide rail provided at the frame to guide the transfer unit which enters through the entrance and descends, and a locking unit locking and unlocking the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit according to an operation of opening and closing the door.
According to another aspect of the invention, the locking unit includes a locking lever rotatably installed at the frame and having a hook portion hooked by a boss provided at each of the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit, and an interaction mechanism allowing an operation of opening and closing the door to be interacted with a rotation of the locking lever. When the door is closed, the locking lever is rotated in a first direction, and the hook portion is hooked by the boss to lock a corresponding one of the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit. When the door is opened, the locking lever is rotated in a second direction so as to be unlocked from the hook portion.
According to another aspect of the invention, a photoreceptive unit and transfer unit replacement system of a printer having a photoreceptive unit and a transfer unit includes a door opening and closing an entrance formed on the main body where the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit are installed in the main body of the printer, first and second frames disposed on both sides of the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit in a direction perpendicular to rotation axes of the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit, and a guide rail formed on at least one of the first and second frames to guide the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit to an installation position of the main body through the entrance.
According to another aspect of the invention, a photoreceptive unit and transfer unit replacement system of a printer having a photoreceptive unit and a transfer unit contained in a main body includes a door opening and closing an entrance formed on the main body, first and second frames parallel to each other and formed in a direction perpendicular to rotation axes of the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit so that the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit are disposed between the first and second frames, a first guide rail formed on at least one of the first and second frames, a first side plate formed on the photoreceptive unit in a first direction parallel to the first and second frames, a first boss formed on the first side plate of the photoreceptive unit in a second direction parallel to the rotation axis of the photoreceptive unit, and disposed on the first guide rail, a second guide rail formed on at least one of the first and second frames, a second side plate formed on the transfer unit in the first direction parallel to the first and second frames, and a second boss formed on the second side plate of the transfer unit in the second direction parallel to the rotation axis of the transfer unit, and disposed on the second guide rail.
According to another aspect of the invention, the first and second guide rails are formed in a direction having an angle with a paper path of a sheet of paper passing through a nip between the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit.
According to another aspect of the invention, the system includes a locking unit having a first locking portion and a second locking portion coupled to the transfer unit and the photoreceptive unit, respectively, wherein the first locking portion and the second locking portion are formed in a direction from the transfer unit to the photoreceptive unit.
According to another aspect of the invention, the system includes a locking unit rotatably mounted on the one of the first and second frame to rotate according to a movement of the door, and having a first locking portion and a second locking portion locking the transfer unit and the photoreceptive unit, respectively.
According to another aspect of the invention, the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit are mounted in the main body through the entrance, and the transfer roller includes a first side facing the photoreceptive unit, and a second side facing the entrance of the main body.
According to another aspect of the invention, the photoreceptive unit, the transfer unit, and the entrance are disposed in the main body a line parallel to the first and second frames.
According to another aspect of the invention, the photoreceptive unit, the transfer unit, and the entrance are disposed in the main body a line having an angle with a paper path of a sheet of paper passing through a nip between the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred 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 in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
Referring to
The photoreceptive unit 100 includes a photoreceptive drum 110, a plate 120 installed at each of both end sides of the photoreceptive drum 110, and a handle member 150. The handle member 150 includes a pair of rotating bars 151 rotatably installed at the respective plates 120 and a connection bar 152 connecting the rotating bars 151. The hand member 150 is elastically biased by a spring 130 in a direction in which the connection bar 152 ascends, that is, in a direction in which the rotation bar 151 is stopped by a stopper 140 provided at the plate 120.
The transfer unit 200 includes a transfer belt 220 circulating around a plurality of rollers 230 along an endless path and a case 210 enclosing and protecting the transfer belt 220. A lower surface of the case 210 is open to access the photoreceptive drum 110 and a sheet of paper (not shown). The transfer unit 200 further includes a handle member 232 provided at the case 210 so that a user can lift the transfer unit 200. The handle member 232 is rotatably installed at the case 210 so that, when the handle member 232 is not in use, the handle member 232 can be folded to closely contact the case 210.
A locking unit is provided to lock the photoreceptive unit 100 and the transfer unit 200 installed in the main body 300 along the first and second guide rails 321 and 322. The locking unit performs locking and unlocking according to an operation of opening and closing the door 310. The locking unit includes a locking lever 330 pivotably installed at the frame 320 and having first and second hook portions 331 and 332, and first and second link members 341 and 342 connecting the door 310 and the locking lever 330. The first and second link members 341 and 342 have first ends connected to each other and second ends connected to the door 310 and the locking lever 33, respectively. The locking unit further includes a support rail 323 provided at the frame 320 to slidably support the second link member 342, and a slot 333 into which a coupling protrusion 342a of the second link member 342 is inserted. Thus, when the door 310 is closed, the first and second link members 341 and 342 are moved to a direction A on
In the above structure, when a new photoreceptive unit and a transfer unit are installed at the main body 300 of the printer, the door 310 is opened and the new photoreceptive unit is inserted through the entrance 031. Here, the boss 111 provided at the photoreceptive unit 100 slides on the first guide rail 321 and is guided to an installation position. The boss 111 is formed by extending a rotation shaft of the photoreceptive drum 110. When the photoreceptive unit 100 is completely installed, power of a driving source 401 in the main body 300 is transferred to the boss 111.
Next, the transfer unit 200 is inserted through the entrance 301 in an order of
When the above installation of the photoreceptive unit 100 and the transfer unit 200 is completed, the door 310 is closed. Here, the locking lever 330 connected to the door 310 via the first and second link members 341 and 342 is rotated counterclockwise as shown in
In contrast, when the door 310 is opened to take out the photoreceptive unit 100 and the transfer unit 200, the locking lever 330 connected to the first and second link members 341 and 342 are rotated clockwise to be in a state shown in
Since the operation of locking and unlocking the photoreceptive unit 100 and the transfer unit 200 are simultaneously performed by the operation of opening and closing the door 310, a replacement process can be performed conveniently. Also, since the photoreceptive unit 100 and the transfer unit 200 are lifted while the handle members 150 and 232 provided at the respective photoreceptive and transfer units 100 and 200, a possibility of dropping and damaging the photoreceptive and transfer units 100 and 200 as they are pulled from a front side of the printer while front portions thereof are held by the user according to a conventional method, is reduced.
As described above, in the photoreceptive unit and transfer unit replacement system according to the present invention, since the operation of opening and closing the door are performed according to the operation of locking and unlocking the respective photoreceptive and transfer units, and the photoreceptive unit and transfer units pass through the entrance disposed above the photoreceptive unit and transfer units, a replacement process can be performed more conveniently and stably.
Although a few preferred 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 sprit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2002-39733 | Jul 2002 | KR | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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6522845 | Sameshima | Feb 2003 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country |
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8-54786 | Feb 1996 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20040009008 A1 | Jan 2004 | US |