JP2788312B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, and the like.

(Prior art)

Various types of image recording apparatuses such as copying machines and printers are used. For example, as an image forming method, there are a powder developing method, a thermal transfer printing method, an ink jet printing method, and the like. In each method, a monochrome image and a color image are used separately.

In the conventional image recording apparatus, the apparatuses of the respective systems are individually manufactured, and if it is desired to use the ink jet printing system and the thermal transfer printing system, at least two printers must be prepared. Further, when there is a printer for black and white and color printing is required, a printer for color printing must be additionally prepared or replaced with a device that can be used for black and white and color. Therefore, a lot of expense is required for the user, and there is a problem that a maker has to manufacture many devices.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an image recording apparatus which solves the above-mentioned conventional problems and makes it possible to configure various types of image recording apparatuses with a small cost and a small space by using common components. That is the task.

[Means for solving the problem]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described problems by providing an image forming unit in which components for forming an image on recording paper based on an image signal are stored in one case, an electric control device, a drive motor, and a mechanical drive device. A base unit that is housed in one case and the paper cassette is detachable, and a plurality of image forming units are exchangeably stacked on the base unit. The problem has been solved by an image recording apparatus characterized in that a straight paper passage is formed.

[Action]

According to the present invention, a plurality of image forming units each formed by individually storing image forming components of an arbitrary system are stacked on a base unit storing a control device and a drive mechanism including a motor, A substantially straight paper path is formed from the unit to the uppermost image forming unit. According to the present invention, different image forming methods can be arbitrarily selected, or images of a plurality of colors can be formed by the same image forming method.

According to the present invention, all image forming units can be appropriately driven by superimposing and assembling a plurality of image forming units on one base unit, and a plurality of image forming units can be driven and controlled by one control device and a driving device. It became possible to do. Therefore, according to the present invention, for a plurality of types of image forming apparatuses,
The control device, the motor, and the drive device can be shared as one unit, and the number of parts and the required space can be reduced.

〔Example〕

In FIG. 1, the image recording apparatus has a base unit 1 and an image forming unit 2, and the image forming unit 2 is superposed on the base unit 1. The base unit 1 is formed so that a paper feed cassette 3 containing a plurality of recording papers such as plain paper and special paper is detachable. The portion where the sheet cassette is mounted may be formed as a single unit separate from the base unit.

The base unit 1 has a case 11 provided with a paper feed port 12 as shown in FIG. 3, and the case 11 includes an image processing system including an electric control device, for example, a CPU, an interface, a signal memory and the like, and an image forming system. A substrate 13 and a drive motor 14 constituting a drive system circuit for moving a system in the unit, and a mechanical drive device 15 for transmitting the drive force of the drive motor 14 to the image forming unit 2 are stored.

The mechanical drive unit 15 is provided with, for example, a bevel gear 16, which meshes with, for example, a bevel gear 17 provided in an image forming unit mounted on the base unit 1.

The bevel gear 17 is supported on the transmission shaft 18 in the image forming unit,
The power is transmitted from the transmission shaft 18 to each rotating body such as a roller via a worm, a combination of worm gears and other mechanisms, and an acceleration / deceleration mechanism 19 including a transmission ON / OFF mechanism such as a clutch or a solenoid.

In each image forming unit 2 as well, as in the base unit 1,
A bevel gear or the like for transmitting the drive from the transmission shaft is provided for transmitting the drive to the image forming unit mounted thereon.

The above example is an example, and any structure can be used as long as the drive can be transmitted from one unit to another unit.

As the image forming unit 2, a first image forming unit 2 'shown in FIG. 4 is used as an example of a powder developing system. The first image forming unit 2 'has one case 21, in which a paper feed port 22 and a paper discharge port 23 are formed.

In the case of the thermo-magnetic writing method, the paper exit 23
A printing position by a heating roller 24 and a pressure roller 25 pressed against the heating roller is provided in the middle of a substantially straight paper passing path exiting the printer.

Latent image belt 27 on heating roller 24 and tension roller 26
Is wound. As the latent image belt, for example, a magnetic belt (for example, made of a magnetic material containing CoO ₂ ) is used. The latent image belt 27 is driven in the direction of the arrow, and the latent image belt 27 is
Writing head 28 and developing device arranged along the traveling path of
29, the cleaner 30, and the eraser 31 perform an image forming process. That is, the write head 28 records an image latent image on the latent image belt 27 according to a write signal from the base unit 1, develops the latent image by a developing roller 29 a of a developing device 29, and develops the latent image. The transfer and the fixing are simultaneously performed on the recording paper 32 passing between the roller 24 and the pressure roller 25. The latent image belt 27 after the transfer is removed of the residual developing material by the cleaner, and the latent image is erased by the eraser 31. Heating roller 24
In order to prevent the latent image belt 27 and other components from being unnecessarily heated by the heat, a heat insulating member 33 is provided beside the heating roller 24, and a heat radiating member 34 for cooling the latent image belt 27 is further provided. Is arranged.

In the example of FIG. 4, the heating roller 24, the pressure roller 25, the tension roller 26, and the developing roller 29a can form a flat unit by arranging their respective central axes substantially in the same plane. In this case, it is convenient to form the container of the developing device 29 as a thin container extending along the plane on which the rollers are arranged.

One image forming apparatus can be formed by the base unit 1 and the first image forming unit 2 '.

A recess used as a paper output tray on the upper surface of the case 21
21a is formed.

When it is desired to switch between a black image and a monochromatic color image as required, a plurality of the same first image forming apparatuses 2 'are stacked and one contains a black developer and the other contains a color developer. This makes it possible to respond to requests.

In FIG. 4, at the time of image formation, the first image formation unit 2 '
The recording paper 32 fed from the paper feed cassette 3 in the base unit 1 disposed below the paper feed roller 3a is fed from the paper feed inlet 22 of the first image forming unit 2 ',
The sheet is transferred and fixed by 24, and is discharged from the discharge port 23. In the case of one first image forming unit 2 ', the recording sheet to be discharged is immediately stored in the concave portion 21a, and when two or more first image forming units 2' are overlapped, the uppermost image forming unit is set. And the paper is discharged. When a plurality of first image forming units 2 'are used in an overlapped manner, an image is not formed in another first image forming unit 2' in order to operate one desired first image forming unit 2 'to form an image. You need to do that. For this reason, it is preferable that one or both of the pressure roller 25 and the heating roller 24 move to release the pressure contact state so that transfer is not performed.

When the image forming method is the thermal transfer method, for example, a second image forming unit 2 ″ shown in FIG. 5 can be used as the image forming unit 2.

The second image forming unit 2 ″ has a case 41 provided with a paper feed port 42 and a paper discharge port 43.

A substantially straight paper path from the paper feed port 42 to the paper output port 43
A printing position is provided by a thermal head 44 capable of line printing and a back roller 45 facing the thermal head 44. The ink ribbon 45 is arranged so as to be able to move between the recording paper to be passed and the thermal head 44 in the same direction as the recording paper. The ribbon 54 is sent out from the supply roll 46, the printing position is guided by the first deflecting roller 47 and the second deflecting roller 48, and guided to the take-up roll 50 by the third deflecting roller 49.

The thermal head 44, the back roller 45, the supply roll 46, and the take-up roll 50 are arranged such that their respective axes are substantially in the same plane, and the case 41 can be formed flat.

In case 41, feed roller pair 5
1, 52 are arranged.

A switching claw 53 can be provided for switching between a case where the recording paper discharged from the paper discharge port 43 is directed to the discharge tray concave portion 41a provided in the case 41 and a case where the recording paper is discharged to the left in the drawing. . By inclining the switching claw 53 rightward or leftward, the paper discharge direction can be switched. The switching claw 53 is used to direct the recording paper to the paper feed port of the image forming unit
It is possible to provide a configuration for moving the center of rotation of.
The switching claw 53 can be provided in the same manner in the case 21 of FIG.

The thermal head 44 is formed so as to be movable between a printing position where printing is performed by pressing the recording paper against the rear roller 45 as indicated by an arrow and a standby position where the recording paper is separated from the rear roller 45.

By arranging a plurality of second image forming units 2 ″ on which ink ribbons of a desired color are arranged as ink ribbons 54 for color image forming, color switching printing is possible.

In the case of the ink jet image forming method, the image forming unit 2
For example, a third image forming unit 2 shown in FIG. 6 can be used.

The third image forming unit 2 has a case 61 provided with a paper feed port 62 and a paper discharge port 63.

A print position by the recording head 64 is provided in a substantially straight paper passage from the paper feed port 62 to the paper discharge port 63. Recording head 64
A platen 65 and an ink absorber 66 are provided so as to face.

An ink tank 67 is detachably mounted on the recording head 64, and the recording head 64 ejects ink and prints on recording paper according to an image information signal from the base unit 1.

Recording head 64, platen 65, ink absorber 66,
The ink tank 67 and the ink tank 67 are arranged in a line, and the case 61 can be formed flat.

In the case 61, pairs of conveying rollers 68 and 69 are arranged as necessary.

The case 61 has a concave portion 61a that forms a paper discharge tray for receiving recording paper discharged from the paper discharge port 63. Exit 6
3, a switching claw can be provided as in the example of FIG.

By selecting the color of the ink contained in the ink tank 67, a plurality of the third image forming units 2 are arranged in an overlapping manner, and the unit that actually forms an image according to the color of recording is the base unit 1
Can be selected by a command from.

Ink-jet imaging methods include on-demand types such as Gould type, valve jet type and slit jet type, demand type of pressurized vibration type or charge amount control type, etc. In a single unit. The on-demand type is advantageous for reducing the size of the image forming unit.

Electrophotographic method, thermal method,
Although there is a wire dot method or the like, any of these methods can be stored in a case in a manner similar to each of the above examples to form one image forming unit. Here, the description with the drawings is omitted. In addition to the above-described components, each image forming unit includes a cooling fan, a detecting device and a circuit for performing image forming satisfactorily, a solenoid, a small motor, and the like as necessary. Can be stored.

In forming an image forming apparatus, an image forming unit 2 is superimposed on a base unit 1 as shown in FIG. If necessary, another image forming unit is further stacked on the image forming unit 2.

In stacking, alignment and fixed connection between the base unit 1 and the image forming unit 2 and between the image forming units 2 and connection of mechanical and electrical systems are required. As shown in FIG. 7, cases 11, 21, 41, and 61 of each unit (in FIG. 7, the bases are connected) so that these various connections can be easily performed simply by placing another unit on one unit. A first joint 81 and a second joint 82 for connecting to a unit mounted on the upper part, a drive system connection port 83 for connecting a mechanical drive system, and an electric high voltage connector 84 are shown on the upper surface of the unit 11 (shown as an example of the unit 11). , Electrical signal connector 85 and paper exit 12
Are provided at the same position and in the same form for each unit. These components are provided outside the range of the paper discharge tray concave portion on the upper surface of the image forming unit.

Although not shown in the figure, the bottom of the case 21, 41, 61 of each image forming unit is located at a position facing each part of FIG.
1'82 ', drive system connection port 83', high voltage connector such as electric 8
4 ', the electrical signal connector 85' and the paper feed ports 22, 42, 62 are formed.

One specific example of the joints 81 and 82 is as shown in FIG. On the upper surfaces of the case 11 of the base unit 1 and the cases 31, 41, and 61 of each image forming unit, a flat support member 87, which is a joint 81 and is rotatably supported by a support shaft 86, is provided by a spring or the like as shown in the figure. It is kept open by the angle θ. Cases 21 and 4 of the imaging unit as opposing members of the joint 81
A receiving port 88 into which the supporting member 87 is inserted is formed in the first and the first 61.

When placing the image forming unit 21 on the base unit 1, the support member 87 is inserted obliquely into the receiving port 88 and placed on the base unit 1 while being tilted. The base unit 1 has a hook 90 rotatably supported by a pin 89 as a joint 82.
Are hooked up to the case 21, 41, 61 of the imaging unit
An engagement hole (or engagement pin) 91 with which the 90 is engaged is provided.
Since the hook 90 is held at the engagement position by a spring or the like, when the case (eg, 21) of the image forming unit is placed on the base 1, the hook 90 automatically engages with the engagement hole 91. To release the engagement, the hook 90 is moved by a suitable means such as a pin 92 to release the engagement with the engagement hole 91. The joint is just an example, and any structure can be used as long as it can connect and lock the image forming units or the operating unit and the base unit.

The joints 81 and 82 can be provided not only on the case 11 of the base unit but also on the upper surfaces of the cases 21, 41 and 61 of each image forming unit.

A circuit constituting a control device as shown in FIG. 9 is formed on a substrate 13 in the base unit 1. AC in FIG.
The power input supplies an AC input from a power cord to the inside of the base. The low-voltage DC power supply supplies DC to each electric circuit board and motor. The control unit drives the entire apparatus and controls image signals and the like to the image forming unit.

The display device is a device for displaying an operating state of the base and the image forming unit to an operator.

The operation switch is set according to the imaging unit, and the switch is set manually or the feature detection (reading) of the imaging unit
I do.

For image processing and memory control, an image signal is transmitted to a thermal head or an ink-jet drive circuit in the image forming unit.

The motor and the solenoid control the operation drive of the image forming unit.

a to e indicate input / output of electric signals. a supplies a DC voltage to an electrical circuit in the imaging unit. b sends operation signals of solenoids in the same unit. c receives signals from sensors and the like from within the imaging unit. d transmits an image signal. "e" is a connector connected to a facsimile scanner or word processor.

a to d are composed of Centronics. e is RS-232C
It consists of. A indicates a rotation axis for transmitting the rotational drive of the motor to the image forming unit.

Each image forming unit is not provided with a drive source and a control device in principle, but a cooling fan,
Detectors and circuits, solenoids, small motors, and the like for good image formation may be incorporated.

For color imaging, as shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of imaging units 2a of the same type,
2b is stacked. The number to be stacked is determined by the number of colors to be imaged. The recording paper fed from the base unit 1 is
An image of one color is formed by the first image forming unit 2a,
In the second image forming unit 2b, images of different colors can be superimposed and formed.

In forming a full-color image, it is necessary to overlap three or four image forming units. In this case, the paper discharge direction can be selected by switching the paper discharge of the uppermost image forming unit, and the switching of the switching claw is selected so that the intermediate image forming unit passes vertically.

In FIG. 10, paper is fed not only from the cassette,
Arrows indicate that manual paper feeding is also possible from outside.

〔effect〕

According to the present invention, an image forming unit having a different image forming method can be combined with a common base unit to constitute one image forming apparatus, and the production cost can be reduced by using a common unit.

According to the present invention, a plurality of image forming units can be assembled on one base unit in a superposed manner, and a plurality of image forming units can be switched and formed by one base unit. It became possible to use it at a cost.

For example, by adding only an electrophotographic imaging unit with a high printing speed to a thermal imaging unit with a low running cost, it is possible to use a high-speed image forming apparatus without changing the base unit. became. Further, it has become possible to appropriately form a color image by switching without much expense.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is an exploded perspective view of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of an assembled state, FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a base unit, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are different image forming methods. FIG. 7 is a plan view of the upper surface of the case of each image forming unit, FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a joint, and FIG. 9 is a component in the base unit. FIG. 10 is a front view of a color image forming apparatus in which a plurality of image forming units are stacked on a base unit. 1 Base unit 2a, 2b Image forming unit 3 Paper cassette

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An image forming unit in which each structural member for forming an image on recording paper based on an image signal is stored in one case, and an electric control device, a drive motor, and a mechanical drive device are stored in one case. A plurality of image forming units, each of which is replaceably stacked on the base unit, and a substantially linear communication from the base unit to the uppermost image forming unit. An image recording apparatus, wherein a paper path is formed.