JPH0462566A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute a recording action only when a developing device is set and a developing part cover is closed and to prevent the printing out of a blank paper by detecting the set state of the developing device and the closed state of the developing part cover. CONSTITUTION:When the developing device 4 is set and the developing part cover 15 is closed, a projection 22 presses on the rare end of a lever 27, a switch 23 is pushed by the top end of the lever 27 to obtain the ON-state, and respective process means are in an operable state. When the cover 15 is released, the pressing by the projection 22 can be released, so that the lever 27 is moved backward within the range of an oblong hole by the tension of a spring 30 and a microswitch 23 is turned off. On the other hand, even if the cover 15 is closed in a state where the device 4 is not set, the switch 23 is still turned off, because the lever 27 is not present thereon. Therefore, the printing out of the blank sheet does not occur in this state.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus such as a laser printer or a copying machine, and particularly to an image recording apparatus in which a developing device is removably attached to the main body of the image recording apparatus. It is related to the device.

[Prior Art] A laser printer, which is an image recording device, is an image recording device in which an upper structure 1a and a lower structure 1b are connected by a shaft 1C so as to be openable and closable, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. A photoreceptor 2 is installed in the center of a printer main body 1 serving as an apparatus main body, and electrophotographic processing means such as a charging device 3, a developing device 4, a transfer device 5, a cleaning device 6, etc. are sequentially installed around the photoreceptor 2. It also has a structure in which a paper feed cassette 7 is attached to the upper side of the printer main body 1, and a light intake device 8 is provided in the lower part of the printer main body 1. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 2, which is electrically charged and driven to rotate counterclockwise in the drawing, by illuminating the laser beam from the optical writing device 8, and a developing device is applied to the electrostatic latent image. 4, the toner is brought into contact with the toner to form a visible image, and the paper 10 fed from the paper feed cassette 7 by the paper feed roller 9 is superimposed on the visible image by the registration roller 11 at a proper timing to transfer the image. The toner is transferred by the device 6, and the paper 10 after the toner transfer is guided by the conveyance kite 16 to the fixing device 14 having a heat fixing section consisting of a fixing roller 12 and a pressure roller 13, and the toner is fixed. The paper 10 is discharged to a paper discharge section 18 by a paper discharge roller 17, guided by a paper discharge kite 19, and stacked on a paper discharge tray 20.

Further, in the laser printer described above, the developing section cover 15 is disposed on the lower side of the printer main body 1 so as to constitute a part of the printer main body 1, and the lower end thereof is rotatable to the printer main body 1 via a hinge 21. As shown in FIG. 4, with the developing section cover 15 opened outward about the hinge 21 and the paper feed cassette 7 being handled, the developing device 4 can be pumped out in the direction of the arrow. It's Nishide.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the electrophotographic laser printer as described above, even when the developing device 4 is handled outside as shown in FIG. , Once each process means has operated, a blank page or printout will be produced. This is particularly problematic in the case of printers, as important images may be lost due to the nature of creating manuscripts.

For this reason, some conventional devices are equipped with a switch to detect whether or not the developing device 4 is set. A switch was provided, which was expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, even if it is impossible to determine from the outside whether the developing unit cover is closed and the developing device is not set, the present invention attempts to detect this using an inexpensive means and prevent blank printouts. It's something.

[Means for Solving the Problems 1] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an image recording apparatus in which a developing device is removably attached to the main body of the image recording device. A detection device is installed to simultaneously detect both the closed state and the set state of the developing device. Further, it is preferable that an interlocking mechanism for operating the detection device is provided between the developing device and the developing section cover.

Furthermore, a configuration may be provided that allows the recording operation to be executed only when the detection device is in operation.

"Function" When the developing device is set and the developing section cover is closed, the interlocking mechanism activates the detection device, making it possible to perform a recording operation.

[Example] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. Similar to the laser printer shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a developing image is attached to a part of the printer body 1 via a hinge 21 at the lower end. In a configuration in which the developing unit cover 15 is provided so as to be freely openable and closable, and the developing device 4 can be attached to and removed from the printer main body 1 with the developing unit cover 15 open, at a predetermined position in the lower part of the printer main body 1, A microswitch 23 is installed as a detection device for detecting both the set state of the developing device 4 in the printer main body 1 and the closed state of the developing section cover 15, and the connection between the developing device 4 and the developing section cover 15 is In the meantime, turn the microswitch 23 on to O.
An interlocking mechanism 24 is provided to switch the control device 25 to N, and the control device 25
An operation command is sent from the controller to each process means so that the recording operation can be executed.

The interlocking mechanism 24 is connected to an outer case 2 that constitutes the developing device 4.
An intermediate lever 27 extending in the front-rear direction along the developing device attachment/detachment direction is arranged at the lower part of the side wall surface of the housing 6, and a long hole 28 formed in the intermediate lever 27 is connected to a pin 29 protruding toward the outer case 26 side. A spring 30 is tensioned between the pin 29 and the intermediate lever 27 so that the intermediate lever 27 is always directed toward the developer section cover 15 side and biased to move the intermediate lever 27 backward. Further, when the developing unit cover 15 is closed with the developing device 4 set, the rear end of the intermediate lever 27 is placed at the inner lower end of the developing unit cam 15 at a position opposite to the intermediate lever 27. A detection protrusion 22 is provided at the tip of the intermediate lever 27 when pressed to turn on the micro switch 23.

When the developing device 4 is set in the correct position in the printer main body 1 and the developing unit cover 15 is closed as shown in FIG. presses the rear end of the intermediate lever 27 on the developing device 4 side against the spring 36, so the micro switch 23 is pressed by the tip of the intermediate lever 27 and turned on, so that each process means is turned on. It is ready to operate at any time upon command from the control device 25.

When the developing unit cover 15 is opened as shown in FIG. 2 in order to remove the developing device 4 from the printer main body 1 for maintenance or the like, the detection protrusion 22 that was pressing the rear end of the intermediate lever 27 moves from the developing unit cover 15. With the opening operation, the intermediate lever 27 is moved away from the rear end. On the other hand, the intermediate lever 27
is released from the pressure by the detection protrusion 22 [Thus, the tensile force of the spring 30 causes the microswitch 23 to move backward within the range of the elongated hole 26, so the microswitch 23 is OF
Be given an F. By providing the detection protrusion 22 at a position where it does not interfere with the movement trajectory of the intermediate lever 27 during the handling operation of the developing device 4, the developing device 4 can be handled as is in the conventional manner.

In order to set the developing device 4 in the printer main body 1 again, as shown in FIG. 2, the developing device 4 is inserted to the normal position.
Since the microswitch 23 is urged backward by the tensile force of the microswitch 23, the microswitch 23 is maintained in the OFF state. Therefore, in this state, since no operation command is sent from the control device 25 to each process means, it is known whether the developing section cover 15 is not closed yet. In this state, when the developing section cover 15 is closed, as shown in FIG. 1, by pushing the rear end of the detection protrusion 22 or the intermediate lever 27, the micro switch 23 or the tip of the intermediate lever 27 is pressed and turned on. , the control device 25 enters a state in which an operation command is sent to each process means.

On the other hand, even if the developing unit cover 15 is closed when the developing device 4 is not set, the intermediate lever 27 that transmits the pressing force from the detection protrusion 22 to the micro switch 23 is not present, so the micro switch 23 is It remains OFF. Since none of the process means operates in this state, blank pages will not be printed out.

As described above, in the present invention, only when the developing device 4 is correctly set and the developing section cover 15 is closed, the interlocking mechanism 2 consisting of the intermediate lever 27, the detection protrusion 22, etc.
4, the microswitch 23 is turned on, so even if the developing unit cover 15 is closed and it is not possible to determine from the outside whether the developing device 4 is in an unset state, the microswitch 23 will not be turned on and the image will not be loaded. It is possible to detect forgetting to set the device 4.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited only to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effect of the Invention 1] As described above, according to the image recording apparatus of the present invention, both the set state of the developing device and the closed state of the developing unit cover can be controlled.
Because they are detected simultaneously by a single detection device, it is cheaper than the conventional method of detecting the set state of the developing device and the open state of the developing unit cover using separate detection switches. An interlocking mechanism is installed between the developing unit cover to activate the detection device, so even if the developing unit cover is closed and there is no way to determine whether the developing unit is not set from the outside, it can detect if the developing unit has been forgotten. In addition, we have added a function that allows the recording operation to be executed only when the detection device is operating, so the recording operation will not be executed even if the developing device has been forgotten to be set, and a blank page will be printed. It exhibits excellent effects such as being able to prevent documents from being printed out.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the vicinity of the image embedding device showing an embodiment of the image recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the state in which the developing unit cover is opened from the state shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a laser printer showing an example of an image recording device. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the state of attachment and detachment of the developing device in the laser printer of FIG. 1... Printer main body (image recording device main body), 4...
・Developing device, 15...Developing unit cover, 23...Micro switch (detection device), 24...Interlocking mechanism, 25
···Control device.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In an image recording device in which the developing device is removably attached to the main body of the image recording device, detection for simultaneously detecting both the closed state of the developing section cover that opens and closes when the developing device is attached or detached, and the set state of the developing device. An image recording device characterized by having a device installed therein. (2) The image recording apparatus according to claim (1), further comprising an interlocking mechanism for operating the detection device between the developing device and the developing section cover. (3) Claim (1) or (2), which is provided with a function that allows the recording operation to be executed only when the detection device is in operation.
The image recording device described.