Electrophotography – Having particular structure – Modular or displaceable
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-27
2001-02-27
Grainger, Quana M. (Department: 2852)
Electrophotography
Having particular structure
Modular or displaceable
C399S161000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06195517
ABSTRACT:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from my application APPARATUS OF REMOVING PHOTORECEPTOR BELT FOR ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTER AND METHOD OF REMOVING PHOTORECEPTOR BELT USING THE SAME filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Jul. 28, 1999 and there duly assigned Serial No. 30827/1999.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for removing a photoreceptor belt from a printer, more particularly, for cutting the photoreceptor belt by using a cutting blade and automatically removing the photoreceptor belt from the printer in order to replace the photoreceptor belt with a new one.
2. Description of the Related Art
A photoreceptor belt has been used for printing an image on a recordable medium in an electrophotographic printer such as a color laser printer. The image is developed on one side of the photoreceptor belt by a development unit, and then the developed image formed on the photoreceptor belt is transferred to a transfer roller located between the photoreceptor belt and a recordable medium and then printed on the recordable medium such as a sheet of paper.
The photoreceptor belt, however, becomes deteriorated by repeated uses. The degree of accuracy of an image developed thereon is gradually lowered. The longer period of time the photoreceptor belt is used in the printer, the less accurate the developed image on the photoreceptor belt and the less clear the printed image on the recordable medium. Thus, in order to obtain an accurate developed image on the photoreceptor belt and a clear printed image on the printable medium, the photodetector belt should be removed from a belt unit and replaced with a new one after it has been used for a predetermined life time.
In a conventional method, a worn photoreceptorbelt is manually extracted from the belt unit. Manual drawing of the photoreceptor belt from the belt unit, however, is a complicated and time consuming process. Since a manual operation of drawing of the photoreceptor belt from the belt unit is performed in a narrow space where parts of the printer are assembled in a confined space, the hands of an operator may be injured by the parts.
In addition to the photoreceptor belt, a filter cartridge has been used for filtering the inner air within the printer by using a pump for sucking the inner air through the filtering cartridge so that harmful materials contained in the inner air are filtered by the filter cartridge before the inner air is exhausted to the outside of the printer. Since harmful materials contained in the inner air affect on the developed image formed on the photoreceptor belt and prevent the printed image from being clear, the inner air containing the harmful materials should be filtered by the filter cartridge and the filter cartridge should be replaced in order to obtain a clear printed image. Although the replacement cycle of the filter cartridge and the photoreceptor belt may be the same each other, the filter cartridge and the photoreceptor belt are separately removed from the printer and replaced by a new one respectively, thereby the replacement processes are complicated and bothersome. In order to keep an effective filtering performance and avoid the harmful affect on the developed and printed images, it is preferable that the filter cartridge and the photoreceptor belt are simultaneously replaced periodically.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method of removing a photoreceptor belt from a printer.
It is another object to provide an apparatus and a method able to automatically cutting a photoreceptor belt in order to remove the photoreceptor belt from the printer.
It is yet another object to provide an apparatus and a method able to automatically draw a photoreceptor belt from the belt unit into a filter housing installed in a printer.
It is still another object to provide an apparatus and a method able to remove a photoreceptor belt and a filter cartridge from a printer at the same time.
It is a further object to provide an apparatus and a method able to protect a user from being injured during manually removing a photoreceptor belt from the printer.
It is also an object to provide an apparatus and a method able to automatically, easily and quickly removing the photoreceptor belt from the printer.
It is also object to provide an apparatus and a method able to obtain an accurate developed image formed on the photoreceptor belt and a clear image printed on a recordable medium.
These and other objects may be achieved by providing an apparatus including a belt unit having a photoreceptor belt circulating and traveling in a predetermined track within a belt unit of a printer, a belt cutting unit disposed adjacent to the belt unit and having a cutting blade moving in a transverse direction of the given predetermined track and cutting photoreceptor belt while passing through the photoreceptor belt, a filter housing disposed adjacent to the given track of the belt unit, a filter cartridge fixed to the filter housing and disposed to filter foreign materials contained in the inner air within the printer, a cylindrical member rotatably disposed on the filter housing to withdraw the photoreceptor belt cut by the cutting blade from the belt unit into the filter housing, a gap provided between the filter housing and the cylindrical member and accommodating the photoreceptor belt after the photoreceptor belt has been cut by the cutting blade, a motor unit disposed adjacent to the cylindrical member to rotate the cylindrical member.
The rollers disposed in the belt unit rotate in a reverse direction of the circulation of the photoreceptor belt to feed the photoreceptor belt between the cylindrical member and a pressure roller rotatably contacting the cylindrical member after the photoreceptor belt has been cut by the cutting blade of the cutting unit. The photoreceptor belt fed between the cylindrical member and a pressure roller is introduced into the gap between the cylindrical member and the filter housing.
A photoreceptor belt of an electrophotographic printer is removed from the belt unit by a method including the steps of setting at least one pair of rollers for pressing and transferring the photoreceptor belt in a predetermined track within the belt unit, providing a cutting blade capable of cutting the photoreceptor belt while moving in traverse direction of the track and passing through the photoreceptor belt, a filter housing disposed adjacent to photoreceptor belt of the belt unit, a cylindrical member rotatably installed in the filter housing, a filter cartridge fixed to the filter housing and disposed inside of the cylindrical member to filter foreign material of the inner air of the printer, and a driving unit rotating the cylindrical member such that the photoreceptor belt is wound around the cylindrical member, driving the cutting blade to cut the photoreceptor belt, rotating the pair of rollers to draw the cut photoreceptor belt into the filter housing, rotating the cylindrical member by the driving unit such that the photoreceptor belt fed into the filtering housing is wound around the cylindrical member, and detaching the filtering housing from the printer.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4215932 (1980-08-01), Castelli et al.
Lee Won-hyung
No Kwang-ho
Park woo-yong
Bushnell , Esq. Robert E.
Grainger Quana M.
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
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