Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Housing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-02-04
2001-01-09
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Housing
C347S023000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170946
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device and particularly to an image forming device of a type provided with a recording head maintenance mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is conventionally proposed an image forming device of a type provided with a recording head maintenance mechanism.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
FIGS.
1
(
a
) and
1
(
b
) show a conceivable image forming device which is capable of recording images on a recording medium having a large size, such as an A0-size paper, while freely setting the length of a recording area to various lengths.
As shown in the drawings, this type of image forming device includes a main body
110
. A cover
60
is provided on the top of the main body
110
covering an area in which an internally-provided recording head
70
scans over a recording medium P. The cover
60
can be freely opened or closed in order to replace a recording paper roll with a new one and also to perform a maintenance operation on a recording medium feed mechanism.
FIG.
1
(
a
) is an external view of the conceivable image forming device when the cover
60
is in the closed position, while FIG.
1
(
b
) shows the same device when the cover
60
is in the open position. The cover
60
is closed during normal recording operations and is opened when replacing the recording paper roll with a new one and cleaning or repairing the feed mechanism for the recording medium P. Since the internal mechanisms of the main body
110
are exposed when the cover
60
is in the open position, recording operations of the image forming device are controlled to shut off when the cover
60
is opened, in order to maintain a safe environment for maintenance work.
However, since the outer form of the above-described image forming device is necessarily large to accommodate such large recording media P as A0-size papers, the cover
60
must also be large and heavy. Accordingly, opening and closing of the cover
60
cannot be performed with ease.
Further, the cover
60
is also opened when replacing with a new one, a maintenance paper (not shown) provided for cleaning the recording head. Also at this time, the recording head becomes exposed to the outside air, which lowers the temperature of the recording head.
In hot melt ink type image forming devices, the printing head has to be maintained at a specific temperature to keep the hot melt ink in a melted condition. A decline in this temperature, caused by exposure to the outside air, can therefore cause problems in the ink ejection process.
Further, since the recording operations are stopped even when the maintenance paper is replaced with a new one, recording efficiency becomes low.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provided an improved image forming device that allows the cover, used to access the internal maintenance mechanism, to be opened for maintenance work, such as replacing the maintenance paper with a new one, without causing reduction in the temperature of the recording head.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved image forming device, on which the cover of the internal maintenance mechanism can be easily opened and closed.
In order to attain the above and other objects, the present invention provides an image forming device comprising: a recording medium feed mechanism for feeding a recording medium at a predetermined recording scanning area; a recording head capable of recording images on the recording medium fed at the predetermined recording scanning area; a scanning mechanism for moving the recording head relative to the recording mechanism to cause the recording head to scan the recording medium at the recording scanning area and for moving the recording head to a maintenance area which is positioned adjacent to the recording scanning area; a maintenance mechanism provided at the maintenance area for performing a cleaning operation onto the recording head; a device main body enclosing therein the recording medium feed mechanism, the recording head, the scanning mechanism, and the maintenance mechanism; a main cover provided to the device main body at the recording scanning area, the main cover being capable of being opened and closed with respect to the device main body, the main cover being opened to enable an access to the recording medium feed mechanism and the recording head being positioned at the recording scanning area; and a maintenance cover provided to the device main body at the maintenance area, the maintenance cover being capable of being opened and closed with respect to the device main body, the maintenance cover being opened to enable an access to the maintenance mechanism.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus comprising: a recording device for scanning and recording images on a recording medium; a maintenance mechanism positioned adjacent to one end of the area scanned by the recording device during recording operations; a recording medium feed mechanism for feeding the recording medium relative to the recording device; a device body housing the recording device, the maintenance mechanism, and the recording medium feed mechanism; a main cover attached to the device body and being capable of freely opening and closing, the main cover covering over the recording medium feed mechanism and the area scanned by the recording device during recording operations; and a maintenance cover attached to the device body and being capable of freely opening and closing, the maintenance cover being provided separately from the main cover and covering over the maintenance mechanism.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4450456 (1984-05-01), Jekel et al.
patent: 5392065 (1995-02-01), Suzuki
patent: 5499043 (1996-03-01), Osaka
patent: 5659342 (1997-08-01), Lund et al.
patent: 5742302 (1998-04-01), Kohri et al.
patent: 5821955 (1998-10-01), Waschhauser
patent: 6030073 (2000-02-01), Coiner et al.
patent: 5-64895 (1993-03-01), None
patent: 5-278229 (1993-10-01), None
patent: 8-224892 (1996-09-01), None
Kondo Hakudai
Matsuda Kazuhiko
Sago Akira
Suzuki Masashi
Yasui Tsuneo
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Hsieh Shih-Wen
Le N.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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