Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-24
2001-10-23
Barlow, John (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Combined
C347S022000, C347S033000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305771
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 for A MULTI-FUNCTIONAL APPARATUS earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on the of Dec. 26, 1997 and there duly assigned Serial No. 74272/1997.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-functional apparatus, and more particularly to a multi-functional apparatus in which cleaning of a scanner is performed without disassembling the scanner therefrom.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a printer is an apparatus for printing data, characters, or graphics made by using a computer on a recordable paper, and a copier is an apparatus for copying a document or data in graphic form on a certain quantity of paper. On the other hand, a facsimile device is an apparatus for transferring data to a person who is in a remote place.
Office automation apparatus as described above have their respective functions. It is difficult to place all of the office automation apparatus in an office.
To overcome the difficulty as described above, the scanner, the copier, and the facsimile device are integrated into a multi-functional apparatus.
Hereinafter, an operation of the multi-functional apparatus
1
including a shuttle type scanner will be described with reference to
FIGS. 1
to
3
.
A feeder
10
for feeding recordable papers is mounted at an upmost portion of the multi-functional apparatus, which has a mode
11
for feeding a sheet of the recordable paper or a document and a mode
12
for feeding the recordable papers or the document continuously. A user can select the feeding mode according to the user's convenience.
When the recordable papers or document are introduced into the feeder
10
as the user selects the feeding mode, a feed roller
21
and a friction roller
22
feed the recordable paper to be printed or the document to be scanned under a predetermined pressure.
A carriage
30
having a printhead
31
for printing data on the recordable paper and a scanner
32
for scanning the document mounted thereon are moved as the feed roller
21
and the friction roller
22
feed the recordable paper or the document.
With respect to the carriage
30
, the carriage
30
is moved by a driving motor
35
as a driving source. A driving force of the driving motor
35
is transferred through a timing belt
34
to the carriage
30
.
That is, when the driving motor
35
is operated, the timing belt
34
is rotated so that the carriage
30
is slidably moved along a carriage shaft.
A guide rail
36
is formed at an upper portion of a main frame
37
, on which an upper portion of the carriage
30
is slidably mounted. The carriage shaft
33
is formed at a lower portion of the main frame
37
, on which the carriage
30
is moved along an axis thereof. Accordingly, the carriage
30
is guided by the guide rail
36
and the carriage shaft
33
.
The fed document is supported by a document support
40
disposed below a movement path of the carriage
30
.
While the carriage
30
is moved along the carriage shaft
33
, the printhead
31
and the scanner
32
are independently operated. When a command for printing data on the recordable paper is inputted into the multi-functional apparatus, ink is injected by nozzles
31
a
of the printhead
31
to print the data on the recordable paper. When a command for scanning the document is inputted into the multi-functional apparatus, the scanner
32
scans the document.
The printed paper on which the data are printed by the printhead
31
and the scanned document which is scanned by the scanner
32
pass between the carriage
30
and the document support
40
, and are in turn discharged by a discharger
50
which includes a paper discharging roller
51
and a star-shaped roller
52
.
In a view of an inner structure of the scanner
32
, the scanner
32
includes a housing
320
(
FIGS. 4 and 5
) having an opening at a lower portion thereof, a lamp
320
a
as a light source disposed in the housing
320
, lenses
320
b
through which light passes after being emitted from the lamp
320
a
and reflected by the document, and a charge coupled device sensor
320
c
for converting the reflected light passing through the lenses
320
b
into a voltage to detect data.
In the multi-functional apparatus according to the conventional art, there is a disadvantage in that the scanner
32
cannot scan the document since an alien substance, such as dust or ink injected by the nozzles
31
a
of the printhead
31
on the carriage
30
, is introduced into and pollutes the printhead
31
and the scanner
32
.
To prevent the printhead
31
and the scanner
32
from being polluted, a transparent window is assembled to the opening of the scanning housing
320
so that the ink or the dust can be prevented from being introduced into the scanner housing
320
.
In the multi-functional apparatus according to the conventional art as described above, however, the alien substance such as the ink or the dust is not introduced into the scanner housing
320
due to a presence of the transparent window
320
d,
but is smeared on a surface of the window
320
d.
Accordingly, when the alien substance is stacked on the window
320
d,
the light cannot be transmitted through the window
320
d,
so that the scanner
32
cannot precisely scan the document.
The alien substance such as the ink or the dust must be removed from the window
320
d
in order that the scanner can scan the document. The removing of the alien substance is accomplished by cleaning the window
320
d
with cotton or a piece of cloth.
However, there is no space in which dusting implements can be positioned between the scanner
32
and the document support
40
. There is a difficulty in that, in order to clean the window
320
d
, the scanner
32
must be disassembled from the body of the multi-functional apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made to overcome the above described problem of the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-functional apparatus in which an alien substance can be removed from a window of a scanner without detaching the scanner from a body thereof.
To accomplish the above object of the present invention, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a multi-functional apparatus having a main frame, a printhead for printing data on a recordable paper by injecting ink on the recordable paper using nozzles, a scanner for reading a document having data, a carriage on which the printhead and the scanner are mounted, driving means for moving the carriage reciprocally, guiding means which is mounted so as to traverse the main frame for guiding the carriage, and a window mounted below the scanner.
As an improvement, a support is disposed so as to be opposed to the window of the scanner to support the document, and to have a space for positioning a dusting implement therein to clean the window at a predetermined position of the document support, and the carriage is moved such that the window is disposed over the space in which the dusting implement positioned when a cleaning mode is selected.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a multi-functional apparatus having a main frame, a printhead for printing data on a recordable paper by injecting ink on the recordable paper using nozzles, a scanner for reading a document having data, a carriage on which the printhead and the scanner are mounted, driving means for moving the carriage reciprocally, guiding means which is mounted so as to traverse the main frame for guiding the carriage, and a window mounted below the scanner.
As an improvement, a throughhole is formed at a position in an outer cover to which the guiding means for guiding the carriage is extended so that the carriage is moved out of the outer cover, a frame having an opening at a side thereof is projected from the outer cover near the throughhole so as to be oppos
Barlow John
Bushnell , Esq. Robert E.
Hallacher Craig A.
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
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