JPH0543177U - Photoconductor cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] With a simple structure, it is possible to reliably prevent deformation of the photosensitive belt due to creep, and always enable high-quality printing. In a photoconductor cartridge integrally provided with an endless photosensitive belt and a writing head for writing print information on the photosensitive belt, the photosensitive belt is wound around a pair of rollers. Is mounted on a head bearing, and the head bearing receives a driving force of the roller when the roller is rotationally driven to bring the writing head into close contact with the photosensitive belt and extend the photosensitive belt, and a non-rotating position of the roller. It is characterized in that it is formed so as to be movable between a write head and a non-expanded position where the write belt is separated from the photosensitive belt to bring the photosensitive belt into a non-expanded state during rotational driving.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a photosensitive cartridge which is integrated with a photosensitive belt used in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine and a writing head for writing print information on the photosensitive belt.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 The OA equipment that has become widespread today is being miniaturized and highly functionalized, and is also being self-maintained by users. For example, when the photoconductor cartridge also exceeds the service life, the user or the like replaces it with a new one.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional photoconductor cartridge of this type. In this photoreceptor cartridge, a photosensitive belt 1 in which a photosensitive material such as OPC is applied on an endless support is rotatably supported by roller shafts 3b and 3d at both ends of a pair of side plates 2 and 2. It is wound around a pair of rollers 3a and 3c. One roller 3c on the left side in the drawing is supported by the side plate 2 with an elongated hole 2a so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the side plate 2, and further, a substantially L-shaped spring retainer 5 fixed to the side plate 2 is provided. The OPC belt 1 is stretched by being pressed in a direction away from the other roller 3a by a pressure spring 4 interposed between the roller shaft 3d and the roller shaft 3d. Inside the OPC belt 1, a head fixing plate 6 is provided horizontally between the side plates 2 and 2 in parallel with the rollers 3a and 3c. The optical writing heads 7 configured to guide light by arranging in a row are fixed. The optical writing head 7 is brought into close contact with the inner surface of the OPC belt 1 stretched by the elastic force of the pressure spring 4.

In this photoconductor cartridge, the rollers 3a and 3c are rotated to drive the photosensitive belt 1, and the optical writing head 7 writes print information to the photosensitive belt 1 to perform printing. Further, in order to perform this printing satisfactorily, the photosensitive belt 1 and the optical writing head 7 are always brought into close contact with each other, and the photosensitive belt 1 is stretched so as to prevent writing failure.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the conventional example, since a constant tensile load is constantly applied to the photosensitive belt 1 by the pressure spring 4, the photosensitive belt 1 is distorted due to creep. That is, in a photoconductor cartridge that is not used for a long period of time while being mounted in the main body of a device such as a printer, or a photoconductor cartridge that is in stock, the photoconductor belt 1 is in an immovable state. The shapes of the rollers 3a and 3c are transferred to the photosensitive belt 1 and are deformed at the portions of the rollers 3a and 3c to which is applied. Therefore, when contact exposure is performed by the optical writing head 7, the deformed portion of the photosensitive belt 1 is lifted from the optical writing head 7, and defocusing or printing distortion occurs in printing, which deteriorates the printing quality. there were.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has a simple structure, which reliably prevents deformation of the photosensitive belt due to creep, and always enables high-quality printing. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a photoconductor cartridge of the present invention is a photoconductor cartridge which integrally includes an endless photoconductor belt and a writing head for writing print information on the photoconductor belt. It is wound around a pair of rollers, and the writing head is mounted on a head support. The head support receives the driving force of the rollers when the rollers are driven to rotate and the writing head is in close contact with the photosensitive belt. It is movably formed between a stretched position where the photosensitive belt is stretched and the non-stretched position where the write head is separated from the photosensitive belt when the roller is not rotating and the photosensitive belt is in the non-stretched state. It is characterized by being

[0008]

[Action]

 According to the photoconductor cartridge of the present invention, when the apparatus main body is driven, the photoconductor belt is put in the tensioned state by the tension applied by the writing head moved to the stretching position for the first time. Therefore, the deformation of the photosensitive belt due to the creep can be prevented. As a result, the service life of the photosensitive belt is extended, and high-quality printing is always possible, improving performance.

Further, since the writing head is used for applying the tension, the conventional tension mechanism and the head pressing mechanism can be unified, and the configuration can be simplified.

[0010]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show the structure of a photoconductor cartridge in which the photoconductor belt 1 and the optical writing head 7 are integrated and the drive force is used to extend the photoconductor belt. Further, FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a rotating arm portion which is a gear connecting portion of the cartridge, and FIG. 4 shows a state in which tension is applied during driving of the photosensitive cartridge. It should be noted that the same parts as in the conventional case are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a drive roller shaft 3b is formed between a pair of side plates 2 and 2 and has a large diameter drive roller shaft 3b passing through the center thereof. A roller 3a is rotatably provided by the drive roller shaft 3b, and a roller shaft 3d having a large diameter is formed through the center of the roller shaft 3d at the other end of the pair of side plates 2,2. The roller 3c is rotatably provided with the roller shaft 3d. The roller shaft 3d and the driving roller shaft 3b are parallel to each other, and the distance between them is fixed. An endless photosensitive belt 1 having a length that relaxes in a free state is wound around these rollers 3a and 3c.

A drive gear 9a is fixed to both ends of the drive roller shaft 3b, and an optical writing head 7 is brought into contact with the photosensitive belt 1 at both ends of the drive roller shaft 3b. A head supporter 10 is provided for supporting the movable belt 1 so as to be movable between a stretched position for stretching the photosensitive belt 1 and a non-stretched position for separating the photosensitive belt 1 from the photosensitive belt 1 in a non-stretched state. There is.

The head support 10 will be described in more detail. Rotation arms 11 are rotatably mounted via bearings 12 outside the drive gear 9a of the drive roller shaft 3b. A shaft 8 penetrating the pair of side plates 2 and 2 is rotatably supported laterally on both rotary arms 11 and 11 via a torque limiter 13 serving as a load. A long hole 2b is formed in the penetrating portion of each side plate 2 of the shaft 8 to allow rotation of the shaft 8 around the drive roller shaft 3b. A gear 9b meshing with the drive gear 9a is fixed between each side plate 2 of the shaft 8 and the rotating arm 11. A head fixing plate 6 is mounted between the both side plates 2 of the shaft 8 so as to be swingable around the shaft 8 via a bearing 14, and an optical writing head 7 is fixed to the lower surface of the head fixing plate 6. Has been done.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

Before driving the main body of the apparatus in which the photoconductor cartridge is mounted, the optical writing head 7 is pushed upward together with the head fixing plate 6 and the shaft 8 to the non-expanded position by the connection of the rotating arm 11 and the gear 9. It is separated from the inner surface of the photosensitive belt 1, and the tension of the photosensitive belt 1 is also released. Therefore, the creep phenomenon of the photosensitive belt 1 is completely eliminated before the main body of the apparatus is driven.

Next, when the apparatus main body in which the photoconductor cartridge is mounted is driven, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the drive gear 9a installed on the drive roller shaft 3b moves toward the inner side (A in the figure). Direction), and the gear 9b meshed with the drive gear 9a also rotates inward (direction B in the figure). The gear 9b meshed with the drive gear 9a is fixed to the shaft 8, and thus the shaft 8 rotates by the transmitted driving force. At this time, since the head fixing plate 6 mounted inside the photosensitive belt 1 is mounted on the shaft 8 with the bearing 12, the optical writing head 7 fixed to the lower surface of the head fixing plate 6 is kept substantially horizontal. At the same time, a load is applied to the rotation of the shaft 8 by the torque limiters 13 in the rotating arms 11 and 11, so that the driving force in the direction A given from the driving gear 9a to the gear 9b causes a pair of The rotating arm 11 rotates about the drive roller shaft 3b in the direction A to the extended position. As a result, the optical writing head 7 comes into close contact with the inner surface of the photosensitive belt 1 and applies an appropriate tension to the photosensitive belt 1. In this state, the photosensitive cartridge is used for printing.

According to this method, the photosensitive belt 1 is applied with the tension only when the main body of the apparatus is driven, so that the deformation of the photosensitive belt 1 due to creep or the like can be reliably prevented. It is also possible to prevent transfer of the roller shape, etc.

Further, by using the optical writing head 7 for applying the tension, the tension applying mechanism and the head pressing mechanism become one, and the shape can be simplified.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications can be made as necessary.

[0021]

[Effect of the device]

 Since the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, by driving the apparatus main body, the photosensitive belt is tensioned by the writing head moved to the stretching position and is in a stretched state. Therefore, the deformation of the photosensitive belt due to creep can be prevented. Therefore, the durability of the photosensitive belt is extended, high-quality printing is always possible, and the performance is improved.

Further, since the writing head is used for applying the tension, the conventional tension mechanism and the head pressing mechanism can be unified, and the configuration can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing the configuration of one embodiment of a photosensitive cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the constitution of one embodiment of the photoconductor cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a rotating arm portion of one embodiment of the photoconductor cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the constitution of the photosensitive cartridge according to one embodiment of the present invention during driving.

FIG. 5 is an overall perspective view showing the configuration of a conventional photosensitive cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Photosensitive Belt 2 Side Plate 3a Drive Roller 3b Drive Roller Shaft 3c Roller 3d Roller Shaft 7 Optical Writing Head 10 Head Bearing

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A photoconductor cartridge integrally comprising an endless photoconductor belt and a writing head for writing print information on the photoconductor belt, wherein the photoconductor belt is wound around a pair of rollers, The writing head is mounted on a head support, and the head support receives a driving force of the roller when the roller is rotationally driven to bring the writing head into close contact with the photosensitive belt and extend the photosensitive belt, and the roller. And a non-expanding position in which the write head is separated from the photosensitive belt to bring the photosensitive belt into a non-expanded state during non-rotational driving.