Abstract:
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material includes an upright sheet feeding inlet, an upright sheet discharging outlet, a permanently mounted electrophotographic photosensitive drum, and toner replenishing means for refilling a toner reservoir as needed, rendering the device compact, portable, and inexpensive to maintain.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority to and is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT App. No. PCT/KR2015/001513 to Yi, filed on Feb. 14, 2015 and entitled “Compact, Upright Electrophotographic Apparatus,” which is fully incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus, and more particularly to a compact, upright electrophotographic apparatus in which all components found in a commercial toner cartridge except toner replenishing means are permanently mounted. 
       Background Art 
       [0003]    In the above-described type of the electrophotographic apparatus which has so far been used, it is a common practice that a toner cartridge for each color is detachably mounted to the main assembly of the electrophotographic apparatus. The cartridge contains as a unit an electrophotographic photosensitive member and one or more process means such as charging means, developing means, cleaning means, or the like. The cartridge tends to be bulky in size and expensive to replace. It also requires complicated coupling parts and thus it is difficult to maintain and repair the device. 
         [0004]    When the electrophotographic apparatus is designed to be set flat, the surface area occupied by the device exceeds the size of a recording medium (recording sheet or the like). When the device is designed to be set upright, the recording medium is discharged onto a flat tray requiring additional space, and a stack of recording sheets loaded in the device is not completely enclosed by the main assembly. Thus, even an upright device may occupy almost as much surface area as a flat device and it is difficult to carry the device to different locations. 
         [0005]    In order to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages, a novel, compact electrophotographic apparatus is expected. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a compact electrophotographic apparatus which is set upright and occupies substantially less surface area than the size of a recording sheet (e.g., A4 or Letter). 
         [0007]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable electrophotographic apparatus in which trays and loaded recording sheets do not protrude from the device. 
         [0008]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an electrophotographic apparatus in which all components and means found in a commercial toner cartridge except toner replenishing means are permanently mounted, thereby rendering the device easy and inexpensive to maintain. 
         [0009]    The foregoing and other objects of the invention have been achieved by the provision of a compact electrophotographic apparatus in which a substantially completely enclosed sheet feeding inlet is positioned parallel to a sheet discharging outlet. The sheet feeding inlet and the sheet discharging outlet are set upright and separated by a wall situated therebetween. An electrophotographic photosensitive member is permanently mounted to a lower portion of the device. A recording medium traveling through a substantially U-shaped path collects toner particles from the photosensitive member. A toner replenishing means, preferably positioned above the photosensitive member, allows a toner reservoir to be easily refilled as needed without replacing unnecessary components. 
         [0010]    The nature, principle, and utility of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electrophotographic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of an electrophotographic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of an electrophotographic apparatus to which a toner refilling cartridge is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view of a toner refilling cartridge and a cartridge compartment according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view of a toner refilling cartridge fully inserted into a cartridge compartment according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an electrophotographic apparatus mounted to a flat panel display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    Embodiments of the present invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention. A sheet feeding inlet  10  is enclosed by a rotatable cover  11  which can be opened in the direction of the arrow in the Figure. A recording medium is loaded into the sheet feeding inlet  10  and discharged from a sheet discharging outlet  20 . The sheet feeding inlet  10  and the sheet discharging outlet  20  are separated by a wall  15  situated therebetween. 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of the electrophotographic apparatus, in which an electrophotographic photosensitive drum  30  is exposed to a light based on image information supplied from an optical system (not shown) so that a latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum, and the latent image is developed with toner supplied from a toner reservoir  50  into a toner image by a developing roller  40 . In synchronism with the formation of the toner image, a recording medium is fed from the sheet feeding inlet  10 . The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum  30  is transferred onto the recording medium by voltage application to a transfer roller (not shown) as transferring means. The recording medium is guided to a fixing means (not shown). The fixing means applies heat and pressure to the recording medium to fix the transferred toner image onto the recording medium. Subsequently, the recording medium is discharged to the sheet discharging outlet  20 . 
         [0020]    The toner reservoir  50  has a hole  60 , through which replenishment toner may be injected when needed. The hole  60  is sealed with, preferably, a rubber coated metal cap (not shown) when the device operates in its normal operating mode. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 5 , the description will be made as to a toner refilling cartridge  70  and an electrophotographic apparatus to which it is detachably mountable according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of the electrophotographic apparatus to which the toner refilling cartridge  70  is mounted;  FIG. 4  is a sectional view of the toner refilling cartridge  70  partially mounted to the device; and  FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the toner refilling cartridge  70  fully mounted to the device. 
         [0023]    In  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , the toner refilling cartridge  70  containing toner inside a toner storage compartment  75  has a toner dispensing door  73  which can be opened by a lever  72 . and two latches  71   a  and  71   b  which lock or unlock the lever  72 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the toner refilling cartridge  70  is inserted into a cartridge compartment  61  situated directly above the toner reservoir  50 . The latches  71   a  and  71   b  are in a locked position rendering the lever  72  inoperable. When the toner refilling cartridge  70  is completely mounted, as shown in  FIG. 5 , coupling protrusions  62  are inserted into recesses  74  at the longitudinal end of the cartridge  70  moving the latches  71   a  and  71   b  away from the lever  72  enabling the lever  72  to open the door  73  and release the toner in the toner storage compartment  75  into the toner reservoir  50 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an electrophotographic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and a flat panel display device usable therewith. The electrophotographic apparatus is mounted to the rear side of the flat panel display device. 
         [0025]    While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the invention, and it is aimed, therefore, to cover in the appended claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.