Abstract:
A printing medium transferring device and an image forming apparatus having the same, which are capable of stably conveying a printing medium supplied to a printing engine while ensuring a manual feeding path for the printing medium includes a conveyer roller which conveys a printing medium to the printing engine, a plurality of printing medium pressing devices which include pressing rollers installed along an outer circumference of the conveyer roller such that the printing medium is pressed in a normal direction of a surface of the conveyer roller, and a releasing device which allows at least one pressing roller to be moved apart from the conveyer roller in order to provide a manual feeding function.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from Korean Patent Application No. 2007-82727, filed on Aug. 17, 2007 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    Example embodiments of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus. More particularly, example embodiments of the present invention relate to a printing medium transferring device and an image forming apparatus having the same, which are capable of stably conveying printing media supplied to a printing engine while securing a manual feeding path of the printing media. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Generally, image forming apparatuses print mono images (i.e., non-color images) or color images on printing media (e.g., paper) according to image signals, and types thereof include a laser printer, an ink-jet printer, a copy machine, a multi-functional printer, and a facsimile. Image forming schemes for the various image forming apparatuses mainly include an electro-photography scheme, in which a light beam is irradiated onto a photo-sensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image, and toner is applied onto the electrostatic latent image to form an image that is transferable onto the printing media; and an ink-jet scheme in which ink is directly sprayed on to surfaces of the printing media according to the image signals. 
         [0006]    Such image forming apparatuses include a printing medium supplying device, a pick-up device, and a printing medium transferring device. The printing medium supplying device stores a plurality of the printing media such that a printing operation is continuously performed with the supply of the plurality of the printing media. The pick-up device picks up the plurality of the printing media that are stored in the printing medium supplying device one at a time. The printing medium transferring device conveys the picked up printing media to a printing engine of the image forming apparatuses. 
         [0007]    Generally, in order to reduce a size of a image forming apparatus, the printing medium supplying device is installed below the printing engine, and a convey direction of a printing medium that is picked up and conveyed to the printing engine in the image forming device is changed at least once. In addition, a curvature in a convey path of the printing medium located in a path curving region of the image forming apparatus, where the convey direction of the printing medium is changed, exerts a great influence on a height of the image forming apparatus. In other words, if there is a great curvature in the path curving of the printing medium, the height of the image forming apparatus increases. In contrast, if there is a small curvature in the path curving of the printing medium, the height of the image forming apparatus may be reduced. 
         [0008]    Recently, various attempts have been made to reduce the height of the image forming apparatus in order to introduce a compact image forming apparatus. To this end, various attempts have been made to develop a printing medium transferring device having a small curvature in the path curving region where the convey direction of the printing medium is changed. 
         [0009]    Although the reduction of the curvature where the convey direction of the printing medium is changed in the path curving region may reduce the height of an image forming apparatus, convey resistance of the printing medium is increased thereby, and a slip occurs between a roller and the printing medium that is being conveyed in the path curving region. Accordingly, noise from the image forming apparatus and curling of the printing medium may occur. 
         [0010]    In addition, since an image forming apparatus employing a printing medium transferring device having a small curvature in the path curving region, where a convey direction of the printing medium is changed, cannot easily secure a manual feeding path for the printing medium, a manual feeding function for the printing medium cannot be realized. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a printing medium transferring device and an image forming apparatus having the same, which are capable of minimizing a curvature in a convey path of the printing medium located in a path curving region of the image forming apparatus, where a convey direction of the printing medium is changed, thereby minimizing a height of the image forming apparatus and securing a manual feeding path for the printing medium. 
         [0012]    Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
         [0013]    The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing a printing medium transferring device to guide a printing medium through a curved path in an image forming apparatus, including a conveyer roller which conveys the printing medium along the curved path to a printing engine of the image forming apparatus, a plurality of printing medium pressing devices which respectively include a pressing roller, and are installed along an outer circumference of the conveyer roller such that the printing medium is pressed in a normal direction to a surface of the conveyer roller, and a releasing device which allows at least one pressing roller to be moved apart from the conveyer roller in order to provide a manual feeding function of the printing medium into the curved path. 
         [0014]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the releasing device includes a guide lever which is rotatably installed in the image forming apparatus to release a pressing state of the pressing roller through a rotation thereof. 
         [0015]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the printing medium pressing device further includes a support shaft, which rotatably supports the pressing roller, and a compression spring, which elastically supports the support shaft such that the pressing roller is pressed toward a center of the conveyer roller, and wherein the guide lever has a hook shape in order to guide the support shaft in a direction that presses the compression spring through a rotation thereof. 
         [0016]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the guide lever is coupled to a manual path (MP) cover and rotates in order to guide a printing medium for the manual feeding function of the image forming apparatus. 
         [0017]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the printing medium pressing device further includes a frame which supports the support shaft and the compression spring, and a pair of support members installed at two opposite side portions of the printing medium pressing device in order to support the frame. 
         [0018]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the releasing device includes a driving motor which generates a rotational force, and a power transformation device which converts the rotational force of the driving motor into a linear movement of components of the releasing device. 
         [0019]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the components of the releasing device in the power transformation device includes a conveyer screw which cooperates with a rotary shaft of the driving motor, and a conveyer member which is couple to the conveyer screw to perform the linear movement and allows the pressing roller to move back and forth accordingly. 
         [0020]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the releasing device includes a solenoid which generates a magnetic field when a current is applied thereto, and a conveyer member which moves back and forth according to the magnetic field such that the pressing roller moves back and forth accordingly. 
         [0021]    It is another aspect of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus including a printing engine which is installed within the image forming apparatus to print an image on a supplied printing medium, a conveyer roller which conveys the printing medium to the printing engine, a plurality of printing medium pressing devices which respectively include a pressing roller, and are installed along an outer circumference of the conveyer roller such that the printing medium is pressed in a normal direction to a surface of the conveyer roller, and a releasing device which allows at least one pressing roller to be moved apart from the conveyer roller in order to provide a manual feeding function of the image forming apparatus. 
         [0022]    In another aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus, includes: a printing engine to form images on printing media; a printing medium supply device to store and provide the printing media; a convey path followed by the printing media that is situated between the printing engine and the printing medium supply device, the convey path including a curve where the printing media changes direction of travel from a first direction to a second direction; a conveyer roller situated at an inner side of the curve to change the direction of travel of the printing media; and a printing media transferring device situated at an outer side of the curve and engaged to the conveyer roller in cooperation to change the direction of travel of the printing media, wherein the printing media transferring device is partially disengaged to generate another path to introduce a printing medium not from the printing medium supply device. 
         [0023]    In addition to the example embodiments and aspects as described above, further aspects and embodiments will be apparent by reference to the drawings and by study of the following descriptions. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0024]    A better understanding of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of example embodiments and the claims when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, all forming a part of the disclosure of this invention. While the following written and illustrated disclosure focuses on disclosing example embodiments of the invention, it should be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and that the invention is not limited thereto. The spirit and scope of the present invention are limited only by the terms of the appended claims. The following represents brief descriptions of the drawings, wherein: 
           [0025]      FIG. 1  is a side section view schematically showing an image forming apparatus according to an example embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0026]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view schematically showing a printing medium transferring device of an image forming apparatus according to an example embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view showing a portion of a printing medium transferring device of an image forming apparatus according to an example embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 4  is a side sectional view of a releasing device according to an example embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0029]      FIG. 5  is a side sectional view showing a guide lever of  FIG. 4  after a releasing operation is completed by the guide lever; 
           [0030]      FIG. 6  is a side sectional view showing a structure of a releasing device according to another example embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0031]      FIG. 7  is a side sectional view showing a structure of a releasing device according to yet another example embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0032]    Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The example embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
         [0033]    Shown in  FIG. 1  is an image forming apparatus  10  according to an example embodiment of the present invention. The type of an image forming apparatus shown in  FIG. 1  is a laser printer which forms a visible image by applying a developer onto a photo-sensitive member  17  formed thereon with an electrostatic latent image and transferring the visible image to a printing medium. 
         [0034]    The image forming apparatus  10  comprises a body  11 , a printing engine  12 , a printing medium supplying device  13 , a pick-up device  14 , and a printing medium transferring device  30 . In the example embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the body  11  forms an outer shape of the image forming apparatus  10 . The printing engine  12  prints an image onto a supplied printing medium. The printing medium supplying device  13  has a plurality of printing media stacked therein in order to supply the printing media, and is detachably coupled to the body  11 . The pick-up device  14  picks up the printing media from the printing medium supplying device  13  one at a time. The printing medium transferring device  30  conveys each picked up printing medium to the printing engine  12 . 
         [0035]    When starting a printing operation, the image forming apparatus  10  operates the pick-up device  14  to pick up each printing medium from the printing medium supplying device  13  and conveys the printing medium to the printing engine  12 . After the printing medium is conveyed to the printing engine  12  by the printing medium supplying device  13  and is printed with an image, the printing medium is discharged to the outside of the printing medium through a printing medium discharging unit  15 . 
         [0036]    While the printing medium is being picked up and conveyed to the printing engine  12 , a light beam irradiated from a light irradiation unit  20  according to an image signal is incident on a surface of the photo-sensitive member  17 . Prior to being shown with the light beam, the photo-sensitive member  17  is charged with a predetermined potential by a charging device  16 , so as to form an electrostatic latent image. 
         [0037]    In addition, a development roller  18  applies toner particles onto an area of the electrostatic latent image formed on a surface of the photo-sensitive member  17 , so that a visible image is formed on the surface of the photo-sensitive member  17 . The visible image is transferred onto a surface of the printing medium conveyed by a transfer roller  19 . Thereafter, the visible image is fused by heat and pressure when the printing medium passes through a fixing device  21 , so that the visible image is fixed on the surface of the printing medium. The printing medium having passed through the fixing device  21  is discharged to the outside of the body  11  of the image forming apparatus through the printing medium discharging unit  15 . 
         [0038]    Such a series of image forming processes can be continuously performed. In such a case, the pick-up device  14  and the printing medium transferring device  30  continuously supply the printing media, which have been stacked in the printing medium supplying device  13 , to the printing engine  12 . The printing medium transferring device  30  changes the convey direction of the printing media. 
         [0039]    As opposed to the automatic feeding of the printing medium by the printing medium supplying device  13 , to supply the printing medium manually, a releasing device is provided at a first side of the printing medium transferring device  30  in order to secure a manual feeding path thereof, whose detail will be described later. 
         [0040]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the printing medium transferring device  30  comprises a conveyer roller  31 , which conveys the picked up printing medium as the conveyer roller  31  rotates, and a plurality of printing medium pressing devices  40 , which press the printing medium to a surface of the conveyer roller  31 . 
         [0041]    The conveyer roller  31  is supported by a roller shaft  32  that receives a driving force so as to rotate in a predetermined direction together with the roller shaft  32 . The conveyer roller  31  conveys the printing medium by using friction generated between the printing medium and the conveyer roller  31 . 
         [0042]    The printing medium pressing devices  40  are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval and placed around the conveyer roller  31  in a rotational direction of the conveyer roller  31 . Each printing medium pressing device  40  comprises a pressing roller  41 , which presses the printing medium against the conveyer roller  31  in a normal direction to the surface of the conveyer roller  31 , a pair of compression springs  44 , which urges the pressing roller  41  against the conveyer roller  31  for the pressing roller  41  to perform a pressing operation toward the center of the conveyer roller  31 , and a frame  50 , which supports the pressing roller  41  and the compression spring  44 . 
         [0043]    The printing medium pressing devices  40  are coupled to a pair of support members  33  and  34  installed at both ends of the printing medium pressing device  40 . The frame  50  is provided at both ends thereof with coupling protrusions  51  and  52 , while the support members  33  and  34  comprise coupling grooves  35  that correspond to the coupling protrusions  51  and  52 . When the coupling protrusions  51  and  52  of each frame  50  are engaged with the coupling grooves  35  of the support members  33  and  34 , each frame  50  is coupled to the paired support members  33  and  34  to be supported thereby. As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the coupling grooves  35  are shaped to be fitted to ends of the coupling protrusions  51  and  52 . Also, the support members  33  and  34  are semicircular in shape, and have curvatures that correspond to or closely match that of the conveyer roller  31 . The support members  33  and  34  are situated about the conveyer roller  31  to correspond to the change in the convey direction of the printing medium. 
         [0044]    The pressing roller  41  is rotatably supported on a support shaft  42  fixed to the frame  50 , and makes contact with the conveyer roller  31  to rotate by friction with the conveyer roller  31 . Further, each frame  50  includes recessed supporters  53  and  54  to respectively receive each end of the support shaft  42 , and forked supporters  57  and  58  to respectively support the support shaft  42  between prongs of its forks. The recessed supporters  53  and  54  are located towards each end of the frame  50 , and are adjacent to the coupling protrusions  51  and  52 . The forked supporters  57  and  58  are positioned towards the interior of the frame  50  to receive the pressing roller  41  in a space defined between the forked supporters  57  and  58 . Additionally, each compression spring  44  is located between the recessed supporter  53  and the forked supporter  57 , and between the recessed supporter  54  and the forked supporter  58 . Each spring  44  urges the respective ends of the support shaft  42  in one direction. In other example embodiments, instead of the compression spring  44 , the support shaft  42  may be urged by another type of elastic member (such as rubber), or another device. In another example embodiment, the shaft  42  may be received directly into the coupling protrusions  51  and  52  instead of the recessed supporters  53  and  54 . In other example embodiments, there may be a plurality of rollers  41  for each frame  50 , and each roller  41  may have its own support shaft  42  so as to be independently rotatable. 
         [0045]    Referring again to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a plurality of the printing medium pressing devices  40  are provided around the conveyer roller  31  in an arrangement that corresponds to or closely matches the curvature of the roller  31 . The printing medium pressing device  40  comprises the pressing roller  41 , which has a curvature radius smaller than that of the conveyer roller  31  and which is in contact with a surface of the conveyer roller  31 ; and the compression spring  44 , which elastically supports the pressing roller  41  such that the pressing roller  41  performs a pressing operation in a normal direction of the surface of the conveyer roller  31 . The printing medium pressing device  40  has both ends coupled to the support members  33  and  34  such that the pressing rollers  41  maintain a predetermined interval and a predetermined pressing force along the circumference of the conveyer roller  31 . The printing medium pressing device  40  mainly operates to facilitate automatic feeding of the printing medium by receiving the printing medium from the printing medium supplying device  13  and forwarding the printing medium to the printing engine. 
         [0046]    Shown in  FIG. 4  is a releasing device  60  used to release the pressing roller  41  from its pressing state against the conveyer roller  31  to secure a space to manually feed the printing medium into the convey path of the printing medium such that a manual feeding function can be performed if necessary. To this end, the releasing device  60  comprises a guide lever  61 , a manual path (MP) cover  62 , and a rotary shaft  63 . As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the guide lever  61  guides the pressing roller  41  in order to release the pressing roller  41  from pressing against the conveyer roller  31 . The MP cover  62  is coupled to the guide lever  61  to guide a manually supplied printing medium along the length of the MP cover  62  for a manual feeding operation. The rotary shaft  63  forms a rotational center of the MP cover  62  and the guide lever  61 . The MP cover  62  rotates about the rotary shaft  63 . 
         [0047]    The guide lever  61  has a hook shape in which the first side  66  is curved. The guide lever  61  has an end  67  to be inserted between the conveyer roller  31  and the pressing roller  41 . The MP cover  62  is rotatably installed by the rotary shaft  63  so that the MP cover  62  can be rotated to a position as shown in  FIG. 5  when manual feeding of the printing medium is required. The guide lever  61  is coupled to the MP cover  62  to rotate together with the MP cover  62  about the rotary shaft  63 . 
         [0048]    Accordingly, if the MP cover  62  rotates counterclockwise from the state of the MP cover  62  in the view shown in  FIG. 4 , to the state of the MP cover  62  shown in  FIG. 5 , the MP cover  62  descends. Accordingly, the guide lever  61  ascends while rotating about the rotary shaft  63  to press the support shaft  42  in a direction opposite to a pressing direction of the compression spring  44 , so that the pressing roller  41  is spaced apart or pulled away from the conveyer roller  31  through a curved shape of the first side  66  of the guide lever  61 . 
         [0049]    In an example embodiment, the guide lever  61  is an elongated rod that is curved in an opposite direction from that of the support members  33  and  34 . The guide lever  61  pulls on the pressing device  40  by intruding between the recessed supporter  53  and the forked supporter  57  so as to engage the support shaft  42  in a portion that is located between the recessed supporter  53  and the forked supporter  57 . The portion of support shaft  42  rests on the curved part of the guide lever  61 , similar to that shown in  FIG. 5  by the broken outline of the portion of support shaft  42  and the curved part of the guide lever  61 . When the MP cover  62  is rotated to pull the pressing roller  41  away from the conveyer roller  31 , the portion of support shaft  42  is guided to roll along the guide lever  61  to be lifted. In another example embodiment, the MP cover  62  has more than one guide lever  61 , for example, two. In an example embodiment with two guide levers  61 , each guide lever  61  is located at a lateral side of the MP cover  62  to symmetrically pull one of the printing medium pressing devices  40  at each end thereof. 
         [0050]    When the pressing roller  41  is spaced apart from the conveyer roller  31  as described above and shown in  FIG. 5 , a path for manually feeding the printing medium is generated and secured. Then, if the manually fed printing medium is introduced into a space opened up between the pressing roller  41  and the conveyer roller  31  while being guided along the length of the MP cover  62 , the manually fed printing medium is supplied to the printing engine  12  (see,  FIG. 1 ) along the remaining convey path (or direction) between the conveyer roller  31  and the pressing roller  41 . 
         [0051]      FIG. 6  shows a releasing device  70  according to another example embodiment of the present invention. The releasing device  70  comprises a driving motor  71 , which generates a rotational force, and a power transformation device, which converts the rotational force of the driving motor  71  into a linear movement of components of the releasing device  70 . 
         [0052]    The power transformation device comprises a screw  72  coupled to a rotary shaft of the driving motor  71  and a guide member  73  coupled to the screw  72 . The guide member  73  comprises a nut unit  73   a  and a guide unit  73   b . The nut unit  73   a  is coupled to the screw  72  such that the nut unit  73   a  can move back and forth relative to the pressing device  40  according to a rotational movement of the screw  72 . The guide unit  73   b  guides the pressing roller  41  such that the pressing roller  41  can move back and forth relative to the pressing device  40  according to the movement of the nut unit  73   a . The guide unit  73   b  is formed with a fork to grip around a portion of the support shaft  42 , as shown in  FIG. 6  by the broken outline of the guide unit  73   b  and the support shaft  42 . 
         [0053]    Therefore, if the driving motor  71  is operated by receiving a current, the screw  72  is rotated so that the guide member  73  having the nut unit  73   a  coupled with the screw  72  moves back (or lifts) the pressing roller  41 . When the pressing roller  41  is lifted, the pressing roller  41  is spaced apart from the conveyer roller  31 , thereby securing or opening up a manual feeding path. According to an example embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 , the releasing operation of the pressing roller  41  is realized by using the driving motor  71  and the power transformation device, thereby a releasing operation (or the lifting operation) is performed independently from a rotating operation of the MP cover  62  about the rotary shaft  63 . 
         [0054]    According to the example embodiments shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the releasing operation by the guide lever  61  cooperates with the rotating operation of the MP cover  62  (for manual feeding of a printing medium) so that the manual feeding path of the printing medium can be automatically secured mechanically by the rotation of the MP cover  62 . However, if the MP cover  62  is put down or opened during the automatic feeding state for the printing medium in the image forming apparatus, the automatically fed printing medium may deviate from the feeding path, and cause a jam, since not all of the pressing rollers  41  will be engaged to the conveyer roller  31 . 
         [0055]    On the other hand, in the example embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 , since the releasing device  70  has an electromotive structure, and the releasing operation is independent from the operation of the MP cover  62 , an electronic control operation of the releasing device  70  can be performed through a controller (not shown), to avoid or reduce the jam. 
         [0056]      FIG. 7  shows a releasing device  80  according to yet another example embodiment of the present invention. The releasing device  80  according to  FIG. 7  adopts components different from those of  FIG. 6 . The releasing device  80  of  FIG. 7  comprises a solenoid  81  that generates a magnetic field as a current is applied thereto, and a guide member  82  that reciprocally moves relative to the pressing device  40  according to the magnetic field generated from the solenoid  81 . The guide member  82  comprises an armature  82   a  that reciprocally moves by the solenoid  81 , and a guide unit  82   b  that guides the support shaft  42 . 
         [0057]    The guide unit  82   b  is formed with a fork to grip around a portion of the support shaft  42 , as shown in  FIG. 7  by the broken outline of the guide unit  82   b  and the support shaft  42 . According to an example embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 , the releasing operation of the pressing roller  41  is realized by using the armature  82   a  that reciprocally moves by the solenoid  81 , and the guide unit  82   b  that guides the support shaft  42 , thereby a releasing operation (or the lifting operation) is performed independently from a rotating operation of the MP cover  62  about the rotary shaft  63 . Accordingly, in the example embodiment according to  FIG. 7 , a reciprocal motion of the guide member  82  can be performed in order to release the pressing roller  41  without the power transformation device shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0058]    In example embodiments, although a laser printer is described as the image forming apparatus, the various image forming apparatuses according to example embodiments of the present invention comprises an ink-jet printer, a copy machine, a multi-functional printer, and a facsimile, in addition to the laser printer. 
         [0059]    As described above, according to example embodiments of the present invention, when a printing medium is picked up from a printing medium supplying device and conveyed toward a printing engine, there is a small curvature in a convey path of the printing medium located in a path curving region of an image forming apparatus where a convey direction of the printing medium is changed to reduce a height of the image forming apparatus. In the path curving, according to example embodiments of the present invention, a manual feeding path of the printing media can be secured or opened up by a releasing device capable of releasing a pressing state of a portion of a plurality of pressing rollers. Accordingly, in addition to automatic feeding of printing media by the printing medium supplying device (e.g., a paper box), the manual feeding can be performed if necessary. 
         [0060]    While there have been illustrated and described what are considered to be example embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art and as technology develops that various changes and modifications, may be made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true scope of the present invention. Many modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations may be made to adapt the teachings of the present invention to a particular situation without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, it is intended, therefore, that the present invention not be limited to the various example embodiments disclosed, but that the present invention includes all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.