Patent Publication Number: US-8529145-B2

Title: Image forming apparatus, cutting device usable therewith and method thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Image forming apparatuses form images on media. Image forming apparatuses may be supplied with a variety of media including media in a form of a media supply roll. The roll media may be transported along a media transport path to a print zone to be printed thereon. Subsequently, the roll media may be cut by a cutter and output to a storage bin. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Non-limiting examples of the present disclosure are described in the following description, read with reference to the figures attached hereto and do not limit the scope of the claims. In the figures, identical and similar structures, elements or parts thereof that appear in more than one figure are generally labeled with the same or similar references in the figures in which they appear. Dimensions of components and features illustrated in the figures are chosen primarily for convenience and clarity of presentation and are not necessarily to scale. Referring to the attached figures: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an example. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating a portion of an image forming apparatus according to an example. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the image forming apparatus of  FIG. 2  according to an example. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating the image forming apparatus of  FIG. 1  according to an example. 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating a cutter device according to an example. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view illustrating the cutter device of  FIG. 5  usable with an image forming apparatus according to an example. 
         FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating a method of cutting media in an image forming apparatus according to an example. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is depicted by way of illustration specific examples in which the present disclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that other examples may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims. 
     Image forming apparatuses form images on media which may be supplied thereto as roll media from media supply rolls and sheet media. The media may be transported along a media transport path to and from a print zone in which images may be formed on the media. Generally, the roll media is cut by a cutting device after images are formed on the roll media. The cutting device, however, may include a cutter guide that may obstruct media transported along a media transport path during a printing mode. Accordingly, the cutter guide may selectively move to correspond to the printing mode and a cutting mode. Also, the image forming apparatus may include media control members downstream from the cutting device to provide tension at a cutting region to assist the cutting device to cut the media. Selectively moving a cutter guide and adding media control members downstream from a cutting device may increase the number of components, cost and size of the image forming apparatus. 
     In examples, an image forming apparatus includes, among other things, a cutter device including a cutter housing, a pair of rotary cutting wheels, a cutter guide, and a gear assembly. The cutter housing may selectively engage the reciprocating printhead assembly to move across the media transport path in the cutting mode. The pair of rotary cutting wheels rotatably coupled to the cutter housing may pass through a cutting region traverse to the media transport path to cut the media in the cutting mode. The cutter guide is disposed outside of the cutting region and may remain in a same position in the printing mode and the cutting mode. Thus, the cutter guide is positioned not to obstruct the media along the media transport path in the printing mode. Accordingly, the cutter guide may remain stationary in the printing mode and the cutting mode. Further, the rotary cutting wheels may cut the media without media control members to provide tension at the cutting region disposed downstream from the cutting device. Thus, the rotary cutting wheels are able to adequately cut the respective media, for example, without media control members downstream of and output shaft and the cutting wheels. Consequently, increasing the number of components, costs and size of the image forming apparatus may be reduced. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an example.  FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating a portion of an image forming apparatus according to an example. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , in examples, an image forming apparatus  100  includes a media transport path  11 , a reciprocating printhead assembly  12  and a cutter device  10 . The media transport path  11  may transport media in a media advancement direction d a . The reciprocating printhead assembly  12  may reciprocate across the media transport path  11  in a printing mode to print on the media and in a cutting mode. In examples, the reciprocating printhead assembly  12  may include a carriage device  12   a  having an engagement member  12   b  to engage the cutter housing  15  and removable printheads  12   c . For example, each printhead may eject a particular color ink such as cyan, magenta, yellow and black. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , in examples, the cutter device  10  may include a cutter housing  15 , a pair of rotary cutting wheels  16   a  and  16   b  (collectively  16 ), a cutter guide  17 , and a gear assembly  18 . The cutter housing  15  may selectively engage the reciprocating printhead assembly  12  to move across the media transport path  11  in the cutting mode. The pair of rotary cutting wheels  16  may be rotatably coupled to the cutter housing  15  to pass through a cutting region  25  traverse to the media transport path  11  to cut the media in the cutting mode. The cutter guide  17  may be disposed outside of the cutting region  25  and remain in a same position in the printing mode and the cutting mode. That is, the cutter guide  17  may be out of the way of the media to be transported along the media transport path  11  and fixed in one position. The gear assembly  18  may engage the cutter guide  17  and one of the rotary cutting wheels  16   b  to rotate the one rotary cutting wheel  16   b  in the cutting mode. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the gear assembly  18  may engage the cutter guide  17  and the one rotary cutting wheel  16   b  to rotate the one rotary cutting wheel  16   b  in the cutting mode. Such engagement may be in response to a movement of the cutter housing  15  across the media transport path  11  (as well as along the cutter guide  17 ). That is, as the cutter housing  15 , the pair of rotary cutting wheels  16 , and the gear assembly  18  is pulled or pushed across the media transport path  11  by the reciprocating printhead assembly  12 , the gear assembly  18  interacts with the cutter guide  17  to impart rotation to the one rotary cutting wheel  16   b . Further, each one of the pair of rotary cutting wheels  16   a  and  16   b  is in contact with each other to allow a rotation of the one rotary cutting wheel  16   b  to rotate the other rotary cutting wheel  16   a . In examples, a peripheral speed of the rotating rotary cutting wheels  16  is faster than a linear speed of the cutter housing  15  moving along the cutter guide  17 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , in examples, the gear assembly  18  includes a first circular gear member  18   a , a pair of second circular gear members  18   c   1  and  18   c   2  (collectively  18   c ), and a third circular gear member  18   b . The first circular gear member  18   a  may be coupled to the one rotary cutting wheel  16   b . The first circular gear member  18   a  includes a first radius thereof. The pair of secondary circular gear members  18   c  may engage the cutter guide  17 . Each one of the pair of second circular gear members  18   c  includes a second radius. The third circular gear member  18   c  may be coupled to the pair of secondary circular gear members  18   c  and the first circular gear member  18   a  to rotate the one rotary cutting wheel  16   b . The third circular gear member  18   b  includes a third radius thereof that may be greater than the first radius and the second radius. The image forming apparatus  100  may also include an output shaft  29  to transport the media along the media transport path  11  and a guide member  28  to guide the media along the media transport path  11 . In examples, the rotary cutting wheels  16   a  and  16   b  may cut the media without media control members to provide tension at the cutting region  25  disposed downstream, for example, from the rotary cutting wheels  16  and the output shaft  29 . Thus, the rotary cutting wheels  16   a  and  16   b  are able to adequately cut the respective media, for example, without media control members downstream of and output shaft  29  and the rotary cutting wheels  16   a  and  16   b.    
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the image forming apparatus of  FIG. 2  according to an example. Referring to  FIG. 3 , in examples, the media may be in a form of roll media  34 . In the present example, the media may be in a form of roll media  34  and sheet media  33 . The sheet media  33  may be supplied from a sheet tray  32 . Each one of the roll media  34  and the sheet media  33  may be selectively and sequentially transported along the media transport path  11 . As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , in examples, the image forming apparatus  100  may also include an input roller  35 , a plurality of guiding plates  31 , a pair of feed rollers  36   a  and  36   b  (collectively  36 ), a platen  37 , a guide member  28 , and an output shaft  29 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , in examples, the input roller  35  may contact and transport the roll media  34  into a roll media receiving area formed by respective guiding plates  31   a  and  31   b . Sheet media  33  may be supplied from a sheet media tray  32  into a sheet media receiving area formed by respective guiding plates  31   b  and  31   c . The guiding plates  31  may guide media received therein to the media transport path  11 . The guiding plates  31  may include an upper plate  31   a , a middle plate  31   b  and a lower plate  31   c . In examples, the upper plate  31   a  and middle plate  31   b  may form a roll media  34  receiving area to receive the roll media and guide it to the media transport path  11 . The middle plate  31   b  and the lower plate  31   c  may form a sheet media receiving area to receive sheet media  33  and guide it to the media transport path  11 . The pair of feed rollers  36   a  and  36   b  (collectively  36 ) may contact and transport the respective media along the media transport path  11 . The platen  37  may support the media in the media transport path  11  to be printed on by the printhead assembly  12  while in the printzone. In examples, the platen  37  may be in a form of a plate, ribs, or the like. Further, in examples, a vacuum pump (not illustrated) may create a suction force to selectively hold the respective media against the platen  37  while images are being formed thereon. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , in examples, the guide member  28  may guide the media along the media transport path  11 . The output shaft  29  may transport the media along the media transport path  11 , for example, to the cutting region  25 . The output shaft  29  may be disposed upstream from the pair of rotary cutting wheels  16  of the cutting device  10  in the media advancement direction d a . In examples, the cutter guide  17  may be disposed below the output shaft  29 . Accordingly, the cutter guide  17  is out of the way of the media being transported along the media transport path  11 . Thus, the cutting guide  17  may remain stationary with respect to the media transport path  11  in the printing mode and in the cutting mode. In the cutting mode, the pair of rotary cutting wheels  16  passes through the cutting region  25  to cut the media transported along the media transport path  11 . In examples, in doing so, no media control members to provide tension to the media at the cutting region  25  are disposed downstream from the rotary cutting wheels  16  in the media advancement direction d a . 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating the image forming apparatus of  FIG. 1  according to an example. As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , in examples, the cutter housing  15  is disposed in the park position p, for example, in the print mode. The park position p, for example, may be a position toward one end of the image forming apparatus  100  and outside of the media transport path  11 . According, the cutter housing  15  may be placed in the park position p during the print mode to prevent the cutter housing  15  including the pair of rotary cutting blades  16  and gear assembly  18  attached thereto from unintentionally interfering with the respective media  34  in the media transport path  11 . In the cutting mode, however, the reciprocating printhead assembly  12  may engage the cutter housing  15  in the park position p to move the cutter housing  15  across the media transport path  11  to cut the respective media  34  along the cutting region  25 . 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating a cutter device according to an example.  FIG. 6  is a perspective view illustrating the cutter device of  FIG. 5  usable with an image forming apparatus according to an example. Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , in examples, a cutter device  10  includes a cutter housing  15 , a pair of rotary cutting wheels  16 , a cutter guide  17 , and a gear assembly  18 . The cutter device  10  may be usable with an image forming apparatus  100  including a carriage device  12   a  and a media transport path  11 . The carriage device  12   a  may include an engagement member  12   b . The carriage device  12   a  may also receive removable printheads  12   c  therein to form a printhead assembly  12  ( FIG. 2 ) and reciprocate across the media transport path  11 . 
     That is, the cutter housing  15  may selectively engage the engagement member  12   b  of the carriage device  12   a  of the image forming apparatus  100  to move across the media transport path  11  thereof. The pair of rotary cutting wheels  16  may be rotatably coupled to the cutter housing  15  and form an overlap region therebetween. The rotary cutting wheels  16  may pass through a cutting region  25  to cut media transported along the media transport path  11 . The cutter guide  17  may be disposed lower than the pair of rotary cutting wheels  16 . For example, the cutting guide  17  may be below the rotary cutting wheels  16  with respect to a gravitational direction d g . The gear assembly  18  may engage the cutter guide  17  and one of the rotary cutting wheels  16   b  to rotate the one rotary cutting wheel  16   b  in response to a movement of the cutter housing  15  across the media transport path  11 . The one rotating rotary cutting wheel  16   b  may rotate the other rotating rotary cutting wheel  16   a  through contact therewith. In examples, the rotary cutting wheels  16  may cut the respective media without media control members to provide tension at the cutting region  25  disposed downstream, for example, from an output shaft  29  and the rotary cutting wheels  16  as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating a method of cutting media in an image forming apparatus according to an example. Referring to  FIG. 7 , in block S 71 , media is transported along a media transport path in a media advancement direction. For example, the media is transported along the media transport path to a cutting region by an output shaft disposed upstream from the pair of rotary cutting wheels of the cutting device in the media advancement direction. In block S 72 , a reciprocating printhead assembly is reciprocated across the media transport path in a printing mode to print on the media and in a cutting mode. For example, in the cutting mode, the reciprocating printhead assembly engages a cutter housing including the pair of rotary cutting wheels and transports the cutter housing across the media transport path to cut the media. In block S 73 , the reciprocating printhead assembly is selectively engaged by a cutter housing of a cutter device to move across the media transport path in the cutting mode. For example, in the cutting mode, the reciprocating printhead assembly engages a cutter housing including the pair of rotary cutting wheels and transports the cutter housing across the media transport path to cut the media. 
     In block S 74 , a pair of rotary cutting wheels rotatably coupled to the cutter housing is passed through a cutting region traverse to the media transport path to cut media in the cutting mode. For examples, the pair of rotating rotary cutting wheels may pass through the cutting region to cut the media transported along the media transport path without a media control member disposed downstream from the rotary cutting wheels in the media advancement direction. That is, no media control member to provide tension to the media at the cutting region is disposed downstream from the rotary cutting wheels with respect to a media advancement direction. In block S 75 , a cutter guide disposed outside of the cutting region and one of the rotary cutting wheels is engaged by a gear assembly such that the cutter guide remains in a same position in the printing mode and the cutting mode and at least the one rotary cutting wheel rotates in the cutting mode. For example, the cutter guide may be out of the way of the media transport path and fixed in one position. 
     The method may also include the other rotary cutting wheel rotating through contact with the one rotary cutting wheel rotating in response to the gear assembly engaging and moving along the cutting guide. That is, as the reciprocating printhead assembly pulls or pushes the cutter housing including the pair of rotary cutting wheels and the gear assembly along the cutter guide, the gear assembly in contact therewith imparts rotation to one rotary cutting member. The one rotating rotary cutting member imparts rotation to the other rotary cutting wheel through its contact therewith. The method may also include the cutter housing being placed in a park position away from the media transport path during the print mode and the reciprocating printhead assembly being engaged by the cutter housing in the park position to move the cutter housing across the media transport path to cut the media during the cutting mode. 
     It is to be understood that the flowchart of  FIG. 7  illustrates an architecture, functionality, and operation of an example of the present disclosure. If embodied in software, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions to implement the specified logical function(s). If embodied in hardware, each block may represent a circuit or a number of interconnected circuits to implement the specified logical function(s). Although the flowchart of  FIG. 7  illustrates a specific order of execution, the order of execution may differ from that which is depicted. For example, the order of execution of two or more blocks may be scrambled relative to the order illustrated. Also, two or more blocks illustrated in succession in  FIG. 7  may be executed concurrently or with partial concurrence. All such variations are within the scope of the present disclosure. 
     The present disclosure has been described using non-limiting detailed descriptions of examples thereof that are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It should be understood that features and/or operations described with respect to one example may be used with other examples and that not all examples have all of the features and/or operations illustrated in a particular figure or described with respect to one of the examples. Variations of examples described will occur to persons of the art. Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have” and their conjugates, shall mean, when used in the disclosure and/or claims, “including but not necessarily limited to.” 
     It is noted that some of the above described examples may include structure, acts or details of structures and acts that may not be essential to the present disclosure and which are described for illustrative purposes. Structure and acts described herein are replaceable by equivalents, which perform the same function, even if the structure or acts are different, as known in the art. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the elements and limitations as used in the claims.