JP2000341449A - Composite type copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely and efficiently perform transmission processing by detecting the direction of an original read by an original reading means and switching according to whether the original is to be copied corresponding to the detected result of the direction or facsimile transmitting is to be performed. SOLUTION: It is discriminated from the output of a sensor SE1 whether an original is placed on an original feed tray 11 and from the output of a sensor SE2 or the like as to whether the direction of the original was detected. When the direction of the original is detected as being lateral, operation is switched to control at the copying so as to execute copying operation and the control at the copying is performed. When the direction of the original is detected as being longitudinal, the operation is switched to control at faxing so as to execute fax transmission operation and the control at faxing is performed. When application is automatically selected under the control and processing start wait is set or even at the time before automatic selection of the application, manual switching using a switching key can be made at any time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multifunction copying apparatus having a function of copying a document read by document reading means and a function of facsimile transmitting the read document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an apparatus having a function of copying a read original and a function of facsimile transmitting the read original with respect to an original read by an original reading means such as an image scanner (hereinafter, referred to as a "composite copying apparatus"). ") Have been developed. In these conventional multi-functional copying apparatuses, the user specifies whether to copy the read document or perform facsimile transmission before reading the document by the document reading unit. If copying is to be performed, the paper size and the number of copies are specified, and if facsimile transmission is to be performed, a destination fax number and the like are specified. Thereafter, the original is read to perform copying and facsimile transmission.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional multi-functional copying apparatus, when the original is read by the original reading means, especially when the user is unfamiliar with the operation of the apparatus, the original is improperly copied. The facsimile transmission may cause an unintended reduced transmission or the like, particularly when facsimile transmission is performed.

Generally, in facsimile transmission,
It is assumed that the receiving device is a small machine using roll paper or the like, that is, the case where the recording of the transmission original on the receiving side is made on a vertically ejected paper,
In many cases, the setting on the transmission side assumes that the original is set in the vertical direction (a state in which the longer side of the original is set in parallel with the original feeding direction). The problem described above is that if the user sets a document in the horizontal direction by mistake, it is determined that a document wider than the readable document is set, This is due to the fact that reduced transmission may be performed, and that the document may be partially lost. That is, when performing facsimile transmission, it can be generally said that the trouble such as the reduced transmission and the loss of the image is less likely to occur when the original is set in the vertical direction.

On the other hand, when performing copying, it is often the case that the original is set in a horizontal state so that the copying process can be performed at a higher speed. This is because the relative movement distance of the image scanner can be reduced, and the time required to convey each recording sheet becomes shorter. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and is capable of performing a process reliably and efficiently in both copying and facsimile transmission. It is intended to provide a device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a multifunction copying apparatus according to the present invention has a function of copying a document read by document reading means and a function of facsimile transmitting the read document. A composite type copying apparatus provided with: a document direction detecting means for detecting a direction of a document read by the document reading means; and a copy or facsimile transmission depending on a detection result of the document direction detecting means. And switching means for switching between the two.

According to this configuration, switching between copying and facsimile transmission is automatically performed according to the orientation of the original, so that not only does the operator need not switch applications, but also according to the orientation of the original. By appropriately switching between copying and facsimile transmission, it is possible to perform processing reliably and efficiently both when performing copying and when performing facsimile transmission.

Here, as a method of detecting the orientation of the original, the composite type copying apparatus further comprises original size detecting means for detecting a long side and a short side of the original read by the original reading means. The means may detect the orientation of the document based on the detection result of the document size detecting means. Also, as a method of the switching,
It is preferable that the switching unit performs switching so that copying is performed when the orientation of the document is detected to be horizontal, and facsimile transmission is performed when the orientation is detected to be vertical. As described above, in general, when performing facsimile transmission, it is often preferable to place the original vertically, and when performing copying, it is often more efficient to arrange the original horizontally. Because. Here,
“Portrait” means that the long side of the document is parallel to the relative movement direction of the scanner, and “Landscape” means that the short side of the document is parallel to the relative movement direction of the scanner. Say.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multifunction copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. (1) Overall Configuration of Composite Copying Apparatus FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the overall configuration of a composite copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the multifunction copying apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an automatic document feeder (hereinafter, referred to as "ADF").
Notation. 10, an original reading unit 30, a facsimile transmitting / receiving unit 40, an image forming unit 50, a paper feeding unit 70, and a control unit 100 (not shown). ADF10 is
This is a device for automatically transporting a document to the document reading unit 30.
That is, the documents placed on the document feed tray 11 are separated one by one by a feed roller 12 and a separating roller 13 and sent downward, and are conveyed to a document reading position on a platen glass 31 by a conveyance belt 14. Is done.

The original conveyed to the original reading position is scanned by a scanner 32 provided in the original reading section 30, sent again by the conveyor belt 14 rightward in FIG. The paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 16. Note that the ADF 10 according to the present embodiment has a sensor SE that detects whether or not a document is placed on the document feed tray 11 near the document feed tray 11.
A sensor SE2 for detecting the length of the document in the transport direction from the detection time of the document to be transported is provided in the middle of the document transport path from the document feed tray 11 to the document reading position. is set up. The document feed tray 11 is provided with a guide member 17 for positioning the placed document on the side in the sheet feeding direction. The guide member 17 is movable in a direction perpendicular to the document feeding direction, and the width of the document (the length in the direction perpendicular to the document transport direction) is detected from a position of the guide member 17 by a sensor (not shown). It is configured to be. That is, the size and orientation of the document can be determined together with the output of the sensor SE2.

Here, detection of the size and orientation of a document when the ADF 10 is not used will be described. When the ADF 10 is not used in the multifunction copying apparatus of the present embodiment, the user opens the ADF 10 (ADF 10).
In this state, the original is placed on the platen glass 31 by manual operation, and the ADF 10 is returned to the closed state to read the original.

In this embodiment, the outer peripheral surface of the transport belt 14 of the ADF 10 (the surface facing the platen glass 31).
Is colored orange, for example, and has an exposure lamp 3 described later.
The reflected light of the conveyor belt 14 by the CCD 3 is a CCD color image sensor (hereinafter simply referred to as “CCD sensor”) 3.
Since the color has a small spectral sensitivity for 8, it is possible to identify in which area on the platen glass 31 the document is placed, and the size and orientation of the document can be detected by this identification. It has become.

The original reading section 30 is provided with the platen glass 3
1 for optically reading an image of a document conveyed to a document reading position on the scanner 1;
It comprises a sensor 38, a scanner motor M2 and the like.
The scanner 32 includes an exposure lamp 33 and a platen glass 3 that reflects light reflected from the original by irradiation of the exposure lamp 33.
A mirror 34 for changing the optical path in a direction parallel to 1 is provided;
The original on the platen glass 31 is scanned by moving in the direction of arrow a in FIG. The reflected light from the original is reflected by a mirror 34, and then further reflected by mirrors 35 and 36 and a condenser lens 37.
It is guided to the CD sensor 38, where it is converted into an electrical signal to generate image data.

The generated image data is subjected to A / D conversion in an image data processing unit 39 to become a digital signal. The digital signal is further subjected to known image processing such as shading correction and density conversion processing.
Is stored in The image data stored in the memory unit 45 is sent to the facsimile transmission / reception unit 40 when transmitted by facsimile under the control of the control unit 100 as described later, and is transmitted to the print processing unit when subjected to copy processing. A laser diode (hereinafter referred to as “LD”)
Notation. ) 51.

The facsimile transmission / reception unit 40 includes a facsimile conversion unit 41 connected to a memory unit 45 and a G3 unit 42 connected to a telephone line (PSTN). The image forming section 50 forms an image on a recording sheet by a known electrophotographic method, and drives the LD 51 based on the drive signal to emit a laser beam. The laser light is reflected by the mirror surface on the side surface of the polygon mirror 52 rotating at a predetermined angular velocity, and
3. Exposure scanning is performed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 56 that is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow b via mirrors 54 and 55.

Before the photosensitive drum 56 receives the above-mentioned exposure, the cleaning unit 57 removes residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum, and after being irradiated with an eraser lamp (not shown) to be neutralized, the charged drum is charged. The surface is uniformly charged by 58, and by receiving the above-mentioned exposure in such a uniformly charged state, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 56. The developing device 59 develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 56 as a toner image.

On the other hand, the paper supply unit 70 is provided with two paper cassettes 71 and 72,
In synchronization with the exposure and development operations, the recording sheet of the required size is removed from one of the paper cassettes 71 and 72.
Paper is fed by driving the paper feed roller 711 or 721. The fed recording sheet is conveyed below the photosensitive drum 56, and the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 56 is transferred to the surface of the recording sheet by the electrostatic force of the transfer charger 60.

Thereafter, the recording sheet is separated from the separation charger 6.
The photosensitive drum 56 is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 56 by the electrostatic force of 1, and is transported to the fixing unit 63 by the transport belt 62.
In the fixing unit 63, the toner image transferred to the recording sheet surface is fixed by being pressed while being heated by a fixing roller 64 having a heater therein. The recording sheet after fixing is discharged onto a discharge tray 66 by a discharge roller 65. Note that the fixing roller 64 of the present embodiment is
When there is no printing operation or user operation for a predetermined time, a preheating function is provided to lower the temperature to reduce power consumption. The above-described paper conveyance and the driving of the photosensitive drum 56 are controlled by the main motor M1.

An operation panel 90 is provided at an easily operable position on the front of the copying machine. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation panel 90 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, an operation panel 90 according to the present embodiment has a liquid crystal touch panel 91 for displaying various messages, a number of copies for inputting a copy, and a destination for facsimile transmission. A numeric keypad 92 for inputting a fax number or the like, a clear key 93 for resetting the entered number of copies or the like to an initial value, and a reset key 9 for resetting all settings such as the paper size for copying to initial settings.
4. A stop key 95 for stopping the copying operation and the facsimile transmission operation, a print key 96 for instructing the start of the copying or facsimile transmission, and an interrupt used for interrupting the copying operation and performing a copying operation or facsimile transmission by another setting. A key 99 and the like are provided.

The liquid crystal touch panel 91 has various information such as density, copy magnification, recording paper size, number of copies, etc., the operation state of the copying machine, various abnormal conditions such as out of paper, and the facsimile transmission mode. Is displayed. The user can also input copy conditions and the like by operating the displayed buttons. For example, an automatic copy / fax switching mode, which will be described later, can be set via the liquid crystal touch panel 91.

However, the operation panel 90 of the present embodiment
Is provided with an application switching key (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "switching key") 98 for switching between a copy mode and a facsimile transmission mode, thereby enabling manual mode switching. When the facsimile transmission mode is selected as the application, a light emitting diode (hereinafter, referred to as “LED”) 98a indicating that the facsimile transmission mode is selected lights up, and when the copy mode is selected, , LED 98b is turned on. These two LEDs are configured to light based on the switched mode even when the mode is automatically switched according to the orientation of the original as described later in the automatic copy / FAX switching mode.

(2) Configuration of Control Unit 100 Next, the control unit 10 of the multifunction copying apparatus according to the present embodiment is described.
0 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the control unit 100. As shown in the figure, the control unit 100 of the present embodiment has four CPUs 10
It is configured around 1-104. These CPU1
ROs 01 to 104 each store a program.
M111 to M114 and RAM 121 to work area
124 are connected.

The CPU 101 mainly operates the operation panel 90.
Control. The CPU 102 controls the document reading unit 30 and the like. The CPU 103 controls the image forming unit 50 and the like. The CPU 104 controls the entire composite copying apparatus according to the present embodiment. The CPUs 101 to 104 are mutually connected on a command line CL, and necessary command information (including an operation mode, contents of various tables, and the like).
Is configured to be exchanged. The image data is input and output through the image data line DL. At this time, the CPUs 101 to 104 are connected to the image data lines DL by respective bus switches (BUS SW) 161 to 164.

Next, each CPU will be described. CPU
101 executes input control from the liquid crystal touch panel 91 and various operation keys of the operation panel 90 via the I / O interface 131 and control of display output to the liquid crystal touch panel 91. The initial setting of the operation panel 90, the total count value such as the number of copies, the count value for each item, the personal identification number, etc. are stored in an NVRAM (non-volatile RAM) 15.
1 is stored.

After the power of the apparatus is turned on, the display program of the liquid crystal touch panel 91 stored in the ROM 111 and the NVR
The initial settings stored in the AM 151 are read. If the operation mode in the initial setting is the copy mode, the initial screen for the copy mode is used for the facsimile transmission mode, and the initial screen for the facsimile transmission mode is used for the facsimile transmission mode. An initial screen is displayed on the liquid crystal touch panel 91. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the copy / FAX mode is set as the operation mode at the time of the initial setting. Therefore, when the power is turned on, the initial screen of the copy / FAX mode is displayed on the liquid crystal touch panel 9.
1 is displayed. The copy / FAX mode is an operation mode in which the direction of a document is detected to automatically switch between copying and facsimile transmission. FIG. 4 shows the copy / F
7 shows an example of an initial screen for the AX mode.

Various settings for performing copying and facsimile transmission are also stored in the NVRAM 151.
This setting is also called in the X mode. As various types of copying, for example, automatic paper selection (APS), automatic magnification selection (AMS) and the like are described. The CPU 102 controls the image reading unit 30 and controls each unit of the image data processing unit 39 by driving the scanner motor M2 via the I / O interface 132.

The CPU 103 has an I / O interface 1
Driving the main motor M1 via 33 controls the image forming unit 50 and the like, and also controls the print processing unit 46. CPU 104 is an I / O interface 1
Processing for adjusting the overall timing of the control unit 100 and setting the operation mode is performed via the control unit 34. Further, by controlling the memory unit 45, the read image data is temporarily stored in the image memory 152 and the code memory 153. In the copy mode, the image data stored in the memory unit 45 is read and sent to the print processing unit 46. In the facsimile transmission mode, the image data stored in the memory unit 45 is read and output to the facsimile conversion unit 41. , G3 unit 42 to a telephone line (PSTN). On the other hand, at the time of facsimile reception, the image data received from the telephone line is temporarily stored in the image memory 152 and the code memory 153 via the G3 unit 42 and the facsimile conversion unit 41,
This is read out and output to the print processing unit 46.

Further, when performing facsimile transmission and facsimile reception, the CPU 104 controls the facsimile conversion unit 41 to thereby control the memory unit 4.
A data conversion process such as a pixel density conversion process between the G3 unit 5 and the G3 unit 42 is performed. Each of the ROMs 111 to 114 stores a control program for the copy mode and a control program for performing facsimile transmission and reception. For example, in the ROM 111 in which the control program of the operation panel 90 is stored, the input control of the ten keys 92 is performed so as not to input more than the number of copies that can be copied as the number of copies in the copy mode, and to the destination in the facsimile transmission mode. Control so that you cannot enter more than the maximum number of digits of the facsimile number. Also, for example, RO
In the control program stored in M113, for example, the heater in the fixing roller 64 is controlled. In particular,
In the copy mode, the preheat state is released by detecting that various key operations on the operation panel 90 have been performed.
In the facsimile transmission mode, control is performed such as not to release the preheat state even if a key operation is performed.

(3) Processing of Control Unit 100 The processing of the control unit 100 in the present embodiment will be described in detail below. The gist of the present invention is copying / copying.
In the FAX mode, there is an application switching process between copying and facsimile transmission, so that a portion related to the switching will be described in detail below.

(3-1) Control before Application Switching In the copy / fax mode, when it is not determined which application is to be executed, it is not possible to start the processing because the original is not set. Can not. Therefore, although the ten key 92 can be input, it cannot be determined at this point that the input is the input of the number of copies or the input of the destination facsimile number. At this time, the number of digits that can be input is limited based on the larger number of digits allowed in the number of copies and the destination facsimile number.

(3-2) Application Switching Control Next, application switching control in the copy / FAX mode will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing content of the control unit 100 when performing the application switching control according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, in the present embodiment, first, a sensor SE determines whether or not a document is placed on the document feed tray 11.
1 (S101), and determines whether the orientation of the document is detected from the output of the sensor SE2 or the like (S1).
02).

Next, the orientation of the original is determined (S10).
3). The method of determining the orientation of the document has already been described in detail, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, when the ADF 10 is used, the length of the long side and the short side of the document are detected based on the output of the sensor SE2 and the like, and the orientation of the document is determined from the detection result. But AD
Even when the F10 is used, similarly to the case where the ADF 10 is not used, the orientation of the document is determined based on the document reading result (the color difference between the document and the transport belt 14) without using the output of the sensor SE2 or the like. You may do so.

Here, when the orientation of the document is unknown, for example, when it is detected that the lengths of the long side and the short side are the same, the application is switched on the liquid crystal touch panel 91 to either one. A message to the effect is displayed (S
104). FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the liquid crystal touch panel 91 at this time. And copy,
A setting is made so that none of the facsimile transmissions is started (S105), and the process ends.

(3-3) Control Process for Copying On the other hand, when it is detected that the original is placed horizontally, the control is switched to the control for copying to execute the copying operation (S10).
6), control for copying is performed (S107). Hereinafter, the control contents at the time of copying will be described in detail. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the detailed contents of the control processing at the time of copying.

As shown in the figure, in the control process at the time of copying, first, a print preparation operation is performed to perform copy output (S201). Specifically, the print preparation operation is a preparation operation for performing a print operation such as raising the temperature of the heater in the fixing roller 64 when the heater in the fixing roller 64 is in a preheating (preheating) state. Next, the above-described automatic paper selection (APS) and automatic magnification selection (AMS) processes are performed based on the detected document size (S202). Since the APS / AMS processing is a known technique, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As a result of the above processing, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to give a warning to the user, for example, when there is no paper of the optimum size (S203), and if it is necessary to give a warning (S203). : Yes), a warning is displayed (S204). Then, after waiting for a mode change process such as paper selection (S205), it is further determined whether or not a warning is necessary (S203).

If there is no need for a warning (S203: N
o), it is determined whether or not an input has been made from the numeric keypad 92 (S206). If an input has been made from the numeric keypad 92, the input value is determined to be the number of copies, and various controls based thereon are performed (step S206). S207). Here, specifically, control is performed such as not to accept a ten-key input exceeding the number of copies that can be made. That is, for an input exceeding the number of copies that can be made, it is possible to clear the setting of the number of copies to 0 or to set the number of copies to the maximum number of copies.

After the above-described control at the time of copying is completed, the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 5 to set a processing start waiting state (S108). The setting of the process start waiting state refers to a process of, for example, pressing the print key 96 to display a message indicating that the copy operation is to be executed on the liquid crystal touch panel 91 when performing the copy operation.

(3-4) FAX control process In step S103 of the flowchart of FIG. 5, if it is detected that the original is placed vertically, the control is switched to the FAX control to execute the FAX transmission operation. (S10
9) The control at the time of facsimile is performed (S110). Below, FA
The control contents at the time of X will be described in detail. FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows the detailed content of the control processing at the time of X.

In the control process at the time of facsimile, since it is not necessary to perform a print operation, a print preparation operation and an APS
Since it is not necessary to perform the / AMS process, and therefore it is not necessary to warn the user, it is first determined whether or not the destination facsimile number has been input (S30).
1) If the input has been made (S301: Yes), the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 5 and the process start waiting setting is performed (S108). The process start waiting setting when the FAX operation is performed is, specifically, a process of pressing the print key 96 to display on the liquid crystal touch panel 91 a message indicating that the FAX transmission will be performed.

If the destination facsimile number has not been input (S301: No), it is determined whether or not an input has been made from the ten key 92 (S302). If the input has been made from the ten key 92, The input value is determined as the destination facsimile number, and various controls are performed based on the determined value (S303). Here, specifically, control is performed such that a ten-key input of more than the number of digits that can be set as a facsimile transmission number is not accepted. That is, for an input exceeding the maximum set number of digits, it is possible to clear all input numbers to 0, or to ignore an input exceeding the maximum number of digits.

(3-5) Manual Switching of Application The application is automatically selected by the control described above, and the processing is set to the processing start wait setting (S108) (before the print key 96 is pressed), or For example, before the automatic selection of the application is performed, the application can be manually switched using the switching key 98 at any time. By this manual switching, for example, facsimile transmission can be performed in the original document horizontal state, and copying can be performed in the original document vertical state.

[0044]

As described above, according to the composite type copying apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to switch between copying and facsimile transmission according to the direction of the read original. By switching the appropriate application according to the orientation of the camera, it is possible to reliably and facsimile send and receive
There is an effect that processing can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an overall configuration of a multifunction copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation panel 90 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a control unit 100 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an initial screen for a copy / FAX mode.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing contents of a control unit 100 when performing application switching control according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the liquid crystal touch panel 91 when the orientation of a document is unknown.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing detailed contents of a control process at the time of copying in the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing detailed contents of control processing at the time of facsimile according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 automatic document feeder (ADF) 14 transfer belt 17 guide member 30 document reading unit 32 scanner 38 CCD sensor 39 image data processing unit 40 facsimile transmission / reception unit 41 facsimile conversion unit 42 G3 unit 45 memory unit 46 print processing unit 50 image processing unit 56 photosensitive drum 64 fixing roller 70 paper feed unit 90 operation panel 91 liquid crystal touch panel 92 numeric keypad 96 print key 98 application switching key 100 control unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A composite type copying apparatus having a function of copying a document read by a document reading unit and a function of facsimile transmitting the read document, wherein a direction of the document read by the document reading unit is detected. A composite type copying apparatus comprising: a document direction detecting unit; and a switching unit that switches between copying and facsimile transmission according to a detection result of the document direction detecting unit. 2. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a document size detecting unit configured to detect a long side and a short side of the document read by the document reading unit; 2. The multifunction copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the direction of the document is detected based on the detection result. 3. The switching means switches to perform copying when the orientation of the document is detected to be landscape, and to perform facsimile transmission when the orientation is detected to be portrait. Claim 1
Or the composite type copying apparatus according to 2.