JP2001331052A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To evade the occurrence of feeding trouble due to that a recording material is jammed when the recording material comes out between mutually adjacent pressing rollers in an image forming device in which the recording material on whose surface an image is formed passes between a heated fixing roller and plural pressing rollers arrayed in the feeding direction of the recording material on the peripheral surface of the fixing roller and by which the image is fixed on the recording material by applying heat and pressure to the image on the recording material. SOLUTION: This device is provided with an abnormal recording material receiver 36 to receive an abnormal recording material PA coming out from the space between the pressing roller 27B and an adjacent pressing roller 27C.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fixing device having a fixing member to be heated and a plurality of pressing members which are in pressure contact with the fixing member and are arranged along the recording material conveyance direction. Image forming means for forming an image on a recording material, wherein an image formed on the recording material formed by the image forming means contacts the fixing member so that the image formed on the recording material contacts the fixing member. And an image forming apparatus for fixing the image on the recording material by passing the recording material through the recording material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus of the above-mentioned type configured as a copier, a printer, a facsimile or a multifunction machine having at least two of these functions, the fixing device has a plurality of pressing members. Since the recording material is passed between the fixing member and the plurality of pressure members to fix the image on the recording material, a sufficient amount of heat is applied to the toner on the recording material even when fixing is performed at a high speed. Thus, the toner image can be reliably fixed.

However, in this type of image forming apparatus, since a plurality of pressing members are present, the recording material may fall out between the pressing members adjacent to each other, and the recording material may be jammed. When the recording material is clogged in the image forming apparatus main body as described above, it is necessary to remove the recording material. However, such a jam processing is a very troublesome operation. Sometimes it cannot be removed.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made based on the above-described novel recognition, and an object of the present invention is to remove a recording material from between pressure members adjacent to each other. In some cases, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus of the type described at the beginning which can prevent the recording material from being jammed.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus of the type described at the beginning, wherein an abnormal recording material receives an abnormal recording material coming out of a space between pressure members adjacent to each other. An image forming apparatus having a receiver is proposed (claim 1).

At this time, it is advantageous to provide an abnormality detecting means for detecting the occurrence of an abnormal recording material.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, means for storing the number of the recording material after the start of a series of printing operations, and means for storing the abnormal recording material. It is advantageous to provide a display means for displaying the occurrence and the number of the recording material after the start of a series of printing operations.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the recording material feeding device for feeding the recording material one by one, and the recording material feeding device when an abnormal recording material occurs. Control means for performing a printing process for forming an image on a recording material which has already been sent out and which is upstream of the abnormal recording material in the recording material conveyance direction, and thereafter stopping the printing operation. It is advantageous (claim 4).

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, when an abnormal recording material is generated, an image to be formed on the abnormal recording material is transmitted to another recording material. It is advantageous to provide display means for providing a display requesting what to be formed (claim 5).

The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the recording material is fed one by one, and a normal recording material on which an image is normally fixed by the fixing device. Receiving means for receiving the first and second normal recording materials, and switching means for switching whether the normal recording material is discharged to the first normal recording material receiver or discharged to the second normal recording material receiver; When a normal printing operation is being performed, the normal recording material is discharged to the first normal recording material receiver,
When an abnormal recording material occurs, the normal recording material that has already been sent from the recording material feeding device and that is upstream of the abnormal recording material in the recording material conveyance direction is set to the second normal recording material receiver. Controlling the switching means so as to be discharged,
A control means for controlling the switching means such that an image to be formed on the abnormal recording material is formed, and the normal recording material on which the image is normally fixed is discharged to the first normal recording material receiver. This is advantageous (claim 6).

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of an image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a part of the image forming apparatus and a control device thereof. The image forming apparatus shown here has an image forming apparatus main body 1 and an image forming device 2 connected thereto. In the image forming apparatus of this example, a personal computer is used as the image forming device 2, but a word processor or the like may be used. The image forming apparatus main body 1 has an image forming means 3 for forming an image on a recording material, and a fixing device 4 for fixing the image on the recording material formed by the image forming means. First, the configuration and operation of the image forming means 3 will be clarified.

The image forming means 3 illustrated in FIG. 1 has an intermediate transfer body constituted by an endless intermediate transfer belt 20.
The intermediate transfer belt 20 is wound around a plurality of rollers 21 and 22 and is driven in the direction of arrow A at the start of the printing operation. The intermediate transfer belt 20 has at least one
In the example of the figure, four image forming units 5Y, 5M, 5C, and 5BK are opposed to each other.
By these image forming units, images of different colors are formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 20 in a state of being sequentially superimposed. First to fourth image forming units 5Y, 5M, 5
The configuration and operation of C and 5BK are substantially the same except that the colors of the images formed by these image forming units are different. Therefore, only the first image forming unit 5Y will be described below.

The first image forming unit 5Y has a drum-shaped photosensitive member 6Y as an example of an image carrier, and the photosensitive member 6Y
Is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 during a printing operation, and the surface thereof is a charging roller 7Y which is an example of a charging device.
Is charged uniformly to a predetermined polarity. Here, the photoconductor 6Y is charged to a positive polarity, but it may be configured to be charged to a negative polarity. The surface potential of the photoconductor after charging is, for example, + 900V.

The surface of the photoreceptor 6Y charged as described above is irradiated with a light-modulated laser beam L emitted from an image exposure device (not shown), in this example, an optical writing unit. Then, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal is formed. In this example, the absolute value of the surface potential of the surface of the photoreceptor irradiated with the laser light L decreases, and this constitutes an electrostatic latent image (image portion).
The surface portion of the photoreceptor where the absolute value of the surface potential does not substantially decrease is the background portion (non-image portion). The surface potential of the electrostatic latent image is
For example, it becomes +100 V, and the surface potential of the background portion is almost +9.
It remains at 00V.

The electrostatic latent image is visualized by the developing device 8Y. The developing device 8Y illustrated here includes a developer case 9Y containing a liquid developer DY, a developing roller 10Y that is driven to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. An application roller 11Y that rotates counterclockwise while in contact with the developing roller 10Y and applies and supplies the liquid developer DY to the developing roller 10Y.

The liquid developer DY has colored fine particles and a carrier liquid, and the colored fine particles in the first image forming unit 5Y are colored yellow. The coloring fine particles are, for example, fine particles (toner particles) made of a thermoplastic resin kneaded with a coloring pigment, and have an average particle diameter of, for example, 0.1 μm.
To 10 μm, and preferably about 0.7 μm to 3 μm. The carrier liquid is made of, for example, non-volatile dimethylsiloxane, but a volatile carrier liquid can also be used. The colored fine particles have the property of being able to temporarily hold an electric charge at least temporarily, and in the carrier liquid, transfer of electric charge with the surrounding carrier liquid or an additive mixed in the carrier liquid gives a predetermined polarity, in this example. Is positively charged.

The above-mentioned liquid developer DY is applied in a thin layer state on the peripheral surface of the developing roller 10Y by a rotating applying roller 11Y, and the applied liquid developer is nipped between the developing roller 10Y and the photosensitive member 6Y. Contacts the surface of the photoreceptor. At this time, a bias voltage (for example, +650) between the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor and the background portion is applied to the developing roller 10Y.
V) is applied, whereby a liquid developer having a high content of colored fine particles adheres to the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor, and a liquid having substantially zero content of colored fine particles is applied to the background. The developer, that is, the carrier liquid containing little or no colored fine particles adheres. In this way, a yellow image composed of colored fine particles, that is, a toner image is formed on the photoconductor 6Y.

The photoreceptor 6Y has an intermediate transfer belt 2
Primary transfer roller 1 which is an example of a primary transfer device via
The primary transfer roller 14Y rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 1 while contacting the photoconductor 6Y via the intermediate transfer belt 20. At this time, to the primary transfer roller 14Y, a voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the colored fine particles constituting the image on the photoreceptor 6Y, that is, a negative polarity in the example shown in the drawing, is applied, and the primary transfer roller 14Y is driven in the direction of arrow A. The yellow image on the photoconductor is primarily transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 20. At this time, the carrier liquid is transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer body together with the colored fine particles constituting the image, and the colored fine particles holding the electric charges adhere to the intermediate transfer body together with the carrier liquid to form an image. The surface of the photoreceptor after the primary transfer of the image is irradiated with light from a discharge lamp (not shown) to be discharged, and a liquid developer (mainly a carrier liquid) remaining on the surface is cleaned by a cleaning liquid (not shown). The member is removed from the surface of the photoconductor by a cleaning blade pressed against the surface of the photoconductor.

As described above, the structure and operation of the second to fourth image forming units 5M, 5C, 5BK are substantially the same as those of the first image forming unit 5Y, and therefore, the first image forming unit 5Y is not changed. For the components of the second to fourth image forming units 5M, 5C, and 5BK corresponding to the respective elements of the unit 5Y, M, M instead of the reference character Y assigned to each element of the first image forming unit 5Y.
The reference numerals with C and BK are attached, and the detailed description is omitted. In the developer case 9M of the second image forming unit 5M,
A liquid developer DM having magenta colored fine particles and a carrier liquid is accommodated therein. Similarly, the developer cases 9C and 9BK of the third and fourth image forming units respectively include cyan and black colored fine particles, a carrier liquid. Developer DC, D having
BKs are respectively housed.

As described above, the yellow image is primarily transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 20 by the first image forming unit 5Y, but is then superimposed on the image on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 20. In the combined state, the magenta image is primarily transferred by the second image forming unit 5M, and then the cyan image from above, and the black image from above are further transferred to the third and fourth image forming units, respectively. Unit 5C, 5
Primary transfer by BK. In this way, a superimposed image composed of a toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt. This image is secondarily transferred to the surface of the recording material by a secondary transfer roller 12, which is an example of a secondary transfer device, as described later.

The above is the configuration and operation of the image forming means 3 shown in FIG. 1. However, image forming means other than the image forming means may be appropriately employed. For example, an image forming unit that sequentially forms toner images of different colors on one photoconductor, superimposes the images sequentially on an intermediate transfer body, performs primary transfer, and transfers the superimposed image to a recording material, Image forming means for forming a single-color image on one photoconductor and transferring the image to a recording material;
Alternatively, an image forming means for forming an electrostatic latent image on a recording material made of photosensitive paper and developing the latent image to form a toner image on the recording material may be employed. Further, an image forming means for forming a toner image composed of a powder toner on a recording material using a powdery developer in the developing device may be used.

On the other hand, a recording material feeding device 17 for feeding recording materials one by one is provided in a lower region in the main body of the image forming apparatus. The recording material feeding device 17 of this embodiment accommodates the recording material P. And a paper feed roller 16 that contacts the uppermost recording material of the plurality of recording materials P stacked on the paper feeding tray 15. As a recording material, for example, paper,
A flexible member such as a resin sheet, a resin film, or a cloth is used.

The uppermost recording material P is fed out one by one in the direction of arrow B by the rotation of the paper feed roller 16. The fed recording material P forms an image on the recording material at a predetermined timing that can be aligned with an image on the intermediate transfer belt 20 by rotation of a pair of registration rollers 18 forming an example of a registration unit (see FIG. In the example of (1), the sheet is sent to a secondary transfer area between the intermediate transfer belt 20 and the secondary transfer roller 12). At this time, a transfer voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner particles forming the image on the intermediate transfer belt 20 is applied to the secondary transfer roller 12, whereby the image on the intermediate transfer belt 20 is applied to the surface of the recording material. The secondary transfer is performed. The image formed on the recording material in this manner is visualized by coloring fine particles (toner particles in this example) capable of holding electric charge at least temporarily in the carrier liquid together with the carrier liquid on the recording material surface. Have been. The colored fine particles immersed in the carrier liquid are charged to a predetermined polarity by transferring charges with the surrounding carrier liquid or a substance in the carrier liquid. The transfer residual toner adhering to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt after the secondary transfer of the image is scraped off by the cleaning member 19 of the cleaning device.

The recording material onto which the image has been transferred is further conveyed upward, and when passing through the fixing device 4, the image on the recording material is fixed on the recording material. The recording material exiting the fixing device 4 is discharged by a conveying roller 23 and a discharge roller 24 onto a tray-like normal recording material receiver 25 as indicated by an arrow B1, and is stacked here. In this way, the printing operation for one sheet of recording material is completed. However, when the recording material is continuously fed from the recording material feeding device 17 and the printing operation is performed on the recording material, the above-described printing process is performed. It is executed repeatedly.

The fixing device has a fixing member and a plurality of pressing members. In the fixing device 4 of this embodiment, the fixing member is configured as a fixing roller 26, and the pressing member is a pressing roller 27.
A, 27B, 27C, and 27D. The fixing roller 26 and the pressure roller are rotatably supported by a machine frame (not shown) of the fixing device 4.
, The pressure roller rotates clockwise. In the illustrated example, the pressure roller is configured to rotate with the rotation of the fixing roller 26. In addition, in the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, four pressure rollers are provided, but the number may be at least two. The pressure rollers 27A to 27D are pressed against the peripheral surface of the fixing roller 26, and are arranged along the recording material conveyance direction.

The fixing roller 26 and the pressure rollers 27A to 2
Instead of 7D, a fixing member formed of a fixing belt wound around a plurality of rollers and driven to rotate, or a pressing member formed of a pressing belt similarly wound around a plurality of rollers and rotated may be used. it can.

Inside the fixing roller 26, a heater 28 which is an example of a heating means for heating the fixing roller 26 is disposed. On the surface of the fixing roller 26, a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the fixing roller surface is provided. Is in contact with the thermistor 29. The detection signal of the thermistor 29 is taken into the CPU 30 of the control device, and on / off of the power supply to the heater 28 is controlled based on the temperature detection result.
The fixing roller 26 is maintained at a temperature suitable for fixing an image.

As described above with reference to FIG. 1, the recording material that has passed through the secondary transfer area is rotated in the direction of the arrow so that the image formed on the surface thereof contacts the surface of the fixing roller 26. The sheet is fed between the driven fixing roller 26 and the pressure rollers 27A to 27D that rotate following the rotation of the fixing roller 26, and is conveyed by the rotation of the fixing roller 26. When the fixing is performed, pressure is applied to the coloring particles and the carrier liquid constituting the image by the fixing roller 26 and the pressing roller, and the fixing particles are heated by the heater 28 to the coloring particles. Heat is applied from 26, and the colored fine particles are heated to be in a softened or molten state, whereby the bonding force between the colored fine particles and the bonding force between the colored fine particles and the recording material P are increased, and the colored fine particles are recorded. It is fixed on the material surface.

As described above, the fixing device has a fixing member to be heated and a plurality of pressing members which are in pressure contact with the fixing member and are arranged along the recording material conveyance direction. And fixing the image on the recording material by passing the recording material between the fixing member and the plurality of pressing members so that the image on the recording material formed by the image forming means contacts the fixing member. It is configured to be.

Further, in the illustrated example, the fixing member and the pressing member are held in such a manner that an electric field in which the colored fine particles on the surface of the recording material sandwiched between the fixing member and the pressing member are aggregated toward the surface of the recording material is formed. Power supply means for supplying a current between the pressure member and the pressure member is provided. That is, a voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the colored fine particles is applied to the pressure rollers 27A to 27D by a power supply (not shown), whereby the grounded fixing roller 26 and the pressure rollers 27A to 27D are applied.
A current is supplied to D. This current flows through the recording material P interposed between the fixing roller 26 and the pressure rollers 27A to 27D.
As shown schematically in FIG. 3, the colored fine particles T are electrostatically agglomerated on the surface S of the recording material P by the action of the electric field formed between the carrier liquid LI and the carrier liquid LI on the surface of the fixing roller 26. Is left. In this way, the action of separating the colored fine particles and the carrier liquid to form a two-layer structure is promoted, and heat is applied to the colored fine particles to soften or melt the colored fine particles. The fixing roller 26 can be well bonded to enhance the fixing property, and can prevent the colored fine particles from being offset on the surface of the fixing roller 26.

As described above, the fixing device 4 of the present embodiment has a plurality of pressure rollers 27A to 27D, and allows the recording material to pass between the pressure rollers and the fixing roller 26. Even in this case, it is possible to apply a sufficient amount of heat to the image on the recording material, that is, the toner, and to reliably fix the image. On the other hand, if the recording material comes off between the pressure rollers adjacent to each other, if the recording material is left unattended, a jam occurs in which the recording material is jammed in the image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus of the present embodiment is configured as follows in order to prevent such a problem from occurring.

In FIG. 2, the recording material that has escaped from between the pressure roller 27B and the pressure roller 27C is denoted by the reference symbol PA. PA is referred to as an abnormal recording material, and a recording material that normally passes through the fixing device 4 without falling out from between the pressure rollers is referred to as a normal recording material.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, an upper guide member 31 and a lower guide member 32 are provided at a portion opposite to the side on which the plurality of pressure rollers 27A to 27D face the fixing roller 26. The guide members 31 and 32 form an abnormal recording material conveyance path 33 through which the abnormal recording material exiting from between the pressure rollers passes. A pair of abnormal recording material transport rollers 34 is provided at the downstream end of the abnormal recording material transport path 33.
Further, on the downstream side of the rollers, an abnormal recording material sensor 35 which is an example of abnormality detecting means for detecting occurrence of an abnormal recording material, and a tray-shaped abnormal recording material receiver 36 for receiving the abnormal recording material are provided, respectively. Is provided.

When an abnormal recording material PA is generated as shown in FIG. 2, the abnormal recording material PA is transferred to the abnormal recording material transport path 33.
And is conveyed in the direction of arrow C, and is discharged onto the abnormal recording material receiver 36 by the abnormal recording material conveying roller 34. When the recording material comes out of the space between the other pressure rollers, the abnormal recording material is similarly received by the abnormal recording material receiver 3.
6 is discharged. As described above, by providing the abnormal recording material receiver 36 that receives the abnormal recording material that has escaped from between the pressure members adjacent to each other, it is possible to prevent the abnormal recording material from being clogged in the image forming apparatus main body.

When the leading end of the abnormal recording material PA is detected by the abnormal recording material sensor 35, the detection signal is taken into the CPU 30, whereby the following control accompanying the occurrence of the abnormal recording material PA is performed, and the abnormal recording is performed. Appropriate treatment can be applied to the material.

The operation from the recording material feeding device 17 shown in FIG. 1 until the recording material P is continuously fed one by one and a series of printing operations is completed is called a job.
U30 has a function of counting the number of normal recording materials normally discharged to the normal recording material receiver 25 from the start of the job and leaving the count result in the RAM 37 (enters the fixing device 4 and returns to the normal state. Is counted as one count). As is well known, the detection of a normal recording material is performed by an entrance sensor 40 provided on the entrance side of the fixing device 4 and a paper discharge sensor 41 provided on the exit side of the fixing device 4. The number of normal recording materials is counted based on the signal.

As described above, since the number of normal recording materials is counted, the abnormal recording material sensor 35 detects the abnormal recording material and the CPU 30 recognizes the occurrence of the abnormal recording material PA. It is possible to know whether or not the abnormal recording material PA has occurred due to the recording material of the eye coming off from between the pressure rollers, and that information is stored in the RAM 37. Then, based on the result, the display panel 38 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 is displayed.
The fact that an abnormal recording material has occurred and the number of the recording material after the start of a series of jobs are displayed on the display means. At the same time, the number of normal recording materials that have been printed normally so far is displayed.

Instead of, or together with, displaying the above information on the display panel 38 of the image forming apparatus main body 1, the above information can be displayed on the display of the image forming device (in this example, a personal computer) 2. The image forming device 2 is passed through the video I / F from the CPU 30 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 and the controller 39 of the image forming apparatus main body.
, And the above information is displayed on the display of the image forming device 2. Thereby, the operator can know the occurrence of the abnormal recording material while staying at the desk, and can know the order of the recording material after the start of the job, and further, the processing has been performed by that time. The number of normal recording materials can be known.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment has a means for storing the number of the recording material after the start of a series of printing operations, the generation of the abnormal recording material, Display means is provided for displaying the number of the recording material after the start of a series of printing operations.

The image on the abnormal recording material PA discharged to the abnormal recording material receiver 36 is usually unfixed, and the abnormal recording material PA may be dirty or damaged. Therefore, the abnormal recording material PA cannot be used as a regular print completed recording material. Since the operator can know the occurrence of the abnormal recording material PA as described above, the operator can take appropriate measures such as discarding the abnormal recording material PA discharged to the abnormal recording material receiver 36.

At this time, when the abnormal recording material PA occurs,
If the printing operation of the image forming apparatus main body 1 is stopped, the trouble of processing the abnormal recording material PA can be minimized. However, if a recording material is present in the conveyance path of the recording material when the leading end of the abnormal recording material PA is detected by the abnormal recording material sensor 35, the printing operation is stopped simultaneously with the detection of the abnormal recording material PA. Then, the recording material existing in the recording material transport path is also stopped, so that when the printing operation is restarted, the recording material may cause a transport trouble.

Therefore, in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment,
When the abnormal recording material PA is detected by the abnormal recording material sensor 35, a predetermined printing process is performed on the recording material that has already been sent from the recording material feeding device 17, and the conveyance path is detected when the abnormal recording material PA is detected. It is configured such that all the recording material present therein is discharged out of the image forming apparatus main body, and thereafter, the printing operation is stopped. Abnormal recording material P
The CPU 30 that has recognized the occurrence of the A forms a predetermined image on the recording material existing on the conveyance path on the upstream side of the abnormal recording material PA in the recording material conveyance direction at that time, and fixes the image on the fixing device 4. And then discharge the recording material,
Thereafter, control is performed so as to stop the printing operation. As described above, when an abnormal recording material occurs, the image forming apparatus of this example is a recording material that has already been sent from the recording material feeding device, and is a recording material upstream of the abnormal recording material in the recording material conveyance direction. There is a control unit for performing a printing process for forming an image on the material, and thereafter stopping the printing operation.

Further, when an abnormal recording material occurs, the image forming apparatus of this embodiment displays a display requesting the operator to form an image to be formed on the abnormal recording material on another recording material. In the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, the display panel includes the display panel 38 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 and the display of the image forming apparatus 2. For example, a request to re-transfer image data to be formed on the abnormal recording material from the image forming apparatus 2 to the image forming apparatus main body side is displayed on the display of the image forming apparatus 2. The operator transmits image data to be formed on the abnormal recording material and a print start signal according to the display. As a result, the printing operation of the image forming apparatus main body 1 is resumed, an image to be formed on the abnormal recording material is formed on the recording material newly sent from the recording material feeding device 17, and after the image is fixed. , The recording material can be discharged.

As described above, an image that should have been formed on the abnormal recording material PA can be formed on another recording material and discharged, so that a normal recording material for all pages can be obtained. it can. However, at the time of occurrence of an abnormal recording material, the recording material existing on the conveyance path upstream of the abnormal recording material PA in the recording material conveyance direction is transferred to the normal recording material receiver 25 shown in FIG.
, The page order of the normal recording material on the normal recording material receiver 25 may be out of order.

More specifically, after a series of printing operations, that is, the start of a job, the N-th recording material comes out from between the pressure rollers, and is discharged to the abnormal recording material receiver 36 as an abnormal recording material PA. If the abnormal recording material P
The (N + 1) -th recording material following A is continuously conveyed, and an image is formed on the surface thereof. At this time, this (N +
1) Assuming that the recording material is discharged to the normal recording material receiver 25 after the image on the sheet is fixed, the recording material is discharged from the normal recording material receiver 25 from the first sheet. N-1) It is placed on up to the first sheet of recording material. Here, the printing operation is stopped.

Next, the image to be formed on the Nth recording material is formed on the recording material sent out from the recording material feeding device 17 next to the above (N + 1) th recording material, The image is fixed. When this recording material is discharged to the normal recording material receiver 25 as the Nth recording material, the recording material becomes the (N + 1) th recording material on the normal recording material receiver 25. Put on the material. Therefore, the original page order is ...
Where (N-1), (N), and (N + 1), the page order of the recording material on the normal recording material receiver 25 is.
-1), (N + 1), and (N), and the page order is disturbed.

Therefore, in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 1, another tray-shaped normal recording material receiver 42 is provided above the normal recording material receiver 25,
The normal recording material that has passed through the fixing device 4 can be discharged to the normal recording material receiver 42 as indicated by an arrow B2 by the transport roller 43 and the discharge roller 44. If the former normal recording material receiver 25 is referred to as a first normal recording material receiver and the latter normal recording material receiver 42 is referred to as a second normal recording material receiver, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment includes:
The fixing device 4 includes first and second normal recording material receivers 25 and 42 which receive normal recording materials on which images are normally fixed.

At the downstream side of the fixing device 4 in the recording material conveyance direction, the normal recording material that has passed through the fixing device 4 is discharged to the first normal recording material receiver 25 or the second normal recording material. A switching claw 45, which constitutes an example of switching means for switching whether or not the sheet is discharged to the material receiver 42, is swingably supported.

When a normal printing operation is being performed,
The switching claw 45 occupies a first position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 2, and the normal recording material that has exited the fixing device 4 is guided by the switching claw 45 and discharged onto the first normal recording material receiver 25. On the other hand, the abnormal recording material PA is generated, and the leading end thereof is detected by the abnormal recording material sensor 35, and the CPU 30 detects the abnormal recording material PA.
CPU 30 immediately recognizes the occurrence of the switching claw 45
Is transmitted to the stepping motor 46 for driving the. This activates the stepping motor 46,
The switching claw 45 is switched to the second position shown by the broken line in FIG.

When the occurrence of an abnormal recording material is detected, the recording material has already been sent from the recording material feeding device 17 and is located upstream of the abnormal recording material PA in the recording material conveyance direction. For example, for the (N + 1) th recording material,
An image is formed as described above, and the image is fixed by the fixing device 4. The (N + 1) th recording material exiting the fixing device 4 is the switching claw 45 switched to the second position.
And is discharged to the second normal recording material receiver 42.
Next, the printing operation is stopped.

Here, as described above, the image to be formed on the abnormal recording material is formed on another recording material on the display means including the display panel 38 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 and the display of the image forming device 2. The display for restarting the printing operation is displayed, and the operator, in accordance with the display, displays the data of the image to be formed on the abnormal recording material, that is, the image data to be recorded on the Nth recording material and the print start signal. 2 to the image forming apparatus main body side. When the image forming apparatus main body receives the print start signal through the video I / F from the controller 39, C
The PU 30 immediately transmits a pulse to the stepping motor 46. Thereby, the switching claw 45 is switched to the first position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, and the printing operation is started. As a result, an image to be formed on the Nth recording material transmitted again is formed on the recording material newly fed from the recording material feeding device 17, and the image is fixed by the fixing device 4, Next, the recording material is discharged to the first normal recording material receiver 25 as the N-th recording material, where the printing operation is stopped again.

Next, the operator manually removes the (N + 1) th recording material discharged onto the second normal recording material receiver 42 from the N sheets on the first normal recording material receiver 25. Transfer onto the recording material of the eyes. Thereby, the first normal recording material receiver 25 receives (N + 1) from the first recording material.
The sheets up to the first recording material are stacked in a state where the page order is aligned.

Subsequently, image data from the next page is transmitted to the image forming apparatus main body through the image forming apparatus 2 and printed according to the display contents of the display of the image forming apparatus 2 or the display panel 38 of the image forming apparatus main body 1. The operation is started, an image is sequentially formed on the (N + 1) th recording material, and after the image is fixed, each normal recording material is sequentially discharged to the first normal recording material receiver 25.
In this way, it is possible to stack the recording materials in a completely page order on the first normal recording material receiver 25.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the switching claw 45 is operated by a driving device including a stepping motor 46. However, the switching claw 45 may be operated by a driving device such as a solenoid or a DC motor.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, during the normal printing operation, the normal recording material is discharged to the first normal recording material receiver 25, and the abnormal recording material PA is generated. Is the recording material P which has already been sent from the recording material feeding device 17 at the time of the detection, and the abnormal recording material P
The switching means is controlled so that the normal recording material P on the upstream side in the recording material conveyance direction from A is discharged to the second normal recording material receiver 42, and an image to be formed on the abnormal recording material PA is formed. And a control means for controlling the switching means so that the normal recording material on which the image is normally fixed is discharged to the first normal recording material receiver 25.

As described above, when an abnormal recording material PA occurs, the operator needs to transfer the recording material from the second normal recording material receiver 42 to the first normal recording material receiver 25, but forgets this operation. It is also conceivable. In addition to the abnormal recording material, a jam of the recording material may occur. For this reason, the page order of the recording material after the end of the job may be out of order. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, if a configuration is adopted in which continuous continuous pages are printed for each job in an area P2 other than the image area P1 of each recording material P, the operator can later print the recorded recording material. When checking, it is possible to easily confirm whether or not there is a missing page, and if there is a missing page, which page of the recording material is missing.

[0058]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the recording material comes off from between the pressing members, the abnormal recording material can be received by the abnormal recording material receiver. Can be prevented from occurring.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the occurrence of an abnormal recording material can be known, and it is possible to appropriately cope with this.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the occurrence of an abnormal recording material and the number of the recording material can be reliably notified to the operator.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when an abnormal recording material occurs, the printing operation of the image forming apparatus is stopped, so that appropriate measures can be taken for the abnormal recording material, and the abnormal recording can be performed. It is possible to prevent a recording material other than the recording material from causing a conveyance trouble.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, when an abnormal recording material occurs, it is possible to urge the operator to form an image formed on the abnormal recording material on another recording material. It is possible to prevent the recording material on which an image to be formed on the recording material is missing from dropping.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, even when an abnormal recording material occurs, it is possible to prevent a problem that the page order of the recording materials finally stacked in the first normal recording material receiver is out of order. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an image forming apparatus main body.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a part of an image forming apparatus and a control system thereof.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a state in which a carrier liquid and colored fine particles are separated after the secondary transfer of an image.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a recording material.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 image forming means 4 fixing device 17 recording material feeding device 25 first normal recording material receiving 36 abnormal recording material receiving 42 second normal recording material receiving P recording material PA abnormal recording material

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) G03G 21/00 500 G03G 21/00 500 3F054 F term (reference) 2C059 BB11 BB13 BB18 2H027 DC14 EK09 EK10 EK15 EK17 GB07 GB09 2H033 AA20 AA37 BB30 CA06 CA22 CA38 CA57 2H072 AA02 AA16 AA17 AA22 AB20 EA01 EA04 EA14 FB01 3F048 AA01 AB01 BA14 BA28 BC03 BC04 BD01 DA08 EA09 EA12 EB37 EB40 3F054 AA02 CA01 BF02

Claims (6)

[Claims] An image forming apparatus comprising: a fixing device having a fixing member to be heated; a plurality of pressing members which are in pressure contact with the fixing member and are arranged along a conveying direction of the recording material; Image forming means for forming, such that the image on the recording material formed by the image forming means contacts the fixing member,
In an image forming apparatus in which a recording material is passed between a fixing member and a plurality of pressure members to fix the image on the recording material, abnormal recording receiving an abnormal recording material that has escaped from between adjacent pressure members. An image forming apparatus comprising a material receiver. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an abnormality detecting unit that detects occurrence of an abnormal recording material. 3. A means for storing the number of sheets of the abnormal recording material after the start of a series of printing operations, the occurrence of the abnormal recording material, and the start of the series of printing operations The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display unit configured to display a subsequent number of the recording material. 4. A recording material feeding device for feeding a recording material one sheet at a time, and a recording material that has already been fed from the recording material feeding device when an abnormal recording material has occurred, wherein the recording material is higher than the abnormal recording material. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a control unit configured to perform a printing process for forming an image on a recording material on the upstream side in the material conveying direction, and then to stop the printing operation. 5. A display means for displaying, when an abnormal recording material has occurred, an operator requesting that an image to be formed on the abnormal recording material be formed on another recording material. An image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. A recording material feeding device for feeding recording materials one by one, first and second normal recording material receivers for receiving a normal recording material on which an image has been normally fixed by the fixing device, and a normal recording material. Means for switching whether the paper is discharged to the first normal recording material receiver or the second normal recording material receiver, and when the normal printing operation is performed, the normal recording material is discharged to the first normal recording material receiver. When the abnormal recording material is ejected to the normal recording material receiver and the abnormal recording material is generated, the normal recording material that has already been sent from the recording material feeding device and is located upstream of the abnormal recording material in the recording material conveyance direction. Is controlled so that the recording medium is discharged to the second normal recording material receiver, and an image to be formed on the abnormal recording material is formed, and the normal recording material on which the image is normally fixed is transferred to the second normal recording material. 1 so that it is discharged to the normal recording material receiver. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls the changing unit.