JP2002111929A - Composite image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a composite image forming apparatus, capable of outputting at for reception time from an external communication circuit, at midnight in power-saving and economical manner and selecting a method for forming an image, in response to an application of a user in a composite-image forming apparatus, having an electrophotographic type image forming means and an ink jet type image forming means. SOLUTION: The composite image forming apparatus comprises a electrophotographic type and ink-jet type image forming means, and a receiver for receiving image information from an external communication channel. The apparatus further comprises a selecting means for selecting to form the image by either of the electrophotographic type image forming means and the ink-jet type image forming means, when image information is received externally by the receiver and a control means for controlling, so that the image is formed by the image forming means selected by the selecting means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a composite image forming apparatus having an electrophotographic image forming means and an ink jet type image forming means and having a FAX receiving function. The present invention relates to a composite image forming apparatus which is controlled so that an electrophotographic image forming unit and an ink jet type image forming unit are effectively used in accordance with a situation at the time of reception.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of image forming processing technology,
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming a black-and-white image on a recording sheet and an ink jet type image forming apparatus for forming a color image on a recording sheet are sold.

[0003] On the other hand, from a user's use request, there is a demand that a composite document in which a black-and-white document and a color document are mixed can be copied by the same image forming apparatus. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-814 discloses a composite image forming apparatus including an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and an ink jet type image forming apparatus.

Further, this type of composite image forming apparatus can be considered to have a printer function and a facsimile transmission / reception function in addition to the copying function. The situation is still insufficient.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a receiving unit (FAX receiving function) which includes an electrophotographic image forming unit and an ink jet type image forming unit, and receives image information from an external communication line. The purpose of the present invention is to improve the usability of the composite image forming apparatus provided and to be able to respond to user requests.

[0006] By the way, the image received from the FAX communication line is rarely in a state where the user is waiting in front of the apparatus, the request for outputting at high speed is small, and the image is not often transmitted in large quantities. From this point of view, it is often better to form such an image by an ink jet method which is economical. Also, despite that, FAX
There are also cases where a large amount of images are transmitted via a communication line and a highly urgent image is transmitted. In this case, the receiver may be made to wait before the output device by telephone or the like in advance. In consideration of these two uses, there has been no prior art which can select whether the output is performed by the electrophotographic method or the ink jet method.

Further, in a composite image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system, it is necessary to maintain the fixing device at a constant temperature to maintain a standby state in order to receive a fax at night.
Was consuming a lot of power.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a composite image forming apparatus having an electrophotographic image forming means and an ink jet type image forming means and having a FAX receiving section, at the time of FAX reception from an external communication circuit at midnight. The output at
It is an object of the present invention to provide a composite image forming apparatus which can save power and economically, and can select an image forming method according to a user's application.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of intensive studies on the above problems, the present inventors have found that the object of the present invention can be attained by adopting one of the following constitutions.

[1] In a composite image forming apparatus having an electrophotographic image forming means and an ink jet type image forming means and having a receiving section for receiving image information from an external communication line, Selecting image forming means of the electrophotographic type or image forming means of the ink jet type when image information from the outside is received, and selecting the image forming means selected by the selecting means. A composite image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit configured to perform control so that an image is formed by the unit.

[2] In a composite image forming apparatus having an electrophotographic image forming unit and an ink jet type image forming unit and having a receiving unit for receiving image information from an external communication line, time is managed. Has timekeeping means,
A composite image forming apparatus, comprising: a control unit that controls an image forming unit of an ink jet system to form an image when external image information is received at a predetermined time by the receiving unit. .

[3] The composite image according to [2], wherein the control unit controls at least the power supply to the fixing unit of the electrophotographic image forming unit to be interrupted at the predetermined time. Forming equipment.

[4] The control means controls to form an image by the electrophotographic image forming means when it is determined that image formation by the ink jet type image forming means is impossible. The composite image forming apparatus according to [2] or [3].

[5] The composite image forming apparatus as set forth in [1] or [2], wherein the control released from the control by the control means can be selected.

In the present invention, a clock means is provided in the main body of the composite image forming apparatus, and only the ink jet type image forming means which consumes less power and has less noise during the first and second times set by the time setting means. By using it, economy and silence at night can be improved.

In addition, the image forming means of the ink jet system requires only a short time from the power-on to the start of image formation. An image can be formed, and a large amount of electric power is not consumed for fixing unlike the electrophotographic method, which is effective in terms of energy saving.

(1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, in a composite image forming apparatus having an electrophotographic image forming unit and an ink jet type image forming unit, the degree of urgency and the amount of information when a facsimile is received By making it possible to select whether to output by the ink jet method or the electrophotographic method in consideration of the usage situation of the user, etc., efficient image output can be achieved at low cost with low power consumption.

(2) According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, in outputting an image at the time of FAX reception in a specific time zone such as late at night, power consumption is lower than in the electrophotographic system, and the cost for printing is also lower. Use of an inexpensive and quiet ink jet system has the effect of realizing economy, power saving, and low noise.

As a result, it is possible to turn off all the high power consuming parts such as the preheating part of the fixing related to the electrophotographic system, and it is possible to further improve the energy saving effect.

(3) According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when an image cannot be formed and output in the ink jet system due to lack of ink or the like, an image can be automatically output in an electrophotographic system.

(4) Further, when the setting of the selection by the selection means is rather inconvenient, it can be canceled, so that it is possible to flexibly cope with a change in the situation at the place or a change in the use situation.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A composite image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described first with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a composite image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The composite image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG.
An image memory 1 is provided as storage means for recording image information (also referred to as image data) from a black-and-white document, a color document, and a composite document in which these are mixed. The image memory 1 is a DRAM (a random write / read memory that requires a memory holding operation) or the like, and its memory area is divided into a monochrome image data area, a color image data area, an edit area, and the like.

The image memory 1 temporarily stores black and white or color document image data D1 obtained by reading a document from a document reading means 2 such as a scanner after the image processing means 5 performs image processing. The image memory 1 has a receiving unit 8.
Receives the image data sent from the partner device, passes through the facsimile means 3 and the image processing means 5, and temporarily stores the received image data D2. Further, an interface 4 is connected to the image memory 1, and black-and-white or color processed image data D3 processed by an external computer is temporarily stored.

An image processing means 5 is connected to the image memory 1, and when image data for a plurality of pages is given, the image data is converted into a black and white image data page and a color image data page. Are separated. The separation method is, for example, in the case of compressed image data such as the JPEG system or the MPEG system, an identification flag indicating monochrome image data or an identification flag indicating color image data written as header information of a data string for each page. This is done by identifying

At the output stage of the image memory 1, at least two types of image forming means # 1 and # 2 are provided, and an image forming process is performed in parallel on each recording paper R based on the above-mentioned arbitrary image data. Done. In each of the image forming units # 1 and # 2, a black-and-white image or a color image by the document reading unit 2, a received image by the facsimile unit 3, or a black-and-white or color processed image by the interface 4 is formed on the recording paper R. You. In this example, at least a color image is formed on the recording paper R based on the color image data by the image forming unit # 2, and a monochrome image is formed on the recording paper R based on the monochrome image data by the image forming unit # 1. . In this example, a color inkjet type image forming unit is used as the image forming unit # 2, and a monochrome electrophotographic type image forming unit is used as the image forming unit # 1.

The flowchart of FIG.
9 is a control flow of determination and image output at the time of reception.

First, it is confirmed whether or not there is a fax reception (F1). If there is no fax reception, this routine ends. If there is, FAX reception is performed (F3).

Next, the mode selected by the selection means 21 of the operation display section 20 is determined (F4). The selecting means 21 includes “IJ mode”, “specific IJ mode”,
An "off mode" is provided to select something. “Off mode” is set as an initial setting immediately after the power of the composite image forming apparatus 100 is turned on.

The "IJ mode" is a mode in which facsimile image data received by the receiving unit is output for image formation only by the image forming means of the ink jet system. During a predetermined time such as the time, the facsimile image data received by the receiving unit is a mode in which image formation is output only by the inkjet image forming means, and the `` off mode '' cancels the mode. Is a mode in which an image is automatically formed under the conditions set in the control means. In a mode in which an image is automatically formed under the control of the control means, for example, image formation is output only by the electrophotographic image forming means, or black and white image data is output by the electrophotographic image forming means. , The color image data is set to be output to the inkjet type image forming means,
It is separately designated by the designation means 22 of the operation display unit, and is automatically controlled by the control means under the conditions designated by the designation means.

The "IJ mode" and "specific I
In the "J mode", power supply to the electrophotographic image forming means is cut off. This is done during a predetermined time, such as at night, because the electrophotographic image forming unit is in an unused state, so that wasteful power consumption is eliminated and energy is saved. Alternatively, in the "IJ mode", when the unused state continues for a long time, the power supply to the electrophotographic image forming unit is cut off for energy saving by a so-called auto shut-off function.

When the "specific IJ mode" is selected, the reception time is read by the timer 24 (F5). Next, it is determined whether or not the read time information is within a predetermined time range (first time t1 to second time t2) set by the time setting means 23 of the operation display unit (F).
6). This is, for example, PM 10:00 to AM 8: 0 at night.
It is set to 0. If the time is within the predetermined time range, the process proceeds to a routine of outputting by the ink jet type image forming means. First, it is determined whether or not image forming output is possible by the inkjet type image forming means (F
7). When it is determined that the output is possible, the image data received by facsimile is output for image formation by the ink jet type image forming means (F8). On the other hand, if it is determined in F7 that the image forming means of the ink jet type cannot output the image, the process proceeds to the routine of outputting the image by the image forming means of the electrophotographic type. In the output by the electrophotographic image forming means, first, the power supply which has been shut off is turned on, and the fixing device is heated and warmed up to start up (F).
9). When the warm-up is completed, image formation is output by the electrophotographic image forming means (F10).

If the "IJ mode" is selected in F4 of the above flow, the process immediately proceeds to a routine F7 for outputting by the ink jet type image forming means.

If the "off mode" is selected in F4 of the flow, the process immediately proceeds to a routine F9 which is output by the electrophotographic image forming means.

As described above, when the output by F8 or F10 is performed, the process is terminated. In addition, the "specific IJ
When the “mode” and the “IJ mode” are selected, the power supply to the electrophotographic image forming unit is controlled to be shut off between predetermined times t1 and t2 such as at night. Is preferred. That is, when it is detected that the time of the clock means is t1, and power is supplied to the electrophotographic image forming means at that time, the control means supplies power to the electrophotographic image forming means. It is preferable to control so as to cut off.

Further, a paper supply means 6 is provided for each of the image forming means # 1 and # 2,
The recording paper is distributed and supplied to # 1 and # 2. Plain paper or the like is used as the recording paper. In this example, a conveyance path switching means 7 is provided downstream of the paper supply means 6, and the conveyance path of the recording paper supplied from the paper supply means 6 to each of the image forming means # 1 and # 2 is switched.

The transport path switching means 7 includes an image forming means #
1 to supply recording paper, a conveyance path is connected between the image forming means # 1 and the paper supply means 6, and when supplying recording paper to the image forming means # 2, the conveyance path is connected to the image forming means # 2. A conveyance path is connected to the paper supply unit 6.

Of course, each of the image forming means # 1, # 2
May be provided with an individual-type sheet supply means 6 'to individually supply recording sheets. For example, transfer paper dedicated to inkjet may be supplied from the paper supply unit 6 ′ to the image forming unit # 2 (ink-jet type image forming unit) instead of plain paper.

A post-processing unit 10 is provided downstream of these image forming units # 1 and # 2.
1. Two or more recording papers R after image formation output from # 2
Are collected at one place and subjected to a desired processing.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the internal configuration of a multifunction peripheral 200 as an example of the composite image forming apparatus of the present invention. 3 includes a sheet feeding unit 201, an image forming apparatus 202, and a finisher 203 as a post-processing unit. The image forming apparatus 202 includes an image reading unit 2, an image processing unit 5, an image writing unit 13,
An ink-jet type second image forming unit # 2, an electrophotographic type first image forming unit # 1, a first paper feeding unit 15,
The printer includes a second paper supply unit 16, a fixing unit 17, a conveyance unit 18, a control unit 19, and a communication unit 210 having a receiving unit and a facsimile unit.

The first paper supply means 15 includes a cassette paper supply section 15
A and a large capacity paper feed unit (LCT) 15B, 15C or a manual paper feed unit (not shown). The second paper supply means 16 has a registration roller P6. The transport means 18 includes a transport belt 18A, a switching plate 18B as transport path switching means,
The discharge roller P7, a conveyance unit for automatic double-sided image formation (AD
U) 18D and the like.

An automatic document feeder (ADF) 2A constituting the image reading means 2 is provided above the second image forming means # 2.
Is installed. A finisher 203 is connected to the discharge roller P7 on the left side of the image forming apparatus 202 in the drawing. The document placed on the document table of the automatic document feeder 2A is conveyed in the direction of the arrow, and the image of one or both sides of the document is read by the optical system of the image reading means 2;
The data is read by the CD image sensor 2B. The analog signal photoelectrically converted by the CCD image sensor 2B is subjected to analog processing, A / D conversion, shading correction, image compression processing, and the like in the image processing means 5, and is temporarily stored in an image memory. Thereafter, the color image data D is supplied to the ink jet type image forming unit # 2, and the monochrome image data D is transmitted to the image writing unit 13 of the image forming unit # 1.

The image forming means # 2 is a driver 32A
And an inkjet section 32B for yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C, and black BK. Image forming means # 2
Now, based on the color image data D, Y, M, C, B
The K ink is ejected onto the recording paper R to form a color image. For example, the recording paper R sent out from the first paper supply means 15 passes through the upstream conveying roller group P20, and is Y, M,
When transported below the C and BK ink jet units 32B, a color image is formed at a predetermined timing and a predetermined ejection position (image forming position) by the driver 32A based on the color image data D.

The recording paper R on which the color image has been formed is
The sheet is conveyed by the conveying roller group P20 on the downstream side, and is sent to the finisher 203 via the sheet discharging roller P7. The upstream transport roller group P20 includes transport rollers P21 to P24.
And the transport roller group P20 on the downstream side is a transport roller P
25 to P27.

In the image writing means 13,
The output light from the semiconductor laser is applied to the photosensitive drum of the image forming unit # 1 to form a latent image. Image forming means #
In 1, processing such as charging, exposure, development, transfer, separation, and cleaning is performed. For example, the first sheet feeding unit 15
The recording paper R sent from the printer is subjected to image forming processing at a transfer position (image forming position) where the photosensitive drum and the transfer electrode face each other via the registration roller P6. The recording paper R on which an image is formed by this transfer is transported by the transport belt 18A, undergoes a fixing process by the fixing unit 17, and is sent to the finisher 203. In the double-sided image formation, the recording paper R that has been subjected to the single-sided image processing and sent to the double-sided image forming conveyance section 18D by the conveyance path switching plate 18B is again conveyed to the image forming means # 1 to form an image on the back surface at the transfer position. After that, it is sent to the finisher 203.

In black-and-white or color image formation, when any one of the cassette paper feeder 15A, the large capacity paper feeders 15B and 15C, or a manual paper feeder (not shown) is selected in the image forming apparatus 202, the paper is fed (feeded). Paper) rollers P1, P2,
The recording paper R is sent from one of P3 and P5 to the image forming unit # 1.
Or, it is fed to # 2.

Of course, when a color image and a black-and-white image are to be processed in parallel, the recording paper R is used for the image forming means # 1 and # 2.
Is fed to The transport rollers P1, P2, P3, and P5 constitute a first sheet feeding unit 15 and start sheet feeding by a sheet feeding signal. The first sheet feeding means 15 is composed of a roller and a belt stretched over the roller,
A, one sheet of recording paper R is separated from one of the large-capacity paper feed units 15B and 15C or the manual paper feed unit, and image forming means # 1
Alternatively, the sheet is transported to # 2.

The transport roller group P4 includes paper feed rollers P1, P
2. The recording paper R conveyed from P3 is driven to be conveyed to the image forming means # 1 or # 2. After the transport rollers P1, P2, P3, and P5 send out the recording paper R, when the leading end of the recording paper R reaches the leading roller of the transport roller group P4, the transport rollers P1, P2, P3, and P5 are temporarily stopped, and are temporarily stopped.
, The sheet can be fed again. The recording paper R is temporarily stopped before the registration roller P6, and is fed again by the registration roller P6 that rotates in synchronization with image formation in the image forming unit # 1. Conveyor belt 18A,
The image forming apparatus 2 passes through the fixing unit 17 and the discharge roller P7.
02 ejected from the finisher 203
It is guided to.

[0050]

According to the present invention, in a composite image forming apparatus including an electrophotographic image forming means and an ink jet type image forming means, and having a FAX receiving section, it is possible to receive a fax from an external communication circuit at midnight. The output at
It is possible to provide a composite image forming apparatus that can perform power saving and economical operation and can select an image forming method according to a user's application.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a composite image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The block diagram which shows the example of a structure of 00.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for processing sent fax information.

FIG. 3 is a configuration sectional view showing an internal configuration of the multifunction peripheral 200.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image memory (storage means) 2 Scanner (document reading means) 3 Facsimile means 4 Interface 5 Image processing means 6 Paper supply means 7 Transport path switching means 8 Receiving part (FAX receiving part) 10 Post-processing means 19 Control means 100 Composite image Forming apparatus 200 Multifunction machine 201 Paper feed unit 202 Image forming apparatus 203 Finisher (post-processing means) # 1 First image forming means (monochrome electrophotographic method) # 2 Second image forming means (color inkjet method)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03G 21/00 370 H04N 1/23 101Z H04N 1/23 101 1/29 Z 1/29 B41J 3/00 E (72) Inventor Kazuo Sato 2970, Ishikawacho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation (72) Inventor Tadayoshi 2970, Ishikawacho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation F-term (reference) 2C061 AP07 AQ05 AQ06 AR01 HH11 HK04 HK19 HN02 HN15 HQ02 HQ03 HT07 HT11 HT13 2H027 DA38 ED25 EE06 EJ17 FD08 GB13 ZA07 2H078 AA18 AA23 BB01 BB08 EE01 FF04 FF09 5C062 AA02 AB22 AB38 AB46 AF06 BA00 5C074 AA06 AA13AA13A

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A composite image forming apparatus comprising: an electrophotographic image forming unit; an ink jet type image forming unit; and a receiving unit for receiving image information from an external communication line. Selecting means for selecting which of the electrophotographic image forming means and the ink jet type image forming means to form an image when receiving image information from the outside; and an image forming means selected by the selecting means And a control means for controlling to form an image in the composite image forming apparatus. 2. A timepiece for managing time in a composite image forming apparatus having an electrophotographic image forming unit and an ink jet type image forming unit and having a receiving unit for receiving image information from an external communication line. And a control unit for controlling the image forming unit to form an image by an inkjet type image forming unit when the receiving unit receives external image information at a predetermined time. Composite image forming apparatus. 3. The control device according to claim 2, wherein the control device controls at least the power supply to the fixing device of the electrophotographic image forming device to be interrupted at the predetermined time.
The composite image forming apparatus as described in the above. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls to form an image by the electrophotographic image forming unit when it is determined that the image forming by the ink jet type image forming unit is impossible. The composite image forming apparatus according to claim 2. 5. The composite image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control released from the control by said control means can be selected.