JP2003012169A - Paper-feeder and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper-feeder capable of handling any papers of two- folded paper and non-folded paper in an image forming device of small size using the two-folded paper. SOLUTION: The paper-feed device has a paper placement base 51 for placing the papers; a pair of separation paper-feed rollers 52 positioned on the downstream side of the paper placement base 51 and feeding the placed paper; and a bringing roller 55 butted to an upper surface of the paper placed on the paper placement base 51 to bring the paper to a pair of separation paper-feed rollers. The paper-feed device can be switched to the first mode state that both rollers of a pair of separation paper-feed rollers 52 are rotated to the direction that the papers are fed out to the downstream and the bringing roller 55 is not butted to the upper surface of the paper and the second mode state that a rotation of the separation roller 54 of a pair of separation paper-feed rollers 52 is stopped and the bringing roller 55 is butted to the upper surface of the paper.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a paper feeding apparatus capable of forming an image by dividing an image on both outer sides of a folded sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers cannot output a maximum size such as A3 paper or A4 paper that can be handled by the device, that is, a size exceeding the maximum paper size. Therefore, for example, in order to obtain a large printed matter such as a poster or a banner, a document is divided and output by enlarging it to the maximum paper size of the apparatus and then splicing it. FIG. 11 shows, for example, an A1 original from an A3 original and a maximum paper size A
3 shows a case where the copying machine of No. 3 is used. First, divide the original into quarters of a, b, c, d, or
Fold it up to 4 and copy each side to A3 paper at 200% magnification. 200% enlarged a, b, c, d respectively
A1 size poster can be made by pasting the copied materials a ′, b ′, c ′, and d ′ of No. 1 with adhesive tape or glue.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned method, the position of the seam does not match well and the poster becomes a distorted outer shape, or the surface of the seam shrinks after the glue part of the seam has dried. It often became a bad-looking poster. Also, it took a lot of time and effort to join the pieces together. In order to solve these problems, there is no choice but to use an expensive image forming apparatus that can handle sheets up to A1. Therefore, in the present invention, by forming an image on a two-fold paper, even a small recording device can output a large image on a large size paper by a simple operation.

However, when feeding bi-fold paper,
Since a paper feeding device such as a normal manual paper feeding has a separating mechanism that separates and feeds stacked sheets, a force to separate even a sheet that is folded and overlapped works, and the overlapping of folded paper A situation occurs where the paper cannot be fed due to misalignment. Therefore, a paper feeder dedicated to bi-folding paper is required, which increases the cost. The apparatus of FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram in the case of feeding bi-folded paper with a conventional paper feeding apparatus having a separating mechanism.
The manual paper feeding unit 500 includes a paper table 501 and a table 50.
1 for moving the upper part of the stacked paper on the stacking paper 1 in the paper feed direction, and a separation roller 502 that abuts on the upper surface of the stacked paper, and a separation for separating and feeding only the uppermost paper of the plurality of papers that are moved in the paper feed direction by the misalignment roller 502. It is composed of a pair of sheet feeding rollers 503. In the separation / feed roller pair 503, the upper paper feed roller 504 rotates in the paper feeding direction to feed the uppermost sheet to the downstream side, and the lower separation roller 505 stops to feed the second and subsequent sheets. Stop. (Fig. 12 (a))

However, in the case of feeding the bi-folded paper Pd, first, when the bi-folded paper Pd is moved in the feeding direction by the shifting roller 502, as shown in FIG.
Since the upper side paper of d moves so as to squeeze out, the leading end becomes uneven. Further, since only the upper side paper of the folded origami paper Pd is fed by the pair of separation paper feed rollers 503, the upper side paper and the lower side paper of the folded origami paper Pd are largely displaced (see FIG. 12).
(C)), it will be torn in the end.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can handle both folded paper and unfolded paper in a small-sized image forming apparatus using folded paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding device capable of performing the above, and an inexpensive image forming apparatus including the sheet feeding device and capable of outputting a large image on a large size sheet even if the sheet is small.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is a sheet feeding device, which is provided on a sheet placing table on which a sheet is placed and on a downstream side of the sheet placing table. The paper feed roller pair feeds the paper placed on the lever, and the aligning rollers that come in contact with the upper surface of the paper placed on the paper placing table to bring the paper to the paper feed roller pair. A first roller that rotates both rollers of the paper roller pair in a direction in which the paper is sent to the downstream side and does not bring the abutment roller into contact with the upper surface of the paper
And the second mode state in which the rotation of the lower roller of the pair of paper feed rollers is stopped and the aligning roller is brought into contact with the upper surface of the paper.

According to this structure, by simply switching between the contact state of the shifting roller and the rotating state of the lower roller of the paper feed roller, for example, one bi-fold sheet is placed and normal cut paper is set to one. It is possible to realize a sheet feeding device that can be handled by one sheet feeding device in any case of stacking a plurality of sheets. When feeding bi-folded paper, the leading edge of the bi-folded paper does not become misaligned because the shifting rollers do not abut, and both rollers of the paper feed roller pair rotate in the paper feeding direction, so only the upper paper is fed. It is possible to feed with the leading ends of the upper and lower papers aligned without being fed and torn.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, which comprises an image forming means, a first mode for forming an image on a sheet folded in half, and a second mode for forming an image on a sheet not folded in half. And a mode designating unit for designating the first mode, and the sheet feeding device according to claim 1.

According to this structure, by simply switching the contact state of the shifting roller and the rotation state of the lower roller of the pair of paper feed rollers, both the single-folded bi-fold paper and a plurality of normal cut papers to be stacked can be obtained. An image forming apparatus that can be handled by one sheet feeding device can be realized, and an operator can switch from a normal cut sheet copy to a two-fold paper copy, for example, by specifying a mode such as a half-fold mode key on the operation unit. It can be easily switched by means. As a result, the operator can output an image on a two-fold paper by a simple operation, and for example, an inexpensive image forming apparatus that can output a large image on a large-sized sheet by a simple operation even with a small image forming apparatus can be realized. .

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention.
The following embodiments are specific examples of the present invention and are not of the nature to limit the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a digital copying machine which is an example of an image forming apparatus used in the present invention. The digital copying machine 1 includes an image forming unit 2 near the center and a paper feeding unit 3 below the image forming unit 2, and a document reading unit 6 is arranged above the image forming unit 2. In the image forming unit 1, the photoconductor drum 11 is arranged in the central portion thereof and is rotated clockwise in the drawing,
A toner image to be transferred onto a sheet supplied from the right side of the drawing is formed on the photosensitive drum 11.

The photoconductor drum 11 has a charging portion 12 on the upper part thereof.
The surface is uniformly charged by, and the electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface by being scanned with the laser light blinked by the image signal from the laser optical unit 13, and is developed by the toner by the developing unit 14. Further, the toner image formed on the photoconductor drum 11 in the transfer unit 15 is transferred to the upper surface of the sheet fed by the registration roller 16 at a predetermined timing. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing roller 17 on the left side in the drawing, the toner is thermally fixed on the surface of the sheet, and the sheet is discharged by the sheet discharge roller 18 to the sheet discharge tray 19.

The paper feed unit 3 supplies the normally used standard-size cut paper to the image forming unit 2. Standard size sheets such as A3 and A4 are stacked on the sheet tray 31, and the uppermost sheet is separated by the sheet feeding roller 32 and fed one by one. The sheet fed by the sheet feeding roller 32 is conveyed upward in the vertical conveying path 33 by the conveying rollers 34 and 35, and further conveyed in the horizontal conveying path 36 by the conveying roller 37 to the registration roller 16. The sheet is transferred by the registration roller 16 by the transfer unit 15 and transferred with toner, and is thermally fixed by the fixing roller 17.

When images are formed on both sides of this sheet,
The branch claw 41 located after the transfer unit 15 is displaced (dotted line in the figure) to change the course of the fixed sheet downward, and the roller 42 sends the sheet to the switchback path 43. Before the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the roller 42, the roller 42 reverses while holding the trailing edge of the sheet, and the movement of the branching claw 44 (dotted line in the figure) causes the leading edge of the sheet to move between the image forming section 2 and the sheet feeding section 3. Return route 45 located in
Is sent to the vertical transport path 33 on the right side of the digital copying machine 1 by the roller 46. Further, the back side of the sheet sent to the lateral transport path 36 is facing up. The sheet sent to the transfer unit 15 by the registration roller 16 receives the toner on the back surface, is fixed by the fixing roller 17, and is discharged to the discharge tray 19 by the discharge roller 18.

A manual paper feed unit 5 is provided on the right side of the digital copying machine 1, and is a rubber which is brought into contact with the upper surface of the cut paper stack stacked on the paper feed table 51 and moves the upper part of the paper stack toward the paper feeding direction. A pair of separating rollers 55 made of rubber and a pair of separating / feeding rollers 52 made of rubber for feeding the plural sheets of paper one by one are fed to the lateral conveying path 36 one by one. As shown in FIG. 2A, the pair of separation paper feed rollers 52 is a paper feed roller 53 that rotates in the paper transport direction (right rotation in the figure) during paper feed.
Is on the upper side, and the separation roller 34 that engages with the paper feeding roller 53 and does not rotate is on the lower side, and when feeding cut paper, of the sheet bundle that has been moved to the separation and feeding roller pair 52 by the rotation of the shifting roller 55. Only the uppermost paper is fed by the paper feed roller 53, and the second and subsequent papers are blocked by the separation roller 34 (the above is the second mode state). Further, when feeding the two-folded paper handled in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2B, the shifting roller 51 is retracted to the upper part, and the separating roller 34 is given a driving force by switching a clutch or the like. It is designed to rotate in the paper feeding direction (counterclockwise rotation in the figure) so that only one set of two origami sheets can be fed without misalignment of the top and bottom (first mode). Status).

The switching mechanism of the manual sheet feeding section 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The shifting roller 55 in FIG.
It is movably supported by an arm 552 having a motor 551 as a fulcrum, and is in contact with the sheet by its own weight. Motor 55
The driving force of No. 1 is transmitted to the shifting roller 55 by the timing belt 553, and drives the shifting roller 55 at a predetermined timing. A plunger of a solenoid 554 is attached to the arm 552, and when the solenoid 554 is turned on, the arm 552 rotates around a fulcrum so that the roller 55 is raised to a position where it does not contact the upper surface of the sheet. The solenoid 554 is turned off in the second mode (Fig. 2 (a)) for feeding cut sheets, and the solenoid 55 in the first mode (Fig. 2 (b)) for feeding folded paper.
4 is turned on. Thus, when the operator sets the double-folded paper in the manual paper feed unit 5, the operator can set the folded paper in the paper feed direction to a position where the folded paper is in contact with the separated paper feed roller pair 52 without being blocked by the roller 55.

As shown in FIG. 3, the separation / feed roller pair 52 includes a shaft 531 of the paper feed roller 53 and the separation roller 5.
A fourth shaft 541 is supported by the side plates 601 and 602 via bearings. The side plate 60 is attached to the shaft 531 of the paper feed roller 53.
The gear 532 is fixed to the outer position of the idle gear 5
It is drivingly connected to a motor 534 via 33. On the other hand, a gear 542 is fixed to the shaft 541 of the separation roller 54 at a position outside the side plate 602, and this gear 542 is connected to a gear 544 of a clutch 543 axially fixed to the outside. When the clutch 543 is turned on, the rotation of the gear 544 is regulated, and at the same time, the rotation of the separation roller 54 coupled to the gear is also regulated. The second and subsequent sheets of paper are separated (second mode). A clutch 545 is provided on the shaft 541 of the separation roller 54 at a position outside the side plate 602, and a gear 546 of the clutch 545 meshes with a gear 532 of the paper feed roller 53. When the clutch 545 is turned on (the clutch 543 is turned off at this time), the rotation of the motor 534 drives both the paper feed roller 53 and the separation roller 54 via the gears 533, 532, 546, and the direction in which the paper is fed. Rotate (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3). As a result, the bi-folded paper is clamped between the rollers of the separation / feeding roller pair 52, and is fed without the top and bottom paper ends being displaced (first mode).

When the manual paper feed is performed in this manner, the paper is fed by the transport rollers 37, as in the paper of the paper feed unit 3.
The registration roller 16 conveys the toner on the lateral conveyance path 36, the transfer portion 15 transfers the toner at a predetermined timing, the fixing roller 17 fixes the toner, and the paper is ejected to a paper ejection tray 19 by a paper ejection roller 18. The path is changed by the rotation of the branch claw 41 so that an image is formed on the back surface of the sheet. When the image is formed on the back surface of the paper, the description is omitted because it is the same as the paper fed from the paper feed unit 3 thereafter.

The transport roller 37, the registration roller 16, the fixing roller 17, the discharge roller 18 in the horizontal transport path 36,
The roller 42 of the switchback path 43, the roller 46 of the return path 45, and the transport roller 35 of the vertical transport path 33 are driven by a pair of rollers that are drivingly connected by a gear, and the two-fold origami is folded up and down. It is now being transported without. Further, the switchback path 43 is provided with a switchback tray 47 for exposing the edge of the paper to the left side portion of the digital copying machine 1 so that a folded sheet of about A1 can be switched back.

Further, when the leading edge or trailing edge of the paper passes through the lateral transport path 36 and the return path 45 of the digital copying machine 1, it is turned on.
Alternatively, a switch SW1 (upstream of the conveyance roller 37 in FIG. 1) that turns OFF, SW2 (fixing roller 1 in FIG. 1)
7 downstream), SW3 (upstream of roller 46 in FIG. 1)
Is installed, and if it is not turned off within a predetermined time after being turned on by the passage of the leading edge of the paper, it is determined that double feeding of paper or a jam has occurred at that portion, the drive is stopped, and the liquid crystal display is set. A jam is displayed on the section 122. When a long sheet is conveyed in the conveying direction such as the A1 double-folded sheet, the operator sets the sheet length in advance to set the predetermined time based on the set sheet length. The detection corresponding to the paper length set by is performed. Further, the SW provided in the registration roller 16 portion of the lateral conveyance path 36
4 is the rotation start of the registration roller 16 (the leading edge of the paper is S
The paper length preset by the operator is detected in order to detect the time from when the trailing edge of the paper passes SW4) to calculate the actual paper length and to correct the passing time of the switches that pass after that. Even if there is a difference between the actual length and the actual length, false detection of jam does not occur.

Further, in the digital copying machine 1 used in the present invention, a double-folded paper holder 91 is attached to the outer end of the paper feed tray 51 of the manual paper feed section 5. As shown in FIG. 4A, the bi-folded paper holder 91 is
A guide member shaped like a J-shaped tip turned to the left,
The sheet feeding table 51 is extended and attached to the outer end. The bi-folded paper holder 91 is curved inside the holder 91 so that the rear end of the bi-folded paper longer than the maximum length of the standard paper does not hang down from the outer end of the paper feed tray 51 and fall. Alternatively, it is configured to be rolled up and stored, and as the front end of the folded origami sheet enters the digital copying machine 1 by the roller pair 52, the rear end side of the sheet is gradually fed out. Further, a cursor 93 is provided on the bi-folded paper holder 91 so that the width end portion of the image forming position coincides with the ridge line of the bi-folded paper.

Further, at the outer end of the paper discharge tray 19, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a two-folded paper holder 92 is attached. As a result, the folded origami paper having a length longer than the maximum length of the standard paper is composed of the inverted J-shaped guide member so that the front end thereof does not hang down from the outer end of the paper discharge tray 19 and fall. It is designed to accept the leading edge of the folded origami.

Next, the bi-fold paper used in the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The bi-fold paper used in the present invention is
Large size paper such as 2, A1 etc. in the center of the short side of the paper (Fig.
A) or the center of the long side of the paper (b in FIG. 5A) can be formed as a folding edge line (FIG. 5B). The bi-folded paper thus created is set in the manual paper feeding section 5 so that the folding ridgeline is in front of FIG. 1, and is fed in parallel with the folding ridgeline. The paper passing width at this time is W. In the case of A1 paper, if you fold it at the center b of the long side, the paper passing width W will be the maximum size A
Since the width cannot be handled by the copying machine of No. 3, the one folded only at the center a of the short side is used. Further, a double-fold roll paper (FIG. 5 (c)) obtained by folding a double-fold at the center of the width into a roll shape can be used after being cut to an arbitrary length. For example, it is possible to make a copy on a long paper in which a double-folded roll paper obtained by folding a short side width sheet of A2 at the center is cut with a length longer than the long side width of A2 and copied.

In FIG. 1, the document reading unit 6 is composed of a scanner unit 7 which reads a document and converts it into image data, and a document feeding unit 8 which supplies the document to the scanner unit 7. A reading window 71 is arranged on the upper surface of the scanner unit 7, and an optical system 72 including an illumination lamp, a plurality of mirrors, and a lens allows an optical image of a document placed in the reading window 71 to be an image sensor 73 such as a CCD. To be read as image data. The illumination lamp and the plurality of mirrors move relatively to scan the document placed in the reading window 71.

The original conveying section 8 is mounted above the reading window 71 of the scanner section 7 so as to be movable between a closed position for covering the reading window 71 and an open position for opening the reading window 71.
The document conveying unit 8 includes a document placing table 81 on which a document to be read is placed and a sheet feeding roller 82 which feeds the documents one by one from the placing table 81, and includes a plurality of U-shaped document conveying paths 83. The document is transported to the reading window 71 by the transport roller 84. At the platen portion 85 where the document comes into contact with the reading window 71, the document is read while passing. The illumination lamp and the mirror of the scanner unit 7 are stopped at a position facing the platen unit 85, and the original can be read by moving at the same speed as the reading speed. The read originals are sequentially ejected to an original ejection tray 86 provided below the original placing tray 81.

Next, the control circuit configuration of the digital copying machine 1 will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an outline of the control circuit configuration. The control unit 100 includes an image memory 101 for temporarily storing the image data read from the image sensor 73 of the document reading unit 6 in the form of a bitmap or the like, and image processing for performing various processes on the image data stored in the image memory 101. Unit 102, hard disk (HDD) 103 for storing image data before or after processing in a file format
including. Further, an image input control unit 104 that controls the operations of the scanner unit 7 and the document conveying unit 8 of the image reading unit 6, and an image output control unit 105 that controls the operations of the image forming unit 2 and the respective paper feeding units 3 and 5. It also includes.

The image memory 101 can read image data from an external computer (PC) 111 via the printer controller 112. Further, the image data from the document reading unit 6, the image data from the printer controller 112, and the image data from the HDD 103 are sent from the image memory 101 to the laser optical unit, are converted into a blinking scanning signal of the laser, and are converted into the image forming unit 2.
Is output to.

The control unit 100 is the operation unit 1 shown in FIG.
It is operated by 20. In FIG. 7, the key input unit 121
Is a numerical value input section using a numeric keypad, and the liquid crystal display setting section 1
Reference numeral 22 denotes a touch panel on which various mode conditions and the like are displayed and selectable, and the mode switching unit 123 is an area where various mode keys for selecting modes are arranged. The two-folded paper mode key 124 (mode designating means) of the present invention is also present in the mode switching unit 123. By pressing the bi-folded paper mode key 124, the second mode state of feeding cut sheets is switched to the first mode state of feeding bi-folded paper from the manual paper feeding portion 5, and thereby the manual paper feeding is performed. The solenoid 554 of the section 5 is turned on to prevent the approach roller 502 from abutting against the sheet, and the clutch 545 is turned on (at this time, the clutch 543 is turned off) to switch the control so that the separation roller is drivingly connected. In addition, the key input unit 121 has a start key 125 for starting and executing image reading by the image reading unit 6 and output of an image onto a sheet.

Next, a method for actually enlarging and outputting to two origami sheets using the digital copying machine 1 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation control. FIG. 8 shows the liquid crystal display setting unit 122.
5 is a diagram for explaining a setting state in FIG. First, when selecting the two-folded paper mode, the operator presses the two-folded paper mode key 124 in the mode switching unit 123 of FIG. 6 (Y in step S1). Then, the liquid crystal display setting section 12
2 is changed to the screen 200 (FIG. 9A) in the two-fold paper mode (S2). At this point, the digital copying machine 1 is automatically set to the first mode of the manual paper feed mode and the double-sided copy mode (S3).

In the screen 200, an auto / manual selection area 21 for selecting the message area 201 on the upper side and the auto key 211 or the manual key 212 on the lower left side.
0 is placed. In the center of the lower part, the letters 221 Photo 2
22, a document type setting unit 224 for setting the image quality of a document such as a mixture 223 of characters and photos, a dark 225, a light 22
6. An image quality setting area 220 including a reading density setting unit 228 for setting the reading density of a document like the auto 227 is arranged. A read execution key 230 is located on the lower right.

Auto in the auto / manual selection area 210 is a copy from an original having the same size as the maximum size paper that the digital copying machine 1 can output, and the central axis M1 of the original, which is the center of the short side width (FIG. 9). When (a) is used as a reference position for image division, when widened, the width W2 is twice the document width W1.
This is a mode in which the reference position is copied to the bifold ridgeline M2 at an enlargement ratio of just 200% on the bifold paper. The bi-fold paper used in this case has a length L2 that is exactly twice the length L1 of the original. For example, if the original is A3 (W1 = 297 mm, L1 = 420 mm), use A1 paper (W2 = 594 mm, L2 = 840 mm) folded in half at the width center to have the same width as A3. 10 (a)).

The manual mode is a mode in which the position of the dividing reference position M1 can be changed, and is used to correct the position of the original image when it is shifted to the upper or lower side in the width direction. The screen 200 of FIG. 9A shows a state in which the auto mode is set. The operator selects the auto key 211 on this screen 200 (Y in S4),
According to the message in the message area 201, the document feeder 8
If an A3 original is set on the document and the reading execution key 230 is pressed (Y in S5), the original is detected in the original conveying section 8,
The reading of the document is executed (S6). If the original is not set, the original is not detected in the original conveying section 8, the original is not read, and the message area 201 is displayed.
The message “Please set the original” is displayed on the screen (N in S5).

When the reading of the original is executed, the image data of the original is stored in the image memory 101 of the control unit 100,
The image processing unit 102 divides the upper image GA into upper and lower parts using the reference position M1 as a boundary line (S7), and the upper image GA in FIG.
03, the lower image GB is rotated by 180 °, and is stored in the HDD 10 with a file name of COPY1B, for example.
3 is stored (S8).

When the reading execution key 230 is pressed on the screen 200 and reading is executed, the liquid crystal display setting section 122 displays the screen shown in FIG.
The screen 300 of (b) is displayed. The area on the lower right of the screen 300 is an enlargement ratio display section 331 and a paper size display section 3
The copy condition display area 330 in which 32 is displayed is displayed, and the enlargement ratio and the folded paper size can be confirmed in the automatic mode. In FIG. 9 (b), the above-described condition of the enlargement ratio of 200% is displayed on the enlargement ratio display portion 331, and the width display portion 333 of the paper size display portion 332 shows the A1 width when the two origami sheets are unfolded. A length of 840 mm of A1 is displayed on the length display portion (the value of this paper length is used for the reference setting of the paper jam detection at the time of image formation). Below that is the copy execution key 335,
When folding paper is set in the manual feed section 5 according to the instruction in the message area 301 and the copy execution key 335 is pressed, the sheet is detected by the manual feed section 5 and copying in the fold mode is executed (S9). Y, S10). If no paper is set in the manual paper feed unit 5, no paper is detected by the manual paper feed unit 5 and copying is not executed (N in S9).
The copy execution key 335 may be replaced with the start key 125 of the key input unit 121 of the operation unit 120.

When the copy execution key 335 on the screen 300 is used to start copying in the folding mode, the folded paper stored in the folded paper holder 91 attached to the manual paper feeding unit 5 is changed to the folded paper holder 91. The folding ridgeline M2 is aligned by the cursor 92 attached to the sheet (for example, it is aligned on the front side), and the rear end side is supplied to the lateral conveyance path 36 from the sheet feeding table 51 by the pair of separation sheet feeding rollers 52. Then, the registration roller 16 stops. HDD103
Image file C of the upper half of the original, enlarged by 200%
OPY1A is read out, stored in the image memory 101 of the control unit 100, and transmitted to the laser optical unit 13 of the image forming unit. The latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 11 of the image forming unit 2 by the laser and is developed by the developing unit 14. Transfer is performed by the transfer unit 15 on the surface corresponding to the upper half so that the division line side matches the folding edge line M2.

After the sheet is heat-fixed by the fixing roller 17, the sheet is conveyed downward by the branching claw 41, is redirected by the switchback path 43, passes through the return path 45, and is again registered by the registration roller of the lateral transfer path 36. Return to 16 and stop. H
Next, the image file GOPY1B of the lower half of the original document, which is enlarged by 200%, is read from the DD 103, and a toner image is formed on the photoconductor drum 11. Ridge line M2
Is the same position as the front (in this case, the front side), and the image file GOPY1B has been rotated 180 ° and the dividing line side is the front side. Therefore, the ridge line M2 of the two-folded paper and the dividing line of the toner image should match. You can Registration roller 16
In the two-fold paper fed at a predetermined timing, the lower half image is transferred to the opposite surface so that the upper half image and the ridge line M2 are connected to each other, and the fixing roller 17 heat-fixes the two origami sheets. It is ejected to the origami holder 92.

When the copy of the two origami sheets thus copied is spread as shown in FIG. 10A, the copy expanded to 200% from the original is obtained by the digital copying machine 1.
It can be easily obtained with a width twice the maximum paper width that can be handled. As a result, the troublesome work of partially enlarging and sticking as in the conventional case can be omitted, and a large-sized copy can be obtained without preparing a large-sized copying machine.

FIG. 10B shows the central axis M1 of the image on the original.
This is an example of the case in which "'is displaced from the central axis M1 of the document by dmm, and is a case in which the central axis M1' of this image is positioned at the fold line M2 of the sheet and copied. To do this, use the manual mode of the two origami mode. A description will be given below with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, but a portion overlapping with the auto mode will be omitted.

When making such a copy, as shown in FIG.
The manual key 212 is selected in the auto / manual selection area 210 of the screen 200 in FIG.
S4 is N). In this state, the original is set on the original conveying section 8 (Y in S11), and when the reading execution key 230 is pressed, the original is read (S12), and the image data is temporarily stocked in the image memory of the control section 100 in the state before division. Then, the liquid crystal display setting unit 122 changes to the screen 400 of FIG. 9C. In this screen 400, the image center axis change area 420 is displayed at the center of the lower part.
Is displayed, a diagram 421 for displaying the central axis position by a cursor, and a movement amount setting unit 422 for setting the central axis movement amount are provided below. For example, in the case of FIG. 10B, the center axis of the image is located 50 mm below the center axis of the document. Therefore, if the movement amount setting unit 422 is set to -50 mm, the cursor in the diagram 421 is also moved downward by that amount. (S13).

A copy condition setting area is provided on the lower right of the screen 400, and an enlargement ratio setting section 431 is provided on the upper side, and a paper size setting section 432 having a paper width setting section 433 and a length setting section 434 therein. ing. Here, the width, length, and enlargement ratio of the output paper can be set arbitrarily, and the widened width is A
If you use 2 origami paper, the paper length is 700m
If m, the length of the document detected by the document transport unit 8 and
The enlargement ratio of the enlargement ratio setting unit 431 is automatically set from the value set by the length setting unit 434 of the paper size setting unit 432. It is also possible to automatically set the paper length by manually setting the enlargement ratio. Note that this paper length value is used to set a reference for paper jam detection during image formation, as in the case of the auto mode.

After setting on the screen 400 in this way, a folded origami sheet having an expanded width of A2 may be set in the manual paper feeding portion and the copy execution key 435 (the start key 125 of the key input portion 121 may be used instead. ) Is pressed, the image temporarily stocked in the image memory of the control unit 100 is divided at the center position of the image according to the above setting conditions (S14), enlarged, and the lower document image is rotated by 180 °, and the HDD 10 is rotated.
After being temporarily stored as two files in S3 (S15), they are read one by one, and double-sided copying is executed in the same manner as the above-mentioned auto mode (S16, S10). The image copied on the A2 bi-fold paper is as shown in FIG.
0 (b), the image center is on the fold line of the paper,
It is finished as an enlarged copy of a slightly elongated strip. Further, for example, the paper set on the screen 400 may be a bi-fold paper having an expanded width of A1, and the width and length and the position of the center of the image may be changed as desired.

As described above, in this embodiment, the image read by the document reading unit 6 is stored in the image memory 101 and then the image is divided into two. However, the digital copying machine 1 includes the printer controller 112. Since the image data is supplied from the computer 111, the image data is supplied from the computer 111 and stored in the image memory 101.
The data can be stored in No. 3 and can be used as image data of two origami. The present invention includes such a case. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment and includes the following modified examples.

(1) In the above embodiment, the position of the fold line of the two-folded paper is aligned with the cursor of the two-folded paper holder attached to the manual paper feed section. A matching mechanism may be provided. Further, the side position of the sheet being conveyed may be detected, and the position where the image is formed on the photosensitive drum may be determined in accordance with the detection.

(2) The bi-fold paper used may be a cut or long roll. In the case of a roll, it is possible to provide a cutter mechanism capable of cutting to a specified length. Alternatively, the sheet folded in two horizontally may be conveyed in a direction perpendicular to the folding ridge line, and the images enlarged and divided may be output to the front and back sides of the sheet.

(3) In the manual paper feeding unit, the shifting roller drive and the separation paper feeding roller pair may be driven by one motor,
A torque limiter may be used instead of the clutch that stops the separation roller. Further, the approach roller may be brought into contact with the paper only for a predetermined time at the start of feeding the cut paper, or the rotation of the approach roller may be stopped except when the cut roller is in contact with the paper.

(4) The present invention can be implemented not only in a digital copying machine but also in another image forming apparatus such as a printer or a printing machine. Further, the division processing and the enlargement processing of the image data may be performed on a computer connected to the image forming apparatus.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention of claim 1, a sheet placing table on which a sheet is placed and a sheet placed on the downstream side of the sheet placing table are fed. A pair of paper feed rollers and a moving roller that abuts the upper surface of the paper placed on the paper mounting table to move the paper to the paper feed roller pair, and the paper is downstream of both rollers of the paper feed roller pair. To a side of the paper feed roller, the rotation of the lower roller of the paper feed roller pair is stopped and the pulling roller is brought into contact with the top surface of the paper. It is possible to switch to the second mode state of contact. Therefore, by simply switching between the contact state of the shifting roller and the rotation state of the lower roller of the pair of paper feed rollers, for example, when one folded paper is placed and when one or more normal cut sheets are stacked. In any case, an inexpensive paper feeding device that can be handled by one paper feeding device can be realized. When feeding bi-folded paper, the leading edge of the bi-folded paper does not become misaligned because the shifting rollers do not abut, and both rollers of the paper feed roller pair rotate in the paper feeding direction, so only the upper paper is fed. It is possible to feed with the leading ends of the upper and lower papers aligned without being fed and torn.

According to the present invention of claim 2, the image forming means, a first mode for forming an image on a sheet folded in two, a second mode for forming an image on a sheet not folded in half, and the second mode It has a mode designating means for designating the mode No. 1 and the sheet feeding device according to the first aspect. Therefore, by simply switching between the contact state of the shifting roller and the rotating state of the lower roller of the pair of paper feed rollers, either one of two folded papers can be placed or one or more normal cut sheets can be stacked. In this case, an image forming apparatus that can be handled by one sheet feeding device can be realized, and the operator can switch from a normal cut sheet copy to a half-folded paper copy, for example, a double-folded operation section. It can be easily switched by a mode designating means such as a mode key. As a result, the operator can output an image on a two-fold paper by a simple operation, and for example, an inexpensive image forming apparatus that can output a large image on a large-sized sheet by a simple operation even with a small image forming apparatus can be realized. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a digital copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view for explaining a manual paper feeding unit of the digital copying machine of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a manual paper feeding unit of the digital copying machine of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a double-folded paper holder included in the digital copying machine of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a bi-fold paper used in the present invention.

6 is a control block diagram of the digital copying machine of FIG. 1. FIG.

7 is a schematic diagram of an operation unit of the digital copying machine of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a diagram of a liquid crystal display setting screen of the digital copying machine of FIG. 1, which is displayed in the two-fold paper mode.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an original and a copy finished product according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a conventional large-sized copy method.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a case where bi-folded paper is fed by a conventional manual paper feeding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Digital copier 2 ... Image forming unit (image forming means) 5: Manual paper feeding unit (paper feeding device) 51 ... Paper loading table 52 ... Separate paper feed roller pair (paper feed roller pair) 53 ... Manual paper feeding unit (paper feeding device) 54 ... Separation roller (lower roller) 55 ... Pulling roller 124 ... Two origami mode key (mode designation means) 545 ... Clutch 554 ... Solenoid

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP04 AQ06 AS02 HJ03                       HJ06 HK05 HK07 HK11 HN15                 2C087 AA09 AA18 AB01 AB05 AC08                       BA03 BB10 BC14 BD06 BD52                       CA03 CA05 CB13 CB18 DA02                 3F343 FA02 FB02 FC13 GA01 GB01                       GC01 GD01 HA07 JD04 JD09                       KB03 KB04 KB05 LA16 LB08                       LC12                 5C062 AA05 AB22 AB32 AB46 AC11                       BA00

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A paper loading table for loading paper, a pair of paper feed rollers downstream of the paper loading table for feeding the loaded paper, and a paper loading table mounted on the paper loading table. A contact roller that contacts the upper surface of the sheet and moves the sheet to the pair of sheet feeding rollers; rotates both rollers of the pair of sheet feeding rollers in a direction in which the sheet is delivered to the downstream side; It is possible to switch between a first mode state in which the rollers are not brought into contact with each other and a second mode state in which the rotation of the lower roller of the pair of paper feed rollers is stopped and the contact roller is brought into contact with the upper surface of the sheet. And a paper feeder. 2. An image forming unit, a first mode for forming an image on a sheet folded in half, a second mode for forming an image on a sheet not folded in half, and a mode designation unit for designating the first mode. An image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet feeding device according to claim 1.