JP2003186355A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow an interrupt copy while documents are copied in a selected duplex copy mode and improve operability and workability for a user. <P>SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus has an automatic document feeding part for feeding the documents to an exposing position, a document reading part disposed at the exposing position, an image storage part for storing image information on the read documents, an image forming part for retrieving the image information in the image storage part and making the required number of copies, a non-stack automatic reversing unit for transfer papers with one copied side, a staple means for the transfer papers copied in the image forming part, and an interrupt copy button. When the interrupt copy button is pushed while an image is formed by using the non-stack automatic reversing unit, copy operation is temporarily halted after a boundary between copies is copied, the interrupt copy can be set and accepted, operation of the interrupt copy is initiated by instruction for initiating the interrupt copy, and the copy operation halted by the interrupt copy is restarted after the interrupt copy is finished. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

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 which is equipped with automatic document feeding means and is capable of double-sided copying, and more particularly to image forming having a non-stack type automatic reversing unit and interrupt copy mode input means. It relates to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As copying machines, models having excellent processability and operability have been provided year by year. Conventionally, the automatic document feeder automatically feeds the original document to the exposure position on the original table by manually feeding it, and it automatically synchronizes the original document to the exposure position. Then, image formation was performed. However, due to the spread of digitalization and the reduction in cost of memory, a memory (image storage unit) is provided in the machine, the originals are conveyed one by one to the exposure position by the automatic document conveying means, and the reading is provided with photoelectric conversion means such as CCD. The original information at the exposure position is read by the means, all the original information is temporarily stored in the memory, and when the image is formed, the image information of the required page is called from the memory to copy regardless of the operation of the automatic original feeding means. Came to be done. Conventionally, when copying a plurality of copies of a document consisting of a plurality of sheets, the automatic document feeder circulates the document a plurality of times to obtain a plurality of copies, but a so-called electronic RDH accumulating in the memory is adopted. By doing so, such an operation became unnecessary.

Further, many copiers having a double-sided copy function have come to be provided. That is, an automatic reversing unit (ADU) is installed in the machine, and the transfer paper is reversed and conveyed inside the machine by the ADU without copying the transfer paper that has finished copying on one side to the outside of the machine. After that, it is discharged to the outside of the machine. A
The DU is equipped with a stacker inside the machine, and a stack type ADU that temporarily stores the transfer paper that has finished copying one side in the stacker and then copies the back side. There is a stack type ADU. Stack type ADU and non-stack type A
Although each DU has its merits and demerits, the non-stack method is superior in processability to the electronic RDH.

[0004]

In an image forming apparatus having an automatic document feeder, a plurality of copies of a plurality of originals are often copied, and a continuous copy time for one segment is often long. Therefore, when an urgent copy is required by providing an interrupt key, the continuous copy is interrupted to perform the interrupt copy, and after the interrupt copy is completed, the interrupted continuous copy is continued. However, when two-sided copying of a plurality of sheets is performed (when the ADU mode is selected), acceptance of the interrupt key is prohibited in the conventional model. Therefore, A
During copying in the DU mode, copying cannot be performed unless waiting for the copying operation to be completed, which is inconvenient when making an emergency copy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing an interrupt copy even in the ADU mode so as to improve the operability / workability of the user.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned objects are as follows: (1) An automatic document feeder which automatically conveys documents one by one to an exposure position, and a reading unit which reads a document at the exposure position An image storage unit that temporarily stores the image information of the original document, an image forming unit that calls the image information in the image storage unit to copy the required number of copies, and reverse transfer of the transfer paper that has been copied on one side for double-sided copying. In the image forming apparatus, a non-stack type automatic reversing unit, a stapling unit for stapling a transfer sheet copied in the image forming unit, and an interrupt copy button for requesting an interrupt are provided. If the interrupt copy button is pressed during image formation using the automatic reversing unit, the temporary copy operation is interrupted when the copy of the break of the number of copies is completed. An image forming apparatus characterized by receiving an interrupt copy setting, starting an interrupt copy operation by an interrupt copy start command, and restarting the copy operation interrupted by the interrupt copy after the interrupt copy ends, or (2) a document. An automatic document feeder that automatically conveys the documents one by one to the exposure position, a reading unit that reads the document at the exposure position, an image storage unit that temporarily stores the image information of the read document, and an inside of the image storage unit. An image forming unit that calls up image information to make a required number of copies, a non-stack type automatic reversing unit that reversely conveys transfer paper that has been copied on one side in order to perform double-sided copying, and a copy is performed by the image forming unit. An image forming apparatus having stapling means for stapling the transferred transfer sheet and an interrupt copy button for requesting an interrupt. When the interrupt copy button is pressed during image formation using the non-stack type automatic reversing unit, the temporary copy operation is interrupted after the transfer paper being conveyed in the machine is ejected, and the interrupt copy setting is performed. Accept, start the interrupt copy operation by the interrupt copy start command, and restart the copy operation that was interrupted by the interrupt copy after the interrupt copy ends, or interrupt the temporary copy operation when the copy of the division of the number of copies is completed However, the second aspect of the flow is that the setting of the interrupt copy is accepted, the interrupt copy operation is started by the interrupt copy start command, and the copy operation suspended by the interrupt copy is restarted after the interrupt copy ends. Image forming device,
(3) If the stapling process is performed, the flow of the second aspect is executed, and if the stapling process is not performed, the flow of the first aspect is executed. This is achieved by an image forming apparatus.

[0007]

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit structure. An automatic document feeder 11 is located on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 10. The automatic document feeder 11 takes out one of the documents stacked on top and feeds it onto the platen glass for reading the document image. Further, the automatic document feeder 11 is capable of inverting both sides of a document and automatically feeding the document onto the platen glass.

A reading unit 12 is composed of a moving mirror, an image forming optical system, and a light receiving element such as a CCD, and scans a document placed at an exposure position on the platen glass to scan a document such as a CCD at the image forming position. The light receiving element reads the image information of the document and outputs the image information as an image signal. 13 is an image processing unit,
The image signal output from the reading unit 12 is converted and processed into a recording signal suitable for laser recording. The recording signal is temporarily stored in the image storage unit 22 for each page. An image output unit 14 is a laser optical system that emits light in response to a storage signal called from the image storage unit 22 and optically scans the rotating photosensitive drum 15a to form a latent image.

The photosensitive drum 15a and its peripheral portion are provided,
An image forming process unit 15 including a charging device, a developing device, and the like develops the latent image into a toner image, and the toner image is fed to the paper feeding unit 16.
The transfer / separation unit 15b performs transfer on the transfer paper discharged from any one of (a), (b), (c), and (d) in a synchronized manner, and is separated from the photosensitive drum 15a and fixed. Guided to vessel 17. The transfer sheet holding the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 17, and then is ejected as a single-sided copy from the paper ejection unit 18 in the single-sided copy mode.

Further, in the double-sided copying (ADU) mode, the transfer paper which has been fixed on the one-sided toner image on the transfer paper by the fixing device 17 has been transferred to the non-stack automatic reversing unit (ADU) 19 After that, the toner image is transferred to the back surface of the transfer paper in the image forming process unit 15, and the fixing device is fixed.
The toner image adhered to the back surface is fixed at 17 and then discharged from the paper discharge unit 18. Although not shown, the paper discharge unit 18 is provided with a finisher capable of finishing such as stapling, and staple processing can be performed for each set of a plurality of discharged transfer papers. Has become.

A plurality of paper detecting means 25 are provided along the transfer paper conveyance path so that the presence / absence of the transfer paper being conveyed inside the machine can be detected. An operation panel 30 (not shown) is provided on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 10, and a copy mode selection button 31 for selecting one-sided copy or two-sided copy, a copy button 32 pressed at the start of copying, and an interrupt copy requesting interrupt copy. A button 33, a numeric keypad 34 for setting and inputting the number of copies, and a display unit 35 using liquid crystal are provided.
All of these are connected to the control unit 21.

In the image forming apparatus, so-called high-speed processing is performed in which a large number of copies are made within a certain period of time, and the transfer paper is continuously conveyed while keeping a slight interval between the transfer papers to record an image on the transfer paper. It Therefore, in the double-sided copy mode, for example, a maximum of N sheets of A4 size transfer paper (five sheets in this embodiment) are printed on one side of the circulating transfer path formed by the transfer / separation unit 15b and the ADU transfer path 19a. There is a transfer sheet that has been fixed, and is in the state of being conveyed in the machine counterclockwise in the figure. If interrupt copying is performed in such a double-sided copy mode, it is difficult to process the transfer sheet on the ADU transport path 19a, and conventionally, when the double-sided copy mode is selected, acceptance of the interrupt key is prohibited. The present invention solves this problem, and when the interrupt copy is selected during image formation using the non-stack type automatic reversing unit, the transfer paper being conveyed in the machine is ejected or the copy of the copy is completed. At this time, the temporary copy operation is interrupted, the interrupt copy setting is accepted, the interrupt copy operation is started by the interrupt copy start command, and the interrupted copy operation is resumed after the interrupt copy is completed.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart when the double-sided copy mode is selected by the copy mode selection button 31, and FIG.
Is an interrupt copy button during copy operation in double-sided copy mode
The time chart when 33 is pressed is shown.

In the flowchart of FIG. 3, after the number of copies is set by the ten keys 34, the copy button 32 is pushed (O
When N) (F1), the document in the automatic document feeder 11 is automatically fed, the document information is read (scanned) by the reading unit 12, the image processing unit performs the image processing, and then the image is stored in the image storage unit 22. (F2). It is checked whether or not the scanning of all the originals has been completed (F3), and it is confirmed that the scanning of all the originals has been completed, and the copy operation is started (F4). That is, the image information of the document stored in the image storage unit 22 is called, the latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 15a by the image output unit 14, and the double-sided copy is performed by the image forming process unit 15.

During the copy operation, it is checked whether or not the interrupt copy button 33 is pushed (ON) (F
5) If the interrupt copy button is not pushed (ON),
It is checked whether double-sided copying of the set number of copies is completed (F14), and double-sided copying is continuously performed until it is completed (F15).

If the interrupt copy button 33 is pushed (ON) in F5, the paper detecting means 25 checks whether or not there is a transfer paper being conveyed in the machine (F
6) If there is a transfer sheet being conveyed in the machine, the transfer sheet being conveyed in the machine is copied and discharged to the outside of the machine (F7B).

When there is no transfer sheet being conveyed in the machine, that is, when it is detected that the number of fed sheets is equal to the number of ejected sheets, the set number of copies to be set at this time is stored in the RAM 24 and the copy operation is interrupted. (F7). At this point, the display section 35 displays "Ready for interrupt copy". The user places an interrupt document on the automatic document feeder 11, sets the number of interrupt copies with the ten key 34, and then turns on the copy button 32 (F8) to start the interrupt copy operation (F8).
9). Then, the copy operation is continuously performed until the copy of the set number of interrupt copies is completed. (F10).

The user who knows from the display on the display unit 35 that the operation has stopped and the interrupt copy has been completed presses the interrupt copy button 33 according to the instruction (F11), and the set copy number and the set copy number at the time of interruption are set. Is loaded from the RAM 24 (F12) and the copy button 32 is pressed (ON) (F1
3) Then, the interrupted copy operation is restarted, and it is checked whether the copy of the set number of copies is completed (F14), and the flow returns to F4 and continues until it is completed (F1).
Five).

The image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the interrupt copy is selected during copying in the double-sided copy mode,
(I) The transfer paper being conveyed in the machine is copied, ejected, and then the interrupt copy is accepted. The flow described in FIG. 3 is the flow of the interrupt mode of (I).

(II) An interrupt copy is accepted at the time of completion of copying at a break of the corresponding number of copies of the transfer paper being conveyed in the machine.

Although there are modes of accepting interrupt copies of (I) and (II), (I) has an advantage that interrupt copies can be accepted relatively early on average, whereas In the case of II), when the stapling process is performed for each set, the stapling break is an interrupt break, which is much more advantageous in the copying process after ejection. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 described in this embodiment, the interrupt copy in the mode (II) is accepted at the time of double-sided copy copying in which stapling is performed,
It is desirable to accept the interrupt copy in the form of (I) at the time of double-sided copying without the stapling process.

Finally, a concrete example is shown by a table. The table shows a state in which two sets (copies) of two-sided copy copies of seven originals (A) and back (B) are prepared. However, this is an example in which the maximum number of transfer sheets that have been subjected to single-sided printing in the conveyance path in the machine is five. The left column shows the state when there is no interrupt, the middle column shows the correspondence of (I) when there is an interrupt, and the right column shows the correspondence form of (II) when there is an interrupt.

[0023]

[Table 1]

[0024]

According to the present invention, the interrupt copying can be performed even in the double-sided copying mode, the operability of the user is improved, and the copying can be efficiently performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control main body system of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart when the double-sided copy mode of the present invention is selected.

FIG. 4 is a time chart diagram of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Image forming device body 11 Automatic document feeder 12 Reader 14 Image output section 15 Image forming process section 19 Non-stack automatic reversing unit 21 Control unit 22 Image storage 24 RAM

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H027 DA32 DA33 DE07 DE09 EC06                       ED29 EE02 EE08 EE09 EF09                       EF13 FA10 FA13 FA37 FB06                       FC03 ZA10                 2H028 BA06 BA07 BA09 BB02 BB04                       BD03

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An automatic document feeder that automatically conveys documents one by one to an exposure position, a reading unit that reads the document at the exposure position, and an image storage unit that temporarily stores image information of the read document. An image forming unit that calls the image information in the image storage unit to copy the required number of copies, a non-stack type automatic reversing unit that reversely conveys the transfer paper that has been copied on one side to perform double-sided copying, In an image forming apparatus having a stapling unit for stapling a transfer sheet copied in the image forming unit and an interrupt copy button for requesting an interrupt, during image formation using a non-stack type automatic reversing unit. When the interrupt copy button is pressed, the temporary copy operation is interrupted when the copy of the copy of the number of copies is completed, and the interrupt copy setting is accepted. An image forming apparatus, wherein an interrupt copy operation is started by an interrupt copy start command, and the interrupted copy operation is resumed after the interrupt copy is completed. 2. An automatic document feeder that automatically conveys documents one by one to an exposure position, a reading unit that reads the document at the exposure position, and an image storage unit that temporarily stores image information of the read document. An image forming unit that calls the image information in the image storage unit to copy the required number of copies, a non-stack type automatic reversing unit that reversely conveys the transfer paper that has been copied on one side to perform double-sided copying, In an image forming apparatus having a stapling unit for stapling a transfer sheet copied in the image forming unit and an interrupt copy button for requesting an interrupt, during image formation using a non-stack type automatic reversing unit. When the interrupt copy button is pressed, after the transfer paper being conveyed in the machine is ejected, the temporary copy operation is interrupted, and the interrupt copy setting is accepted. An interrupt copy operation is started by an interrupt copy start command, and the interrupted copy operation is resumed after the interrupt copy operation is completed.
The temporary copy operation is interrupted at the completion of the copy in the form of (1), the copy setting is accepted, the interrupt copy operation is started by the interrupt copy start command, and the interrupt copy is interrupted after the interrupt copy is completed. An image forming apparatus having the flow of the second mode for restarting a copy operation. 3. The flow of the second aspect is executed when stapling is performed, and the flow of the first aspect is executed when stapling is not performed. 2 image forming apparatus.