JP2003211729A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus in which a service man can check the operation and can perform maintenance readily to shorten the service time, and a user can deal with a failure appropriately. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging apparatus outputting two or more light beams comprises an imaging speed controlling means capable of switching the speed of imaging operation freely, a light beam output control means for selecting the number of light beams being outputted depending on each recording mode, a light beam detecting means for detecting output of a light beam in each recording mode, means for comparing the detected number of outputted light beams with the selected number of outputted light beams, and means for generating an alarm signal when the number of outputted light beams are different. <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 such as a copying machine or a printer laser beam printer having a function of freely switching the image forming speed or having at least two laser light sources.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional image forming apparatus, for example, a copying machine, in a printer section, a laser scanner is used.
A polygon mirror scans a laser beam corresponding to an image data signal in the main scanning direction and irradiates the image bearing surface (photosensitive drum). The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum reaches the sleeve position of the color developing device or the black developing device by the counterclockwise rotation of the photosensitive drum. From the color developing device and the black developing device, toner is supplied in an amount corresponding to the charge on the photosensitive drum, and the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum is developed. It should be noted that only a black developing device is used when developing a black monochrome image, and both a color developing device and a black developing device are used when developing a full color image.

The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred to the intermediate transfer member which rotates clockwise by the counterclockwise rotation of the photosensitive drum. Transfer to the intermediate transfer body,
In the case of a black monochromatic image, one rotation of the intermediate transfer member is completed, and in the case of a full color image, the same four rotations are completed. A multi-beam image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration of the printer unit has been used in recent years in order to further increase productivity. This multi-beam image forming apparatus has a plurality of light output elements and writes an image of a plurality of lines on one surface (one scan) of the polygon mirror, so a high-speed operation is possible even for a low-rotation polygon mirror or when the image forming speed is slow. The feature is that you can write in various ways. Further, in the case of forming a black monochromatic image and a full-color image, an image latent image is formed on the recording material as an unfixed developer image, and the unfixed developer on the recording material is heated and pressed to form a non-fixed developer image on the recording material. Since the fixing properties to be fixed to each are different, a method of switching the image forming speed between the black single color and the full color has been adopted.

[0004]

However, in the image forming apparatus of the above type, in order to obtain information on the current image recording state at the time of maintenance (service mode), the image is recorded in each mode. It is necessary to perform troublesome work such as selecting a service person and actually checking the operating state, and since the user does not know the failure state, the image forming apparatus itself must be kept until the service person arrives. In case of problems such as not being able to utilize it, or during black monochromatic development, the output is normally multi-beam, and the recording operation is performed in a mode with a high image forming speed. However, there is a problem that black monochromatic development cannot be printed at the same image forming speed.

[0005]

In order to solve such a problem, in an image forming apparatus which outputs at least two light beams, an image forming speed control means capable of freely switching the image forming operation speed. A light beam output control means for selecting the number of outputs of the light beam according to each recording mode, a light beam detection means for detecting a light beam output equal to each recording mode, and a light beam detected by the detection means. Provided is an image forming apparatus comprising: a light beam number comparing means for comparing the output number and the selected light beam output number; and a warning means for generating a warning signal when the light beam numbers are different, In order to confirm and control the information of the image recording operation, each information is displayed on the display surface of the main body operation section and the check pattern is printed to easily check the operation status. The maintenance performed, becomes shorter service time, also in the case of a failure with respect to a user, it is possible to perform appropriate measures.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) A first embodiment shown in the drawings will be described below. FIG. 1 shows an overall schematic configuration of a color image forming apparatus applied to the present invention. First,
The configuration of the color reader unit 1 will be described. Reference numeral 101 is a document table, and 102 is an automatic document feeder. Instead of the automatic document feeder 102, a mirror pressure plate or a white pressure plate (not shown) may be mounted. Reference numerals 103 and 104 denote light sources for illuminating an original, and use a light source such as a halogen lamp, a fluorescent lamp, or a xenon tube lamp. Reference numerals 105 and 106 are reflectors that collect the light from the light sources 103 and 104 on the original. 107 to 109 are mirrors, and 110 is a CCD for reflecting or projecting light from a document.
(Charge-coupled device) A lens that focuses light on an image sensor (hereinafter referred to as CCD) 111. 112
Is a substrate on which the CCD 111 is mounted, and 113 is a reader / scanner controller. 114 is a light source 103 and 1
04, the reflectors 105 and 106, and the mirror 107. Reference numeral 115 is a carriage that houses the mirrors 108 and 109. The carriages 114 and 115 mechanically move in the sub-scanning direction Y orthogonal to the electrical scanning direction (main scanning direction X) of the CCD 111 to scan the entire surface of the document.

Next, the structure of the color printer section 2 will be described. A laser scanner 201 irradiates a photosensitive drum 202 with laser light corresponding to an image data signal by scanning the polygon mirror in the main scanning direction. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 202 reaches the sleeve positions of the color developing device 203 and the black developing device 204 by the counterclockwise rotation of the photosensitive drum 202. Color developing device 203 and black developing device 2
From 04, an amount of toner corresponding to the charge on the photosensitive drum 202 is supplied, and the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 202 is developed. When developing a black monochromatic image, the black developing device 2
No. 04 is used, switching is performed so as to increase the image forming speed, and each motor and each bias value are also switched accordingly. When developing a full-color image, a color developing device 20
Both 3 and black developer 204 are used and operate at standard imaging speeds.

The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 202 is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 205 which rotates clockwise by the counterclockwise rotation of the photosensitive drum 202. The transfer to the intermediate transfer body 205 is completed by one rotation of the intermediate transfer body 205 in the case of a black monochromatic image and the same four rotations in the case of a full color image.

On the other hand, from the upper cassette 208 or the lower cassette 209 to the pickup roller 211 or 212.
Picked up by the paper feed roller 213 or 21
The recording paper conveyed by 4 is conveyed by the conveying roller 215 to the registration roller 219. Then, at the timing when the transfer onto the intermediate transfer body 205 is completed, the recording paper is conveyed between the intermediate transfer body 205 and the transfer belt 206. After that, the recording paper is conveyed by the transfer belt 206 and pressed onto the intermediate transfer body 205, and the toner image on the intermediate transfer body 205 is transferred onto the recording paper. The toner image transferred onto the recording paper is transferred to the fixing roller and the pressure roller 20.
It is heated and pressed by 7 and fixed on the recording paper.

The recording paper on which the image has been fixed is discharged to the face-up discharge port 217.

The residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member 205 without being transferred to the recording paper is cleaned by post-processing control in the latter half of the image forming sequence. In the post-processing control, the residual toner on the intermediate transfer body 205 after the transfer to the recording paper is used as a waste toner and is charged to the opposite polarity of the original toner polarity by the cleaning R in FIG. 1, and the residual toner of the opposite polarity is charged to the photosensitive drum. It is transferred again to 202. In the photosensitive drum unit, residual toner of opposite polarity is scraped off from the surface of the drum by a blade (not shown) and conveyed to a waste toner box integrated in the photosensitive drum unit. In this way, the residual toner on the intermediate transfer body 205 is completely cleaned, and the post-processing control ends.

2 and 3 are explanatory views of the exposure control unit 201. At the time of black monochromatic development, as shown in FIG. 2, two or more semiconductor lasers corresponding to the light beam output elements are output, and the plurality of light beams emitted from the semiconductor lasers (not shown) are almost parallel by the collimator lens and the diaphragm. The light is converted into light and enters a rotary polygon mirror (polygon mirror) 202 with a predetermined beam diameter. The rotary polygon mirror 202 rotates at a constant angular velocity, and the incident light beam is reflected as a deflected beam 203 whose angle is continuously changed with the rotation. The light that has become a deflected beam is reflected by the f-θ lens 204.
Received a light collection effect.

On the other hand, the f-θ lens simultaneously corrects the distortion aberration that guarantees the temporal linearity of the scanning, so that the plurality of light beams are used as the image bearing member 205.
The data is written on the photoconductor at a higher speed than when a single light beam is used. On the other hand, at the time of full-color development, as shown in FIG. 3, only one semiconductor laser corresponding to a light beam output element outputs light, and one light beam 302 passes through the above-described process and a photoreceptor 303 as an image carrier.
Data is written on the photoconductor by being coupled and scanned at a constant speed.

In the image writing operation as described above,
FIG. 8 is a top view of the side views of FIGS. 20
Reference numeral 0 denotes a semiconductor laser package, the output of which scans on the photoconductor 201 as indicated by an arrow 206 via the polygon mirror 23 and the f-θ lens 24 as described above. As shown in FIG. 8, a pin photodiode (not shown) for detecting laser output is built in the semiconductor laser package, and the detection output is input to the control unit 209 as a detection signal by the PD detection unit 211. . With such a configuration, if, for example, one or two of the two detection signals at the time of monochromatic development are not generated, the control unit determines that there is an error and displays the semiconductor laser output state on the main body as shown in FIG. By displaying it on the section, the output state of the laser can be easily confirmed. In addition, during maintenance (service mode), when a service person checks the power of the beam, he / she can select the laser to be checked from the multiple semiconductor lasers on the main unit display and output it, so that the failed laser component etc. Can be found in.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for switching the image forming speed in the image forming apparatus. Here, an example is shown in which copying is performed using the automatic document feeder, but when a document is directly placed on the document glass table by hand,
The operation is almost the same. First, when a document is set on the automatic document feeder and the copy start key is pressed, the document is conveyed on the document glass table. And pre-scan (step
1) is performed, the original is read by the CCD, and it is determined whether the original is a full-color original or a monochrome black original (step 2). As a result, the copying operation can be performed at a higher speed than before without changing the configuration of the machine (steps 3 and 4). That is, there are some conventional medium-to-low-speed copying machines that select the copying speed based on the capability of the fixing device. In the case of monochromatic black development, even if a solid black is copied, the fixing property is sufficiently good. In the worst condition, the upper limit of the image forming speed (step 3) is selected and set. In the case of full-color development, the fixing property is unstable. Therefore, the slow image forming speed determined by assuming the worst condition as usual is selected and set. After setting (step 4), the copying operation is performed as usual.

In the flow chart shown in FIG. 5, the high speed mode and the conventional low speed mode are divided into two stages, that is, a black monochromatic original and a full-color original. The same operation can be performed even if it is divided into a plurality of stages.

FIG. 6 is a control block diagram for performing the condition setting described in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 601 denotes a controller unit that controls the entire copying apparatus. The controller unit makes the determination shown in the figure based on the information, and sets the conditions according to the selected process speed. That is, (1) photosensitive drum, developing cylinder,
Switching of the drive speed of the main motor 605 that drives the fixing roller, the transport unit, the cleaner, and the like. (2) Switching the drive speed of the paper feed motor 606 that drives the paper feed device. (3) Speed switching of the optical system drive motor 607 that drives the document illumination lamp and the scanning mirror. (4) When performing double-sided copying, switching the speed of the double-sided unit drive motor 608. (5) Switching the light amount of the document illumination lamp 609. (6) Switching of various high voltages such as the primary charger 611, the separation charger 613, the transfer charger 614, and the developing bias applied to the developing cylinder 612. The controller section 61
Then, the copy operation is performed as usual.

In such an operation, the user can confirm the above-mentioned number of laser outputs, for example, and if one of the lasers fails, a mode in which one laser can record, for example, a full color mode, It is possible to record only in single-output single-color mode with a reduced image forming speed. As a result, it is possible to utilize the functions of the device without completely lowering it until the service is received from the service person.

(Second Embodiment) A first embodiment shown in the drawings will be described below. FIG. 7 shows an image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. The color reader unit (not shown) in the upper part of FIG. 7 has the same function as that of the first embodiment, and the operation thereof is the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore will be omitted.

Unlike the first embodiment, the printer unit will be described in the present embodiment with the following device. The image forming unit 10 (four stations a, b, c,
d are arranged side by side, and their configurations are the same. ), Paper feeding unit 20, intermediate transfer unit 30, fixing unit 4
0 and a control unit (not shown).

Further, each unit will be described in detail. The image forming unit 10 has the following configuration. Photosensitive drums 11a and 11b as image carriers,
11c and 11d are pivotally supported at their centers, and are rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow. The primary chargers 12a, 12b, 12 face the outer peripheral surfaces of the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d in the rotation direction thereof.
c, 12d, optical systems 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d,
Developing devices 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d are arranged. The photosensitive drum 1 in the primary chargers 12a to 12d
A uniform amount of charge is applied to the surface of 1a to 11d. Then, the laser light sources 13a to 13d expose the photosensitive drums 11a to 11d with a light beam such as a laser beam modulated in accordance with a recording image signal, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image thereon. Further, the electrostatic latent images are visualized by the developing devices 14a to 14d that respectively store four color developers (toners) of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black. Cleaning devices 15a, 15b, 15c, 15 are provided on the downstream side of the image transfer areas Ta, Tb, Tc, Td for transferring the visualized visible image to the intermediate transfer member.
The photosensitive drums 11a to 11a are not transferred to the transfer material by d.
The toner left on d is scraped off to clean the drum surface. By the process described above, image formation with each toner is sequentially performed.

The paper feed unit 20 includes cassettes 21a and 21b for storing the recording material P and a manual feed tray 27, and pickup rollers 22a and 22b for feeding the recording material P one by one in the cassette or from the manual feed tray.
6, a paper feed roller pair 23 and a paper feed guide 24 for conveying the recording material P sent from each pickup roller to the registration rollers, and a secondary transfer area of the recording material P in accordance with the image forming timing of the image forming unit. It consists of registration rollers 25a and 25b for feeding to Te.

The intermediate transfer unit 30 will be described in detail. The intermediate transfer belt 31 (the material thereof is, for example, P
ET [polyethylene terephthalate] and PVdF [polyvinylidene fluoride] are used) to apply an appropriate tension to the intermediate transfer belt 31 by a driving roller 32 for transmitting drive to the intermediate transfer belt 31 and a spring (not shown). The applied tension roller 33 and the driven roller 34 which faces the secondary transfer area Te with the belt interposed therebetween are wound around. Of these, the primary transfer plane A is formed between the drive roller 32 and the tension roller 33. The drive roller 32 is a metal roller whose surface is coated with rubber (urethane or chloroprene) having a thickness of several mm to prevent slippage with the belt. The drive roller 32 is rotationally driven by a pulse motor (not shown). In the primary transfer areas Ta to Td where the photosensitive drums 11 a to 11 d and the intermediate transfer belt 31 face each other, the primary transfer blade 35 a is provided on the back of the intermediate transfer belt 31.
~ 35d are arranged. A secondary transfer roller 36 is arranged so as to face the driven roller 34, and forms a secondary transfer area Te by a nip with the intermediate transfer belt 31. The secondary transfer roller 36 is pressed against the intermediate transfer body with an appropriate pressure. In addition, on the intermediate transfer belt, the secondary transfer area Te
A cleaning device 50 for cleaning the image forming surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 is disposed downstream of the cleaning device 50. The cleaning device 50 stores a cleaner blade 51 (a material such as polyurethane rubber is used) and waste toner. Waste toner box 52.

The fixing unit 40 has a fixing roller 41a having a heat source such as a halogen heater therein, a pressure roller 41b (which may also have a heat source), and a nip portion of the roller pair. The guide 43 includes a guide 43 for guiding the transfer material P to, and an inner paper discharge roller 44 and an outer paper discharge roller 45 for further guiding the transfer material P discharged from the roller pair to the outside of the apparatus.

With such a structure, image formation is performed by the operation described below. The photosensitive drum 1 located at the most upstream side in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 31 due to the image forming process.
The toner image formed on 1d is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the primary transfer area Td by the primary transfer charger 35d to which a high voltage is applied. The primary-transferred toner image is conveyed to the next primary transfer area Tc.
There, the image formation is performed with a delay between the image forming units by the time when the toner image is conveyed, and the next toner image is transferred by aligning the resist on the previous image. The same steps are repeated below, and eventually the four color toner images are primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 31.

After that, when the recording material P enters the secondary transfer area Te and comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 31, a high voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 36 in synchronization with the passage timing of the recording material P. Then, the four color toner images formed on the intermediate transfer belt by the above-described process are transferred to the surface of the recording material P. After that, the recording material P is accurately guided to the fixing roller nip portion by the conveyance guide 43. Then, the toner image is fixed on the paper surface by the heat of the roller pairs 41A and 41B and the pressure of the nip. After that, the paper is conveyed by the inner and outer paper ejection rollers 44 and 45, and the paper is ejected to the outside of the machine.

With the above-mentioned configuration, the unique effect of this embodiment will be described.

For example, the lasers 13a, 13b and 1 shown in FIG.
When each laser check of 3c and 13d is performed, in the service mode or the like, which laser system is easily broken by printing a check pattern (for example, a broken line pattern for each four colors) on the recording paper from the main body operation unit. It is possible to notify the user whether or not the laser output is detected by the pin photodiode in the laser package as in the first embodiment even during the copy operation, and information such as which laser has failed is displayed. If a laser other than the black toner development system fails, the user can easily check it from the display panel of the main unit and make a copy in black and white mode until receiving the service from the service person. If the laser in the black toner development system fails, you can take measures such as copying in single color mode. That.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus of the above-described system, in order to obtain information on the current image recording state at the time of maintenance (service mode), image recording is performed in each mode. It is necessary to perform a troublesome work such as selecting a service person and actually confirming the operating state, but check or control from the operation panel on the main unit or check the laser output pattern. By outputting, it is possible to easily check the laser parts or drive status, shorten the service time, and inform the user which laser is being driven or has failed. By displaying, the copy operation can be continued in the recordable mode until the service is received from the service person.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an exposure control unit at the time of black monochromatic development in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an exposure control unit at the time of full-color development according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a display plate of a main body operation unit according to the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of image forming speed switching according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram for setting conditions in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of light beam detection according to the first embodiment.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G03G 21/00 386 G03G 21/00 510 5C074 510 H04N 1/23 103C 21/14 B41J 3/00 MH04N 1 / 23 103 G03G 21/00 372 F term (reference) 2C061 AP04 AQ06 AR01 AR03 AS02 KK04 KK13 KK18 KK26 2C362 AA07 BA48 CA33 CB73 EA07 2H027 DA23 DE07 DE10 ED02 AD04 AD04 AD04 AD04 AD04 AD04 AD02 ED04 A02 AD16 BB02 H02 05B02 H02 05B02 H02 2H076 AB06 AB12 AB16 AB22 AB33 AB67 EA01 5C074 AA20 BB17 DD12 DD24 DD28 EE02 EE08 EE11 FF15 GG17

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image forming speed control unit capable of freely switching an image forming operation speed in an image forming apparatus which outputs at least two or more light beams each modulated on a recording medium according to image information. Light beam output control means for selecting the output number of the light beam according to each recording mode, light beam detection means for detecting the light beam output equal to each recording mode, and light beam output number detected by the detection means An image forming apparatus comprising: a light beam number comparing means for comparing the selected light beam output numbers; and a warning means for generating a warning signal when the light beam numbers are different. 2. The image forming speed control means has an image forming speed switching means for switching between a first image forming speed and a second image forming speed during black monochromatic image formation and color image formation. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The light beam output control means is capable of confirming the light beam output during maintenance (service mode), and controlling the number of light beam outputs and selection of output elements from the operation unit display board. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. The light beam detecting means according to claim 1, further comprising means for printing a predetermined pattern on a recording sheet according to a predetermined mode to discriminate a failure of the light beam from another failure. Image forming apparatus. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recording mode permission unit that permits recording only in a recordable recording mode by a combination of an output of the light beam detected by the detection unit and an image formation speed. 6. The warning means is capable of displaying a state of the number of output light beams on a device operation unit display plate.
The image forming apparatus described.