JP2005010238A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To use a sensor of a system which is brought into contact with transfer material so as to detect the thickness of the transfer material without scratching, staining and wrinkling the transfer material according as the sensor is brought into contact with the transfer material. <P>SOLUTION: In the sensor which holds the transfer material between a movable magnetic material and a magnetic field sensor and detects the magnitude of magnetic field formed by the movable magnetic material as the thickness of the transfer material, the movement of the movable magnetic material is controlled so as to release the holding of the transfer material by retreating the movable magnetic material before the edge of the transfer material reaches the sensor, and hold the transfer material by releasing the retreat of the movable magnetic material after the edge of the transfer material passes through the sensor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a transfer material used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer, a transfer material recommended by each apparatus is almost determined. This is because, in a copying machine or the like, when an image is formed on a transfer material such as paper, the weight of the transfer material, that is, the thickness of the transfer material, which has a known correlation with the weight, determines the quality of the image. This is because it is a very large factor. In particular, in a color copying machine that forms an image by superimposing four color toners (developers) on one transfer material, the amount of toner placed on the transfer material compared to a black-and-white copying machine. Therefore, the difference in the thickness of the transfer material greatly affects the image quality. That is, in a general heating type fixing device that melts and fixes toner, the thicker the transfer material, the more heat is taken away by the transfer material at the time of fixing. Less heat is provided. For this reason, in a color image having a large amount of toner, the toner is not sufficiently melted and tends to cause a fixing failure. In order to prevent such a fixing failure, a color copier requires particularly severe temperature management as compared with a black and white copier.
[0003]
In addition, changing the transfer conditions (for example, transfer bias) for transferring the toner image to the transfer material according to the thickness of the transfer material (material density) is also important for good transfer. is there.
[0004]
Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a color copying machine, the user himself / herself inputs information about the thickness of the transfer material from the operation unit on the apparatus body in order to perform the above-described fixing and transfer satisfactorily. Based on the information, the control device controls fixing conditions such as fixing temperature and fixing speed, and transfer conditions such as transfer bias.
[0005]
For example, in Patent Document 1, the fixing temperature is controlled based on information about the thickness of the transfer material input by the user.
[0006]
In Patent Document 2, the fixing speed is controlled based on information about the thickness of the transfer material.
[0007]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-232580 (5th page, FIG. 3)
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2001-324890 A (page 8-9, FIG. 3, FIG. 5)
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the above-described conventional example, since the user himself / herself inputs information on the thickness of the transfer material by manual input, even if there is an erroneous input by the user, the control device can fix the fixing condition based on the erroneous input, The image forming conditions such as the transfer conditions are set, and there is a possibility that a problem occurs. For example, even if one fixing condition is used, there are problems such as fixing failure due to an input error and deformation of a transfer material due to excessive heat.
[0009]
Recently, there are a large number of types of transfer materials used for image formation, and information on transfer materials includes the size, plain paper, special paper, and paper as well as the above-mentioned thickness. There are various things such as other resin films. For these, it is almost difficult for the user to accurately recognize and input correctly to the apparatus main body, and it is also a complicated operation.
[0010]
Therefore, the present invention accurately detects the thickness of the transfer material,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which suitable image forming conditions are set based on this.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and after transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier based on image data onto a transfer material supplied via a conveyance path, In an image forming apparatus that forms an image by fixing to a thickness, a thickness detection unit that is disposed in the conveyance path and detects the thickness of a transfer material, and a thickness data output by the thickness detection unit A control means for changing the image forming conditions, and the thickness detecting means is disposed at a position where the thickness is in contact with the transfer material, and is disposed so as to be movably displaced by the contact. A magnetic field sensor that is fixed around the magnetic body and detects the magnitude of the magnetic field generated by the movable magnetic body as the thickness of the transfer material, and the transfer material that has been transported through the transport path is used as the thickness detection means. Before reaching the movable magnetic body, The movable magnetic body is retracted so as not to contact the transfer material, and after the transfer material reaches the thickness detecting means and the tip of the transfer material passes the position of the movable magnetic body, the movable magnetic body is The movement of the movable magnetic body is controlled so as to abut on the transfer material.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0013]
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a digital color image forming apparatus 1 as an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
[0014]
First, the configuration and operation will be described with reference to FIG.
[0015]
The image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a reader unit 10 in the upper part of the apparatus body 2, a printing unit 20 in the middle part, and a feeding / conveying part 50 for the transfer material P in the lower part.
[0016]
The reader unit 10 includes a document table 11 on which a document is placed, a document pressure plate 12 that presses the placed document from above, a light source 13 that irradiates an image surface of the document, and a plurality of mirrors that guide reflected light from the image surface. 14 and a lens 15, a CCD 16a that performs photoelectric conversion of reflected light, and an image processing unit 16 that performs various image processing are configured as main components. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the image processing unit 16 includes a CCD 16a, an A / D & S / H unit 16b, a shading correction unit 16c, an input masking unit 16d, a scaling processing unit 16e, a LOG conversion unit 16f, and a companding unit 16g. , A masking / UCR unit 16h, a γ correction unit 16i, and an edge enhancement unit 16j.
[0017]
The operation of the reader unit 10 configured as described above is as follows.
[0018]
A document is placed on the document table 11 with its image surface facing downward, and is pressed by the document pressure plate 12 from above. The light source 13 moves in the direction of the arrow K1 while irradiating light, and scans the image surface of the document. The reflected light image from the image plane is imaged on a CCD 16 to which RGB three-color filters are applied via a plurality of mirrors 14 and lenses 15, and is photoelectrically converted into RGB color signals. . The image signal that has become an electrical signal is processed in the image processing unit 16 as follows in accordance with the flow shown in FIG. The signal from the CCD 16a is converted into digital data by the A / D & S / H unit 16b, and the returned digital data is corrected by the shading correction unit 16c and the input masking unit 16d. Further, during the scaling operation, the scaling processing unit 16e receives the scaling process. Next, the LOG conversion unit 16f converts the RGB data into CMY data, which is input to the companding unit 16g that compresses, stores, and decompresses the image data. The stored image data is read out in synchronization with each color of the printing unit 20 described later, masked by the masking / UCR unit 16h, and then YMCK-encoded by the γ correction unit 16i and the edge enhancement unit 16j. Output image data is created and sent to the next printing unit 20.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the print unit 20 includes an image control unit 21 that synchronizes each color, four laser elements, that is, laser elements 22M, 22C, 22Y, and 22K for magenta, cyan, yellow, and black, which will be described later. Polygon scanner 23 that scans the surface of the photosensitive drum with laser light, four image forming units, that is, magenta arranged in order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the transfer material P (from the right side to the left side in the figure) The image forming units 30M, 30C, 30Y, and 30K for cyan, yellow, and black colors, and the fixing device 40 disposed further downstream of the most downstream image forming unit 30K are configured as main components. . Further, the uppermost magenta image forming unit 30M described above has a photosensitive drum 31 that is rotatably supported in the direction of the arrow, and a surface of the photosensitive drum 31 that is disposed around the photosensitive drum 31 in that order in the rotation direction. A primary charging device 32 for charging, a developing device 33 for developing an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 31, a transfer charging device 34 for transferring a toner image on the photosensitive drum 31 to a transfer material P, and a transfer residual toner on the photosensitive drum 31 A cleaner 35 for removing, an auxiliary charger 36 for removing charge, and a pre-exposure lamp 37 for removing residual charges are provided. Further, a developer concentration sensor S1 that detects the developer concentration based on the amount of reflected light from the developer on the developing roller 33a of the developing device 33, and a development density that detects the amount of reflected light from the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 31. A sensor S2 is arranged.
[0020]
The other color image forming units 30C, 30Y, and 30K have the same configuration as the above-described magenta image forming unit 30M, and a description thereof will be omitted.
[0021]
The printing unit 20 configured as described above forms a toner image on the transfer material P based on the output image data sent from the reader unit 10 as described below.
[0022]
In the magenta image forming unit 30M, the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is uniformly charged to a predetermined potential by the primary charger 32. The image controller 21 drives the magenta laser element 22M in synchronization with other colors based on the output image data, and scans the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 described above. As a result, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to magenta in the original image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31. The electrostatic latent image is developed as a toner image with magenta toner attached thereto by a developing roller 33a to which a developing bias is applied. This toner image is transferred onto the surface of the transfer material P conveyed by a transfer belt, which will be described later, by the discharge of the transfer charger 34 from the inside of the transfer belt. After the toner image is transferred, the transfer residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is removed by the cleaner 35, and further, the charge is removed by the auxiliary charger 36, the residual charge is removed by the pre-exposure lamp 37, and the primary charger 32. It is used for the next image formation starting from charging.
[0023]
Similarly to the magenta image forming unit 30M, in the image forming units 30C, 30Y, and 30K for each color of cyan, yellow, and black on the downstream side, a toner image of each color is formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum. The transfer material P on which the magenta toner image is transferred onto the surface is sequentially conveyed to the downstream cyan, yellow, and black image forming units 30C, 30Y, and 30K by the transfer belt, and the toner images of the respective colors are successively transferred. The toner images of four colors are superimposed on the surface. The transfer material P onto which the four color toner images have been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 40 by a pre-fixing belt, which will be described later, where the toner image on the surface is subjected to heat and pressure by the fixing roller 40a and the pressure roller 40b. Is established. When the image is not formed on the back surface, the transfer material P after fixing is discharged as it is to the outside of the apparatus main body 2. On the other hand, when an image is formed on the back surface, a feeding / conveying unit 50 described below is used. The toner image is again supplied to the image forming unit 30 </ b> M and the toner image is formed on the back surface, and then discharged to the outside of the apparatus main body 2.
[0024]
The feeding / conveying section 50 that feeds and conveys the transfer material P has a conveyance path for the transfer material P. On the most upstream side in the conveyance direction of the transfer material P, the paper feeding cassettes 51a and 51b, the paper feeding rollers 52a, A sheet feeding device 54 having 52b, conveying rollers 53a and 53b, and the like is provided. Further, below the paper feed cassettes 51a and 51b, a paper size detection unit S3 for detecting the size of the transfer material P stored in the paper feed cassettes 51a and 51b when these are mounted on the apparatus main body 2. S4 is attached. The paper size detection units S3 and S4 include an engagement unit disposed on the paper feed cassettes 51a and 51b side and a size detection switch (both not shown) on the apparatus main body 2 side, and the paper feed cassettes 51a and 51b. Is attached, the engaging portion operates a size detection switch corresponding to the size of the transfer material P, thereby outputting a code signal corresponding to the size to the apparatus main body 2 as size information. In addition to the paper feeding device 54, a multi paper feeding device 55 is provided. From the multi-sheet feeding device 55, various transfer materials P having different properties such as material and size can be supplied to the image forming unit 30M and the like. Information about the transfer material P supplied from here, for example, the material, size, thickness, etc., can be input by the user from an operation unit (not shown), or the thickness can be changed as described later. It is automatically detected by the thickness detector.
[0025]
A registration roller 56 that temporarily stops the transfer material P that has been conveyed and conveys the transfer material P in synchronization with the image forming unit 30M or the like is disposed slightly upstream of the image forming unit 30M. The registration roller 56 includes a pair of upper and lower upper rollers 56a (see FIG. 7) and a lower roller 56b, and conveys the transfer material P by sandwiching the transfer material P from both the front and back surfaces by these rollers 56a and 56b.
[0026]
At this time, in order to stop and detect the thickness of the transfer material P, a paper thickness detection unit (thickness detection means) S5 is configured on the upstream side of the registration roller 56. The detailed configuration and operation of the paper thickness detection unit S5 will be described later.
[0027]
On the downstream side of the registration roller 56, a transfer belt 57 that circulates in the direction of the arrow K57 so as to come into contact with the photosensitive drums of the above-described image forming units 30M, 30C, 30Y, and 30K from below is disposed. The transfer belt 57 is configured to carry a transfer material P on its surface and convey it to the image forming units 30M, 30C, 30Y, 30K.
[0028]
On the downstream side of the transfer belt, a pre-fixing belt 58 that can circulate in the direction of arrow K58 is disposed between the fixing belt 40 and the fixing device 40. Further, immediately below the fixing device 40, a pressurizing mechanism (curved pressurizing device) capable of performing pressurization for setting the transfer material P after fixing with a plurality of switchable pressurizing forces. 59 (detailed later) is provided. A discharge flapper 60 and a discharge tray 61 for selecting whether the transfer material P is discharged or re-feeded are disposed on the downstream side of the pressurizing mechanism 59. A reversal conveyance path is provided below the discharge flapper 60. 62, a reversing flapper 63 is disposed, and a sheet refeeding conveyance path 64 and a sheet refeeding device 65 are disposed further downstream.
[0029]
The feeding / conveying device 50 configured as described above operates as follows. The transfer material P fed from the paper feeding device 54 or the multi-paper feeding device 55 is temporarily stopped by the registration roller 56, and then each color formed on the photosensitive drums of the image forming units 30M, 30C, 30Y, and 30K described above. In synchronization with the toner image, it is nipped and conveyed by the registration roller 56 and further carried and conveyed by the transfer belt 57. When passing through the magenta image forming unit 30M, the transfer charger 34 transfers a magenta toner image to the surface. Similarly, when the transfer material P passes through the cyan, yellow, and black image forming units 30C, 30Y, and 30K, the toner images of the respective colors are sequentially transferred. After the transfer of the four color toner images is completed, the transfer material P is conveyed to the fixing device 40 by the pre-fixing belt 58, where the toner image on the surface is fixed by being heated and pressurized. The transfer material P after the toner image is fixed is stretched by the pressurizing mechanism 59. Here, at the time of single-sided image formation, the discharge flapper 60 is set on the discharge side, and the transfer material P is discharged onto the discharge tray 61. On the other hand, at the time of double-sided image formation, the discharge flapper 60 is set on the refeed side, whereby the transfer material P is guided to the reverse conveyance path 62 and conveyed downward until the rear end passes through the reverse flapper 63. Is done. Thereafter, when the reverse flapper 63 is switched and the transfer material P is conveyed upward, the transfer material P is guided to the refeed conveyance path 64 by the reverse flapper 63 and stored in the refeed device 65. As a result, the transfer material P is reversed. The transfer material P is re-supplied from here to the image forming unit 30M and the like, image formation is performed on the back surface in the same manner as when image formation is performed on the front surface, and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 61. .
[0030]
This is the end of the description of the configuration and operation of the entire image forming apparatus.
[0031]
Next, FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the above-described image forming apparatus. This block diagram is a block diagram for performing optimum image formation according to the transfer material P. The system controller 71 performs various controls of the image forming apparatus, and performs overall control by an internal CPU. In the figure, 72 is an image input unit constituting part of the reader unit 10, 16 is an image processing unit, 21 is a laser drive circuit (image control unit) that modulates and drives a semiconductor laser based on image data, and 22 is a laser. This is a semiconductor laser (laser element) driven by the drive circuit 21. Reference numerals 31, 33, and 34 denote members constituting the magenta image forming unit 30 </ b> M. Reference numeral 31 denotes a photosensitive drum on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by output light of the semiconductor laser 22, and 33 denotes a photosensitive drum 31. A developing device that performs development according to the latent image on the upper side, and a transfer charger 34 that transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 31 onto the transfer material P. Further, 40 is a fixing device for fixing the toner image on the transfer material P by heating and pressing, and 59 is a pressurizing mechanism for attaching the transfer material P after fixing. S6 is a density distribution estimation circuit that estimates the image density distribution based on the image data output from the image processing unit 16 (hereinafter referred to as “estimation circuit” as appropriate).
[0032]
Next, an operation for performing optimum image formation in the image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The image information of the document is input as an electrical signal through the image input unit 72, and the image processing unit 16 performs image processing necessary for image formation such as A / D conversion, shading correction, LOG conversion, UCR processing, and γ correction. Are output as output image data. Based on the output image data, the laser drive circuit 21 is driven to modulate and drive the semiconductor laser 22. By scanning and exposing the output light of the semiconductor laser 22 onto the charged photosensitive drum 31, a charge distribution corresponding to image data, that is, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31. The electrostatic latent image is developed as a magenta toner image with toner attached thereto by the developing device 33.
[0033]
The magenta toner image is transferred onto the surface of the transfer material P that has been transported by the feeding and transporting unit 50 described above. The transfer material P has a size detected in advance by the paper size detection unit S3 (S4) and a thickness detected by the paper thickness detection unit S5 before the toner image is transferred. Further, the toner in the developing device 33 is transferred onto the transfer material P by the transfer of the toner image. On the transfer material P, the toner image is recognized as a toner distribution. The estimation circuit S6 estimates the toner distribution on the transfer material P, that is, the image density distribution, based on the same image data used for image formation. Further, on the transfer material P, toner images of respective colors are sequentially transferred by the cyan, yellow, and black image forming units 30C, 30Y, and 30K on the downstream side. Also during these transfers, the image density distribution of each color is similarly estimated by the estimation circuit S6 described above.
[0034]
The toner images for four colors are fixed on the transfer material P by being heated and pressed by the fixing device 40. In order to heat and fix the toner, there is an optimum fixing temperature, which is the size of the transfer material P detected by the paper size detection units S3 and S4, the thickness of the transfer material P detected by the paper thickness detection unit S5, and This is realized by changing the fixing condition based on the image density distribution estimated by the estimation circuit S6.
[0035]
For example, when the transfer material P is heated while being nipped and conveyed by the fixing roller 40a and the pressure roller 40b of the fixing device 40, the transfer material is controlled by controlling the rotation speed of the fixing roller 40a according to the thickness of the transfer material P. The conveyance speed (fixing speed) of P is changed, thereby realizing optimum fixing conditions. That is, when the transfer material P is thick, the fixing speed is slowed down. Conversely, when the transfer material P is thin, the fixing speed is fastened to melt the toner image. A sufficient amount of heat is given.
[0036]
Further, the transfer bias applied to the transfer charger 34 when the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 31 onto the transfer material P is determined based on information on the size and thickness of the transfer material P. .
[0037]
In addition, depending on the size and thickness of the transfer material P, it is possible to perform optimum curl depressurization control by switching the pressurization amount of the pressurizing mechanism 59 that holds the transfer material P after heat fixing. It becomes.
[0038]
That is, in the block diagram shown in FIG. 3, the transfer charger 34, the fixing device 40, the pressurizing mechanism 59, and the like are arranged based on the outputs of the paper size detection units S3 and S4, the paper thickness detection unit S5, and the estimation circuit S6. Appropriate control is performed to perform optimum image formation.
[0039]
Next, since the paper size detection units S3 and S4 have been described above, the estimation circuit S6, the paper thickness detection unit S5, and the pressure mechanism unit 59 will be described in detail here.
[0040]
FIG. 4 shows a detailed circuit diagram of the estimation circuit S6. Here, since the amount of developer (toner) used is considered to be roughly proportional to the integrated value of the image data, the estimation circuit S6 divides one image into a plurality of areas, and the image data value in each area is determined. Considering a circuit that performs integration, in this embodiment, an example will be described in which C00 to C33 illustrated in FIG. 5 are calculated by dividing an image into 4 × 4 16 regions. Here, Cmn is an image density value of each region.
[0041]
In FIG. 4, Data is image data, which is an 8-bit signal in this embodiment. Vclk is a synchronization signal of image data, and Vsync is a sub-scanning synchronization signal indicating the start of one image section. Enable is a main scanning image effective section signal, and Enable is a sub-scanning image effective section signal. Based on the size of the transfer material P detected by the paper size detectors S3 and S4, the system controller 71 derives the number N of main scanning pixels and the number M of sub scanning pixels for image formation, and corresponds to one area of the density distribution. M / 4 and N / 4 are calculated. 81 is a counter that counts the main scanning area, 82 and 85 are OR gates, 83 is an up counter that indicates a numerical value that indicates the main scanning area, 84 is a counter that counts the sub scanning area, and 86 is a sub scanning area. Is an up counter that indicates a numerical value indicating the area of the up counter 83, an encoder that encodes a numerical value indicating the area of the up counter 83, 88 is a flip-flop to which image data is input, 89 is an AND gate that generates an enable signal, and 90 is an image Adders for adding the data and the image data integrated value of the selected area, flip-flops 91, 93, and 95 for storing the image data added value of each area, and 92, 94, and 96 generating an enable for each area AND gates 97, 98, and 99 are buffers with output enable for outputting the image data integrated value of each region to the adder.
[0042]
In the main scanning area, the number N / 4 of pixels in the main scanning area is loaded into the counter by Vsync before image formation, Vclk is counted and counted down, and when N / 4 is counted, N / 4 is restarted. This is realized by increasing the output of the up counter 83 for every N / 4 pixels by loading and outputting a carry as n clocks to the up counter 83 and incrementing the output of the up counter 83 indicating the area. As in the case of the main scanning, the sub-scanning area is also incremented by M / 4, thereby generating an area signal for each M / 4 line and outputting it to the encoder 87. On the other hand, the image data is stored in the flip-flop 88 in synchronism with Vclk during the enable period by the AND gate 89 of the enable and the enable. The output of the flip-flop 88 is input to one input of the adder 90. The other input of the adder 90 is supplied with data output of a predetermined area from the buffers 97, 98 and 99 whose output is controlled by an encode signal indicating each area. By adding the two data and storing the output in a flip-flop that is controlled to be enabled to correspond to a predetermined area, the integrated values C00 to C33 of the image data corresponding to the area designated by the encoder 87 are obtained. The density distribution stored in the flip-flop and read into the system controller 71 is estimated. FIG. 6 shows schematic timings of video signals, that is, Vsync, Venable, Hsync, Henable, Data, and C.
[0043]
The estimation of the image density distribution from the calculated image density data C00 to C33 is a system
The calculation is performed by the controller 71.
[0044]
Next, FIG. 7a shows the paper thickness detection unit S5 used in the present embodiment.
[0045]
The paper thickness detection unit S5 includes a displacement amount detection unit 100, a registration roller 56, a transfer material detection sensor 105, a detection lever 106 for moving the magnetic body 100a of the displacement amount detection unit 100 (us 304 is used in this apparatus) up and down. The support member 103, the solenoid 102 for driving the detection body lever up and down to move the magnetic body 100a up and down, the drive section 104, and the spring 103 for always positioning the magnetic body 100a toward the magnetic field sensor 100b are provided. ing.
[0046]
This magnetic body 100a is fixed to the magnetic field sensor 100b side by the spring 101 when the solenoid 102 is not driven, that is, in a normal state such as a standby state of the apparatus, and the output of the magnetic field sensor 100b is transferred. It is installed so as to output a signal when no material is sandwiched.
[0047]
The control of the paper thickness detection unit S5 is for driving the solenoid 102 and A / D converting the signal of the magnetic field sensor 100b based on the output of various sensors (not shown), particularly the transfer material detection sensor 105. The A / D converter control signal S12 (A / D clock, etc.) and post-A / D thickness data S14 (8 bits in this apparatus) are all controlled and calculated by the CPU on the system controller 71. .
[0048]
First, the details of the displacement amount detection means 100 will be described.
[0049]
The magnetic field sensor 100b is magnetically coupled to each other, and coils L1 and L2 are arranged so that the inductance changes according to a change in the position of the movable magnetic body 100a, and an output signal of the oscillator OSC having a predetermined frequency is coiled. Capacitors C1 and C2 that output to L1 and constitute a resonance circuit with the coil L2 are provided, and the movable magnetic body 100a is moved to the reference position (there is no transfer material P by the coils L1 and L2). In such a manner that the lower surface of the sensor is in contact with the magnetic field sensor 100b). Thereafter, the magnitude of the magnetic field generated by the movable magnetic body 100a is output as a voltage via a detection circuit, amplified by the amplifier AMP1 to the input predetermined voltage of the A / D converter AD1, and then A / D converted. The thickness data is output by the device AD1.
[0050]
Here, the oscillation frequency is selected from several MHz to several tens of MHz for economic reasons. This is because if the frequency is low, it is necessary to increase the capacities of L1, L2, C1, and C2. On the other hand, if the frequency is high, handling on the circuit becomes difficult, and in any case, the cost increases. is there. The detection circuit includes a coupling capacitor C3, diodes D1 and D2, a resistor R1, a capacitor C4, and an amplifier AMP1. It is desirable to increase the time constants of the resistor R1 and the capacitor C4 to such an extent that the input level of the amplifier AMP1 does not fluctuate due to ripples. All the above circuits are housed in the magnetic field sensor 100b.
[0051]
The operation will be specifically described.
[0052]
When there is no transfer material P and the movable magnetic body 100a is at the reference position, the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit is equal to the oscillation frequency by the OSC, the impedance as the resonance circuit is minimized, and the signal level output from the resonance circuit is The signal level output from the amplifier AMP1 is maximum.
[0053]
On the other hand, when the transfer material P is conveyed and the position of the movable magnetic body 100a changes according to the thickness thereof, the inductances of the coils L1 and L2 change, and accordingly, the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit deviates from the oscillation frequency. And the impedance of the resonant circuit also increases. As a result, the level output from the resonance circuit is lower than that described above. That is, the change in the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit including the coil L2 is larger than the change in the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit including the coil L1, and this change in the resonance frequency is detected as a tuning change.
[0054]
Next, FIG. 8 shows a detailed view of the pressurizing mechanism 59. In general, it is known that when the toner image transferred onto the transfer material P is heated and fixed, the transferred transfer material P curls to the toner image side. In such a state, the stackability on the paper discharge tray 61 is remarkably impaired, and at the same time, the paper discharge performance to the sorter (post-processing device) widely used in copying machines, printers and the like is deteriorated, and further, jamming and the like are caused. There is a possibility of development, and management of the curl amount after fixing is a very important problem. In this embodiment, as a curl amount management method, the transfer material P after fixing is sandwiched between a pair of sponge rollers 59a and a metal roller 59b. Since the toner image is formed on the upper surface of the transfer material P, curl is provided with a sponge roller 59a on the upper side and a metal roller 59b on the lower side to add the curl in the opposite direction, and the metal roller 59b is the sponge roller 59a. The curl is suppressed by using the bite. Further, the adjustment of the amount of pressurization is controlled by driving the cam 59c so that the metal roller movable plate 59e that can swing around the shaft 59d is moved up and down in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The amount of pressurization can be adjusted in a plurality of steps or steplessly according to the shape of the cam 59c. Reference numeral 59f denotes a transport roller provided to improve the transportability of the transfer material P. For adjusting the amount of pressure applied by the cam 59c and the metal roller movable plate 59e of the pressure mechanism 59, refer to the data such as the thickness of the transfer material P by the paper thickness detector S5 and the image density distribution by the estimation circuit S6. Thus, the CPU on the system controller 71 is centrally controlled.
[0055]
FIG. 9 shows a flowchart for calculating the thickness of the transfer material P according to this embodiment.
[0056]
All of the calculation of the thickness of the transfer material P is also performed by the CPU on the system controller 71 in a comprehensive control calculation.
[0057]
The transfer material P fed from the paper feeding devices 54 and 55 (see FIG. 1) through the paper transport path reaches the paper thickness detection unit S5, and the paper thickness of the transfer material P is detected (S1). First, offset data before the transfer material P reaches the registration roller 56 is collected (S2). At this time, the movable magnetic body 100a and the magnetic field sensor 100b are brought into contact with each other by the tension of the spring 101 without driving the solenoid drive circuit 104 in order to set the movable magnetic body 100a to the reference position. Thereafter, the collected offset data is temporarily stored as Doff, and the transfer material P collides with the movable magnetic body 100a, and the transfer material P is scratched or broken at the time of the collision, and further jamming due to stay is generated. In order to prevent this, the movable magnetic body is retracted (S4). To retract the movable magnetic body, the solenoid drive circuit 104 is driven, and the shaft of the solenoid 102 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 7A, so that the transfer material P can be smoothly moved away from the magnetic field sensor 100b. Like that. After retracting the movable magnetic body 100a, feeding of the transfer material P is started (S5), and it is determined whether or not the transfer material P has reached the registration rollers 56a and 56b (S6). This detects whether or not the transfer material P has passed under the transfer material detection sensor 105, and then the transfer time of the transfer material P corresponding to the distance between the sensor 105 and the registration rollers 56a and 56b. Judgment from. After confirming that the transfer material P has reached the registration rollers 56a and 56b, the movable magnetic body 100a is lowered, and the transfer material P is sandwiched between the movable magnetic body 100a and the magnetic field sensor 100b (S7). At this time, similarly to (S2), the solenoid drive circuit 104 is not driven, and the movable magnetic body 100a is moved by the tension of the spring 101. Thereafter, the transfer material P is sandwiched between the movable magnetic body 100a and the magnetic field sensor 100b to collect the thickness data Don of the transfer material P (S8), and the thickness of the transfer material P is calculated (S9). The thickness of the transfer material P is D, which is a value obtained by subtracting the offset data Doff obtained in S2 from the thickness data Don obtained in S8. After calculating the thickness of the transfer material P, setting of the fixing conditions, setting of the transfer material P is performed, and the registration rollers 56a and 56b are driven (S10), and the transfer material P is subjected to image forming processing. Then, the paper thickness detection sequence is terminated (S11).
[0058]
(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment described above, the timing with which the movable magnetic body 100a is brought into contact is implemented when the transfer material P reaches the registration rollers 56a and 56b. It is also possible to set only the time until it passes through and reaches the registration roller. In this case, when the transfer material P reaches the registration roller, detection of the thickness of the transfer material P can be completed, and as a result, productivity can be improved.
[0059]
This will be specifically described with reference to FIG.
[0060]
The transfer material P fed from the paper feeding devices 54 and 55 (see FIG. 1) through the paper transport path reaches the paper thickness detection unit S5, and the paper thickness of the transfer material P is detected (S1). First, offset data before the transfer material P reaches the registration roller 56 is collected (S2). At this time, the movable magnetic body 100a and the magnetic field sensor 100b are brought into contact with each other by the tension of the spring 101 without driving the solenoid drive circuit 104 in order to set the movable magnetic body 100a to the reference position. Thereafter, the collected offset data is temporarily stored as Doff, and the transfer material P collides with the movable magnetic body 100a, and the transfer material P is scratched or broken at the time of the collision, and further jamming due to stay is generated. In order to prevent this, the movable magnetic body is retracted (S4). To retract the movable magnetic body, the solenoid drive circuit 104 is driven, and the shaft of the solenoid 102 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 7A, so that the transfer material P can be smoothly moved away from the magnetic field sensor 100b. Like that. After retracting the movable magnetic body 100a, feeding of the transfer material P is started (S5), and it is determined whether or not the transfer material P has passed the sensor 105 (S6). After the transfer material P passes through the sensor 105 and the moving time of the transfer material P corresponding to the distance between the sensor 105 and the displacement detection means 100 has elapsed, the movable magnetic body 100a is lowered to move the movable magnetic body. The transfer material P is sandwiched between 100a and the magnetic field sensor 100b (S7). At this time, similarly to (S2), the solenoid drive circuit 104 is not driven, and the movable magnetic body 100a is moved by the tension of the spring 101. Thereafter, the transfer material P is sandwiched between the movable magnetic body 100a and the magnetic field sensor 100b to collect the thickness data Don of the transfer material P (S8), and the thickness of the transfer material P is calculated (S9). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the transfer material P has reached the registration rollers 56a and 56b (S10).
Based on the thickness data of the transfer material P, the setting of the fixing conditions and the setting of the transfer material P are performed, and then the registration rollers 56a and 56b are driven (S11), and the transfer material P is subjected to image forming processing. Then, the paper thickness detection sequence is terminated (S11).
[0061]
(Embodiment 3)
The contact timing of the movable magnetic body 100a can be from the time when the front end of the transfer material P passes the position of the movable magnetic body to the time when the rear end passes. In this case, unless the force with which the movable magnetic body 100a is brought into contact with the transfer material P is set more strongly than necessary, the transfer material P is hardly affected by the contact, and vibration is reduced by unnecessary contact. It becomes possible.
[0062]
Further, the contact timing of the movable magnetic body 100a is determined from the point in time when the tip of the transfer material P passes the position of the movable magnetic body, and the tip of the transfer material P to be conveyed next is the position of the movable magnetic body. It is also possible to reach until. In this case as well, there is almost no influence on the transfer material P due to contact, and vibration due to unnecessary contact can be reduced.
[0063]
(Embodiment 4)
In the first embodiment described above, the case where the image forming apparatus is a color copying machine has been described, but the present invention is naturally applicable to an image forming apparatus such as a monochrome copying machine.
[0064]
In black-and-white machines, the type of transfer material P, especially the control and selection of transfer conditions or fixing conditions due to differences in thickness, is a big factor when forming high-definition images (especially digital copying machines). This is an indispensable technique when the image quality is higher.
[0065]
【The invention's effect】
In the image forming apparatus in which a toner image formed on an image carrier based on image data is transferred to a transfer material supplied via a conveyance path and then fixed on the transfer material to form an image. A thickness detecting unit disposed in the thickness detecting unit for detecting the thickness of the transfer material, and a control unit for changing image forming conditions based on data about the thickness output from the thickness detecting unit. The detection means is disposed at a position where it abuts on the transfer material, and a movable magnetic body provided so as to be displaceably moved by the abutment, and a magnetic field that is fixed around the movable magnetic body and created by the movable magnetic body. It has a magnetic field sensor that detects the size as the thickness of the transfer material,
Before the transfer material that has been transported through the transport path reaches the thickness detection means, the movable magnetic material is retracted so that the movable magnetic material does not come into contact with the transfer material. After reaching the thickness detection means and after the tip of the transfer material passes through the position of the movable magnetic body, the movable magnetic body is brought into contact with the transfer material, While suppressing the generation of wrinkles and the like, it is possible to accurately detect the thickness of the transfer material and set a suitable image forming condition based on this.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating details of an image processing unit.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which image forming conditions are changed depending on the properties of a transfer material used for image formation.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing details of an estimation circuit.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a calculation area of an estimation circuit.
FIG. 6 is a timing chart of each control signal for driving the estimation circuit.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing details of the configuration of a transfer material thickness detection unit;
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing details of the configuration of the pressurizing mechanism.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart for detecting the thickness of the transfer material shown in the first embodiment.
10 is a flowchart for detecting the thickness of a transfer material shown in Embodiment 2. FIG.

Claims (5)

In an image forming apparatus in which a toner image formed on an image carrier based on image data is transferred to a transfer material supplied via a conveyance path and then fixed on the transfer material to form an image.
A thickness detecting means arranged in the transport path for detecting the thickness of the transfer material;
Control means for changing the image forming conditions based on the data about the thickness output by the thickness detection means,
The thickness detecting means is disposed at a position where the thickness detection unit abuts on the transfer material, and is disposed around the movable magnetic body so that the movable magnetic body is movably displaced by the abutment. It has a magnetic field sensor that detects the magnitude of the magnetic field created as the thickness of the transfer material,
Before the transfer material that has been transported through the transport path reaches the thickness detection means, the movable magnetic material is retracted so that the movable magnetic material does not come into contact with the transfer material. The movement of the movable magnetic body is controlled so that the movable magnetic body is brought into contact with the transfer material after reaching the thickness detection means and the tip of the transfer material passes the position of the movable magnetic body. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the timing at which the movable magnetic body is brought into contact with the transfer material is when the leading end of the transfer material reaches the registration roller. The timing at which the movable magnetic body is brought into contact with the transfer material is from when the leading edge of the transfer material passes through the position of the movable magnetic body to reach the registration roller. Item 2. The image forming apparatus according to Item 1. The timing at which the movable magnetic body is brought into contact with the transfer material is such that the rear end of the transfer material reaches the position of the movable magnetic body from the time when the leading edge of the transfer material passes the position of the movable magnetic body. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The timing at which the movable magnetic body is brought into contact with the transfer material is such that the tip of the transfer material conveyed next from the point when the tip of the transfer material passes the position of the movable magnetic body. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus reaches the position of the body.

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