JP2005024750A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily sorting, dispensing with a sorter, even in the case the the direction of the fed recording paper is in either of a longitudinal direction or a lateral direction. <P>SOLUTION: As for the image forming apparatus provided with a storage means 210 for storing several pages of image information and an inverting means 15 for inverting and delivering the recording paper, the image forming apparatus is provided with a control means 200 for controlling the inverting means so that the recording paper is inverted and delivered for every copy of the copies in the case of outputting several copies by taking the several pages of image information as a copy unit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus capable of realizing simple sorting.
[0002]
2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional copying machine, when a plurality of copies are made from a plurality of originals, a dedicated sorter composed of a plurality of bins is provided for sorting. For this reason, the size of the machine has increased and the machine cost has been increased. Thus, recent digital copying machines have been proposed that can perform simple sorting without providing a dedicated sorter. (Patent Document 1)
[0003]
This copying machine alternately feeds vertical and horizontal recording sheets for each number of copies from a plurality of paper feeding cassettes that store the same size recording sheets in the vertical and horizontal directions, and is the same as the original image. The image is formed as it is on the recording paper fed in the direction, while the image information is rotated 90 ° to form the image on the recording paper fed in a direction different from the original image. In this case, the directions of the copied recording sheets are alternately changed one by one, and simple sorting is performed.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-79541
However, in the case of the simple sort function as described above, it is necessary to prepare recording papers of the same size in different directions, which is a limitation when it is desired to prepare various types of sizes. End up. In order to solve this problem, a large number of paper feed cassettes are required.
[0006]
Even if paper cassettes with the same size and different directions are provided, if either the vertical or horizontal recording paper runs out, the sort function cannot be used and the copying operation continues until the recording paper is replenished. There was also a problem of stopping.
[0007]
Furthermore, there is no paper feed cassette that can be accommodated in a landscape orientation in a large size, for example, A3 size or B4 size, and the simple sorting function as described above cannot be used.
[0008]
The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and uses a sorter even when a recording sheet to be fed has only one of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction. The purpose is to realize a simple sort without doing.
[0009]
The image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a storage means for storing image information for a plurality of pages and a reversing means for reversing and discharging the recording paper. In the image forming apparatus, when a plurality of copies are output with a plurality of pages of the image information as a unit, the recording sheet is provided with a control unit that inverts and discharges the recording paper for each one of the number of copies. Is.
[0010]
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is an image forming apparatus having storage means for storing image information for a plurality of pages and reversing means for reversing and discharging recording paper. In the case of outputting a plurality of copies with a plurality of pages as a unit, a control unit is provided that inverts and discharges at least one page or more of the recording paper in each of the plurality of copies by the inversion unit It is.
[0011]
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the recording sheet to be reversed by the reversing means is either the head or the last of the number of copies. It is characterized by this.
[0012]
According to the apparatus of the present invention, even when the recording paper is fed only in one direction with respect to the paper feeding direction, the recording paper is reversed for each copy or for each separation page. However, although the recording paper is discharged in the same state, the recording paper can be easily sorted by checking the difference between the front and back of the recording paper.
[0013]
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view mainly showing a mechanical configuration of a digital multi-function peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention. The digital multi-function peripheral includes a main body 1, first and second paper feed cassettes (111 to 112), a bypass paper feed 114, a conveyance path 11, a registration roller pair 115, The image forming unit 13 includes a transfer roller 21, a fixing unit 14, a reversing unit 15, a paper discharge tray 17, a scanner unit 18, an operation unit 181 and the like.
[0015]
Recording paper is loaded on each of the first to second paper feeding cassettes (111 to 112) and the bypass paper feeding 114, and the size and direction of the recording paper are detected by a detecting means (not shown). . The reversing means 15 can be switched by a control means (described later) whether the recording paper conveyed from the fixing means 14 is conveyed in the same direction or conveyed with the front and back sides of the recording paper reversed. The recording paper discharged from the paper discharge port 16 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 17.
[0016]
An automatic document feeder 182 is installed in the scanner unit 18, and documents are stacked on the document tray 183. The originals are conveyed one by one to a reading unit (not shown), read by the reading unit, and discharged to the original discharge unit.
The operation for normal copying will be described with reference to FIG. When a document is set on the automatic document feeder 183 and the start button of the operation unit 181 is pressed, the document is conveyed one by one to the reading unit, read, and discharged to the document discharge unit.
[0017]
Recording paper fed from either the first to second paper feeding cassettes (111 to 112) or the paper feeding bypass 114 is latent in the photosensitive drum 131 charged by the charger 32 from the laser scanning device 133. In order to synchronize with the timing of writing the image and align the leading edge of the recording paper, the toner image is temporarily stopped by the registration roller pair 115, and the toner image developed by the toner at the developing unit 134 at the timing is transferred onto the recording paper by the transfer roller 12. After the image is transferred, the toner image is fixed by being nipped between the heat roller and the pressure roller by the fixing unit 14 and heated, and after passing through the reversing unit 15, the image is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 17 by the paper discharge roller 16.
[0018]
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the digital multi-function peripheral according to the embodiment. In FIG. 2, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same symbols. In this digital multi-function peripheral, in particular, when the sort function is selected, the recording paper installed for the recording paper size to be used is oriented in either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction with respect to the paper feed direction. When only paper can be fed, a special sorting function described later is executed. Other configurations and functions are basically the same as those of the conventional digital multi-function peripheral.
[0019]
The digital multi-function peripheral 1 includes a scanner unit 18, an operation unit 181, a control unit 200, a printer unit 230, an image processing unit 220, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 210.
[0020]
The scanner unit 18 includes an exposure lamp and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device). The scanner unit 18 irradiates a document conveyed by the automatic document conveyance unit 182 one by one with the exposure lamp, and receives the reflected light by the CCD. As a result, the image is read from the document, and image data corresponding to the read image is output to the image processing unit 220. The image processing unit 220 performs correction processing such as level correction and γ correction on the read image data as necessary, and performs processing such as image data enlargement or reduction processing and rotation as necessary.
[0021]
The printer unit includes an image forming unit 13, a paper feeding / conveying unit 231, a fixing unit 14 and a reversing unit 15. The image forming unit 13 includes a photosensitive drum 131, a developing unit 134, a transfer roller 12, a cleaning unit 135, and the like, and the electrostatic latent image exposed by light modulated by image data by the laser scanning unit 133 is developed by the developing unit 134. Develop with toner. The developed toner image is transferred onto a recording sheet conveyed one by one by a transfer roller 12 and fixed by a fixing unit 14. The fixed recording sheet is reversed by the reversing unit 15 according to an instruction from the control unit 200 when necessary and discharged to the discharge tray 17.
[0022]
The control unit 200 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 20 that controls each part of the apparatus, a ROM 201 (Read Only Memory) that stores program data and the like, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 202 that is used as a work area of the CPU 20. . The operation unit 181 includes a print button (not shown), key input means such as a numeric keypad, display means for displaying guidance and warnings, and instruction means for executing the sort function is added, and this sort function is selected. As a result, the sort function is executed.
[0023]
The reversing means 15 reverses the recording paper from the fixing means 14 in the normal direction (in this embodiment, the image direction is the upward direction with respect to the machine body) or the normal direction (in this embodiment) There is a switching means (not shown) that switches the image direction to any one of the downward directions with respect to the machine body. The reversing means 15 is used when the same size recording paper cannot be fed in both the vertical and horizontal directions by a recording paper size and direction detection unit (not shown), particularly when the sort mode is selected in the operation unit 8. In addition, the recording sheet is reversed and discharged by the reversing means for each of a plurality of copies. Alternatively, instead of performing it for each copy, at least one page or more of the recording paper in each copy may be reversed and discharged by the reversing means. At this time, it is further preferable that the recording paper to be reversed by the reversing means is either the head or the last of the number of copies.
[0024]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the sort processing operation at the time of a sort instruction for reversing and ejecting the recording paper by the reversing means for each one of the plurality of copies by the digital multi-function peripheral.
[0025]
When executing the sort function when copying a plurality of copies, the operation unit 181 sets the number of copies, etc., and instructs the sort mode. When sorting is selected, the control unit detects the size and direction of the recording paper that can be fed from a plurality of paper feed cassettes installed in the paper feeding unit, based on the detection result of the recording paper size and the recording paper direction. (Step S1).
[0026]
Next, it is determined whether or not the recording paper of the output image size is fed in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with respect to the paper feeding direction (step S2). That is, it is determined whether or not the recording paper suitable for the size of the image to be copied is fed in either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction.
[0027]
If it is determined in step S2 that paper is fed both vertically and horizontally (YES in S2), the sheet feeding cassette is switched for each copy by the sort function using the conventional technique as described above. Performed (step S3). The output state of the recording paper at this time is shown in FIG. Assume that there are three pages, and the originals are written in the order of “a”, “b”, and “c” from the first page, and the recording paper is conveyed and discharged from the right to the left in the figure. In this case, recording paper (42.44) in the vertical direction with respect to the paper feeding direction and recording paper (41, 43) in the horizontal direction are fed alternately at the end of some copies. Then, the first page P1 is copied so that it is on the top, and the recording sheets are stacked so that the directions of the recording sheets are alternately perpendicular to each other, and are discharged to the discharge tray 17.
[0028]
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that the paper is not fed vertically and horizontally (NO in S2), the sort function according to the present invention described later is executed.
[0029]
Here, as the case where the paper is not fed in both the vertical and horizontal directions in step S2, if the recording paper size is, for example, B4 or A3, the paper cannot be fed in the horizontal direction, or the paper can be fed in both the vertical and horizontal directions. However, there are cases where there is only a single-direction paper feed cassette of the same size, or even if there is a bi-directional paper feed cassette, one of the cassettes is out of recording paper.
[0030]
If it is determined that the recording paper is not fed in both vertical and horizontal directions as described above, it is first determined whether the output is an odd-numbered part or an even-numbered part (step S4). Here, in the case of the odd-numbered output (NO in S4), the paper is discharged in the normal direction without being reversed, and all the odd-numbered pages are discharged in the normal direction (steps S5 and S6). In the case of an even-numbered output (YES in S4), all pages in the even-numbered portion are reversed by the reversing means and discharged (steps S7 and S8). This control is repeated until all the numbers are completed (step S9). The output state of the recording paper at this time is shown in FIG. Assume that there are three pages, and the originals are written in the order of “a”, “b”, and “c” from the first page, and the recording paper is conveyed and discharged from the right to the left in the figure. First, the first copy (odd copy) 51 is discharged in the normal direction. Next, in the second copy (even copy) 52, all pages of the second copy are reversed and discharged by the reversing means. The output order at this time is performed in order from the first page P1. Thereafter, this process is repeated.
[0031]
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of sorting when outputting a plurality of copies, in which at least one page or more of the plurality of copies is reversed by the reversing unit and ejected by the reversing unit. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a processing operation.
[0032]
When executing the sort function when copying a plurality of copies, the operation unit 181 sets the number of copies, etc., and instructs the sort mode. When sorting is selected, the control unit detects the size and direction of the recording paper that can be fed from a plurality of paper feed cassettes installed in the paper feeding unit, based on the detection result of the recording paper size and the recording paper direction. (Step S11).
[0033]
Next, it is determined whether or not the recording paper of the output image size is fed in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with respect to the paper feeding direction (step S12). That is, it is determined whether or not the recording paper suitable for the size of the image to be copied is fed in either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction.
[0034]
If it is determined in step S2 that paper is fed both vertically and horizontally (YES in S12), the sheet feeding cassette is switched for each copy by the sort function using the conventional technique as described above. Performed (step S13). The output state of the recording paper at this time is the same as in FIG. 4 and the above description.
[0035]
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S12 that the paper is not fed vertically or horizontally (NO in S12), a sort function according to the present invention as described later is executed.
[0036]
Here, as the case where the paper is not fed in both the vertical and horizontal directions in step S12, the paper cannot be fed in the horizontal direction even when the recording paper size is, for example, B4 or A3, or both the vertical and horizontal paper feeding is possible. However, there are cases where there is only a single-direction paper feed cassette of the same size, or even if there is a bi-directional paper feed cassette, one of the cassettes is out of recording paper.
[0037]
If it is determined that the recording paper is not fed vertically or horizontally as described above, it is first determined whether the output page is the first output page of the even-numbered copy (step S14). Here, in the case of an output other than the first output page of the even-numbered portion or the odd-numbered portion (NO in S14), the paper is discharged in the normal direction without being reversed (steps S15 and S16). In the case of the first output page of the even-numbered output (YES in step S14), only that page is reversed by the reversing means and discharged (step S17). This control is repeated until all the numbers are completed (step S18). The output state of the recording paper at this time is shown in FIG. Assume that there are three pages, and the originals are written in the order of “a”, “b”, and “c” from the first page, and the recording paper is conveyed and discharged from the right to the left in the figure. First, the first copy (odd copy) 61 is discharged in the normal direction. Next, in the second copy (even copy) 62, only the first output page P3 of the output is reversed and discharged by the reversing means. From the next output P2, the paper is discharged in the normal paper discharge direction. Thereafter, this process is repeated.
[0038]
In the above embodiment, only the first output page of the even-numbered portion is inverted by the inversion means. However, the inversion may be continued for several pages less than the total number of pages. Further, only the page output at the end of the odd-numbered portion may be reversed, or the number of pages may be inverted continuously for less than the total number of pages.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, even when the recording paper is fed only in one direction with respect to the paper feeding direction, recording is performed for each copy or for each separation page. Since the paper is reversed and discharged, the recording paper is discharged in the same direction, but the recording paper can be easily sorted by checking the difference between the front and back of the recording paper.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a digital multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram mainly illustrating an example of an electrical configuration of a digital multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of sort processing operation at the time of sort instruction.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a copied recording sheet discharged by a sorting operation.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a copied recording sheet discharged by a sorting operation.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of sort processing operation at the time of sort instruction.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state of a copied recording sheet discharged by a sorting operation.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Digital multifunction peripheral 111,112 Paper feed cassette 13 Image forming means 14 Fixing means 15 Reversing means 18 Scanner part 181 Operation part 200 Control part 220 Image processing part

Claims (3)

In an image forming apparatus having storage means for storing image information for a plurality of pages and reversing means for reversing and discharging recording paper, when outputting a plurality of copies with a plurality of pages of the image information as a unit, An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that reverses and discharges the recording paper by the reversing unit for each copy of the number of copies. In an image forming apparatus having storage means for storing image information for a plurality of pages and reversing means for reversing and discharging recording paper, when outputting a plurality of copies with a plurality of pages of the image information as a unit, An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that reverses and discharges at least one page of recording paper out of each of the plurality of copies by the reversing unit. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the recording sheet to be reversed by the reversing unit is one of the first and last of each number of copies.

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