JP2007328061A - Image forming apparatus and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which forms a dot pattern inconspicuous for a user so as to restrain the deterioration of image quality. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus is equipped with an image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, and a first developer carrier which has developer sensed to be transparent and colorless in human visual sense characteristic and develops the electrostatic latent image. The image forming apparatus is equipped with a forming means for forming the transparent and colorless dot pattern on recording material by using the developer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a control method for forming digital paper for a digital pen.

  In recent years, electronic forms obtained by digitizing various forms such as various application forms, questionnaire sheets or answer sheets have been used. The electronic form is electronic data including an entry frame corresponding to an entry of a paper form as a plurality of fields. When using such an electronic form, the user reads the electronic form into a system including a personal computer, displays the electronic form on a display device, and operates the input device such as a keyboard and a mouse to input data into the electronic form. To do. The input data is acquired by the system side and transmitted to the submitting organization through a network or the like.

  However, the use of electronic forms is often difficult for users who do not have sufficient knowledge about how to operate a personal computer or who are not good at keyboard input. For such users, the method of filling in a paper form with a normal writing tool is the simplest, as is conventionally done.

  In recent years, pen-type input devices called “digital pens”, “electronic pens”, and the like have appeared as input devices effective in such cases (hereinafter referred to as digital pens). The digital pen is used as a pair with dedicated paper (hereinafter referred to as digital paper) on which a predetermined dot pattern is formed. In addition to a normal ink-type pen tip, the digital pen includes a small camera for reading a dot pattern on digital paper and a wireless communication unit.

  When a user writes characters or the like on the digital paper with the digital pen, the digital pen detects a dot pattern on the digital paper with a small camera as the digital pen moves. Thereafter, the digital pen can acquire input data such as characters written by the user from the detected dot trajectory. The digital pen transmits these input data to a terminal device such as a personal computer or a mobile phone near the digital pen by the wireless communication unit. A system using this digital pen can be used as an input device in place of a keyboard or mouse. The digital pen is an input device that is very easy to use for users who are not good at using personal computers and keyboards.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for acquiring selected information as electronic data when an information option provided on the surface of a product is selected by a user. In such a technique, since input information is taken in as electronic data, there is an advantage that it can be used for subsequent electronic processing.
Special table 2003-500777 gazette

  For example, digital paper is printed by an offset printing machine or the like using a printing plate on which a dot pattern is preliminarily made. Digital paper is output by an electrophotographic image forming apparatus connected to a computer. When using an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a user can output a required number of sheets when necessary. The image forming apparatus can also output a normal image together with a dot pattern.

  However, the dot pattern is formed using toner containing carbon in order to facilitate reading with a digital pen. For this reason, the dot pattern is easily recognized by the human eye and may give the user a sense of discomfort. In particular, when a dot pattern is formed on the entire surface of a sheet, it becomes very conspicuous, and image formation combining a normal image and a dot pattern may significantly reduce image quality.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that forms a dot pattern that is inconspicuous for a user and reduces deterioration in image quality.

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes an image carrier that forms an electrostatic latent image, and a developer that is perceived as colorless and transparent in human visual characteristics, and a first developer carrying that develops the electrostatic latent image. With body. The image forming apparatus further includes a forming unit that forms a substantially colorless and transparent dot pattern on the recording material using the developer.

  The present invention provides an image forming apparatus that forms a dot pattern that is inconspicuous for a user and reduces the degradation of image quality.

  Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention described in the claims, and all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential to the solution means of the present invention. Not exclusively.

[First Embodiment]
First, the overall configuration of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration corresponding to the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 100 is connected to a host computer 103 via a stand-alone or network. The image forming apparatus 100 may be connected to a network via a print server (not shown) that temporarily stores print data. Reference numeral 104 denotes a digital pen, and reference numeral 105 denotes a digital paper for digital pen (hereinafter referred to as digital paper). The digital pen 104 captures the dot pattern formed on the digital paper 105 and transmits it to the host computer 103 by wireless communication. Reference numeral 106 denotes a scanner used for correcting the dot formation position of the digital pen digital paper. The host computer 103 receives data transmitted from the digital pen 104 and performs data processing. Data processing after the host computer 103 receives data from the digital pen 104 may be performed by another data processing server (not shown) connected via a network. Hereinafter, first, the digital paper 105 will be described, and the configuration of the digital pen 104 and the image forming apparatus 100 will be described in this order.

[Digital Paper]
Next, digital paper in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the digital paper corresponding to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, in the digital paper 105, a dot pattern 201 is formed on a recording material 119, and a design 202 such as a ruled line is formed thereon. The dot pattern 201 may be formed not on the entire surface of the recording material 119 but only on necessary portions of the mount. The recording material 119 is normal paper, and the dot pattern 201 in the present embodiment is formed of a developer containing carbon.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating information represented by a dot pattern corresponding to the first embodiment. The dot pattern 201 has 2-bit information of 0-3. This is realized by displacing the dot position vertically and horizontally from the reference position of the grid (intersection of the vertical and horizontal lines). For example, as shown in FIG. 3, to represent 0, dots are formed on a grid above the intersection. Similarly, 1 is formed on the right of the intersection, 2 is below the intersection, and 3 is formed on the left of the intersection. By using this displacement dot, the numerical information can be replaced with a combination of displacement dots.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a dot pattern corresponding to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4A, the digital paper 105 according to the present embodiment arranges a set (pattern) of 36 displacement dots in a grid pattern.

  Further, it is assumed that the digital paper 105 in this embodiment is output by a printer having a resolution of 600 dpi. Therefore, it is desirable that the lattice interval is an integral multiple of one pixel of 600 dpi. Further, in the electrophotographic method, when dots are too close to each other, there is a possibility that inter-dot interference occurs and the adjacent dots are connected. Therefore, it is desirable that the dots be formed at a distance of 2 pixels or more. The dots according to the present embodiment are set to be 3 pixels apart even when they are closest. That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, the lattice spacing is set to 0.01 inch, which is 6 pixels of 600 dpi.

  Such a set of displacement dots represents numerical information of a data array as shown in FIG. Here, in the dot pattern 201, the numerical information of the data array encoded according to a predetermined rule at the position coordinates (for example, X / Y coordinates) arranged on the digital paper is converted into a corresponding set of displacement dots. Converted and configured. This encoding rule uniquely determines a set of displacement dots for a specific position coordinate. When this procedure is applied to all areas on the digital paper and displacement dots are assigned, the set of displacement dots indicates the position coordinates on the digital paper when it is converted into numerical information and decoded. Further, when the user uses the digital pen 104 on the digital paper 105, the dot pattern 201 is photographed by the digital pen 104. The photographed dot pattern 201 indicates where the digital pen 105 is in contact with the digital paper 105.

[Digital pen]
Next, the configuration of the digital pen 105 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a digital pen corresponding to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the digital pen corresponding to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the digital pen 104 is formed in the same shape as a normal ink pen and includes a pen tip portion 501. The user writes characters on the digital paper 105 in the same manner as a normal ink pen.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the digital pen 104 includes a processor 601, a memory 602, a wireless communication transceiver 603, a battery 604, an infrared LED 605, a camera 606, and a pressure sensor 608 therein. The digital pen 104 includes an ink cartridge (not shown) as a component similar to a normal ink pen.

  The battery 604 is for supplying power to each element in the digital pen 104. For example, the digital pen 104 itself may be turned on / off by a cap (not shown) of the digital pen 104. The pressure sensor 608 detects the pressure applied to the pen tip 501 when the user writes characters or the like on the digital paper 105 by the digital pen 104, that is, the writing pressure, and transmits the detected pressure to the processor 601. Accordingly, when the user writes characters or the like on the digital paper 105 with the digital pen 104, the processor 601 detects the writing pressure applied to the pen tip portion 501 by the pressure sensor 608, and the user starts the description. Can be judged. If it is determined that the description is started, the processor 601 activates the infrared LED 605 and the camera 606.

  The camera 606 images the dot pattern 201 as shown in FIG. 4A that is arranged near the pen tip 501 and formed on the digital paper 105. The processor 601 acquires a data array as shown in FIG. 4B based on the dot pattern 201 data input from the camera 606. After that, the processor 601 calculates the position coordinates on the digital paper 105 taken by the camera 606 in real time by decoding the data array. In the camera 606 according to the present embodiment, a set of 36 displacement dots is formed on the digital paper 105 in an area of 2 mm × 2 mm, and therefore the minimum unit for recognizing a dot pattern is 2 mm × 2 mm. The infrared LED 605 is disposed in order to improve the accuracy of the dot pattern 201 photographed by the camera 606. Therefore, it is desirable that the infrared LED 605 is disposed in the vicinity of the camera 606.

  Further, the processor 601 acquires writing pressure array data and position coordinate data while the user is described, and stores them in the memory 602 in association with a time stamp (time information). Further, the camera 606 performs shooting about 100 times per second. As a result, the digital pen 104 can capture the locus of the digital pen 104 drawn on the digital paper 105 by the user as electronic data.

  As described above, the digital pen 104 reads the dot pattern 201 on the digital paper 105 instead of reading the ink trajectory of the pen described on the digital paper 105 by the user. In fact, as shown in FIG. 5, the illumination area by the infrared LED 605 and the imaging area 502 of the camera 606 are different from the positions where the pen tip 501 contacts the digital paper 105.

  All acquired data is held in the memory 602 until a transmission instruction is issued by the user. When the user issues a transmission instruction, the acquired data is transmitted to the host computer 103 within a predetermined distance from the digital pen 104 by the wireless communication transceiver 603 that performs wireless communication with the external device.

  The digital pen 104 itself does not include a function button such as a transmission button, and a transmission instruction and other instructions are provided at predetermined positions on the digital paper 105. Therefore, the user can execute data transmission by checking the transmission-only box with the digital pen 104. A transmission instruction is associated with the position coordinates of the transmission-dedicated box in advance, and when the processor 601 receives the position coordinates of the transmission-dedicated box, the processor 601 supplies the data in the memory 602 to the wireless communication transceiver 603 and sends it to the host computer 103. Send a transmission. The completion of the data transmission may be notified by vibration, sound, light, or the like by the digital pen 104, for example.

  Of course, the digital pen 104 may include a transmission button or may transmit data in real time. Further, the information transmission method is not limited to the above-described wireless communication transceiver 603, and may be an infrared communication method, a cable connection method, or a transmission method via some recording medium.

  As described above, the digital pen 104 has a function of acquiring coordinate data and writing pressure data corresponding to characters or the like described on the digital paper 105 by the user and transmitting them to the nearby host computer 103. On the other hand, the pen point portion 501 of the digital pen 104 is a normal ink pen. For this reason, the contents described on the digital paper 105 remain as original originals. That is, the digital pen 104 can digitize the contents in real time in the form of coordinate data or the like simultaneously with the description on the original paper.

[Image forming apparatus]
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a controller unit 101 and an engine unit 102. The image formation information is created by application software or the like and transmitted to the controller unit 101 via the printer driver in the host computer 103. The controller unit 101 performs processing such as rasterization on the transmitted image data and sends it to the engine unit 102.

  The engine unit 102 includes a photosensitive drum (image carrier) 110 that is an image carrier, a roller charger 111, a developing device (developer carrier) 116, an exposure device 123, a cleaning device 112, a transfer roller 121, and a transfer roller 121. And a fixing device 122. The photoconductor drum 110 is configured by applying a photoconductor made of an organic photoconductor (OPC) or the like to the outer peripheral surface of an aluminum cylinder, and is driven to rotate in the direction of an arrow. The roller charger 111 uniformly charges the photosensitive drum 110 with a predetermined potential. The exposure device 123 is configured by a scanner unit that scans laser light oscillated by the laser driver 124 with a polygon mirror, or an LED array. When the image data is input, the laser driver 124 causes the exposure device 123 to emit light. Thereby, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 110. Further, when the photosensitive drum 110 advances in the arrow direction, the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 116.

  The developing device 116 includes a developing sleeve 114, a developer application roller 118, and a developer regulating blade 115. The developing device 116 contains a non-magnetic one-component developer (non-magnetic toner) 117. In the developing device 116, the developer 117 is applied to the surface of the developing sleeve 114 by the developer applying roller 118, and the layer thickness of the applied toner is regulated by the developer regulating blade 115. After the layer thickness is regulated, the developing device 116 conveys the layer-regulated toner to the development position facing the photosensitive drum 110 by the rotation of the developing sleeve 114. Thereafter, the developing device 116 applies a developing bias to the developing sleeve 114 by a developing bias applying power source (not shown). As a result, the developer 117 on the developing sleeve 114 adheres to the surface of the photosensitive drum 110. Thereby, the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a developer image. The visualized developer image is transferred onto the recording material 119 by the transfer roller 121 to which a predetermined bias is applied. The recording material 119 is conveyed to the fixing device 122, and the developer image is melted and fixed by the fixing device 122 to be a permanent image.

  On the other hand, the developer 117 remaining on the photosensitive drum 110 is cleaned by the cleaning blade 113 of the cleaning device 112.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a control unit 125. The control unit 125 includes a CPU 126, a ROM 128, a RAM 127, and a high voltage control unit 129, to which a laser driver 124 and the like are connected. The ROM 128 is a read-only memory, and stores programs and various data for the CPU 126 to control the image forming apparatus. The RAM 127 is a readable / writable memory and serves as a work area for data expansion and the like. The high voltage control unit 129 generates various high voltages of a predetermined value in response to an instruction from the CPU 126. Details of the control unit 125 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Here, the developing device 116 according to the present embodiment is detachable from the image forming apparatus 100. The purpose of this is to change the type of developer according to the intended use of the image forming apparatus 100. Specifically, when used for normal use (for example, normal image printing), the image forming apparatus 100 includes a developing device 116 (second developer) having a developer 117 that is perceived as colored in human visual characteristics. A carrier) is installed. On the other hand, when the image forming apparatus 100 is used for a special application, for example, an application for forming the dot pattern 201, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a developing device 116 (first device) having a developer 117 that is perceived as substantially colorless and transparent in human visual characteristics. 1 image carrier) is installed. The developer 117 perceived as being substantially colorless and transparent indicates, for example, the developer 117 from which the pigment is removed. Further, the colorless and transparent developer 117 includes a phthalocyanine compound and the like, and has a characteristic of absorbing only infrared light and not visible light. Therefore, since the dot pattern 201 formed using the colorless and transparent developer 117 does not absorb visible light, it appears almost colorless and transparent in human visual characteristics. On the other hand, the camera 606 of the digital pen 104 irradiates the dot pattern 201 with infrared light by the infrared LED 605. As a result, the digital pen 104 can capture the dot pattern 201 because the colorless and transparent developer 117 absorbs infrared light.

  The human visual characteristic is a characteristic that can detect so-called visible light having a wavelength of approximately 400 nm to approximately 700 nm, but is difficult to detect other wavelengths. That is, the human eye cannot see light having a wavelength other than visible light, such as ultraviolet light and infrared light. Using such visual characteristics, the image forming apparatus in the present embodiment forms a dot pattern 201 that is invisible to human eyes. Further, here, in order to capture the dot pattern 201 with the camera 606, an example in which a substance that absorbs infrared light is mixed in the developer has been described, but any substance that absorbs light other than visible light may be used. A substance that absorbs ultraviolet light may be mixed.

  Further, these developing devices 116 may be equipped with characteristic information as to whether each of the colored or colorless and transparent developer 117 is contained in a non-volatile memory or the like as identification means. As a result, the image forming apparatus 100 can identify the type of the developer 117 included in the developing device 116, and a normal image is formed using the colorless and transparent developer 117, or a dot pattern is formed using the colored developer 117. Can be prevented from being formed. Further, the image forming apparatus 100 in the present embodiment uses a developing cartridge, but this is an application example and is not limited. That is, the image forming apparatus 100 may use a process cartridge in which a photosensitive drum, a charging roller, a developing device, and a cleaning device are integrated.

[Functional overview of image forming apparatus]
Next, the details of the control unit 125 of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the first embodiment.

  The control unit 125 further includes an image forming unit 704, an interface 712, and an external I / F unit 713 in addition to the components described in FIG. Note that the determination unit 706, the generation unit 707, and the like may be realized by the CPU 126. The CPU 126 is connected to each component such as the image forming unit 704 via an interface 712.

  The image forming unit 704 controls the photosensitive drum 110 and the developing device 116 when forming an image, and forms an image on the recording material 119. Further, the image forming unit 704 forms a dot pattern 201 using dot pattern data stored in advance in the ROM 128 or the like. The external interface unit 713 is connected to the host computer 103, for example, and receives an image print instruction, image data, image print conditions, and the like.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment has an image carrier that forms an electrostatic latent image, and a developer that is perceived as colorless and transparent in human visual characteristics. A first developer carrier to be developed. The image forming apparatus further includes a forming unit that forms a colorless and transparent dot pattern on the recording material using the developer. Thus, the image forming apparatus can form a dot pattern that is not perceived by humans by having a colorless and transparent developer. Therefore, the image forming apparatus can easily form an image that is inconspicuous for humans.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, the first developer carrier may be provided so as to be removable from the image forming apparatus, and may be replaced with a second developer carrier having a colored developer. As a result, the image forming apparatus can easily replace the developing device according to the intended use such as normal image formation or dot pattern formation.

  The colorless and transparent developer may contain a phthalocyanine compound that absorbs infrared light. As a result, the image forming apparatus can form a dot pattern that is not conspicuous to human eyes but can be photographed by a camera or the like when irradiated with infrared light.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, the same number is attached | subjected to what has the structure and effect | action similar to 1st Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted. Note that description overlapping with the description of FIG. 1 is omitted.

  The image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment replaces the developing cartridge between a case where a normal image is formed and a case where a dot pattern is formed. In contrast, the image forming apparatus 800 according to the present embodiment includes a developing device (first developer carrier) for forming a dot pattern in the image forming device 800 and a developing device for forming a normal image. (Second developer carrier).

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus corresponding to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the image forming apparatus 800 includes a developing device 801, a recharger 802, and an exposure device 803 in addition to the components of the image forming apparatus 100 described above. The developing device 116 includes a developing sleeve 114, a developer applying roller 118, and a developer regulating blade 115, and contains a colorless and transparent developer 117. Further, the developing device 801 includes a developing sleeve 805 and a developer regulating blade 807 and accommodates a colored developer 806. The developer 806 is a magnetic toner having magnetic properties. Further, the developing device 801 is disposed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 110 with respect to the developing device 116.

  The developing device 801 holds the developer 806, which is magnetic toner stored in the developing device 801, on the developing sleeve 805 by the magnetism of the magnet roller 804 fixed inside the developing sleeve 805. Further, the developing device 801 applies a thin layer of the developer 806 on the developing sleeve 805 by the concentrated magnetic field formed by the developer regulating blade 807 and the magnetic pole N1 of the magnet roller 804 as the developing sleeve 805 rotates. Thereafter, the developer 806 applied in a thin layer on the developing sleeve 805 is conveyed to a developing position facing the photosensitive drum 110 by the rotation of the developing sleeve 805. Here, the developing sleeve 805 and the photosensitive drum 110 facing the developing sleeve 805 have an interval of about 50 to 500 μm. Further, a developing bias in which a DC voltage is superimposed on an AC voltage is applied between the developing sleeve 805 and the photosensitive drum 110 by a developing bias power source (not shown). Therefore, the developer 806 jumps and transfers to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 110 formed by the exposure device 803 by the action of this electric field. This is called jumping development, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a developer image. These developing devices 116 and 801 may be configured as a detachable developing cartridge.

  According to the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 800 has three types of image forming modes: a monochrome image forming mode, a dot pattern forming mode, and a dot pattern + monochrome image forming mode.

  In the monochrome image forming mode, the recharger 802, the exposure device 123, and the developing device 116 do not operate, and a monochrome image is formed by the charging roller 111, the exposure device 803, and the developing device 801. In the dot pattern formation mode, the recharger 802, the exposure device 803, and the development device 801 do not operate, and a dot pattern is formed by the charging roller 111, the exposure device 123, and the development device 116. Further, in the dot pattern + monochrome image forming mode, the charging roller 111, the recharger 802, the exposure devices 123 and 803, and the developing devices 116 and 801 operate.

  In the dot pattern + monochrome image forming mode, first, the photosensitive drum 110 is charged to a predetermined potential by the charging roller 111, and a colorless and transparent dot pattern is formed on the surface by the exposure device 123 and the developing device 116. Next, the photosensitive drum 110 on which the dot pattern is formed is charged again to a predetermined potential by the recharger 802, and a monochrome image is superimposed and formed by the exposure device 803 and the developing device 801. Here, the developing device 801 can form a monochrome image by jumping development without disturbing the previously formed colorless and transparent dot pattern. These image forming modes are switched by an instruction from application software of the host computer 103 or a printer driver, and are controlled by the image forming unit 704. Note that it is more desirable to stop the operation of a developing device that is not used for image formation by separating it from the photosensitive drum 110 in order to prevent deterioration.

  Although a developing cartridge is used for the image forming apparatus 800 in this embodiment, a process cartridge in which a photosensitive drum, a charging roller, a developing device, and a cleaning device are integrated may be used.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment further includes one or more second developer carriers having a colored developer. The forming unit forms an image using at least one of the first developer carrier and the second developer carrier. Therefore, the image forming apparatus can switch the developing device to be used using a printer driver or the like without changing the developing device by the user according to the usage. The image forming apparatus can also form a dot pattern and a normal image with a single image formation. Therefore, this image forming apparatus improves operability and enables efficient image formation.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, the same number is attached | subjected to what has the structure and effect | action similar to 1st and 2nd embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted. In the first and second embodiments, the image forming apparatus that forms a monochrome image has been described as an application example. In the present embodiment, a color image forming apparatus will be described as an application example.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a color image forming apparatus corresponding to the third embodiment. The image forming apparatus 900 according to the present embodiment includes a controller unit 901 and an engine unit 902. The engine unit 902 includes a control unit 903, an image forming station 904, a transfer belt 921, a fixing device 922, a paper feed cassette 923, and a laser driver 920. The image forming station 904 is provided with a plurality of image forming stations 904 for each developer color from the upstream side in the driving direction R2 of the transfer belt 921. In FIG. 9, the image forming station 904 is given a symbol corresponding to the color of the developer after the element number 904. That is, 904Y represents yellow, 904M represents magenta, 904C represents cyan, 904Bk represents black, and 904T represents a colorless and transparent developer. Such an image forming apparatus 900 is called a tandem type color image forming apparatus.

  Since each image forming station 904 has the same configuration except for the developer contained therein, only the configuration of the image forming station 904Y will be described here. The image forming station 904Y includes a photosensitive drum 910, a charging roller 912, an exposure device 915, a developing device 905, a transfer roller 911, and a cleaning device 914.

  The developing device 905 includes a developing sleeve 908, a developer application roller 907, and a developer application blade 909, and stores the developer 906. The developing device 905 applies the developer 906 to the surface of the developing sleeve 908 by the developing application roller 907 and regulates the layer thickness of the applied toner by the developer applying blade 909. The developer 906 whose layer thickness is regulated is conveyed to a developing position facing the photosensitive drum 910 by the rotation of the developing sleeve 908. Thereafter, the developing device 905 applies a developing bias to the developing sleeve 908 by a developing bias applying power source (not shown), thereby causing the developer 906 on the developing sleeve 908 to adhere to the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 910. As a result, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 910 is developed.

  The transfer roller 911 performs electrostatic transfer of the developer image formed on the photosensitive drum 910 to the recording material on the transfer belt 921. The transfer roller 911 is disposed inside the transfer belt 921, presses the transfer belt 921 to the surface of the photosensitive drum 910, and forms a transfer nip portion between the photosensitive drum 910 and the transfer belt 921. . The transfer roller 911 is connected to a transfer bias application power source.

  The cleaning device 914 has a cleaning blade 913 for removing developer remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 910 without being transferred to the recording material.

  In the image forming station 904Y, the developing device 905 is configured as a developing unit, and the cleaning device 914 is configured as a drum unit together with the photosensitive drum 910 and the charging roller 912. Each of the developing unit and the drum unit may constitute a process cartridge that is detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus 900, or the developing unit and the drum unit may constitute a single process cartridge. . The drum unit of each image forming station 904 can be moved by a driving unit (not shown), and each photosensitive drum 904 can be brought into contact with and separated from the transfer belt 921. As a result, the image forming apparatus 900 can reduce wear of the photosensitive drum 910 by bringing the photosensitive drum 910 into contact with or separating from the photosensitive drum 910 according to the intended use.

  The transfer belt 921 is wound around four rollers and is driven to rotate at a predetermined process speed in the direction of the arrow R2, thereby sequentially transporting the recording material carried on the surface to the image forming stations 904Y to 904T. A transfer belt cleaning device for removing unnecessary developer on the surface of the transfer belt 921 is disposed in contact therewith.

  The recording material is supplied from a paper feed cassette 923 that contains the recording material, and is conveyed by a feeding / conveying device. The paper feeding / conveying apparatus includes a paper feeding roller that feeds the recording material from the paper feeding cassette 923, a transporting roller that transports the fed transfer material, and a registration sensor that detects the leading edge and the trailing edge of the recording material. It can consist of The fixing device 922 disposed on the most downstream side of the transfer belt 921 melts and fixes the developer image transferred to the surface of the recording material.

  Next, an image forming mode of the image forming apparatus 900 in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an image forming mode corresponding to the third embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus 900 has an image forming mode 1001 as shown in FIG. Specifically, the image forming mode 1001 includes a full-color image forming mode 1002, a monochrome image forming mode 1003, and a dot pattern forming mode 1004. Further, the image forming mode 1001 has a dot pattern + full color image forming mode 1005 and a dot pattern + monochrome image forming mode 1006.

  FIG. 10 shows an operation example of each image forming station 904 in each image forming mode. 10 indicates that the photosensitive drum 910 of the corresponding image forming station 904 contacts the transfer belt 921 to perform the image forming operation. On the other hand, x in FIG. 10 indicates that the photoconductive drum 910 is separated from the transfer belt 921 and does not perform an image forming operation. These image forming modes can be switched according to instructions from application software of the host computer 103 or a printer driver. Of course, the image may be directly input from an operation panel or the like included in the image forming apparatus 900.

  For example, when the full-color image forming mode 1002 is selected, the image forming apparatus 900 brings the photosensitive drums 910 of the image forming stations 904Y, 904M, 904C, and 904Bk into contact with the transfer belt 921. On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 910 of the image forming station 904T is separated from the transfer belt 921. As described above, the photosensitive drum 910 to be contacted is uniquely determined by the selected image forming mode 1001. That is, only the image forming station 904 having the developer 906 necessary for each image forming mode 1001 contacts the transfer belt 921, and only the contacted image forming station 904 starts driving.

  Similarly, in other image forming modes, image formation is performed using the image forming station 904 indicated by ◯ in FIG. In the dot pattern formation mode 1004, only a dot pattern is formed. On the other hand, in the dot pattern + full color image formation mode 1005, a full color image and a dot pattern are formed simultaneously. In the dot pattern + monochrome image formation mode 1006, a monochrome image and a dot pattern are formed simultaneously.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment further includes one or more second developer carriers having a colored developer. The forming unit forms an image using at least one of the first developer carrier and the second developer carrier. Therefore, the image forming apparatus can switch the developing device to be used using a printer driver or the like without changing the developing device by the user according to the usage. The image forming apparatus can also form a dot pattern and a normal image with a single image formation. Therefore, this image forming apparatus improves operability and enables efficient image formation. Furthermore, even when a full-color image is formed, the image forming apparatus can form a dot pattern without degrading the image quality.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified within the scope of the gist thereof. That is, the configuration of the image forming apparatus, the developing method, and the arrangement order of the developing devices may be other than those described above, and the color image forming apparatus may be a method other than the tandem type described above, or a method using an intermediate transfer member. You may use.

It is a figure which shows an example of the whole structure corresponding to 1st Embodiment. 1 shows a configuration of digital paper corresponding to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the information which the dot pattern corresponding to 1st Embodiment represents. It is a figure which shows an example of the dot pattern corresponding to 1st Embodiment. It is the figure which showed an example of the digital pen corresponding to 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the digital pen corresponding to 1st Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of an image forming apparatus corresponding to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the image forming apparatus corresponding to 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the color image forming apparatus corresponding to 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the image formation mode corresponding to 3rd implementation formation.

Explanation of symbols

100: image forming apparatus 101: controller unit 102: engine unit 103: host computer 104: digital pen 105: digital paper 106: scanner 116: developing device 117: developer

Claims (8)

An image forming apparatus,
An image carrier for forming an electrostatic latent image;
A first developer carrier having a developer that is perceived as colorless and transparent in human visual characteristics and developing the electrostatic latent image;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a forming unit that forms a colorless and transparent dot pattern on a recording material using the developer.   The first developer carrying member is detachably provided to the image forming apparatus, and is replaced with a second developer carrying member having a colored developer. Image forming apparatus. Further comprising one or more second developer carriers having a colored developer,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the forming unit forms an image using at least one of the first developer carrier and the second developer carrier.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the colorless and transparent developer includes a phthalocyanine compound that absorbs infrared light.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording material on which the dot pattern is formed is used as digital paper dedicated to a digital pen. A process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus,
An image carrier for forming an electrostatic latent image;
A process cartridge comprising a developer composed of a component that is perceived as colorless and transparent in human visual characteristics, and a developer carrying member that develops the electrostatic latent image. A developer for developing an image,
A developer comprising a component that is perceived as colorless and transparent in human visual characteristics. A control method for controlling an image forming apparatus having an image carrier and a developer carrier,
A control method comprising the step of forming on a recording material a dot pattern that is perceived as colorless and transparent in human visual characteristics.

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