JP2011037584A - Paper guide control device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To actualize the width fitting of a width fitting guide part which is arranged on a paper placement unit for guiding paper, in a power saving manner. <P>SOLUTION: On the paper placement unit 27, paper to be image-printed and carried is placed. The width fitting guide part 29 is arranged slidably on the paper placement unit 27 for fitting the width of the paper. A driving part 31 drives the slide of the width fitting guide part 29. A position measuring part 33 is arranged on the paper placement unit 27 for measuring the position of the width fitting guide part 29. When image printing is started or restarted, a position control part 35 outputs slide information for locating the width fitting guide part 29 at a specified position relating to the paper in accordance with the position measurement result of the position measuring part 33 and width information for the paper, to control the driving part 31. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper guide control device and an image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to an improvement of a guide control device and the image forming apparatus.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral, a toner image is formed on the surface of a rotating photoconductor based on image data read from a document, and the pressure between a rotating photoconductor and a pressure roller disposed on the surface of the rotating photoconductor. A configuration is well known in which a toner image is transferred onto a sheet by conveying the sheet to print an image, and the transfer toner is heated and fixed by a fixing unit and discharged onto a discharge tray or the like.

  Further, there is a configuration in which a post-processing device called a finisher is connected to the image forming apparatus, and the paper on which the image is printed is ejected to a paper ejection tray by punch holes or stapling.

  In such a configuration, in the paper discharge tray, in order to arrange the discharged paper, the width adjusting guide portion for adjusting the width of the paper is slidably arranged, and the width adjusting guide portion is slid by the stepping motor. Devised to fit the width.

  For example, a positioning drive device such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-181982 (Patent Document 1) is also a proposal of this type.

  In this Patent Document 1, a movement start position and a home position of a moving object are separately provided, and mechanical backlash is removed from the movement start position to the home position by driving of the stepping motor, and the sheet home position is removed. The passage of the position is detected by an optical sensor, a predetermined pulse signal is transmitted to the stepping motor by a detection signal from the optical sensor, and the sheet is positioned at a predetermined stop position, and is stored in the bin of the post-processing apparatus. This makes it possible to accurately control the stop position of the aligning member that aligns and aligns the sheets.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-181982

  However, in Patent Document 1 described above, when the paper width is adjusted, the movement amount is adjusted by the step angle of the stepping motor with reference to the home position sensor. Since the position of the width alignment guide is uncertain, it is necessary to return the width alignment guide to the predetermined reset position by the stepping motor and then adjust it to the width of the paper, which consumes wasted power to drive the stepping motor. Was.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and when power is turned on or jammed, the width alignment guide can be adjusted without moving to a predetermined reset position, thereby saving power. Another object of the present invention is to provide a paper guide control device and an image forming apparatus that are also suitable.

  In order to solve such a problem, an image forming apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is configured to be slidable on a paper placement unit on which a paper to be conveyed after image printing is placed, and the paper placement unit. The width alignment guide portion that is arranged and adjusts the width of the paper, the drive portion that slides the width alignment guide portion, the position measurement portion that measures the position of the width alignment guide portion, and the image printing is started or resumed At that time, based on the position measurement result of the width alignment guide unit at that time by the position measurement unit and the width information of the sheet, slide information is output to set the width alignment guide unit to the width related to the sheet and the drive unit is controlled A position control unit.

  The paper guide control apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention has a configuration in which the position measuring unit is disposed in the paper placement unit.

  The sheet guide control apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention has a configuration in which the position measuring unit is arranged on the main body case side that supports the sheet placing unit.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet guide control apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, wherein the position control unit controls to stop the operation of the drive unit and outputs error information when the slide information exceeds a predetermined range. Yes.

  In the paper guide control device according to claim 5 of the present invention, when the position control unit cancels the started or resumed image printing, the control of the drive unit is stopped so as not to move the width alignment guide unit. It has the composition to do.

  An image forming apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention includes the paper guide control device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, and an image image forming unit that prints a toner image on the paper based on the image data. ing.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus includes a save processing unit that conveys the conveyed sheet to a predetermined save position based on the error information and stops image printing.

  In such a paper guide control apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention, when image printing is started or resumed, the position measuring unit measures the position of the width alignment guide portion arranged in the paper placement unit at that time. The position control unit outputs and controls the slide information so that the width alignment guide unit is set to the width of the paper based on the position measurement result and the paper width information. The width of the guide portion can be adjusted, the width alignment guide can be directly moved from the current position, and it is not necessary to return the width alignment guide portion to the reset position, which is suitable for power saving.

  In the paper guide control device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the position measuring unit is arranged in the paper placing unit, so that the width adjusting guide can be adjusted with higher accuracy.

  In the paper guide control device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the position measuring unit is arranged on the side of the main body case that supports the paper placement unit. Therefore, the paper placement unit is lightweight and the configuration can be simplified. is there.

  In the paper guide control device according to claim 4 of the present invention, when the slide information exceeds a predetermined range, the position control unit controls to stop the operation of the drive unit and outputs error information. Since the guide portion is not moved and error information can be displayed, it contributes to power saving and operability improvement.

  In the paper guide control device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the movement of the width alignment guide portion is controlled to be stopped when image printing that has been started or resumed is canceled, and the width alignment guide portion is not moved when image printing is canceled. Therefore, prevention of malfunction and reliable power saving can be achieved.

  The image forming apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention includes the paper guide control device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, and an image image forming unit that prints a toner image on a paper based on the image data. It is easy to obtain the above-described effects in the image forming apparatus.

  The image forming apparatus according to the seventh aspect of the present invention has a save processing unit for transferring the conveyed paper to a predetermined save position based on the error information and stopping the image printing, so that even if a malfunction occurs, the image is printed. Can be transported to the retracted position.

1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus including a paper guide control device according to the present invention. 1 is a main part configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is a figure explaining the operation panel part of the paper guide control apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining embodiment of the paper guide control apparatus which concerns on this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The paper guide control device according to the present invention will be described in the course of describing the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an image forming apparatus including a paper guide control device according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus A includes an image reading unit 3, a communication unit 5, a storage unit 7, an operation panel unit 9, a printing unit 11, and a paper guide control device 13 centered on the print control unit 1. Configures a multifunction device. Although the image forming apparatus A has various configurations other than this, it is not a main part of the present invention, and thus the description and illustration are omitted.

  The print control unit 1 controls the image reading unit 3, the communication unit 5, the storage unit 7, the operation panel unit 9, the printing unit 11, and the paper guide control device 13, details of which will be described later.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the image reading unit 3 is disposed on the upper part of the main body case 15 of the image forming apparatus A, and optically reads an image from, for example, a printed document under the control of the print control unit 1. A known scanner or the like that generates electronic print data by performing filter processing or the like, and the generated print data is sequentially stored in the storage unit 7 for each page of the document. The internal configuration of the image forming apparatus A will be described later.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the communication unit 5 receives print data including an image and a document with, for example, another multifunction device (none of which is shown) via a network under the control of the print control unit 1. This is an interface unit that receives a predetermined protocol and sequentially stores it in the storage unit 7 for each page.

  The storage unit 7 stores, for example, a hard disk (read / write) that stores print data from the image reading unit 3 and the communication unit 5, operation programs for the print control unit 1, operation screen data, management data for the paper guide control device 13, and the like. HDD). Details of the management data will be described later.

  The operation panel unit 9 is, for example, a print medium that is disposed on the upper part of the main body case 15 of the image forming apparatus A in FIG. 2 and functions as a liquid crystal display unit that displays the operation state of the image forming apparatus A and is printed. It functions as an input unit that accepts functions such as an instruction input unit for selecting paper, starting (resuming) or canceling printing, the number of copies, and the like, and is controlled by the print control unit 1.

  That is, the operation panel unit 9 displays a sheet selection screen 9a for selecting sheets such as A4, A3, and B4 under the control of the print control unit 1, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, and the sheet selection key 9b. The printer has a function of accepting inputs from the print start key 9c and the cancel key 9d and outputting them to the print control unit 1.

  The operation panel unit 9 can also display an error message 9e based on error information in the paper guide control device 13, as will be described later.

  The printing unit 11 is arranged in the main body case 15 of the image forming apparatus A shown in FIG. 2 and has a plurality of paper feed stages 17a and 17b on which sheets having different dimensions are set, and the primary from the paper feed stages 17a and 17b. In the course of secondary feeding of the fed paper, a transfer unit 19 for transferring the print data to the paper to form an image, a fixing unit 21 for fixing the transferred image, and an image transferred and fixed on one side. This is a color or monochrome printing engine as an image forming unit having a reversing conveyance unit 23 and the like that reverses the front and back of the sheet for double-sided printing and returns it to the transfer unit 19.

  The print control unit 1 in FIG. 1 includes a CPU, a memory unit that stores a startup program for the CPU, and an input / output interface (none of which are shown), and includes the above-described image reading unit 3, communication unit 5, and storage unit. 7. Controls the operation panel unit 9, the printing unit 11, and the paper guide control device 13, and also plays a part thereof.

  The print control unit 1 outputs the print data in the storage unit 7 to the printing unit 11 to perform print control, and also outputs the paper width information related to the selected paper to the paper guide control device 13 when executing image printing. have.

  A paper discharge port 25 through which the paper printed by the printing unit 11 is discharged is formed on the upper side of the main body case 15, and a paper guide control device 13 is connected to the paper discharge port 25.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the paper guide control device 13 includes a paper placement unit 27, a width alignment guide part 29, a drive part 31, a position measurement part 33, and a position control part 35.

  The paper placement unit 27 is supported by a pair of support arms 37 protruding from the upper side of the main body case 15, and is a plate-like discharge on which the paper on which an image has been printed and discharged from the paper discharge outlet 25 is placed. It is a paper tray. Reference numeral 39 in FIG. 4 denotes a locking portion that protrudes from both sides of the paper placing unit 27 and is locked to the support arm 37 to ensure its support.

  The width alignment guide portion 29 is a pair of guide members that are arranged on the paper placement unit 27 and adjust the width so as to sandwich the paper from the left and right, and at least one of them can slide in a direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction. It has become.

  The drive unit 31 is a support shaft 41 that is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction and is rotatably supported by the paper placement unit 27, and has a spiral groove formed on the outer periphery. A shaft 41 and, for example, a stepping motor 43 that rotationally drives the support shaft 41 are provided.

  The slidable width alignment guide portion 29 is partially engaged with the concave groove of the support shaft 41, and the distance between the pair of width alignment guide portions 29 according to the amount of rotation of the stepping motor 43 via the instruction shaft 41. Is slidable so as to expand or narrow.

  The position measuring unit 33 is arranged in the paper placing unit 27, and from the irradiation of light or ultrasonic waves to one of the sliding side surfaces of the width adjusting guide unit 29 until the reflected light or reflected ultrasonic waves are received. It is an optical sensor or an ultrasonic sensor that measures the position from a period (reception timing), and also has a function of measuring the interval between the pair of width alignment guide portions 29.

  The position measuring unit 33 can use a triangulation member or the like in addition to the optical sensor or the ultrasonic sensor.

  When the image printing is started or resumed, the position control unit 35 detects the sheet based on the position measurement result of the width alignment guide unit 29 at that time by the position measurement unit 33 and the width information of the sheet type such as A4, A3, and B4. The slide information is output to the drive unit 31 so as to set the width alignment guide unit 29 to the width, and has a function of controlling this.

  That is, in the image forming apparatus A, when the power is turned on, or when the image printing is interrupted due to the occurrence of a jam, the paper is removed, the power is turned on again, and the position control unit is restarted. 35 has a function of referring to the management data and outputting the slide amount from the current position of the width alignment guide section 29 to the position related to the sheet width to the drive section 31 as slide information.

  The slide information includes both the slide amount and the slide direction of the width alignment guide portion 29.

  The management data is data in which the position of the width alignment guide portion 29 is associated in accordance with the size of each sheet on which an image is printed, and is positioning distance data corresponding to each sheet size from the maximum spread position.

  The drive unit 31 rotationally drives the stepping motor 43 according to the slide information, and variably controls the width alignment guide unit 29 to displace it to a position corresponding to the paper width.

  For example, when a jam occurs in the image forming apparatus A and the image printing is interrupted, the position control unit 35 is moved by the position measuring unit 33 even if the width alignment guide unit 29 is moved or artificially moved for some reason. Based on the measurement result and the sheet width information, the width alignment guide unit 29 is controlled to be displaced to the width of the sheet.

  The position control unit 35 controls to stop the operation of the drive unit 31 so as not to move the width alignment guide unit 29 when the image printing that has been started or restarted is canceled, and when the slide information exceeds a predetermined range, for example, When the slide information indicating the slide amount exceeding the slidable range of the width alignment guide unit 29 is obtained from the position, the operation of the drive unit 31 is controlled to be stopped and the error information is displayed as the print control unit. 1 has a function of outputting to 1.

  The above-described print control unit 1 has a function of controlling display of the error message 9e based on the error information on the operation panel unit 7, as shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the paper guide control device according to the present invention will be briefly described.

  As an example, in the paper placement unit 27, the width alignment guide unit 29 is set in advance to the width of the paper on which the image is printed by the image forming apparatus A based on the paper type width information related to the image printing from the image forming apparatus A. Explain that it is.

  When an image printing process of the image forming apparatus A is started and an image printing operation is interrupted when a jam occurs in the image forming apparatus A in a state where the sheets on which the image is printed are stacked on the sheet placing unit 27, the jam is When the user moves the width alignment guide portion 29 to cancel the state, the position of the width alignment guide portion 29 becomes unknown.

  When the jam state in the image forming apparatus A is resolved and the image printing operation is resumed, the position measuring unit 33 irradiates the width alignment guide unit 29 with light and determines the position of the width alignment guide unit 29 from the arrival time difference of the reflected light. taking measurement.

  The position control unit 35 outputs slide information necessary for a slide amount to a position corresponding to the paper width to the driving unit 31 based on the position measurement result by the position measurement unit 33 and the paper width information.

  The drive unit 31 drives the stepping motor 43 to rotate forward or backward according to the slide information, and variably controls the width alignment guide unit 29 from the current position to displace it to a position corresponding to the paper.

  As described above, in the paper guide control apparatus according to the present invention, the paper placement unit 27 on which the paper to be printed and transported is placed, and the paper placement unit 27 is slidably arranged to reduce the width of the paper. A width alignment guide portion 29 to be aligned, a drive unit 31 that slide-drives the width alignment guide portion 29, a position measurement portion 33 that is disposed in the paper placement unit 27 and measures the position of the width alignment guide portion 29, and an image thereof When printing is started or resumed, the width alignment guide unit 29 is slid so as to set the width alignment guide unit 29 to the width of the sheet based on the current position measurement result of the width alignment guide unit 29 by the position measurement unit 33 and the sheet width information. And a position control unit 35 that outputs information and controls the drive unit 31.

  Therefore, it is possible to adjust the width of the width adjusting guide 29 when the power is turned on or during jam processing, and the width adjusting guide 29 can be directly moved from the current position, so that it is not necessary to return the width adjusting guide 29 to the reset position. Suitable for power saving.

  In addition, since the position measuring unit 33 is disposed in the paper placement unit 27, the width alignment guide 29 can be more accurately aligned.

  However, in the paper guide control apparatus according to the present invention, a configuration in which the position measuring unit 33 is disposed on the side of the main body case 13 that supports the paper placement unit 27 is also possible. It is easy to reduce the weight and simplify the configuration.

  In the image forming apparatus A, since the operation of the drive unit 31 is controlled so as not to move the width alignment guide unit 29 when the image printing that has been started or restarted is canceled, the width alignment guide unit is canceled when the image printing is canceled. It is also possible to prevent malfunction and achieve reliable power saving without moving 29.

  Further, when the slide information exceeds a predetermined range, the position control unit 35 controls to stop the operation of the drive unit 31 and outputs error information. Therefore, when a step-out state occurs, the width adjusting guide unit 29 is not moved. Since the error message 9e can be displayed on the operation panel unit 9, it contributes to prevention of malfunction, achievement of power saving, and improvement of operability.

  In the image forming apparatus A equipped with the paper guide control device of the present invention, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the paper guide control device.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus A is provided with a evacuation processing unit 47 for switching and conveying the conveyed paper to a predetermined evacuation position, for example, the in-body discharge unit 45, based on the error information. If this is formed so that the image printing is stopped by the processing device 47, even if a malfunction occurs in the paper guide control device 13, the image printed paper can be conveyed to the retracted position and the operation can be stopped. Damage can be prevented.

  By the way, the paper guide control device of the present invention described above has been described by being mounted on the image forming apparatus A. However, the image forming apparatus A is not limited to the main body, and is connected to the image forming apparatus A to perform stapling processing. In addition, a configuration in which the image forming apparatus A includes the post-processing apparatus can be considered as a configuration in which the post-processing apparatus having a punching function is disposed at the discharge outlet is also possible.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, the paper is not limited to paper and includes various sheet media such as plastic sheets.

  Furthermore, the image forming apparatus A of the present invention can be implemented in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Print control part 3 Image reading part 5 Communication part 7 Storage part 9 Operation panel part (input part)
9a Paper selection screen 9b Paper selection key 9c Start key 9d Stop key 9e Error message 11 Printing section 13 Paper guide control device 15 Main body case 17a, 17b Paper feed stage 19 Transfer section 21 Fixing section 23 Reverse conveyance section 25 Outlet 27 Paper Placement unit 29 Width alignment guide part 31 Drive part 33 Position measurement part 35 Position control part 37 Support arm 39 Locking part 41 Support shaft (drive part)
43 Stepping motor (drive unit)
45 In-body discharge unit 47 Retreat processing unit A Image forming apparatus

Claims (7)

A paper placement unit on which paper to be conveyed after image printing is placed;
A width alignment guide portion that is slidably disposed on the paper placement unit and adjusts the width of the paper;
A drive unit that slide-drives the width alignment guide unit;
A position measuring unit for measuring the position of the width alignment guide unit;
When the image printing is started or resumed, the width alignment guide unit is set to the width of the sheet based on the position measurement result of the width alignment guide unit at that time by the position measurement unit and the width information of the sheet. A position control unit that outputs slide information to control the driving unit;
A paper guide control device comprising: The paper guide control device according to claim 1, wherein the position measuring unit is disposed in the paper placing unit. The paper guide control device according to claim 1, wherein the position measurement unit is disposed on a main body case side that supports the paper placement unit. 4. The sheet guide control device according to claim 1, wherein when the slide information exceeds a predetermined range, the position control unit controls to stop the operation of the drive unit and outputs error information. 5. 5. The sheet according to claim 1, wherein when the image printing that has been started or resumed is canceled, the position control unit controls to stop the operation of the driving unit so as not to move the width alignment guide unit. Guide control device. 6. An image forming apparatus comprising: the paper guide control device according to claim 1; and an image image forming unit that prints a toner image on the paper based on image data. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a evacuation processing unit that conveys the conveyed sheet to a predetermined evacuation position based on the error information and stops the image printing.

Images