JP2650686B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for an original, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus for an original including a color image, a character iso-line image, and both images. .

<Prior Art and Problems> There are known color original image forming apparatuses using a color electrophotographic system, a silver halide color photographic system, and a photosensitive pressure-sensitive color material system.

In the color electrophotographic system, a color original is generally exposed using a blue, green or red color separation filter to form an electrostatic latent image on a charged photosensitive drum, and then the latent image is yellow, magenta or cyan. Developed using color toners, etc., and then transferred a color toner image onto transfer paper, fixed, and then repeated the same process for each color to reproduce a color image.

In the silver halide color photographic method, a color image is reproduced using a certain kind of silver halide color photosensitive material.

In the photosensitive pressure-sensitive color material system, a color image is reproduced using a photosensitive pressure-sensitive color photosensitive material.

As a photosensitive pressure-sensitive color photosensitive material, for example, a polymerizable compound is cured imagewise by exposure, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-179836, filed by the present applicant, and then pressure is applied. There is a type that obtains a visual image. In this material, a synthetic polymer resin wall capsule containing a vinyl compound, a photopolymerization initiator and a colorant precursor is supported on a support.

Further, after exposure to light containing silver halide, heat development is performed to develop the silver halide, and the polymerizable compound is simultaneously cured in accordance with this development, and then a pressure is applied to obtain a visible image. Japanese Patent Application No. 60-121284 or Japanese Patent Application No.
There is a material disclosed in the '881 specification.

The material disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 60-121284 is obtained by transferring a color image forming substance to an image receiving material having an image receiving layer after thermal development to obtain an image on the image receiving material, and forming the image on a support. At least a photosensitive silver halide, a reducing agent, a polymerizable compound and a color image forming substance are coated, and at least the polymerizable compound and the color image forming substance are encapsulated in the same microcapsule. .

Further, the material disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-53881 is
An image is obtained on a light-sensitive material without using an image receiving material, and includes two kinds of substances that cause a color reaction in a contact state, including silver halide, a reducing agent, a polymerizable compound, and one of substances that cause a color reaction. The substance and the polymerizable compound are contained in the microcapsule, and the other substance that causes a color-forming reaction is located outside the microcapsule containing the polymerizable compound. To have.

About the method of obtaining an image using this photosensitive material,
It is disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Application No. 60-121284.

In this image forming method, first, a latent image is formed by performing imagewise exposure, and a polymerizable compound in a portion where the latent image is present is polymerized by heating or light energy at the time of forming the latent image to form a polymer compound. To cure the microcapsules. Then, the color image-forming substance is transferred to the image-receiving material by applying pressure on the image-receiving material having an image-receiving layer capable of transferring the color image-forming substance. To obtain an image on the image receiving material.

In order to obtain a color image by the color electrophotographic method, steps of charging, exposing, developing, transferring and the like are repeated at least three times, so that it takes time to form an image, and the apparatus becomes complicated and large.

In addition, it is difficult to obtain a color image due to the superposition of at least three color toner images or to obtain a clear line image such as a character.

In the silver halide color photographic method, one exposure is required, but complicated wet processing steps such as development, bleaching, fixing, and washing of the photosensitive material must be performed. A tank for storing the liquid is required, which increases the size of the apparatus, and also requires complicated maintenance such as replenishment and replacement of the processing liquid.

In order to solve these problems of the color electrophotographic system and the silver halide color photographic system, the light-sensitive and pressure-sensitive color material system has been proposed in order to obtain a color image by a simple structure. In a color image forming apparatus for a document, for a document including a color image and a character contour image, a color image with good color reproduction and a character contour image with high density and good quality can be obtained at the same time. There is nothing.

For this reason, in order to obtain a color image with good color reproduction and a character equal line image with high density and good quality, the applicant uses a chemical reaction to form a latent image or a visible image on the image. An image forming apparatus for implementing a color image forming method and a monochrome electrophotographic forming method has been proposed (Japanese Patent Application No. 62-62).
187831).

However, in such an image forming apparatus, for example, since a pressure device or a pressure transfer device for fixing a color image and a fixing device for monochrome electrophotography are separately provided, the image Since the apparatus is large among various elements, there is a problem that the image forming apparatus becomes large and cannot be made compact.

In addition, when a fixing device for forming a monochrome electrophotographic image is heated and fixed, a high temperature of 170 to 200 ° C. is required. However, compared with the case where the temperature of the post-heating device is as low as 120 to 140 ° C., there is a problem that the device configuration of the gold particles becomes complicated and large.

<Object of the Invention> An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to provide a color image forming method with good color reproduction and a monochrome image forming method with high density and good character equal line images. When implemented in the same device, by using the same image fixing device as an image fixing device for color image formation or a pressure transfer device and a fixing device for monochrome image formation,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can be made compact and small.

<Brief Description of the Invention> An object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems is to provide a color image forming method for forming a latent image or a visible image in an image using a chemical reaction, and a monochrome electrophotographic forming method. In the image forming apparatus, the image fixing step in the color image forming method and the image fixing step in the monochrome electrophotographic forming method are performed by the same image fixing apparatus.

Further, it is preferable that the image fixing device is a pressurizing device.

Further, the photosensitive material used in the color image forming method is preferably a silver halide photosensitive material.

The photosensitive material used in the color image forming method is preferably a photosensitive resin material.

The photosensitive material used in the color image forming method is preferably a photosensitive pressure-sensitive material.

<Specific Configuration of the Invention> Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.

In the present invention, a color image forming method for forming a latent image or a visible image in an image using a chemical reaction and a monochrome electrophotographic forming method have an image fixing step or an image fixing step of the same method. , Are configured to use the same image fixing device.

Such an image fixing device is preferably a pressure device.

As the photosensitive material used in the color image forming method of the present invention, for example, a silver halide photosensitive material, a photosensitive resin material, a photosensitive pressure-sensitive material and the like can be used.

The photosensitive pressure-sensitive material used in the present invention is a material for obtaining a visible image by transferring an image obtained by imagewise exposure to an image receiving material having an image receiving layer by pressure.

An example of such a material is a type in which a polymerizable compound is cured imagewise by imagewise exposure, and then pressure transfer is performed to obtain a visible image. Materials disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-179836 are exemplified. This material has a synthetic polymer resin wall capsule containing a vinyl compound, a photopolymerization initiator, and a coloring agent precursor supported on a support.

The light-sensitive material of the present invention may be subjected to preliminary thermal development or wet development before performing pressure transfer. To develop the silver halide, and simultaneously cure the polymerizable compound corresponding to this development, and then apply pressure to obtain a visible image. As this type, there is a material disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 60-121284 filed by the present applicant. In this photosensitive material, at least a photosensitive silver halide, a reducing agent, a polymerizable compound and a color image forming substance are coated on a support, and at least the polymerizable compound and the color image forming substance are contained in the same microcapsule. It is enclosed.

The monochrome electrophotographic forming method used in the present invention is a method for fixing an image by pressure fixing.

Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in a color image forming method, uses a photosensitive pressure-sensitive material as a color photosensitive material, has a heat development step, and in a monochrome electrophotographic forming method, preferably uses a pressure fixing method. Embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This image forming apparatus is basically an image reading apparatus 200
, An image processing device 250, a color exposure device 300, a heating and developing device 40, a transfer device 88, and a monochrome electrophotographic device 500.
It is composed of

A portion including the image reading device 200, the image processing device 250, and the color exposure device 300 is cut off from the other portion by the partition 3 on the upper part of the housing 1. An opening 230 is provided at a portion where the optical axis of the color exposure apparatus 300 passes.

A light-sensitive material magazine 14 containing a light-sensitive material roll 12 wound with a light-sensitive and pressure-sensitive heat-developable color light-sensitive material S (hereinafter, referred to as a light-sensitive material S or a light-sensitive material S) is detachably attached to a side portion of the housing 1. Have been. At the exit 16 of the photosensitive material S of the photosensitive material magazine 14, the one stored in the magazine connection dark box 20 is used.
A pair of photosensitive material take-out rolls 22, 22 are arranged, whereby the photosensitive material S wound around the photosensitive material roll 12 is taken out by a predetermined length at a predetermined time.

When the leading end of the photosensitive material S advances, the photosensitive material rolls 22, 22 move away from each other as indicated by imaginary lines, thereby facilitating the advance of the photosensitive material S. A cutter unit 23 for cutting the photosensitive material S, and a guide plate 24 are disposed in front of the magazine connection dark box 20 (hereinafter, “forward” indicates a downstream in the traveling direction of the photosensitive material and the like).

In front of the guide plate 24, an exposure light-sensitive material support roll 26 and two light-sensitive material nip rolls 28 and 30 pressed against the support roll are arranged. The photosensitive material S guided by the guide plate 24 is
The photosensitive material support roll 26 is exposed by the photosensitive material nip rolls 28 and 30.
The imagewise exposure is performed by the exposure device 300 at the exposure position 32 between the photosensitive material nip rolls 28 and 30.

A heating and developing device 40 for heating and developing the exposed photosensitive material S is disposed in front of the photosensitive material supporting roll 26.
The heating developing device 40 includes a developing housing 42 having an insulating function.
And a heating roller 44 disposed in the developing housing 42 and heated to about 120 ° C. and four belt supporting rollers 46, 47, 4
The endless belt 50 is supported by 8, 49 and is wound around the outer circumference of a circular arc of about 270 ° of the heating roll 44, and the nip roll 52 is pressed against the supporting roll 49.

The heating and developing device 40 further includes a guide device 54 that guides the photosensitive material S sent from the exposure photosensitive material support roll 26 onto the heating roll 44 and removes the photosensitive material S from the heating roll 44 after the heat development, and a support roll. It has a vertical guide device 58 for guiding the developed photosensitive material S sent by 49 and the nip roll 52 to an outlet 56, and the outlet 56 is provided with a photosensitive material tip detection sensor 60.

Immediately below the outlet 56, a pair of nip rolls 61 and 63 are provided. Below the nip rolls 61 and 63, a pair of press rolls 62 and 64, guide members 65 and 67 and a guide roll 66 for guiding the developed photosensitive material S to the contact portion of the press rolls 62 and 64, The image receiving paper C sent from the electrophotographic apparatus 500 at the timing of the detection of the leading end of the developed photosensitive material S by the photosensitive material leading end detection sensor 60 by the resist rolls 122 and 124 is sent to the abutting portions of the pressing rolls 62 and 64. Photosensitive material image receiving paper superposing device 70 comprising guide members 68 and 69 for guiding
Is arranged.

Here, the width of the image receiving paper C is larger than the width of the photosensitive material S.
In the photosensitive material receiving paper superposing apparatus 70, which is 6 mm smaller, the receiving paper C is superposed so as to be at the center of the photosensitive material S in the width direction. Here, as the image receiving paper C, any material that can transfer an image carried by the photosensitive material S under pressure can be used, and examples thereof include cut sheets, roll paper, and overhead projector paper.

A monochrome electrophotographic apparatus 500 is arranged beside the photosensitive material receiving paper superposing apparatus 70.

The monochrome electrophotographic forming apparatus 500 includes a monochrome exposure apparatus 310 for imagewise exposure, a drum-shaped photoconductor 510 coated with an organic photoconductive substance having a peak near 780 nm as spectral sensitivity, and a photoconductor 510. A charging device 519 for charging the electric charge, a magnetic brush type toner developing device 514 for developing an image-like electrostatic latent image generated by exposure on the photoconductor 510 with toner, and a Receiving toner image of paper C
A transfer charger 516 for transferring to the photoconductor 510, a cleaner 518 for removing residual toner after transfer on the photoconductor 510, and an exposure lamp 519 for removing residual charge of the photoconductor 510,
Separation roll 524 for separating image receiving paper C from photoconductor 510
And a feed roll 506, 508, and the photoreceptor 510 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, is sequentially charged by the charger 512, and is imagewise exposed by the exposure device 310 to form an electrostatic latent image. Then, the toner image is developed on the photoconductor 510 by being developed by the toner developing device 514.

An image receiving paper supply device 72 is arranged on the side of the photoconductor 510 (behind the feed rolls 506 and 508). The receiving paper supply device 72 is
The transfer timing between the image receiving paper supply cassette 74 protruding from the housing 1 and detachably attached to the photosensitive member 510 and the timing for detecting the leading end of the photosensitive material S by the photosensitive material leading end detection sensor 60 described above. And an image receiving paper feeding roll 76 for feeding out the image receiving paper C in the cassette 74.

The sheet is fed out from the image receiving paper supply device 72 by the image receiving paper feeding roll 76 at the timing for transfer to the photoconductor 510, and is guided by the guide member 504, the feed rolls 506, 508 and the guide member 505, and The photoconductor 5 is fed along the outer circumference of the photoconductor 510 at the same speed as the outer peripheral speed.
Transfer charger that is brought into close contact with the toner image on 10
The toner image on the photoreceptor 510 is transferred onto the image receiving paper C by 516 and separated from the photoreceptor 510 by the separation roll 524. Then, the image receiving paper C is guided by the guide member 525 and arranged in front of the photoreceptor 510. Resist rolls 122 and 124
Sent to

The photoconductor 510 may be an inorganic photoconductive substance as long as it has a spectral sensitivity peak close to the wavelength of the laser light source to be used as well as the organic photoconductive substance. Alternatively, a cascade method may be used instead of the magnetic brush method.

A pair of pressure nip rolls 80, 82 and backup rolls 84, 86 for equalizing the pressure of the pressure nip rolls 80, 82 in the axial direction are provided below the photosensitive material receiving paper superposing device 70. A pressure transfer device 88 is provided. The pressure nip rolls 80 and 82 are pressed against each other by a pressure of about 200 to 600 kg / cm ² . At this time, the color image from the photosensitive material S is transferred onto the image receiving paper C, and at the same time, the previously transferred monochrome image by the monochrome electrophotographic forming method is pressure-fixed.

In front of the pressure transfer device 88, a photosensitive material image receiving paper peeling device 90 is provided. The photosensitive material image receiving paper peeling device 90 includes a guide member 92,
It has a feed roll 94 and a peeling belt 102 wrapped around guide rolls 98 and 100 so as to be in pressure contact with only the photosensitive material S at both outer end portions on the feed roll 94.

A photosensitive material disposal section 104 is provided in front of one side of the peeling device 90, and a post-heating section 140 is provided in front of the other side. The photosensitive material disposal unit 104 includes guide members 108, 115, 116, and 117, two pairs of feed rolls 107, 109 and 110, 112, and a guide roll 10
5, 106, and the waste material box 114, the photosensitive material S sent from the peeling device 90 and guided by the guide member 108,
After passing through the guide roll 105, the feed rolls 107 and 109, and the guide roll 106, the rolls are fed into the waste box 114 by the feed rolls 110 and 112.

On the other hand, the image receiving paper C separated from the photosensitive material S by the peeling device 90 and fed by the feed roll 94 is guided by the guide member 120, and the post-heating unit 140 promotes the heating and coloring. The post-heating unit 140 includes a heating roll 142 and a nip roll 144, and heats the color image of the image receiving paper C transferred under pressure efficiently in a short time so as to sufficiently develop a color.

A sensor 400 for color correction is disposed in front of the post-heating unit 140, and a take-out tray 130 for receiving the image receiving paper C is mounted in front of the sensor 400 so as to protrude from the housing 1, and the image receiving paper C is a guide. The sheet is guided to the member 121 and sent out to the take-out tray 130 by the feed rolls 126 and 128.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an exposure path from the image reading device 200 to the color exposure device 300 and the monochrome exposure device 310 through the image processing device 250. The image reading device 200
Illumination lamp 208, mirror 210, and one of illumination lamp 208, which integrally scan the entire lower side of document table 2 made of a glass plate or the like.
Mirrors 212 and 214 that move in the same direction at a speed of / 2 to reflect the light of the illumination lamp 208 in that direction, and time-divide the light from the mirror 214 into three colors, as shown in FIG. A liquid crystal filter unit 216 divided into three color areas on a vertical plane, an imaging lens 218, and a CCD sensor 220 for performing photoelectric conversion.

Then, the filter unit 216 is rotated at a high speed by a driving device (not shown) so that the mirror
The light from 214 is time-divisionally repeated for three colors, and the light of each color is sequentially applied to the CCD sensor 220. By synchronizing the scan of the CCD sensor 220 and the rotation of the filter unit 216 so that light of a certain color is irradiated on the CCD sensor 220 for one scan, as shown in FIG. RGB 3
Color signals can be sequentially read.

Next, in the image processing device 250, the analog / digital conversion circuit 222 converts the read signal from the CCD sensor 220 into a digital signal. Subsequently, the deterioration of the spatial frequency response generated by the imaging lens 218 and the CCD sensor 220 is corrected by the contour emphasizing circuit 224, the exposure amount of each pixel is determined by the color correction arithmetic circuit 226, and the exposure control circuit 228 determines the exposure amount of each color. Control the amount of exposure.

Here, as the photosensitive material S, the photosensitive material (VIII) of Example 3 disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 61-42747 filed by the present applicant can be used.

In the color exposure apparatus 300 used in the present embodiment, the red light is a semiconductor laser 251 that emits a laser beam having a wavelength of 1300 nm, and a second harmonic generation element (hereinafter, referred to as a second harmonic generation element) that converts the wavelength of the laser light into half. It is formed by 255). The semiconductor laser 251 is, for example, NDL5004 manufactured by NEC Corporation. The SHG element 255 is a LiNbO ₃ optical waveguide element, in which the wavelength of the incident laser light is halved and the wavelength is 6
Emits a 50 nm red light beam. The laser light having a wavelength of 650 nm emitted from the SHG element 255 is shaped through a collimator lens 258, and reflected by a total reflection mirror 261 toward a polygon mirror 270.

The green light is excited by the GaAs _x P _(1-x)
d: The laser light with a wavelength of 1064 nm emitted from the YAG crystal 254 is
It is formed by converting the wavelength to half by the element 256.

The laser light emitted from the Nd: YAG crystal 254 is
Is converted to a wavelength of 532 nm by the collimator lens 25.
The light is shaped through 9 and is reflected toward a polygon mirror 270 by a dichroic mirror 262 that passes red light and reflects green light.

Blue light is formed by a semiconductor laser 253 that emits laser light having a wavelength of 850 nm, and an SHG element 257 that converts the laser light into half. The semiconductor laser 253 is, for example, NDL3108 manufactured by NEC Corporation. Wavelength 4 emitted by SHG element 257
The 25 nm laser light is shaped through a collimator lens 260, and is reflected toward a polygon mirror 270 by a dichroic mirror 263 that transmits red light and green light and reflects blue light.

The above-mentioned red light, green light, and blue light are reflected by the polygon mirror 270 via the same optical path 264, pass through the fθ lens 280, are further reflected by the mirror 290, and reach the photosensitive material S.

When the polygon mirror 270 rotates about the axis 271, the image light scans and exposes the photosensitive material S. The color image is formed by moving the photosensitive pressure-sensitive color photosensitive material S in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction of the laser beam.

The color exposure apparatus 300 does not rely only on the laser light,
A liquid crystal shutter array of three colors, a three-line plasma array, or the like may be used.

The contour emphasizing circuit 224 corrects the pixel by obtaining corrected gradation values R _i ′, G _i ′, and B _i ′ for the i-th pixel based on the following equation. In the following equation, α and β are correction coefficients that differ depending on the color.

R _i ′ = α _R R _i −β _R (R _i−1 + R _{i + 1} ) G _i ′ = α _G G _i −β _G (G _i−1 + G _{i + 1} ) B _i ′ = α _B B _i −β _B (B _i−1 + B _{i + 1} ) Further, the color correction operation circuit 226 determines the exposure amounts C _i , M _i , and Y _i of each pixel based on the following equation.

Here, a ₁₁ ~a ₃₃ is a correction coefficient in consideration of the characteristics of the filter.

Further, the color correction calculation circuit 226 is provided with a color balance automatic setting mode. That is, a color exposure apparatus
A pattern having a predetermined hue, saturation, and brightness is irradiated from 300, and the hue, saturation, and brightness of the image receiving paper C on which the pattern has been transferred are measured by a sensor 400 provided downstream of the peeling unit 90, and a predetermined value is measured. The value is compared with the value, and the correction coefficient of the color correction operation circuit 226 is controlled. In the sensor 400, as shown in FIG. 5, the image of the image receiving material is illuminated by a lamp 402, the reflected light is divided by a color separation filter 403, and the reflected light is separated by a photoelectric conversion element 404 such as a CCD, a photodiode or an amorphous silicon diode. Is converted to an analog signal, and the arithmetic circuit 4
Use 05 to digitize analog signals.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of the arithmetic circuit 405. 404 is a photoelectric conversion element that converts red light, 406 is an operational amplifier that converts current to voltage, 407 is an analog switch, 408 is a sample hold circuit, 409 is an A / D converter, 410 and 412 are green light,
Photoelectric conversion elements 411 and 413 for converting blue light are operational amplifiers of the elements. The microprocessor 414 compares the digital signal from the arithmetic circuit 405 with a reference signal, and performs a color correction arithmetic circuit.
Controlling the correction by changing a ₁₁ ~a ₃₃ in 226. In addition, the change of a ₁₁ ~a ₃₃ is a look-up table (LUT)
May be performed based on

Further, the determination of the correction coefficient of the color correction arithmetic circuit 226 is performed not only in the above-described automatic color balance setting mode, but also, for example,
The section where the hue, saturation, and brightness are constant on the original is detected by the CCD sensor 220, and the hue, saturation, and brightness are measured by the sensor 400 in the section on the image receiving paper C after transfer corresponding to this section. , by the value of the image receiving paper of value of the main scanning line detected by the sensor 400 determines the correction coefficient a ₁₁ ~a ₃₃ to be equal, in particular the correction coefficient a ₁₁ ~ online without providing the color balance mode a ₃₃ can be changed.

The photosensitive material S in the above embodiment is yellow,
Because the microcapsules that develop magenta and cyan colors are dispersed in one layer, the sharpness of the recorded image is higher than that of a color light-sensitive material composed of three emulsion layers of yellow, magenta, and cyan colors. Degree worse. That is, the outline of the image tends to blur. In the present embodiment, since a predetermined signal processing (edge enhancement processing) is performed on the three-color separation signal read by scanning the original, a clear image can be obtained.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the copying apparatus using a type that performs heat development as a photosensitive and pressure-sensitive color photosensitive material has been described. Is omitted.

In the monochrome exposure device 310, the image reading device 2
The readout signal from the CCD sensor 220 of the image processing device 250
Analog / digital conversion circuit 222 and contour enhancement circuit 224
And the color correction arithmetic circuit 226 and the exposure control circuit 228,
By controlling the amount of exposure, the monochrome exposure device 310
Exposure is performed.

In the monochrome exposure apparatus 310, the laser light having a wavelength of 780 nm emitted from the semiconductor laser 312 is
Polygon mirror 315 shaped and rotating through 13
, Passes through the fθ lens 316, and is exposed on the charged photoconductor 510 reflected by the mirror 317. Here, the semiconductor laser 312 is, for example, HL7 manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd.
801E or the like can be used.

At this time, the laser light is scanned and exposed in the rotation axis direction of the photoconductor 510 by the rotation of the polygon mirror 315. Then, the photoconductor 510 is rotated in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction of the laser beam to form an image-like electrostatic latent image, developed with toner, and then transferred to the receiving paper C to transfer the toner image to a monochrome image. An electrophotographic image is formed.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a monochrome electrophotographic apparatus 500 is arranged behind a color image transfer apparatus 68,
Although an image based on 6 monochrome electrophotography is formed on the image receiving paper C before a color image is transferred from the photosensitive material S, the monochrome electrophotographic apparatus 500 is transferred as in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. The same effect can be obtained by forming an image by monochrome electrophotography on the image receiving paper C on which a color image is transferred from the photosensitive material S, which is disposed in front of the device 88.

The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 7 is exactly the same as the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 except that the transfer order of the color image and the monochrome image is different, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. Detailed description is omitted.

In the example shown in FIG. 7, in the photosensitive material image receiving paper superposing device 70, the image receiving paper C fed by the image receiving paper feeding roll 76 from the image receiving paper supply cassette 74 of the image receiving paper supply device 72 is pressed by the guide members 68 and 78 and pressed. The guide roll 66 presses against the roll 64 and is directly sent to the contact portion of the press rolls 62 and 64.
In the superposing device 70, the developed photosensitive material S and the image receiving paper C are superimposed, transferred under pressure by the pressure transfer device 88, and sent to the photosensitive material image receiving paper peeling device 90.

In the peeling device 90, the separated photosensitive material S passes through the feed roll 94, the guide rolls 105 and 106, and
0 and 112 are put into the disposal box 114. On the other hand, the separated image receiving paper C is fed by the feed roll 94, and is guided to the post-heating device 140 by the feed roll 96 and the guide member 120.

The color of the image receiving paper C whose heating and coloring is promoted by the post-heating device 140 is detected by the sensor 400, and the registration rollers 122 and 12
4 and the transfer timing of the photoconductor 510 of the monochrome electrophotographic apparatus 500 is adjusted.

In the monochrome electrophotographic apparatus 500, the transfer path of the image receiving paper C on which a monochrome image is formed as a toner image is changed by a flapper 150 disposed in front of the photoconductor 510, and a plurality of feed rolls 152a to 152i and a guide member are provided. 154a
To 154h, conveyed, and guided to the contact portion of the pressure transfer device 88. Here, the toner image on the image receiving paper C is pressure-fixed by the pressure nip rolls 82 and 84.

When the pressure-fixed image receiving paper C is again transported to the flapper 150 via the above-described transport system path, the fixed image receiving paper C is transported forward as it is without changing the transport path by the flapper 150, The sheet is guided by the guide member 526 and fed by the take-out tray 130 by the feed rollers 126 and 128.

Although the image forming apparatus of the present invention described above is configured to simultaneously form a color image and a monochrome image on one sheet of receiving paper, the present invention is not limited to this. Only the color image may be formed on the image receiving paper C by performing only the monochrome image forming method, or only the monochrome image may be formed on the image receiving paper C by performing only the monochrome electrophotographic forming method. Of course.

Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, one image receiving paper C
When forming a color image or a monochrome image thereon, a color image or a monochrome image formation area may be set. The setting of the formation area of the color image or the monochrome image and the formation of the image can be performed by a method using a digitizer proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-214045 filed by the present applicant.

In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, an original is placed on a transparent original table 2 such as a glass plate and fixed, and an image reading apparatus 200 having a light source 208 from below the transparent original table 2 is moved. Although the movable light source is used for scanning by moving the original, the original may be moved so that the original table on which the original is placed is moved while the light source is fixed.

In the example shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 7, in order to expose the photosensitive material S and the photosensitive member of the monochrome electrophotographic forming apparatus after reading the original image by the image reading apparatus, for example,
The exposure method is implemented in which the image information read by the CCD element is converted into a subdivided digital image signal and controlled, but the present invention is not limited to this.
An analog image exposure method of directly exposing a document image in which a lens and a mirror are arranged on an exposure device to a photosensitive material S and a photosensitive member of a monochrome electrophotographic forming apparatus may be performed, or both of the above exposure methods may be used in combination. . In the analog image exposure method, the image reading device and the exposure device do not need to be distinguished from each other because the exposure is performed directly by the reflected light from the light source.

In addition, in the case of digital exposure, in order to obtain red, green, and blue light from a semiconductor laser light source, an embodiment using an SHG element has been described, however, Japanese Patent Application No. 61-208786 or Japanese Patent Application No. 61-2770.
Do not use the SHG element by exposing a part or all of the three types of exposure to the infrared region by using a photosensitive material that has a photosensitive wavelength region in the infrared region like the material shown in No. 92 Becomes possible.

<Specific Action of the Invention> The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is basically configured as described above, and the specific action will be described below.

In FIG. 1, a document is first placed on the document table 2 face down. The color photosensitive material S is drawn out of the photosensitive material magazine 14, cut into a predetermined length by the cutter unit 23, and is conveyed while being in close contact with the exposed photosensitive material support roll 26 by the rolls 28 and 30. At this time, the original is irradiated by the light source 208 which moves in synchronization with the photosensitive material S, the reflected light is read by the image reading device 200, time-divided into three colors, and the signal is sent to the image processing device 250. .

The exposure control circuit 228 of the image processing device 250 controls the exposure amounts of the three colors. According to this control, the color exposure device 300 exposes the photosensitive material S. Thus, a color image is formed on the photosensitive material S as a latent image.

The exposed photosensitive material S is sent to the heating and developing device 40,
Heated by the heating drum 44, the tip position of the photosensitive material is detected by the photosensitive material leading edge detection sensor 60 at the outlet 56, and is sent to the photosensitive material image receiving paper superposing device 70.

On the other hand, for a monochrome image, the exposure control circuit 228 uses the read image signal transmitted to the image processing device 250 to
The exposure amount is controlled so that a monochrome image is formed. According to this control, the monochrome exposure device 310 exposes the photoconductor 510 of the monochrome electrophotographic device 500. Thus, the photoconductor
At 510, an electrostatic latent image is formed and then developed to form a monochrome toner image.

At this time, the image receiving paper C is sent from the image receiving paper supply device 72 with its transfer timing adjusted, and is closely conveyed to the photoconductor 510 in synchronization with the rotation speed of the photoconductor 520. Here photoconductor 510
Is transferred onto the image receiving paper C by the transfer charger 516.

The image receiving paper C on which the monochrome toner image has been transferred is sent to the registration rolls 122 and 124, and is adjusted to be superimposed on the color photosensitive material S for color image transfer.

When the front end position of the photosensitive material S is detected, the monochrome image is transferred, and the image receiving paper C on which the toner image is formed is also registered on the registration roll.
The superimposing timing is adjusted by 122 and 124 and sent to the photosensitive material image receiving paper superposing device 70, where the color photosensitive material S and the image receiving paper C are superimposed in a predetermined positional relationship and sent to the pressure transfer device 88. Can be In the pressure transfer device 88, a pressure nip roll
The color image carried by the color photographic material S is transferred onto the image receiving paper C by 80 and 82, and at the same time, the monochrome toner image formed on the image receiving paper C is fixed by pressure. The pressure-transferred photosensitive material S and the image receiving paper C are separated by a peeling device 90, and the photosensitive material S is sent to the photosensitive material disposal unit 104 and the image receiving paper C is sent to the post-heating device 140.

The color image on the receiving paper C is 120-
After heating and color development are sufficiently promoted at a low temperature of 140 ° C, the sensor 400
Color tone is detected.

Thereafter, the image receiving paper C on which a monochrome image such as a color image with good color reproduction and a high-density character equal line image is sufficiently fixed is sent out to a take-out tray 130 by feed rolls 126 and 128.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a grouping of a plurality of discharged image-formed image receiving sheets, A device having various processing functions such as a sorter for automatically collating, a finisher for automatically folding and aligning or binding the image receiving paper, and an automatic document feeder for automatically sending a large number of documents to a platen. Can be added, as long as it does not deviate from the gist of the present invention.
Of course, various improvements and design changes are possible.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a color image of a document is converted into a latent image or a visible image in the form of an image using a chemical reaction that can be obtained as a color image with good color reproduction. An image fixing device for fixing and fixing an image is the same as a color image forming method to be produced and a monochrome electrophotographic forming method in which a monochrome image such as a character isoline image can be obtained as a high-density and excellent image. The configuration of the heating unit can be reduced by reducing the number of large-sized image fixing devices, and it is not necessary to use a high-temperature fixing device for monochrome electrophotography. The size of the image forming apparatus can be reduced, and an image forming apparatus capable of reducing the size of the entire apparatus can be provided.

According to the present invention, in addition to performing the monochrome electrophotographic forming method on the color image forming paper on which the color image forming method has been performed, each of the color image forming methods can be independently performed, and An image forming apparatus that can execute only the forming method alone can be made compact and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a path diagram showing transmission paths of light and signals from image reading to exposure of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a filter used in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a time course of a filter and a CCD sensor used in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an image receiving paper side sensor used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an arithmetic circuit in the image receiving paper side sensor used in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. Symbols S: photosensitive material, C: image receiving paper, 1: housing, 2: platen, 3: partition, 12: photosensitive material roll, 14: photosensitive material magazine, 16: exit, 20: magazine connection dark box, 22: photosensitive material roll, 23: cutter unit, 24: guide plate, 26: exposed photosensitive material support roll, 28, 30: photosensitive material nip roll, 32: exposure position , 40: Heat developing device, 42: Developing housing, 44: Heating roll, 46, 47, 48, 49: Belt support roll, 50: Belt, 52: Nip roll, 54: Guide device, 56 … Exit, 58… Vertical guide device, 60… Sensor, 61, 63… Nip roll, 62, 64… Pressure contact roll, 66… Guide roll, 65, 67, 68, 69, 78… Guide member , 70 ...... sensitive material receiving paper superposing device, 72 ...... receiving paper supply device, 74 ...... receiving paper supply cassette, 76 ...... Imaging paper feeding roll, 80, 82 ... Pressure nip roll, 84, 86 ... Backup roll, 88 ... Pressure transfer device, 90 ... Peeling device, 92 ... Guide member, 94, 96 ... Feed roll, 98, 100, 105, 106: guide roll, 102: peeling belt, 104: photosensitive material disposal section, 107, 109, 110, 112: feed roll, 114: waste box, 108, 115, 116, 117, 120, 121 ... guide member, 122, 124 ... registration roll, 126, 128 ... feed roll, 130 ... take-out tray, 140 ... post-heating unit, 142 ... heating roll, 144 ... nip roll, 150 Flapper, 152a-152i Feed roll, 154a-154h Guide member, 200 Image reader, 208 Illumination lamp, 210, 212, 214 Mirror, 216 Liquid crystal filter unit , 218: Image forming lens, 220: CCD sensor, 222: Analog / digital conversion circuit, 22 4 ... Outline emphasis circuit, 226 ... Color correction operation circuit, 228 ... Exposure control circuit, 230 ... Aperture, 250 ... Image processing device, 251, 252, 253 ... Semiconductor laser, 254 ... Nd: YAG Crystal, 255, 256, 257: SHG element, 258, 259, 260: Collimator lens, 261: Total reflection mirror, 262, 263: Diclock mirror, 264: Optical path, 270: Polygon mirror, 271 …… axis, 280 …… fθ lens, 290 …… mirror, 300 …… color exposure device, 310 …… monochrome exposure device, 312 …… semiconductor laser, 313 …… collimator lens, 315 …… polygon mirror, 316 …… fθ lens, 317, mirror, 400, sensor, 402, lamp, 403, color separation filter, 404, 410, 412, photoelectric conversion element, 405, arithmetic circuit, 406, 411, 413, arithmetic Amplifier, 407 …… Analog switch, 408 …… Sample hold circuit, 409 …… Analog Digital converter, 414 Microprocessor, 500 Monochrome electrophotographic forming device, 504, 505 Guide member, 506, 508 Feed roll, 510 Photoconductor, 512 Charger, 514 ... Toner developing device, 516 ... Transfer charger, 518 ... Cleaner, 519 ... Exposure lamp, 524 ... Separation roll, 525, 526 ... Guide member

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] An image forming apparatus for performing a color image forming method for forming a latent image or a visible image in an image form by using a chemical reaction and a monochrome electrophotographic forming method, wherein an image fixing step in the color image forming method is provided. And an image fixing step in the monochrome electrophotographic forming method is performed by the same image fixing device. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image fixing device is a pressurizing device. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive material used in the color image forming method is a silver halide photosensitive material. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive material used in the color image forming method is a photosensitive resin material. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive material used in the color image forming method is a photosensitive and pressure-sensitive material.