JP2675831B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that can be multifunctionalized by appropriately selecting and mounting a plurality of cartridges on a main body.

[Background of the Invention]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a device for processing image information is a copying device for copying, an image reading device for digitally converting an image into a signal, and an image writing device for forming a digital image based on signalized image information. In addition, different devices are configured according to individual functions, and it is necessary to prepare various image recording devices according to a desired image recording mode.

For example, by combining an image reading device, an image writing device, a storage device, etc., the image information is converted into a signalized image signal,
Image recording devices that can store, transfer, and copy have been commercialized.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In this type of apparatus, although signal processing of image information facilitates storage and transfer, and further various image processing, the resolution of the reading apparatus and the writing apparatus is high. Since the image quality is limited, a rough image is likely to be formed. For example, when image information is copied, the quality of the copied image is considerably deteriorated, which may cause a problem in practical use.

If the resolution of the above-mentioned device is improved in order to solve this problem, the size and price of the main body will be increased, and it will be necessary to meet the cost performance required practically for other functions such as storage and transfer. Therefore, it is inconvenient because the characteristics corresponding to each image recording method cannot be utilized.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to achieve multi-functionality without making a large size and high price, to make use of the features of various image recording methods, and to make various types. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of performing image recording by the image recording method described above.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image recording apparatus in which a first cartridge having a recording unit for recording an image by an electrophotographic process is detachable, and an electrophotographic process is performed with respect to a holding portion of the first cartridge. By interchangeably mounting a second cartridge equipped with recording means for recording an image by a different process,
An image can be recorded on a sheet by a process different from the electrophotographic process by commonly using a part of the device, the device includes a roller member, and the roller member operates as a transfer roller when the first cartridge is mounted. , The second
An image recording apparatus is provided in which the roller member operates as a sheet pressing unit when a cartridge is mounted.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, a schematic structure of an image forming apparatus having a document feeding means of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Reference numeral 1 denotes a document placing table made of a transparent member such as glass, which reciprocates on a rail R in a direction of an arrow a. Move to scan the document. Reference numeral 2 is a short-focus small-diameter image-forming element array, and the original image G placed on the original table 1 is illuminated by an illumination lamp L, and the reflected light image is slit-exposed on the photosensitive drum 3 by the array 2. . The photosensitive drum 3 rotates about the shaft 3b in the direction of arrow b. Reference numeral 4 denotes a charger, which uniformly charges the photosensitive drum 3 coated with, for example, a zinc oxide photosensitive layer or an organic semiconductor photosensitive layer 3a. The drum 3 uniformly charged by the charger 4 is subjected to image exposure by the element array 2 to form an electrostatic image. The electrostatic latent image is then visualized by the developing device 5 including the magnet roller 5a and the toner reservoir 5b. On the other hand, the sheet P accommodated in the cassette 18 is fed onto the drum 3 after passing through the feeding roller 28 and a registration roller 9a which is driven at a timing so as to be synchronized with the image on the photosensitive drum 3. Then, the transfer roller 8 transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 3 onto the sheet P. afterwards,
The sheet P separated from the drum 3 by a known separating unit is guided to the fixing device 10 by the guide 9 and the toner image on the sheet P is fixed, and then is discharged onto the tray 12 by the discharge roller 11. After the toner image is transferred, the residual toner on the drum 3 is removed by the cleaner 13.
The cleaner 13 includes a blade 13a and a toner reservoir 13b. Reference numeral 16 is a slit opening for guiding the original image to the surface of the photosensitive drum 3.

The toner image is formed of a heat-fixing toner made of resin or the like, and is heated and fixed by the heat-fixing roller 10 while being conveyed, and then discharged by the discharge roller 11 to the outside of the apparatus. When the image recording cartridge based on the analog electrophotography shown in FIG. 1 is mounted, it is possible to obtain a high-definition copied image as is well known. Here, the cartridge I based on the analog electrophotographic method comprises a photosensitive drum 3, a charging device 4, a developing device 5, a cleaner 13 and a cover 14 integrally connecting them.

In FIG. 2, the upper part 17 of the main body is opened around the rotary shaft 19,
The state where the image recording cartridge is made replaceable is shown.
Here, the cartridge can be pulled out to the front side perpendicular to the paper surface, and when another cartridge is attached, it is pushed in by the opposite operation. On this occasion,
By sliding the guide portion 14b of the cart carriage cover 14 and the guide rail 15 provided on the upper portion 17 of the main body, the cartridge carriage can be replaced smoothly. A shaft corresponding to the drum shaft 3b is also provided in another image recording cartridge, and the shaft is used to position the cartridge with respect to the main body.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which the image recording cartridge is exchanged by the above-described method to perform image recording by an image recording method different from the analog photographic method. In this embodiment, the image reading line sensor array 30 is provided at a position corresponding to the image exposure position of the photosensitive drum 3 in the cartridge I.
And the light source L is used to form an image of the original on the sensor array 30. The image reader cartridge ledge II is integrally formed by a cover 14 having substantially the same shape as that of the cartridge ledge I described above, and is mounted at a regular position by the shaft 3b. Further, the cartridge II of this embodiment has an I / O interface because it needs to transfer image information with an external device, and also has a main body controller of the main body of the image recording device.
It has an electrical coupling part for exchanging information such as image reading timing control.

The operation of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 3 will be described. By mounting the image reader cartridge II as described above, the image recording apparatus of the present embodiment can read the original image,
It comes to have a function as an image reading device that performs transfer, storage, and the like. However, since the image reader is a terminal device such as a personal computer, a series of operation commands is received from an external device of the host. As the internal storage means, various storage devices such as a magnetic disk, a magnetic tape, an IC card, and a laser card can be used in addition to the semiconductor storage element. Such internal storage means can be stored in the cartridge. If it cannot be provided, the function may be expanded by separately providing it outside.
Next, the operation will be described. First, when an image reading command is received from the host device, a document image is placed on the document table 1 as in FIG. 1, and the document is scanned by reciprocating on the rail R in the direction of arrow a. The original image is illuminated by the illumination lamp L, and the reflected light image is a short-focus small-diameter image forming element array 2.
An image is formed on the sensor array 30 by the. The image information formed on the sensor array 30 is synchronized with an encoder pulse or a frequency-divided pulse of a drive motor (not shown) of the document placing table 1 and an image information processing unit is provided via the interface board A at every moment. B. In the image processing section B, the analog image information thus input is binarized and, if necessary, it is temporarily stored in the image storage memory. The information thus obtained is finally transferred in accordance with the interface specifications with the host device.

The outline of the operation when the image reader is configured has been described above, but the details of the control of the electric system will be described later.

FIG. 4 is an example in which a cartridge III including a thermal head 43 having a purpose different from that of FIG. 3 is attached.
In this example, the body acts as a thermal printer,
Print information is received from an external device such as a personal computer as a host, and the information is recorded on a thermal paper housed in the cassette 18. When the main body is used as a thermal printer, as shown in the figure, the transfer roller 8 is used not only as a conveying means for the recording paper but also as a pressing means for the thermal head 42 of the recording paper. The pressing force of the transfer roller is usually set in consideration of the quality of the transferred image such as the image dropout and the transfer rate. On the other hand, when it is used as a pressing means of the thermal head, it is set in consideration of the efficiency of heat transfer to the recording material. Here, when the optimum setting of the pressing force for each image recording method is different, a pressing force adjusting means for changing the setting according to the cartridge may be provided.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment as a thermal printer, which is an example in which a thermal transfer sheet 55 is provided in the cartridge III and is used as a thermal transfer printer. in this case,
The recording paper in the cartridge 18 can be plain paper as in the case of the analog electrophotographic cartridge I.

The outline of the development to the thermal printer has been described above, but the details of the electric system control will be described later.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view in which a cartridge IV having both the image reader function shown in FIG. 3 and the thermal printer function shown in FIG. 4 is mounted. In this case, in addition to the functions already described, it can be configured as a digital copying machine, binarizes the analog image information read by the image reading line sensor 30, and drives the thermal head 43 according to the binarizing method. This makes it possible to reproduce a digitally copied image.

[Outline of Electric Control System] The present invention intends to meet various needs by optimizing the cartridge as described above. Based on this concept, Cartridge I is a cartridge for conventional electrophotographic processes, Cartridge II is a cartridge as an image scanner,
Cartridge III is a cartridge which has a thermal head and is compatible with a thermal transfer or thermal printer. By the way, such option development plays a role as an image input means to an external device such as a personal computer or an information recording means from the external device, and shares the main body with a function that cannot be achieved by a conventional analog copying machine. It can be easily achieved by simply replacing the cartridge.

Therefore, compared to the conventional stand-alone copier, an interface between the main body and the cartridge and an interface between the terrace and an external device such as a personal computer or a fax line or a communication line are required. Come on.

From this point of view, an electrical system block diagram of the main body will be shown first, and then an operation time chart as an analog copying machine, which is the basic function of the present invention, will be shown. After that, install the Option Cartridge II as an image reader in order,
A block diagram of the entire system when the image reader is configured, the time chart of the interface signal between the main body and the option cartridge, and then the control details based on the control flow chart of the main body controller and the controller on the option cartridge side are shown. . After that, the same explanation will be given for the case of the printer cartridge cartridge III and the reader / printer cartridge cartridge IV.

[Main body configuration] Fig. 7 shows a block diagram of the main body. As a large unit, a DC power supply 101, a controller 102 mainly for main body sequence management and interface with an option cartridge, a display operation unit 103, a high-voltage unit 104 for forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum, and a DC system unit. A motor controller 105 for controlling the motor to a constant speed, a fluorescent lamp driver 106 and a dimming circuit 107 for lighting a fluorescent lamp with a predetermined light amount, and various DC system loads (motor 110, fluorescent lamp 108 (illumination in FIG. 1). (Corresponding to the lamp L), solenoids 116 to 119), and sensors (111 to 115, 120 to 121).
Two switches 120 and 121 for identifying the type of the cartridge are provided in the sensor. Therefore, four types of cartridges can be identified by the combination of these ON-OFF. The role of each DC load or sensor will be described at any time in the operation explanation.

FIG. 8 shows details of the display operation unit 103 of the image recording apparatus main body which is an embodiment of the present invention. The left side portion 122 is provided with four lamps that indicate which type of turret is currently installed. If neither cartridge is fitted, then none of the lamps will light. In that case, a message such as "Please attach a cartridge" may be displayed on the warning and advice display portion 123 described below.

The warning / advice display unit 123 informs the user by displaying the status of the option cartridges II to IV in characters through the self-diagnosis result of the main body in each mode and the interface. In terms of contents, in the case of the electrophotographic cartridge I, there are jams, presence / absence of transfer paper, whether the fixing temperature is in the standby state, sequence abnormality, and the like. Regarding the image reader Cartridge II, is the Cartridge side powered on or the Cartridge side MPU (microprocessor)?
, Whether the desired communication has been performed, whether the cartridge is connected to the FAX line via an external device such as a personal computer or a modem, and the like are displayed.

Further, in the case of the printer cartridge III, the terms and the cartridges in the case of the cartridge cartridge I described above are
In the case of II, items, etc. are raised. The same applies to the case of Cartridge IV.

Next, the display device 124 displays the setting of the number of copies in the copy mode. The key 125 is a plus key for setting the number of copies, and the key 126 is a clear key for clearing the number of copies set by the key 125. A key 127 is a copy start key when the electrophotographic cartridge I is mounted. The volume 141 is a density adjusting volume when the cartridge I is mounted, and changes the bias voltage applied to the developing device 5 by this.

[Outline of software] An outline of the MPU program in the main body controller is shown in Fig. 5 (a). It is roughly divided into 6 blocks. In the diagnostic program, as shown in Fig. 16, JAM, presence / absence of transfer paper, abnormality in heater control system, abnormality in main body sequence, discrimination of cartridge type, detection of system power down in case of option cartridge type and detection of main body
Monitor communication errors with MPU, system errors, etc.

Based on the result of the diagnostic program, the operation section display processing program displays the system status as described above in the display section 23 of FIG.
Character output to.

The operation section key input processing program is selectively effective especially for the electrophotographic cartridge I, and controls the copy number display 124 by the input from the plus key 125 and the clear key 126 in FIG. In the fixing temperature control program, the energization to the heater 109 is controlled based on the input from the temperature sensor (thermistor) 110 so that the fixing temperature is maintained at a predetermined temperature only in the electrophotographic cartridge mode. In the case of Cartridge II-IV mode, the heater
Power to 109 is cut off. The heater control flow described above is shown in FIG. 15 (b).

As the sequence processing program, a unique program is configured for each cartridge based on the above-described cartridge discrimination diagnosis shown in FIG. The details will be described later. Finally, the serial communication program,
Here, communication with the MPU on the cartridge side is executed only in the case of option cartridges II to IV. The communication is performed by serial communication, which is shown in FIG. 12-b. That is, four signal lines are provided,
CBSY (Command Busy) is an MPU on the option cartridge side.
The main unit MPU to inquire the status of the main unit MPU
Is a signal for accessing, and this input causes the main unit MPU to stand by for serial transfer. Immediately after that, an 8-bit command is output to the SC from the cartridge MPU in synchronization with SCLK (Serial Clock). The MPU on the main unit side decodes the command information, and similarly outputs the answer to the requested content as 8-bit status information. At this time, SBSY (Status B
The main unit MPU outputs a usy) signal to access the cartridge MPU. The serial clock SCLK is output from either MPU depending on the state at that time.

14A to 14D show details of communication commands and status. Figure 14-a is a list of commands, which are classified into two types: the command for the option cartridge side MPU to ask the main unit MPU for the status (SR command) and the command for specifying the serial clock (EC command). .

SR0 is a command that requests the status of the main body before an operation such as image scanning or printout. The response is STATUS0 (14th-
As shown in Fig. b), bit0 is the presence or absence of JAM paper in the main body, bit
1 indicates whether or not the transfer paper is set in the paper feed port, and bit 2 indicates whether or not the heater temperature is below a predetermined temperature. Based on such information, the cartridge side determines whether or not operation is possible, and deals with a command from an external device (such as a personal computer). That is, if bit0 is "1", it is determined that there is JAM paper in the machine, and commands from external devices are not accepted even in both image scanning and printout operations. When bit1 is "1", there is no transfer sheet in the sheet feed port, and therefore, this is canceled when the printout operation is requested when the cartridges III and IV are mounted. If bit2 is "1", the temperature of the fuser has not fallen below the specified temperature. Therefore, if printout operation by Cartridge III or IV is executed in this state, if the transfer paper is thermal paper, for example. Etc., problems will occur. This is information for preventing such inconvenience. Also, bit3 and bit4 are abnormality information of the heater control system and the motor control system, respectively.
bit7 is a parity bit.

SR1 is an abnormal information request command during image scan operation in the case of cartridges II and VI. During operation, the MPU on the cartridge side always sends a command to monitor the operation of the main body and inquires about the state of the main body. Body side
The MPU sends STATUS information to it. Bit 0 of STATUS1 becomes "1" when the movement of the platen is abnormal during image scanning. Bit1 is a fluorescent lamp (10
If 8) does not reach the predetermined light amount even after the predetermined time elapses, it is “1”. bit7 is a parity bit.

SR2 is a command during print operation by Cartridge III or IV, and b in STATUS2 that responds to this command.
It0 is a bit that notifies the occurrence of a jam, and bit1 is a bit that notifies that the paper is out of the paper feed port.

With the status information during these operations,
The Cartridge MPU prepares for a restart by appropriately interrupting the processing in case of an abnormality or warning of the main body.

Although the information communication between the cartridge and the main body, particularly the serial communication, has been described above, the main body and the sequence in the case of each cartridge and the information processing on the cartridge side, and the interface between the two will be described in detail.

[Operation and Control Flow] (1) Electrophotographic Cartridge (Cartridge I) As described above, FIG. 7 shows a block diagram in the case of the main body standalone. FIG. 11 shows an operation timing chart when the electrophotographic cartridge I is used,
Figure 17 shows the sequence control flow.

First, when the copy start key 127 in FIG. 8 is pressed,
The motor 110 starts rotating, and the fluorescent lamp 108 also starts lighting.
At the same time, the original table neutral solenoid 119 and the sheet feeding solenoid 116 that drives the half-moon roller are turned on. The latter is turned on for a predetermined time t ₀ (about 100 ms), and mechanically mechanically only half of the outer circumference of the half-moon roller 128 is fed into the machine body. At that time, the leading edge of the paper reaches the registration roller 129. In this state, when the dimming circuit 107 detects that the light quantity of the fluorescent lamp has reached the first predetermined light quantity, the neutral solenoid
119 turns off, and the platen starts moving toward the start position at the first speed. The first predetermined light amount and the first speed are set by the process conditions such as the exposure amount of the document and the drum sensitivity. Start position sensor 111 is O
Then, the forward reverse solenoid 118 turns on,
The platen starts moving in the forward direction. Forward Koe destination sensor 113 is turned ON, after a predetermined time t ₂ registration solenoid 117 and a paper feed solenoid 116 is turned ON at the same time, so that the transfer paper that has been stopped at the registration roller 129 described above is conveyed again. Paper feeding solenoid 116 is about 100ms (t ₀ ) as before
It is turned on only for a second time, and mechanically and mechanically, only half of the outer circumference of the half-moon roller 128 is forced out. However, since the registration roller 129 starts rotating at the same time as the paper feed roller 128 this time, the paper rushes between the photosensitive drum 3 and the transfer roller 8 due to the conveyance force of the registration roller, and the toner image is transferred. The transfer paper on which the original image has been transferred in this manner is further conveyed and heat-fixed by the fixing roller 10.

On the other hand, the document table is reversed by turning off the FW / RV solenoid 118 after a lapse of a predetermined time (t ₃ ) from the input from the image sensor 113, and the neutral solenoid 119 is turned on when the home position sensor 112 is turned on. At that time, the platen is stopped at the home position and waits for the transfer paper to be completely discharged from the machine. In this embodiment, the time t ₅ from the reverse of the platen to the stop of the motor is predetermined. The control timing of the high-voltage unit 104 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 3 is as shown in FIG. 11, when the fluorescent lamp light amount reaches a predetermined value, and the platen starts moving to the start position. It is turned on when you do. Further, the document table is turned off after a predetermined time (t ₄ ) after the scan is completed and the mode is switched to the reverse.

The above is a series of sequence control when the electrophotographic cartridge (Cartridge I) is attached to the main body (No. 11).
See figure).

(2) Image Reader Cartridge (Cartridge II) Figure 9-a shows the system block diagram for the Cartridge II. In this system, the original is read by the image sensor and the information is transferred to an external device such as a personal computer.
It becomes possible to perform work such as editing with the external device. Therefore, unlike the case of the cartridge I, the control relating to the conveyance of the transfer paper in the main body becomes unnecessary.

First, the system block diagram of Cartridge II will be described with reference to FIG. 9-a. Interface control that transfers between the A block that includes the image sensor unit 130 and the analog information from the image sensor unit 130 that is first binarized and newly stored in memory, and the stored information to an external device such as a personal computer. It is composed of B block which realizes. The image sensor unit 130 has the 12th function.
As shown in FIG. 7C, when a start signal (ST) is input from the outside, the pixel information V _{0 for} one line is output as analog serial information in synchronization with the clock generator output (clock). It For example, in the case of an 8 pel sensor, if it corresponds to an A4 original, the information will be 8 pel x 216 mm = 1728 pixels. Actually, as shown in FIG. 12-c, the read information V ₀ for one predetermined line with a slight margin is guaranteed while the data ready output (DR) is H.

Next, the operation flow and timing chart of the image reader function are shown in Figures 18a-b (body flow) and 19-a, respectively.
.About.c (cartridge side flow) and FIG. 12-a (timing diagram).

When the reader cartridge II receives an image scanning command from the external device 140, it judges the state of the main body from the contents of STATUS0, and if a paper jam in the main body or a heater control system,
When there is no abnormality in the motor control system, the scan request signal (SCREQ) is turned on (Fig. 19-a (a)). Upon receiving the SCREQ, the main body controller 102 sends a scan signal (SCAN)
Then, the motor 110 and the fluorescent lamp 108 are turned on. Then, the document starts to be reversed and returns to the start position. At this time, by turning on the neutral solenoid 119, the driving of the document table is mechanically released, and the main body waits for the light quantity of the fluorescent lamp 108 to reach the second predetermined light quantity at the start position. When the dimming circuit 107 detects that the fluorescent lamp 108 has reached a predetermined light amount, the main body controller 102 sends a shading correction command to the leader cartridge MPU 132.
This command is performed by bit 2 of STATUS1 (Fig. 14-c) (the above explanation is shown in Fig. 18-a (a)). At this time, the reflected light from the standard white plate is input to the image sensor 30. Upon receiving the shading correction command from the main body, the cartridge side MPU 132 starts the shading correction. The shading correction is for correcting the sensitivity of the reading system including the image reading optical system and the image sensor in the main scanning direction. That is, the fluorescent lamp which is a light source has a light amount distribution in the axial direction, and the single focus lens array which is an imaging lens also has a transmittance distribution characteristic. Furthermore, the image sensor array in the image sensor unit 130 also has sensitivity variations among the individual elements, and it is possible to accurately determine the document density without performing sensitivity correction in the main scanning direction for these reading systems as a whole. Can not. The shading correction processing of FIG. 9-a is actually realized by a small system having the sub-microcomputer 148 shown in FIG. 9-b. The schematic flow is shown in FIG. 19-b. That is, the sub-microcomputer 148 outputs a start signal (STRT) to the image sensor unit 130, and when a data ready signal (DRDY) is returned to it, the sub-microcomputer 148 returns 17
The A / D conversion data for 40 pixels (one line) is stored in the RAM 146. Next, from this data and the contents of STATUS3, that is, the reference level information of binarization transmitted from the main body side and the A / D conversion data for the reflected light from the standard white plate that has already been performed, for each cell of the image sensor The binary threshold level is obtained from a predetermined calculation or table data in memory and stored again in the RAM 146. It should be noted that in the present embodiment, the main operation display unit 103 is used to determine the reference level for binarization.
It is also used as the volume 141 of FIG. 8, that is, the density adjustment volume when using the analog copying cartridge I. As a result, it is possible to prevent the operation display unit from becoming complicated and costly. The above is the description of the portion shown in FIG. 19-a (b).

When the shading correction is completed, MP on the Cartridge II side
U132 sends a document scan command EC2 (Fig. 14-a) to the main unit MPU.
To send DM of image information for one original
A Prepare for transfer. The above is the description of FIG. 19-a (b). The main body that received EC2 is a shading correction command bit or SC
Reset the AN signal and set the neutral solenoid 119 to OF
By turning on the forward and backward solenoid 118, the document table is moved forward at the second speed. The second predetermined light amount and the second speed are controlled by the light sensitivity of the image sensor.
When the document table advances and the leading edge of the document reaches the exposure position, the image sensor 113 turns on, and the main body controller 102 turns the cartridge edge II.
Turn on the read start signal (READ) for the MPU 132 on the
110 Turn on the start signal (STRT) at the rising edge of the speed control encoder output pulse, and set S at the falling edge of the data ready signal (DRDY) of the image sensor unit 130.
Turn off the TRT signal. Then, when the document scanning is completed, READ
The signal is turned off, then the FW / RV solenoid 118 is turned off, and when the platen is reversed and returns to the home position, all the loads are turned off. The above is the control flow of FIG. 18-a (b) and FIG. 19-b. As described above, in the image reader mode, the synchronizing signal in the sub-scanning direction of the image reading line sensor during the original scanning period is obtained from the encoder pulse of the motor serving as the original scanning drive source of the main body or the divided pulse thereof. The dedicated timer for synchronizing the sub-scanning direction, which is seen in the image reader device of No. 3, is not required and the software configuration is simplified. In addition, the speed control accuracy of the document scanning drive motor of the main body is loosened and the cost of the motor control system is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently satisfy the function even with an AC motor that has not been used in the conventional image reader or the like.

On the other hand, the cartridge side MPU 132 is the main controller 102
When receiving the READ signal, the original 1 is synchronized with the clock signal.
The image information for one page is stored in the memory 136 as binary information (FIG. 19-a (c)).

The analog output V ₀ from the image sensor unit is binarized by a small system whose core is the sub-microcomputer 148 shown in FIG. 9-b. That is, the analog output V ₀ (15
2) is the D of the binarized reference voltage V _{F (n)} (n = 1 to 1740) for each cell obtained by the above-mentioned shading correction.
/ A conversion voltage, that is, clock for the output of D / A converter 147
In synchronization with the signal 151, the comparator 134 successively compares and binarizes. The control flow is shown in FIG. 19-c.

The above is the details of the actual control related to the system block diagram (FIG. 9) and the control time chart (FIG. 12) when the image reader cartridge II is attached to the main body.

(3) Printer cartridge (Cartridge III) Fig. 10-a shows a system block diagram when the printer cartridge is attached to the main body. System block diagram for the image reader cartridge described above (No. 9)
Parts having the same function as (-a figure) are indicated by the same symbols. Also in this case, the MPU 132 has a DMA controller 133, a memory 236, an I / O interface 137,
In addition to this, a thermal head 243, a thermal head driver 242, a writing controller 241 and the like are provided. 10th-b
The thermal head driver 242 is shown in the figure. Resolution 8pe
l, 216 mm wide thermal head, that is, thermal head 243 of total dot 1728 is divided into 9 blocks and 9 STROB
Time-division control with E signal. This is to suppress the DC power supply current. The timing diagram for each signal is shown in Figure 13-b. The STROBE signal, LATCH signal, and VDDI signal shown here are output from the write controller 241. Also 1 line D
The ATA is transferred from the memory 236 in the DMA mode to the shift register 250 shown in FIG. 10-b.

FIG. 13-a shows a timing chart of the interface signal between the main body and the printer cartridge and the main body operation in the printer mode. The timing control of FIG. 13-a will be described according to the main body control flow shown in FIG. 20 and the cartridge storage control flow shown in FIG.

First, when a write command is sent to the cartridge unit III from an external device, the state of the main body is checked as shown in FIG. 21, and if OK, a print command is output (21st
Figure (a). The main unit that received the print command is the motor 110
After turning on the paper feed SOL116 and waiting for a predetermined time, that is, when the paper arrives at the registration roller 129, the paper feed SOL is restarted.
116 is turned on (second sheet feeding. The mechanism of sheet feeding is the same as that of the operation description of the cartridge I described above).
When the paper is conveyed in this way and arrives at the paper edge detection sensor 114 shown in FIG. 10-a, PRI is set after a predetermined time t ₁ (FIG. 13-a).
Turn on the NT signal. t ₁ is the time from when the leading edge of the paper reaches the sensor 114 to when it reaches the thermal head 243. At the same time when the PRINT signal is turned on, the main body transfers the encoder pulse of the motor 110 as a synchronizing signal for writing on the cartridge side (Fig. 13-a). Printing is started in this way and the sensor
The PRINT signal is turned off after a specified time t ₁ after the trailing edge of the paper has fallen out of 114
I do. That is, it is a signal for stopping the operation of the thermal head write controller 241 at the moment when the trailing edge of the paper passes. However, this signal is effective when the paper is a small size paper, and has no meaning for writing when the paper is a specified size paper (see FIG. 21). After the PRINT signal is turned off, the motor 110 and the resist SOL 117 are turned off in consideration of the timing when the paper passes through the fixing roll 10 and is discharged to the outside of the machine (13th-a).
This is indicated by t ₂ in the figure). The above is the description of the timing chart of FIG. 13-a and the flow of FIG. In this way, in the case of the thermal printer mode, a special timer can be set by controlling the writing of one line of the thermal head in synchronization with the pulse output from the encoder of the motor that is the drive source for the paper conveyance of the main body. Unlike the case of preparing and performing synchronous control in the sub-scanning direction, the software configuration is simple, and the accuracy of the speed control of the motor that is the drive source of the transport system of the main body is not particularly required, so the cost of the motor control system is also low. It is possible to reduce it significantly, and it is possible to use AC motors that were not used in conventional printers.

On the other hand, when receiving the print signal from the main body, the cartridge III side sequentially prints one line information in synchronization with the encoder pulse and executes the print processing for one page (FIG. 21 (b)). For details of the print processing, if the information from the external device 140 is code information,
Code-to-character conversion data is stored in the ROM 239 shown in FIG.
Transfer to the thermal head driver 242 shown.

When the signal from the external device 140 is a video signal, one or all of the image information is once stored in the RAM 136, and the thermal head driver 242 is stored for each line information.
Transfer data to

The above is the printer cartridge III shown in FIG. 10-a.
These are the contents of the operation and control of the system when the is attached to the main body.

The thermal fixing means is turned off when the printer cartridge III is attached, and writing is enabled when the temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature. As a result, it is possible to prevent adverse effects due to heating on the thermal paper and the thermal transfer sheet. Also, the fluorescent lamp is turned off. As a result, the power consumption of the fluorescent lamp can be allocated to the power consumption of the thermal head drive system, and the DC power supply capacity can be reduced. Further, the main body high pressure control means is also turned off, so that the high pressure leak phenomenon and the malfunction induction can be prevented.

(4) Leader printer Cartridge (cartridge
IV) The reader / printer cartridge IV is basically a combination of the reader cartridge II and the printer cartridge III, and the image sensor unit 130 (Fig. 9-a) and the thermal head 243 (Fig. 10-
(a) is provided, and the control circuit is also configured to realize both reading and writing. Further, in this case, the document is scanned, and the information read by the image sensor is directly transferred to the thermal head driver 242 (Fig. 10-a), so that the image of the document can be digitally copied.

By using four types of cartridges for one main body, the conventional analog copying function is combined with the digital reading function of the original image, the printing function of the character or image information from the external device, and both of them. A system that realizes the function becomes possible. In addition,
In the present embodiment, for example, in the case of the leader cartridge II shown in FIG. 9-a, it is constituted by the A block having the image sensor unit and the B block for controlling the information processing, but avoiding the enlargement of the cartridge. Therefore, there is no problem if only the A block is left in the cartridge and the B block is treated as another unit as an external unit.

Also in the case of the printer cartridge III, for example, it is possible to arrange only the thermal head 243 and the thermal head driver 242 shown in FIG. 10-a in the cartridge and handle the remaining control circuit as an external unit.

Further, in the present embodiment, a thermal printer has been described as an example of the printer cartridge, but a printer using another process, for example, an ink jet printer or the like may be used.

In this way, by selectively mounting two or more types of image recording cartridges that share the main unit and have different purposes, a multi-function that realizes the functions of an analog electrophotographic copying machine, an image reader, a thermal printer, etc. It is possible to realize an image recording device, and without changing the size and cost of the main body of a conventional stand-alone copying machine, it can function as a terminal device of a host machine such as a personal computer by simply replacing the cartridge, so that it can be used by a wide range of users. You can easily meet your needs.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, by replacing the cartridge with the one main body in an exchangeable manner, a large number of types of methods can be performed without inviting an increase in size and an increase in price, and the advantages can be utilized. It becomes possible to record.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view when the first image recording cartridge according to the present invention is attached to the main body, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view when the upper portion of the main body is released when taking out the cartridge of FIG. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the main body when the image reader cartridge is installed, Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the main body when the thermal printer cartridge is installed, and Fig. 5 is a thermal printer car different from Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the main body when the cartridge is installed, Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the main body when a cartridge having both functions of an image reader and a thermal printer is installed, Fig. 7 is an electric circuit block diagram of the main body, and Fig. 8 is a display of the main body. FIG. 9-a is a plan view showing the operation unit, FIG. 9-a is an image reader cartridge system system block diagram, and FIG. 9-b is a shading correction circuit diagram in FIG. 9-a. Fig. 10-a is a printer cartridge system block diagram, Fig. 10-b is a thermal head driver circuit diagram, Fig. 11 is an analog copying machine sequence timing diagram, and Fig. 12-a is an image reader interface signal and Sequence timing diagram, Fig. 12-b is communication protocol between main body and cartridge, Fig. 12-c is image sensor unit operation timing diagram, Fig. 13-a is printer cartridge interface interface signal and sequence timing diagram, Fig. 13 -B is a timing diagram showing the thermal head control signal, Fig. 14-a, Fig. 14-b, Fig. 14-c, Fig. 14-d, Fig.
14-e is a diagram showing transfer information between the main body and the cartridge, FIG. 15 (a) is a flow chart showing the outline of the main body software, FIG. 15 (b) is a heater control flow chart, and FIG. 16 is a diagnostic program. A flow chart showing the details, FIG. 17 is an analog copy mode sequence processing flow chart, and FIGS. 18-a and 18-b are image reader control flow charts, FIGS. 19-a, 19-b and FIG. FIG. 19-c is an image information processing flow chart, FIG. 20 is a printer control flow chart, FIG. 21 (a) is a writing information processing flow chart, FIG. 21 (b) is a print processing flow chart, FIG. (C) is a print end processing flow chart, 1 ... Original document placing table, 3 ... Photosensitive drum 4 ... Charger, 5 ... Developing device 8 ... Transfer roller, 10 ... Heat fixing roller 102 ... Body Controller, 103 ...... display operation unit 132 ...... MPU, 140 ...... external device

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image recording apparatus in which a first cartridge having recording means for recording an image by an electrophotographic process is attachable / detachable, to a holding portion of the first cartridge.
By mounting the second cartridge, which is equipped with recording means for recording an image by a process different from the electrophotographic process, by exchanging it interchangeably, a part of the apparatus is commonly used and the process is different from the electrophotographic process. An image can be recorded on a sheet, the apparatus includes a roller member, the roller member operates as a transfer roller when the first cartridge is mounted, and the roller member operates as a sheet pressing unit when the second cartridge is mounted. An image recording device characterized by the above.