JP2999626B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used as an image recording apparatus having functions such as a facsimile, a copying machine, and a printer, and as an output device such as a multifunction machine or a work station having the functions. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the diversification of market needs, an image forming apparatus capable of obtaining a black and white image or a color image using various image forming means has been devised and put into practical use. The image forming means is roughly classified into an electrophotographic recording method, a thermal transfer recording method, and an ink jet recording method. In particular, printers that form images using an electrophotographic recording method are excellent in image forming speed and quietness, and are widely used as exit devices such as copying machines. Further, an electrophotographic recording type image forming apparatus that forms an image in a plurality of colors has been commercialized in order to support chromatic images and pictorial images. However, since the apparatus is complicated, running costs and apparatus costs are high. However, it has not yet become widespread. Furthermore, in chromatic image formation, in order to solve these drawbacks of the electrophotographic recording method, a multicolor image forming apparatus using an inkjet recording method, a thermal transfer recording method, or the like has been commercialized,
An image forming apparatus that combines these different image forming means and makes use of the advantages of each image forming means has also been devised.
For example, a black-and-white electrophotographic recording method, which is advantageous in terms of image formation speed and running cost, is practically used for forming a black-and-white image which occupies most of the image formation. This is an image forming apparatus using an ink jet recording method which is advantageous in terms of cost, simplicity of the apparatus, and the like.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, even if a plurality of different image forming units are provided,
In the electrophotographic recording method for black and white, an original is illuminated,
A document scanning means such as a mirror and a lens for projecting the document on the photosensitive drum is required.On the other hand, in the ink jet recording method, an area corresponding to the recording width of the recording head is sequentially scanned, and image information of the document is scanned. Document scanning means for converting into an electric signal is required. In particular, in the ink jet recording method, since the area corresponding to the recording width of the recording head is sequentially scanned, the image forming speed is lower than that of the electrophotographic recording method. As a result, the productivity of the apparatus is low. However, there is a problem that the advantage of having the above image forming means cannot be fully utilized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus having a simple configuration and high productivity as an apparatus. is there.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a toner for forming a toner image on a recording material.
Image forming means, and an ink for forming an ink image on the recording material.
Image forming means and read image information for an ink image
An image reading area for an ink image on which a document is placed;
The image for an ink image.
Reads image information for toner images separately from the reading area
The image reading area for the toner image
The document is triggered while forming an ink image based on the previous document.
Determine whether to have image information for toner image
Document is scanned while forming an ink image based on the previous document.
If it is determined that the image information for the
During the image formation, the document is
Area and place an ink image on the
If the manuscript does not have image information for the toner image
Indicates that the original has been printed after the ink image formation is completed.
It is characterized in that it is placed in an image reading area for an image .

[0006]

According to the present invention, the image reading for the ink image is performed.
To read image information for toner images separately from the
An image reading area for a toner image on which a document is placed is provided,
When forming an ink image based on the previous document, the document
Can determine whether or not it has image information for the image,
When forming an ink image based on the previous document, the document
If it is determined that it has image information for the image,
The original is placed on the image reading area for toner image during
The original while forming an ink image based on the previous original.
If it is determined that there is no image information for the
After the image formation is completed, the original is
Image information for toner images because it is placed in the image reading area
Documents that have image information and documents that do not have image information for toner images
Original that has image information for a toner image even if
The manuscript is placed in the image reading area for the toner image as soon as possible.
And reading of the image information is started.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a copying machine. 10 is a reader unit having image reading units 30 and 50. 100 is a first unit for forming an image on a recording material.
The image forming portion of an electrophotographic recording system is an image forming unit 1 of
Reference numeral 30 denotes a first printer unit, and reference numeral 200 denotes a second printer unit mainly including an image forming unit 230 of an ink jet recording system, which is a second image forming unit for forming an image on a recording material. In this embodiment, when a chromatic portion exists in the document, the image is formed by the image forming unit 230 of the ink jet recording system, and when the chromatic portion does not exist, the image is formed by the image forming unit 130 of the electrophotographic recording system. Perform the formation,
When a chromatic portion and an achromatic portion (black and white portion) are mixed, an image is formed by both image forming units 230 and 130 , and a plurality of image forming units having different methods are provided.

The reader unit 10 has a platen glass 11 on which a document is placed. On the upper surface thereof, pressure plates 12 and 13 for pressing and fixing the document from above are provided, and the pressure plates 12 and 13 are hinged ( (Not shown) and is supported by the reader unit 10 so as to be openable and closable. The reading of the image by the reader unit 10 is performed by the image recording reading unit 3 of the ink jet recording system.
The reading is performed by two reading units, i.e., 0 and an image recording reading unit 50 of the electrophotographic recording system. The reading unit 30 is an image reading unit that sequentially converts image information of a document into an electronic signal at the time of inkjet recording, and includes a lens 31A, a recording head 231 described later.
A first carriage 31 mounted with a CCD line sensor 31B having a reading width corresponding to the printing width of the first carriage 31 and moving on a rail 32A in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing (main scanning direction);
A first carriage 31 and a second carriage 32 on which a rail 32A is mounted and which moves on a rail 33 described later in the direction of arrow A (sub-scanning direction) in the figure. CCD line sensor 31B
Has blue, green, and red color separation filters in order for each pixel, and the pixel array is arranged in the direction of arrow A in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the image is read by first moving the first carriage 31 on the rail 32A by the main scanning motor 32C with respect to the fixed document.
2D, it moves in the main scanning direction (B) via a pulley 32E fixed to the first carriage 31, and reads an image corresponding to the reading width of the CCD line sensor 31B. After reading the image, the second carriage 32 is moved by the sub-scanning motor 34 via the belt 35 and the pulley 36 in the sub-scanning direction (A).
It moves by the reading width of the CCD line sensor 31B and stops. Thereafter, the first carriage 31 moves on the rail 32A again to read an image. This operation is repeated over the entire width of the original to read the entire image area. A flag 32B protrudes from the end of the second carriage 32, and is used for detecting the position by the sensor 37.

An electrophotographic image recording reading section 50
A third carriage 51 comprising a lamp for irradiating the original and a first mirror, a mirror table 52 having a mirror for returning the original, and a lens 53 for projecting the reflected light of the original to an exposure unit.
And an analog optical system including a mirror group 54 for guiding the light transmitted through the lens 53 to the exposure unit. As shown in FIG. 3, pulleys 56a and 56b and drive pulleys 57a and 57b are provided on the bottom plate 55, and pulleys 58 are provided on the mirror base 52.
a and 58b are fixed respectively, and wires 59a and 59b are wound around each pulley, and the third carriage 51 is directly fixed. Therefore, the third carriage 51 moves at a speed V in the direction of arrow A with respect to the original placed on the original platen glass 11 via the wires 59a and 59b by the scanning motor M, and Synchronous with the carriage 51, the speed V / 2 in the direction of arrow A
To move on rails. The reflected light from the document is guided from the first mirror provided on the third carriage 51 to the photoreceptor 131 to be described later via the second and third mirrors of the mirror base 52, the lens 53 and the mirror group 54. .

On the other hand, the first printer section 100 is an image recording section centered on an image forming section 130 of an electrophotographic recording system, and a recording material is supplied from a cassette 101 by a pickup roller 103 or from a manual feed port 102 to a roller 104. By operating the flapper 120 in the branch path 110, the sheet is fed into the transport path 105 in the apparatus. The fed recording material is transported by a plurality of transport rollers 106.
The sheet is conveyed to an image forming section 130 of an electrophotographic recording system by a registration roller 109. The image forming unit 130 of the electrophotographic recording system uses a known electrophotographic process, and includes a primary charger 132, a developing device 133, a transfer charger 134, a cleaner 135, and a photosensitive member 131 which is an image carrier. An LED array 136 is provided. The photoreceptor 131 is first uniformly charged on its surface by a primary charger 132, and is irradiated with reflected light from a document by the above-described reading unit 50 to form a latent image. At this time, the LED array 136 irradiates a portion of the photoreceptor 131 to which the reflected light of the portion to be removed on the original is irradiated. Then, the latent image on the photosensitive member 131 is developed by attracting toner by a developing device 133, and the transfer charging device 1
At 34, the image is transferred to the recording material. Thereafter, the photoconductor 131
The residual toner is removed by the cleaner 135 and the residual potential is removed by the pre-exposure lamp 137. On the other hand, the transfer material on which the image has been transferred is sent to the fixing device 139 by the transport belt 138, and the toner is fixed to the transfer material using, for example, heat or pressure. Thereafter, the sheet passes through the branch path 111 and is discharged onto the tray 142 by the sheet discharge roller 140. In the case where only the image formation of the electrophotographic recording system is performed, the paper discharging operation ends.

The second printer section 200 is an image recording section mainly including an image forming section 230 of an ink jet recording system. The recording material is supplied, for example, from the cassette 201 by the pickup roller 203 or the manual feed slot 102.
By the rollers 104, 106, the branch paths 110, 2
By operating the flappers 120 and 220 in the printer 10, the paper is fed into the apparatus, travels on the transport path 205 by the plurality of transport rollers 206, and is transported to the image forming unit 230 of the inkjet recording system.

The so-called non-impact recording method such as the ink jet recording method has a very low level of negligible noise at the time of recording, has the possibility of high-speed recording, and requires a specific fixing process on plain paper. This is an extremely powerful recording method that allows recording without any delay. A recording head applied to an ink jet recording system generally includes a fine liquid discharge port (orifice), a liquid path, an energy acting section provided in a part of the liquid path, and a droplet forming section which acts on the liquid in the acting section. An energy generating means for generating energy is provided. 2. Description of the Related Art A recording head used in an ink jet recording method in which a liquid is discharged by thermal energy can arrange liquid discharge ports (orifices) for discharging recording liquid droplets to form flying liquid droplets at a high density. Therefore, it is possible to record at a high resolution. Among them, a recording head using an electrothermal transducer as a means for generating thermal energy can easily be made compact as a recording head as a whole. It is possible to make full use of the advantages of processing technology and it is easy to make it longer and more planar (two-dimensional). Also, there is an advantage that the manufacturing cost is low.

Image forming section 23 of ink jet recording system
0 , as shown in FIG. 4, includes a recording head 231 including a cyan head 231C, a magenta head 231M, a yellow head 231Y, and a black head 231Bk and having a printing unit with a predetermined width, and each of which can supply a predetermined amount of ink. Built-in tank. The recording head 231 is mounted on a carriage 232 and is supported movably on a scanning rail 233. The driving force for movement is obtained from the driving motor 235,
Pulley 235a and driven pulley 235b on the drive shaft 35
By fixing the belt 234 wound around the carriage 232 to the carriage 232, the belt 234 reciprocates in the arrow B direction.
The recording material is fed from the right in the drawing by the way, it is sent to the recording sheet conveying means 250. The recording paper conveying means 250 includes a first conveying roller pair 251a and 251b and a second conveying roller pair 25.
2a and 252b, and recording is performed by the recording head 231 between the pair of rollers. First transport roller pair 251
a, 251b is the second conveying roller pair 252
a, 252b, and the second conveying roller pair 2
The transport speed of 52a and 252b is the first transport roller pair 251.
a, 251b are set faster than those. By doing so, the first transport roller pair 251a,
The recording paper between 251b and the second pair of conveying rollers 252a, 252b is always tensioned, and the flat surface is maintained. Also,
Separately, a platen 236 using an air suction mechanism or an electrostatic suction mechanism is arranged on the back surface of the recording paper at the printing portion to form a flat surface. One end of the platen 236 has a recording head 2
A blade 237 that cleans the surface of the base 31 and a discharge unit 238 that discards the mixed color ink after cleaning the blade are provided. A capping unit 239 for discarding the thickened ink called a recovery operation at each interval is provided.

The image recording operation in the main forming section 230 is as follows.
It is performed as follows. That is, the recording paper entering from the right side in the drawing is the first transport roller pair 251a, 251b and the second transport roller pair 251a, 251b.
It stops while being held between the pair of transport rollers 252a and 252b. Figure 4 starts from the recording in an arrow B ₁ downwardly on the basis of the read image signal of the recording head 231 (carriage 232) the reading section 30 with respect to the recording sheet. Recording is performed in the form of a band area P having a constant width l. When one recording is completed, the recording head 231 (carriage 23
2) the recording paper during the return downward movement of the arrow B ₂ direction by the recording sheet conveying means 250, in the arrow C ₁ Direction 1
Sent precisely by the length l of the band area. Then, the recording is repeated by the same operation on the recording paper stopped again, and recording in a predetermined range is performed. Recorded paper is C
Sent in _one direction.

[0016] Returning to Figure 1, when describing the flow of the recording paper after ink jet recording, the recording sheet sent from the image forming unit 230 of the ink jet recording system, the transport roller 20
7, the transport path 208 is moved to the first printer section 10
0 is sent to the conveyance path 108. A heater 260 is provided in the middle of the conveyance path 208. In the case of a recording material having a low ink absorbency such as an OHP sheet, the ink solvent is evaporated by the heater 260 to dry and fix an image. The recording material sent to the conveyance path 108 is conveyed by the conveyance roller 107 and is discharged onto the tray 142 by the discharge roller 140 or onto the tray 143 by the discharge roller 141. Tray selection
This is performed by the flapper 122 provided in the branch 112 and the flapper 121 provided in the branch 111.
Moves such that a transport path from the transport path 108 to the paper discharge roller 140 is secured. The partition members 171 stored in the storage section 170 are placed on the upper tray 142 one by one by a pickup roller 172. In the case where only the image formation of the ink jet recording method is performed, the above-described sheet discharging operation is completed.

In this embodiment, when a monochrome image and a full-color image are mixed on a single recording material, that is, in the case of a so-called composite or multiplex image, the monochrome image is formed by the image forming section 130 of the electrophotographic recording system. However, a full-color image can be formed by the image forming unit 230 of the inkjet recording system. In that case, the recording material on which the monochrome image is transferred by the image forming unit 130 of the electrophotographic recording method is:
From the fixing device 139, the sheet passes through the branch path 111,
Most of the recording material is once ejected outside the apparatus by 40, and stopped with the rear end of the recording material held between the ejection rollers 140.
Then, the flapper 121 is operated, and the discharge rollers 140
To the transport path 108. Then, the recording material is sent to the conveyance path 108 by rotating the paper discharge roller 140 in the reverse direction. The fed recording material is transported by rollers 107 and 207.
Accordingly, the ink reaches the image forming section 230 of the inkjet recording system via the transport path 208. The recording material sent to the necessary recording area is stopped once, undergoes full-color image formation, is conveyed in the reverse direction, and is discharged onto the tray 142 by the discharge rollers 140 through the conveyance paths 208 and 108. You. Even when only a full-color image is formed, the image is conveyed along the conveyance paths 208 and 108 described above, and the image is not formed in the image forming unit 130 of the electrophotographic recording system. Recording can be performed for the same.

A method of copying a document in the present embodiment will be described for a case of a document bundle in which, for example, a monochrome image, a combined / multiple document, and a full-color document are mixed as shown in FIG. In this case, the original shown in FIG. 5 is large enough to be placed on the original platen glass 11 in FIG.

FIG. 5A illustrates the state of a bundle of originals. The first original is only a monochrome portion (shown by a straight line). This original is placed on the left side. The placed document is
It is detected by a document detection sensor (not shown). On the other hand, on the right side of the platen glass 11 covered by the pressure plate 13, the absence of a document is detected by the sensor. In this case, the apparatus determines that the image is a monochrome image, and when the operator presses the copy button, the original reading unit of the ink jet recording system
After the object 30 has moved to the position 30 ' in FIG. 1, the original is scanned by the electrophotographic recording type reading unit 50 , and the electrophotographic image forming unit 1 is formed by the above-described method.
An image is formed on the recording material by 30 and is placed on the tray 142. Hereinafter, when a monochrome image continues, the same operation is repeated by opening and closing the pressure plate 12 to replace the original.
If the copy start button for the next document is pressed within a certain period of time, the reading unit 30 remains at the position of 30 ' . For example, when there is a composite / multiple original on the _first sheet (the color portion is indicated by oblique lines), first, an area designating means (not shown), for example, a digitizer on the platens 12 and 13 is used to connect to the monochrome section. Specify the area of each color part. Then, the document opens the pressure plate 13 is placed on the right side of the platen glass 11, pressing the copy button, the reading unit 30 is moved to the position of 30 "in Figure 1. Then, the reading section 50, the The original is read, and the image forming unit 130 of the electrophotographic recording system forms an image of the monochrome unit first, and thereafter, the image forming unit of the ink jet recording system follows the recording order of the composite / multiplex image.
At 230 , an image of the color portion is formed. At this time,
The image forming of the image forming portion 230 of the ink jet recording method, because it takes time compared with an image forming in the image forming unit 130 of the electrophotographic recording method, an image reading unit 50 after image formation of the _first sheet of the monochrome portion r home When returning to the position, the image forming section 130 of the electrophotographic recording system can form an image of the document placed on the pressure plate 12 side. At this point, the (r ₁ +1) -th original, which is only a monochrome portion, is placed on the left side of the original platen glass 11 with the pressure plate 12 opened. The placed document is detected by the document detection sensor.

Meanwhile, in the right side of the platen glass 11, the reading unit 30 is reading the color of the r ₁ sheet of the document, pressing this time copy start button, the device (r ₁ +1) th Is determined as a monochrome document, the reading unit 50 reads the (r ₁ +1) -th document, forms an image by the above-described method, and discharges the document onto the tray 142. At this time, the image of the r _{1 th} original is being formed, and the (r ₁ -1) th and (r ₁ +
1) Since the sheets overlap, before the (r ₁ +1) -th sheet is discharged, that is, in response to switching from the image forming means of the ink jet recording method to the image forming means of the electrophotographic recording method. , R The partition member 171 indicating the insertion position of the _first sheet is moved by the pickup roller 172 to (r
Is placed on top of the ₁ -1) th. This timing is r
May be the case _where the _first sheet copy start button is pressed, the sensor in the conveying path to the branch passage 112 from the branch passage 111 may be provided with such as when here _first sheet r passes. Hereinafter, a document having only a monochrome image can be formed even during formation of a color image. The _first one r is the image formation by the image forming unit 230 of the ink jet recording system is completed, it is discharged onto the tray 143 in the manner previously described. Then, the _first document is removed from the platen. Then, if there is a document only full-color image on the _second sheet and r, which is placed on the right side of the platen glass 11 at a pressure plate 13.
When a full color mode is selected by an operation unit (not shown) and a copy button is pressed, a recording material is sent from the cassette 201 to the image forming unit 230 of the ink jet recording system, and the image is read by the reading unit 30 to form an image. Is performed. If the next (r ₂ +1) th only monochrome part, the image forming of the above in the same manner as (r ₁ +1) th, electrophotographic recording system even _second image forming in r Department
An image can be formed by the image forming apparatus 130 . In this case, when pressed the copy start button of the _second sheet r, or the detection timing of the sensor provided in the conveying path 205 (not shown), (r ₂ -1) sheet and (r ₂ +1) The partition member 171 is placed between the sheets.

Originals with only monochrome parts, composite / multiple originals,
When the above-described operation is performed on the entire document bundle shown in FIG. 5 with respect to the document having only the full-color portion, the image is output on the tray 142 only in the monochrome portion output by the electrophotographic recording method in FIG. The output bundle of FIG. 5B is a composite / multiplex image output in which at least a part or all of the output bundle is output on the tray 143 by the ink jet recording method, and an image output of only the full color portion. The output bundle is placed. The output beam (a), the partition member 171 is sandwiched in response to the insertion position of the _first sheet and r ₂ th r. At this time, since the last n-th sheet is the uppermost sheet, it is necessary to correct the order. Therefore, when the order of the output bundle (a) is corrected, if the r ₁ and r ₂ sheets of the output bundle (b) are inserted at the position of the partition member 171,
Copies in the same order as the original are obtained.

If the copying is started from the n-th sheet of the last sheet from the beginning, the order is not corrected, and the predetermined position is set at the position of the partition member 171 of the output bundle (a) from the output bundle (b). The output bundle (b) may be combined with a composite / multiple image output or a full-color image output.

Further, in this embodiment, when placing the original,
Although a monochrome document, a combined / multiple document, and a full-color document are identified by a sensor and buttons on the operation panel, before the series of copying operations is started, the left side of the platen glass 11 is read only by the image reading unit 50 for a monochrome image. The "mixed" mode may be selected in which the image reading unit 50 and / or 30 reads the combined / multiple original and the full-color image on the right side. In this case, once the copying operation of one bundle of originals is started, only when reading the original placed on the right side of the original platen glass 11, it is sufficient to select the composite / multiple original or the full-color original. A desired copy can be obtained simply by placing the original on either the left or right.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first printer unit 10
The configurations of the printer unit 0 and the second printer unit 200 are the same as those of the apparatus of FIG. The reader unit 10 has an electrophotographic recording type image recording reading unit 50 which is the same as the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, but the ink jet recording type image recording reading unit 40 differs from the reading unit 30 shown in FIG. An original image is projected by the self-fox lens array 41A onto a CCD line sensor 41B covering the entire depth length of the base glass 11. The pixel array of the CCD line sensor 41B extends in the depth direction of the original platen glass 11, and a color separation filter is provided for each pixel. In the reading of the image by the reading unit 40 , the first carriage 41 moves in the direction of arrow A with respect to the fixed document, and reads the image.
A signal until the width of the ink jet recording head 231 of the image forming unit 230 of the ink jet recording system is read is temporarily stored in a memory, and the signal is stored in the ink jet recording head 2.
31 and is output in synchronization with the printing operation. This is repeated over the entire area of the original to form the entire image area.

On the upper surface of the reader unit 10, an automatic document feeder 300 is provided. Automatic document feeder 3
Reference numeral 00 denotes a hinge unit (not shown) which is supported by the reader unit 10 so as to be openable and closable. A transport belt 310 is stretched on the upper surface of the platen glass 11 on the left side and a transport belt 311 is stretched on the right side by two rollers, and reading areas 310i and 311i are set in the respective belt portions.
The document is conveyed on the platen glass 11. The document bundle is stacked on a document tray 301. The document stack loaded on the document tray 301 is conveyed from the lowermost document by a known sheet supply / separation unit 302, and the conveyed document passes through a conveyance path 304 by a conveyance roller 303 and the platen glass 1.
1, the image is read in the reading area 310i,
Thereafter, the transfer belt 310 reaches the branch portion 309.
Here, switching of contact / non-contact of the flapper 320 with the document table glass 11 is performed according to the content of a document described later. In the contact state, the document passes through the conveyance path 312 by the conveyance rollers 306 and 307, and is discharged from the junction 313 onto the document discharge tray 314 by the discharge roller 308. In the case of non-contact, the document is transferred from the transport belt 310 to the transport belt 311 and an image is read in the reading area 311i. Then, the document is discharged onto a document discharge tray 314 by a discharge roller 308 via a conveyance path 305 and a junction 313.

In the case of a double-sided original, the transport belt 3
The document is sent to the conveyance path 315 by reversing 10 or 311. Then, the original is transported by the original drum 316 and the rollers 317 disposed around the original drum 316 to the reverse transport path 318.
To return to the transport belt 310. The original drum 3
An upper discharge conveyance path 319 is connected in the middle of 16, and the original is returned to the document tray 301 by the upper discharge roller 321.
The document tray 301 is provided with a partition lever 322. When the operation of the apparatus is started, the partition lever 322 is moved to the arm 32 fixed to the motor M as shown in FIG.
3, the sensor is placed on the uppermost portion of the document bundle, and when there is no document below the partitioning lever 322, the sensor 324 is turned on.
22 'is detected and a signal indicating the end of the document is sent to the control unit.

The method of copying a document in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 8 using the document bundle of FIG. 5 as an example. First, the operator places the document bundle of FIG. push. Then, first, the counter P is set to 0, paper is fed from the bottom of the document bundle on the document tray 301, and P + 1 is stored in the counter P. When the (P + 1) th document is fed into the reading area 310i of the transport belt 310, the reading unit 40 determines whether the document is a monochrome document, a composite / multiple document, or a color document, and stores the result in a memory. (Step 1). After the document is determined, the transport belt 310 is reversed, and the transport path 315, the original drum 316,
The document is returned to the document tray 301 via the upper discharge conveyance path 319. This is performed for each document, and after the determination for all documents is completed, the copying operation is started, and the counter P is reset to 0 (step 2). Since the original bundle has returned to the initial state, it is fed again from the bottom, and P + 1 is stored in the counter P (step 3). Here, the information of the (P + 1) th sheet stored in the memory has already been determined, and if there is a color portion (composite / multiple document, color document), the routine of step 6 is entered (step 4). . If there is no color portion, the document stops at the reading area 310i and the reading portion 5
0, an image is read, and an image is formed on a recording material by an image forming unit 130 of an electrophotographic recording system. The document after the image formation is discharged onto a document discharge tray 314 by transport belts 310 and 311. The recording material is tray 1
The sheet is discharged onto the sheet 14 (step 5). If there is a color portion, it is determined whether or not there is a monochrome portion based on the (P + 1) -th information stored in the memory. Recording is performed on the recording material by the image forming unit 130 of the system (Step 6). After that, the original is read from the reading area 310i to 3
11i, the recording material is reversed by the paper discharge roller 140, and then sent to the image forming unit 230 of the ink jet recording system to start the image formation of the ink jet recording system.
If there is no monochrome portion, the original is sent directly from the original tray 301 to the reading area 311i, and the recording material is sent directly to the image forming unit 230 of the ink jet recording system to start color image formation. At this time, if the previous document is being recorded, a wait is applied until the process is completed (step 7). When the image recording of the ink jet recording method is started, the process proceeds to the next original in parallel with the image recording for the original. The recording material on which the image recording of the ink jet recording method has been completed is discharged onto the tray 143 via the conveyance paths 208 and 108 (step 8). Here, for example, if the next document exists and is a monochrome document, the process proceeds to step 3 and step 5, regardless of the reading area 311i and the color image formation by the image forming unit 230 of the ink jet recording method.
The monochrome document is sent to the reading area 310i, and the recording is performed by the image forming unit 130 of the electrophotographic recording system. Hereinafter, when a monochrome document continues, the process is repeated irrespective of color image formation. The original at this time is 310
When the flapper 320 is switched from i, the sheet is sent to the conveyance path 312 and discharged onto the document discharge tray 314.

When the counter P reaches the number n of the originals, the process proceeds to the end of the image formation of the ink jet recording system, and when the image formation of the ink jet recording system is completed, all the sequences are completed (step S1). 9). The details of the operations of the first and second printers 100 and 200 are the same as in the first embodiment.

At this time, for example, if the monochrome original is returned to the original tray 301 and the composite / multiple original and the color original are output to the original discharge tray 314, the correction after copying becomes easy. When this operation is applied to the original shown in FIG. 5, after the contents of all the originals are stored in the memory, the original is sent to the reading area 310i to form a black-and-white image, and the n-th sheet is placed on the tray 142. The document is output and discharged onto the document tray 301. The next (n-1) th is also the same, this continues until the (r ₂ +1) th. At the time of the _second r sheet, the original is sent to the reading area 311i, and the recording material is sent to the image forming unit 230 of the ink jet recording system to perform the recording. Then, during the recording, the (r ₂ -1) -th sheet is sent to the reading area 310i, and after the monochrome image recording is performed, the recording material is discharged onto the tray 142, during which the partition member 171 is placed. Is done. Then, the output again monochrome image output from (r ₁ +1) th output onto the tray 142, the output of r ₂ sheet is on the tray 143 therebetween. At the time of the _first sheet, the original is sent from the reading area 310i to the reading area 311i, and the recording paper is transferred from the image forming unit 130 of the electrophotographic recording system to the image forming unit 2 of the inkjet recording system.
Sent to 30 . The image forming in the image forming ink-jet recording systems or from subsequent (r ₁ -1) th to the first sheet is performed. When all image forming outputs have been completed, (a) of FIG. 5B (where the uppermost sheet is the first sheet and the lowermost sheet is the nth sheet) is placed on the tray 142 as shown in FIG.
(B) (b) (upper r ₁ , lower r ₂ ) is the tray 143
Placed on top.

In the apparatus according to this embodiment, if the mixed originals are placed on the original tray 301 as they are, the monochrome original, the composite / multiplex original and the color original are automatically identified and the image is formed. This eliminates the need for a selection operation. In the case where all the originals are discharged onto the original discharge tray 314, the work can be more easily performed by inserting the partition member 171 into the insertion position of the composite / multiple original or the color original.

[0031] FIG. 9 is shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in the present embodiment, an automatic document feeder 3
An intermediate tray 330 and a bundle transport unit 331 are provided in the transport path 312 of the 00 . Further, a sorter 400 is provided so as to be continuous with the paper discharge roller 140 of the printer unit 100 . In the sorter 400 , a branch path 409 is provided at a connection port from the discharge roller 140, and the recording material is sent to the upper transport path 401 and the lower transport path 402 depending on the direction of the flapper 408. The recording material sent to the upper conveyance path 401 is discharged onto the upper tray 405 by the conveyance rollers 403 and the discharge rollers 404. The recording material sent to the lower conveyance path 402 is fed to a bin 407 by conveyance rollers 403 and discharge rollers 406.
(A-o).

The operation of the apparatus according to this embodiment when copying the document bundle shown in FIG. 5 will be described. When a document is placed on the document tray 301 and the copy button is pressed,
Copying starts from the n-th document, and the output paper is
08, the document is discharged onto the document discharge tray 314. The (r ₂ +1) -th sheet is discharged as it is, and in the case of the r ₂ -th color original, the r ₂ -th sheet is (r ₂ -1) -th while the image is being formed in the reading area 311 i of the transport belt 311. Is sent to the conveyance path 312 after completing the image formation in the reading area 310i, and is temporarily stored in the intermediate tray 330. Hereinafter, r ₂
The monochrome document until the color image formation of the sheet is completed is stored in the intermediate tray 330. _2nd r is discharged from the discharge roller 308 when the image forming is completed on the original discharge tray 314. At this point, the monochrome document bundle stored on the intermediate tray 330 is discharged onto the document discharge tray 314 by the bundle conveying means 331 and the discharge rollers 308. Next, the originals up to the (r ₁ +1) th sheet are read in the reading area 31.
0i, the document is continuously discharged onto the document discharge tray 314, but the _first r sheet is scanned during image formation in the reading area 311i (r
₁ -1) th and subsequent sheets is housed again in the intermediate tray 330,
The stored document bundle is placed on the document discharge tray 314 immediately after the discharge of the _first sheet, and the remaining documents are continuously discharged to the first sheet.

The recording material sent out by the paper discharge roller 140 enters the sorter 400 , and from the branch path 409 through the lower conveyance path 402 by the action of the flapper 408, the paper discharge roller 40.
6 to each bin 407. That is, FIG.
As shown in (1), first, the n-th sheet is discharged to the bin 407a. Then, the bin 407 remains as it is until the (r ₂ +1) th sheet.
is discharged onto a, bottle 407 in the signal that there is a color image on the _second page r moves downward, bottle 407c comes to the position of the discharge roller 406. Then from (r ₂ -1) th to (r ₁ +1) th is discharged to the bin 407c, bin 407b After completion is r ₂ th image formed therebetween is moved to the paper discharge position, _two r The eyes are discharged and stored on the bin 407b. Similarly, when the image formation of the _first sheet is started, bin 4
07e moves to the paper discharge position, and the _first to (r1-1) th sheets are placed on the bin 407e. Further, the _first r sheet is discharged to the bin 407d after the image formation is completed. Therefore, by stacking all the output paper sheets with the upper bin bundle on the lower bin bundle, it is possible to easily obtain the same output bundle as the order of the originals. Therefore, in this embodiment, the originals are ejected in the same state as before copying, so that handling after copying becomes easy.

FIG. 11 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
Although500Is an output paper collecting device,
Sorter by means 501400Output bundle on bin 407
Is discharged onto the tray 502. leader
Department10, 1st printer section100, Second printer section20
0, Automatic document feeder300, Sorter400Configuration and
The operation and operation are the same as in the third embodiment.

In this embodiment, the output bundles discharged onto the bin 407 are all output, and the tray 502
Discharge up. In the document shown in FIG. 5, first, the (r ₂ +1) -th to n-th sheets output to the bin 407a are placed on the tray 50.
And discharged onto the 2, followed by a _second sheet r of the bottle 407b and, on the bin 407c from (r ₂ -1) th the (r ₁ +1) th ..., finally on the bin 407e (r to discharge the first sheet from ₁ -1) th. Accordingly, the output bundle in the same order as the document bundle is placed on the tray 502 and the document discharge tray 314
Since the original bundle is placed on the top in the order of the initial state, the processing after copying becomes easy.

As described above, in all the embodiments, the first printer unit 100 and the second printer unit 200 are shown as being divided, but they may be integrated. Further, the cassette 201 of the second printer unit 200 is not always necessary, and the cassette 101 of the first printer unit 100 is not required.
Can be substituted. FIG.
This is shown as an embodiment of the present invention. Note that the same members are given the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment, and redundant description is omitted.

The operation of the reader unit of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.
If the size is three, an A4 size document, which is one half of the size, can be set in the area X and the area Y on the two original platen glass 11 to provide a reading area. That is, a monochrome image is set in an area X on the upstream side in the sub-scanning direction A of the image reading units 30 and 50 , and a chromatic original is set in an area Y on the downstream side. In this state, first, the reading unit 30
By the above-described scanning mechanism, the scanning is performed to a point b (corresponding to the position 30 ' in the embodiment of FIG. Is conveyed and conveyed to an image forming section 230 of an ink jet recording system via a conveying belt 138 and a fixing device 139. Accordingly then, as described above, initially the image formed by the image forming process of an ink jet recording system, the reading unit 30 c
When the point, that is, the scanning unit 50 of the electrophotographic recording system is scanned to a point where scanning is possible in the entire area X, the image forming unit 130 of the electrophotographic recording system is activated, and the image forming process of the electrophotographic recording described above is started. The image is formed based on. The detection of the point c is performed by the above-described flag section 32B of the second carriage 32 and the sensor 37. Since the sensor 37 is located at the position corresponding to the point c, the flag section 32B blocks the sensor 37 during operation. If so, it is possible to determine that point c has not been reached, and if not blocked, it is possible to determine that point c. In the present embodiment, the sensor 37 such as a photo interrupter is used as the position detecting means. However, it is needless to say that the detection can be performed by the driving pulse of the pulse motor which is the driving motor 32c. Further, the original is automatically placed on the platen glass 11.
It is needless to say that by using a so-called automatic document feeder for supplying a document as in the second embodiment and automatically detecting whether or not the document is a chromatic color document and automatically supplying the document, the effect can be further improved.

It should be noted that the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. The present invention brings about an excellent effect in a print head and a printing apparatus of a type in which a change in the state of ink is caused by energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, in particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis.
This is effective because air bubbles inside can be formed. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 44,558 which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an aperture for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as one integrally formed recording head.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, the recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or the electric connection with the apparatus main body or the ink from the apparatus main body is attached to the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

Further, it is preferable to add a discharge recovery means for the recording head, a preliminary auxiliary means, and the like as the constitution of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effect of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, the recording head is heated using capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer, another heating element or a combination thereof. Pre-heating means for performing the pre-heating and pre-discharging means for performing the discharging other than the recording can be used.

Regarding the type or number of print heads to be mounted, for example, in addition to one provided for a single color ink, a plurality of inks having different print colors and densities are provided. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming a printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of the recording modes of full color by color mixture.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In general, the ink jet method generally controls the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Sometimes, the ink may be in a liquid state. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1260, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not limited to those used as image output terminals of information processing equipment such as computers, copying apparatuses combined with readers and the like, and facsimile apparatuses having a transmission / reception function. It may take a form.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even with a plurality of different image forming units, for example, an image recording unit of an electrophotographic recording system and an image recording unit of an ink jet recording system can simultaneously form an image recording, so that a monochrome original and Color manuscripts and composites
It is possible to improve the productivity as a device when an image is formed on a mixed document with multiple documents. Ma
Further, in the invention according to claim 1, based on the previous manuscript
When the ink image is being formed, the original contains image information for the toner image.
It is determined whether or not it has
During image formation, a document having image information for a toner image
Since it is placed in the image reading area for toner images,
Document having image information for image and image information for toner image
Even if originals with no information are mixed,
Documents with image information are converted to toner images as soon as possible.
It can be placed on the reading area and start reading image information.
You. Therefore, a document having image information for a toner image
Document that does not have image information for the
To increase the productivity of the equipment as much as possible
Can be done. Further, according to the invention of claim 2,
In some cases, the document may not be
It is determined whether or not it has image information for the ink image.
The ink image is formed during the formation of the ink image.
Originals without image information are scanned for toner images
Has image information for ink image because it is placed in the area
Originals and originals without image information for ink images are mixed
Documents that do not have image information for ink images
Place the image in the image reading area for the toner image as soon as
Reading of image information can be started. Therefore, for ink images
The original with the image information and the image information for the ink image
Even if originals that are not
Can be improved as much as possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a copying machine.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a reading unit of the ink jet recording system in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing an electrophotographic recording type reading unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing an image forming unit of the ink jet recording system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a copying method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and shows an example of the configuration of an exemplified document.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a partition lever portion of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an operation procedure in the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the bin in the embodiment of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. 12;

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 10 reader unit 11 platen glass 30 , 40 reading unit (ink-jet recording system) 31, 41 first carriage 32 second carriage 50 reading unit (electrophotographic recording system) 51 third carriage 100 first printer unit 130 Electrophotographic recording type image forming unit 142, 143 Tray 171 Partition member 200 Second printer unit 230 Ink jet recording type image forming unit 231 Recording head 232 Carriage 250 Recording paper transporting unit 300 Automatic document transporter 400 Sorter 500 Output paper collection Loading device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI H04N 1/04 107 B41J 3/04 101Z (72) Inventor Yoshihiko Takahashi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Atsushi Munakata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-58-168057 (JP, A) JP-A-1-317954 (JP, A JP-A-63-44233 (JP, A) JP-A-55-161265 (JP, A) JP-A-60-98454 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 3/54 B41J 2/01 G03G 15/00 106 G03G 15/00 518 G03G 21/14 H04N 1/04 107

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A toner image forming a toner image on a recording material.
Image forming means and ink for forming an ink image on the recording material
Image forming means for reading image information for an ink image;
The image reading area for the ink image on which the original is placed.
An image forming apparatus having a toner image separately from the ink image reading area.
Image on which a document is placed to read image information for
Image reading area for ink images based on the previous document
The document has image information for the toner image during image formation.
Can be determined whether or not the original has a toner image while forming an ink image based on the previous original.
If it is determined that it has image information for the image,
The original is placed on the image reading area for toner image during
The original while forming an ink image based on the previous original.
If it is determined that there is no image information for the
After the image formation is completed, the original is
An image forming apparatus, which is mounted on an image reading area.
Place. 2. A toner image for forming a toner image on a recording material.
Image forming means and ink for forming an ink image on the recording material
Image forming means for reading image information for an ink image;
The image reading area for the ink image on which the original is placed.
An image forming apparatus having a toner image separately from the ink image reading area.
Image on which a document is placed to read image information for
Image reading area for ink images based on the previous document
While the image is being formed, the original is read in the image reading area for the toner image.
Mode placed on the printer and ink image based on the previous document
After the formation is completed, the original is read for the ink image.
A second mode in which the original is placed in the ink area, and the original is
It is possible to determine whether or not the document has image information for an image.
If it is determined that there is no image information for the image, the ink image
During the formation, the original is placed in the image reading area for the toner image.
An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus is mounted .