JP3264779B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus of this type has been configured in many parts in the same manner as the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and will be described with reference to this figure. A photoreceptor 2 is provided inside an apparatus main body 1, and a developing unit 3 and a transfer unit 4 are sequentially provided around the photoreceptor 2 in the rotation direction. A fixing unit 6 and a paper discharge unit 7 are provided downstream of the transfer unit 4 in the transport direction of the sheet 5. However, a sheet feeding means 8 is provided at a lower portion, and a sheet feeding tray 9 is detachably mounted on the sheet feeding means 8. When such a device starts to operate, the photoconductor 2 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow, charged by the charging unit, irradiated with laser light from the writing unit 11 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface, and The electrostatic latent image is visualized by the toner in the developing unit 3 and is transferred by the transfer unit 4 to the sheet 5 fed from the sheet feeding unit 8. Then, the sheet 5 is conveyed to a conveying member 13 and conveyed to a fixing member 14 including a heating roller and a pressure roller of a fixing unit 6 where a visible image is fixed. Stacked on tray 17.

In such an image forming apparatus, a so-called decoloring toner which decolorizes by receiving heat and light is used as a toner of a sheet on which a toner image is recorded from the viewpoint of reusing resources recently. It has become

[0004]

However, if a normal image forming apparatus uses a decoloring toner to decolorize it, it is necessary to drive a drum unit, a developing unit, etc. which are unnecessary in the decoloring mode. Since the paper is conveyed, these members rotate, and there is a problem that the life of the drum and other members is shortened. In order to avoid this, even if the driving of the drum unit or the like is stopped, In addition, there is a problem that the conveyed paper collides and the life of the drum is further shortened, and the occurrence of jam increases.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, and since the paper does not pass through members such as the drum unit in the decoloring mode, these members are It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus in which the driving is stopped so as not to rotate, and the paper conveyed at that time does not collide with them and shorten their life, and also prevents the occurrence of jam. .

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a photoconductor, comprising:
Developing means for adhering toner to a latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor to make it visible, transfer means for transferring the visible image to paper, and paper supply means for supplying paper to the transfer means;
In an image forming apparatus including a fixing unit for fixing a visible image transferred to a sheet and a sheet discharging unit for discharging the sheet on which the visible image is fixed, an image disappears when exposed to heat and light. A color erasing light source is provided between the transfer unit and the fixing unit using a color toner, and a fixing member of the fixing unit is capable of rotating forward and reverse, and a sheet before erasing discharged to the sheet discharging unit. Is provided from the paper discharging means to the paper feeding means via the fixing means and the decoloring light source. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the sheet discharging means for the sheet before erasing and the sub-sheet feeding means for the sheet before erasing are separately provided on the same side of the apparatus main body. The conveying means guides the unerased paper from the fixing means to the discharging means,
Alternatively, there is provided a switching member for guiding the unerased sheet from the sub-sheet feeding means to the fixing means.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the copy mode, the fixing member of the fixing unit is set to the normal rotation mode, the decoloring light source is turned off, and the other units and members are set to the normal copy mode. I do. When the start key is actuated, the operation of the apparatus is started and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor in the same manner as in the prior art, and this electrostatic latent image is visualized by toner in the developing means. Then, the image is transferred to the sheet fed from the sheet feeding unit by the transfer unit, and then conveyed to the fixing member of the fixing unit to fix the visible image, and the unerased sheet is conveyed to the sheet discharging unit by the conveying unit. Be stacked.

In the decoloring mode, the fixing member of the fixing means is set to the reverse rotation mode, the decoloring light source is turned on, and the unerased paper is set in the auxiliary paper feeding means set in place of the paper discharging means.
The conveyance means is a decoloring conveyance mode in which the conveyance means is guided from the paper feeding means to the paper feeding means via the fixing means and the decoloring light source.
Put the member in a non-operational state. When the start key is operated, the unerased sheet is conveyed toward the fixing unit by the conveying unit, heated by the fixing member rotating in the reverse direction in the fixing unit, and irradiated with light by the decoloring light source. The color of the toner is erased, and the toner is conveyed and stored toward the paper feeding unit. When the decolored paper stored in the paper feeding means is reused in this way, the mode switch is operated to set the copy mode, and the start key is operated, in the same manner as in the copy mode described above. Ordinary copying is performed, and the unerased sheet created in this manner is conveyed to the sheet discharging means by the conveying means and stored.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the copy mode, the fixing member of the fixing unit is in the normal rotation mode, the light source for decoloring is turned off, and the transporting unit discharges the unerased sheet from the fixing unit. The mode is the copy transport mode for guiding to. When the start switch is actuated, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor in the same manner as in the copy mode according to the first aspect of the present invention. Then, the image is transferred to the sheet fed from the sheet feeding tray by the transfer unit, and is conveyed to the fixing member of the fixing unit to fix the visible image. The unerased sheet thus created is discharged by the conveying unit. It is conveyed and stored in paper means.

In the decoloring mode, the fixing member of the fixing means is set in the reverse rotation mode, the decoloring light source is turned on, the sheet before decoloring is set in the sub-feeding means, and the conveying means is fixed from the sub-feeding means. And a decoloring conveyance mode in which the paper is guided to the paper feeding means via the decoloring light source. When you activate the start key here,
Before the decoloring sheet in the sub-sheet feeding means is conveyed toward the fixing means and heated by the fixing member which is driven in reverse rotation, the light is emitted by the decoloring light source to erase the toner, The decolored sheet created in this manner is conveyed to and stored in the sheet feeding means. When reusing the decolored paper stored in the paper feeding means in this way, by operating the start key in the copy mode, normal copying is performed in the same manner as in the copy mode. Become.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the same parts as those of the prior art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, a decoloring light source 18 is provided between the transfer unit 4 and the fixing unit 6, and the fixing member 14 of the fixing unit 6 including the heating roller and the pressure roller can be rotated in forward and reverse directions. The paper discharge means 7 is provided with a call roller 12 at the entrance, and a paper discharge tray 17 is removably mounted. In the decoloring mode, an auxiliary paper supply means 8 'is removably mounted in place of the paper discharge means 7. A conveying means having a switching member 19 for guiding the paper from the transfer means 4 to the fixing means 6 or the decolored paper from the fixing means 6 to the paper feeding means 8 is provided between the transfer means 4 and the fixing means 6. Have been.

The operation state of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 separately for the normal copy mode shown in FIG. 1 and the erase mode shown in FIG. . First, in the copy mode, the erasing mode setting key 22 is turned off, and the fixing member 14 of the fixing unit 6 and the sheet discharging unit 7 are set in the normal rotation mode by the fixing and discharging operation unit 26.
18 is turned off by the decoloring means 28, and the transport means is switched
19 is set to a copy transport mode in which the paper 5 is guided from the transfer means 4 to the fixing means 6 by the transport path switching means 27 composed of a solenoid or the like as shown in the figure. The paper feed tray 9 for the completed paper or the new paper 5 is selected, and the other means and members are in the state in the normal copy mode. Here, when the start key 21 is operated to give a signal to the processing circuit 23 by the microcomputer, the operation of the image forming means 24 is started, and the electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive member 2 in the same manner as in the conventional case. The electrostatic latent image is visualized by the toner in the developing unit 3, and the sheet 5 fed from the sheet feeding tray 9 of the sheet feeding unit 8 is formed.
Is transferred to the fixing member 14 of the fixing means 6 by the transfer means, and the visible image is fixed by the conveying means. Is conveyed to the paper discharging means 7 by the conveying means and stored. If the number of copies is set with the numeric keypad 31 before the start of such copy mode work, it is determined that the next copy is present, and the operation returns to the paper feeding operation. I do.

FIG. 2 shows a state in the decoloring mode. In this case, the decoloring mode setting key 22 is turned on to set the decoloring mode, and the fixing member 14 of the fixing means 6 is set in the reverse rotation mode. The erasing light source 18 is turned on by the erasing means 28, and the ejection tray 17 of the ejection means 7 is removed. The paper 5 'is set, and the transport means is set to a decoloring transport mode in which the undecolored paper 5' is transported from the paper discharging means 7 to the paper feeding means 8 through the fixing means 6 and the decoloring light source 18, and in this case, The switching member 19 is switched to the position shown in the figure by the transport path switching means 27, and the other means and members are inoperative. When the start key 21 is actuated, the unerased sheet 5 'is turned on by the reverse sheet feeding operation means.
25, the sheet is sent to the conveying means by the call roller 12 which rotates in the reverse direction, and is conveyed to the fixing means 6 where the fixing and discharging operation means
After being heated by the fixing member 14 rotated in the reverse direction by 26, the toner is erased by irradiating light with the light source 18 for erasing, and the paper 5 after the erasing is still advanced and the switching member 19
The sheet is guided to the sheet feeding means 8 and is conveyed to and stored in the sheet feeding tray 9.

When the erased paper 5 stored in the paper feeding means 8 is reused, the erase mode setting key 22 is turned off to set the copy mode as shown in FIG. By removing the means 8 'from the apparatus main body 1 and setting the paper discharging means 7 in place of it and operating the start key 21, normal copying is performed in the same manner as in the copy mode.

In the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The different parts will mainly be described. In this embodiment, the paper discharging means 7 and the sub-paper feeding means 20 are detachably provided on the same side surface of the apparatus main body 1, and the paper feeding tray 9 is detachably mounted on the sub-paper feeding means 20. In the middle of the auxiliary paper supply means 20 and the fixing means 6, the unerased paper 5 'is fixed from the fixing means 6 to the paper output tray 17 of the paper discharge means 7, or from the paper supply tray 9 of the auxiliary paper supply means 20. A sub-switching member 16 for guiding to the means 6 is provided.

In the second embodiment, when the erasing mode setting key 22 is turned off to set the copy mode, the fixing member 14 of the fixing unit 6 is set in the normal rotation mode as in the first embodiment, and the erasing is performed. The light source 18 for light is turned off, and the switching means 19 guides the paper 5 from the transfer means 4 to the fixing means 6 by the transport path switching means 27 as shown in FIG. Is a copy transport mode in which the fixing unit 6 guides the sheet to the sheet discharging unit 7. Here, when the start switch is operated, the operation of the apparatus is started, and the operation of the image forming means 24 is started as in the first embodiment, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive member 2. Electrostatic latent image is developed by developing means 3
Is transferred to the sheet 5 fed from the sheet feeding tray 9 of the sheet feeding unit 8 by the transfer unit 4, and then guided by the switching member 19 to the fixing member of the fixing unit 6 by the conveying unit. Then, the visible image is fixed to the sheet 14 and the unerased sheet 5 'created in this way is guided by the sub-switching member 16, and is conveyed to the sheet discharging means 7 by the conveying means and stored therein. If the number of copies is set with the numeric keypad 31 before the start of such copy mode work, it is determined that the next copy is present, and the operation returns to the paper feeding operation. I do.

Conversely, when the decoloring mode setting key 22 is turned on to set the decoloring mode, the fixing member 14 of the fixing means 6 is set in the reverse rotation mode as in the first embodiment, and the decoloring light source 18 is set. Is turned on, the unerased sheet 5 'is set in the sub-sheet feeding means 20, the sub-switching member 16 guides the transporting means to the fixing means 6 by the sub-switching member 16, and the switching member 19 turns the un-erased sheet 5 Reference numeral 5 'denotes a decoloring conveyance mode in which the fixing unit 6 guides the sheet to the sheet feeding unit 8.
When the start switch is operated at this point, the unerased paper 5 '
Is conveyed toward the fixing means 6 by the calling roller 12,
After being conveyed to the conveying means and heated by the fixing member 14 rotating in the reverse direction in the fixing means 6, the light is emitted by the decoloring light source 18 to decolor the toner. The sheet 19 is guided by the member 19 toward the sheet feeding means 8 and is conveyed to and stored in the sheet feeding tray 9.

When the decolored paper 5 stored in the paper feeding means 8 is reused in this way, the decoloring mode setting key 22 is turned off to set the copy mode, and a desired paper tray selection key (not shown) is used. When the start key 21 is operated after selecting the sheet feed tray, the normal copy is performed in the same manner as in the copy mode.

Next, in this embodiment, it is determined whether or not there is an interrupt copy. If the interrupt key 32 is off, it is determined whether or not the number is set by the ten keys 31.
If yes, perform the work in the copy mode as described above, and if the interrupt key 32 is on, it is determined that the interrupt work is present, and the decoloring mode work is interrupted to perform the copy work,
After the end of the work, the interrupt input is released and the erasing mode work is restarted. When the start key 21 is turned on, the remaining erasing mode work is restarted.

[0020]

The present invention is as described above. According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a photoreceptor, and a developing means for adhering toner to a latent image formed on the photoreceptor surface to visualize the latent image; A transfer unit that transfers the visible image to a sheet, a sheet feeding unit that supplies a sheet to the transfer unit, a fixing unit that fixes the visible image transferred to the sheet, and a sheet on which the visible image is fixed. In an image forming apparatus provided with a paper discharging means for discharging paper, a decoloring toner which erases an image when exposed to heat and light is used, a decoloring light source is provided between the transfer means and the fixing means, and the fixing is performed. The fixing member of the means can rotate forward and reverse, and a conveying means for conveying the unerased paper discharged to the paper discharging means from the paper discharging means to the paper feeding means via the fixing means and the decoloring light source is provided. Is provided so that paper can pass through members such as the drum unit in the decoloring mode. Therefore, the drive is stopped so that these members do not rotate, and at that time, not only does the paper conveyed collide with them and shorten their life, but also the occurrence of jams is prevented, Also, by adding a simple design to a normal image forming apparatus, it can be used for both copy and decoloring modes, so there is no need to separately install one for both modes, and it is inexpensive and has a large installation space. Is not required, and since the sheet can be conveyed from the sheet discharging means to the fixing means in the decoloring mode, there is an effect that the conveying path for that purpose can be short and the movable part can be small. The invention described in claim 2 is
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the means for discharging the unerased paper and the means for feeding the unerased paper are separately provided on the same side of the apparatus main body, and the transport means is provided with the unerased paper. A switching member is provided to guide the fixing unit to the sheet discharging unit or to guide the sheet before erasing from the sub-sheet feeding unit to the fixing unit. It is only necessary to feed the previous sheet using the sub-sheet feeding means, and there is an effect that interrupt copying can be performed without removing the sheet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional front view showing a state in a copy mode according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional front view showing a state in the above-described decoloring mode.

FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional front view showing a state in a copy mode according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an operation mode when a mode is selected in each of the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the same operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Photoreceptor 4 Transfer means 5 Paper 5 'Paper before erasing 6 Fixing means 7 Discharge means 8, 8' Feeding means 13 Transport member 14 Fixing member 16 Sub-switching member 18 Decoloring light source 19 Switching member 20 Auxiliary paper source 21 Start key 22 Decoloring mode setting key 23 Processing circuit 24 Image forming unit 30 Paper tray selection key

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 21/00 G03G 21/00 570-578

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A photoreceptor, a developing unit for attaching a toner to a latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor to visualize the latent image, a transfer unit for transferring the visible image to paper, and a transfer unit In an image forming apparatus including a sheet feeding unit for supplying a sheet, a fixing unit for fixing a visible image transferred to the sheet, and a sheet discharging unit for discharging the sheet on which the visible image has been fixed, heat is generated. A decoloring toner that erases the image when exposed to light, a decoloring light source is provided between the transfer unit and the fixing unit, and the fixing member of the fixing unit can be rotated in forward and reverse directions. An image forming apparatus comprising: a conveying unit that conveys a sheet before erasing discharged from the sheet discharging unit to a sheet feeding unit via a fixing unit and a decoloring light source. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a sheet discharging unit for the sheet before erasing and a sub-sheet feeding unit for the sheet before erasing, which are separately provided on the same side of the apparatus body.
2. The transporting means according to claim 1, further comprising a switching member for guiding the unerased paper from the fixing means to the paper discharging means or for guiding the unerased paper from the auxiliary paper feeding means to the fixing means.
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1.