JP3351200B2 - Electrophotographic printing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing desired print information on a print medium, and more particularly, to a non-impact printing method for a booklet (for example, a bankbook used in a bank) in which a plurality of sheets are bound. The present invention relates to an electrophotographic print processing apparatus for printing with high quality by using the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional printing apparatus for booklets or the like,
The impact method typified by the wire dot has been dominant, but in order to further increase the processing speed of printing and to enable high quality printing, it has recently been used as a thermal, ink jet or electrophotographic printing device. LBP (L
A printing apparatus using a non-impact method such as an “Aser Beam Printer” has been devised. But,
In reality, this non-impact type printing device is limited to single-thickness paper sheets such as cut sheets and cut sheets as print media that can be used, and there are many uneasy elements for booklet printing devices. Is extremely difficult.

An example of this type of related device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-340124.

[0004]

In the above prior art, media to be handled in an electrophotographic printing apparatus include:
When printing a booklet such as a passbook or the like with a stitch, which is limited to sheets of uniform thickness such as cut sheets and cut paper, using a method of electrophotography, a transport roller for nipping and transporting the booklet In the vicinity of the booklet, the booklet itself moves due to the step of the binding of the booklet, and high-precision conveyance does not work well. At the printing unit that prints print information on the booklet, printing is missing or printing is shifted. was there. In addition, a passbook, which is an example of a booklet, is a form in which customers open and view it every day, even though they sometimes have the opportunity to carry it outside or, in some cases, hand it to a third party, Until now, no method or means has been adopted to clean the bacteria by reducing bacteria.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable transport performance not only for a sheet having a uniform thickness such as a cut sheet or a cut sheet, but also for a bound booklet as a medium to be handled in printing. An object of the present invention is to provide a small and simple electrophotographic printing apparatus which enables high-quality printing while ensuring the printing.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a compact and simple electrophotographic printing apparatus capable of realizing a clean operation by reducing bacteria of booklets.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object,
A printing unit in an electrophotographic printing apparatus having a printing unit that prints desired printing information on a printing medium in an electrophotographic manner includes a photosensitive drum that transfers an image of the printing information to a printing medium, and a transferred print. A fixing roller for fixing the image of the information by heating the image, and in the case of a printing process on a print medium conveyed from the insertion port, each of the photosensitive drum and the fixing roller is separated from the photosensitive drum by the fixing roller. When returning to the insertion slot without performing print processing on the print medium, each of the photoconductor drum and the fixing roller moves in the transport direction. This is achieved by configuring the motor to reverse in the negative direction.

[0008] Further, the conveying roller pitch of the electrophotographic printing unit is set to less than half of the open booklet, and the pressure roller adjacent to the photosensitive drum and the fixing roller is driven on both sides,
In addition, there are provided means which can be electrically opened and closed freely and means which can control the heating temperature of the fixing roller freely. The transport speed of the booklet is detected to enable feedback to the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum, and a pressure roller in contact with the photosensitive drum and the fixing roller is provided as a support for the booklet of the left-right opening type. The hardness is set to an appropriate hardness at which the binding of the booklet can escape, and further, in the pressure roller, at a position where the binding of the booklet passes,
A configuration is provided in which a space is provided to allow the binding to escape.

In the present invention, during the printing process of an open booklet (passbook), the photosensitive drum and the pressure roller adjacent to the fixing roller are driven on both sides, so that the passbook is stable and reliable. Transport can be realized. Then, just before the binding of the passbook reaches the photoconductor drum, the pressure roller in contact with the photoconductor drum is opened, so that there is no increase in transport resistance due to a step at the binding of the passbook, and the passbook is smooth. Reliable transport can be continued. At this time, since the transport roller pitch between the photosensitive drum and the fixing roller is set to be equal to or less than の of the length of the open passbook, even if one of the transport rollers is opened, it is no longer possible. One of the transport rollers is closed, so that reliable and stable transport of the passbook can be realized. If there is a certain difference between the rotation speed of the photoconductor drum and the transport speed of the passbook, the rotation speed of the photoconductor drum is controlled by controlling the rotation speed of the photoconductor drum. A high printing quality electrophotographic printing apparatus in which the deviation of the transport speed, that is, the deviation of the printing is set to a certain value or less can be obtained.

[0010] Also, in printing a left-right-opening type passbook having a vertical binding at the center of the passbook, the photosensitive drum and the pressure roller in contact with the fixing roller are appropriately soft. Because of that, and because there is a space for the relief at the position of the binding on the pressure roller, escape the binding part,
An electrophotographic printing apparatus in which the passbook is uniformly close to the photosensitive drum and the fixing roller, and which can realize high quality printing can be provided.

[0011] Further, regardless of the presence or absence of the printing process by the fixing roller, the passbook is always heated and controlled to control the heating temperature, thereby reducing bacteria such as staphylococci in the passbook. It can also be cleaned. By these actions, a small and high quality electrophotographic printing apparatus can be obtained.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an electrophotographic printing apparatus for booklets and the like will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which an electrophotographic printing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a passbook printer 1 for printing booklets or the like (hereinafter, a passbook is shown as a specific example).
The operation of the internal structure of the passbook printer 1 will be described below.

The passbook printer 1 is a printing device usually used when a user writes a passbook or the like. Reference numeral 2 denotes an insertion slot used when the user inserts the passbook 30 into the passbook printer 1. . Subsequently, a sensor 3A for detecting that the bankbook 30 has been inserted, a transport roller 5A for transporting the bankbook 30, and further a sensor 3B, a transport roller toward the back (left side in the drawing) of the printing apparatus. 5B is provided. Further, a sensor 3C is installed toward the back, and the position of the passbook 30 is known by the detection of the passbook 30 by the sensor 3C, and an image of a page mark, a print line, or the like printed on the passbook 30 is read from the position. A reading unit 6 and an MS reading / writing unit 7 for reading / writing information of a magnetic stripe (abbreviated as MS) mounted on the passbook 30 are provided. The subsequent transport roller 5C is a transport means for transporting the passbook 30 to the printing section at the rear. As will be described later, the shorter the distance from the printing section, the more accurately the passbook 30 can be guided to the printing section.

A sensor 3D for detecting the passbook 30 is provided behind the transport roller 5C, and a photosensitive section 9 and a fixing section 19 are further provided as printing sections for performing electrophotographic printing thereafter.

First, the photosensitive section 9 will be described. The photosensitive unit 9 is arranged around the photosensitive drum 10 around the photosensitive drum 10 for performing electrophotographic printing by directly contacting the passbook 30. Above the photosensitive drum 10, a charger 11 for charging the photosensitive drum 10 to a uniform potential and a charger 11 for forming a print image to be printed on the passbook 30 on the charged photosensitive drum 10. Exposure unit 1
2. Toner from the toner portion 8 and a toner portion (also referred to as a developing device) 8 for making the printed image of the electric charge on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 10 a normally visible image, and adhere to the photoreceptor drum 10 An attachment portion 13 is provided for the attachment. Photosensitive section 9
A pressure roller 15 </ b> A for pressing the print image formed of the toner on the surface of the photoconductor drum 10 onto the passbook 30 from below is provided below the conveyance path 27. On the left side of the drawing, there is provided a roller cleaner 14 for removing and collecting toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 10 after the transfer to the passbook 30 is completed. Next, the fixing unit 19 will be described. Fixing unit 19
Is a fixing roller 20 for fixing a print image of the passbook 30 printed by the photosensitive unit 9 by the toner, and fixing the toner (print image) to the passbook 30 by heating and generating heat by itself; Contact with this fixing roller 20,
A pressure roller 15B is provided for pressing the passbook 30 from below when fixing the print. The sensor 4 is provided between the photosensitive unit 9 and the fixing unit 19, and detects the leading end of the passbook 30.
The vertical movement when the A.15B is pressed is controlled.

On the other hand, behind the fixing unit 19, there are a page change roller 21 and a page change lever 22 for performing a page change operation of the passbook 30, and the conveyance of the passbook 30 is detected further toward the back. Sensor 3E, and a transport roller 5 for transporting the passbook 30
D is provided. Immediately thereafter, a collection box 23 for collecting the passbook 30 and a sensor 3F for detecting the remaining passbook 30 are provided.

In addition, the passbook printer 1, which is a printing apparatus of the present invention, includes a transport motor 35 for driving the transport rollers 5A to 5D, a control unit 31 for controlling the entire apparatus of the passbook printer 1, and a control unit for the control unit 31. In addition to the unit 31, a power supply 36 for supplying power to each function is provided.

Here, an electrophotographic printing method as an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The electrophotographic printing method is one of the non-impact methods, in which the printing process is much faster than the wire dot impact method, and furthermore, it is possible to perform high quality printing process.

In the photosensitive section 9, the photosensitive drum 10 is charged to a uniform potential by the charger 11 by utilizing the photoconductive phenomenon of light, and then the electrostatic charge is charged on the photosensitive drum 10 by the exposure unit 12. (Also referred to as an electrostatic latent image), that is, an image of print information is formed, and charged fine particles (also referred to as toner) having a polarity opposite to that of the formed photosensitive drum 10 are transferred to the toner portion 8 and the adhesion portion 13. Thus, the electrostatic latent image is adhered to the electrostatic latent image by electrostatic force to form a visible image. The print information that has become a visible image is the photosensitive drum 1
By contacting the passbook 30 with 0, a charge having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to the passbook 30, and the toner is transferred to the printing surface of the passbook 30.
Then, in the fixing unit 19, by applying heat to the toner on the printing surface of the passbook 30 by contact between the fixing roller 20 configured to generate heat and the passbook 30, a desired image (the above-described print information) is passed to the passbook 30. The image is fixed and fixed on the printing surface to realize printing.

FIG. 2 shows a passbook 30 used in the passbook printer 1 of the present invention. As is clear from the drawing, the passbook 30 is opened up and down. As described above, electrophotographic printing is performed on the passbook 30 by the printing unit (corresponding to). With respect to the transport direction of the passbook printer 1,
Is set to Ls in this case. Near the half of the width Ls of the passbook 30, a binding portion 31 for closing each page of the passbook 30 is provided.

FIG. 3 shows the photosensitive section 9 and the fixing section 1 in FIG.
9 shows a detailed view when the passbook 30 shown in FIG.

As is clear from the drawing, the passbook 30 is on the transport path 27. When the passbook 30 moves in the transport direction from right to left in the drawing, the cylindrical photosensitive drum 10 installed in the photosensitive unit 9 rotates in the positive direction in the X direction of the arrow with the center A shown in the drawing as a fulcrum. While rotating toward the same, it contacts the passbook 30 to transfer an image of print information. On the other hand, the cylindrical fixing roller 20 installed in the fixing section 19 rotates in the X direction of the arrow with the center B shown in the drawing as a fulcrum, and contacts the passbook 30 to transfer the above-described transferred print information. Establish. Further, the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing roller 19 are bound by a bound passbook 30 (however, although not shown, the width of the passbook is approximately 1/2 L
s) is returned to the user or the like from the insertion slot 2 shown in FIG. 1, so that it is possible to reversely rotate in the Y direction with the centers A and B as fulcrums. As a result, the passbook printer 1 functions as a transfer means for assisting the transfer of the bound passbook 30. Therefore, it is not necessary to newly install another transfer roller or the like, and the passbook printer 1
It also leads to downsizing.

Here, the structure by installing the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing roller 19 will be briefly described. LR shown in the drawing indicates the width of the interval from the center A of the photosensitive drum 10 to the center B of the fixing roller 20, and LS indicates that the passbook 30 is opened in the vertical direction as described in FIG. Indicates the width of the interval from the top to the bottom of the hour. As is clear from this figure, the interval LR between the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing roller 20 is smaller than half (1/2) of the width Ls of the passbook 30. Thus, the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing roller 20 are connected to the passbook printer. 1.

A sensor 4 is provided between the photosensitive section 9 and the fixing section 19, and controls the depression of the pressure rollers 15A and 15B, which will be described later, by detecting the leading end of the passbook 30. By passing the step of the binding portion 31, the passbook 30 can be transported with high performance. That is, when the binding portion 31 of the passbook 30 passes through the positions of the fixing roller 20 and the pressure roller 15B, the transport speed of the passbook 30 changes due to a change in the thickness of the passbook 30, and the print information from the photosensitive drum 10 to the passbook 30 is printed. When the image is transferred, the image is transferred with distortion. Therefore, when the binding passes through the rollers 20 and 15B, the respective rollers are pushed down to avoid the step and perform stable conveyance.

Next, the passbook 30 is used as the passbook printer 1 of the present invention.
The operation during transport and printing will be described with reference to FIGS.

When the passbook 30 is conveyed in the conveying direction from right to left as described in FIG. 3, the leading end of the passbook 30 is held between the photosensitive drum 10 and the pressure roller 15A as shown in FIG. At the same time, the conveyance roller 5C and the pressure roller 28
Is sandwiched between. Here, the tip position of the passbook 30 is
When the detection is performed, the control unit 24 sends the detection information to the control unit 24 shown in FIG.
, The binding part 31 of the passbook 30
Calculates (detects) the timing at which the roller reaches the engagement point between the transport roller 5C and the pressure roller 28. Accordingly, at the calculated timing, the control unit 24 controls the opening and closing of the pressure roller 28 to open in the direction a shown in the figure. Pressure roller 2
By opening the lower portion 8 in the direction a, it is possible to avoid the deviation of the step near the transport roller 5C of the binding portion 31 of the passbook 30, and it is possible to carry out the transport with high accuracy and to perform high-quality printing by the photosensitive drum 10. Becomes possible.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the leading end of the passbook 30 has a photosensitive drum 10 and a pressure roller 15A.
Is sandwiched between. This is because the distance between the photosensitive drum 10 and the transport roller 5C is １ ／ of that of the open passbook 30 described in FIG.
This is achieved by arranging them at a distance of less than or equal to (ie, less than １ ／ Ls). Thereby, even if the pressure roller 28 is opened in the direction a from the transport roller 5C,
As shown in FIG. 5, the passbook 30 is held between the photoconductor drum 10 and the pressure roller 15A so that when one of the rollers is separated from the passbook 30, the other
0 is pinched. The passbook 30 is stably conveyed and the photosensitive drum 10
, Desired print information is transferred. Passbook 3
0 is conveyed, and the binding portion 31 of the passbook 30 is
After passing through the pressure roller 28 and the pressure roller 28, the control unit 24 counts the timing (the passbook width and the like are known) and controls the same to move the pressure roller 28 in the direction of the arrow b to bring the closed state having the original conveyance force. I do.

When the print information is further transferred on the photosensitive drum 10 while the passbook 30 is further conveyed, the sensor 4 detects the position of the leading end of the passbook 30 and the Binding portion 31 of the photosensitive drum 1
0 and a position reaching the pressure roller 15A are determined, and the opening and closing control of the pressure roller 15A is performed (FIGS. 6 and 7). Subsequently, the opening / closing control of the pressure roller 15B of the fixing roller 20 is sequentially performed, so that the passbook 3
Since the cause of instability of conveyance caused by the step of the 0 stitch portion 31 is eliminated, high-precision conveyance becomes possible, and high-quality printing becomes possible.

As described above, while the passbook 30 is being conveyed and printed, the opening and closing control of the pressure rollers 28, 15A, 15B and the like is performed in accordance with the detection of each sensor. Since each step of the binding portion 31 is avoided, it is possible to prevent a printing shift due to a change in the transport speed caused by the step difference.

FIG. 9 shows a pressure roller 15 disposed below the photosensitive drum 10 which also has a function of transporting the passbook A30.
3A is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a pressure roller 15B disposed below a fixing roller 20. FIG. However, since the transport function and the structure of the pressure rollers 15A and 15B are the same, only one example of the relationship between the photosensitive drum 10 and the pressure roller 15A will be described in detail.

At one end of the photosensitive drum 10, there is a gear 32A, a gear 32B engaged with the gear 32A, and
If the center of the gear 32B is a fulcrum 33, this fulcrum 3
3, the link 16A is provided in the "C" shape. Further, on this link 16A, there is provided a gear 32D which engages with the gear 32B and transmits driving force to the pressure roller 15A.
Is provided.

At the end of the link 16A, there is provided a spring 17A for pressing the pressure roller 15A against the photosensitive drum 10 at an appropriate pressure, and a solenoid 18A for controlling the opening and closing of the pressure roller 15A. Is provided. When the solenoid 18A is pulled in the direction f, the link 16A is pulled in the direction e with the fulcrum 33 as a fulcrum, and the opening and closing of the photosensitive drum 10 and the pressure roller 15A can be controlled. Further, by adding a motor for driving the photosensitive drum 10, the pressure roller 15A is rotated by the rotation of each of the gears 32A to 32D, so that it can be configured with a small number of man-hours. Has the effect of establishing

In the embodiment described above, the description has been made centering on the passbook 30 which is opened up and down as shown in FIG.
Another embodiment of a left-right passbook as shown in FIG. 10 will be described. As is clear from the drawing, the bankbook 40 that is opened from left to right has a stitch in the central vertical direction. The pressure roller 15A and the fixing roller 15 of the photosensitive drum 10 transfer the desired print information to the right-and-left opening passbook 40 on the photosensitive drum 10 and fix the transfer by the fixing roller 20, respectively. 20 Pressure Rollers 1
5B, a relief 43 is provided at the longitudinal center of each pressure roller 42 (at the position corresponding to the binding portion 41 of the passbook 40). Due to the structure of the pressure roller, problems such as deviation of print information on the photosensitive drum 10 do not occur. As shown in the figure, in order to stabilize the conveyance of the right-and-left opening passbook 40 having a vertical binding at the center of the passbook, which is a special passbook, and to improve the quality of printing, the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing roller It is characterized in that the pressure roller has a hardness of 20 so that it can be deformed by sufficiently following the swelling of the binding of the passbook.

However, the passbook printer 1 described in detail with reference to FIGS.
This does not mean that the passbook cannot be used. For example, if the passbook 40 is inserted from the left side (or may be the right side) of the passbook 40 that is opened from the insertion slot 2 in FIG.

Next, the user enters the passbook printer 1 of the present invention.
The transaction processing when the passbook 30 is inserted from the insertion slot 2 will be described in detail according to the control flow of FIG.

First, the passbook 30 sucked from the insertion slot 2 (step 101) is detected by the sensor 3A, and is sequentially driven by the transport motor 25 by the transport roller 5A and the transport roller 5B. The passbook printer 1 is conveyed toward the back of the apparatus. Next, the image reading section (IMR) 6 takes in the page information of the opened page of the passbook 30 being conveyed and the print line information (step 102). Then, the MS reading unit 7 reads information necessary for processing, for example, an account number or the like, of the magnetic stripe (MS) of the passbook 30 (step 1).
03). After that, it communicates with the host (step 10
4), collation of the passbook to be processed and reception of information necessary for the transaction processing, for example, information to be printed on the passbook, pages to be printed, information on the magnetic stripe to be updated, etc. If there is no, a process such as a printing process is performed, or a page changing process is performed by the page changing roller 21 or the like (steps 105 to 109). The procedure of the printing process (step 105) will be described in detail below.

As described above, before the passbook 30 is printed, the photosensitive drum 1 is charged by the charger 11 in the photosensitive section 9.
0 is uniformly charged, and desired print information is formed as an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 10 by the exposure device 12. And
Toner box 8 and toner adhering section 13
Is attached to the above-described electrostatic latent image to convert it into a visible image. Next, when actually performing the printing process on the passbook 30 (step 110)
Indicates that the tip of the conveyed passbook 30 is the photosensitive drum 10
, The visible image of the toner is transferred to the paper by the contact of the photosensitive drum 10 and the action of the pressure roller 15A, and the leading end of the passbook is conveyed to the next fixing unit 19. On the other hand, the binding portion 31 of the passbook 30 is
(Step 111), the pressure roller 15A disposed below the photosensitive drum 10 is opened, and the step of the binding portion 31 is bypassed (step 112). Subsequently, after confirming that the binding portion 31 has passed the photosensitive drum 10 (step 113), the pressure roller 15
A is closed (step 114). At this time, when desired print information is printed also in a range below the vertically opened passbook 30 described in FIG. 2, the print information is transferred by the photosensitive drum 10. On the other hand, the fixing unit 19 presupposes that the passbook 30 is conveyed, heats the fixing roller 20 to a temperature suitable for fixing the toner on the paper surface, and controls the fixing roller 20 and the pressure roller 15B. When the passbook 30 is nipped and conveyed by the action, toner representing print content is fixed on the paper surface by heat. At this time, the binding portion 31 of the passbook 30 is
0 (step 115), and the pressure roller 15B disposed below the fixing roller 19 is opened (step 11), similarly to the conveyance control of the photosensitive unit 9.
6) When the binding portion 31 passes through the fixing roller 20 (step 117), the pressure roller 15B is closed (step 118).

When the passbook 30 is transported, the pressure roller 15A of the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing roller 20
And the pressure rollers 15B are driven, so that a reliable and stable conveying force can be applied to the passbook 30. The pressure rollers 15A and 15B of the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing roller 20 described above with reference to FIG. 9 have a structure that can be opened and closed under the control of the control unit 24 in FIG. , Passbook 30 to each roller
(I.e., the opening and closing of the pressure roller 15A of the photosensitive drum 10 and the pressure roller 15B of the fixing roller 20 are exactly the same operation, just before the step reaches). Here, the pressure roller A10 of the photosensitive drum 9 will be described as a representative), and the solenoid 18
By sucking A, the link 16A rotates about the fulcrum 33, and the pressure roller 15A opens in a direction (e direction) where clearance can be formed with respect to the photosensitive drum 10. At this time, the rotational driving force of the pressure roller 15A can always transmit a stable driving force because the gear pitch among the gears 32A, 32B, 32C, and 32D does not change regardless of the opening / closing operation.

On the other hand, when the binding portion 31 of the passbook 30 passes through the photosensitive drum 10, the solenoid 18A is turned off, and the pressure roller 15 is restored by the restoring force of the spring 17A.
A closes. Similarly, the pressure roller 15B is opened by sucking the solenoid 18B immediately before the binding portion 31 of the passbook 30 reaches the fixing roller 20, and is closed by turning off the solenoid 18B after the binding portion 31 passes. . By the operation of the pressure roller described above, the passbook 30 can perform stable and smooth conveyance, that is, high-quality printing, without making the step of the binding problem a problem. By the way, passbook 3
Toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 10 because the toner cannot be transferred to
Is removed and collected by a roller cleaner 14 in the photosensitive section 9.

As described above, the embodiment in which the rotation of the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing roller 20 is controlled by the rotational movement of the pressure roller has been described.
Also, the present invention can be implemented by adopting a configuration in which the driving system of the fixing roller 20 can be rotated by independent driving without passing through the above-mentioned link. It is obvious that the pressure roller can be fixed, and the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing roller 20 can be opened and closed vertically.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the operation of the fixing roller 20 in the fixing section 19 for sterilizing the passbook 30 which is an example of a booklet. After detecting whether or not the passbook 30 is being conveyed along the conveyance path 27 by the sensors 3A to 3D shown in FIG. 1 (step 121), the photosensitive unit 9 searches for whether or not the passbook 30 is in a printing process. During the printing process, the transport control of the printing process described with reference to FIG. 11 is performed by each transport roller and the pressure roller.
Has reached the fixing roller 20 (step 123), the fixing roller 20 heats the passbook 30 (step 124). This heat treatment is performed by setting the temperature at a temperature that can sterilize various germs attached to the passbook 30 and extend folds and wrinkles of the passbook 30. Then, passbook 3
After confirming that 0 has deviated from the fixing roller 20 (step 125), the heating of the fixing roller 20 is stopped (step 126).

As described above, the passbook printer 1 according to the present invention
The fixing roller 20 is heated during the transport operation for reading the image information of the page immediately before the new passbook 30 is input and before the printing process is performed, so that the passing passbook 30 is appropriately heated. Various bacteria such as staphylococci adhering to the passbook 30 can be sterilized, and cleansing, wrinkles, and rectification can be performed.

Here, the temperature of the fixing roller 20 is about 140 to
180 ° C. The transport speed of the passbook 30 when passing through the fixing roller 20 is set to the normal mode (the photosensitive drum 10).
At the time of printing with the fixing roller 20) is about 50 mm
/ S, and about 190 mm / s at other times (such as when reading the pages of the passbook 30 or when sterilizing with the fixing roller 20).
Since the passbook 30 passes through the fixing roller 20 at such a transport speed, various bacteria such as staphylococci can be sterilized at the above-mentioned heating temperature. The automatic transaction apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-168965 discloses sterilizing Staphylococcus aureus attached to banknotes. Specifically, when the conveyance speed in the passbook printer 1 is set to 1.2 m / s, the heating time at the fixing roller 20 is set to 0.05 to 0.15 seconds, and the heating temperature is set to 140 ° C. or more, the yellow grape It is disclosed that the bacterium can be reduced by 90% or more, which indicates that a passbook conveyed at a low speed can be sufficiently sterilized at the heating temperature used for fixing. Becomes Therefore, it can be sterilized at the same time as printing the passbook. Furthermore, even when printing is not performed, the fixing roller 20 can be heated and sterilized by inserting the passbook 30 into the passbook printer 1.

Next, control of the photosensitive drum 10 based on the speed difference between the photosensitive drum 10 and the passbook 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. However, in the photosensitive section 9 of the passbook printer 1, during the transfer (printing process) to the passbook 30,
Although the transport speed of the passbook 30 is monitored and detected, the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 10 is set to “VK” and the transport speed of the passbook 30 is set to “VS” in order to simplify the following description. The allowable speed difference is "S". This allowable speed difference indicates a value at which high-quality printing can be maintained on the photosensitive drum 10.

First, it is confirmed that the passbook 30 is being conveyed along the conveyance path 27 (step 131), and it is confirmed that the passbook 30 is being printed (transferred) in the photosensitive section 9 (step 132). Subsequently, the difference "| VK-VS |" between the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 10 and the transport speed of the passbook 30 is compared with the allowable speed difference "S" (step 133). "│
If "VK-VS│" is equal to or less than "S", the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 10 is not controlled, but if "│VK-VS│" is equal to or more than "S" (step 134), for example, "VK-VS│"VS> S, the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 10 is
If the conveyance speed is faster than 0 and the speed difference is out of the range of the allowable speed difference, control is performed to reduce the rotation speed of the photoconductor drum 10 (step 135), and the photoconductor is controlled as "VK-VS <S". If the rotation speed of the drum 10 is lower than the transport speed of the passbook 30 and the speed difference is out of the range of the allowable speed difference, control is performed to increase the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 10 (step 136). By controlling the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 10 to increase or decrease in this way, stable conveyance is established and transfer in the photosensitive unit 9 is stabilized, so that high quality printing on the passbook 30 can be achieved.

The final processing of the passbook printer 1 will be briefly described. When printing of one page of the passbook 30 is completed and a new page is required, the page change roller 21 and the page change roller 21 shown in FIG. A page break is performed in a page change section composed of a change lever 22,
Further, when the printing process or the like is continued, or when all the printing processes on the passbook 30 are completed, the passbook 3 is output by the MS reading unit 7 as necessary.
The information of the magnetic stripe (MS) of 0 is updated, and processing such as returning the passbook 30 to the user from the insertion slot 2 is performed.

As described above, the passbook printer 1 of the present invention is an electrophotographic printing device, and has high quality not only for passbooks but also for print media of uniform thickness such as cut sheets and cut sheets. Printing can be processed. As described above, even when printing a booklet having a binding in the center, when the step of the booklet passes over the photosensitive drum and the fixing roller, the opening and closing of the adjacent pre-roller is controlled and the pre-roller is controlled. By driving the rollers on both sides, a stable conveying force is given, and high quality printing can be realized. Further, by detecting the transport speed of the booklet and being able to feed back to the speed of the photosensitive drum, higher printing quality can be realized. Further, by controlling the heat of the transfer roller, it is possible to not only fix the print on the booklet, but also to reduce bacteria such as staphylococci attached to the booklet, to clean the paper and to smooth the paper. Therefore, it is possible to provide a small and inexpensive electrophotographic printing apparatus having excellent printing quality.

[0049]

According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, stable and reliable conveyance can be realized not only for a cut sheet or a cut sheet having a uniform thickness but also for a booklet such as a passbook having a binding in the middle. High quality printing is possible, and a small and inexpensive electrophotographic printing apparatus can be realized.

Further, the passbook is heated by a fixing roller to sterilize germs such as staphylococci and can be cleaned, and wrinkles and breaks of the passbook can be extended. As a result, the transport reliability is increased, and a highly reliable electrophotographic printing apparatus with less jam can be realized.

[0051]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall internal structural diagram of a passbook printer 1 which is an embodiment of an electrophotographic printing device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a vertically open passbook 30 of one embodiment among print media used in the passbook printer 1 of FIG. 1;

3 is an enlarged detailed configuration diagram of a photosensitive unit 9 and a fixing unit 19, which are printing units in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram when a passbook 30 having a binding portion 31 is conveyed in the passbook printer 1;

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram when a passbook 30 having a binding portion 31 is conveyed in the passbook printer 1;

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram when a passbook 30 having a binding portion 31 is conveyed inside the passbook printer 1;

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram when a passbook 30 having a binding portion 31 is conveyed inside the passbook printer 1;

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory diagram when a passbook 30 having a binding portion 31 is conveyed in the passbook printer 1;

FIG. 9 shows the photosensitive drum 10 and the pressure roller 1 shown in FIG.
Detailed configuration diagram of 5A

FIG. 10 is a detailed structural view of a pressure roller when used in the passbook printer 1;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating overall operation control of the passbook printer 1 and transport control in print processing.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a heating process in the fixing roller 20;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a rotation control method of the photosensitive drum 10.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-passbook printer 2-insertion opening 3A-3F-sensor
4-Sensor 5A-D-Conveying Roller 6-Image Reading Unit 7-M
S reading section 8-toner box section 9-photosensitive section 10-photosensitive drum 11-charger 12-exposure device 13-toner attaching section 1
4-roller cleaner 15A and B-pressure roller 16A and B-link 17A and B-spring 18A and B-solenoid 19-fixing unit 20-fixing roller 21-page change roller 22-page change lever 23-
Collection box 24-Control unit 25-Transport motor 26-Power supply 27-Transport path 28-
Pressure roller 30-passbook 31-stitch part 32A-D-gear 33
-Support point 40-Left-right opening passbook 41-Binding part 42-Pressure roller 43-Nige

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-262815 (JP, A) JP-A-62-163063 (JP, A) JP-A-55-105570 (JP, A) (58) Investigation Field (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 B41J 13/26

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An electrophotographic printing apparatus for printing desired print information in an electrophotographic manner on a booklet having a binding portion, wherein the booklet is brought into contact with the booklet conveyed from an insertion slot and rotated in the conveying direction. A photosensitive drum that transfers the desired print information to the booklet; a first pressure roller that sandwiches the booklet with the photosensitive drum and rotates in the transport direction of the passbook; A fixing roller that contacts the booklets conveyed from the drum and rotates in the conveying direction, and that fixes the print information of the booklets transferred by the photoconductor drum by a heating process; and A second pressure roller that is pinched and rotates in the direction of transport of the passbooks; and the booklets are transported from the insertion slot to the photoconductor drum, and the photoconductor drum and the first If between the train roller seam portion of the booklet such passes, first
The pressure roller is controlled so as to increase the distance between the pressure roller and the photosensitive drum, and the booklet is conveyed from the photosensitive drum toward the fixing roller, and the booklet is moved between the fixing roller and the second pressure roller. A control unit that controls the second pressure roller to open the gap between the fixing roller and the second pressure roller when the binding portion of the booklet passes; and a control unit that is disposed between the photosensitive drum and the fixing roller. ,
And a sensor for detecting the booklet, the control unit, when receiving a detection signal indicating that the booklet has been detected from the sensor, the received detection signal and the preset booklet An electrophotographic printing apparatus, wherein opening and closing of the first and second pressure rollers are controlled based on a transport speed. 2. An electrophotographic printing method for printing desired print information on a booklet in an electrophotographic manner, wherein the print information is transferred to the booklet conveyed from an insertion slot. Detecting the transport speed of the booklet, comparing the difference between the transfer speed of transferring the print information to the booklet and the transport speed of the booklet, and the difference in the speed is within a range of a preset value. Controlling the transfer speed for transferring the print information as described above.