JP3966271B2 - Image forming apparatus and positioning method of image forming apparatus and automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to positioning of an automatic document feeder and an image forming apparatus.

In recent years, an automatic document feeder has been installed as an option for image forming apparatuses. The automatic document feeder continuously feeds documents to the reading unit, reads the images of the conveyed documents, stores the read images, and stores them. There has been proposed an image forming apparatus that reads out images and outputs prints continuously. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-80839 (paragraph numbers 0032 to 0037 FIG. 2)

  In the conventional image forming apparatus, a positioning pin for positioning the automatic document feeder on the upper surface thereof, and a scooping up of the document conveyed to the slit glass surface disposed at the reading position of the image forming apparatus to the automatic document feeder again Some are provided with a member.

  The automatic document feeder has a positioning hole into which the positioning pin for positioning with the image forming apparatus is inserted. When the automatic document feeder is set in the image forming apparatus, the positioning pin is provided with a positioning hole. Positioning was performed by fitting together.

  However, the reading optical system (for example, first, second, and third mirrors to be described later) of the document reading device has a processing accuracy and an assembly accuracy to determine the document conveyance direction by the reading optical system and the automatic document conveyance device at the document image reading position. Is not necessarily a right angle.

  If it does not form a right angle, the read image data is distorted, and for example, a square document image becomes a diamond.

  In order to prevent this, it is necessary to position the automatic document feeder in accordance with the optical system (for example, the first mirror).

  However, by this fine adjustment, the optical system (for example, the first mirror) and the document conveyance direction are perpendicular to each other, but the scooping member disposed in the image forming apparatus remains in its original position. The gap between the transport drum and the scooping member changes, which may cause an output image defect or a document transport defect.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and does not require a complicated operation in the position adjustment between the automatic document feeder and the image forming apparatus, and does not cause a defective output image or a poorly conveyed document. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a simple structure and a method for positioning an image forming apparatus and an automatic document feeder.

  The above object can be achieved by the following means.

(1) Positioning means having a positioning member for positioning the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder, a reading unit for reading an image of a document conveyed by the automatic document feeder positioned by the positioning means, and a reading In an image forming apparatus provided with a scooping member that scoops a subsequent document into an automatic document feeder,
Said positioning means and said the scoop member, said while being disposed on the upper surface side of the automatic document feeder opposite to the image forming apparatus, are integrally moved direction end,
An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder can be positioned only by adjusting the position of the positioning means when the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder are positioned.

(2) The positioning means has a plate shape and is disposed on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus so that the mounting position can be changed.
The positioning member and the scooping member are disposed on a surface of the positioning unit facing the automatic document conveying device so as to protrude toward the automatic document conveying device.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scooping member is disposed at a predetermined position with respect to the positioning member.

(3) An image forming apparatus having a reading unit for reading a document image and an automatic document feeder, a positioning unit having a positioning member for positioning, and a scooping member for scooping up the document into the automatic document feeder are the automatic It is integrally arranged on the upper surface of the reading unit facing the document conveying device ,
After changing the mounting position of the positioning means with respect to the position of the reading unit, only the positioning means is fixed to the image forming apparatus, thereby enabling positioning of the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder. An image forming apparatus positioning method.

  The present invention has the following effects.

  That is, when performing the position adjustment between the automatic document feeder and the image forming apparatus, an image forming apparatus and an image forming apparatus having a simple structure that do not require a complicated operation and do not cause an output image defect or a document conveyance defect. It is possible to provide a positioning method between the apparatus and the automatic document reading apparatus.

In the position adjustment between the automatic document feeder and the image forming apparatus, which is performed by separating the automatic document feeder and the image forming apparatus, no complicated operation is required, and there is no need to reposition the scooping member after the position adjustment. Even if you adjust the position, it will not cause a defective output image or poor conveyance of the document.
Furthermore, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can reduce the number of parts, reduce the number of assembly steps, and reduce the total cost.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but the following assertive explanations in the embodiments of the present invention show preferred examples and limit the meaning and technical scope of the terms of the present invention. Not what you want.
According to the present invention, as described in the section of the problem to be solved by the invention, when the automatic document feeder is positioned, the scooping member disposed in the image forming apparatus when the automatic document feeder is moved is the original. For the problem that the gap between the conveying drum and the scooping member of the automatic document conveying device changes because of the position of the automatic document conveying device, there is a possibility of causing an output image defect or a document conveyance defect.
When the positioning means (positioning pin on the image forming apparatus side) and the scooping member are attached to the same member, and the positioning pin is moved to change the positioning position, the scooping member also moves in conjunction with the positioning pin. Let
By inserting positioning means (positioning hole on the automatic document conveying device side) into the moved positioning pin, the conveying drum disposed in the automatic document conveying device and the scooping member move in the same direction by the same distance, and the conveying drum And the gap of the scooping member is kept constant.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an image forming apparatus to which an automatic document feeder is connected according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In many cases, the automatic document feeder is generally attached to the image forming apparatus 1 as an option, and the case where the automatic document feeder 10 is attached to the image forming apparatus 1 will be described below as an example. It may be integrated with.

The image forming apparatus 1 includes an automatic document feeder 10 that separates and transports stacked documents D one by one.
The paper feed tray 11 of the automatic document feeder 10 has a width regulating member 12, and the documents D are stacked with the width regulated so that the width direction orthogonal to the document feeding direction is aligned.

  A pair of feed rollers 14 </ b> A that can be moved up and down is connected to a drive source (not shown), and feeds a document on the upper layer of the document D stacked on the sheet feeding tray 11.

  The separation feed roller pair 14B disposed on the downstream side of the feed roller pair 14A includes a feed roller that is connected to a drive source (not shown) and is rotatable, and a stop roller having a torque limiter.

  A registration roller pair 14C disposed further downstream of the separation feed roller pair 14B is connected to a drive source (not shown) and includes a rotatable registration roller and a driven roller. The feeding timing of the document D is adjusted.

  For example, a stepping motor can be used as a driving source for the feed roller pair 14A, the separation feed roller pair 14B, and the registration roller pair 14C.

  The document D discharged from the registration roller pair 14C is transported in the direction of the arrow along the guide plate 16A, and is further sandwiched between the rotating large-diameter transport drum 15 and the driven rollers 16B and 16C. Guided by a guide 18 fixed to the housing, transported along the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 15, and reaches the document reading region R.

  In the document reading region R, when the document D passes through a gap where the slit glass 100 as the transparent member and the transport drum 15 face each other, the document reading region R is a reading unit of the image forming apparatus 1 and is transported by the positioned automatic document transport device 10. The original image is read by the original reading device 20 that reads the original image.

  The document D that has passed through the document reading area R is scooped up by a scooping member 13 that scoops up the document D into the automatic document feeder (upper side in the figure) and transports it toward the switching guide member 17A. In the case of double-sided reading, the paper is transported in the reverse direction and is again discharged onto the paper discharge tray 19 after passing through the document reading region R.

  In single-sided reading, the original D after reading is guided by the switching guide members 17A and 17B and discharged onto the discharge tray 19 by the discharge rollers 17C.

  In the case of double-sided reading, the document D after surface reading is guided to the reverse conveyance roller 17D by the switching guide member 17A, and then the conveyance direction is reversed and conveyed to the conveyance drum 15 again. It is conveyed to the reading area R and back side reading is performed.

  Here, the light source 101 and the first mirror 102 are integrally formed as an optical unit U1 (hereinafter also referred to as a scanning unit U1), and the second and third mirrors 104 and 105 are integrally formed as a scanning unit U2.

  Here, the light source 101 is a long tubular light source arranged in parallel with the main scanning direction (perpendicular to the conveying direction of the document) composed of a xenon lamp or a fluorescent lamp that illuminates the document D. The light source 101 and the first to third mirrors are each disposed in parallel with a long rectangular mirror disposed in parallel with the main scanning direction.

  When reading an image of the document D conveyed through the document reading region R in the stationary optical system type reading operation, the light source 101 is disposed between the slit glass 100 made of a rectangular glass plate long in the main scanning direction and the conveyance drum 15. The reflected light L of the original D is imaged through the first, second, and third mirrors 102, 104, and 105 and the imaging lens 106 and is incident on the image sensor 107. .

  When reading the image of the document D placed on the platen glass 4 by the moving optical system type reading operation, the light source 101 and the first mirror 102 are movable optical units as the scanning unit U1 in the sub-scanning direction ( The second and third mirrors 104 and 105 move as a scanning unit U2 at a moving speed that is ½ of the moving speed of the scanning unit U1. Move in the direction.

  The image sensor 107 is composed of a line-shaped CCD, and photoelectrically converts light (original image) reflected by the original D and guided through a mirror or a coupling lens for each pixel.

  The transfer paper P is loaded on the paper feed cassette 81, and the transfer paper P is carried into the paper feed path 83 one by one by a paper feed unit 82 having a double feed prevention mechanism.

  The paper feed path 83 is arranged upstream of the image forming unit 30 and has a registration roller 84.

  The image forming unit 30 includes a photosensitive drum 71, a charging electrode 72, a scanning exposure unit 79, a developing unit 73, a transfer electrode 74, a separation electrode 75, and a fixing unit 78.

  The photosensitive drum 71 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, a uniform potential is applied by the charging electrode 72, and the scanning exposure unit 79 is rotating based on the digital image data read by the document reading device 20. The surface of 71 is irradiated to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the original D, and then the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing unit 73 to visualize the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 71.

  The registration roller 84 is driven in synchronism with the rotation of the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 71, and the transfer paper P is sent to the transfer area (the upper portion of the transfer electrode 74 in the drawing).

  The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 71 is transferred to the transfer paper P sent to the transfer area, and then the transfer paper P is separated from the photosensitive drum 71 by a separation electrode 75 and a separation claw (not shown). Then, it is further transported to the fixing unit 78 by the transport unit 77.

  Then, the cleaning unit 76 cleans the surface of the photosensitive drum 71 after the transfer, and removes foreign matter, residual toner, and the like.

  When the residual toner is removed, the charging electrode 72 again charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 71 in preparation for the next copying operation.

  In the fixing unit 78, the transfer paper P and the toner image are heated and pressurized to fix the toner image. In the case of single-sided copying, the paper is sandwiched between the paper discharge rollers 85 and a paper discharge tray (not shown). Sent to.

  In the case of duplex copying, the transfer paper P on which the toner image has been fixed is conveyed to the reverse conveyance path 87 by the conveyance roller 86, and the recording paper P whose traveling direction is reversed by the reverse conveyance path 87 is conveyed on the conveyance path 88. Then, it is carried into the paper feed path 83, and the toner image is transferred and fixed again.

  Next, positioning of the automatic document feeder 10 will be described.

  The image forming apparatus 1 includes positioning means on the image forming apparatus side having at least one pair of positioning members (hereinafter referred to as positioning pins) 201 for positioning with the automatic document feeder 10. The automatic document feeder 10 is positioned on the image forming apparatus 1 by fitting at least one pair of positioning holes 202 serving as positioning means on the side of the document feeder.

  The positioning pin 201 is provided on a positioning plate 203 movably fixed to the surface of the image forming apparatus 1 facing the automatic document feeder so as to protrude toward the automatic document feeder.

  In addition, when the scooping member 13 is disposed on the positioning plate 203 and the automatic document feeder 10 is placed on the image forming apparatus 1 with the positioning hole 202 fitted into the positioning pin 201, the transport drum 15 and the scooping member 13 are substantially parallel to each other, and the document D transported between the transport drum 15 and the scooping member 13 is set to have a gap d that does not cause a transportation abnormality or reading data due to fluttering or the like. Yes.

  That is, since the positioning pin 201 and the scooping member 13 are integrally formed, they are arranged to be movable in conjunction with each other.

  For positioning the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder, when the positioning hole 202 is fitted in the positioning pin 201, the reflected light L of the document D conveyed in contact with the large-diameter conveyance drum 15 is read from the document. An image is formed on the image sensor 107 via the mirrors 105, 104, and 102 imaging lens 106 over the entire length in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the document in the region R (front and back direction in the drawing). (That is, a rectangular original image does not become rhombus original image data, and the reading optical system and the automatic document conveying device are perpendicular to each other at the original image reading position) A positioning hole 202 is formed at the position.

  As described above, the reflection position of the original in the original reading region R of the reflected light over the entire length in the direction perpendicular to the original conveyance direction (the front and back direction of the paper) where the reflected light of the original forms an image on the image sensor 107 is hereinafter referred to as the original reading position. .

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the positioning plate 203 according to the present invention.

  The positioning plate 203 serving as a positioning means has a plate shape, a pair of positioning pins 201 for positioning the automatic document feeder 10 on the image forming apparatus 1 on the surface facing the automatic document feeder 10, and scooping up. A member 13 is provided.

  Here, the scooping member 13 has a substantially right triangle shape in cross section viewed from the C direction, one side is fixed to the positioning plate 203, the other side is arcuate and faces the conveying drum 15, and the gap d Forms the transport path of the document D.

  The scooping member 13 is positioned with respect to the positioning pin 201 so that the scooping member 13 and the transport drum are in the predetermined gap d described above.

The positioning plate 203 is configured to be movable with respect to the image forming apparatus by making a mounting hole 205 having a diameter larger than that of the mounting screw 204. By moving the positioning plate 203, the original conveying apparatus is attached to the image forming apparatus. The position can be changed (positioning (fine adjustment)) is possible. Here, the difference in diameter is caused by the reading optical system (for example, the first, second, and third mirrors) of the document reading apparatus described above. The dimension is equal to or slightly larger than the maximum positional displacement dimension of the reading optical system due to processing accuracy and assembly accuracy.

  That is, the positioning pin 201 and the scooping member 13 can be interlocked via the positioning plate 203, thereby enabling positioning of the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder only by adjusting the position of the positioning means, thereby preventing image quality abnormality and conveyance abnormality. This eliminates the need for readjustment of the scooping member, and facilitates the positioning adjustment of the automatic document feeder.

  Further, although the positioning plate 203, the positioning pin 201, and the scooping member 13 have been described as separate members, they may be configured integrally (for example, injection molding).

  In this case, the number of parts can be reduced, the number of assembly steps can be reduced, and the total cost can be reduced.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram around the document reading area R of the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

  Hereinafter, the configuration around the document reading area R of the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder and the positioning method of the automatic document feeder relative to the image forming apparatus will be mainly described.

  A positioning hole 202 into which a positioning pin 201 for positioning the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder is inserted in the casing of the automatic document feeder 10 facing the image forming apparatus 1.

  In the vicinity of the document reading region R of the automatic document feeder 10, a conveyance drum 15, a guide 18 for guiding the document D, and a driven roller 16 </ b> C are disposed in the casing of the automatic document feeder 10.

  A positioning plate 203 to which the positioning pin 201 and the scooping member 13 are fixed is disposed in the image forming apparatus 1 around the document reading region R of the image forming apparatus 1.

  The reflected light L1 of the image of the document D irradiated by the light source 101 through the slit glass 100 is reflected by the first mirror 102 and read by the image sensor 107 as described above.

  For example, in the case where only one end of the first mirror 102 in the front and back direction of the paper surface is shifted to be shifted to the position of the first mirror 103 (dotted line in the drawing) and is inclined, the mirrors 104, 105, 102 in FIG. One end of the reflected light that forms an image on the image sensor 107 through the imaging lens 106 moves, and the output image does not match the image of the document. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the position of the automatic document feeder 10. .

  As a result of measuring the distance from the reference plane (not shown) to the first mirror 102, for example, when one end of the first mirror 102 is shifted by the dimension b1 in the b direction and shifted to the position 103 (shown by a dotted line). One end of the reflected light that forms an image on the image sensor 107 via the mirrors 104, 105, and 102 and the imaging lens 106 in FIG. 1 has moved from L1 to L2.

In this case, the automatic document feeder 10 is lifted in the direction a (upward direction in the drawing), and the positioning hole 202 is removed from the positioning pin 201.
In order to change one end of the mounting position of the automatic document feeder 10 (the reading position of the above-described document reading portion) to the position corresponding to the reflected light L2, the mounting screw 204 is loosened, and one end of the positioning means is moved in the b direction. Change the position by the dimension b1 and fix it after the change.

  Then, by changing the position of the automatic document feeder 10 so that the positioning hole 202 fits into the positioning pin 201, one end of the automatic document feeder becomes slanted with a deviation of b1 in the b direction, and corresponds to the reflected light L2. The automatic document feeder 10 is positioned at the position.

  At this time, one end of the scooping member 13 is also moved by the dimension b1, so that the gap d between the transport drum 15 and the scooping member 13 is maintained at the predetermined distance described above, and the scooping member is re-aligned to the shifted position. There is no need to do.

  Here, for ease of explanation, the method of positioning when only the front side of the figure is displaced has been described. However, since the diameter of the positioning hole 202 is larger than the positioning pin 201, the document conveying direction ( Needless to say, it can be positioned in the front-rear, left-right, and diagonal directions with respect to the horizontal direction.

  Such positioning adjustment of the automatic document feeder with respect to the image forming apparatus should be performed, for example, at the time of factory shipment adjustment or when the automatic document feeder is reinstalled, and when the automatic document feeder is reinstalled, FIG. You may display the request | requirement warning which performs positioning adjustment from the display means (not shown) of the operation part 40 to show.

1 is a diagram showing an image forming apparatus to which an automatic document feeder is connected according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the positioning plate 203 which concerns on this invention. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram around the document reading region R of the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Automatic document conveying apparatus 13 Scooping member 15 Conveying drum 20 Document reading apparatus 100 Slit glass 101 Light source 102, 104, 105 Mirror 106 Imaging lens 107 Imaging element 201 Positioning pin 202 Positioning hole 203 Positioning plate L, L1, L2 Reflected light R Document reading area

Claims (3)

Positioning means having a positioning member for positioning the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder, a reading section for reading an image of a document conveyed by the automatic document feeder positioned by the positioning means, and a document after reading In an image forming apparatus provided with a scooping member that scoops up an automatic document feeder
Said positioning means and said the scoop member, said while being disposed on the upper surface side of the automatic document feeder opposite to the image forming apparatus, are integrally moved direction end,
An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder can be positioned only by adjusting the position of the positioning means when the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder are positioned. The positioning means has a plate shape and is disposed on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus so that the mounting position can be changed.
The positioning member and the scooping member are disposed on a surface of the positioning unit facing the automatic document conveying device so as to protrude toward the automatic document conveying device.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scooping member is disposed at a predetermined position with respect to the positioning member. Positioning means having a positioning member for positioning between an image forming apparatus having a reading unit for reading a document image and an automatic document feeder, and a scooping member for scooping up a document into the automatic document feeder include the automatic document feeder. Are integrally disposed on the upper surface of the reading unit facing the
After changing the mounting position of the positioning means with respect to the position of the reading unit, only the positioning means is fixed to the image forming apparatus, thereby enabling positioning of the image forming apparatus and the automatic document feeder. An image forming apparatus positioning method.

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