JP4563660B2 - Image recording apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable display terminal that displays a still image and an image recording apparatus that records image data on the display terminal and reads and erases recorded image data.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the trend toward computerization or IT, electronic paper has appeared in display devices used in offices and the like. As the electronic paper, for example, an electrophoresis method using a microcapsule represented by Eink, a method using a reflective cholesteric liquid crystal whose display pixels have memory properties, and the like have been proposed. Using these technologies, it is possible to realize a display device that is flexible and lightweight, and has handling properties that are much closer to paper than ordinary LCDs, such as little power consumption during still image display.
[0003]
There is a technique related to a rewritable medium using an electronic paper technique having a simple structure including a substrate, an input unit, a display medium related to the substrate, and a control unit (for example, Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-209760 A
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In such a situation, when the amount of information to be recorded is only one sheet of paper and is used in the same way as paper, and the electronic paper medium is used as a recycled paper for reusing only the display medium, the electronic paper medium is visible. It is more difficult to handle than paper in terms of weight, thinness and cost. Furthermore, even if it can contribute to resource saving because it needs to be handled separately from ordinary paper, the conventional electronic paper medium is very difficult to handle.
[0006]
On the other hand, when various functions such as a function to communicate with a personal computer or another electronic paper terminal or a handwriting input function are added to one electronic paper terminal, the handling property is separated from the paper, Furthermore, the power consumption increases, and the price of the terminal becomes expensive.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is an easy-to-handle display terminal using electronic paper technology, recording image data on the display terminal, and reading and erasing recorded image data. An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus having a configuration.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first power source and a first signal terminal, and a portable display that provides a visible image corresponding to image data input from the first signal terminal. An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a terminal, a storage unit storing a plurality of display terminals, and a second unit for supplying power to the first power source of the plurality of display terminals stored in the storage unit Power supply When, In the first signal terminal of the plurality of display terminals stored in the storage unit In common Connection Is A second signal terminal, and recording means for recording the image data on the display terminal via the second signal terminal; Data reading means for reading the image data recorded on the display terminal, and copying for copying the image data read by the data reading means to the display terminal housed in the housing portion using the recording means Means and It comprises.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
FIG. 1 is an overview of a display terminal 9 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The overall size of the display terminal housing 11 is approximately A4, and a part of the display terminal housing 11 is cut obliquely. The size of the display unit 14 is 10.4 inches, and the pressure-sensitive touch panels 13a and 13b are provided outside the display unit. Is provided. The thickness of the display terminal 9 can be 5 mm or less if the display unit 14 is manufactured by a chip on glass method and a sheet type battery is used. The display terminal 9 has a plurality of electrodes 12 on the end face, and is arranged in the order of GND, charging terminal, and signal terminal. When the image data is transferred from the signal terminal, the data is stored in the internal nonvolatile memory as will be described later, and the data is displayed on the display unit 14 via the controller, processor, and driver. By operating the touch panel 13, one of the plurality of images stored in the memory can be selectively displayed on the display as appropriate.
[0011]
A so-called electrophoretic display is used for the display unit 14 of the display terminal 9. Several display methods are known for electrophoretic displays. FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of an electrophoretic display. The electrophoretic display has a structure in which cells 8 divided for each display pixel (hereinafter simply referred to as a pixel) 10 are sandwiched between substrates having a thickness of about 0.1 to 0.2 mm. The upper substrate (not shown) is transparent, and the transparent electrode 3 is provided on the cell 8. A first electrode 1 and a second electrode 2 and a member 7 colored with a specific color are installed between the cell and a lower substrate (not shown).
[0012]
The size of the cell 8 on the display surface side (upper side in the drawing) is 30 to 100 μm square, the height of the cell is about 50 μm, and the insulating liquid 6 encloses, for example, Isopar L manufactured by Exxon Corporation. The white particles 5 are made of a titanium oxide-based material, the black particles 4 are made of toner used in an electrophotographic process or the like, mainly carbon black, and those having a particle size of about 100 nm to 5 μm can be used. It is.
[0013]
First, when the transparent electrode 3 at the upper part of the cell 8 is set to GND and the first electrode 1 and the second electrode 2 at the lower part of the cell are set to −25 V, the negatively charged black particles 4 move to the transparent electrode side. Is black. At that time, the positively charged white particles are attracted to the first electrode and the second electrode. Next, when 25 V is applied to the first electrode 1 and the second electrode 2, the positively charged white particles 5 adhere to the transparent electrode 3 side and display white. At the same time, the negatively charged black particles 4 are attracted to the first electrode 1 and the second electrode 2. Further, when the first electrode is set to −25 V and the second electrode is set to +25 V, no particles exist above the cell (transparent electrode side), and the black and white particles move to the first electrode side and the second electrode side, respectively. , White particles, black particles and colored members become visible. At this time, since the surface area of the colored member is larger than that of the black and white particles, as a result, the color of the colored member becomes dominant. In this way, the display terminal 9 can display three colors.
[0014]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the display terminal 9.
[0015]
The display unit 14 is an electrophoretic display in which pixels 10 including cells 8 and first and second electrodes as shown in FIG. 2 are arranged in a matrix of rows and columns. An image signal input from the signal terminal 12 a via the interface (I / F) 71 is temporarily stored in the nonvolatile memory 72 under the control unit 73. The image data stored in the memory 72 is serially supplied by a display controller (DCT) 74 to a horizontal drive circuit 77 constituted by, for example, an analog shift register in synchronization with the horizontal synchronization signal HS.
[0016]
In the display unit 14, the pixels 10 are arranged at positions where the plurality of signal lines 79 and the plurality of scanning lines 80 intersect. The first and second electrodes of each pixel are each provided with a TFT (thin film transistor) (not shown) as a switch element. The control input terminal of each TFT is connected to one of the scanning lines 80, one of the two current terminals of the TFT is connected to one of the signal lines 79, and the other is the first or second electrode. It is connected to the.
[0017]
The vertical drive circuit 78 sequentially supplies the vertical synchronization signal VS supplied from the display controller 74 to each scanning line 80 one pulse at a time. The pulses are supplied simultaneously to the control terminals of one row of TFTs, and the one row of TFTs are simultaneously turned on. At this time, image data is supplied from the horizontal drive circuit 77 to the first and second electrodes of each pixel via a plurality of signal lines 79. That is, the image data supplied from the memory 72 to the horizontal drive circuit 77 via the display controller 74 is sequentially transferred to each pixel row of the display unit 14 via the plurality of signal lines 79 in units of scanning lines. As a result, an image corresponding to the image data is displayed on the display unit 14. The charges supplied from the TFT to the first and second electrodes are held even after the TFT is turned off, and the image displayed on the display unit 14 is also held. Therefore, the image holding power of the display terminal 9 is almost equal to zero.
[0018]
In order to achieve flexibility of the display terminal 9, the TFT may be an organic transistor formed on plastic, but whether it is flexible here is not an important problem. Further, the display terminal 9 includes sensor circuits such as touch panels 13a and 13b, a rechargeable secondary battery (for example, a lithium ion battery) 76 as a first power source, and a power terminal 12b. These electronic elements can be manufactured as an integrated circuit on a glass substrate, for example, by a chip on glass method using low-temperature polysilicon technology, except for the battery 76.
[0019]
Next, an image recording apparatus according to the present invention for writing and reading images on the display terminal 9 will be described. FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the image recording apparatus 100 according to the present invention. Here, an example is shown in which the present invention is incorporated in a multifunction peripheral of a normal copying machine. Since the main function of the multifunction peripheral is paper output (printing), the image recording apparatus 100 also includes a paper output section 25 and a scanner section 24 for reading paper information and the like, as in a general multifunction peripheral. Currently, many copying machines are capable of sending scanned image data to a file server or a personal computer connected to a network via a network after scanning an image printed on paper with a scanner. When the present invention is applied to a multifunction peripheral in a copying machine, a category of data copying to a display terminal is created in addition to normal copying and printing.
[0020]
The image recording apparatus 100 includes a plurality of paper trays 26 and 27 and a display terminal dedicated tray 23. A plurality or one display terminal 9 is set on the tray 23, and image data is written therein. The image recording apparatus 100 further includes a reading unit 22 for reading data from the display terminal. The image data is read by the reading unit 22, and the read image data is written on the display terminal 9 set in the display terminal tray 23, or the read image data is written on the paper stored in the paper trays 26 and 27. The corresponding image can be printed. Further, after the image data is read by the reading unit 22, the display terminal can be moved to the display terminal tray 23 in accordance with a user instruction, and the terminal can be used for data writing from the next time. is there.
[0021]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the image recording apparatus 100.
[0022]
The image recording apparatus 100 includes a scanner unit 24 that reads a document image and provides image data corresponding to the document image, a display terminal processing unit 20 as an electronic image recording unit that processes the display terminal 9 of the present invention, and a scanner unit 24. Alternatively, based on image data from the display terminal processing unit 20, a printer unit 28 that forms an image on a sheet, a control panel unit 29 that performs a user interface, and communication with an external device via a communication network such as a public line or a LAN. A main control unit 30 that comprehensively controls each unit of the digital copying machine 100 based on a user instruction input via the communication interface 38 and the control panel unit 29 is included.
[0023]
The main control unit 30 can fax the image data read by the scanner unit 24 or the display terminal processing unit 20 via a public line such as a telephone line. The main control unit 30 can print the image data received by fax via the public line by the printer unit 28 or record it on the display terminal 9. The main control unit 30 can also receive document data from an external device such as a personal computer via a network such as a LAN, and the received data can be printed by the printer unit 300 or recorded on the display terminal 9.
[0024]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the display terminal processing unit 20. The display terminal processing unit 20 includes the display terminal reading unit 22, the display terminal tray 23, and a writing / erasing unit 28 that performs data writing control and data erasing control on the display terminal 9 set in the tray 23. . In addition, the display terminal processing unit 20 supplies a power to the display terminal 9 and charges the battery 76, the charging unit 29 as a second power source, and a tray side electrode (described later) on the terminal of the display terminal 9 placed on the terminal tray 23. The electrode support part 31 and the display terminal moving part 37 are pressed.
[0025]
FIG. 7 is a detailed view of the display terminal tray 23 as viewed from above.
When the plurality of display terminals 9 are placed on the display terminal tray, the separated electrode support portions 31 approach the display terminal. At that time, the guide 34 hits the oblique portion 9a of the display terminal 9, and the plurality of overlapping display terminals 9 are bundled while being accurately aligned. The electrode 33 on the tray side has a surface made of conductive rubber, and slight positional deviation of the terminal is absorbed by the elasticity of the electrode and maintains a good contact state. By such a method, the common electrode 33 comes into contact with all the terminals 12 of the plurality of display terminals in the tray 23. By using conductive rubber or the like as the electrode 33 on the tray 23 side, the terminal 12 of the display terminal 9 may have a simple fixed contact structure as shown in FIG. Can be. As another method, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), the electrodes of the display terminal 9 are configured using springs, so that the electrodes 33 on the tray 23 side can be reliably used without using a conductive elastic member. Power supply becomes possible. In this case, when the external electrode 42 is pressed, the pressing force is held by the force of the spring 43. However, when such a complicated structure is applied to the electrode of the terminal 9, it is slightly difficult to configure the terminal 9 with a thickness of 5 mm or less.
[0026]
Thus, the common electrode 33 is brought into contact with the terminals 12 of the plurality of display terminals 9, and the battery built in the display terminal is automatically charged in this state. Therefore, the display terminal tray 23 has a simple configuration and is handled. Cheap.
[0027]
Next, an operation of writing data created by a computer, data of another display terminal, or data read by the scanner unit 24 to a plurality of display terminals 9 stored in the terminal tray 23 in accordance with a user instruction. This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0028]
In the display terminal tray 23, since the terminals 13 of the plurality of display terminals 9 are connected in common, data is written to all the terminals 9 even if only one terminal 9 is desired to be written. In this case, it is possible to set a unique address for each terminal 9 and select that address to record data in only one terminal 9. However, here, a case where the same data is once written in all the terminals 9 in the tray 23 will be described.
[0029]
First, when a plurality of terminals 9 are set on the display terminal tray 23, the batteries 76 of the plurality of terminals 9 are charged by the charging unit 29 (ST1). The main control unit 30 transfers image data stored in a display terminal (hereinafter referred to as a document terminal) as a document set in the reading unit 22 to a plurality of terminals 9 stored in the terminal tray 23. As a result, the same data is written in the plurality of terminals 9 stored in the terminal tray 23 (ST2).
[0030]
When the user pulls out the terminal tray 23 after the writing operation is completed, the main control unit 30 moves the electrode support unit 31 backward (ST3). The user takes out the terminal 9 as many as necessary and places the tray 23 in the apparatus 100 again.
[0031]
When it is input via the control panel unit 29 that the user does not use the document terminal set in the reading unit 22 thereafter (ST4), the main control unit 30 uses the display terminal moving unit 37 to select the document terminal. It is conveyed into the terminal tray 23. In step ST <b> 6, the writing / erasing unit 28 erases data of all terminals 9 stored in the terminal tray 23. However, this erasure is performed as a security measure. If the confidentiality of the data is not so high, the data in the terminal 9 may be overwritten at the next data write without erasing the data. In addition, although it has been described that the user takes out the display terminal from the terminal tray 23, the display terminal may be discharged to a discharge tray by a pickup roller. In that case, it may be sent to the same paper discharge tray as the paper, or may be sent to a discharge tray dedicated to the display terminal.
[0032]
In the above embodiment, the display terminal 9 and the image recording apparatus perform data transfer by bringing the electrodes into contact with each other, but a non-contact antenna (coiled) method may be used as another method. When the antenna (wireless) method is used in this way, there is a problem that it is disadvantageous in terms of power consumption of the terminal. However, if the communication distance is limited to a very short distance, the transmission output can be small. Power transmission is also possible. In addition, when an antenna system is used unlike a contact type electrode, there is an effect that problems such as poor contact due to dirt and poor conduction due to wear of the electrode itself are eliminated.
[0033]
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, a projection 62 such as an electrode is formed on the electrode support member 32, and a coil is provided therein. Further, a depression 64 corresponding to the protrusion 62 on the electrode support member is formed on the display terminal 9 side, and a coil is provided so as to surround the depression. In this way, by bringing the coils close to each other, communication and power supply to the display terminal can be performed using, for example, electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic coupling. In this case, it is necessary to shorten the distance between the antennas (coils) of the terminal 9 and the terminal tray 23 as much as possible. Thus, data communication between the display terminal 9 side and the terminal tray 23 side is performed only when power is supplied to the terminal. However, for example, if the microwave method is used, communication is possible even if the distance between the electrodes is slightly separated, and therefore it is not necessary to strictly consider close area expansion and distance reduction by combining convex and concave.
[0034]
FIG. 11 is a general view seen from above the terminal reading unit 22.
[0035]
As shown in FIG. 11A, the terminal reading unit 22 is provided with an electrode unit 22a, and the electrode unit 22a is provided with a plurality of electrodes 35 and a mechanical sensor 36.
As shown in FIG. 11B, when the terminal 9 is inserted to a predetermined position, the electrode of the electrode unit 22a is fitted into a recess provided in the electrode portion on the terminal 9 side, and the mechanical sensor 36 is turned on. In response to this ON, the main control unit 30 determines that the terminal 9 has been inserted.
[0036]
Next, another embodiment of the terminal reading unit 22 will be described.
[0037]
In the case of this embodiment, the function of the terminal reading unit 22 is added to the manual feed tray of the conventional multifunction peripheral. The problem at this time is that the display terminal 9 is handled in the same way as paper. For example, in recent copying machines, there are even manual trays capable of passing thick paper of 280 g / m 2 or more, and it is assumed that the compatibility with thick paper will continue to improve. Here, when it is determined that the display terminal 9 inserted into the manual feed tray is paper, conveyance of the terminal 9 to the printer unit 28 is started. Then, even if the terminal 9 is a little thicker than paper and stiff, it will eventually be destroyed.
[0038]
FIG. 12 is a schematic view seen from above the terminal reading unit 22 of the present embodiment, which is also used as a manual feed tray. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12A, in addition to the paper sensor (light sensor) 74 normally provided in the manual feed tray, an optical sensor 75 is further provided, and the medium sent from the manual feed tray is a display terminal. Whether it is 9 or not is detected. As shown in FIG. 12B, when the display terminal 9 is inserted into the reading unit 22 by the user and the display terminal 9 reaches the position of the sensor 74, the sensor 74 is first turned ON, and a feed roller (not shown) is turned on. The rotation starts and the terminal 9 is automatically conveyed into the reading unit 22.
[0039]
Further, as shown in FIG. 12C, when the slope 9a of the terminal 9 crosses the sensor 75, the sensor 75 is turned on. As described above, when the ON times of the sensors 74 and 75 are different by a predetermined time or more, the main control unit 30 determines that the inserted medium is the display terminal 9. In response to this determination, the electrode unit 22b moves to the terminal 9 side, and the electrode of the terminal 9 is connected to the electrode of the electrode unit 22b. Here, if it is determined that the inserted medium is paper, the electrode unit 22b does not move, and the inserted paper is normally conveyed to the printer unit 28 and an image is printed.
[0040]
In the above embodiment, the display terminal is recognized using an optical sensor, a mechanical sensor, or an electrical contact, but electromagnetic induction may be used. In general, if a device such as a wireless tag is provided in the terminal 9 and an antenna for detecting it is provided on the terminal reading unit 22 side, recognition of the display terminal can be easily achieved. In addition, regarding this point, when a contacted system such as electromagnetic induction is used instead of the electrode described above, it is reasonable that the antenna can be used in common as a display terminal detection member.
[0041]
Next, an embodiment related to the function of the display terminal 9 will be described.
[0042]
In the memory 72 of the display terminal 9 shown in FIG. 3, image data for a plurality of pages read by the scanner unit 24 of the image recording apparatus 100 or input from the external host device to the image recording apparatus 100 via the LAN. Multiple pages of image data can be stored. In such a case, by touching the touch panel 13a or 13b, the displayed pages can be forward or backward.
[0043]
Although the display terminal 9 has a battery 76 built therein, it is considered that when the display terminal 9 is taken out from the image recording apparatus 100 and used, the battery is consumed and becomes unusable. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, a transparent conductive member 13 c is provided on the touch panel 13. The touch panel 13 is operated by a pen-type pen battery 51 which is a battery holding unit. When the electrode 51a provided at the tip of the pen battery 51 touches the conductive member 13c on the touch panel, power is supplied from the pen battery 51 to the terminal 9 via the terminal 12b. In addition, the conductive member 13c is connected to a rechargeable battery that supplies power supply current to the display portion. At the same time, the touch panel 13a or 13b is turned on, and the image display (page) is switched. The pen battery 51 is provided with a GND line cable 51 b, and the GND line is connected to the GND of the terminal 9.
[0044]
In still another embodiment, power transmission using electromagnetic induction can be performed. In that case, power transmission is performed by bringing the tip of the pen battery close to the antenna embedded in the vicinity of the touch panel. If this method is used, a GND line is not required between the pen battery and the display terminal, which makes it easier to use. Furthermore, the operation unit of the display terminal 9 is not limited to a pressure-sensitive touch panel, and for example, infrared rays may be used. In that case, the pen battery itself is marked in advance, and the mark position is detected using infrared rays.
[0045]
In the above description, it is assumed that the display terminal incorporates a battery. However, when the battery pen 51 is used in this way, it is not always necessary to incorporate a battery on the terminal side. This is because in the case of the display terminal 9 using an electrophoretic display, the power required to hold the displayed image is extremely small. Thus, it goes without saying that the battery is eliminated from the terminal 9, which is further advantageous in reducing the thickness and weight of the terminal 9, and the handling property is improved.
[0046]
Next, a charging method for lending the image recording apparatus according to the present invention to a general company and charging for the use of the display terminal will be described.
[0047]
In the case of a normal copying machine, the number of copies and prints is counted, and the count value is charged. In general, there are many cases where there is no charge when an image is simply read by a scanner. However, since the display terminal of the present invention can be used in the same way as paper just by capturing an image, it can charge for writing image data. At this time, it may be counted when an image is written as in the case of writing on normal paper, or the time when the display terminal 8 is removed from the display terminal tray 23 of the image recording apparatus and used is counted. You may be charged. The electrodes are in contact when the display terminal and the image recording apparatus are connected, but they are separated when used outside. Therefore, the display terminal counts away time. In this case, not only is it effective to prevent the display terminal from being used too randomly and lost or destroyed, but by counting the time used outside the device, the frequency of use of the display terminal becomes clear, You may make it replace | exchange after having used more than fixed.
[0048]
As described above, an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a dedicated tray for a display terminal using electronic paper technology, and the trays are arranged on the electrodes of a plurality of display terminals that are stacked and stored on the dedicated tray. The side electrodes are in common contact. The display terminal is charged, data is written, read, erased, and the like through the electrodes. Since the electrodes are in common contact between the display terminals, for example, the same data can be simultaneously written into a plurality of display terminals at a high speed. Normally, when dozens of materials copied on paper are distributed to more than a dozen people, it takes a considerable amount of time to copy the materials. However, if the present invention is applied, the processing is completed in a very short time. After copying data to a plurality of display terminals, the user can delete the data recorded on unnecessary terminals after the user has taken out the required number of display terminals on which the data has been copied.
[0049]
Since the display terminal according to the present invention does not consume power for holding an image, the built-in battery may be very small, and the terminal can be reduced in size and thickness. Further, when a pen-type external battery is used when switching the display image of the display terminal, power is supplied to the terminal as well as switching of the display. Therefore, the terminal can be operated even when the battery of the terminal body is exhausted or even if the battery is omitted from the beginning in order to prioritize downsizing.
[0050]
【The invention's effect】
An easy-to-handle display terminal using electronic paper technology and an image recording apparatus having a simple configuration for recording, reading and erasing image data on the display terminal are provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overview of a display terminal 9 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electrophoretic display.
3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a display terminal 9. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image recording apparatus 100 according to the present invention.
5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the image recording apparatus 100. FIG.
6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a display terminal processing unit 20. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a detailed view of the display terminal tray 23 as viewed from above.
8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a terminal 12 of the display terminal 9. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of writing image data to a plurality of display terminals 9;
10 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the display terminal tray 23. FIG.
FIG. 11 is a general view seen from above the terminal reading unit 22;
FIG. 12 is a schematic view seen from above the terminal reading unit 22 also used as a manual feed tray.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another embodiment of a display terminal.

Claims (4)

An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a portable display terminal having a first power source and a first signal terminal and providing a visible image corresponding to image data input from the first signal terminal. ,
A storage section for storing a plurality of the display terminals;
A second power source for supplying power to the first power source of the plurality of display terminals stored in the storage unit ;
A second signal terminal that will be connected in common to said first signal terminal of the plurality of display terminals housed in the housing portion,
Recording means for recording the image data on the display terminal via the second signal terminal;
Data reading means for reading the image data recorded on the display terminal;
Copying means for copying image data read by the data reading means to the display terminal housed in the housing section using the recording means;
An image recording apparatus comprising: Reading means for optically reading a document image and providing image data corresponding to the document image;
  Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet based on the image data read by the reading means;
  An electronic image recording means for recording an image on a portable display terminal having a first power source and a first signal terminal and providing a visible image corresponding to the image data input from the signal terminal; ,
  The electronic image recording means includes
  A storage section for storing a plurality of the display terminals;
  A second power source for supplying power to the first power source of the plurality of display terminals stored in the storage unit;
  A second signal terminal commonly connected to the first signal terminals of the plurality of display terminals stored in the storage unit;
  Recording means for recording the image data on the display terminal via the second signal terminal;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The electronic image recording means further includes
  Data reading means for reading the image data recorded on the display terminal;
  3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising transfer means for transferring the image data read by the data reading means to one of the display terminal housed in the housing section and the image forming means. apparatus. The data reading means includes a tray that receives the display terminal and is also used as a manual paper feed tray, and a determination means that is provided in the tray and discriminates between the display terminal and the paper, and takes the paper into the tray. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sheet is conveyed to the printer unit.

Images