JP5684781B2 - Erase device - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an erasing apparatus that erases an image on a sheet image-formed by an image forming apparatus.

  Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) is used to form an image on a sheet (paper). In addition, in order to erase an image formed on a sheet so that the image can be reused, an image is printed on the sheet using a decolorizable colorant such as an ink containing a leuco dye.

  The color erasable colorant is erased by applying a high temperature. Therefore, when reusing a sheet, the sheet is heated using an erasing device to erase an image formed on the sheet. As described above, erasing an image formed on a sheet may be referred to as “decoloring” in the following description.

  The erasing device arranges the heat roller and the press roller facing each other across the sheet conveyance path, heats the sheet by conveying the sheet between the heat roller and the press roller, and the color erasable colorant Erase. In addition, an erasing unit composed of a heat roller and a press roller is provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the sheet conveyance path, respectively, so that both sides of the sheet can be erased. The heat roller and the press roller provided on the upstream side and the downstream side generally have the same diameter.

  However, since the sheet conveyed to the erasing device is heated by the erasing unit on the upstream side and conveyed to the erasing unit on the downstream side, the heat capacity on the downstream side is not as high as that on the upstream side. Therefore, when the heat roller and the press roller provided on the upstream side and the downstream side have the same diameter and the same heating amount, the configuration on the downstream side is unnecessarily large, resulting in an increase in power consumption.

JP 2002-214957 A

  The problem to be solved by the invention is to provide an erasing apparatus that reduces the heat capacity of the erasing unit and reduces the power consumption when heating the sheet.

In the erasing apparatus of the embodiment, a conveyance path that conveys a sheet on which an image is formed with a colorant that is erased by heating, and a first heat roller and a first press roller that are opposed to each other centering on the conveyance path, A first erasing unit that conveys the sheet between the first heat roller and the first press roller while heating, and on the downstream side of the first erasing unit of the conveyance path, inverted arranged opposite to the second heat roller and the said second press roller first heat roller first press roller about the conveyance path, the previous SL second press rows La, A second erasing unit having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the first press roller, and transporting the sheet while heating the sheet between the second heat roller and the second press roller; Is provided.

1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an erasing device according to an embodiment. The side view which shows the structure of the erasure | elimination part in one Embodiment. The side view which shows the structure of the erasure | elimination part in 2nd Embodiment. The side view which shows the structure of the erasure | elimination part in 3rd Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the control system of the erasing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment.

  Embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same location.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an erasing apparatus according to the first embodiment. The erasing apparatus 10 includes an operation panel 11 including operation buttons and a display unit, a paper feeding unit 12, a scanner 13 serving as a reading unit, and an erasing unit 20. Further, the erasing apparatus 10 includes a first transport path 141, a second transport path 142, a third transport path 143, a fourth transport path 144, a fifth transport path 145, a first discharge tray 15, Two discharge trays (reject boxes) 16 are provided.

  Each of the conveyance paths 141 to 145 has a plurality of conveyance rollers 17 for conveying the sheet. Each of the plurality of transport rollers 17 is rotationally driven by a motor 19 (FIG. 5). In addition, a gate 18 is provided to distribute the sheet conveyance between the conveyance path 142 and the conveyance path 144.

  The first conveyance path 141 conveys the sheet S from the sheet feeding unit 12 to the scanner 13. The second conveyance path 142 conveys the sheet S from the scanner 13 toward the erasing unit 20 in the arrow A direction. The third conveyance path 143 conveys the sheet S from the erasing unit 20 to the scanner 13 again. The fourth transport path 144 transports the sheet S from the scanner 13 to the first paper discharge tray 15. The fifth conveyance path 145 conveys the sheet S from the scanner 13 to the reject box 16. The first paper discharge tray 15 collects sheets that can be reused after, for example, erasing the image. The reject box 16 cannot be reused, and collects sheets that are normally discarded and recycled.

  1 generally performs the following operations.

  First, when the erasing / reading mode of the sheet S is selected by the operation unit 11, the sheet S is conveyed from the sheet feeding unit 12 to the scanner 13 as a reading unit via the first conveyance path 141. The image on the sheet S is scanned by the scanner 13 and the image data is read before the image on the sheet S is erased. Further, the printing rate of the sheet S is obtained. The scanner 13 includes a first scanner 131 and a second scanner 132 and reads both sides of the sheet S. The scanner 13 reads the print status of the sheet S.

  The image data read by the scanner 13 is stored in the storage unit, and is read again as necessary and used for image formation. If the sheet S is torn or wrinkled from the print state read by the scanner 13, the sheet S is guided to the fifth transport path 145 and transported to the reject box 16. Further, since a sheet with a high printing rate is easily curled during erasing, the sheet is conveyed to the reject box 16. The sheet S without tears or wrinkles is conveyed to the erasing unit 20 through the second conveyance path 142.

  The sheet S conveyed to the erasing unit 20 is heated when passing through the erasing unit 20, and the image formed on the sheet S is decolored by heat. The eraser 20 heats and presses the sheet S at a relatively high temperature, for example, 180 to 200 ° C., and erases the image of the sheet S. That is, a colorant that can be erased is used for image formation on the sheet S, and the colorant is erased when it reaches a predetermined temperature. Therefore, the color can be erased by causing the sheet S to be conveyed at a preset conveyance speed to the erasing unit 20 that is heated at a predetermined temperature.

  The sheet S that has passed through the erasing unit 20 is conveyed again to the scanner 13 via the third conveyance path 143. The scanner 13 reads the print status again and sorts the sheet S in order to confirm whether or not the image formed with the color erasable colorant is surely erased.

  The reuse sheet S is conveyed to the first paper discharge tray 15 via the fourth conveyance path 144. Further, when an image formed with a non-decolorable colorant or a handwritten image remains in the image area from the print state read by the scanner 13, the sheet S that has been further torn or wrinkled is transferred to the fifth conveyance. It is conveyed to the reject box 16 via the path 145. The first paper discharge tray 15 and the reject box 16 constitute a paper discharge unit.

  As will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2, the erasing unit 20 includes a first erasing unit 31 including a heat roller 21 and a press roller 22, and a second erasing unit 32 including a heat roller 23 and a press roller 24. And the sheet S is conveyed between the heat roller 21 and the press roller 22 and between the heat roller 23 and the press roller 23 and heated. The heat rollers 21 and 23 include a heat source inside, and a temperature detector on the outer periphery. For example, a lamp is used as the heat source.

  FIG. 2 is a side view showing a specific configuration of the first and second erasing units 31 and 32. In FIG. 2, the heat roller 21 and the press roller 22 are used as the first erasing unit 31. The heat roller 21 and the press roller 22 face each other around the second conveyance path 142 indicated by a two-dot chain line, and are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the sheet S. Further, the heat roller 21 is in contact with the first surface (front surface) of the sheet S, and the shaft 221 of the press roller 22 is pressed in the direction of the heat roller 21 (indicated by an arrow F1) by a force such as a spring.

  The second erasing unit 32 is located downstream of the first erasing unit 31 and uses the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24. The heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 are arranged opposite to each other with respect to the heat roller 21 and the press roller 22 of the first erasing unit 31 around the second conveyance path 142. That is, the heat roller 21 of the first erasing unit 31 is on the first surface side (for example, the front surface side) of the sheet S, and the heat roller 23 of the second erasing unit 31 is on the second surface side (for example, the back surface) of the sheet S. The positions of the heat rollers 21 and 23 and the positions of the press rollers 22 and 24 are reversed between the upstream side and the downstream side.

  Further, the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 have a smaller diameter than the heat roller 21 and the press roller 22, and are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the sheet S. The press roller 24 presses the shaft 241 in the direction of the heat roller 23 (indicated by an arrow F2) with a force such as a spring.

  When there is no sheet S, the heat roller 21 contacts the press roller 22, and the heat roller 23 contacts the press roller 24. The heat rollers 21 and 23 are cylindrical and include heat sources 211 and 231 such as halogen lamps, respectively. Further, the shaft 27 of the heat roller 21 is rotated counterclockwise by the motor 27 (FIG. 5), the shaft 232 of the heat roller 23 is rotated clockwise, and the heat rollers 21 and 23 are moved in the direction in which the sheet S is conveyed. Rotate. As the heat rollers 21 and 23 rotate, the press roller 22 and the press roller 24 also rotate (follow).

  The rotation of the motor 27 is transmitted to the heat roller 21 and the heat roller 23 by a transmission mechanism such as a gear. Further, since the diameter of the heat roller 23 is small, the transmission mechanism is configured so that the rotation speed of the heat roller 23 is higher than that of the heat roller 21 so that the rotation speed is appropriately controlled.

  In addition, guide plates 41 and 42 are provided to guide the sheet S to the first erasing unit 31 and the second erasing unit 32. The guide plates 41 and 42 constitute a part of the second transport path 142.

  In the configuration of FIG. 2, the sheet S passes between the heat roller 21 and the press roller 22 and between the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24, and the image on the first surface (for example, the front surface) is the first The eraser 31 erases the color. At this time, since heat is also transmitted to the second surface of the sheet S, a part of the image on the second surface (for example, the back surface) is also erased. The image remaining on the second surface of the sheet S without being erased is erased by the second eraser 32.

  That is, since the second surface of the sheet S is preheated by the first erasing unit 31, even if the heat capacity is reduced by reducing the diameter of the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 of the second erasing unit 32, the sheet The image on the second side of S can be sufficiently erased.

  By reducing the diameter of the heat roller 23, the diameter of the heat source 231 is reduced and the heat capacity is reduced. Further, since the diameters of the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 are reduced, the time for the sheet S to pass between the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 is shortened. That is, since the nip width between the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 becomes narrow, the heating amount of the sheet S can be reduced. Further, curling of the sheet S can be suppressed by reducing the nip width.

  According to the first embodiment, the heat capacity of the erasing unit 32 on the downstream side of the sheet S can be reduced, and the power consumption during heating can be reduced. In addition, the configuration of the erasing unit 20 can be reduced in size.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of the erasing unit 20 in the second embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, the heat roller 21 and the press roller 22 are used as the first erasing unit 31, and the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 are used as the second erasing unit 32. Further, the heat roller 21 is arranged in contact with the first surface (front surface) of the sheet S, and the heat roller 23 is reversed and arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side so as to contact the second surface (back surface) of the sheet S. .

  The points described above are the same as in the first embodiment. However, in FIG. 3, the heat roller 23 has a smaller diameter than the diameter of the heat roller 22, but the press roller 22 and the press roller 24 have the same diameter. The press rollers 22 and 24 are in pressure contact with the heat rollers 21 and 23 in the direction of the heat rollers 21 and 23 as indicated by arrows F1 and F2.

  In the configuration of FIG. 3, the image on the first surface (for example, the front surface) of the sheet S is erased by the first erasing unit 31, and the image on the second surface (for example, the back surface) of the sheet S is the second image. The eraser 32 erases the color. Further, since the second surface of the sheet S is preheated by the first erasing unit 31, even if the diameter of the heat roller 23 of the second erasing unit 32 is reduced, an image on the second surface of the sheet S is sufficiently obtained. Can be erased. By reducing the diameter of the heat roller 23, the diameter of the heat source 231 is also reduced, and the heat capacity can be reduced. Further, since the nip width between the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 can be reduced, the heating time can be shortened and curling of the sheet S can be suppressed.

  Also in the second embodiment, the heat capacity of the erasing unit 32 on the downstream side of the sheet S can be reduced, and the power consumption during heating can be reduced.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of the erasing unit 20 according to the third embodiment.

  In FIG. 4, the heat roller 21 and the press roller 22 are used as the first erasing unit 31, and the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 are used as the second erasing unit 32. Further, the heat roller 21 is arranged in contact with the first surface (front surface) of the sheet S, and the heat roller 23 is reversed and arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side so as to contact the second surface (back surface) of the sheet S. .

  The points described above are the same as in the first embodiment. However, in FIG. 4, the press roller 24 has a diameter smaller than the diameter of the press roller 22, but the heat roller 21 and the heat roller 23 have the same diameter. The press rollers 22 and 24 are in pressure contact with the heat rollers 21 and 23 in the direction of the heat rollers 21 and 23 as indicated by arrows F1 and F2.

  In the configuration of FIG. 4, the image on the first surface (for example, the front surface) of the sheet S is erased by the first erasing unit 31, and the image on the second surface (for example, the back surface) of the sheet S is the second image. The eraser 32 erases the color. Further, since the second surface of the sheet S is preheated by the first erasing unit 31, the image on the second surface of the sheet S can be sufficiently erased even if the heating amount in the second erasing unit 32 is reduced. be able to.

  That is, by reducing the diameter of the press roller 24, the time when the sheet S passes between the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 is shortened. That is, since the nip width between the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 becomes narrow, the heating amount can be reduced by shortening the heating time. Further, since the nip width is narrowed, curling of the sheet S can be suppressed. Note that the temperature of the heat source 231 of the heat roller 23 may be lowered.

  Also in the third embodiment, the heat capacity of the erasing unit 32 on the downstream side of the sheet S can be reduced, and the power consumption during heating can be reduced. In addition, since the heat roller 21 and the heat roller 23 have the same diameter, it is easy to control the number of rotations (the structure of the transmission mechanism) when rotating by the motor 27.

  In each of the embodiments described above, the second erasing unit 32 is provided downstream of the first erasing unit 31, but the interval between the first erasing unit 31 and the second erasing unit 32 is a heat roller. 21 and the press roller 22, and the heat roller 23 and the press roller 24 have a distance that allows the minimum length sheet S to be held at the same time. For example, the first erasing unit 31 and the second erasing unit 32 The distance between each nip is 60 mm.

  The heat roller 21 (23) and the press roller 22 (24) have different hardnesses, and the heat roller 21 (23) is set to have a higher hardness than the press roller 22 (24).

  Further, the erasing apparatus of the present embodiment may be integrated into the image forming apparatus.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the erasing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment. The erasing device 10 includes a control unit 100. The control unit 100 includes, for example, a processor 101 that is a CPU, a random access memory (RAM) 102, a read-only memory (ROM) 103, and the like.

  The processor 101 executes a control program stored in the ROM 103. The RAM 102 is a main memory that functions as a working memory. The ROM 103 stores a control program and control data for controlling the operation of the erasing device 10.

  The control unit 100 also controls the paper feeding unit 12, the scanner 13, the paper discharge units 15 and 16, the motor 17, and the gate 18 based on instructions from the operation panel 11. The operation panel 11 includes, for example, an erasing start button, and instructs the erasing of the sheet S. The sheet feeding unit 12 supplies sheets on which images are formed to the erasing device 10 one by one. The scanner 13 reads and stores the supplied sheet image. It also reads the print status of the sheet. The scanner 13 determines whether or not the sheet that has passed through the erasing unit 20 has been decolored based on the read result.

  Further, the control unit 100 controls the rotation of the motor 19 to drive the conveyance rollers 17 of the first to fifth conveyance paths 141 to 145 to control the conveyance of the sheet S. Further, the gate 18 is controlled to convey the sheet S to the selected conveyance path. Then, the sheet that has been erased is discharged to the paper discharge unit 15 and the sheet that has not been erased by the paper discharge unit 16 or a sheet that has been torn or wrinkled is controlled.

  Further, the control unit 100 controls on / off of the heat roller 21 and the heat roller 23. Further, temperature detecting elements 25 and 26 such as a thermistor are disposed on the heat roller 21 and the heat roller 23, respectively. The control unit 100 controls the temperatures of the heat roller 21 and the heat roller 23 in response to the temperature detection results from the temperature detection elements 25 and 26 to prevent overheating. The control unit 100 also controls a motor 27 that rotationally drives the heat rollers 21 and 23.

  According to the embodiment described above, the heat capacity required for erasing the sheet S can be reduced, and power consumption during heating can be reduced. In addition, the configuration of the erasing unit 20 can be reduced in size.

  In addition, although several embodiment of this invention was described, these embodiment is shown as an example and is not intending limiting the range of invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof as well as included in the scope and gist of the invention.

10 ... Eraser 11 ... Operation panel,
12: Paper feeding unit 13: Reading unit (scanner)
141 to 145... 1st to 5th transport paths 15 and 16 .. discharge tray 17... Transport roller 18... Gate 19 and 27. ... Temperature detecting elements 31, 32 ... first and second erasing units

Claims (6)

A conveyance path for conveying a sheet on which an image is formed with a colorant erased by heating;
A first heat roller and a first press roller are disposed opposite to each other around the conveyance path, and the sheet is sandwiched between the first heat roller and the first press roller and conveyed while being heated. 1 eraser,
On the downstream side of the first erasing portion of the conveyance path, the second heat roller and the second press roller with respect to the first heat roller and the first press roller centering on the conveyance path. inverted and opposed, front Stories second press row La has a smaller diameter than the diameter of the first press roller, between the second press roller and the second heat roller A second erasing unit that conveys while heating the sheet,
An erasing device comprising: Before Stories second erase unit, the diameter of the second heat roller, erasing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein prior SL is the same as the diameter of the first Hitoro la.   The erasing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second erasing unit has a heat capacity of the second heat roller smaller than a heat capacity of the first heat roller. A paper feeding unit for feeding a sheet on which an image is formed with a colorant that is erased by heating;
A reading unit for reading the image formed on the sheet;
A first conveyance path for conveying the sheet from the sheet feeding unit to the reading unit;
A second conveyance path for conveying the sheet having the image read by the reading unit;
A first heat roller and a first press roller are arranged opposite to each other around the second conveyance path, and the sheet is sandwiched between the first heat roller and the first press roller and heated. A first erasing unit for conveying;
On the downstream side of the first erasing portion of the second transport path, the second heat roller and the second press roller around the second transport path are connected to the first heat roller and the first heat roller. the inverted with respect to the press roller disposed facing the front Stories second press row La is, the first has a smaller diameter than the diameter of the press roller, and said second heat roller said second A second erasing unit that conveys the sheet while being sandwiched between the press roller and heated;
A third conveyance path that conveys the sheet that has passed through the first and second erasing units to the reading unit;
According to the result read by the reading unit, the sheet discharge unit that determines and discharges the sheet for reuse or rejection;
An erasing device comprising:   The erasing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second erasing unit has a heat capacity of the second heat roller smaller than a heat capacity of the first heat roller. 6. The erasing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hardness of the first heat roller and the second heat roller is higher than the hardness of the first press roller and the second press roller. .

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