JPH0313426A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To arrange so that the vibration of an image formation device main body may not be generated from the vibration of a cassette transport means and prevent the disorder of an image to be formed, by providing a control means which prohibits the operation of the cassette transport means during the image formation operation of the image formation device main body. CONSTITUTION:The drive motor 7 of a cassette transport means is made to be unoperatable by means of a control means 28 during the image formation operation of an image formation device main body. As a result, a jam, the breakage of a device and the generation of the disorder of an image can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus in which a paper feed cassette is automatically attached and detached.

(Old Conventional Technology) Conventionally, paper feed cassettes used in copiers, printers, etc. are removable from the main body of the device in order to replenish transfer material, change the size of the transfer material, etc.

In addition, there are two types of attachment/detachment directions for the device body: one type that pulls out toward the side of the device body, and the other type that pulls out toward the front of the device body.

2. When replenishing transfer material, it is possible to replenish the cassette without removing it from the main body of the apparatus.

3. Easy to handle as it is operated from the front.

The number of hats that can be pulled out toward the front (hereinafter referred to as front-loading types) is increasing due to the need for a hat.

Furthermore, with front loading type cassettes,
In order to improve the poor operability caused by the long travel distance for inserting and removing the cassette, such as when the paper storage section inside the cassette has to be brought out in front of the main body of the machine, a drive is used to insert and pull out the cassette into the main body of the machine. An autoloading device that automatically performs the loading has been proposed.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention However, in the above-mentioned autoloading device,
If the cassette can be inserted or pulled out while the power switch of the image forming apparatus is turned on, 1. If the cassette drive unit operates during paper feeding, a jam may occur or the paper feed roller and cassette may There is also a risk of damage due to collision.

2. When the cassette drive device operates during image formation, the vibrations are transmitted to the main body of the image forming apparatus, resulting in image disturbance.

Therefore, another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a cassette drive device that prevents jamming, damage to the device, and image distortion by prohibiting the operation of the cassette drive device during image forming operation. shall be.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1(b) and 2, a cassette loaded with transfer materials ( An image forming apparatus (
1) is characterized in that a control means (28) is provided for prohibiting the operation of the cassette transport means (4) during the image forming operation of the image forming apparatus main body (2).

Further, the image forming drive motor (31) provided in the image forming apparatus main body (2) and the cassette conveying means (4)
) is characterized in that the same power source is provided which is shared by the drive motor (7).

(e) Effect Based on the above configuration, the cassette conveying means (4) cannot be operated by the control means (28) during image forming operation of the image forming apparatus main body (2).

Further, power is supplied from the same power source to the image forming drive motor (31) and the motor (7) that drives the cassette transport means (4).

In addition, in the above, the symbols in parentheses are examples,
This does not limit the configuration in any way.

(F) Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the copying machine 1, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cassette conveying device. Close to 1. A semicircular roller 5 for feeding the transfer material from the cassette 3 is integrally provided with a shaft 5a.

Also, inside the body 2, there is a photosensitive drum 6 that carries a toner image.
is installed.

The cassette transport device 4 is driven by a motor 7 provided inside the machine body 2.
A shaft 8 is provided for synchronously transmitting the driving force from the left and right sides. And gears 9 and 10 of equal size,
Sprocket 11 and gears 12, 13, sprocket 1
4, chains 15,16 are driven. These chains 15 and 16 are connected to the driven sprocket 1.
It is wrapped around 7.18. Also, chain 15.1
Pins 19, 20 are mounted at opposite positions of 6. These are supported by frames 21 and 22 arranged in parallel to each other within the body 2. Also, in cassette 3,
A pin 23.23 is provided which engages the pin 19.20. Then, when inserting the cassette 3 into the aircraft 2,
The pins 19, 20 are waiting in a position where they can be inserted into the horizontal portion 23a of the groove 23. This positioning is determined by the fact that a light shielding plate 24 attached to the chain 15 facing outward shields a sensor 25 provided at the middle lower part of the chain 15. Further, a sensor 26 is provided above the middle of the chain 15, and by blocking this sensor 26 with the light shielding plate 24, the loading and fixing position of the cassette 3 is determined. Further, a microswitch 27 is provided on the surface of the frame 21 on which the cassette 3 is placed and guided. Further, FIG. 1(b) shows a control block diagram. Control unit 28
includes a copy key 29, a cassette ejection button 30, and a sensor 2.
Signals from 5, 26, and a microswitch 27 are input, and the control unit 28 that receives these signals controls the image forming motor 31 and the cassette transport device drive motor 7 according to the respective signals. I'm trying to drive it.

Next, the operation of the cassette transport device 4 will be explained.

When installing the cassette 3, when the operator inserts the cassette 3 while being guided by the frame 21.22, the waiting pin 19.20 enters the horizontal part 23a of the groove 23. , cassette 3 or micro switch 2
Turn on 7. The motor 7 starts rotating in response to a signal from this switch 27. Then, after the pins 19 and 20 are lowered, they move to the back side. At this time, the pins 19 and 20 press the wall 23b of the groove 23 to transport the cassette 3 to the back side, and when the cassette 3 is transported to the set position, the light shielding plate 2
4 is detected by the sensor 26, the motor 7 stops rotating in response to the signal from the sensor 26, and the cassette 3 is mounted on the body 2.

When carrying out the cassette 3, when the cassette carrying-out 30 is pushed, the motor 7 rotates in the opposite direction to the direction when the cassette was carried in, and the motor 7 rotates through the pins 19 and 20 to move the wall 23c of the groove 23 of the cassette 3.
Press to remove the cassette 3 from the machine body 2. Then, when the light shielding plate 24 is detected by the sensor 25 and the sensor 25 is turned on, the motor 7 is stopped by the signal. The pins 19 and 20 stop at a position where they can be removed from the horizontal portion 23a, and the cassette 3 can be removed from the body 2 in the unloading direction.

Next, a series of controls in which the operator replenishes transfer material after automatically unloading the installed cassette 3, and then automatically loading the cassette 3 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3(a). First, the power is turned on by the operator. Then,
The sensor 26 checks the current position of the pins 19, 20 (step 101). In this case, the cassette 3 is installed, the pins 19, 20 are in the waiting position at the back,
Since the sensor 26 is ON, it is checked whether the switch 27 is ON (step 102), and since it is ON, it is then checked whether the copy key 29 is pressed (step 103). If the copy key 29 is not pressed, pressing the cassette unloading 30 (step 106) causes the transport motor 7 to drive the cassette 3 in the unloading direction outside the machine 2 (step 107), but if the copy key 29 is not pressed If the rotation of the image forming motor 31 is not 0FFL/, the signal input by the cassette unloading unit 30 will not be received, and the cassette 3 will not be unloaded from the body 2. When the image forming motor 31 is set to 0FFL, and the operator presses the cassette unloading 30, the transport motor 7 is rotated in the unloading direction and the sensor 25 is checked to see if it is ON.Step 10
8) When the pins 19 and 20 move to the front standby position, the sensor 25 is turned on and the motor 7 is turned off (step 109). Next, check whether the switch 27 is on or not (step 110). If it is on, Continue the same check until it turns OFF. At this time, the operator confirms that the cassette 3 has stopped, replenishes the transfer material, and pulls out the cassette 3 until the switch 27 is turned OFF.
&, Push the cassette 3 again until the switch 27 turns ON, then the switch 27 changes from ON to OFF to OFF.
Check that it has changed from ON to ON (step 11).
0), (Step 111), Rotate the transport motor 7 in the carry-in direction (Step 113) Next, check whether the sensor 26 is ON and OFF for cassette unloading (Step 114), (Step 115). 26, if the cassette 3 has not moved to the loading position,
Since it is OFF, the switch 27 is then checked to see if it is ON (step 116). This is because the switch 27 is ON unless the cassette 3 is removed by the operator before the pins 19 and 20 engage with the grooves 23. Then sensor 26 turns on
Also, check whether the cassette unloading 3o is ON (steps 117) and (step 118), and since the cassette unloading 3o is OFF, the steps (step 114) and (
The process of step 115) is repeated. In the meantime, the cassette 3 moves to the mounting position, the sensor 26 is turned on, and the cassette unloading 30 is turned off (step 114).
(Step 115) Therefore, the transport motor 7 is OFF (
Step 119), and the cassette 3 is placed in the installed state.

Next, another embodiment will be described.

As mentioned above, since the image forming motor 31 and the drive motor 7 of the cassette transport device 4 do not operate at the same time, the power source of both motors 7.31 may be shared. The number of constituent members of the machine 1 can be reduced.

(G) As described in detail, according to the present invention, the control means (28) cannot operate the cassette transport means (4) during the image forming operation of the image forming apparatus main body (2), so that the cassette transport means (4) cannot be operated. The image forming apparatus main body (
Since the vibration described in 2) does not occur, disturbances in the formed image can be prevented. Furthermore, since the transfer material that is being moved for image formation is not obstructed, jams can be prevented. Furthermore, the cassette does not collide with the rotating paper feed roller, etc., and damage to the device (1) can be prevented.

Furthermore, since power is supplied from the same power source to the image forming drive motor (31) and the motor (7) that drives the cassette transport means (4), the number of constituent members of the image forming apparatus (1) can be reduced. It is possible to reduce the production cost as well as reduce the production cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(a) is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1(b) is a block diagram of its control circuit, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cassette conveying device, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-section of the copying machine. It is a front view. 1... Image forming device (copying machine) 2... Device body (machine) 3... Cassette 4.
...Cassette transport means (cassette transport device), 7...
Motor (motor) 2 that drives the cassette transport means
8... Control means (control unit) 31... Image forming motor

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an image forming apparatus having a cassette conveying means for inserting and removing a cassette loaded with transfer materials into and from the apparatus main body, during the image forming operation of the image forming apparatus main body, the operation of the cassette conveying means An image forming apparatus characterized by comprising a control means for prohibiting. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming drive motor provided in the image forming apparatus main body and the drive motor of the cassette transport means share the same power source.