JPH03243963A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control copying speed in matching with actual recording contents and to quickly carry out image recording by carrying out copying in a high speed mode with respect to the contents suitable to the high speed mode and in a normal mode with respect to the contents suitable to the normal mode. CONSTITUTION:An original having a high black density image formed on a sensor 103 is suited to the copying in the normal mode and an original without especially necessitating a black density such as a character original is suited to the copying in a turbo-mode. Thus, in the decision of the copying speed of the character original, the copying surface of the original is divided into about virtual cross-sections DELTAX X DELTAX = DELTAA, and the density of the region of this DELTAA may be inspected. Therefore, when an automatic turbo-key on an operating panel is depressed and it is judged that the original is the character one by the sensor 103, the copying is automatically carried out in the turbo- mode. Thus, an image suitable to the contents of the recorded information of an image surface can be quickly formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention relates to improvement of an image forming apparatus, and more specifically, detects recorded information on the copy side of a document on which an image is to be recorded, and The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that determines which copying speed should be operated in a normal mode and a normal mode, and determines and controls the copying speed of the image forming apparatus based on the result of the determination.

(Prior Art) Generally, an image forming apparatus exposes and scans the copy surface of a document on which an image is to be recorded with a light beam, and applies reflected light from the copy surface at that time to the outer surface of a charged photosensitive image carrier. An electrostatic latent image of an optical image corresponding to recorded information on the copy surface is formed, and a developer is applied to this electrostatic latent image to make it visible.

As shown in FIG. 17, such an image forming apparatus has a document exposure section 3 disposed in the upper part of the apparatus main body 1, an image forming section 2 arranged approximately in the center of the apparatus main body 1, and a document exposure section 3 disposed in the lower part of the document exposure section 3. A means 12 for exposing and scanning the copy surface of the document tray set in the document exposure section 3 is provided in the image forming section 2, and a means 12 for exposing and scanning the copy surface of the document tray set in the document exposure section 3 is provided in the image forming section 2. The electrolatent image is brought into contact with the developing device 13 and the toner image is visualized.
It has a configuration in which a transfer device 14 and a peeling device 15 are arranged to transfer the toner image onto the transfer paper P in the transfer area B, and a fixing device 18 which heats and fixes the unfixed transferred toner image on the transfer paper P.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional image forming apparatus described above can only record images at one type of copying speed. this is,
If an attempt is made to increase the copying speed by lowering the developing conditions, for example by reducing the density, the density contrast of the image cannot be ensured, which is a problem when copying image information such as a painting. On the other hand, for recorded information such as text manuscripts, it is sufficient to obtain density, and density contrast is not necessary.

Due to these circumstances, conventional image forming apparatuses do not need to change the copying speed and operate at only one type of copying speed.

The present invention eliminates the drawbacks of the conventional image forming apparatus, and copies documents in high-speed mode that are suitable for high-speed mode in accordance with the recorded content on the copy side of the original on which images are to be recorded. The present invention aims to provide an image forming apparatus that can quickly record an image by copying in the normal mode for those suitable for the normal mode, thereby controlling the copying speed in accordance with the actual recorded content.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) An image forming apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above problems has an image forming means for forming an image on an image carrier according to an image of a document. In the image forming apparatus, a reading device reads recorded information from an image of a document, and a determining device determines which of at least two image forming speeds the recorded information of the document is at, based on the reading result of the reading device. The apparatus is characterized by comprising a control means for operating the image forming means in accordance with the image forming speed determined by the determining means.

(Function) With the above configuration, the recorded information is read by the reflected light from the image surface of the document, and based on the reading result, the recorded information on the image surface of the document is divided into at least two types of image forming speeds. It is determined which of these is suitable, and the image forming means is operated according to the image forming speed determined to be "suitable", so the image forming speed is selected in accordance with the recorded information on the image surface of the original, and the correct development is performed. Depending on the conditions, images can be recorded quickly.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, typical embodiments of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, with a document exposure section 3 in the upper part of the apparatus main body 1, an image forming section 2 in the center part, and an image forming apparatus in the apparatus main body 1. On the right side, there are a transfer paper upper paper feed section 4-1 and a lower paper feed section 4-2 that accommodate the transfer paper P, and on the left side of the apparatus main body 1, the toner image fixing flow transfer paper transferred to the transfer paper P is accommodated. Ejected transfer paper storage section 5
is provided.

The document exposure section 3 consists of a platen glass 3a on which a document to be recorded is set, a platen sheet 3b for pressing the document in close contact with the top surface of the platen glass 3a, and a platen cover 30 above the platen. Lift up the platen cover 3c and insert it between the platen sheet 3b and platen glass 3a.

The image forming section 2 also includes an exposure device 12 provided below the document exposure section 3 and a photosensitive drum 10 arranged around the photosensitive drum 10.
A charging device 11, a mounting device 13, a transfer device 14, a peeling device 15, and a cleaning device 16 are arranged in order along the rotational direction of 0.
, a static elimination lamp 17, etc.

Further, inside the apparatus main body, the transfer paper upper stage paper feeding section 4-1,
Alternatively, the transfer paper P1 is automatically fed from the lower transfer paper feed section 4-2, or the transfer paper P is fed from the manual feed table 4-3, which also serves as a cover for the upper transfer paper feed section 4-1.
, the image transfer B of the photosensitive drum 10 and the transfer device 14
A transfer paper conveyance path 20 leading to a pair of paper discharge rollers 32 disposed on the left side of the apparatus main body 1 is formed through the gap.

Furthermore, an aligning roller pair 34 is arranged on the upstream side of the image transfer area B of the transfer paper transport path 20, and a fixing device 18 is arranged on the downstream side.

In addition, an arm is swingably attached to the vicinity of the attachment section of the transfer paper upper paper feed section 4-1, and a take-out roller 43 takes out the transfer paper P one by one, and an arm is taken out via the take-out roller 43. Separation and conveyance means 41 consisting of a conveyance roller that receives the transfer paper P and sends it to the upstream side of the transfer paper conveyance path 20, and a separation roller is provided, and also separates and conveys the manually fed transfer paper P. A manual feed roller 42 for feeding the paper to the upstream side of the path 20 is provided.

Further, in the vicinity of the installation part of the lower transfer paper feed section 4-2, there is a take-out roller 43 attached to a swingable arm and takes out the transfer paper P one by one, and a take-out roller 43 that takes out the transfer paper P one by one. The transferred transfer paper P is received and transferred to the transfer paper transport path 2.
Separation and conveyance means 41 consisting of a conveyance roller and a separation roller that feeds the paper to the upstream side of 0 is provided.

The exposure device 12 also includes an exposure lamp 51 that is provided on the upper part of the apparatus main body 1 and that irradiates light onto the recorded information recording surface of a document tray set on a platen glass 3a constituting a document exposure section; A first mirror 52 and a second mirror 5 are arranged to surround the back of the photosensitive drum 10, and a first mirror 52 and a second mirror 5 guide reflected light from the original to the outer surface of the photosensitive drum 10.
3. Third mirror 54, lens 55, fourth mirror 56
, a fifth mirror 57, and a sixth mirror 58. The light generated from the exposure lamp 51 is irradiated by the reflector 50 so as to be slightly inclined from the direction perpendicular to the platen glass 3a.

The exposure lamp 51 and the first mirror 52 surrounded by the reflector 50 are mounted on a first carriage 59 that can reciprocate along the lower surface of the platen glass 3a, and the second mirror 53 and the third mirror 54 is mounted on a second carriage 60 that moves in the same direction at half the speed of the carriage 59, and these carriages 59
．． 60 scans the copying surface of the original set on the platen glass 3a by moving from left to right in the figure, and focuses the reflected light onto the photosensitive drum 10 to remove the electric charge on the surface of the drum 20. Then, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the optical image of the recorded information on the copy surface of the original document is formed.

Further, in this embodiment, the developing device 13 uses a two-component mixed developer of, for example, a black thermoplastic toner and a magnetic carrier.

Further, a cooling fan 66 is arranged above the fixing device 18 in the apparatus main body 1.

The charging device 11, the exposure device 12, the developing device 13, the transfer device 14, the peeling device 15, the cleaning device 16, the static elimination lamp 17, the fixing device 18, etc. of the image forming section 2 have known configurations. Detailed explanation will be omitted.

Further, an operation panel 6 as shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the upper front edge of the main body 1, and a key 7 for controlling copying speed, a guide key 8, etc. are provided on the operation panel 6. It is being

The drive control system of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment is constructed as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. That is, the photosensitive drum 10 and the fixing device 18 are controlled by the rotational driving force of a two-speed variable sub-main motor 21, and the cooling fan 66
is rotationally driven at a constant speed by the main motor 22, and when the pair of dog clutches 23 are engaged by the action of the solenoid 26, the developing roll in the developing device 13 rotates at a constant speed, and the developer is transferred to the surface of the photosensitive drum. It is attached to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface and visualized.

In the drive control system described above, when the turbo key 7 (see FIG. 6) on the operation panel 6 is pressed, copying is performed at a faster copying speed than in the normal mode.

Generally, when the copying speed is increased, the copying density becomes lower and the fixing performance also becomes worse. Therefore, if the recorded content is a document containing characters, such defects are not noticeable, and the turbo button can be pressed to increase the copying speed.

Further, the reading means 100 for the original document on which the image is recorded in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment is composed of an imaging lens 101, 102 and a sensor 103 composed of a charge-coupled device, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. ing. This imaging lens 10
1, the optical image of the recorded information on the copy surface of the document tray is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10, and the optical image of the recorded information on the copy surface of the document tray is formed on the sensor 103 by the imaging lens 102. .

As shown in FIG. 10, the image formed on the sensor 103 is suitable for copying in the normal mode when the original has a high black density, and when the image is formed on the sensor 103 as shown in FIG. Those that are not needed are suitable for copying in turbo mode. In order to determine the copying speed of such text manuscripts, as shown in FIG.
It is sufficient to inspect the density in this ΔA region. For example, if there are two or more adjacent areas, it is considered to be other than a text manuscript,
Suitable for copying in normal mode. That is,
Scanning direction on the imaging plane on the sensor 103 (arrow direction)
Figure 13 (C
) corresponds to this case, where adjacent areas are missing, and if they are filled with adjacent areas as shown in Figure 13(b), it is difficult to copy as a text document in turbo mode. Are suitable.

Therefore, when the auto-turbo key 7-2 on the operation panel 6 shown in FIG. 6 is pressed, if the sensor 103 determines that the document is a text document, copying is automatically performed in the turbo mode. On the other hand, when the turbo key 71 is pressed, the turbo motor copies the document regardless of its type.

FIG. 14 shows the flow of copying using the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment.

First, press the auto turbo key 7-2 and at the same time press the component button. (Step 5-1).

Next, the exposure lamp is turned on and a briscan is performed (step 5-2).

Based on the sensor signal, it is determined whether the document is a text document (step 3, S4). If it is determined that it is not a text document, copying is performed in normal mode (S-6). ), if it is determined that
Copying is performed automatically in turbo mode (step S5
).

In the above embodiment, copying is performed using a monochrome image forming apparatus, but when performing color copying, as shown in FIG. The device 13-2 can be arranged to perform color development in black or in other colors such as red.

Further, in the first carriage 59, for example, a document is stored.
If you want to make a copy with a specific area erased, a spot light source device 65 for specifying the area is installed, and as an erasing device, this spot light source device 65 erases the electric charge of the portion corresponding to the specified area. , it is also possible to make it possible to erase from the photosensitive drum 10.

Furthermore, this invention is not limited to the various embodiments described above, and within the scope of the invention,
It goes without saying that various modifications can be made.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention reads recorded information using reflected light from the image surface of a document on which an image is to be recorded, and based on the reading result, performs the following: An image that matches the content of recorded information can be quickly formed.

In addition, the recorded information is read by the light reflected from the image surface during exposure scanning of the image surface of the document to be image recorded, and it is determined which of at least two types of image forming speed is suitable for the image forming speed condition of the recorded content. However, since the image forming means is operated according to the image forming speed determined to be "suitable" by the judgment result, the image forming speed can be determined and automated easily, and the image forming efficiency can be improved.

Furthermore, since the above-mentioned reading means determines the image forming speed conditions, even beginners can easily and accurately adjust the image forming speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a schematic configuration of a low-volume image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the state of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the copying speed changing drive control system of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the cooling fan drive control system of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment; 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating mechanism of the drive system of the cooling fan shown in FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a front view showing the configuration of the operation panel of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3 (that is, FIG. 1); 7 and 8 are main part perspective views and principle configuration diagrams showing the structure of the recording information reading device for the copy side of the document on which images are recorded in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 9 is the same as that shown in FIG. 1. A block diagram showing the configuration of a copying speed control system using a device for reading information recorded on a copying surface using reflected light from the copying surface of a document on which an image is recorded by the image forming apparatus and a copying speed determining device. FIG. 10 shows a document suitable for normal mode. 11 is a front explanatory view showing the aspect of the copying surface of a document suitable for the high-speed mode (text document), FIG. 12 is a diagram explaining the determination procedure for a document document, and FIG. ), (b), and (C) are side views of the judgment criteria for character originals and non-text originals, and a characteristic curve diagram of the traveling direction versus output signal by the sensor, and FIG. 14 shows the aspect of another embodiment of the operating panel traveling panel. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment,
FIG. 16 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part showing the structure of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 17 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part showing the structure of a conventional image forming apparatus. 1... Apparatus main body 2... Image forming section 3... Document exposure section 3a... Platen glass 3b... Platen sheet 3C... Platen cover 4-1... Transfer paper upper sheet feeding section 4-2... Lower transfer paper feed section 4-3... Manual paper feed section 5... Ejected original transfer paper storage section 6... Operating panel running panel 10... Photosensitive drum... Charging Device 2...Exposure (scanning) device 3.13-1.13-2...Developing device 4...Transfer device 5...Peeling device 6...Cleaning device 7...Static elimination lamp 8.・Fixed fixing device 3...Transfer area 0...Transfer paper conveyance path 1...Sub main motor 2...Main motor 01.102...Imaging lens 03...Sensor (charge coupled device)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an image forming apparatus that includes an image forming means for forming an image on an image carrier according to an image of a document, a reading device reads recorded information from the image of the document, and a recording method of the document is performed based on the reading result of the reading device. The image forming apparatus is characterized by comprising a determining means for determining which of at least two types of image forming speed the information is, and a controlling means for operating the image forming means in accordance with the image forming speed determined by the determining means. Image forming device.