JPH0364777A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify, miniaturize an optical system and to reduce costs by fixing a movable optical system composed of first to third mirrors in their home positions and other components, making the second mirror movable in a prescribed distance and directly reflecting an image light from an original wound around a drum toward an image carrier via the third mirror. CONSTITUTION:With the mirrors 52 to 54 in their home positions, an original winding drum 40 rotating in a prescribed direction is disposed above the second and third mirrors 53 and 54, and the second mirror 53 can move in a prescribed distance. Consequently, the device reflects the image light L from the original wound around the drum 40 with the aid of the third mirror 54 together with the rotation of the drum 40 and has an original reading function as a fixed optical system moving toward the image carrier 10. Therefore, both the movable optical system and the fixed optical system wherein the movable optical system is fixed can read an original. Thus, the optical system is simplified and miniaturized to reduce costs.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine that employs an electrophotographic method, and particularly to an image forming apparatus that employs an electrophotographic method, such as a copying machine, and in particular, an image forming apparatus that is equipped with both types of document reading devices, such as a moving optical system and a fixed optical system. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

(Prior Art) In a copying machine, etc., a document reading device that irradiates a document with light, moves the image light reflected from the document toward an image carrier, and exposes the image carrier, has been conventionally used. Reading devices with a moving optical system and reading devices with a fixed optical system are known.

Some scanning devices use a moving optical system to scan a fixed document by irradiating light onto a fixed document and reflecting the image light reflected from the document using multiple mirrors that move along the document. Some optical system reading devices read a document by fixing an optical system such as a mirror and moving the document by wrapping it around a rotating drum or the like.

Although it is easy to read relatively large originals with a moving optical system original reading device,
Because multiple mirrors are moved along the document, it takes time to read the document.Furthermore, document reading devices with a fixed optical system can read documents relatively quickly, but since they use a drum etc., it takes time to read the document. It was difficult to read the manuscript from.

Therefore, in order to have the respective advantages of a moving optical system and a fixed optical system, it is conceivable to provide one copying machine or the like with two document reading devices, a moving optical system and a fixed optical system.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, when a copying machine or the like is equipped with two document reading devices, one with a moving optical system and one with a fixed optical system, optical paths and mirrors, etc. for each image light are required, and the optical system In addition to becoming more complex and larger, there were also problems in terms of cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to prevent the optical system from becoming complicated or large even if it is equipped with two document reading devices, a moving optical system and a fixed optical system. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can keep costs low.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object distantly, the present invention aims to convert the document image light reflected by the first mirror that moves along the document into second and third mirrors that also move in the same direction. In an image forming apparatus equipped with a document reading device having a moving optical system that reflects image light and moves it toward an image carrier, when each of the mirrors is at the home position, the image light is reflected above the second and third mirrors. A document wrapping drum that rotates in a predetermined direction is installed on the
Moreover, the second mirror can be moved by a predetermined distance.

The apparatus is characterized in that it also has a document reading function as a fixed optical system that reflects image light from the document wrapped around the drum by a third mirror as the drum rotates and moves it toward the image carrier.

(Function) When each mirror of the moving optical system is at the home position,
The document winding drum is disposed above the second and third mirrors, and the second mirror is movable by a predetermined distance.
The reflected image light of the document wrapped around a winding drum rotating in a constant direction can be directly sent to the image carrier via the third mirror.

Therefore, it is possible to read a document using both a moving optical system and a fixed optical system to which the moving optical system is fixed.

(Embodiments) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below by taking a copying machine as an example and referring to the accompanying drawings.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

First, an overview of a copying machine will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, lO is a photosensitive drum that is an image carrier;
A cleaning device 11 is provided around the photosensitive drum 10. -Next charger 12, developer 13. Image forming means and transfer means such as a transfer charger 14 are provided. Also, the photosensitive drum lO
A cassette 15, a paper feed roller 16, a registration roller 17, etc. are arranged on the paper feed side of the photosensitive drum 10, and a conveyor belt 18, a fixing device 19, a paper ejection roller 20° tray 21, etc. are arranged on the paper ejection side of the photosensitive drum IO. It is set up.

That is, the photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged by the primary charger 12.
0 is exposed to image light through a scanning optical system, which will be described later, to form an electrostatic latent image.The electrostatic latent image is visualized by the developing device 13 and converted into a toner image, and the toner image is The image is transferred onto the transfer paper P by the transfer charger 14. On the other hand force set 1
The transfer sheets P in 5 are fed one by one to a registration roller 17 via a paper feed roller 16, tied together by the registration roller 17, and conveyed toward the photosensitive drum 10. Then, the transfer paper P on which the toner image on the photosensitive drum 10 has been transferred by the transfer charger 14 is sent to the fixing device 19 via the conveyor belt 18, and after the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 19, Tray 21 via paper ejection roller 20
loaded on top.

Further, an automatic document feeder 30 is disposed on the document placement glass 22 at the top of the apparatus main body l above the photosensitive drum lO.
A scanning optical system 50 for reading the original is disposed below the original placing glass 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic document feeder 30 includes a tray 31, first and second moving rollers 32, 33, and a first . Second
Guide rollers 34, 35, first and second paper feed guides 36.4
8 etc., and a positioning belt 37. Belt driving roller 38°3B, belt pressing roller 39. . . . and a rotating tram 40. 1st, 2nd
Drum guide rollers 42, 43. Drum guide 44
, first and second paper ejection guides 45, 46 . The paper discharging section includes a paper discharging roller 47 and the like.

That is, the original on the tray 31 is conveyed via the first moving roller 32 and the first paper feed guide 36 to the first guide roller 34 and the second moving roller 33Fllff, where it is bent approximately 90 degrees and transferred to the second guide roller. 35, and is sent to the positioning belt 37 via the second guide roller 35 and second paper feed guide 48. The positioning belt 37 is an endless belt that is passed around belt drive rollers 38 and 38 disposed at both ends of the document placement glass 22, and the document is moved by rotating the belt drive rollers 38 and 38 in the normal or reverse direction. It is movable on the mounting glass 22 in either left or right direction. Therefore, the original sent from the paper feed section slides on the developer storage glass 22 together with the positioning belt 37, and is positioned at a predetermined position on the original storage glass 22.

The belt pressing roller 39 is used to prevent the positioning belt 37 from swinging. When the reading and scanning of the original by the scanning optical system 50, which will be described later, is completed, the belt drive rollers 3B and 38 are reversely rotated, and the original on the original holding glass 22 is again slid on the original holding glass 22 by the positioning belt 37. The paper is sent to the first paper discharge guide 45, and is conveyed from the first paper discharge guide 45 via the first drum guide roller 42 between the rotary tram 40 and the drum guide 44 by the rotation of the rotary tram 40, and then transferred to the second drum guide. The paper is discharged onto the tray 31 again by the paper discharge roller 47 via the roller 43 and the second paper discharge guide 46.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the scanning optical system 50 includes five moving ramps that move at a predetermined speed when reading a document.
1st. A moving optical system consisting of second and third lenses 52, 53, 54, etc., a zoom lens 55, and fixed mirrors 56, 57.
．． 58, etc., and a fixed optical system. The document positioned on the document storage glass 22 by the automatic document feeder 30 is illuminated by a moving lamp 51 that moves along the surface of the document, and the reflected image light is reflected by the first mirror 52 at 90 degrees. The reflected image light from the second mirror 52 is reflected by the second mirror 53 at the third mirror 54 which is disposed directly below the second mirror 53.
The direction is changed by 0 degrees and reflected toward the zoom lens 55. The image light that has passed through the zoom lens 55 is directed in a predetermined direction by three fixed lenses 56.5 and 58, and is exposed onto the photosensitive drum IO.

Here, the first, second, third mirrors 52, 53 .
The movable lamp 51 and the first mirror 52 move at the same speed in order to maintain a constant optical path length from the movable lamp 54 to the fixed sheath 56, but the second and third mirrors 53 and 54 move at the same speed. It moves along the document surface at a speed of H which is the moving speed of .

Now, in the above explanation, the first one of the scanning optical systems. 2nd, 3rd-! , Teller 2, 53, 54, or the like has been described. Hereinafter, a document reading apparatus using a fixed optical system in which the moving optical system is fixed and the document is moved will be described.

First, the positioning of the document and the movement of the document after the positioning will be explained with reference to FIG. Second and third mirrors 52.
The rotating drum 4 of the automatic document feeder 130 is directly above the document feeder 53.
0 and a flapper 41 is provided on the paper ejection roller 47 side of the rotary drum 40 to transport the original toward the second paper ejection guide 46, and when to transport the original toward the rotary drum 40 again. It is now possible to select cases.

That is, by moving the tip 41a of the flapper 41 upward, the original is moved to the first position. The document is moved toward the second drum guide rollers 42 and 43 to position and fix the document around the rotating drum 40, and then the document is moved through the rotation of the rotary tram 40, and the document image is transferred to the scanning optical system. 50 from the reading position A directly above the third mirror 54.
By sequentially directing the light beams toward , it becomes possible to read and scan the document using almost the same optical path as when using a moving optical system.

Here, it is necessary to make the optical path length for reading the document using the moving optical system equal to the optical path length for reading the document when the moving optical system is fixed. The long optical path between the two mirrors 53 and the distance 1 m between the reading position of the rotary tram 40 and the top of the document placement glass 22 are made equal.

In addition, a fixed lamp 60 is provided on the side of the apparatus main body l in order to read the document on the rotating tram 40, and the fixed lamp 60 illuminates the reading position A of the rotating tram 40, and the reflected image light is reflected by the third mirror 54. zoom lens 55
, photosensitive drum lO via a fixed mirror 56°57.58
This allows you to move towards.

Next, read position A of the rotating tram 40 and the third mirror 54.
A second mirror 53 is positioned in between, and the second mirror 53 is the NS3 mirror 5 of the document around the rotating drum 40.
4, this second mirror 53
need to be removed from the optical path between the rotating drum 4o and the third mirror 54. The moving device for the second mirror 53 will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, a mirror holder 70 on which the second mirror 53 is mounted at an angle of 45 degrees has a roller 71 pivotally supported at one end, and a guide rod 72 fitted into the other end. The mirror holding stand 70 is movable along this guide rod 72. Both ends of the M guide rod 72 are fixed to first and second support stands 73 and 74, and a motor 92 with a pulley 75 fixed to a drive shaft 92a is attached to the first support stand 73. The pulley 75 is also attached to the second support base 74.
A pulley 76 corresponding to the pulley 75 and 76 is fixed, and the mirror holder 70 can be moved along the guide rod 72 by movement of a wire 77 passed between the two pulleys 75 and 76.

Further, the first and second support stands 73.74 are mounted on a common movable base plate 78 for the second and third mirrors 53.54, and the rollers 71 of the mirror holding base 70 also rotate on this movable base plate 78. do. Further, an abutting table 79 is fixed above the moving substrate 7, and both ends of the mirror holding table 70 are pressed against this abutting table 79 and the second support stand 74 of the guide rod 72, as shown in FIG. and a predetermined protrusion 80. ... is positioned on the moving board 78. Mirror holding stand 70
The abutting base 79 and the protrusion 80 of the second support base 74,...
As shown in FIG. 4 or 5, the pressure is applied by a stopper claw 81 whose intermediate portion is pivotally supported by the moving board 78. When the stopper claw 81 rotates within the opening 78a of the movable board 78, the pressing part 81a at one end of the stopper claw 81 protrudes toward the mirror holder 70, and the mirror holder 70 The protrusion 80. of the abutting table 79 and the second support table 74 is pressed by the pressing portion 81a of 81. ... is pressed by...

The other end of the stopper claw 81 engages with an arm 82a of a solenoid 82 attached to the back side of the moving board 78, and the movement of the arm 82a (the stopper claw 81 rotates, as shown in FIG. 4). As shown in FIG. 5, when the solenoid 82 is turned on and the arm 82a is pulled in, the pressing part 81a of the stopper claw 81 presses the mirror holding base 70, and as shown in FIG. 5, the solenoid 82 is turned off and the arm 82a is pulled in.
is pulled out by the spring member 83, the stopper claw 81
The pressing portion 81a is hidden within the opening 73a of the movable board 78, the stopper claw 81 is released from pressing the mirror holder 70, and the mirror holder 70 becomes movable.

As is clear from FIG. 3, the stopper claws 81 and the like are provided one each on the left and right sides of the mirror holder 70.

Thus, the moving optical system of the scanning optical system 50 is fixed, that is,
When reading and scanning a document by wrapping the document around the rotating drum 40 of the automatic document feeder 30 using only the fixed optical system, first move the flapper 4 by operating the operation boat, etc.
1 is rotated to separate its leading end 41a from the rotary drum 40, and to operate the document positioning belt 37 and the like in the automatic document feeder 30 in a predetermined order.

By doing this, the originals on the tray 31 are
The document is once carried from the second guide roller 35 via the moving rollers 32, 33 and the first guide roller 34 between the positioning belt 37 and the document placement glass 22, and then immediately conveyed to the rotating drum 40, and then transported to the first guide roller 35. Drum guide roller 42.
The document that has been conveyed to the drum guide 44 and the second drum guide roller 43 and passed through the flapper 41 is positioned around the drum 40 once. The first reading position of the document is then positioned at reading position A of the rotary tram 40.

The movable optical system is at its home position across the positioning of the document, but at the same time as the document is positioned, the second mirror 5
3 out of the optical path between the rotating drum 40 and the third mirror 54. This is solenoid 82.8
2 is turned OFF, the pressing portions 81a, 81a of the stopper claws 81.81 of the mirror holding base 70 of the second mirror 53 are recessed into the openings 78a, 78a of the moving board 78 due to the elastic force of the spring members 83.83. After that, the motor 92 is driven to move the mirror holder 78 via the rollers 71 and the guide rod 72 to the position indicated by the broken line on the left in FIG.

After the above work is completed, the rotating tram 4 is moved by the fixed ramp 60.
The original image at the reading position A of the original on 0 is irradiated,
The reflected image light of the original image is reflected by the third mirror 54. The photosensitive drum 1O is exposed through the zoom lens 55 and the fixed mirror 56°57.58. In this case, since the rotating drum 40 rotates at a predetermined speed, the documents on the rotating drum 40 are sequentially read and exposed onto the photosensitive drum IO at high speed.

When the reading and scanning of the document is completed, the flapper 41 rotates and the rotary tram 40 rotates and the rotary tram 4 rotates.
The original on page 0 is discharged from the second paper discharge guide 46 via the paper discharge roller 47 onto the tray 31, and the second mirror 53 is positioned at a predetermined position, that is, above the third mirror 54, by an operation completely opposite to that described above. Fixed.

As described above, the document can be read by the image forming apparatus not only by using the moving optical system but also by the fixed optical system, so that the document can be read at high speed. Even in the case of a fixed optical system, an optical path using a conventional moving optical system, a third mirror 54, a zoom lens 55 .
Since the fixed mirrors 56, 57, 58, etc. can be used as they are, the scanning optical system 50 does not become complicated or large, and the cost does not increase significantly.

As shown by the broken line in FIG. 2, since a predetermined distance is ensured between the rotating drum 40 and the main body 1 of the apparatus, the fixed lamp 60' that illuminates the document reading position A of the rotating drum 40 is used to illuminate the document. It may also be provided within the automatic paper feeder 30 of.

In this case, it is possible to eliminate the problem of temperature rise within the apparatus main body 1, which tends to occur when a halogen lamp is used as the lamp.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9. Components having the same functions as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and explanation thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, when moving the second mirror 53, the mirror holder 70 is not moved in parallel as in the first embodiment, but is moved by rotating the mirror holder 70.

That is, as shown in FIG.
It is fixed to a support shaft 84 along the longitudinal direction of the mirror 53, and both ends of the support shaft 84 are pivotally supported to support shaft holders 85 and 86 fixed on the moving board 78. and - blade side spindle holder 86
A gear 87 is provided at the end of the support shaft 84 that protrudes from the
I try to make it mesh with the Therefore, the rotation of the motor 90 causes the support shaft 84 to rotate by a predetermined angle, and the second mirror 5
As shown in FIG. 6, the mirror holding stand 70 holding the mirror 3 can be rotated a predetermined distance and retracted.

Further, before the mirror holding stand 70 is rotated, its rear end is connected to the lot 82 of the solenoid 82 as shown in FIG.
Although it is pressed and positioned by the stopper claw 91 that engages with the mirror holding base 70, the ninth
As shown in the figure, the stopper claw 91 escapes due to the action of the spring member 83, and the mirror holding base 70 becomes rotatable.

As described above, by rotating and retracting the mirror holding stand 70, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

(Effect of the invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention.

A moving optical system consisting of a first, second, third mirror, etc. located at the home position is fixed, and the second mirror is movable by a predetermined distance, so that the image light of the document wrapped around the wrapping drum is directly transmitted through the third mirror. Since the light can be reflected toward the image carrier, by rotating the winding drum, it becomes possible to read the document using a fixed optical system. Therefore, in addition to reading an original using a moving optical system, it is possible to read an original at high speed using a fixed optical system.

In addition, in the present invention, the optical path of the image light can be used almost as is in the moving optical system, and other optical systems can be used as is except for the first and second mirrors, so the optical system does not become complicated or large. , it does not pose a large burden in terms of cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, and the second ei! I is an enlarged view of the upper part of the image forming device. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mirror holder of the second mirror of the intermediate image forming device, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the mirror holder shown in FIG. 3 being positioned, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a view showing the second embodiment of the image forming apparatus.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the mirror holder, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the mirror holder shown in FIG. 7 in a positioned state, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the mirror holder shown in FIG. 7 in a moved state. lO... Photosensitive drum (image carrier), 40-... Rotating drum (wrapping drum), 50-... Scanning optical system (original reading device), 52... First mirror, 53... Second Mirror, 54...Third mirror, L...Image light.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A moving optical system is provided in which original image light reflected by a first mirror moving along the original is reflected by second and third mirrors also moving in the same direction, and the image light is moved toward an image carrier. In the image forming apparatus equipped with a document reading device, when each of the mirrors is at the home position, a document winding drum that rotates in a predetermined direction is disposed above the second and third mirrors, and the second mirror is rotated in a predetermined direction. It is movable over a predetermined distance and also has a document reading function as a fixed optical system that reflects the image light from the document wrapped around the drum by a third mirror as the drum rotates and moves it toward the image carrier. An image forming apparatus characterized by: