JPH0387760A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need to replace with a fresh battery and to reduce costs by providing a solar battery charging the power source of an image forming device in a position where the battery receives light from an illuminating lamp. CONSTITUTION:The solar battery 20 charging the power source for RAM is provided in the position where it receives light from the illuminating lamp 4, thereby charging the power source for RAM. Namely, the solar battery 20 is fixedly arranged on a supporting plate 10 left of a lens 11, and when the illuminating lamp 4 lights up to illuminate an original, part of the light is made incident on the solar battery 20. Due to the photoelectromotive force, the power source for RAM is charged. Thus, an existing battery is never replaced with a fresh one to reduce costs.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image by illuminating a document with an illumination lamp.

[Conventional technology]

In the image forming apparatus of the above type configured as a copying machine, printer, facsimile, etc., RAM (Random Access Memory) is used for the purpose of controlling the various devices.
) stores various data. Further, an image forming apparatus equipped with peripheral devices such as an image editing device and an automatic document feeder is provided with a memory for storing input data and the like. It is necessary to ensure that the data stored in such RAM and memory does not disappear even when the power of the image forming apparatus is turned off.
A primary battery is provided as a backup power source for these memories to prevent data from being lost even when the power is turned off.

Further, even in an image forming apparatus equipped with an information adding device having a clock function, a primary battery is provided as a power source for driving the circuit, so that a predetermined clock function can be obtained.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, the elements in the image forming apparatus such as the RAM, memory, and information addition device require a power source, and conventionally, as mentioned above, a non-rechargeable primary battery 1 is used as the power source.
For example, lithium batteries, mercury batteries, etc. have been used, but such batteries are generally expensive. Furthermore, since this type of battery cannot be recharged, it reaches the end of its life during the service life of one image forming apparatus, and must be replaced with a new battery, but such replacement work is very complicated.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks.

[Means to solve the problem]

In the present invention, since an illumination lamp is used in the image forming apparatus of the type described at the beginning, by using the light from this lamp, it is possible to charge the power supply for elements such as RAM, memory, information addition device, etc. This is based on a novel idea that it is possible to do this, and proposes a configuration in which a solar cell for charging the power source for at least one element of the image forming apparatus is provided at a position that receives the light of the illumination lamp.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the optical system and its surrounding structure of a copying machine, which is an example of an image forming apparatus. is placed and pressed by the document pressing plate 3.

In the space below the contact glass 2 there is a first scanner 6 having an illumination lamp 4 integrated with a reflector 22 and a first mirror 5, and a second scanner 6 having a second and third mirror 7.8.
A scanner 9 is provided.

During the copying operation, the first and second scanners 6.9 move from their home positions to the right in the figure, and at this time, the light emitted by the illumination lamp 4 hits the contact glass 2.
Illuminate the original above. The reflected light is reflected by the first, second and third mirrors 5, 7.8, passes through the imaging lens 11 supported on the support plate 10, and then passes through the fourth and fifth mirrors.
The light is reflected by the sixth mirrors 12, 13, and 14, and reaches the surface of the drum-shaped photoreceptor 15, which rotates clockwise.

The original image is focused here.

The photoreceptor 15 is charged in advance to a predetermined polarity by a charging charger 16, and the photoreceptor 15 is charged by the above-mentioned exposure.
An electrostatic latent image is formed thereon. This latent image is made into a visible image by a developing device (not shown), and the visible image is transferred onto a transfer paper fed from a paper feeding section (also not shown).

The visible image on the transfer paper is fixed by a fixing device (not shown), and when changing the copying magnification, the lens 11 and a predetermined mirror are moved in the left-right direction in FIG.

The above-mentioned copying machine is equipped with a microcomputer,
It is configured to perform a variety of complex controls and handle high speed, multi-function, and high precision.

For example, when the power switch of a copying machine is turned on, the standard mode is automatically set, the magnification is set to equal magnification, the first stage is selected as the paper feeder, and automatic density correction is performed.

Or, automatic paper selection is executed and the number of copy repeats is 1.
Controls such as setting times are performed. In order to automatically perform these various operations, various setting conditions, such as the lamp voltage of the illumination lamp 4, the bias voltage of the developing device, and a resist for timing when feeding the transfer paper to the photoreceptor 15 are set. Standard data such as roller rotation start adjustment, fixing temperature of the fixing device, corrections for these, corrections for fine adjustments, correction data, etc. are all processed via the microcomputer installed in the main controller of the copying machine. , R.A.
Memorized and preserved by M.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of control related to the above-mentioned main controller, and various devices are controlled mainly by the main controller 17 equipped with a microcomputer. The operation panel 18 is a unit that is operated by an operator to give various instructions to the copying machine, and corresponds to a man-machine interface through which the operator interacts with the copying machine. By operating the numeric keys and function keys on the operation panel 18 provided on the front side of the copying machine main body 1, it is possible to, for example, rewrite data in the RAM built into this panel 18 to correct or adjust the standard setting mode. It also allows service personnel to retrieve data necessary for maintenance.

Since the data stored in the above-mentioned RAM disappears when the power is turned off, a backup power source is required for when the power switch of the copying machine is turned off.

Conventionally, this power source was used.

When the backup time was relatively short, high-capacity capacitors were sometimes used, but since copiers generally require long-term backup, high-capacity non-rechargeable capacitors such as lithium batteries were used. It was common to use primary batteries. However, such batteries are relatively expensive, contributing to an increase in the cost of copying machines. Furthermore, if this battery discharges and the voltage drops below the memory retention voltage, the contents of the RAM will be erased, so it is necessary to replace the battery with a new one as necessary.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, a solar cell 20 for charging the power source for the RAM is provided at a position receiving the light from the above-mentioned illumination lamp 4, and thereby the power source for the RAM is charged. It is composed of

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the support plate 1 on the left side of the lens 11
When the solar cell 20 is fixedly placed on the 0 and the illumination lamp 4 is turned on to illuminate the original.

A part of the light is made to enter the solar cell 20, and the power source for the RAM is charged by the photovoltaic force.

FIG. 3 shows a specific example of this, in which a high-capacity capacitor C, which is an example of a power source for RAM, is charged via a resistor R by the photovoltaic force of the solar cell 20 generated by light from the illumination lamp 4. As shown in FIG. 4, a secondary battery 21 such as a nickel or cadmium battery can be used as a power source for the RAM, and can be charged with the power obtained from the solar battery 20. In FIGS. 3 and 4, the reference numerals indicate backflow prevention diodes.

The illumination lamp 4 is used to obtain high brightness with light that approximates the spectral characteristics of each element such as the photoreceptor 15.

Although halogen lamps and the like are often used, the amount of light emitted by such lamps must be set to a fairly large amount, taking into account the sensitivity of the photoreceptor 15 and the attenuation of the light amount in the optical path. The illuminance reaches a level exceeding 10.0OOLux. Since the illumination lamp 4 emits such a large amount of light and always emits light once during one copying process, a considerably high level of illuminance can be obtained within the optical unit. Therefore, if the solar cell 20 is placed in the optical unit as shown in FIG. 1, sufficient optical superpower can be obtained and the RAM power source C221 can be maintained in a nearly fully charged state at all times. This also eliminates the need to replace batteries as in the past. In addition, a low-cost, high-capacity capacitor C can be used as a power source for the RAM, and even when the secondary battery 21 is used, it can be constantly charged with the power obtained from the solar cell 20, so it is small. A secondary battery with a high capacity can be used, and its cost can be reduced.

Note that the area around the optical path from the lens 11 to the photoreceptor 15 shown in FIG. 1 is generally surrounded for the purpose of blocking external light, so no illuminance can be obtained in this area. It is inappropriate to install solar cells.

Further, the reflector plate 22 for the illumination lamp 4 shown in FIG. 1 is arranged in such a direction as to focus the light toward the upper left in the figure, that is, toward the 10 o'clock direction of the clock hand, so that the specularly reflected light reflected by the original is The light advances in the direction shown by the chain line A in FIG. 1 and does not enter the first mirror 5.

Although the specularly reflected light includes original image information, it is mostly noise, so light that avoids this specularly reflected light is used to expose the photoreceptor. At this time, the illuminance of the specularly reflected light A is the highest, but since the first scanner 6 moves to the right when illuminating the original, the specularly reflected light A also moves to the right.
This light can be made incident on the thick battery 20.

In addition, since the moving distance of the first scanner 6 changes depending on the size of the document, the illumination lamp 4
It is desirable to arrange the solar cell 20 at a position where light, particularly specularly reflected light A, is incident on the solar cell 20.

In this sense, the solar cell 20 is
It is also advantageous to arrange the device at a position where it can receive the specularly reflected light A when it is at the home position shown in the figure.0For example,
Since the illumination lamp 4 made of a halogen lamp requires several hundred milliseconds for its light intensity to rise, generally after the lamp is turned on, the first scanner 6 is made to wait until the light intensity rises sufficiently, and then Since the scanner 6 is operated, if the solar cell 20 is placed in the above position, a large amount of light can be incident on the cell for a long time, increasing the electromotive force, and reducing the cost due to the small light-receiving area. This makes it possible to use solar cells of various types.

Incidentally, in the image forming apparatus such as the copying machine shown in FIG. 1, it has been widely practiced in the past to provide an information adding device that adds information such as date, time, serial number, etc. to the copied transfer paper. There is. Since such an information adding device has a clock function, a power source for driving the circuit is required to maintain the clock function even when the copying machine is not in use. So conventionally.

As explained earlier, non-rechargeable primary batteries such as lithium batteries and mercury batteries have been used as this power source, but such batteries are expensive and it is necessary to replace new batteries during the life of the copier. Must be replaced.

FIGS. 5 to 9 show an embodiment in which the above-mentioned problems are avoided by charging such a power source with a solar cell.

FIG. 5 is a diagram corresponding to an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 11, and when the document 23 is placed on the contact glass 2, it also serves as a document edge regulating member that aligns the leading edge of the document. An information adding device 24 is provided. This additional equipment when the document presser pressure plate 3 is opened! ! The position of 24 is shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram of the information addition device 24 seen from the back side.

As shown in FIG. 5, the leading edge of the document 23 is placed against the right end surface of the information addition device 24, the document 23 is placed on the contact glass 2, the document presser plate 3 is closed, and the document press plate 3 is closed. A copying operation is performed as described above.

The pressure plate 3 is made of an absorbing member 25 made of foam that is brought into close contact with a pressure plate reflective sheet 26 in order to absorb the unevenness of the original 23, thereby preventing the original 23 from lifting up.

The information addition device 24 includes a printed circuit board 27 equipped with a clock function, a liquid crystal display window 28 (FIG. 7) facing downward for imprinting information, and a liquid crystal display window 29 (FIG. 7) facing upward for monitoring settings. 6) and a solar cell 120.

As can be seen from FIG. 7, the liquid crystal display window 28 is connected to the information adding device 2.
4, and a thick IIIi battery 120 is located at a distance from this position. Of course, these locations can be set as appropriate. In addition, a secondary battery charged by the solar cell 120 and a high capacity capacitor (as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9
(see figure) is stored. Other basic configurations of the copying machine itself are the same as in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the first scanner 6 occupies the home position similarly to FIG. 1, and at this time, the solar cell 120 faces the illumination lamp 4 through the transparent contact glass 2. Therefore, when the illumination lamp 4 is turned on with the start of a copying operation, the light directly enters the solar cell 120.

Prior to the start of a copying operation, when the operator wishes to copy additional information onto transfer paper, he or she presses a corresponding input key (not shown). As a result, the main controller of the copying machine automatically sets a reduction mode in which copies are made in a slightly reduced size, making room for copying additional information on the transfer paper.

Next, when the print key is pressed, additional information such as the date and time is displayed on the liquid crystal display window 28 facing downward, and a normal copying operation is performed in this state. Therefore, the additional information lit and displayed in the display window 28 is copied to the leading edge margin of the transfer paper. The solar cell 120 is also formed as an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 15 (FIG. 1).
Since this is erased by an eraser (not shown), the solar cell 120 is not formed as an image on the transfer paper. Although not shown in the figure, the information addition device W124
A signal line is connected between the main controller and the main controller to determine whether information addition is set, that is, to turn on or off the imprint information liquid crystal display window 28.

As mentioned above, the additional information is imaged on the photoreceptor 15 through an optical system, developed, and transferred to a transfer paper, which is then fixed, in the same way as in normal copying. ,
Additional information can be copied onto transfer paper.

At this time, as described above, a power source is required to drive the circuit for the clock function, and therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, a secondary battery 121 such as a nickel or cadmium battery is connected to the clock circuit. On the other hand, the solar cell 120 described above
irradiated with light from

The photovoltaic force thus obtained charges the secondary battery 121 as shown in FIG. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, a high-capacity capacitor C can be used as a power source, and this can be charged by a solar cell of 1.2 mm. Figures 8 and 9
D in the figure is a backflow prevention diode, and the secondary battery 121 charges the large capacity capacitor C via the resistor R.

In this embodiment as well, since the illumination lamp 4 always emits light once during one copying process, charging by the solar cell 120 can be carried out substantially all the time when the copying machine is in operation. Therefore,
The same effect as the previous embodiment can be obtained and the conventional drawbacks can be eliminated. Even when the illumination lamp 4 is moving away from the home position, there is a considerable amount of ambient light around the solar cell 120, so although the amount of power generation decreases slightly, a considerable amount of electric power is generated.

In some cases, a copying machine as shown in FIG. 1 is equipped with a single image editing device. Even when such an image editing device is used, a memory is required to store selected functions, editing data, etc.

The contents of such memory must be backed up so that they are not erased when the power switch of the copying machine is turned off. Conventionally, non-rechargeable primary batteries such as lithium batteries and mercury batteries have been used as the power source. However, like the primary batteries for RAMs and information addition devices described above, such batteries have drawbacks such as being expensive.

FIGS. 10 to 15 show an embodiment of a copying machine in which the above-mentioned drawbacks are eliminated.

The copying machine shown in FIG. 10 is equipped with an image editing device having an editor board 40 fitted into the document presser plate 3. As shown in FIG. Figure 11 shows the perspective view of the appearance.
FIG. 12 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 10. The editor board 40 is a board that can detect positional information such as resistors and capacitances.

It is arranged in the Y direction.

The pressure plate 3 shown in FIGS. 10 and 12 also has a structure in which a foam absorbing member 25 that absorbs the unevenness of the original 23 placed on the contact glass 2 is covered with a pressure plate reflective sheet 26. The original 23 whose leading edge is aligned by the end regulating member 124 is brought into close contact with the contact glass 2.

The editor board 40 is composed of a coordinate reading board 4, a coordinate position detection electronic circuit board 42, etc., and a stylus pen 43 is attached thereto. The editor board 40 is fitted so as to cover the original pressure plate 3 from above, and when the pressure plate 3 is opened and closed, the editor board 40 also opens and closes together, and is fixed so that it does not come off the pressure plate 3.

The other configuration of the copying machine itself is the same as shown in the drawing.

During editing work, place the manuscript on the editor board 40, specify the position by pressing a predetermined position with the stylus pen 43, send the position information to the main controller in the copying machine, and perform the necessary processing here. A specific example of an 0Mi collection in which an edited image is formed on transfer paper by placing the original on the contact glass 2, holding it down with the pressure plate 3, and performing normal copying operations. Examples include inner erase, outer erase, center erase, frame erase, outer color, inner color, under color, centering, dimension scaling 1 composition, etc.

As described above, the position information input by the operator and one selected function item are stored in the memory. The power supply of the editor board 40 is related to the interface with the main controller of the main body.

Supplied from the copying machine main body. At that time, in order to prevent the contents of the memory described above from being erased even when the power switch of the copying machine is turned off, a power supply is required to back up the memory when the power switch is turned off. It uses a rechargeable power source and is configured to be charged by solar cells.

As shown in FIG. 12, the solar cell 220 in this example is disposed at a position facing the contact glass 2 between the absorbing member 25 of the pressure plate 3 and the pressure plate reflective sheet 26. Further, in this example, two solar cells 220 are arranged as shown in FIG. side). As a result, when the largest size original is placed on the contact glass 2, the solar cell 2
Even if part of the solar cell 220 may be covered by the original, if a smaller original is placed, the solar cell 220 will not be covered by the original, and the proportion of light blocked by the original will be reduced. It can be reduced. Also, when the illumination lamp 4 of the first scanner 6 illuminates a small-sized original, the light is incident on the solar cell 220.
The solar cell 220 is placed near the home position of the first scanner 6 (the position shown in FIGS. 10 and 12).

With the above-described configuration, when the illumination lamp 4 illuminates the document, light from the lamp 4 enters the solar cell 20 via the sheet 26 of the pressure plate 3. The electromotive force generated by this is transferred to the secondary battery 22 which is a power source for memory shown in FIG.
1 or the high capacity capacitor C shown in FIG. 15 is charged and used as a backup power source for the memory. D in FIGS. 1.4 and 15 is also a backflow prevention diode, and R is a resistance. Further, as the secondary battery 221, a nickel battery, a cadmium battery, etc. can be used as in the previous embodiment.

As described above, even in this example, the power supply can be constantly charged when the copying machine is in use, and the same effects as in the previous example can be obtained. Furthermore, by arranging a plurality of solar cells 220 as described above as shown in FIG. can be done.

Further, the sheet 26 of the pressure plate 3 is usually white or yellow, but if the entire surface of the sheet 26 or only the part facing the solar cell 220 is made transparent, for example, the sheet 26 of the pressure plate 3 can be made transparent.
The amount of incident light can be increased.

Above, we have listed the RAM, information addition device, and memory of the image editing device as elements of one image forming apparatus, and have shown an example of a configuration in which these power sources are charged by solar cells. However, other elements, such as the automatic document feeder, The back-up power source for the memory, etc. may be configured to be charged by a solar cell.The gist of the present invention is to provide a solar cell to charge the power source for at least one such element. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the cost of a power source for each element of an image forming apparatus, and it is also possible to use the same for a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram showing a part of the copying machine, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram around the main controller. 3 and 4 are circuit diagrams showing the relationship between the RAM, the solar cell, and the power supply. 5. FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of the copying machine in the second embodiment. 7@ is a view of the information addition device seen from the back, FIGS. 8 and 9 are views similar to FIGS. 3 and 4 in the second embodiment, and FIG.
The figures are similar to Figure 1 and 11 in the third embodiment.
The figure is a perspective view of the exterior, Figure 12 is a partially enlarged view of Figure 10, Figure 13 is a plan view showing the positional relationship of the contact glass, originals of various sizes, and solar cells, Figures 14 and 15.
The figure is a diagram similar to FIGS. 3 and 4 in the third embodiment. 4...Illumination lamp 20.120,220...Solar cell 23...Manuscript

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An image forming apparatus that forms an image by illuminating a document with an illumination lamp, further comprising a solar cell that charges a power source for at least one element of the image forming apparatus at a position that receives light from the illumination lamp. An image forming apparatus comprising: