JPH0415637A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent miscopying from occurring when the copying is executed in a standard mode by detecting whether one of the modes set by a device is a non-standard mode which is different from the standard mode or not and warning it to a user when it is the non-standard mode. CONSTITUTION:When one of the various kinds of modes such as the set of the number of copied sheets, the size of a paper, magnification and the brightness and darkness of an image is the non-standard mode, it is detected by a detections means 60 and an alarm is issued to the user by a warning means 50. Besides, the various kinds of modes can be returned to the standard mode by operating an input means 58 once in the non-standard mode. Therefore, each set key need not be checked as to whether the mode is the standard mode or not and it is enough only to check the warning means 50. Thus, the miscopying is prevented from occurring when the user is in a hurry.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1-Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a color copy machine that can set various modes.

"Prior Art" Image forming apparatuses adjust the number of copies, various paper sizes, magnification (zoom), image brightness, etc., and color image forming apparatuses adjust color balance etc. according to the user's purpose, preference, etc. A device that has various modes that can be set has a large number of setting keys on its operation panel for setting those modes.The user sets the various modes and presses the start key to copy. .

[Problem to be solved by the invention] By the way, the number of copies, paper size, magnification, brightness, color balance, etc. that the user wants to copy must be set in a certain standard mode (for example, the paper size is A4, the magnification is
Brightness, color balance, etc. are often set to standard). Therefore, the standard mode provided in the image forming apparatus is usually sufficient. However, sometimes
If the previous user sets a non-standard mode other than standard mode and copies, and then another user wants to copy in standard mode, there are many setting keys on the operation panel to set various modes. Because of the layout, each setting key must be checked to see if it is in standard mode. Also, when the user is in a hurry,
Copying without checking may result in unnecessary copying.

The present invention solves the above problems, and has a function that warns the user when an image forming apparatus is set to a non-standard mode, and also has a function that warns the user of this when the image forming apparatus is set to a non-standard mode. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a means for returning to a mode.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for setting the number of copies, by operating various setting keys on the operation panel.
An image forming apparatus that is equipped with a setting means that can set various modes such as paper size, magnification, image brightness, etc. has an am mode that is a preset standard among the various modes, and the setting mode of the apparatus is a detection means for detecting whether the mode is a non-standard mode that is uniquely different from the standard mode; and a detection means arranged near a start key of the operation panel, when the mode detected by the detection means is the non-standard mode. , a warning means for warning this, and an input means disposed near the start key of the operation panel for returning the mode to the standard mode.

[Function] According to the above configuration, when any of the various modes such as setting the number of copies, paper size, magnification, image brightness, etc. is a non-standard mode, the detection means detects this, and the warning means Issue a warning to the user.

Further, in the non-standard mode described above, various modes can be returned to the standard mode by operating the input means once.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the internal structure of the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive copying machine 1 according to this embodiment includes a photosensitive and pressure-sensitive paper 12 (hereinafter referred to as microcapsule paper) and a color developer paper 28 (hereinafter referred to as microcapsule paper).
Photosensitive paper (referred to as recording paper) is used.

Note that microcapsules are coated on the surface of the support of the microcapsule paper 12 used in this example.
The microcapsules contain a dye precursor that reacts with a color developer, which will be described later.

A color-enhancing agent is coated on the surface of the support of the color developing paper 28 and develops color by reacting with the dye precursor.

The details are described in US Pat. No. 4,399,209, etc., and are omitted here.

A document table glass 2 and a document table cover 3 are arranged above the copy WU1, and a desired document 4 is placed face down on the document table glass 2, and the document table cover 3 is closed.

Below the original platen glass 2 in a part of the copy section, a light JJA section 5 equipped with a halogen lamp 5a, a reflector 5b, a reflective mirror 8, etc. is installed on a shaft 13 installed parallel to the original platen glass 2. 6 The light source section 5 is arranged so as to be able to move back and forth in the direction of movement.The light source section 5 irradiates light in a line in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement toward the document table crow 2.6 The irradiated light illuminates a transparent document. Through the platform crow 2,
The original 4 placed on top of this reflects the light downward.

Below the document platen glass 2, there is a mirror part including reflection mirrors 9a and 9b that are movable separately from the light source part 5, a projection lens 7 which is normally fixed, and a mirror part that is arranged to adjust the color tone of the copied image. a filter 6 for adjustment, a reflecting mirror 10a,
10b are arranged. The light reflected from the original document 4 is reflected by the reflecting mirrors 8.9a and 9b in this order, and is guided in parallel to the moving direction of the light source section 5.

Further, the light reflected by the reflection mirror 9b enters the projection lens 7, and the light projected by the lens 7 is reflected by the reflection mirrors 1\10a and 10b.

An exposure stage 11 for exposing the microcapsule paper 12 is arranged on the right side of the reflection mirror Rob, and a reflection mirror ZOc for switching the optical path is arranged between the reflection mirror 10b and the exposure stage 11. There is.

The reflecting mirrors 10a and 10b are usually fixed, or are set when enlarging or reducing the size of the latent image formed on the microcapsule paper 12, and are axially moved to change the optical path length according to a change in the projection magnification m. 13 and can be moved integrally in the axial direction.

Inside the copying machine 1, a removable cartridge 15 is disposed on a cartridge fixing base 16, and the long microcapsule paper 12 is attached to a cartridge shaft 14.
It is housed in the cartridge 15 in a wound state.

The tip of this microcapsule paper 12 is connected to the exposure table 11.
pulled towards. Furthermore, feed rollers 19 and 20 and a dancer roller 21 for tension adjustment are arranged below the exposure table 11, and behind the dancer roller 21 in the feed direction is a pressure developing device rI122 including a large diameter roller 22a and a backup roller 22b. is installed. Further, behind the pressure developing device 22, a separation roller 23 for separating the microcapsule paper 12 and the color developing paper 28 that are in close contact with each other is disposed as described later. A winding shaft 24 for winding up the paper 12 is also provided. The microcapsule paper 12 taken out from the top of the cart 15 is
After being guided by the tension roller 19 and passing above the exposure table 11, passing through the dancer roller 21 and the pressure developing device 22, and then being guided to the separation roller 23, the winding shaft 24
rolled up. Note that the unexposed microcapsule paper 12 after leaving the cartridge 15 is maintained in an unexposed state by the blocking cover.

A paper feed cassette 29 containing developer paper 28 is installed below the pressure phenomenon device 22, and above the paper feed cassette 29 is a suction cup type paper feed mechanism that sucks paper using negative pressure suction. 30 is arranged, and the developing paper 28 is fed to the paper feeding mechanism 3.
0, one sheet at a time is taken out. A feed kite 31d and feed rollers 31a, 31b and 31c are disposed between the paper feed mechanism 30 and the pressure developing device 22, and the developer paper 28
are feed rollers 31a, 31b, 31c, feed kite 31
d and carried into the pressure developing device 22. Further, a separation chute 27 is arranged behind the pressure developing device 22 in the feeding direction, and a heat fixing device 32 including a heat roller 32a and a paper ejection roller 32b is arranged behind the separation chute 27. The heat fixing device 32
A paper discharge tray 33 for storing the color developing paper 28 on which an image has been formed is disposed behind the paper.

The copying machine 1 is equipped with an autoloading mechanism for automatically setting the microcapsule paper 12 on a predetermined transport path within the machine. A half-moon roller 17 is disposed between the roller 19 and the cartridge 15 for pulling out the leader film portion at the tip of the microcapsule paper 12 during this autoloading.
A separation chute 27 is rotatably attached to guide the guide to the 4. Further, an upper winding guide 25 and a lower winding kite 26 are disposed around the winding shaft 24 in order to wind the league film portion.

Next, the operation of the present copying machine 1 will be explained. The tip of the microcapsule paper 12 is rolled up I! ! ! 24 and the autoloading is completed, it becomes possible to copy. When the original 4 is placed upside down on the original platen glass 2, the original platen cover 3 is closed, and the start key 51 is pressed, the copying machine 1 starts.
The halogen lamp 5 increases the transport speed of the microcapsule paper 12 by ■, and when the projection magnification is increased, the moving speed is 1/m V.
The reflecting mirrors 9a and 9b move at a moving speed of 1/2.
Move with mV. Since the conveyance speed of the microcapsule paper 12 is synchronized with the movement speed of the mirror groups 8.9a and 9b as described above, the microcapsule paper 12 has a predetermined line of the original 4 when passing through the exposure table 11. Latent images are formed sequentially. Note that the above-mentioned predetermined speed ratio is predetermined based on the set value of the magnification.

The microcapsule paper 12 on which the latent image has been formed is transported,
The topmost color developing paper 28 of the paper feed cassette 29 is transferred to the paper feed mechanism 3.
0. It is conveyed by feed rollers 31a, 31b31c, etc. The pressure developing device 22 is supplied with the microcapsule paper 12 and the color developer paper 28 in close contact with each other as a single unit.
The microcapsule surface of the microcapsule paper 12 on which the latent image is formed and the developer coated surface of the color developer paper 28 are in contact with each other on the inside and are held together between the large diameter roller 22a and the backup roller 22b, and pressure is applied. Added. This pressure destroys the unexposed microcapsules and forms an image on the developer paper 28.

After the microcapsule paper 12 and the color developer paper 28 that have come out of the pressure developing device 22 are separated by the separation roller 23, the color development of the color developer paper 28 is promoted by the heat roller 32a of the heat fixing device 32 to form an image. After that, the paper ejection roller 32
b, the paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 33. Note that the separated microcapsule paper 12 is passed through a separation roller 23 and wound onto a winding shaft 24 .

As described above, the latent image formed on the microcapsule paper 12 from the original 4 is formed on the pink paper 28 according to the contents set by the various mode keys.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the operation panel 40 provided in the copying machine 1. As shown in FIG. This operation panel 40 includes a mode display section 50, a start key 51, a number setting key 52,
A zoom magnification selection key 53, a paper size selection key 54,
Light/dark density adjustment key 55 and color balance correction key 5
6, and an LED display section 57 that displays the settings made by each of the above keys and other information.

The mode display section 50 lights up a green light emitting diode 50a when the mode is in the standard mode, which is the same as the predetermined settings (for example, paper size is A4, magnification, aperture, color balance, etc. are standard). The red light emitting diode 50b lights up in a non-standard mode other than the above.

Further, a mode clear key 58 is provided adjacent to the mode display section 50 for returning the set non-standard mode to the standard mode with a single operation.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit for controlling the operation panel 40, which includes a CP tJ60 having a ROM 60a storing control contents and a RAM 60b for temporarily storing information, and a CPU.
60, a key scanning circuit 61 that checks the status of each A- while scanning, and an LED II operating circuit 62 that causes the green and red light emitting diodes 50a and 50b of the mode display section 50 to emit light. . In addition,
The LED display section 58 is driven by an LED drive circuit (not shown).

Further, the CPU 60 stores data for various mode keys arranged on the panel in the RAM 60b, so that it is possible to always determine what state is currently set.

Furthermore, standard mode data is recorded for the data of various mode keys, and when the two data are compared and even one difference is found, it is determined that the state is in a non-standard mode. Thereby, by outputting a signal to drive the light emitting diode 50b in the non-standard mode, the light-emitting diode 50b in the non-standard mode is lit in red, so the user can know the mode at a glance from this display. moreover,
Cp tJ 60 also checks whether the mode clear 'r-58 has been pressed, and in the case of non-standard mode, when the mode clear key 58 is pressed, it returns to the standard mode - 1 The red light emitting diode 5Qb that is emitting light is turned off, and the green light emitting diode 50a is turned on.

The procedure for copying by operating the operation panel 40 having the above configuration will be described below. The user operates each key provided on the operation panel 40 to set the number of copies, various paper sizes, magnification (zoom), image brightness, color balance, etc. according to the purpose of copying, preferences, etc. Set the contents of each mode.

The situation at this time will be explained with reference to flowchart 1- in FIG. Note that when the power is turned on, this Ill returns to the standard mode, and the green light emitting diode emits light.

The CPU 60 causes the A-scan circuit 61 to scan
Step S10 (hereinafter referred to as SIO), checks whether each mode key 52, 53, 5455, 56 is pressed (320>, and each time one is pressed and a certain content is set (YES), the setting is If the contents are temporarily stored in the RAM of the CPU 60 (530), there is no setting (NO).
Then, it returns to SIO and operates the key scan circuit 61 to see if there is any power for the next key. The setting contents temporarily stored in R and AM of the CPU 60 are compared with predetermined standard data (S40), and if they match (YES), C
PU60 returns to SIO, and if it does not match <NO),
Using the LED drive circuit 62, the green light emitting diode 50a that is emitting light in the mode display section 50 is set to 0FFL, the red light emitting diode 50b is turned on (850), and the process returns to SIO.

Also, the manner in which the CP tJ 60 checks whether the mode clear key 58 has been pressed will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The CPU 60 causes the key scan circuit 61 to scan (S60), checks whether the mode clear key 58 has been pressed (S70), and if the mode clear key 58 has been pressed (YES), the CPU 60
returns the various modes to the standard mode (S80). Further, if there is no input (NO), the process returns to S60. When the CPU 60 returns the various modes to the standard mode, the LED drive circuit 62
The green light emitting diode 50 of the mode display section 50 is
Light up a (S90) and read the current standard mode data.
Store in AM60b and return to SIO.

In this way, when copying, the user can determine whether the previous user's settings are standard mode or non-standard mode by the color of the light emitting diodes 5Qa and 50b on the mode display section 50 on the operation panel, and can avoid mistakes even when in a hurry. Copying is prevented.

In addition, the CPU 60 of all copies is in the non-standard mode.
When the mode clear key 58 is pressed, the various setting modes are returned to the standard mode, the red light emitting diode 50b that is emitting light on the mode display section 50 is set to 0FFL, and the green light emitting diode 50a is set to emit light. A user who attempts to copy in standard mode after the previous user's use can return to standard mode with a single touch.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is detected whether the setting mode of the device is a non-standard mode that differs from the standard mode by at least one, and if it is a non-standard mode, the user is warned of this. Therefore, when copying in standard mode, you only need to check the warning means without having to set whether to use standard mode or not. This prevents copying mistakes when the user is in a hurry.

In addition, even if the non-standard mode remains set, when the next user copies in standard mode, the mode can be returned to standard mode with a single touch by operating the input means that returns the mode to standard mode. This eliminates the need to switch settings to standard mode one by one.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an internal configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of its operation panel, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the apparatus. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control circuit. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for controlling the apparatus by determining the input of the mode clear key. 1... Copying machine, 50... Mode display section (warning means)
, :50a... Green light emitting diode, 50b...
Red light emitting diode, 58...Mode clear key (
input means), 60...CPU (detection means and cancellation means). Applicant Brother Industries, Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Yasuo Itaya

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an image forming apparatus that is equipped with a setting means that allows setting various modes such as setting the number of copies, paper size, magnification, image brightness, etc. by operating various setting keys on the operation panel, the various modes described above. a detection means that has a standard mode that is a preset standard and detects whether the setting mode of the device is a non-standard mode that differs by at least one from the standard mode; warning means arranged nearby to warn when the mode detected by the detection means is a non-standard mode; and input means arranged near the start key of the operation panel to return the mode to the standard mode. An image forming apparatus comprising: