JPH04164768A - Image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure safety on sheet delivery by providing a mode selector means for selecting the first mode to stop a sheet delivery means while clamping the trailing end of a sheet to be delivered, and the second mode to stop the aforesaid means after the passage of the trailing end. CONSTITUTION:When the first mode is selected via a mode selector means, a sheet delivery means 26 stops while clamping the trailing end of a sheet 3 to be delivered. When the second mode is selected, the aforesaid means 26 stops after the passage of the trailing end of the sheet 3. Furthermore, the mode selector means has a detecting switch 37 for detecting a tray 35 and the position thereof. When the tray 35 is not projected from a device body, the sheet delivery means 26 stops while clamping the trailing end of the sheet 3 to be delivered. When the tray 35 is projected from the device body, the means 26 stops after the passage of the trailing end of the sheet 3, and the sheet 3 delivered from the device body is stacked on the tray 35.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that records an image on paper and discharges the paper to the outside of the apparatus.

(Prior Art) Many conventional image recording devices such as printers and copiers eject paper on which images have been recorded onto a tray that protrudes from the side of the device body. ing.

However, the tray protruding from the side of the main body not only takes up space but also obstructs traffic. To this end, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-31055 discloses a first device that moves the tray to a state where it protrudes from the main body only during copying so that the tray does not get in the way. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-13560 discloses a second device that stops the paper ejection rollers while holding the trailing edge of the ejected paper so that a tray is not required.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the first device, the tray always protrudes from the main body of the device during copying, so it is necessary to secure space for this, which ultimately reduces the space of the entire device. I couldn't do that. In the second device, the paper ejection roller always stops with the trailing edge of the paper nipped, so unless the user pulls out the ejected paper, the next image recording operation cannot be started. could not.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image recording device that can save space in the entire device and also allows the user to eject paper in a desired manner. shall be.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is directed to claim No. (1).
The invention described in paragraph ) includes: an image recording means for recording an image on a sheet of paper; a paper ejecting means for nipping and conveying the sheet on which the image has been recorded by the image recording means and ejecting the sheet to the outside of the main body of the apparatus; Mode selection means for selecting a first mode in which the paper ejecting means is stopped while the trailing edge of the ejected paper is being held, and a second mode in which the paper ejecting unit is stopped after the trailing edge of the ejected paper passes. and a control means for controlling the paper discharge means according to the mode selected by the mode selection means.

The invention as set forth in claim (2) provides that the mode selection means includes a tray provided at a predetermined position of the apparatus main body and capable of moving forward and backward from the apparatus main body, and a detection switch for detecting the position state of the tray. When the detection switch detects that the tray is not protruding from the apparatus main body, the first mode is selected, and when the tray is detected that the tray is protruding from the apparatus main body, the second mode is selected. It is characterized by the following.

The invention as set forth in claim (3) provides that, when the calculation I mode is selected by the mode selection means, continuous recording operation on a plurality of sheets of paper by the image recording means is prohibited, and the continuous recording operation on a plurality of sheets of paper is prohibited; is selected, the image recording means is characterized in that continuous recording operation on a plurality of sheets of paper is permitted.

(Function) In the image recording apparatus of the present invention, when the first mode is selected by the mode selection means, the paper ejection means stops while holding the trailing edge of the paper to be ejected, and the second mode is selected. When the paper is discharged, it stops after the trailing edge of the paper has passed.

Furthermore, the mode selection means includes a tray and a detection switch that detects the position of the tray, and when the tray does not protrude from the main body of the apparatus, the paper ejecting means clamps the trailing edge of the paper to be ejected. When the tray is protruding from the main body of the apparatus, the paper ejection means stops after the trailing edge of the paper to be ejected has passed, and the paper ejected from the main body of the apparatus is placed on the tray. be done.

Furthermore, when the first mode is selected by the mode selection means, the continuous recording operation on a plurality of sheets of paper is not performed, but when the second mode is selected, it can be performed.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of an image recording apparatus according to the present invention.

In the figure, paper 3 in a paper feed cassette 2 provided in a laser beam printer main body 1 is sent out by a paper feed roller 4, and is fed along a conveyance path 5 to an image recording section 6. . A first U-turn portion conveyance roller pair 8.9 is disposed between the paper feed roller 4 and the timing roller pair 7 downstream in the conveyance direction. Further, a manual feed detection sensor 12 and a pair of conveyance rollers 13 for detecting manually fed paper are arranged in the manual feed conveyance path +1 from the manual feed port IO to the conveyance path 5 for performing manual paper feed. There is. Downstream of the timing roller pair 7, there is an image recording section 6 comprising a rotatable photoreceptor 14, a charger 15, a developer 16, a transfer charger 17, etc. arranged around the rotatable photoreceptor 14, and a laser beam (not shown). An optical section 21 consisting of a generator, a polygon mirror 18, a lens 19, and a mirror 20 is provided. Further downstream of the image recording section 6, along the conveyance path 5, a pair of fixing rollers 22 and a pair of second U-turn conveyance rollers 2 are provided.
3° 24 and a sensor 25 for detecting the paper position are respectively provided. A conveyance guide plate 27 is attached between the sensor 25 and a paper discharge roller 26 provided at the end of the conveyance path 5 so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrow A about a support shaft 27a, A driven roller 28 is attached to the contact portion with the roller 26. Further, as shown in FIG. 112, roller drive gears 29 and 30 are respectively attached to the second U-turn portion conveyance roller pair 23 and 24.

The roller drive gear 29.30 is connected to the output shaft 33 of the main motor M via an intermediate gear 31.32, and the second U-turn portion conveyance roller pair 23, 24 is connected to the output shaft 33 of the main motor M through an intermediate gear 31.32.
driven by. A belt 34 is stretched between the second U-turn portion transport roller pair 24 and a paper discharge roller 26, which is a driven roller, and the paper discharge roller 26 is driven by this belt connection.

On the downstream side of the paper ejection roller 26, there is a tray 35 shown in FIG.
is attached to be rotatable in the direction of arrow B about the fulcrums 35a, 35a, and can be opened and closed with respect to the main body 1. The tray 35 places the paper 3 ejected from the main body l by the paper ejection roller 26 on its upper surface, and
It can also be used as a guide board for manual paper feeding. Therefore, the tray 35 has a structure in which side regulating plates 36, 36 are slidably attached to grooves 35c, 35c formed in the tray body 35b. With this configuration, when manually feeding paper, with the tray 35 protruding from the main body 1 and opened (the position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 1), the side regulating plate 3
6.36 can be slid to guide the paper to the manual feed slot IO. Further, a tray position detection switch 37 is installed inside the printer main body l, and a tray position detection switch 37 is installed in the side plate 3 of the tray 35.
A protrusion 39 provided at 8 turns the tray position detection switch 37 on and off as the tray 35 rotates. That is, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, when the tray 35 is closed so as to be retracted into the main body 1, the tray position detection switch 37 is turned on, and the tray 35 protrudes from the main body 1 and is set at the dotted line position. Sometimes it is turned off.

FIG. 4 shows an operation panel 60 provided on the laser beam printer main body l. 70 is a print key for instructing to start printing, 71 to 80 are numeric keys for setting the number of prints, etc., 81 is an interrupt key, 82 is a clear stop key for canceling the set number of prints or canceling the print operation, 83 Reference numeral 84 indicates a print number display section, and 84 a message display section for displaying various messages related to printing operations. Input by key operations on the operation panel 60 is input to an input terminal of a control unit CPU, which will be described later.

In the above configuration, when a print start command is input from the print key 70, the laser beam 40 emitted from the laser beam generator is deflected by the polygon mirror 18, passes through the lens 19 and the mirror 20, and then passes through the charger 15 beforehand. The light is incident on the photoreceptor 14 charged by the above to form a latent image.

The latent image is developed by a developing device 16 and prepared for transfer. The sheets 3 in the paper feed cassette 2 are fed one by one from the paper feed cassette 2 by the paper feed roller 4, and after the conveyance direction is changed by the first U-turn portion conveyance roller pair 8.9, they are conveyed along the conveyance path 5. The recording medium is conveyed to a pair of timing rollers 7, and is sent between the photoreceptor 4 and a transfer charger 17 at a predetermined timing by the pair of timing rollers 7.

After the unfixed image transferred here is fixed by the fixing roller pair 22, the paper 3 is transferred to the second U-turn portion conveying roller pair 22.
3.24, the conveyance direction is changed again. The paper 3 whose direction has been changed is guided by a conveyance guide plate 27 and discharged into the interior of the main body l by a paper discharge roller 26.

Next, drive control of the paper ejection roller 26 will be explained.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the control system of the present invention.

In the figure, the input terminals of the control unit CPU include key input from the operation panel 60, a tray position detection switch 37,
The sensor 25, the manual feed detection sensor 12, the timer T1, and other input sections are connected to each other, and the main motor M1 print number display section 83, message display section 84, and other output sections are connected to the output terminal, respectively. It has become.

The operation of the control unit CPU is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 below.
- Explanation will be given based on the Riyat and the operation explanatory diagram shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows the main routine controlled by the control unit CPU.

According to this routine, when the program is started by turning on the power and resetting the CPU, initialization of the CPU and initial settings for bringing the printer to the initial state are performed in step Sl.

Next, in step S2, the input/output unit connected to the CPH is set, in step S3, the setting of the control mode is determined, and in step S4, a predetermined mode is set.

Normally, the control mode is set to a winning combination of "0", and the game is in a "wait mode" state. The control mode is set to "l" by detecting the key input from the operation panel 60 or the ON state of the manual insertion detection sensor 12, and enters the "key input mode".
state. If any other input is made, the control mode is set to "2" and becomes the "other mode". The "key manual mode" and "other modes" states return to the "standby mode" state after a predetermined period of time and wait until the next input instruction.

FIG. 7 is a subroutine showing details of the "key manual mode" state.

In step 5401, it is determined whether the input signals from the numeric keys 71 to 80 are 2 or more so-called multi-print modes. If the input signals are in multi-print mode, then in step 5402, the tray position detection switch 37 is turned on/off.
Determine the off state.

The tray position detection switch 37 is in the OFF state, that is, the tray 3
5 protrudes from the main body 1 and is opened, an input signal from the print key 70 is waited for in step 5403. When the print key 70 is pressed, the main motor M starts driving in step 5404, and a predetermined printing operation is performed. Next, in step 5405, it is confirmed whether this is the final print by the image forming unit 6, and in step 5406
When the trailing edge of the final print paper is detected by the sensor 25, the timer T is started in step 5407. If it is determined in step 5408 that T-t has occurred, the main motor M is stopped in step 5409, and the process returns. Here, T-t2 means that the trailing edge of the paper is at the sensor 25.
Since the paper passes through the paper ejection roller 26 after being detected by the paper, the time is set to be slightly longer than the required time. When it is determined in step 5402 that the tray position detection switch 37 is on, that is, the tray 35 is closed inside the main body l, a message indicating that the tray 35 is to be set is displayed on the message display section 84 in step 5410. be done. Further, even if there is no input signal from the print key 70 in step 5403, an instruction to request the input of the print key 70 is sent to the message display section 84 in step 5411.

Next, if it is determined in step S40 that the mode is not multi-print mode, it is determined in step 5412 whether the mode is single print mode.

In the case of single print mode, step 5413 waits for an input signal from the print key 70, and step 541
At step 4, the main motor M starts driving and a predetermined printing operation is performed. Then, when the trailing edge of the sheet is detected by the sensor 25 in step 5415, timer T is started in step 3416. Next, in step 5417, it is determined whether the tray position detection switch 37 is on or off, and if it is in the on state, it is determined in step 5418 whether or not the timer T has reached L. Then, in step 5419, the main motor M is stopped, and the process returns. Here, Tt is a time set slightly shorter than the required time since the trailing edge of the paper passes through the paper ejection roller 26 after being detected by the sensor 25. Further, if the tray position detection switch 37 is in the OFF state, it is determined in step 5420 whether T=t, and T - t
, the main motor M is stopped and the process returns. That is, when the tray 35 protrudes from the main body 1 and is opened, the paper 3 is ejected from the main body l by the paper ejection roller 26 and placed on the tray 35, as shown in FIG. 8(a). When the tray 35 is retracted into the main body l and closed, the rear end of the paper 3 is held between the paper ejection roller 26 and the driven roller 28, as shown in FIG. 8(b). , it is suspended from the main body l. In this state, to take out the paper 3, it is easy to pull it out by holding the leading edge of the paper, or by rotating the conveyance guide plate 27 and opening the gap between the paper ejection roller 26 and the driven roller 28. can.

Next, in FIG. 7, the tray position detection switch 37 is in the OFF state in step 5422, and the tray position detection switch 37 is in the OFF state in step 5423.
When it is determined that the manual feed detection sensor 12 is on, the main motor M starts driving in step 5424, and a printing operation by manual paper feeding is performed. And step 5
When the trailing edge of the manually fed paper is detected by the sensor 25 in 425, the timer T is started in step 5426, and it is determined in 5427 that T-t has been reached, and the main motor M is stopped in step 428. Let it go and return.

In this embodiment, a configuration is shown in which the tray is rotatably attached to the main body, but the tray may be moved forward and backward from the apparatus main body by sliding, or it may be detachable from the apparatus main body.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, in the image recording apparatus according to the present invention, there are two modes: a first mode in which the paper ejection roller stops while holding the trailing edge of the paper being ejected; Since the second mode can be selected and controlled, the user can eject the paper in the desired method, and
When the first mode is selected, no tray is required, so space can be saved. Furthermore, since mode selection is performed based on the position of the tray, the user will not forget to set the tray when the tray is needed, and paper can be safely ejected.

Furthermore, since continuous recording on a plurality of sheets of paper is not performed in the first mode, it is possible to prevent paper jams from occurring at the paper ejection roller section.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of an image recording apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a drive mechanism diagram of a paper ejection roller, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a tray, FIG. 4 is a diagram of an operation panel, and FIG. The figure is a block diagram showing the control system of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a 70-chart showing the main routine of the control section. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a subroutine in the "key manual mode" state, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the tray and paper ejection roller. 1...Laser beam printer body. 3...Paper, 6...Image section. 23.24...Second U-turn portion conveyance roller pair. 26... Paper ejection roller 28... Driven flow, 35... Tray 37...
・Tray position detection switch. M... Main motor applicant Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. Figure 3 Figure left Figure 6

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An image recording means for recording an image on a sheet of paper, a paper ejecting means for nipping and conveying the paper on which the image has been recorded by the image recording means and ejecting the paper to the outside of the apparatus main body, and the paper ejecting means mode selection means for selecting a first mode in which the paper is stopped with the trailing edge of the paper to be discharged being pinched, and a second mode in which the paper is stopped after the trailing edge of the paper to be discharged has passed; An image forming apparatus comprising: a control means for controlling the sheet discharge means according to a mode selected by the selection means. (2) The mode selection means has a tray that is provided at a predetermined position on the apparatus main body and can move forward and backward from the apparatus main body, and a detection switch that detects the position state of the tray. Claim (1) characterized in that the first mode is selected when a state in which the tray does not protrude from the apparatus main body is detected, and the second mode is selected when a state in which the tray protrudes from the apparatus main body is detected. The image recording device described. (3) When the first mode is selected by the mode selection means, continuous recording operation on a plurality of sheets of paper by the image recording means is prohibited, and when the second mode is selected, the Claim (1), characterized in that continuous recording operation on multiple sheets of paper by the image recording means is permitted.
The image forming apparatus described in .