JPH0434558A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain high efficiency and to realize the interruption of the other original by separating a platen sheet from an original platen when a long-sized original is fed, supplying and ejecting an interrupting original in a right angle direction to the feeding direction of the long-sized original from one end side of the original platen and processing the long-sized original on the other end side separated from one end side. CONSTITUTION:When the interrupting original is mounted on an original tray 112, a long-sized original supply unit 120 is stopped and an interrupting original supply unit 110 is actuated. Then, the original is fed to the original platen 12. Besides, it is positioned by a positioning roller 116, exposed and housed in an original ejection tray. When there is not the original, the unit 120 is started again and the interruption is finished. Besides, the platen sheet presses the original platen 12 during exposure and it is separated from the original platen 12 when the original is carried. Thus, the long-sized original can be fed without opening an original cover and the efficiency is improved. Besides, since the interruption can be executed during the processing, processing ability is prevented from being lowered.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides a method for forming an image on a long original with high efficiency,
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of handling general original documents.

(Prior Art) Conventional image forming apparatuses, such as copying machines, can extremely efficiently copy ordinary documents that can be handled one by one. In the case of manuscripts, the processing efficiency seems to be extremely low. That is, in the case of a long original, the long original is placed from the front to the back of the original table, and the original is fed one pitch at a time and exposed, and the entire document is copied. At this time, the document cover is lifted every time the document is fed, which greatly reduces processing efficiency.Furthermore, high-speed processing cannot be achieved by automatically feeding interrupted documents at intervals, resulting in a significant decrease in processing efficiency.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, conventional image forming apparatuses have very low processing efficiency when processing long originals, and
There is a disadvantage that it cannot be interrupted by automatic feeding of other documents.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can process long originals with high efficiency, and can also interrupt the processing by automatically feeding other originals. shall be.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a document cover that covers the document table so as to be openable and closable, and a document cover for supplying and discharging the document onto the document table. In an image forming apparatus that includes a supplying means, an exposure scanning means for guiding an image of the supplied original, and an image forming means for forming an image on an image carrier using this image, the original supplying means interrupts the original to be placed on the original table. an interrupt document supply unit that supplies and discharges the long document from one end side thereof; and a long document feed unit that supplies and discharges the long document from the other end of the document table across the document table in a direction perpendicular to the feed direction of the interrupt document; a switching means for giving priority to the document supply unit, and the document cover is characterized by having a platen sheet operating means for separating the platen sheet from the document table in synchronization with the supply and discharge of an interrupt document or a long document. It is something.

(Function) In the present invention, when feeding a long document, the platen sheet is separated from the document table, so there is no need to lift the document cover. In addition, the interrupt document is fed and ejected from one end of the document table in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the long document, and the long document is processed at the other end, which is separated from this, so that the interrupt document is ejected at one end. Processing possible.

(Example) Hereinafter, the details of the present invention will be explained with reference to an illustrated example.

The image forming apparatus of this embodiment includes a main body 1 and a document supply mechanism 1.
1, exposure scanning means 21, paper feeding means 31, image forming means 41, paper ejection means 51, and control means 61.

Note that, in this embodiment, everything other than the document supply mechanism 11 is the same as the conventional one, so the document supply mechanism 11 will be described in detail after an outline of the similar parts is explained.

The main body 1 accommodates various parts, and has openings at the upper end and lower left and right sides, and an operation panel 2 at the upper front. This is provided with a copy key 3 as an image forming key, a sheet number setting key 5, various input keys 1 necessary for other operations, and a display 6 to be described later.

Although the details will be described later, the document supply mechanism 11 includes a document table 12 made of a glass plate that covers the upper opening of the main body, positioning scales 13a and 13b attached to both ends of the document table 12, and a document table 12 that is provided on the main body 1 so as to be openable and closable. It has a document cover 14 and a document supply means 15, and the document cover 14 holds an interrupt document 16 and a long document 17 placed on the document table 12.

The exposure scanning means 21 includes a moving first carriage 2 having a light source body 22a consisting of an illumination device and a reflecting mirror 22b.
2, a moving second carriage 24 having reflective mirrors 24a and 24b, an imaging lens 25, and a reflective mirror 26a.
, 26b, and 26c.

Then, as the first carriage 22 moves, the light source body 22a
When scanning the interrupted original 16 or long original 17 while irradiating it, the reflected light from either original 16 or 17 passes through the reflecting mirrors 24a and 24b of the second carriage 24, which moves at an appropriate speed. The light enters the imaging lens 25, passes through the reflecting mirrors 26a, 26b, and 26c, and forms an image of the original 16.17 on the photosensitive drum 42.

The paper feeding means 31 supplies paper P as an image carrier, and includes a manual feed cassette 32 and cassettes 33 and 34, and a pickup roller 32 according to an external signal.
The paper P taken out appropriately by a s 33 a 134 a is sent to the feed separation roller pair 33b or 34b.
It then reaches a pair of aligning rollers 35, and is sent to a photosensitive drum 42 at an appropriate time.

The image forming means 41 includes the above-mentioned rotating photoreceptor drum 42.
The outer periphery of this includes a developer 42 a s 42 b % transfer device 42 c 1 a peeling device 42 d 1 a cleaner 42 e 1 a static eliminator 42 f, and a main charger 4.
2g etc. are arranged. In addition, a conveyor 43,
A pair of fixing conveyors 44 are provided, and the latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum 42 by image formation is visualized by a developing device 42g or 42b, and transferred to a sheet P by a transfer device 42c.
The image is transferred to the printer, peeled off by a peeling device 42d, conveyed, heated and fixed by a pair of fixing rollers 44, and sent to a paper discharge means 51.

In the paper ejecting means 51, the fixed paper P is transferred to a pair of paper ejecting rollers 5.
2 and is stored in the paper discharge tray 53.

A paper discharge detector 54 is provided near the pair of paper discharge rollers 52 to detect the paper to be discharged.

The control means 61 is comprised of a control device 62 equipped with a CPU, and controls the entire image forming apparatus. However, parts similar to the conventional ones will be omitted, and parts related to the present invention will be described later.

This concludes the general explanation of the structure and operation of the entire embodiment. Next, the document supply mechanism 11 and the control means 61, which are important components of the embodiment, will be explained.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the document supply mechanism 11 includes a document table 12, a positioning scale 13a113b, a document cover 14, an interrupt document supply unit 110, a long document supply unit 120, and a switching means 150. It consists of a document supply means 15.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same, in which an interrupt document supply unit 110 for feeding and discharging interrupt documents 16 one by one is provided at one end on the right side when viewed from the operation panel 2 side, and the other end is provided. A long document supply unit 120 is provided in the front-rear direction as a reference. Further, the interrupt document supply unit 110 is provided with a switching means 150.

FIG. 3 is a diagram with the document cover 14 opened, and FIG. 4 is a diagram with documents 16 and 17 loaded respectively. The document 16 in the interrupt document supply unit 110 enters from the arrow 111a.
It is discharged in the direction of arrow 111b.

The document 17 in the long document supply unit 120 is
It enters from point a and is discharged in the direction of arrow 121b. Fifth
The figure shows the exposed position of the cut-in original 16 on the original platen 12, and FIG. 6 shows the case of a long original 17. The configuration of each of the units 110 and 120 will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 7, the document cover 14 has a platen sheet 14b housed in a housing 14a forming an outer shell. Further, a shaft 14c is rotatably supported through the housing 14a, and levers 14d are fixed to both ends of the shaft 14c. The tips of the levers 14d and 1.4d are fitted into elongated holes 14e provided in the platen sheet 14b, and the platen sheet 14b is pressed downward by the spring 14f. Such a mechanism is also provided at the left end of the document cover 14, and the front and rear levers 14d are also provided.
, 14d are connected by connecting rods 14h, 14h,
It forms a parallel link.

A receiver member 14g is attached to the tip of one of the levers 14d1, and when this is pushed up by a push-up member to be described later, the four levers 14d... ... rotates counterclockwise, and the platen sheet 14b is separated from the document table 12.

The platen sheet operating means 14 is connected to the shaft 14c lever 14d1 spring 14f, the support member 14g, and the connecting rod 14h.
k.

As shown in FIGS. 8(a) to 8(f), the interrupt original supply unit 110 supplies an interrupt original 16 to the original tray 112.
When the document is placed, it is detected by the document presence/absence detector 150. This detection body 150 constitutes a switching means 150, and upon this detection, the long original supply unit 120 is stopped, this interruption original supply unit 110 is activated, that is, an interruption is started, and the original 16 is moved between the feeding and separation rollers. 1
13, the document passes through a pair of aligning rollers 114, passes through a swing gate 115, and is sent to the document table 12. Here, after being pulled out once by the positioning roller 116, it is retreated and is brought into contact with the positioning scale 13b for positioning. Thereupon, the platen sheet 14b is lowered and exposed, and then raised again, and when the positioning scale is lowered and retracted, it is sent out by the positioning roller 116 and stored in the document discharge tray 118.

When the document 16 runs out, the switching means 150 detects this, the interruption document supply unit 110 stops, the long document supply unit 120 starts again, and the interruption ends.

Although not shown, the platen sheet 14b presses the original platen 12 during exposure, as described above, and presses the original 1.
6 is separated from the document table 12.

The long document supply unit 120 includes a pair of guide bodies 122 provided on the upper surface of the document cover 14, a tractor unit 123 provided at the rear of the main body 1, and a document width detection means 1.
40 (Figure 20). The guide body 122 is configured to have an adjustable interval, and the long original 17 is two sheets of paper that can be folded and stacked on top of each other, and feeding holes are provided on both sides.

This original 17 passes between the original cover 14 and the original table 12 and is fed out toward the tracker unit 123.

The tractor unit 123 has a pair of bin belts 124
a, a bin tractor 124 consisting of 124 a,
It is provided with a tractor drive means 125 for driving this, and is positioned and fixed to the main body 1 by positioning bins 123a, 123a. The Z paper 17 is fed one pitch at a time by the bin tractor 124 each time exposure is completed.

The tractor drive means 125 has a pulse motor 126. This rotation drives the drive shaft 127a of the pin tracker 124 via the feed clutch 127, which is a one-way clutch, by belt transmission.

Further, the pulse motor 126 is connected to a worm reducer 128 via a cam clutch 128 consisting of a one-way clutch.
a and rotate the camshaft 129. This camshaft 129 includes a switch cam 130 and a platen upper and lower cam 1.
31 is attached. and switch cam 130
When the rotation of the ONL pulse motor 126 causes one uneven portion to reach the lowest position per rotation, the switch 130a stops the rotation of the ONL pulse motor 126. Furthermore, when the convex portion (same phase as the switch cam) comes to the lowest position due to the rotation of the platen vertical cam 131, the push-up lever 132 rotates around the fulcrum 132a and the tip rises, as described above. The receiver of the document cover 14 pushes up the member 14g and moves the platen sheet 14b onto the document table 12.
Separate from.

Note that the feed clutch 127 is configured such that the motor 126 is
4, the drive shaft 127a is engaged with the arrow 127 when it rotates in the forward direction.
b, and when rotating in the opposite direction, the drive shaft 127a is not driven.

Further, the cam clutch 128 does not rotate the camshaft 129 when the motor 126 rotates forward (arrow 134).
For reverse rotation, the camshaft 129 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 129a.

In Figure 11, the pulse motor 126 rotates in reverse (arrow 135).
L, the camshaft 129 rotates in the direction of the arrow 129a, the switch 130a is turned on by the switch cam 13Q, and the motor 126 is stopped. That is, the platen sheet 14b is in a state separated from the document table 12.

Therefore, the motor 12 is
6 rotates forward (arrow 134 in FIG. 12) L, the bin tractor 124 is driven, the long original 17 of Z paper is fed by one pitch, and the motor 126 is stopped. During this time, the camshaft 129 is stopped.

When the feeding of the Z paper 17 is finished, as shown in FIG.
The pulse motor 126 rotates in reverse again by a predetermined number of pulses and then stops. That is, the cam shaft 129 rotates in the direction of the arrow 129a, and the convex portions of the switch cam 130 and the platen upper and lower cams 131 rotate 180 degrees and stop at the uppermost position. As a result, the platen sheet 14b is placed on the document table 12.
Stops when pressed. In other words, it becomes ready for exposure.

14(a) to (e) show the flow of the long original 17. The long original 17 is placed on the guide body 122 and the platen sheet 14b is lifted, and as shown in FIG.
Pass the long original 17 through the exposed part as shown in the figure (
When the copy key 3 is pressed after the preparation is completed by engaging the pin tracker 124 as shown in C), the exposure and 1-pitch feeding are sequentially repeated, and the long originals 17 that have been copied are folded and placed on the tray 136. be accommodated.

Next, the document width detection means 140 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 15, an interrupt original 16 and a long original 17
It is necessary that both can be placed on the document table 12 at the same time.
The widths of both documents 16 and 17 are constantly detected.

As shown in FIG. 16, for the effective width W of the document table 12,
Long original width Wz 10 Interrupted original width Ws is small, δ3, δ
If there is a margin as shown in 2, a preferable condition is shown in FIG. 17, but as shown in FIG.
If is large, interrupts are not possible.

In this embodiment, the interrupt document 16 is A4, letter size or smaller, and the remaining Wr from the width W is allocated to the long document width Wz.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, a detected object 141 is attached to the rear of the main body 1, and its width is set as Wr.
This detected object 141 is detected by a long document width detector 142 attached to the pin tracker 124, and if detected, it is determined that the long document width W2 is within a specified range. Further, the width of the interrupt document 16 in the feeding direction is detected by an interrupt document width detector 143 provided on the document tray 112.

Then, whether or not an interrupt is possible is displayed on the display section 6.

The control means 61 includes a control device 62 equipped with a CPU, and includes an interrupt document presence/absence detector 150 and a long document presence/absence detector 1, which constitute switching means for switching to interrupt.
24b, interrupt document width detector 143, long document width detector 142, cam switch 130a, copy key 3, interrupt document feed driver 151 that drives and controls the interrupt document supply unit 110, and drives and controls the long document supply unit 120; Drive units such as a long document feed driver 126a, an optical system moving mechanism, and an image forming mechanism are connected.

The document supply mechanism 11 of this embodiment is configured as described above, and its operation will be explained next with reference to a flowchart.

In the description, the long original 17 will be referred to as two sheets, and the interrupt original supply unit 110 will be referred to as ADF.

The operation of feeding the two sheets and exposing them to light will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The pulse motor 126 (hereinafter referred to as motor) rotates in reverse, and the switch cam 130 turns the switch 130a ONL,
Motor 126 stops (step PI). In this state, the platen sheet 14b is in a lifted state.

The motor 126 rotates forward to drive the bin tractor 124,
Send two sheets of paper (step P2).

The motor 126 rotates in reverse by an amount equivalent to the number of pulses m, and stops after half a rotation (step P3). The platen sheet 14b presses the two sheets.

A copy operation is performed (step P4).

When copying is completed, the motor 126 is reversed, the switch 130a is turned ON, and the platen sheet 14b is lifted (step P5).

Check whether the copying of the two sheets has been completed (step P6).
). If YES, copying ends.

If No, go to step P2 again.

Next, according to the flowchart in FIG.
The operation of determining whether or not an interrupt is possible in step 6 will be explained.

Set two sheets of paper on the bin tractor 124 (step P
I).

Whether or not the Z paper width detector 142 detects the detected object 141. That is, it is determined whether the width is less than or equal to the width Wr (step P2).

If YES, set the original 16 in the ADF (step P3).

The set interruption document 16 is checked by the interruption document width detector 143 to see if it is smaller than letter or A4 size (step P4).

If YES, a message indicating that copying is possible is displayed on the display 6 using an interrupt from the ADF (step P5).

Press copy key 3 to start copying using the ADF (step P6).

When the interruption original presence detector 150 detects that there is no original 16, copying of two sheets is started (step P7).
).

If No in step P2, the original 16 is set in the ADF (step P8).

When it is detected that the document 16 is present in the ADF, a message indicating that the ADF cannot be used is displayed on the display 6 (step P9).

Copying of two sheets is started (step PIO).

Next, with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, an example will be described in which there is an interruption of the document 16 during two-sheet copying.

First, set two sheets of paper and start copying.

(Step PI).

Copying of two sheets is done smoothly (Step P2) ADF
Detected by the switching means 150, copying of the two sheets is stopped (Step P4).

Press the copy key (Step P5) Copying of original 16 in the ADF is performed (Step P6)
.

The presence or absence of the original document 16 is detected each time copying is performed, and if the copying is not completed (No), the process returns to step P6 and repeats (step P7).

If YES, there is no original document 16 in the ADF, it is determined that the process has ended, and copying of the two sheets is restarted (step P8).

Copying of the two sheets proceeds (step P9).

The presence or absence of the two sheets is detected by the Z paper presence/absence detector 124b, and it is examined whether copying is complete (step P10).

If No, the process returns to step P9, and if YES, the copy ends (step P11).

This concludes the description of the embodiment.

In this embodiment, two sheets of paper are used as the long document, but the document is not limited to this, and may be wound into a roll. Therefore, each document supply unit is not limited to the embodiment.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, since the image forming apparatus of the present invention allows the platen sheet to move toward and away from the document table, it is possible to send a long document without opening the document cover, and the efficiency is significantly improved. will improve.

Further, since an interruption is possible even when a long document is being processed, a decrease in processing performance is prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the upper part, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the upper part with the document cover open, and Fig. 4 is the upper part showing the state of interruption. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the position of an interrupted document, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the position of a long document, FIG. 7 is a front cross-sectional view of the platen sheet operating means, and FIG. Figures (a) to (f) are sectional views explaining the operation of the interrupt document supply unit, Figure 9 is an external perspective view of the tractor unit, Figure 10 is a perspective view of the structure of the tractor unit, and Figure 10 is a perspective view of the structure of the tractor unit. 11 to 13 are similarly explanatory diagrams of the action of the tractor unit, FIGS. 14(a) to 14(e) are similarly explanatory diagrams of the processing state of a long document, and FIG. 15 is a perspective diagram illustrating the width regulation of both documents. Figure 16 is an explanatory diagram of the width relationship between the two documents, Figure 17 is a perspective view showing the state in which interruption is possible, Figure 18 is a perspective view showing the state in which interruption is not possible, and Figure 19 is the same. FIG. 20 is a perspective view illustrating the width of a long document in the tractor unit; FIG. 20 is a perspective view illustrating the document width detection means for both documents; FIG. 23 is a block diagram of the control means, FIG. 23 is a flowchart for feeding a long document, FIG. 24 is a flowchart for examining whether an interrupt is possible, and FIG. It is a flowchart figure when carried out.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A document cover that covers the document table in an openable and closable manner, a document supplying means for supplying and discharging the document onto the document table, an exposure scanning device for guiding an image of the supplied document, and an image bearing member using this image. In the image forming apparatus, the document supplying means includes an interrupt document supply unit that supplies and discharges the interrupt document to the document table from one end side thereof, and a long document feed unit that supplies and discharges the document document from one end side of the document table, and an image forming device that forms an image on the document table. The document cover has a long document supply unit that feeds and discharges the interrupt document across the document table in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the interrupt document, and a switching means that gives priority to the interrupt document feed unit. An image forming apparatus comprising a platen sheet operating means for separating a platen sheet from a document table in synchronization with supply and discharge of a length document.