JPH05323708A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve efficiency in an operation by immediately starting an actual image formation without wait time for the preliminary rotation of a photosensitive drum after the storing of image data for one page into a page memory. CONSTITUTION:Image data for one page is stored in the page memory 33a. In the course of storing the image data into the page memory 33a, a recording part 37 is started at a point in time that the specific amount of image data for the one page is stored, and the photosensitive drum 4 is preliminarily rotated for cleaning, etc. After the storing of the image data for the one page in the page memory 33a is finished, an image forming operation is actually carried out by the recording part 37.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus applied to a facsimile machine, a printer or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic facsimile apparatus or a printer, one page of input image data is temporarily stored in a page memory. Then, after storing the entire one page, the image data is read from the page memory,
An image is formed by the operation of the recording unit.

[0003]

However, in this type of image forming apparatus, the photosensitive drum of the recording section is pre-rotated for about 5 to 20 seconds for cleaning or the like prior to the recording operation. Therefore, if the recording unit is activated after the image data for one page is stored in the page memory as described above, the actual image forming operation is performed only during the pre-rotation of the photosensitive drum. There was a problem that a waiting time was generated and the operation efficiency was lowered.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems existing in such a conventional technique, and its purpose is to finish storing one page of image data in the page memory. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of immediately starting actual image formation without waiting for the pre-rotation of the photosensitive drum and improving operation efficiency.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, one page of image data is stored in a page memory, and the image data is read from the page memory to operate the recording section. In the image forming apparatus described above, a control unit is provided to control to activate the recording unit when a predetermined amount of image data for one page is stored in the page memory.

[0006]

[Operation] In the image forming apparatus configured as described above, when a signal regarding image data is input, first,
Image data for pages is stored in the page memory. While the image data is being stored in the page memory, the recording unit is activated by the control of the control unit when a predetermined amount of one page of image data is stored.
The photosensitive drum is pre-rotated for cleaning or the like. Then, after the storage of the image data for one page in the page memory is completed, the actual image forming operation by the recording unit is immediately performed.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the image forming apparatus of the present invention is embodied in a facsimile machine will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus case 1 is formed in a substantially box shape with an upper surface opened, and a lid body 2 is attached to the upper surface opening portion by a support shaft 3 so as to be openable and closable.
The photosensitive drum 4 for forming an image is supported in a substantially center of the device case 1 by a drive motor 38 shown in FIG. 1 so as to be positively rotatable, and a photoconductive film 5 is formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof.
The charger 6 uniformly charges the photoconductive film 5 to a predetermined potential. The exposure device 7 forms an electrostatic latent image of a predetermined potential on the photosensitive drum 4 by irradiating light.

The developing device 8 has a toner case 9 for accommodating the toner T, a toner cartridge 10 removably mounted on the toner case 9, and a toner case 9 inside the toner case 9 so as to face the photosensitive drum 4 closely. The developing roller 11 is provided at the lower end opening. Then, a predetermined potential is applied to the toner T by the developing roller 11, and the toner T is attached to the electrostatic latent image based on the difference between the potential and the potential of the electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized. To be imaged.

The paper feed cassette 12 is removably mounted in the lower part of the apparatus case 1, and a large number of papers P are accommodated in the paper feed cassette 12 in a stacked state. The paper feed roller 13 is arranged to face the paper feed side of the paper feed cassette 12, and the paper P in the paper feed cassette 12 is urged by a spring 14 via a push-up plate 15 to form a lower peripheral surface of the paper feed roller 13. Being pressed against. Then, as the paper feed roller 13 is rotated, the paper P is sent out from the paper feed cassette 12 one by one and transferred to the lower part of the photosensitive drum 4 via the paper guide 16 and the pair of feed rollers 17. It

The transfer unit 18 and the guide roller 19 are arranged so as to face the photosensitive drum 4 with a sheet transfer path interposed therebetween. Then, the sheet P is brought into close contact with the photosensitive drum 4 by the guide roller 19, and the transfer device 18
As a result, a predetermined potential is applied to the contact portion, and the toner image is transferred onto the paper P based on the difference between the potential and the potential of the toner image.

The charge eliminating lamp 20 exposes the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 4 after the transfer to eliminate the charge. The cleaning brush 21 removes paper dust and the like adhering to the photosensitive drum 4 after transfer. The memory removal brush 22 made of a conductive brush disturbs the toner T remaining on the photosensitive drum 4 after transfer, and uniformly disperses the toner T on the photosensitive drum 4. Incidentally, the developing device 8 also performs a cleaning operation for collecting the residual toner T dispersed by the memory removing brush 22 by an electrostatic attraction force in parallel with the developing operation.

The heating and fixing device 23 is disposed on the paper feeding side of the photosensitive drum 4, and is provided with a heating roller 24 and a pressure roller 25 which comes into contact with the heating roller 24 at a required pressure across the paper transfer path. ing. Then, the paper P passes through the paper guide 26 and the heating roller 24 and the pressure roller 25.
And the toner image on the paper P is heated and fixed. Further, the paper P on which the image fixing is completed is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 29 via the paper guide 27 and the pair of guide rollers 28.

Next, the circuit configuration of the main components of this facsimile will be described. As shown in FIG.
A PU (Central Processing Unit) 31 controls the operation of the entire device based on a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 32. RAM (random access memory) 3
The reference numeral 3 includes a page memory 33a for temporarily storing the received image data and the image data read from the original for one page. An NCU (network control unit) 34 has a function of controlling connection with a telephone line, sending a dial pulse corresponding to a destination fax number, and detecting the incoming call. A modem (modulator / demodulator) 35 modulates and demodulates transmitted / received data.

The reading unit 36 and the recording unit 37 are the CPU 3
It is connected to 1. The reading unit 36 is for reading an image on a document, and the recording unit 37 is for forming an image on a sheet P based on the received image data or the image data read by the reading unit 36. Is. The recording unit 37 is composed of a rotary drive motor 38 for the photosensitive drum 4 and various devices such as a transfer device 18 arranged around the photosensitive drum 4.

Then, the CPU 31 controls the drive motor 3
8, an operation or stop signal is output to each of the static elimination lamp 20, and the exposure unit 7. Further, the CPU 31 applies a predetermined potential to the transfer device 18, the memory removal brush 22, the charging device 6, and the developing device 8 at a predetermined timing.

When the image data is received via the NCU 34 and the modem 35, or when the image data is read from the original by the reading unit 36, the CPU 31 outputs 1
Image data for pages is stored in the page memory 33 of the RAM 33.
Store in a.

Further, in this embodiment, the CPU 31 and the ROM
A control unit is constituted by 32. That is, CPU3
1 is based on the program stored in the ROM 32,
While the image data is being stored in the page memory 33a of the RAM 33, the recording unit 37 is activated when a predetermined amount (80 to 90% in the embodiment) of the image data for one page is stored. , The photosensitive drum 4 is pre-rotated for cleaning or the like.

Here, the pre-rotation operation of the photosensitive drum 4 will be described in detail. The CPU 31 operates the drive motor 38 to rotate the photosensitive drum 4, and the transfer device 1
8, the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 is charged to a positive potential for a predetermined time, and during that time, the voltage application to the memory removal brush 22 is stopped to bring the brush 22 to a zero potential. That is, based on the difference between the potential on the photosensitive drum 4 and the potential on the memory removal brush 22, the toner T on the memory removal brush 22 is attracted onto the photosensitive drum 4 by electrostatic attraction, and the memory removal brush 22 is cleaned. I do. After that, the CPU 31 turns on the memory removal bias, causes the memory removal brush 22 to disturb the toner T electrostatically adsorbed on the photosensitive drum 4 by the cleaning, and collects the disturbed toner T by the developing device 8. Then, the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 4 is cleaned. Further, the CPU 31 operates the neutralization lamp 20 to neutralize the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 4 during the cleaning operation of the memory removal brush 22 and the photosensitive drum 4. Then, after performing the pre-rotation operation of the photosensitive drum 4 as described above, the CPU 31 starts the actual image forming operation.

Next, the operation of the facsimile apparatus configured as described above will be described. Now, in this facsimile apparatus, the operation as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is performed under the control of the CPU 31. That is,
When the image data is received via the NCU 34 and the modem 35 or the image data is read from the document by the reading unit 36, the image data for one page is stored in the page memory 33a of the RAM 33 (steps S1 and S2).
When a predetermined amount of data is stored in the image data for one page while the image data is being stored in the page memory 33a, the recording unit 37 is activated,
The photosensitive drum 4 is pre-rotated for cleaning or the like (steps S3 to S4).

When the pre-rotation operation of the photosensitive drum 4 is completed, the actual image forming operation is started by the recording section 37. The image forming operation is started by the image for one page in the page memory 33a. It is almost the same as the end of data storage. That is, as shown in a simplified manner in the time chart of FIG. 4, the actual image formation is started immediately after the storage of the image data for one page in the page memory is completed.

After that, when the recording operation of the image data for one page stored in the page memory 33a is completed, that is, the reading of the image data for one page is completed, it is determined whether the image data for the next page has been input. If it is determined (steps S5 to S6) and input is performed, the process returns to step S2, and the operations of steps S2 to S6 described above are repeated. On the other hand, in the determination in step S6, if the image data of the next page is not input, the operation of the device is ended.

As described above, in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment, the recording unit is stored when a predetermined amount of data is stored in one page of image data while the image data is being stored in the page memory 33a. 37 is activated and the photosensitive drum 4 is pre-rotated for cleaning or the like. That is, almost simultaneously with the end of storing one page of image data in the page memory 33a, the pre-rotation operation of the photosensitive drum 4 is ended, and the recording section 37 is ready to start the actual image forming operation. Therefore, after the image data for one page is stored in the page memory, the actual image formation can be started immediately without waiting for the pre-rotation of the photosensitive drum 4.
The operating efficiency can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and the configuration of each part can be arbitrarily changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention, such as embodying the present invention in a printer. It is also possible to materialize.

[0025]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, immediately after the storage of one page of image data in the page memory is completed, the photosensitive drum is immediately rotated without waiting for the pre-rotation. This has an excellent effect that actual image formation can be started and the operation efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram showing an embodiment in which an image forming apparatus of the present invention is embodied as a facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view showing the configuration of the facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the facsimile apparatus when inputting image data.

FIG. 4 is a time chart schematically showing the relationship between the operation of storing image data in the page memory and the operation of the recording unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 ... Photosensitive drum, 31 ... CPU as control means, 32
... ROM, 33 ... RAM, 33a ...
Page memory, 37 ... Recording unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus in which image data for one page is stored in a page memory, and image data is read from the page memory to operate a recording unit. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a control unit that controls the recording unit to be activated when a predetermined amount of the data is stored.