JPH05333634A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently detect the sizes of all rolls of paper loaded and to facilitate maintenance such as the replacement of a sensor by providing a cutter unit, which can be attached/ detached to/from the device main body, with the canon sensor which detects the size of each roll of paper. CONSTITUTION:The size detection sensor 52 is provided facing a detection surface, in the common path of the cutter unit 31. The size detection sensor 52 consists of, for example, a plurality of reflection type photosensors 52a-52d, and numbers corresponding to the sizes of the usable rolls of paper are marked side by side in the direction in which they cross the common path, that is, in the direction of the widths of the rolls of paper. The reflection type photosensors 52a-52d detect the presence and absence of the paper by receiving light reflected from the paper passing the common path. Since each roll of paper is loaded along its center, the positions of both its ends differ according to the size, and sensors 52a-52d are arranged in the positions correponding to both the ends of the sizes. Thus, the sizes of the rolls of paper can be detected.

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 such as a copying machine or a printer, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a plurality of rolls of different sizes loaded therein.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In such an image forming apparatus having a plurality of roll papers loaded therein, the size of each loaded roll paper is detected in advance and stored in a memory, and at the same time, the detected roll paper size is controlled by a control panel. Display on top. Then, when the operator specifies a desired paper size, a roll paper matching the size is selected and supplied for image formation.

In order to detect the size of the roll paper loaded in the apparatus, conventionally, a size detection sensor is provided in each roll paper loading section, and the size of the roll paper loaded in the loading section is provided by such an individual sensor. There is known a configuration for detecting.

[0004]

Such a construction is useful in an apparatus for loading a small number of roll papers, but in the case of an image forming apparatus for loading a large number of roll papers, loading of roll papers is recommended. It requires a large number of size detection sensors corresponding to the number of copies, complicating the device,
Moreover, the cost was improved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an image forming apparatus that can efficiently detect the size of all loaded roll papers by a single common sensor and that is easy to maintain such as replacing the sensor. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

Therefore, according to the present invention, a plurality of roll papers of different sizes are loaded and provided, and a roll paper of a specified size is supplied to a cutter and cut into a predetermined size, Next, in the image forming apparatus for forming a copy image thereon, the cutter is composed of a unit that is attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body, and this unit is provided with a common sensor for detecting the size of each roll paper. Is characterized by.

When the power is turned on, each roll of paper is sequentially supplied to the cutter through a common passage, and after the roll paper size is detected by the above sensor, the paper feed roller is reversed to cause the above common roll paper. Stand by while evacuating from the aisle.

Furthermore, the size of the roll paper is detected even when the roll paper is loaded. Preferably, the image forming apparatus has a roll paper cassette that can be pulled out from the apparatus main body, clears the roll paper size data of the cassette when the roll paper cassette is pulled out, and the cassette when the cassette is reloaded. The size detection is performed by the above process only for the roll paper.

[0009]

In such a structure, the replacement or maintenance of the sensor is performed outside the apparatus body by pulling out or removing the cutter unit from the apparatus body. Therefore, replacement or maintenance can be performed easily and efficiently.

When the power source of the image forming apparatus is turned on, all of the loaded roll papers are sequentially sent to the cutter unit, where the size is detected, and then the paper is fed for the paper feed operation. Stand by in the state of being evacuated from the common road. When the roll paper cassette is pulled out to replace one of the roll papers, the roll paper size data for that cassette is cleared accordingly, and when the roll paper cassette is loaded next, only the roll paper in that cassette is removed. It is conveyed to the cutter unit, and the size of the roll paper is detected there. After the detection, the roll paper is pulled back to retract from the common path and stands by at the retract position.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. Reference numerals 1 to 4 denote roll paper cassettes, which are provided so as to be drawn out toward the right side of the apparatus main body 5 as viewed in the figure. In the illustrated example, cassette 1,
The reference numerals 2 and 3 are vertically arranged so as to be independently drawn out, and the cassettes 3 and 4 are formed side by side and integrally drawn out. Each cassette has a box shape with an open top, and roll paper can be stored in the box. Each roll paper is loaded in the cassette so as to be center-aligned with the photosensitive drum 41 described later. In loading the roll paper into the cassette, the cassette is pulled out from the apparatus main body 5 and then the spool shaft of the roll paper to be loaded is supported by the concave bearing portion 11 (to 14) of the side plate of the cassette. To do.

In order to pull out such cassettes, a suitable slide device such as a slide rail supports each cassette horizontally with respect to the main body 5 of the apparatus. As a slide device, Acculide (trade name)
For example, a slide device having a known configuration can be used.
In addition, appropriate stoppers 16, 17, 18 are provided in the device main body 5
Is provided at a position where it can come into contact with each cassette to be loaded, and when the cassette is loaded, the locking portion of the cassette comes into contact with a corresponding stopper to stop the cassette at a predetermined position. A suitable clamp device (not shown) is provided on the cassette and the main body of the device, and locks the cassette when the cassette is loaded in such a predetermined position. The clamp device is a hook that works with a lever provided on the cassette side,
A known structure such as a combination with a pin provided on the apparatus main body side so as to cooperate with the claw can be used, and when the cassette is pulled out, the clamping device is released.

A detection device such as a photo sensor or a micro switch is provided for each cassette so that the operation of pulling out each of the cassettes 1 to 4 can be detected. These switches are operated in association with the pulling-out operation of each cassette, for example, by crossing the detection optical path of the photosensor with the portion of the cassette being pulled out (or loaded), or by the actuator of the microswitch, the portion of the cassette is moved. Can be provided so as to operate by contacting with each other.

The roll paper loaded in each cassette is sent to the feed roller 26 by the paper feed rollers 21 to 24 provided in each cassette. The feed roller 26 is located at the entrance of the cutter unit 31, and is connected to the paper feed rollers 21 to 21.
The roll paper sent from 24 is sent to the cutter 33 through the common passage 32 of the cutter unit.

The cutter 33 is a rotary cutter having a fixed blade 34 fixed to the unit 31 and a rotary blade 36 cooperating with the fixed blade 34. The rotary blade 36 is a drive shaft 3 rotatably supported by the side plate of the unit 31.
It is fixed to 5 and is rotated by the drive of the drive shaft 35. As will be described later, a drive transmission device 61 is provided on the front end side of the drive shaft 35.
Is provided, and a manual knob 38 is fixed to the rear end. Reference numeral 39 is an elastic band provided on the cutter unit 31, and presses the drive shaft 35 over substantially half the circumference thereof to apply braking to the drive shaft.

When the roll paper fed by the feed roller 26 passes between the fixed blade 34 and the rotary blade 36 for a specified size, the drive shaft 35 rotates.
That is, the rotary blade 36 operates to cut the roll paper into a predetermined size. The length of passage of the roll paper can be detected by known means such as counting the number of pulses from the time when the front end of the paper passes the reference point.

The paper cut by the cutter 33 is sent to the image forming section 40 for image formation. The image forming unit 40 includes a photosensitive drum 41, a charging device 42 and a developing device 4 that are operably arranged around the photosensitive drum 41.
3, transfer device 44, separation device 45, cleaning device 4
6, including the erase lamp 47. As is well known, the surface of the photosensitive drum 41 is uniformly charged by the charging device 42,
Then, the original image is projected through the optical system 48 to form a blue image corresponding to the original. The electrostatic image is converted into a toner image by the developing device 43, and is transferred onto a transfer paper (roll paper or manually transferred paper or transfer material such as film) by the action of the transfer device 44. The transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum by the separating device 45, is sent to the heat fixing device 51 by the conveyor belt 49, and is heated and fixed there to form a permanent copy image. On the other hand, the surface of the photosensitive drum which carries the residual toner after transfer is cleaned by the cleaning device 46, and is then prepared by the action of the erase lamp for the next image formation.

In order to detect the size of each roll paper loaded in each cassette 1 to 4, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the common path 32 of the cutter unit 31 faces its detection surface,
The size detection sensor 52 is provided in the cutter unit 31. The size detection sensor 52 includes, for example, a plurality of reflective photosensors 52a to 52d, and the number corresponding to the number of roll paper sizes that can be used along the direction crossing the common path 32, that is, the width direction of the roll paper. It is provided in parallel. The reflection type photo sensor receives the reflected light from the paper passing through the common path 32 and detects the presence or absence of the paper.
As described above, since the roll papers are loaded with the center alignment, the positions of both side edges of the roll papers differ depending on the size. The sensors 52a to 52d are arranged at positions corresponding to the positions of the side edges of each size. For example, in FIG. 3, when the sensor 52a detects roll paper, the roll paper is A3 size roll paper, and when the sensor 52b detects roll paper, A2 size roll paper is A2.
If the sensor 52c detects the roll paper, it is A1 size roll paper. If the sensor 52d detects the roll paper, it is A
It is detected that the roll paper is 0 size.

The size detection of the loaded roll paper is carried out when the image forming apparatus is powered on and when any of the roll paper cassettes 1 to 4 is pulled out and reloaded.
When the power is turned on, the roll paper of each cassette is sequentially drawn out to the common path 32 of the cutter unit 31, and the size of the roll paper loaded in the cassette is detected there. After the detection, the pulled-out roll paper is pulled back backward to a position where the leading end of the roll paper is retracted from the common path 32 and the feed roller 26 by the reverse rotation of the corresponding paper feed rollers 21 to 24 and the feed roller 26,
It is stopped at this retracted position and stands by for paper feeding. In order to confirm the retracted position of the front end of the roll paper, appropriate paper detection sensors S1 to S4 are provided facing the dedicated passage of each roll paper.

In this way, when the image forming apparatus is powered on, for example, the roll paper of the cassette 1 is fed by the paper feed roller 2.
1. It is sent to the common path 32 by the sending roller 26. Here, when only the sensor 52d of the size detection sensor 52 is activated, it is detected that the roll paper of the cassette 1 is A3 size. The detection result is stored in an appropriate memory such as the RAM of the controller. After the detection, the paper feed roller 21 and the feed roller 26 are reversely rotated to pull back the roll paper, and when the leading end is detected by the switch S1, the paper feed roller 21 and the feed roller 26 are stopped and the roll paper is kept at that position. stand by. Then, the roll papers of the cassettes 2, 3, 4 are sequentially pulled out as described above, their sizes are detected, stored, and then pulled back to stand by at the position retracted from the common path. The size of the roll paper of each cassette thus detected is displayed on the control panel 55 provided on the upper front side of the image forming apparatus.

Any one of the roll paper cassettes 1,
When 2, 3, or 4 is pulled out from the apparatus main body 5, the pulling out of the cassette is detected as described above, and accordingly, the size data of the cassette is cleared from the memory. Then, when this cassette is reloaded, the roll paper size detection is redone only for this cassette according to the above-described process.

The cutter unit 31 provided with the size detection sensor 52 is provided so as to be pulled out or attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body 5 in the longitudinal direction, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface as viewed in FIG. Such withdrawal or loading can be performed by sliding the cutter unit 31 along the guide lower surface of the cutter unit loading portion of the apparatus body 5. Further, the structure may be such that it can be pulled out by an appropriate slide rail or the like.

As particularly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a drive transmission device 61 for transmitting drive to the drive shaft 35 of the rotary blade 36 is provided at the front end of the cutter unit 31 in the longitudinal direction. The front end is also provided with parallel pins 62, 63 for positioning the mounting of the cutter unit 31.

The pins 62 and 63 are provided on the side plate 66 of the apparatus body 5 when the cutter unit 31 is loaded into the apparatus body 5.
The cutter unit 31 is positioned by fitting in the reference holes 67 and 68 formed in the. The rear end side of the cutter unit is detachably fixed to the other side wall of the apparatus body 5 by a screw or the like by a stopper plate or the like not shown.

The drive transmission device 61 has a transmission member 72 fixed to the tip of the drive shaft 35 of the rotary blade 36. The transmission member 72 is a disk body having the drive shaft 35 as a central axis and a concave portion at the center on the outer end surface side. Are provided on the same circumference. The pin 73 is arranged in a circular hole 75 formed in the transmission member 72 so as not to fall off therefrom. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the outlet end of the circular hole 75 has a reduced diameter and is narrowed, while the pin 73 has a diameter such that the tip side thereof can project from the outlet end of the circular hole 75 and the lower end side thereof. It has a diameter that is larger than that of the outlet end and cannot project. It is preferable that the pin 73 has a diameter that causes less play than the circular hole 75. The pin 73 is formed of a hollow body having an open lower end, is loosely fitted to a fixed shaft 80 provided on the bottom surface of the circular hole 75, and is movable along the shaft 80 in the projecting and retracting direction described above. Flange and circular hole 7
In the normal state, due to the action of the compression coil spring arranged so as to surround the fixed shaft 80 between itself and the bottom surface of the transmission member 72.
Is compressed by a compression coil spring 74 so as to project from the outer end surface of the.

If the pin 73 can be sufficiently laterally supported by the circular hole 75 without any wobbling, the fixed shaft 80 may be omitted, in which case the pin 73 need not be hollow.

On the other hand, a gear 76 is provided on the side plate 66 of the apparatus body 6 so as to face the transmission member 72 of the cutter unit to be loaded. The gear 76 is rotatably provided on a shaft 81 protruding from the side plate 66, and its outer end surface is substantially parallel to the outer end surface of the transmission member. As shown in FIG.
The gear 76 meshes with the transmission gear 91. Transmission gear 9
1 is fixed to a shaft 92 rotatably provided with respect to the side plate 66. The shaft 92 is connected to a suitable drive source via a clutch 93, and is rotated or stopped by turning the clutch 93 on and off. The shaft 92 projects further outward than the clutch 93, and has a manual knob 94 fixed to the end thereof.

Referring again to FIGS. 3 to 5, a plurality of circular holes 77 are formed on the end surface of the gear 76 at positions and intervals corresponding to the plurality of pins 73 provided on the transmission member 72 of the cutter unit 31. There is. The hole 77 has a diameter sufficient to fit the pin 73, and when the pin 73 is aligned with the hole position, the pin 73 is operated by the coil spring 74.
Fit in 7. By fitting the pin 73 into this circular hole,
The gear 76 and the transmission member 72 are integrally rotatably coupled,
That is, the rotation of the gear 76 is transmitted through the pin 73 to the transmission member 72.
To the drive shaft 35 and thus the rotary blade 36.
Rotates. When not operating, the rotary blade 36 is positioned so as to form a space for passing the paper between it and the fixed blade 34 as shown by the solid line in FIG.
The paper supplied from is sent to the discharge path 37 through the upper surface of the rotary blade. The operation of the rotary blade 36 is performed by the clutch 93 described above.
Is controlled by turning on and off, and by such control, the rotary blade makes only one revolution during one operation and stops at the same position (solid line position). An appropriate positioning mechanism is provided to ensure such a stop position.

The loading of the cutter unit 31 into the apparatus main body 5 having the above-mentioned structure will be described. Insert the cutter unit 31 into the loading section of the apparatus main body 5 with the pin 6
Insert from the side of 2, 63, and insert until the pins 62, 63 fit into the reference holes 67, 68 of the side plate 66. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the pin 73 of the transmission member 72 collides with the end face of the gear 76 and is retracted by retracting into the circular hole 75. In this state, the knob 38 provided on the drive shaft 35 of the cutter
Is manually rotated slowly to rotate the transmission member 72. This rotation causes the pin 73 to move into the circular hole 7 of the gear 76.
When aligned with 7, the pin 73 projects into the circular hole 77 by the action of the spring 74, and the connection between the gear 76 and the transmission member 72 is completed. Next, the loading of the cutter unit is completed by screwing the rear end of the cutter unit 31 to the apparatus main body 56 using an appropriate stop plate. The fitting between the pin 73 and the circular hole 75 causes the knob 38 on the cutter unit side to rotate as described above, and the knob 94 on the gear 76 side.
It can also be performed by rotating (FIG. 6).

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, a common size detection sensor is provided in the common path of the cutter section through which a plurality of roll papers always pass, thereby making the apparatus compact and reducing the cost. can do. In addition, the cutter unit equipped with such a size detection sensor can be pulled out or attached to and detached from the main body of the device, so that the cutter unit can be easily taken out for replacement or maintenance when necessary. It can be carried out.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of a cutter unit of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a cutter unit of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a cutter unit showing a state different from that of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a drive transmission unit of the cutter unit.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a drive transmission unit of the cutter unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 to 4 roll paper cassette 5 device main body 21 to 24 paper feed roller 31 cutter unit 32 common path 52 size detection sensor 61 drive transmission device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus, comprising a plurality of rolls of different sizes loaded therein, supplying rolls of a specified size to a cutter, cutting the rolls into a predetermined size, and then forming a copied image thereon. In the apparatus, the cutter comprises a unit that can be pulled out or attached to or detached from the apparatus body, and a common sensor for detecting the size of each roll paper is provided in this unit. 2. A plurality of roll papers, a paper feed roller capable of feeding each roll paper in a forward and reverse direction, a cutter unit that can be pulled out or attached to and detached from the apparatus main body, and a roll paper cutter provided in the cutter unit. After detecting the paper size of the roll paper, the common path leading to the, the sensor that detects the size of the roll paper that is located on the common path, the roll paper is sequentially supplied to the cutter unit when the power is turned on. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a control device that reverses the paper feed roller to make the roll paper stand by in a state of being retracted from the common path. 3. A plurality of roll papers, a paper feed roller capable of feeding each roll paper in a forward and reverse direction, a cutter unit that can be pulled out or attached to and detached from the apparatus body, and a roll paper provided in the cutter unit. A common path leading to, a sensor that detects the size of the roll paper located on the common path, and when the roll paper is loaded, each roll paper is sequentially supplied to the cutter unit and the paper size of the roll paper is detected. After that, the image forming apparatus further comprises a control device that reverses the paper feed roller and puts the roll paper on standby in a state where the roll paper is retracted from the common path. 4. A roll paper cassette that can be pulled out from the apparatus main body, clears roll paper size data of the roll paper cassette when the roll paper cassette is pulled out, and when the cassette is reloaded, the roll paper cassette is stored in the cassette according to the step. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the size of the loaded roll paper is detected.