JPH0594066A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively utilize the image forming and processing ability provided of the image forming device itself by adapting the process for a large sized original to a small sized original. CONSTITUTION:A cassette 6 where paper of A3 size is contained horizontally is selected when two pieces of originals of A4 size, for example, are placed side by side on an original platen 1. Then, the paper is cut by operation of a cutting mechanism 10 and ejected to a paper ejecting tray 9 as two pieces of A4 size paper after the image formation is carried out against the A3 size paper.

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 specifically, to an image having a function of cutting a sheet after transferring the image into an appropriate size. The present invention relates to a forming device.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For example, in a copying machine capable of handling documents of maximum A3 size, the copying speed is, for example, 6 when the A3 size transfer paper is horizontally fed with respect to the A3 size.
0 sheets / minute, and when A4 size transfer paper is fed horizontally for A4 size, for example, 80 sheets / minute, for example, for large size originals and small size originals. Care is taken so that copying can be performed at a processing speed that is not so different. However, in the copying machine as described above, from a different point of view, when copy processing is assumed by vertically arranging A4 size originals on a platen, it has a large copy processing capacity of 120 sheets / minute. It will be. In other words, it can be said that the ability of the copying machine is effectively used and is not utilized to the maximum extent. Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and for example, the processing for a large-sized original is applied to the processing for a small-sized original, and the image forming processing capability of the apparatus is effectively used. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a function that can be utilized to the maximum.

[0003]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the first means adopted by the present invention is the gist of the present invention, in which an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of a photoconductor and the electrostatic latent image is formed. In an image forming apparatus for transferring a visible image obtained by developing an image onto a sheet fed from a sheet feeding means and discharging the sheet out of the machine, a sheet on which the visible image on the surface of the photoreceptor is transferred. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cutting mechanism that cuts the sheet into a predetermined size along the sheet discharging direction in association with the sheet discharging operation. The gist of the second means adopted by the present invention is, in an image forming apparatus for performing an image forming process based on digital image data, ejecting a sheet onto which a visible image on the surface of a photoconductor is transferred. A cutting mechanism that cuts into a predetermined size along the paper discharge direction in conjunction with the paper operation, and an electrostatic discharge based on the digital image data corresponding to the number of sheets of a predetermined size cut by the cutting mechanism. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a latent image forming unit that forms a latent image in parallel on the surface of the photoconductor. The gist of the third means adopted by the present invention is, in an image forming apparatus for forming an image by a so-called analog image forming process, ejecting a sheet on which a visible image on the surface of a photoreceptor is transferred. A cutting mechanism that cuts into a predetermined size along the paper discharge direction in conjunction with the paper operation, a mode selection unit that selectively switches whether or not to operate the cutting mechanism, and a cutting mechanism operating mode. An image forming apparatus according to the aspect, further comprising a sheet selection unit that selects a sheet feeding unit that accommodates sheets of a predetermined magnification. A fourth means adopted by the present invention is as its gist, and in an image forming apparatus for performing an image forming process based on digital image data, a sheet on which a visible image on the surface of a photoconductor is transferred is discharged from the sheet. A cutting mechanism that cuts into a predetermined size along the paper discharge direction in conjunction with the paper operation, a mode selection unit that selectively switches whether to operate the cutting mechanism, and a cutting mechanism operating mode. A latent image forming means for parallelly forming an electrostatic latent image based on the digital image data on the surface of the photoconductor in correspondence with the number of sheets of a predetermined size cut by the cutting mechanism; The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet selection unit that selects a sheet feeding unit that accommodates the sheet. A fifth means adopted by the present invention is, in summary, an image forming apparatus for performing an image forming process based on digital image data, in which a sheet on which a visible image on the surface of a photoconductor is transferred is ejected. A cutting mechanism that cuts into a predetermined size along the paper discharge direction in conjunction with the paper operation, a mode selection unit that selectively switches whether to operate the cutting mechanism, and a cutting mechanism operating mode. A latent image forming means for parallelly forming an electrostatic latent image based on the digital image data on the surface of the photoconductor in correspondence with the number of sheets of a predetermined size cut by the cutting mechanism; And a paper selection means for selecting the paper feeding means accommodating the paper, and when a preset number of papers after cutting is odd, another paper feeding means accommodating a paper of a predetermined magnification corresponding to this one paper is selected. Then the normal transfer process An image forming apparatus according to the points obtained by and a normal transfer means for performing.

[0004]

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, basically, a large size sheet can be appropriately cut into a small size sheet regardless of the so-called digital type or analog type. In addition, it is possible to automatically select the paper feeding means accommodating the paper of a predetermined magnification in the operation mode of the cutting mechanism. Further, in a digital image forming apparatus, an electrostatic latent image based on digital image data is formed in parallel on the surface of the photoconductor in correspondence with the number of sheets of a predetermined size cut by the cutting mechanism. When the preset number of sheets after cutting is an odd number, it is possible to automatically select another sheet feeding means that accommodates a sheet of a predetermined magnification corresponding to this sheet and perform a normal transfer process.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings for the understanding of the present invention. The following embodiments are examples of embodying the present invention and are not of the nature to limit the technical scope of the present invention. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a detailed view of an arrow A in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a detailed view of an arrow C in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is an image forming apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an operation procedure of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an operation procedure of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. In the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, an image of a document (not shown) placed on the document table 1 is scanned by the optical system 2 and the surface of the photoconductor 3 is electrostatically charged. A latent image is formed. The electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 3 is visualized by being developed by the developing device 4, and the visible image is selectively fed from the cassette 5 or 6 corresponding to the sheet feeding means. Is transferred to a sheet of paper. The visible image transferred onto the paper is fixed by the action of the fixing roller pair 7, and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 9 outside the apparatus by the paper discharge roller pair 8. The image forming apparatus is configured by including a cutting mechanism 10 (see FIGS. 2 and 3), a mode selection unit, and a sheet selection unit in addition to the above configuration.

The cutting mechanism 10 has a function of cutting the paper, on which the visible image on the surface of the photoconductor 3 is transferred, into a predetermined size in association with the paper discharge operation. Eggplant That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cutting mechanism 10
Is a sandwiching roller pair 11 which is disposed between the fixing roller pair 7 and the paper discharge roller pair 8 and supports the sheet at the time of cutting.
It is equipped with. The gripping roller pair 11 has an upper roller 12 and a lower roller 13, and a central portion of the upper roller 12 is cut out so as to accommodate an upper cutter 14 for cutting. Further, the lower roller 13 is divided into left and right parts at the central portion thereof so that the lower cutter 15 can be housed in the lower portion facing the upper cutter 14. And the lower cutter 15 is
A pin 16 disposed on the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction is swingably supported in the vertical direction, and an actuator 18 is selectively moved and driven in the vertical direction via a link member 17.
When the lower cutter 15 is driven to move upward, the lower cutter 15 and the upper cutter 14 are engaged with each other, and the paper supported by the pair of gripping rollers 11 is interlocked with the paper discharge operation. And the lower cutter 15 cuts along the paper discharge direction. On the other hand,
When the lower cutter 15 is driven to move downward, the lower cutter 15 and the upper cutter 14 are disengaged from each other, so that the passing paper sheet is not cut. The cutting mechanism 10 configured as described above is movably supported by a moving mechanism (not shown) in the width direction, that is, the vertical direction in FIG. It is designed so that the size can be changed appropriately. Then, in a normal state, the discharged paper is positioned at the central portion of the paper discharge path so that the central portion of the paper can be cut into left and right objects.

The mode selecting means includes the cutting mechanism 10
Is selectively operated, and the sheet selection means selects the cassettes 5 and 6 containing sheets of a predetermined magnification when the cutting mechanism 10 is in the operation mode. The mode selecting means and the paper selecting means are composed of the mode changeover switch 19 and the cutting mechanism 10.
In connection with the above, it is embodied by a processing program or the like that causes the image forming apparatus to perform image processing. Next, referring to FIG. 7, for example, one sheet of A
A procedure for performing a plurality of image forming processes on a 4-size document will be described. In the figure, S1 and S
2, ... Indicate processing steps. First of all, the first base paper
A document is placed on the document table 1, and a normal image forming process is performed on an A4 size sheet. This sheet is used as a second original and is placed side by side on the original table 1 together with the first original (S1). Subsequently, in S2, when the double speed mode is selected by operating the mode changeover switch 19, the lower cutter 15 of the cutting mechanism 10 is moved upward by the actuator 18, and A3 size sheets are accommodated sideways. Then, for example, the cassette 6 is selected (S3). Subsequently, when the copy magnification is set (S4) and the number of copies is set (S5), an operation of dividing the set number of copies by 2 is performed in S6, and the A3 size paper is passed from the cassette 6 described above. The number of sheets is decided. In this case, the value after the decimal point due to the above calculation is truncated. The value below the decimal point corresponds to one sheet of A4 size paper, and this shortage is satisfied by the second original.

Subsequently, in S7, when the copy button is operated, the first and second originals on the original table 1 are simultaneously scanned by the optical system 2 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 3. To be done. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 3 is developed by the developing device 4 and is fed from the cassette 6 as A3.
Transferred to size paper. The image transferred onto the paper is fixed by the fixing roller pair 7, divided into two by the cutting mechanism 10, and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 9 by the paper discharge roller pair 8. The series of image forming processing as described above is S6.
After the number of sheets passed has been calculated in step S8, S2
The double speed mode set in (3) is released (S9), and a series of copying operations are completed (S10). Therefore, in the apparatus of this embodiment, the copying process can be completed in about half the time as compared with the conventional apparatus which performs the image forming process on the A4 size original by using the A4 size paper, for example. Therefore, it is an extremely effective technology for the recent social situation that requires an increase in information processing. In the above embodiment, the case where the cutting mechanism 10 is integrated into the image forming apparatus main body has been described as an example.
As shown in FIG. 7, the cutting mechanism 10 can be configured to be attachable to and detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus. In this case, the cutting mechanism 10 is housed in the unit housing 20 independent of the apparatus body and is attachable to and detachable from the apparatus body. As a result, it becomes possible to set options very easily to the conventional image forming apparatus that does not have the cutting function as described above. Since the cutting mechanism 10 in this case has the same structure as the mechanism shown in FIG. 2, the same reference numerals are used for the parts corresponding to the mechanism of FIG. The description is omitted. Since the above unit is separated from the main body of the image forming apparatus, a motor 21 (see FIG. 3) for driving the upper roller 12, the pair of discharge rollers 8 and the like is required. Next, an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment, a document (not shown) placed on the document table 22 is scanned by the optical system 23 to obtain digital image data. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor 24 based on the digital image data, and the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 25 to be visualized. The visualized digital image data is transferred to a sheet fed from a cassette 26 or 27 constituting a sheet feeding means, fixed by a fixing roller pair 28, and then transferred to a sheet discharging roller pair 29. And is discharged onto the discharge tray 30 outside the machine. In addition to the above configuration, the apparatus is configured by including the cutting mechanism 10, the mode selection unit, the latent image forming unit, the sheet selection unit, and the normal transfer unit. In the mode selection means, the mode changeover switch 3
When 1 is operated, whether or not the cutting mechanism 10 is operated is selectively switched. The latent image forming means is configured to cut the cutting mechanism 1 when the cutting mechanism 10 is in the operation mode.
It functions to form an electrostatic latent image based on the digital image data in parallel on the surface of the photoconductor 24 corresponding to the number of sheets of a predetermined size by cutting 0. The sheet selection means serves to select the cassette 26 or 27 containing sheets of a predetermined magnification in accordance with the processing of the latent image forming means. When the preset number of sheets after cutting is an odd number, the normal transfer means selects a cassette 27 or 26 containing a sheet of a predetermined magnification corresponding to one sheet and performs a normal transfer process. Make up.

The mode selecting means, the latent image forming means, the paper selecting means, and the normal transferring means are the cutting mechanism 10 described above.
In connection with the above, it is embodied by a processing program that causes the image forming apparatus to perform image processing. Next, based on FIG. 8, a processing procedure in the case of performing a plurality of image forming processes on, for example, one A4 size document by the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 6 will be described. In addition, in FIG. 8, S1
1, S12, ... Show each processing step. First, when a document is placed on the document table 22 (S11) and the double speed mode is set by operating the mode changeover switch 31 (S12), in S13, a cassette in which A3 size sheets are accommodated sideways is placed. 27 is selected, the actuator 18 of the cutting mechanism 10 is driven, and the lower cutter 15 (see FIG. 2) is moved upward. On the other hand, photoconductor 2
For No. 4, parallel latent image forming processing is performed based on the digital image data obtained by scanning the image of the original document by the optical system 23. That is, based on the digital image data, the laser output process is repeated twice in the horizontal line direction on the surface of the photoconductor 24. Subsequently, when the copy magnification and the number of copies are set (S14, S15), an operation of dividing the set number of sheets in S15 by 2 is performed in S16, and the number of sheets passed from the cassette 27 is determined. The number of sheets passed in this case corresponds to the number obtained by rounding down the value after the decimal point according to the calculation result. When the copy button is operated in S17, the sheets are sequentially fed from the cassette 27 by the number set in S16. After the image forming process, the sheets are A4 size sheets by the cutting mechanism 10. After being cut into sheets, the sheets are sequentially discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 30.

When a series of image forming processes is carried out for the set number of sheets as described above and the double speed mode set in S12 is released (S19), in S20, the calculation result in S16 is displayed after the decimal point. It is determined whether there is a value, that is, whether the set number of sheets in S15 is an odd number. If it is determined in S20 that the set number is an odd number, in S21, the cassette 26 containing A4 size sheets is selected, and normal image forming processing is performed on the sheets fed from the cassette 26. To be done. A series of image forming processes is performed as described above (S22). Since the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment is configured as described above, image forming processing for, for example, an A4 size document is performed as in the case of the apparatus.
It can be performed in about half the time as compared with the conventional device. It is needless to say that also in the embodiment apparatus shown in FIG. 6, the cutting mechanism 10 can be detachably attached to the apparatus body, as in the case of the embodiment apparatus shown in FIG. Further, as described above, since the image forming process is performed based on the digital image data in the apparatus of the embodiment,
It goes without saying that the technology can be applied to a printer.

[0012]

Since the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to apply, for example, a process for a large size document to a process for a small size document. As a result, the image forming processing capability of the apparatus itself can be effectively utilized and maximized.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of an arrow A portion in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a detailed view of an arrow C portion in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

8 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 22 ... Manuscript table 2, 23
... Optical system 3,24 ... Photoreceptor 4,25
... Developing device 5, 6, 26, 27 ... Cassette (paper feeding means) 7, 28
... Fixing roller pair 8,29 ... Paper discharge roller pair 9,30
... Paper discharge tray 10 ... Cutting mechanism 11 ... Holding roller pair 12 ... Upper roller 13 ... Lower roller 14 ... Upper cutter 15 ... Lower cutter 16 ... Pin 17 ... Link member 18 ... Actuator 19, 31 ... Mode switch 20 ... Unit casing Body 21 ... Motors S1 to S10, S11 to S22 ... Processing steps

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location G03G 15/00 302 8004-2H

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A visible image obtained by forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photoconductor and developing the electrostatic latent image is transferred to a sheet fed from a sheet feeding means and is transferred outside the apparatus. An image forming apparatus for discharging a sheet is provided with a cutting mechanism for cutting a sheet on which a visible image on the surface of the photoconductor has been transferred, into a predetermined size along the sheet discharging direction in association with the sheet discharging operation. An image forming apparatus characterized by the following. 2. A visible image obtained by forming an electrostatic latent image on a surface of a photoconductor based on digital image data and developing the electrostatic latent image on a sheet fed from a sheet feeding means. In an image forming apparatus that transfers and discharges the paper to the outside of the machine, the paper on which the visible image on the surface of the photoconductor is transferred has a predetermined size along the paper discharge direction in association with the paper discharge operation. A cutting mechanism for cutting, and a latent image forming means for forming electrostatic latent images based on the digital image data in parallel on the surface of the photoconductor in correspondence with the number of sheets of a predetermined size cut by the cutting mechanism. An image forming apparatus comprising: 3. An image obtained by scanning an image of a document placed on a platen with an optical system to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photoconductor and developing the electrostatic latent image. In an image forming apparatus that transfers a visible image to a sheet fed from a sheet feeding unit and discharges the sheet to the outside of the machine, the sheet on which the visible image on the surface of the photoconductor is transferred is interlocked with the sheet discharging operation. Then, a cutting mechanism that cuts the paper into a predetermined size along the paper discharge direction, a mode selection unit that selectively switches whether to operate the cutting mechanism, and a predetermined magnification in the operation mode of the cutting mechanism. An image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet selection unit that selects a sheet feeding unit accommodating sheets. 4. A visible image obtained by forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photoconductor based on digital image data and developing the electrostatic latent image on a sheet fed from a sheet feeding means. In an image forming apparatus that transfers and discharges the paper to the outside of the machine, the paper on which the visible image on the surface of the photoconductor is transferred has a predetermined size along the paper discharge direction in association with the paper discharge operation. A cutting mechanism for cutting, a mode selecting means for selectively switching whether or not to operate the cutting mechanism, and an operation mode of the cutting mechanism, which corresponds to the number of sheets of a predetermined size by the cutting of the cutting mechanism. A latent image forming means for parallelly forming an electrostatic latent image based on the digital image data on the surface of the photoconductor, and a paper selecting means for selecting a paper feeding means accommodating a paper of a predetermined magnification. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above. 5. A visible image obtained by forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photoconductor based on digital image data and developing the electrostatic latent image on a sheet fed from a sheet feeding means. In an image forming apparatus that transfers and discharges the paper to the outside of the machine, the paper on which the visible image on the surface of the photoconductor is transferred has a predetermined size along the paper discharge direction in association with the paper discharge operation. A cutting mechanism for cutting, a mode selecting means for selectively switching whether or not to operate the cutting mechanism, and an operation mode of the cutting mechanism, which corresponds to the number of sheets of a predetermined size by the cutting of the cutting mechanism. Latent image forming means for forming electrostatic latent images based on the digital image data in parallel on the surface of the photoconductor, paper selecting means for selecting a paper feeding means accommodating paper of a predetermined magnification, and preset If the number of sheets after cutting is odd, this sheet 1 An image forming apparatus comprising: a normal transfer unit that selects another sheet supply unit that stores a sheet having a predetermined magnification corresponding to one sheet and performs a normal transfer process. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cutting mechanism is configured to be attachable to and detachable from a main body of the image forming apparatus.