JPH06105367B2 - Image recorder - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus having a double-sided recording function, a sheet folding function, and a sheet binding function.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in an image recording apparatus of this type, in addition to a normal sorting function, a stable function (staple) of pushing a U-shaped wire clasp called a staple into a paper sheet for binding. Those having a ring function) have been proposed.

This stapling function is convenient because image recording and bookbinding (binding of documents) can be obtained at the same time.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional apparatus of this type, double-sided recording designation for designating recording of image information on both sides of a recording medium (for example, transfer paper) and ejected recorded recording Even if a half-folding designation that specifies folding of a medium (for example, copied paper) at its central position and a staple designation that binds a recorded recording medium discharged downstream thereof are designated at the same time Since the recording operation was allowed as it was, double-sided recording, half-folding, and stapling were sequentially executed,
As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, meaningless things that bind to the bag in double-sided recording are discharged to the discharge tray,
There is a problem that it bothers the user.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an image recording apparatus that eliminates the user's inconvenience by prohibiting image recording when double-sided recording designation / half-fold designation and staple designation are simultaneously designated. With the goal.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides an image recording unit capable of recording images on both sides of a sheet, and a sheet from the image recording unit is folded in half. A fold unit that feeds the fold side of the sheet as a front end, and a binding unit that binds to the rear end side of the sheet fed from the fold unit;
First setting means for setting a double-sided mode for recording images on both sides of a sheet, second setting means for setting a half-folding mode for half-folding a sheet, and setting for a binding mode for binding sheets A third setting means to perform, the first, second,
When the double-sided mode, the half-folding mode, and the binding mode are simultaneously set by the setting unit of 3, the control unit prohibits the recording operation of the image recording unit.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a is a recording unit provided with a double-sided recording means for recording information on both sides of a recording medium according to double-sided recording designation, and b is a recording unit a.
Folding means provided on the ejection side for folding the ejected recording medium in accordance with the half-folding designation, c is a stapling means disposed downstream of the folding means b for binding the ejected recording medium in accordance with the stapling designation. . d is a recording control means,
When the above-mentioned double-sided printing designation, half-folding designation and stapling designation are designated at the same time, the printing operation in the printing section a is prohibited, and each designation is permitted otherwise.

FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of an embodiment of the image recording apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 100 is a main body having an image reading function and an image recording function, 200 is a double-sided processing function that reverses the recording medium (paper) during double-sided recording, and multiplex recording that is performed multiple times on the same recording medium. A pedestal having a recording function, 300 is a circulating document feeder (hereinafter, referred to as RDF) that automatically feeds documents, 400 is a paper folding device that folds a sheet at a predetermined position, and a sorting function and a staple function. Finisher (post-processing device) and these 200
Each device of ~ 500 can be freely used in combination with the main body 100.

A. Main unit (100) In the main unit 100, 101 is a platen glass on which an original is placed,
103 is an illumination lamp (exposure lamp) for illuminating the original, 105,1
Reference numerals 07 and 109 respectively denote a scanning reflection mirror (scanning mirror) for changing the optical path of the reflected light of the original document, 111 denotes a lens having focusing and variable magnification functions, and 113 denotes a fourth reflection mirror (scanning mirror) for changing the optical path. . 115 is an optical system motor for driving the optical system, and 117, 119 and 121 are sensors.

131 is a photosensitive drum, 133 is a main motor for driving the photosensitive drum 131, 135 is a high-voltage unit, 137 is a blank exposure unit, 139 is a developing device, 141 is transfer charge electricity, 147 is a separation charging device, and 145 is a cleaning device. is there.

151 is the upper cassette, 153 is the lower cassette, 155 and 157
Is a paper feed roller, and 159 is a registration roller. Also, 161
Is a conveyor belt that conveys the recording paper on which an image has been recorded to the fixing side, 163 is a fixing device that fixes the conveyed recording paper by thermocompression bonding, and 167 is a sensor used during double-sided recording.

The surface of the above-mentioned photosensitive drum 131 is composed of a photoconductor and a seamless photosensitive member using a conductor, and the drum 131 is rotatably supported by a shaft and operates in response to the pressing of a copy start key described later. The motor 133 starts rotation in the direction of the arrow in this figure. Next, when the predetermined rotation control of the drum 131 and the potential control processing (preprocessing) are completed, the original placed on the original table glass 101 is illuminated by the illumination lamp 103 integrated with the first scanning mirror 105, The reflected light of the original is reflected by the first scanning mirror 105, the second scanning mirror 107, and the third scanning mirror 107.
Scanning mirror 109, lens 111, and fourth scanning mirror 113
An image is formed on the drum 131 via the.

The drum 131 is corona charged by the high voltage unit 135.
After that, the image (original image) irradiated by the illumination lamp 103 is slit-exposed, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum 131 by the known NP method.

Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 131 is developed by the developing roller 140 of the developing device 139 and visualized as a toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper by the transfer charger 141 as described later. .

That is, the transfer paper in the upper cassette 151 or the lower cassette 153 is sent to the inside of the main body device by the paper feed roller 155 or 157, and is sent to the photosensitive drum 131 at the correct timing by the registration roller 159, and is transferred to the leading edge of the latent image. The leading edge of the transfer paper is aligned. After that, the transfer charger 141
The toner image on the drum 131 is transferred onto the transfer paper by passing the transfer paper between the transfer paper and the drum 131. After completion of this transfer, the transfer paper is separated from the drum 131 by the separation charger 143, guided to the fixing device 163 by the conveyor belt 161, and fixed by pressing and heating, and then the discharge roller 165.
Is discharged to the outside of the main body 100.

After the transfer, the drum 131 continues to rotate and the surface thereof is cleaned by the cleaning device 145 including a cleaning roller and an elastic blade.

B. Pedestal (200) Pedestal 200 can be separated from the main body 100,
It has a deck 201 capable of storing 2000 sheets of transfer paper and an intermediate tray 203 for double-sided copying.

In addition, the lifter 205 of the deck 201 that can store 2000 pieces is
The transfer paper 207 is raised according to the amount of the transfer paper so that the transfer paper always contacts the feed roller 207.

Further, 211 is a paper discharge flapper that switches the path between the double-sided recording side or the multiplex recording side and the discharge side path, 213 and 215 are conveyance belt conveyance paths, and 217 is an intermediate toy weight for pressing the transfer paper, and a paper ejection flapper. The transfer paper that has passed through 211 and the conveyance paths 213 and 215 is turned upside down and the double-sided copy intermediate tray 203
Is stored in. Reference numeral 219 denotes a multiple flapper that switches between double-sided recording and multiplex recording paths. The multiplex flapper 219 is provided between the conveying paths 213 and 215 and rotates upward to guide the transfer paper to the multiplex recording conveying path 221. A multiple paper ejection sensor 223 detects the end of the transfer paper passing through the multiple flapper 219. Reference numeral 225 is a paper feed roller that feeds the transfer paper to the drum 131 side through the path 227. Reference numeral 229 is a discharge roller for discharging the transfer paper to the outside of the machine.

During double-sided recording (double-sided copying) or multiplex recording (multiplex copying), first, the discharge flapper 211 of the main body 100 is raised to store the copied transfer sheet in the intermediate tray 203 via the transport paths 213 and 215 of the pedestal 200. To do. At this time, the multiple flapper 219 is lowered during double-sided recording, and the multiple flapper 219 is raised during multiplex recording. The intermediate tray 203 can store up to 99 transfer sheets, for example. The transfer paper stored in the intermediate tray 203 is pressed by the intermediate tray weight 217.

At the time of the next-side recording or the multiplex recording to be performed next, the transfer sheets stored in the intermediate tray 203 are registered one by one by the action of the sheet feeding roller 225 and the weight 217 from the bottom to the registration of the main body 100 via the path 227. It is guided to the roller 159.

C. RDF (Circulating Document Feeder) (300) In RDF300, 301 is a stacking tray for setting documents. Reference numerals 302 and 303 denote document size detection sensors, which are provided at predetermined intervals in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of the document. The size of the document in the width direction is determined by both sensors 302 and 303.
It is possible to make a determination by checking whether or not the document is being detected, or whether only one of the sensors 303 (however, the sensor 303 is on the back side of the paper surface) is detecting the document. A more accurate size can be determined by increasing the number of this type of sensor. In addition, the size in the length direction is measured by the sensor.
It can be determined by the time when the document is detected by 303 (or 302).

Also, in this RDF300, from the loading tray 301 to the sheet bus 304
The original sent to the exposure surface through the sheet pulse 305 can be stacked on the stack tray 301 again.

The more detailed operation of the RDF 300 is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 59-206619 filed by the present applicant, but is omitted here because it is not directly related to the present invention.

D. Paper Folding Device (400) The paper folding device 400 performs half-folding in which the recorded transfer paper is folded at approximately its central position, and Z-folding in which two predetermined positions are folded into three substantially Z-shaped in section. In this paper folding apparatus 400, 401 is a flapper for guiding the transfer paper downward when folding the paper, 403
And 405 are paths (conveyance paths), and 401 and 409 are rollers.

In the paper folding device 400, when z-folding is designated by a Z-folding key described later, the flapper 401 is turned on to guide the recorded paper to the lower path 403, and the leading end of the paper is moved to the end of the path 403. When stopped, the sheet portion folded in 1/4 through the roller 407 hits the end of the path 405, and the sheet is folded in 1/2 and guided again from the roller 407 through the roller 409 to the finisher 500. When half-folding is specified by the half-folding key described later, the recorded paper is folded in half at the path 403, and then the roller 409 is not moved to the path 405.
Is discharged to the finisher 500. At this time, as is clear from FIG. 2, the crease side of the paper is the leading end and is discharged. On the other hand, when the folding key is not designated and the sheet is not folded, the flapper 401 is turned off and the recorded sheet is directly discharged to the finisher 500.

F. Finisher (500) In the finisher 500 for sorting or stapling recorded paper, 501 is a path switching discharge flapper for selectively switching to one of the sorting path 503 and the staple path 505, and 507 is A staple tray for temporarily stacking and storing recorded sheets before being stapled, 509 a width regulating plate for lateral width regulation provided on the staple tray 507, 511 staples a plurality of recorded sheets whose width is regulated by the width regulating plate 509. A stapler (document binding machine) 513 is a stacker tray for storing stapled recorded paper, and the width aligning plate 509 is drive-controlled by a stepping motor (not shown). 515 is a tray for sorting recording sheets that are not stapled.

The recorded paper discharged from the main body 100 or from the petistal 200 is half-folded or Z-folded by the paper folding device 400 according to the designation of the key and then discharged to the swing-type sorting tray 515 of the finisher 500. Alternatively, the recorded sheets ejected to the staple tray 507 and ejected to the staple tray 507 are width-regulated by the width aligning plate 509 for each part of the designated number of sheets, and are bound by the stapler 511 to be stacked on the stacker tray 5
Dropped to 13. At this time, as is clear from FIG. 2, the binding is performed on the rear end side of the discharged paper.

That is, in the finisher 500, when the staple mode is selected by the staple key described later, the paper discharge flapper 501 is turned on and the recorded paper is discharged to the staple tray 507 via the path 505, and when the specified number of sheets is reached. According to an instruction from the main body 100, the width aligning plate 509 and the stapler 511 are turned on, and the recorded paper is stapled. After that, the stapled paper is dropped onto the stacker tray 513. By repeating this operation, a plurality of recorded documents which are gathered and stapled are completed.

When the stapling process is not selected, the paper discharge flapper 501 is turned off and switched to the sorting side, and the recorded paper is discharged to the sorting tray 515 through the path 503.
At that time, according to an instruction from the main body 100, it is possible to stack the recorded papers by shifting the right and left by 30 mm in units of a good number of sheets.

FIGS. 3A to 3D show an example of the arrangement configuration of the operation panel provided in the main body 100 described above. The operation panel has a key group 600 and a display group 700 as described below.

F. Key group (600) In FIGS. 3A to 3D, reference numeral 601 denotes an asterisk (*) key, which allows the operator (user) to set the binding margin amount, the size of the document frame erase, etc. Used in the setting mode of. 602 is an all reset key, which is pressed when returning to the standard mode. 603 is a preheat key, body 1
Press to release the preheat state when putting the 00 machine into the preheat state. Also, this key 603 is pressed when returning to the standard mode from the auto shutoff state.

Reference numeral 604 denotes a copy start key (copy start key), which is pressed to start copying.

A clear / stop key 605 has the functions of a clear key during standby (standby) and a stop key during copy recording. This clear key is pressed to cancel the set number of copies. It is also used when canceling the * (asterisk) mode. The stop key is pressed when interrupting continuous copying. After the copying at the time of pushing is completed, the copying operation is stopped.

A numeric keypad 606 is pressed to set the number of copies. It is also used when setting the * (asterisk) mode. 607 is a memory key, which allows the user to register modes that are frequently used.

Reference numerals 608 and 609 denote copy density keys, which are pressed when manually adjusting the copy density. 610 is an AE key for automatically adjusting the copy density according to the density of the original
Press to cancel (automatic density adjustment) and switch the density adjustment to manual (manual). Reference numeral 611 denotes a cassette selection key, which is pressed to select the upper cassette 151, the interruption cassette 153, and the lower paper deck 201. Further, when a document is placed on the RDF300, APS (automatic paper cassette selection) can be selected with this key 611. When APS is selected, a cassette of the same size as the original is automatically selected.

Reference numeral 612 denotes a unity size key, which is pressed when making a copy at the same size (actual size). Reference numeral 613 denotes an auto scaling key, which is pressed to automatically reduce or enlarge the image of the original according to the designated transfer paper size. 614 and 615 are zoom keys,
Press to specify any magnification between 142%. 616 and 617 are fixed-size variable keys, which are pressed to specify reduction / enlargement of the fixed size.

Reference numeral 618 denotes a double-sided key, which is pressed to make a double-sided copy from a single-sided original, a double-sided copy from a double-sided original, or a single-sided copy from a double-sided original. 619 is a binding margin key, which can create a binding margin of a specified length on the left side of the transfer paper. A photo key 620 is pressed when copying a photo original. Reference numeral 621 denotes a multiple key, which is pressed when creating (combining) images from the two originals on the same surface of the transfer paper.

Reference numeral 622 denotes an original frame erasing key, which is pressed by the user when erasing the frame of a standard size original document, and the size of the original document at that time is set by the asterisk key 601. Reference numeral 623 denotes a sheet frame erasing key, which is pressed when erasing a document frame according to the size of the cassette.

Reference numeral 624 denotes a page continuous shooting key, which is pressed to copy the left and right pages of the original on different sheets.

Reference numeral 625 denotes a staple key, which is pressed when the sheets after recording are stapled. 626 is a Z-fold key, A3 or B4
Press to fold a size of recorded paper into a z-shaped cross section. 627 is a half-fold key, which is pressed to fold an A3 or B4 size recorded sheet in half.

628 is a sort key, and a sorting tray (sorter) 515
If is connected, it is lit in standard mode. At this time, when canceling the sort mode or when setting the sort mode, the key 628 is pressed. Reference numeral 629 denotes a group key, which makes a plurality of copies from one original and stores them in the sorting tray 515 for each bin if the sorting tray 515 is connected. An interrupt key 630 is used when interrupt copying is performed during a series of copying operations.

G. Display Group (700) In FIGS. 3A to 3D, 701 is an LCD (liquid crystal) type message display, for example, one character is composed of 5 × 7 dots and a 40 character sentence message is displayed. it can. This display 701 is a semi-transmissive liquid crystal and uses two colors for the backlight. Normally, a green backlight is lit, and an orange backlight is lit when there is an abnormality or the copying is impossible.

A magnification display 702 displays the copy magnification set with the zoom keys 616 and 617 in%. Reference numeral 703 denotes a unity-magnification display, which lights up when the unity-size is selected. 704 is a color developing device indicator, which lights up when the sepia developing device is set. A copy number display 705 displays the number of copies or a self-diagnosis code. 706 is a cassette display used, the upper cassette 151, the middle cassette 153, the lower deck 20
Shows which one is selected.

Reference numeral 707 denotes a document direction display, which displays the document setting direction (portrait or landscape). Reference numeral 708 denotes an AE display, which lights up when AE (automatic density adjustment) is selected by the AE key 610. Reference numeral 709 denotes a preheat indicator, which lights up in the preheat state. When in the auto shut off state, this indicator
709 flashes. 710 is a ready / wait indicator,
It is a two-color LED of green and orange. Green lights up when ready (when copying is possible) and lights up orange when waiting (when copying is not possible).

711 is a double-sided copy display unit, which can copy double-sided originals,
Lights when one of two-sided copy is selected from one-sided original.

When the RDF300 is used in the standard mode, the number of copies is 1, the density AE mode, automatic paper selection, normal size, single-sided copy to single-sided copy are set. In the standard mode when the RDF300 is not used, the number of copies is 1, the density manual mode is set, and the setting is set to 1-sided copy from 1-sided original. RDF300
The difference between when used and when not used is determined by whether or not a document is set on the RDF300.

H. Controller (800) FIG. 4 shows a circuit configuration example of the controller 800 of the embodiment shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 801 is a central processing unit (CPU) that performs arithmetic control for executing the present invention, and for example, N
EC (NEC Corporation) microcomputer μCO
Use M87AD. Reference numeral 803 denotes a read-only memory (ROM) in which a control procedure (control program) as shown in FIG. 5 according to the present invention is stored in advance, and the CPU 801 is connected via a bus according to the control procedure stored in the ROM. Control each component. Reference numeral 805 denotes a random access memory (RAM) which is a main storage device used as a storage area for input data, a work storage area, or the like.

Reference numeral 807 is an interface (I / O) that outputs a CPU 801 control signal to the load of the main motor 133 or the like, 809 is an interface that inputs an input signal of the image destination sensor 121 or the like and sends it to the CPU 801,
Reference numeral 1 is an interface for controlling input / output of the key group 600 and the display group 700. These interfaces 807,
The 809 and 811 use, for example, the NEC input / output circuit port μPD8255.

The display group 700 is each of the indicators shown in FIGS. 3A to 3D and uses LEDs and LCDs. Also keys 60
Reference numeral 0 denotes each key in FIGS. 3A to 3D, and the CPU 801 can know which key is pressed by a known key matrix.

I. Operation Example Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user presses the copy start key 604, the execution of the control procedure shown in FIG. 5 is started in response to the pressing of the key 604. First, in step S1, it is judged whether or not three designations of a surplus side recording designation, half-folding designation and stapling designation are made at the same time, and when all the three designations are specified, the process proceeds to the next step S2. The recording process in the main body 100 is prohibited, then the reason for prohibiting it or the fact that it is prohibited is displayed on the message display 701, and the process returns to the main routine (not shown) or the standby routine.

After that, when the designation of the one-sided recording or the multiple-recording designation is changed by the key of the key group 600, or the designation is changed such that the staple designation or the half-fold designation is canceled, and the copy start key 604 is pressed again, The process of FIG. 5 is restarted, but since the negative determination is made in step S1 this time, the normal recording process and post-processing process shown in steps S4 to S11 are executed.

As described above, when the stapling key 625, the half-fold key 627, and the double-sided key 618 are pressed and the copy start key 604 is pressed, the recording process is prohibited. Therefore, as shown in FIG. It is possible to prevent an erroneous stapling process that makes it difficult to see the characters on the back side of the sheet and the information of the drawing (the number "2" shown by the broken line in this figure).

As described above, according to the present invention, when the double-sided mode, the half-fold mode, and the binding mode are set at the same time,
Since the printing operation is prohibited, it is possible to prevent the sheets printed on both sides from being bound in a bag, and to prevent the creation of a page in which the image cannot be viewed even though the image has been recorded. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the whole embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 (A) is provided on the main body 100 of FIG. (B) is an enlarged plan view of the AA portion of (A), (C) is an enlarged plan view of the BB portion of (A), and (D) is (A). 4) is an enlarged plan view of the CC portion of FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the control device in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the output result of the conventional device. 100 …… Main body, 131 …… Photosensitive drum, 139 …… Developer, 151 …… Upper cassette, 153 …… Lower cassette (middle cassette), 159 …… Register roller, 163 …… Fixer, 200 …… Pestal, 201 …… deck (lower deck), 203 …… two-sided copying intermediate tray, 207 …… paper feed roller, 211 …… paper ejection flapper, 217 …… intermediate tray weight, 219 …… multiple flapper, 300 …… RDF ( Circulation type document feeder), 302,303 …… Original size detection sensor, 400 …… Paper folding device, 401 …… Flapper, 500 …… Finisher, 501 …… Flapper, 507 …… Staple tray, 509 …… Width offset plate (Width control plate), 511 …… Stapler, 513 …… Stacker tray, 515 …… Sort tray, 600 …… Key group, 601 …… Asterisk (*) key, 604 …… Copy start key, 611 …… Cassette selection Key, 618 ... Double-sided key 621 ...... multiple keys, 625 ...... staple key, 626 ...... Z-folding key 628 ...... sort key, 629 ...... group key 630 ...... interrupt key, 700 ...... display group 701 ...... message display, 705 ... … Copy number display, 706 …… Cassette display used, 711 …… Double-sided copy display, 800 …… Control unit, 801 …… CPU, 803 …… ROM, 805 …… RAM, 807,809,811 …… Interface.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G03G 15/00 106 114 (56) References JP-A-60-37567 (JP, A) JP-A-SHO 56-54450 (JP, A) JP-A-54-29648 (JP, A) JP-A-61-23164 (JP, A) JP-A-56-54468 (JP, A) JP-A-54-10744 (JP, A) A) JP 61-112167 (JP, A) JP 60-178464 (JP, A) Actually developed 60-80459 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image recording unit capable of recording an image on both sides of a sheet; a folding unit that folds the sheet from the image recording unit in half and feeds the sheet with the crease side being the leading end; Binding means for binding to the trailing edge side of the sheet sent out from the folding means, first setting means for setting a double-sided mode for recording images on both sides of the sheet, and setting of a half-folding mode for half-folding the sheet The second setting means for performing the above, the third setting means for setting the binding mode for binding the sheets, and the double side mode by the first, second and third setting means,
An image recording apparatus comprising: a control unit that prohibits the recording operation of the image recording unit when the half-fold mode and the binding mode are set at the same time.