JPH06127811A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the working state of each sheet receiver in a sheet parting device to be confirmed in a device with the sheet parting device fitted thereto. CONSTITUTION:An image forming device with a sheet parting device fitted thereto counts the number of sheets P stored in each sheet receiver 152 in the sheet parting device 8, and when the storage number of sheets in each sheet receiver 152 reaches the specified number, informs to the effect that the storage number of sheets in the sheet receiver 152 has reached the specified number.

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 laser printer for forming an image on a transfer material, to which an optional device is connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a sorter as a paper sorting device is set as an option in addition to the laser printer main body.

In the image forming apparatus to which such a sheet sorting device is attached, there is a drawback that the usage state of each sheet receiver of the sheet sorting device cannot be confirmed by the user.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION As described above, the purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the drawback that the usage state of each sheet receiver of the sheet sorter cannot be confirmed in the sheet sorter to which the sheet sorter is attached. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of confirming the usage state of each paper receiver.

[0005]

An image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises an image forming means for forming an image on an image forming medium, a conveying means for conveying the image forming medium image-formed by the image forming means, A first accommodating portion for accommodating the image forming medium conveyed by the conveying means, and an image forming medium being accommodated independently of the first accommodating portion, and conveyed by the conveying means. A second accommodating portion for accommodating an image forming medium, a first detecting means for detecting fullness of the image forming medium in the first accommodating portion, and a full filling of the image forming medium in the second accommodating portion. Second detecting means for detecting, and the respective full states of the first accommodating portion and the second accommodating portion are individually corresponded to the detecting operations of the first detecting means and the second detecting means. It is composed of a means to inform.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises an image forming means for forming an image on an image forming medium, a conveying means for conveying the image forming medium image-formed by the image forming means,
A first accommodating portion for accommodating the image forming medium conveyed by the conveying means, and an image forming medium being accommodated independently of the first accommodating portion, and conveyed by the conveying means. A second accommodating portion for accommodating an image forming medium, a first detecting means for detecting fullness of the image forming medium in the first accommodating portion, and a full filling of the image forming medium in the second accommodating portion. Second detecting means for detecting, and the respective full states of the first accommodating portion and the second accommodating portion are individually notified in correspondence with the detecting operations of the first detecting means and the second detecting means. The notification means and the prohibition means for prohibiting the conveyance of the image forming medium to the first and second storage portions, which have been detected to be full by the first and second detection means.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the image forming medium on which an image has been formed is conveyed by the conveying means, and the conveyed image forming medium is accommodated in the first accommodating portion, which is independent of the first accommodating portion. And a second accommodating portion for accommodating the image forming medium, which accommodates the image forming medium conveyed by the conveying means.
In response to the operation of detecting the fullness of the image forming medium in the second accommodating section, the full states of the first accommodating section and the second accommodating section are individually notified.

According to the present invention, the image forming medium on which the image is formed is conveyed by the conveying means, and the conveyed image forming medium is accommodated in the first accommodating portion, which is independent of the first accommodating portion. And a second accommodating portion for accommodating the image forming medium conveyed by the conveying means, and detecting the fullness of the image forming medium in the first and second accommodating portions. Corresponding to the operation, the respective full states of the first accommodating section and the second accommodating section are individually notified, and the conveyance of the image forming medium to the full accommodating section is prohibited. It is a thing.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a block configuration of the image forming system of the present invention, in which print data is received from a host computer (host device) 10 as an external device, and paper (image forming medium) is received from the received data. ) A laser printer 1 as an image forming apparatus for printing a recorded image on P and an optional device.
An optional double-sided sheet feeding device (ADD; MPF) including a sheet feeding device 2 (MPF), a reversing unit 3 and a sheet re-feeding unit 4 is provided.
Auto Document Duplexer 5 、 Large-capacity Paper Feeder (LCF; Large Capacity Feeder)
6, large-capacity discharged paper storage device (LCS; large capacity stacker) 7, or paper sorting device (sorter: M
BS; mail box stacker) 8 is connected.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a sheet feeder 2 is attached to the right side of a laser printer 1, a reversing section 3 of an automatic double-sided sheet feeder 5 is provided on the left side, and an automatic double-sided feeder is provided at the bottom. The paper re-feeding unit 4 of the paper device 5 has a large-capacity paper feeding device 6 at the lower part thereof, and a large-capacity paper discharge accommodating device 7 at the lower part thereof, which are positioned and stacked on a stacking rail common to each device. .

A common paper discharge tray 9 is loaded in the paper discharge section of the laser printer 1 and the automatic double-sided paper feeder 5.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a sheet sorter 8 may be arranged instead of the large-capacity discharged sheet storage device 7.

The reversing section 3 is attached to a mounting section provided in common for the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6, the large-capacity sheet discharging and accommodating device 7, and the sheet sorting device 8. This allows
The large-capacity paper feeding device 6, the large-capacity paper discharging and accommodating device 7, and the paper allocating device 8 can be operated independently by loading the reversing unit 3 and the laser printer 1.

Feet are attached to the lower parts of the base frames of the re-feeding section 4, the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6, the large-capacity sheet discharging and accommodating device 7, and the sheet allocating device 8, and these legs are on the upper side. It is used not only to support the weight of the apparatus such as the laser printer main body 1 but also to position it when the system is upgraded.

4 and 5 show the configuration of the laser printer 1.

That is, in the laser printer 1, a laser optical system 11, a photosensitive drum 12, a charging device 13 including a scorotron, a developing device 14, and a transfer device 1 including a corotron.
5. In addition to the process system such as the pre-exposure device 16, the fixing device 17, and the cleaning device 18 as a static eliminator, a paper feed cassette 19
a, 19b, delivery rollers 20a, 20b, aligning roller pair 21, conveyance guide 22, gate 23, paper discharge roller pair 24, 25 and the like are arranged.

The laser optical system 11 is a semiconductor laser oscillator (not shown) that generates laser light, a collimator lens (not shown) that corrects the laser light from this oscillator into parallel light, and the laser light from this lens is 1 A polygon mirror (rotating mirror) 26 as a rotating body having an octahedral mirror portion that reflects every scanning line, an f · θ lens 27,
Rotate (drive) the mirror 28 and the polygon mirror 26
It is composed of a mirror motor 29 and the like.

During the image forming operation, however, the laser beam from the laser optical system 11 corresponding to the image signal from the external device (host device) or the operation panel (not shown) is imaged on the surface of the photosensitive drum 12. It The photosensitive drum 12 rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the surface is first charged by the charging device 13, and then the laser optical system 11 performs exposure corresponding to the image signal.

That is, the laser beam generated from the semiconductor laser oscillator is scanned from the left to the right of the photosensitive drum 12 at a constant speed as the polygon mirror 26 is rotated by the mirror motor 29, so that the surface thereof is scanned. An electrostatic latent image is formed on. The electrostatic latent image is visualized by the toner attached by the developing device 14.

On the other hand, the paper (image forming medium) P in the paper feed cassette 19a or 19b is sent to the delivery roller 20a or
The sheet is picked up one by one at 20b, guided to the aligning roller pair 21 through the paper guide path 30 constituted by the conveying roller pair 30a and 30b, and is sent to the transfer section by the aligning roller pair 21. There is.

Further, the sheet feeding device 2 as an optional device
The paper P from is guided to the aligning roller pair 21 via the conveying roller pair 31, and is sent to the transfer portion by the aligning roller pair 21.

Further, the paper P from the automatic double-sided paper feeding device 5, the large-capacity paper feeding device 6, the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7, or the paper sorting device 8 installed as an optional device in the lower portion of the printer main body 1 Is guided to the aligning roller pair 21 via the conveying path 30 and is sent to the transfer section by the aligning roller pair 21.

Then, the paper P sent to the transfer portion is brought into close contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 12 at the transfer device 15, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 12 is transferred by the operation of the transfer device 15. . The transferred paper P is peeled from the photoconductor drum 12, sent to the fixing device 17 via the conveyance guide 22, and the heat roller 17a, which generates heat for fixing by passing there, heat-fixes the transferred image. To be done.

A heater lamp (not shown) for heating is built in the heat roller 17a. The paper P after fixing is sent to the paper discharge tray 9 via the gate 23 by the paper discharge roller pair 24 or to the upper conveyance path 32 by the gate 23, and is discharged to the paper discharge tray 33 by the paper discharge roller pair 25.
It is designed to be discharged above.

Further, after the residual toner is removed by the cleaning device 18 from the photosensitive drum 12 after the transfer, the pre-exposure device 16
The afterimage is erased by this so that the next image forming operation is made possible.

The photosensitive drum 12, the charging device 13,
The developing device 14, the pre-exposure device 16, the fixing device 17, and the cleaning device 18 are integrally formed as a unit, and are configured as an electrophotographic process unit that can be independently attached to and detached from the printer body 1.

In front of the aligning roller pair 21, an aligning switch 34 for detecting a paper feed error to the transfer portion due to the aligning roller pair 21 is provided in front of the paper discharge roller pair 24. Is a paper ejection switch 35 that detects a paper ejection error caused by the paper ejection roller pair 24.
A conveyance detector 36 for detecting the conveyance of the paper P by the paper feeder 2 or manual feeding is provided in front of 31, and a paper feed device connection switch for detecting the connection of the paper feed device 2 is provided above the conveyance detector 36. On the left side of the paper feed cassettes 19a and 19b, a reversing unit connection switch 38 for detecting the connection of the reversing unit 3 is provided.

Further, between the paper feed cassettes 19a and 19b, the electric devices provided in the main body 1 of the device are controlled,
An engine control board having an engine control section 43 for controlling the operation for completing the electrophotographic process and a printer control board having a printer control section 42 for controlling the operation of the engine control section 43 are arranged.

Also, as shown in FIG. 1, at the bottom of the printer main body 1, that is, at the bottom of the base frame, four positioning means are fitted to a positioning mechanism (described later) of an optional device installed on the lower side. Protrusions 160, ... Are provided. The positioning protrusions 160, ... Are used as legs when the optional equipment is not installed on the lower side, and support the weight of the laser printer body 1.

An operation panel 41 is provided on the upper surface of the printer body 1.

The operation panel 41 is, as shown in FIG. 6, a liquid crystal display 5 for displaying the number of sheets, modes, guidance messages and the like.
1, LED indicator 52 that lights up and displays various states with LEDs,
To 57, the previous menu item key 58 for instructing various operations, the next menu item key 59, the previous value item key 60, the next value item key 61, the forced paper ejection key 62 for instructing forced paper ejection, and the host computer 10. It is composed of an online key 63 for switching between online and offline.

The LED indicators 52 to 57 are "operator" for requesting an operator call, "service" for requesting a service call, "manual feed" indicating manual insertion by the operator, and the apparatus body 1 is in an operable state. "Ready" indicating ",""Data" indicating that image transfer is in progress, and "Online" indicating whether or not it is connected to the host computer 10, that is, online mode. Has been done.

A plurality of menu information displayed on the left half of the liquid crystal display 51 is incremented each time the menu next item key 59 is pressed, and decremented each time the previous menu item key 58 is pressed. Then, these display operations are cyclically repeated.

Further, a plurality of pieces of value information corresponding to the menu information displayed on the left half of the liquid crystal display 51 are incremented each time the value next item key 61 is pressed,
Each time the value previous item key 60 is pressed, the value is decremented and displayed on the right half of the liquid crystal display 51, and these display operations are cyclically repeated.

There is a mode for designating a paper feed source and a paper discharge destination as the menu information, and in this mode, it is designated whether the paper feed source is the paper feed cassettes 19a and 19b, the paper feed device 2 or the large capacity paper feed device 6. The discharge destination is the discharge tray 33, the discharge tray 9, the large-capacity discharge storage device 7, or the paper distribution device (sorter).
8 is specified.

The operator operates the menu previous item key 5
By operating the 8, menu next item key 59, value previous item key 60, and value next item key 61, a desired operation is selected and instructed.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the structure of the paper feeding device 2.

The paper P placed on the paper feed tray 65 is conveyed to the separation roller pair 67 by the rotation of the pickup roller 66.

The upper roller 67a of the separation roller pair 67 is a driven roller which is given a constant load by the torque limiter,
The lower roller 67b is a drive roller that faces the lower roller 67b, and the separation roller pair 67 conveys the sheets P to the aligning roller pair 68 while separating the sheets P one by one, and the sheet P is aligned after completion of the aligning roller 67b. By the pair 68, it is fed into the laser printer main body 1 through the pair of manual feed roller 31 of the laser printer main body 1.

The pickup roller 66 is rotated by the driving force transmitted from the motor 70 by the sheet feeding solenoid 69. Further, the aligning roller pair 68 is rotated by the driving force from the motor 70 transmitted by the aligning solenoid 71. Further, the driving force from the motor 70 is also transmitted to the lower roller 67b to rotate the lower roller 67b.

The paper feeding tray 65 is provided with an extension tray 72 so that a large-sized paper P can be placed on the paper feeding tray 65. The presence or absence of the paper P placed on the paper feed tray 65 is detected by the paper empty switch 73, and the conveyance of the paper P to the aligning roller pair 68 is detected by the aligning switch 74.

When the paper is jammed against the aligning roller pair 68, the pressing force of the aligning roller pair 68 is increased by the lever 75.
It is canceled by.

When the paper is jammed, the above aligning roller pair is used.
A cover 76 is provided that releases the top of 68. The cover 76 is provided with a door switch 77, which is turned on and off according to opening and closing of the cover 76.

On the left side of the paper feeding device 2, there are provided a mounting member 78 for the laser printer main body 1 and a detection member 79 for turning on the paper feeding device connection switch 37 in the laser printer main body 1.

Next, the reversing unit 3 and the refeeding unit 4 will be described with reference to FIG.
The automatic double-sided sheet feeding device 5 will be described.

The reversing unit 3 discharges the paper P discharged by the gate 23 of the laser printer body 1 from the discharge roller pair 81.
And the gate of the laser printer main body 1
The sheet P discharged by 23 or the sheet P guided by the reverse rotation of the sheet discharge roller pair 81 is switched between the downward conveying path 83 for conveying to the lower apparatus and the conveying paths 82, 83 for conveying the sheet P. It is composed of a sorting gate 84.

That is, the sheet P discharged from the gate 23 of the laser printer body 1 is guided to the sorting gate 84 by the transport path 82. Paper P led to the sorting gate 84
Is guided to the paper discharge roller pair 81 or the conveyance path 83. The paper P guided to the paper discharge roller pair 81 is directly discharged onto the paper discharge tray 9 by the paper discharge roller pair 81, or the paper P is discharged.
After being conveyed in the direction of the sheet discharge tray 9 by the length of, the rotation is reversed and the sheet is guided to the sorting gate 84 again. This paper discharge roller pair 81
The paper P from is guided to the conveyance path 83 by the sorting gate 84. The sheet P guided by the transport path 83 is guided to a lower device, for example, the sheet re-feeding section 4.

The supply of the paper P from the laser printer main body 1 to the conveyance path 82 of the reversing unit 3 is detected by the sensor 85.

The conveying path 83 is formed by a pair of conveying rollers 83a and 83b.
Etc.

On the right side of the reversing unit 3, there is provided a detecting member 86 for turning on the reversing unit connection switch 38 in the laser printer body 1.

The sheet re-feeding section 4 receives the sheet P from the reversing section 3.
To a lower device, a conveyance path 89 that branches from the conveyance path 87 at a branch gate 88, and guides the paper P to the conveyance path 30 of the laser printer main body 1, and to the middle of the conveyance path 89. It is composed of a conveyance path 90 that merges and conveys the paper P from the lower device. The branch gate 88 has a corresponding sheet P
Is not provided over the entire surface, but is composed of, for example, five gate portions.

That is, the sheet P from the reversing section 3 is guided to the branch gate 88 by the transport path 87. This branch gate
The paper P guided to 88 is guided to a lower device such as the large-capacity paper feeding device 6 or the conveyance path 89. The paper P conveyed by the conveyance path 89 is the conveyance path of the laser printer main body 1.
Guided to 30. Further, the sheet P from the lower device, for example, the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 is conveyed by the conveyance path 90 and the conveyance path 89, and is guided to the conveyance path 30 of the laser printer body 1.

The supply of the sheet P from the reversing section 3 to the conveying path 87 of the re-feeding section 4 is detected by the sensor 91 provided near the entrance of the conveying path 87. The conveyance of the sheet P by the conveyance path 89 is detected by a sensor 92 provided between the pair of conveyance rollers 89c and 89d.

The conveying path 89 is composed of a pair of conveying rollers 89a and 89b.
, 89c, a pair of aligning rollers 89d, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 8, the transport path 87 is composed of upper guides 301 and 302 and lower guides 303 and 304. This guide 301 includes the sorting gate
Notch 30 where 88 enters (gate edge goes in and out)
Have 1a. As a result, the guide 301 is a comb-shaped guide. On the left side of the guide 301 in the figure,
Mylar 305 is attached so as to cover the notch 301a. Only the upper portion of the mylar 305 is attached to the guide 301 and serves as a guide when the sheet P is conveyed to the lower conveyance path 116.

As a result, when the sheet P is conveyed to the lower conveying path 116, the guide 301 is comb-shaped, and therefore when the sheet P is deformed and enters, the guide P hits the guide 303 and the sheet P is damaged. The addition of the above-mentioned mylar 305 prevents the occurrence of jamming or jamming, and the paper P is reliably conveyed.

For example, a case where double-sided printing is performed will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 12.

That is, when the sheet P printed on one side is discharged from the laser printer main body 1 to the conveying path 82 in the reversing unit 3, the sensor 85 is turned on and the sheet P is sent to the conveying path 82. Is detected. Then, the sorting gate 84 moves downward, so that the paper P is sorted by the sorting gate.
It passes over 84 and is discharged by a pair of discharge rollers 81. After a lapse of a predetermined time after the sensor 85 is turned on, that is, immediately after the right end (rear end) of the paper P passes through the sorting gate 84, the paper discharge roller pair 81 is temporarily stopped and then reversed (see FIG. 9). .
The right end of the sheet P is fed along the lower left side of the sorting gate 84 (see FIG. 10), and the transport path 83, that is, the pair of transport rollers 83a and 83.
It is sent to the conveyance path 87 of the re-feeding section 4 by b. As a result, the paper P is reversed.

When the paper P is sent to the transport path 87, the sensor 91
Is turned on, and it is detected that the paper P is fed to the transport path 87. Then, the branch gate 88 operates and the sheet P conveyed by the conveying path 87 is guided to the conveying path 89. When the sheet P is conveyed along the conveying path 89, the sensor 92 is turned on, and after the aligning roller pair 89d aligns the sheet for a predetermined time (see FIG. 11), the sheet P is conveyed along the conveying path 89 and the laser printer It is sent to the transport path 30 in the main body 1 (see FIG. 12).

The sheet P conveyed by the conveying path 30 is printed on the remaining one side, and then the reversing unit 3
The paper is discharged to the inner transport path 82. As a result, the sensor 85 is turned on, and it is detected that the paper P has been sent to the transport path 82. Then, the sorting gate 84 moves to the lower side, so that the sheet P passes over the sorting gate 84 and the pair of discharge rollers.
The paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 9 by 81.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, at the bottom of the reversing unit 3, that is, at the bottom of the base frame, a positioning mechanism for fitting a positioning mechanism (described later) of an optional device installed on the lower side is positioned. Projections 321a, 321a, 321b for
321b, 321b, 321b are provided. The protrusions 321a, 321a for positioning are used as legs when the optional device is not installed on the lower side, and support the weight of the reversing unit 3.

Further, in the upper part of the re-feeding section 4, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 19, a positioning mechanism 322 is provided. The positioning mechanism 322 has longitudinal grooves 323, 32.
Two guide rails 324, 324 each having three, hollow positioning poles 325, 325, and a sandwiching portion 328.
, 328, 328, 328. As shown in FIGS. 17 to 20, recesses 326a, 326a, 326b and 326b are further provided at both ends of the groove 323 of the guide rail 324.

An inclined portion or slope 323a is provided on the groove 323 on the side of the recess 326b.

As a result, the recesses 326a, 326a are shallow,
326b and 326b are deep.

The slope 323a of the groove 323 makes it easy to mount the printer body 1 on the re-feeding section 4 when mounting it.
Further, the detection member 86 shown in FIG. 1 can be protected.

In the hollow portions of the positioning poles 325, 325, the protrusions 32 for positioning the reversing portion 3 are respectively provided.
1a and 321a are fitted to each other, and the positioning pinching portions 328, 328, 328, and 328 are respectively fitted with the positioning protrusions 321b, 321b, 321b, and 321b of the reversing portion 3. The guide rails 324 and 32 above
The recesses 326, 326, 326, and 326 of the four projections 320, 320, 320, 320 for positioning the printer body 1 are respectively provided.
The 320 is designed to mate.

Further, as shown in FIG. 19, at the bottom of the re-feeding section 4, that is, at the bottom of the base frame, there are six fittings for the positioning mechanism (described later) of the optional equipment installed on the lower side. Positioning protrusions 327 are provided. The protrusion 327 for positioning is used as a foot when the optional device is not installed on the lower side, and supports the weight of the laser printer body 1 and the like.

Next, the large-capacity sheet feeder 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 13 and 14.

The large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 has a storage section 101 in which a sheet P is stored by using an elevator mechanism (not shown).
And a sheet feeding mechanism section 103 for taking out and transporting the sheet P from the storage section 101.

An elevator stand 104 on which the paper P is placed is provided in the storage section 101. In addition, the upper surface of the paper P is supported by the paper separating claw 115 shown in FIG.

An elevator board 104 is provided on the upper surface of the storage section 101.
Paper empty switch 105 for detecting that the upper paper P is completely gone, paper P on the elevator stand 104
An elevator upper limit switch 106 is provided to detect that the number of vehicles has dropped by a predetermined number. An elevator lower limit switch 107 for detecting that the elevator pedestal 104 has reached the lower limit position is provided on the lower side surface of the storage unit 101.

When several sheets P are taken out of the elevator table 104 and the elevator upper limit switch 106 is turned on, the motor is turned on for a predetermined time to raise the elevator table 104. When the paper P on the elevator stand 104 is exhausted and the paper empty switch 105 is turned on, the motor is turned on, so that the elevator stand 104 is turned on.
Is lowered until the elevator lower limit switch 107 is turned on.

In the take-out / conveying unit 102, as shown in FIG. 13, the uppermost sheet P on the elevator table 104 is the sheet feeding roller.
The sheet is fed by 108, 108, and is conveyed to the upper apparatus, for example, the conveying path 90 of the re-feeding unit 4, via the conveying path 112 including the conveying guides 109, 109, the aligning roller pair 110, and the conveying guides 111, 111. . The conveyance of the sheet P by the conveyance path 112 is performed by a sensor provided near the conveyance guides 111, 111.
Detected by 113.

As shown in FIG. 14, the paper feed rollers 108 and 108 are provided with weights 311 and 312, support portions 316 and 316, between them.
And a pulley 313 are connected via a rotating shaft 310. As the pulley 313 rotates, the paper feed rollers 108, 108
Is being rotated. Weights 311, 312, support portions 316, 316
The rotation of the pulley 313 is not transmitted to the.

The weights of the weights 311 and 312 are two and are 150
Grams to 240 grams. This weight 311 and 312
The paper feed rollers 108 when feeding the paper P.
As a result, the friction coefficient is increased, and the paper feeding performance of the paper P is improved. As a result, it is possible to prevent the paper feed rollers 108, 108 having a defective nail removal from idling.

The rotation from the pulley 315 is transmitted to the pulley 313 by the drive belt 314. The rotation from the motor 238 is transmitted to the pulley 315 via the clutch 317 and the rotating shaft 114. Further, the rotation shaft 114 is connected to the rotation parts 114, 316 in a state where the rotations of the support parts 316, 316 are not transmitted.

As a result, the rotation of the motor 238 is transmitted to the paper feed rollers 108, 108.

Since the paper feed rollers 108 and 108 are respectively supported by the support portions 316 and 316 in two separate parts, that is, the support members are divided, the paper P and the paper feed roller 10 are separated.
The adhesiveness of 8 and 108 is improved, and the feeding performance is improved.

That is, since the elevator base 104 is supported at the center position in the direction orthogonal to the two paper feed rollers 108, 108, even if the elevator base 104 is tilted in response to this support, According to this inclination, the paper feed rollers 108 and 108 are also inclined.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed mechanism section 103 is composed of a conveyance path 116 composed of conveyance rollers 116a, 116b, etc., and conveys the paper P from the upper device to the lower device. The paper P from the conveyance path 87 of the paper re-feeding unit 4 is stored in the large-capacity paper ejection storage device 7 or the paper distribution device 8
Are being transported to. Transport of the paper P through the transport path 112,
That is, the supply of the paper P from the transport path 87 of the re-feeding section 4 is detected by the sensor 117 provided near the transport roller 116a.

A positioning mechanism 162 (see FIGS. 17 to 20) having the same structure as that of the re-feeding unit 4 is provided above the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6, and Six positioning protrusions 327 having the same structure as that of the re-feeding unit 4 are also provided at the bottom of the capacitive paper feeding device 6, that is, at the bottom of the base frame.

As a result, the positioning poles 325, 325 of the positioning mechanism 322 are provided in the hollow portions of the positioning poles 325, 325, respectively, for positioning the reversing portion 3, or for positioning the left side of the re-feeding portion 4. The projecting portions 327, 327 of the are fitted together. The guide rails 324, 324 of the positioning mechanism 322 have recesses 326a, 326a, 326b, 326b in the projections 320, 32 for positioning the printer body 1, respectively.
The positioning protrusions 327, 327, 327, 327, 327 on the right side and the center of the re-feeding unit 4 are fitted together.

Next, the large capacity discharged paper accommodating device 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 15.

The large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7 is an elevator mechanism.
The storage unit 121 includes a storage unit 121 that stores the paper P using the storage unit 120, and a storage unit 122 that stores the paper P in the storage unit 121. In the take-in section 122, as shown in FIG. 15, the paper P supplied from the upper path, for example, the transport path 116 of the large-capacity sheet feeder 6, is transported by the transport guides 123a, 123b, and 124.
, 124, discharge rollers 125, 125, 125 Conveyor path 1
It is conveyed to the storage unit 121 via 26. The conveyance of the sheet P by the conveyance path 126 is detected by the sensor 127 provided near the conveyance guide 123b.

The transport guide 123a can be rotated in the direction of the arrow in the figure to release the transport path 126, and the spring 129 connected to the plate member 128 fixed to the transport guide 123a. It is designed to return to its original position.

A jogger mechanism 130 is provided in the vicinity of the transport guides 124, 124 so that the jogger mechanism 130 can perform a sorting process.

An elevator stand 131 on which the paper P is placed is provided in the storage section 121. This elevator stand 131
Is a belt 132 that is driven by being connected to a motor (not shown)
An elevator mechanism 120 including a take-up roller 133, an idle roller 134, and the like moves up and down.

A part 131a on the elevator platform 131 has a convex shape as shown in FIG. As a result, even if the stacked sheets P are curled, the central portion of the curled sheets P is lifted and the sheets P are brought into a substantially horizontal state, so that the number of stored sheets can be increased.
A part 131a on the elevator base 131 has a gentle convex shape so that the paper P does not become a jam.

An elevator pedestal 131 is provided on the upper surface of the storage section 121.
An elevator upper limit switch 135 is provided for detecting that a predetermined number of upper sheets P have been lowered and can be stored. An elevator lower limit switch 137 for detecting that the elevator base 131 is at the lower limit position, that is, the paper P is full is provided at the lower part of the side surface of the storage section 121.

When several sheets of paper P are stored in the elevator table 104 and the elevator upper limit switch 136 is turned on, the motor is turned on for a predetermined time or until the elevator upper limit switch 136 is turned off. Lower 131.

The left side cover 13 shown in FIG.
8 can be opened when the paper P is jammed,
The side cover switch 139 is also provided in the vicinity thereof.

Further, in the upper part of the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7,
A positioning mechanism 322 (see FIGS. 17 to 20) having the same configuration as that of the re-feeding unit 4 is provided,
Six positioning protrusions 327 having the same structure as that of the re-feeding unit 4 are also provided at the bottom of the large-capacity discharged paper accommodating device 7, that is, at the bottom of the base frame.

As a result, the positioning poles 325, 325 of the positioning mechanism 322 have hollow protrusions 321a, 321a for positioning the reversing portion 3, and the re-feeding portion 4 in the hollow portions.
Positioning protrusions 327, 327 on the left side or the positioning protrusions 327, 32 on the left side of the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6
7 is designed to fit. The positioning rails 324 of the positioning mechanism 322 and the recesses 326a, 326a, 326b, and 326b of the 324 have projections for positioning the printer body 1, respectively.
320, 320, 320, 320, protrusions 327, 327, 327, 327 for positioning in the center and right side of the re-feeding section 4, or protrusions for positioning in the center and right side of the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 327, 327, 327, and 327 are adapted to fit together.

Next, the sheet sorter 8 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The paper distribution device 8 is composed of a paper conveyance unit 141, a distribution unit 142, and a paper reception unit 143.

In the paper transport unit 141, as shown in FIG. 16, the transport path 116 of the upper device, for example, the large-capacity paper feeder 6 is used.
The sheet P supplied from the sheet is conveyed through a conveying path 147 including the conveying guides 144, 144, the conveying belt 145, the feed rollers 146, .... The conveyance of the sheet P by the conveyance path 147 is detected by a sensor 148 provided near the conveyance guides 144, 144.

The conveyor belt 145 is a belt feed roller 149,
The driving force from the motor (not shown) is transmitted to the 150.

In the vicinity of the feed rollers 146, ..., Distribution gates 151, ... As distribution units 142 are provided, respectively, and the paper P conveyed on the conveyance path 147 by these distribution gates 151 ,. The paper is received by the paper receivers (bins) 152, which form the paper receiver 143. The lowermost sorting gate 151 of the sorting gates 151, ... Is always opened and the sheet P is always loaded. Since a drive unit (solenoid) for the lowermost sorting gate 151 is unnecessary, cost reduction can be achieved.

The sorting gates 151, ...
Sensors 155, ... Detecting that the data have been distributed are provided.

A pair of discharge rollers 153, ... Is provided between the sorting gates 151 ,.

The paper receivers 152, ... Are respectively provided with sensors 154 ,.

In addition, a positioning mechanism having the same structure as that of the sheet re-feeding section 4 is provided above the sheet allocating device 8.
322 (see FIGS. 17 to 20) are provided, and six positioning units having the same configuration as those provided in the re-feeding unit 4 are provided at the bottom of the sheet sorting device 8, that is, the lower portion of the base frame. The projections 327, ... Are provided.

As a result, the positioning poles 325 and 325 of the positioning mechanism 322 have hollow protrusions 321a and 321a for positioning the reversing unit 3 and the refeeding unit 4 respectively.
Positioning protrusions 327, 327 on the left side or the positioning protrusions 327, 32 on the left side of the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6
7 is designed to fit. The positioning rails 324 of the positioning mechanism 322 and the recesses 326a, 326a, 326b, and 326b of the 324 have projections for positioning the printer body 1, respectively.
320, 320, 320, 320, protrusions 327, 327, 327, 327 for positioning in the center and right side of the re-feeding section 4, or protrusions for positioning in the center and right side of the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 327, 327, 327, and 327 are adapted to fit together.

FIG. 21 is a front view of the rear part when the devices are stacked and arranged as shown in FIG. That is, the laser printer 1 is provided with a power inlet 1a and optional interface (I / F) connectors 1b and 1c. Although not shown, a connector to the host computer is provided.

The re-feeding unit 4 includes a power inlet 4a, a fuse 4b, optional I / F connectors 4c and 4d, and a reversing unit I / F.
An F connector 4e is provided. The high-capacity paper feeder 6 includes a power inlet 6a, a power outlet 6b, and a fuse.
6c, a breaker 6d, optional I / F connectors 6e and 6f, and a reversing section I / F connector 6g are provided. The large-capacity output storage device 7 includes a power inlet 7a and a power outlet.
7b, a fuse 7c, a breaker 7d, an optional I / F connector 7e, and a reversing section I / F connector 7f are provided.

Although not shown, the paper sorting device 8 is also provided.
In the same way as the large-capacity output storage device 7,
8a, a power outlet 8b, a fuse 8c, a breaker 8d, an optional I / F connector 8e, and a reversing section I / F connector 8f are provided.

For example, FIG. 22 is a rear wiring diagram when the devices are stacked and arranged as shown in FIG.

That is, the power inlet 1a and the power inlet 7a are connected to external power outlets via the power cables 161 and 162, respectively, and the power inlet 4a and the power outlet 6b are connected by the power cable 163. 6a and the power outlet 7b are connected by a power cable 164.

The option I / F connector 1b and the I / F connector 2a are connected by the cable 165,
/ F connector 1c and option I / F connector 4d are connected by cable 166, and option I / F connector 4c
And the option I / F connector 6e are connected by the cable 167, and the option I / F connector 6f and the option I / F connector 6e are connected.
The / F connector 7e is connected by the cable 168, and the reversing section I / F connector 4e and the I / F connector 3a are connected by the cable 16.
Connected by 9.

Next, the control circuit of the laser printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

That is, the engine control section 43 is provided for controlling each electric device provided in the apparatus main body 1 to control the operation for completing the electrophotographic process. The engine control unit 43 includes the laser optical system 11 and the pre-exposure device 1.
6, the fixing device 17, the sensors 34, 35 and 36, the paper feeding device connection switch 37, the reversing unit connection switch 38, the optional I / F connectors 1b and 1c, the high voltage power supply 171, the mechanism drive circuit 172, and the power supply device 173. It is connected.

The high-voltage power supply 171 outputs high-voltage signals for developing bias, charging, and transfer to the developing bias power supply unit (not shown), the charging device 18, and the wire high-voltage power supply unit (not shown) of the transfer device 20, respectively. To be done.

The mechanism section drive circuit 172 is for driving various motors and solenoids.
A cooling fan 177, a main motor 178, a manual sheet feeding solenoid 179, a cassette sheet feeding solenoid 180, an aligning solenoid 181, a toner replenishing solenoid 182, and a gate solenoid 183 are connected to this.

By exciting the manual paper feeding solenoid 179, the rotation of the main motor 178 causes the conveyance roller pair 31 to rotate.
To be transmitted to. When the cassette sheet feeding solenoid 180 is excited, it is transmitted to the delivery roller 20a or 20b. When the aligning solenoid 181 is excited, the main motor
The rotation of 178 is transmitted to the aligning roller pair 21. When the toner supply solenoid 182 is excited, the rotation of the main motor 178 is transmitted to the toner supply roller (not shown) in the developing device 14. When the gate solenoid 183 is excited, the gate 23 is switched.

As shown in FIG. 23, the laser optical system 11 is provided with a scanner control circuit 174 for controlling the entire laser optical system 11. The scanner control circuit 174 is connected to a semiconductor laser oscillator 175 for generating a laser, a laser light detection sensor 176 for detecting laser light from the semiconductor laser oscillator 175, and the mirror motor 29.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 23, the fixing device 17 has a heater lamp 17b provided inside the heat roller 17a and a thermistor 17c for measuring the temperature in the vicinity of the heat roller 17a. ..

In the power supply device 173, as shown in FIG. 17, a stepping transformer 184, a noise filter 185,
The fuse 185 is installed and the stepping transformer
184, the noise filter 185, the fuse 186, and the main switch 187 are connected to the inlet 1a.

The power supply device 173 outputs + 5V and + 24V power supply voltages when the main switch 187 is turned on. The power supply voltage of + 5V is supplied to the engine control unit 43, and is further supplied to the printer control unit 42 via the engine control unit 43. On the other hand, the power supply voltage of + 24V is sequentially passed through the cover switches 188 and 189 to the engine control unit.
Supplied to 43. Then, it is supplied to the scanner control circuit 174, the high-voltage power supply 171, and the mechanism unit drive circuit 172 via the engine control unit 43.

From the scanner control circuit 174 to the semiconductor laser oscillator 175 and the mirror motor 29, from the mechanism drive circuit 172, the pre-exposure device 16, the main motor 178, the manual paper feed solenoid 179, the cassette paper feed solenoid 180,
Aligning solenoid 181, toner supply solenoid 182
, The gate solenoid 183, the cooling fan 177, etc., and are used as driving power sources for these components.

Further, the fixing device 17 is provided in the power supply device 173.
A zero-cross switch type heater lamp drive circuit (not shown) for driving the internal heater lamp 17b, for example, a phototriac coupler and a triac, is provided, and the light emitting side LE of the phototriac coupler is provided.
+ 24V is used as the drive power source for D. As is well known, in the heater lamp drive circuit having this configuration, when the light emitting side LED is turned on / off, the light emitting side phototriac is turned on / off at the zero cross point of the AC power source, so that the main switch element of the next stage is operated. A certain triac is turned on / off to turn on / off the AC power to the heater lamp 17b. Then, a heater control signal for turning on / off the light emitting side LED is sent to the engine controller 43.
The temperature signal detected by the thermistor 17c provided in the fixing device 17 is supplied to the engine control unit 43 while being supplied from the power supply device 173 to the power supply device 173.

The cover switch 188 is turned off when the top cover (not shown) is rotated upward,
Although not shown, the cover switch 189 is adapted to be turned off when opened. Therefore, when the top cover or rear cover is opened, the switch 188
, 189 cuts off +24 V, so that the semiconductor laser oscillator 175, the mirror motor 29, the high-voltage power supply 171, the main motor 178, the solenoids 179 to 183, and the cooling fan 17 are connected.
The operation of the heater lamp 17b and the heater lamp 17b is stopped so that the operator can touch the inside of the apparatus main body 1 without any trouble.

Next, the control circuit of the sheet feeding device 2 is shown in FIG.
4 will be described.

That is, a control circuit 191 for controlling the entire sheet feeding device 2 is provided. This control circuit 191 has
The aligning switch 74, the paper empty switch 73, the I / F connector 2a, the door switch 192, the motor 70
A driver 193 for exciting the sheet feeding solenoid 69, a driver 194 for exciting the sheet feeding solenoid 69, and a driver 195 for exciting the aligning solenoid 71 are connected.

Next, the control circuit of the inverting section 3 is shown in FIG.
Will be explained.

That is, a control circuit 201 for controlling the entire inverting section 3 is provided. The control circuit 201 includes a sensor 85, an I / F connector 3a, a door switch 202, a driver 204 for exciting the motor 203, a gate solenoid 20.
A driver 206 for exciting 5 and a driver 208 for exciting the feed solenoid 207 are connected.

When the gate solenoid 205 is excited, the gate 84 is switched. When the feed solenoid 207 is excited, the rotation of the motor 203 is transmitted to the paper discharge roller pair 81.

Next, the control circuit of the re-feeding unit 4 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described using 6.

That is, a control circuit 211 for controlling the entire sheet refeeding section 4 is provided. This control circuit 211 has
Sensors 91 and 92, reversing section I / F connector 4e, optional I / F connectors 4c and 4d, door switch 212, motor 21
A driver 214 for exciting 3; a driver 216 for exciting the gate solenoid 215; a driver 218 for exciting the aligning solenoid 217; and a stepping transformer 219 are connected.

When the gate solenoid 215 is excited, the gate 88 is switched. When the aligning solenoid 217 is excited, the motor 21
The rotation of 3 is transmitted to the aligning roller pair 89d.

The stepping transformer 219 is connected to the inlet 4a via the noise filter 220, the fuse 4b and the main switch 221.

Next, the control circuit of the large-capacity sheet feeder 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

That is, a control circuit 231 for controlling the entire large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 is provided. This control circuit 231
The sensors 113 and 117, the paper empty switch 105, the elevator upper limit switch 106, the elevator lower limit switch 107, the reversing section I / F connector 6g, and the option I.
/ F connectors 6e and 6f, pre-feed sensor 113, elevator down switch 232 for forcibly lowering elevator base 106, side cover switch 233, front cover switch 234, upper body, for example, a detection body from refeed unit 4 ( Upper device switch 235 turned on by not shown), driver for driving elevator motor 236
237, a driver 239 for driving the pulse motor 238, a driver 281 for exciting the sheet feeding solenoid 280, a driver 283 for exciting the aligning solenoid 282, and a stepping transformer 284 are connected.

When a jam is detected by the detection signal of the sensor 113, the control circuit 231 drives the elevator motor 236 to forcibly lower the elevator base 106 to the lowermost position.

As a result, the upper gap is widened, and the jammed paper P can be removed easily.

When the sheet feeding solenoid 280 is excited, the rotation of the pulse motor 238 is transmitted to the sheet feeding rollers 108, 108 via the clutch 317. When the aligning solenoid 282 is excited, the rotation of the pulse motor 238 causes the aligning roller pair 11 to rotate.
It is transmitted to 0.

Further, with the rotation of the pulse motor 238, the conveying rollers 116a and 116b of the paper feeding mechanism 103 are rotated.

Thus, with one pulse motor 238,
Drives two drive units, the paper feed mechanism unit 103 and the paper feed unit,
The paper feeding unit controls the drive using a clutch 317 and the like.
As a result, an inexpensive and simple structure can be obtained.

The stepping transformer 284 is connected to the inlet 6a and the outlet 6b via the noise filter 285, the fuse 6c and the main switch 286.

A power supply voltage of +24 volts is supplied to the driver 237 via the switching circuit 287. The switching circuit 287 is a circuit that is turned on / off by a signal from the front cover switch 234. This ensures that when the front cover is closed, the driver 237
When the power supply voltage is supplied to the driver and the front cover is opened, the driver 237 is not supplied with the power supply voltage.

Next, the control circuit of the large-capacity discharged sheet storage device 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

That is, a control circuit 241 for controlling the whole of the large-capacity discharged sheet storage device 7 is provided. This control circuit
241, the above sensor 127, paper empty switch
135, elevator upper limit switch 136, elevator lower limit switch 137, reversing section I / F connector 7f, option I /
F connector 7e, elevator down switch 242 for forcibly lowering the elevator base 131, side cover switch
139, a front cover switch 244, an upper device switch 245 that is turned on by a detector (not shown) from an upper apparatus such as the large-capacity sheet feeder 6, and a jogger mechanism
A jog sensor 246 that detects the state of the 130, a driver 248 that drives the elevator motor 247, a driver 250 that drives the pulse motor 249, a driver 252 that excites the electromagnetic clutch 251 for jogger, a driver 254 that excites the jog solenoid 253, and a stepping transformer. 255 is connected.

When a jam is detected by the detection signal of the sensor 127, the control circuit 241 drives the elevator motor 247 to forcibly lower the elevator base 131 to the lowermost position.

As a result, the upper gap is widened, and the user can easily get in and remove the jammed paper P.

By exciting the jogger electromagnetic clutch 251 and the jog solenoid 253, the jogger mechanism 130 is
Are being driven.

The stepping transformer 255 is connected to the inlet 7a and the outlet 7b via a noise filter 256, a fuse 7c and a main switch 257.

Next, the control circuit of the sheet sorter 8 will be described with reference to FIG.

That is, a control circuit 261 for controlling the entire sheet sorter 8 is provided. The control circuit 261 is provided with a timer, a sheet receiver 152, and an internal memory 261a used as a counting unit for counting the number of stored sheets for each sheet. The control circuit 261 includes the sensor 148,
154, ..., 155, ..., I / F connector 8f for reversing unit, optional I / F connector 8e, side cover switch 262, front cover switch 263, a detector (not shown) from the upper device such as the large-capacity paper feeding device 6 ), An upper device switch 264, a driver 266 for driving the motor 265, a driver 268 for exciting the gate solenoid 267, ..., And a stepping transformer 269 are connected.

The gates 151, ... Are driven by exciting the gate solenoids 267 ,.

The stepping transformer 269 is connected to the inlet 8a and the outlet 8b via the noise filter 270, the fuse 8c and the main switch 271.

The control circuit 261 counts the number of sheets stored in each of the sheet receivers 152, ... With a counter (not shown) according to the detection result from the sensor 155 ,.
When the number of stored sheets reaches a predetermined number (25 sheets), a signal indicating which sheet receiver 152 is full is transmitted to the printer control unit 42. The printer control unit 42 is an operation panel
The liquid crystal display 51 of 41 indicates that the paper receiver is fully loaded.

In this way, the user can confirm the usage state by informing the user that the paper receiver is full.

Further, the usage state of each sheet receiver 152, ...
It can be changed arbitrarily. For example, it is divided into a paper receiver (used as a sorter) for storing the print paper P for the host computer 10 and a paper receiver individually used by a plurality of users.

Next, the operation of the engine control unit 43 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, when the print command is supplied from the printer controller 42, the engine controller 43 confirms whether the paper source stored in the internal memory (not shown) is the large-capacity paper feeder 6. .

When the paper source is the large-capacity paper feeder 6, the engine control unit 43 sends an ON command for the large-capacity paper feeder 6 to the printer control unit 42. Further, the engine control unit 43 transmits the jam detection signal to the printer control unit 42 when a jam detection signal is supplied from the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 after a predetermined time has elapsed by the timer of the internal memory. The printer control unit 42 has an operation panel 41.
Guide the jam on the liquid crystal display unit 51 of.

When the jam does not occur, the engine control unit 43 checks whether or not it is the vertical synchronization signal request transmission timing, and at the transmission timing, transmits the vertical synchronization signal to the printer control unit 42.

When the vertical synchronizing signal command is received from the printer control unit 42, the engine control unit 43 starts the process timing, receives the video data from the printer control unit 42, and prints according to the video data. To do.

After the process timing ends, the engine control unit 43 checks whether there is a paper discharge jam, and if there is a paper discharge jam, sends the paper discharge jam to the printer control unit 42. The printer control unit 42 guides the jam on the liquid crystal display unit 51 of the operation panel 41.

When the jam does not occur, the engine control unit 43 checks whether the discharge destination is the large-capacity discharge storage device 7 and whether the reversing unit 3 is connected.

The discharge destination is the reversing unit 3 in the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7.
Is connected, the engine control unit 43 sends a downward straight command to the reversing unit 3 and the large-capacity paper feeding device 6, and sends a paper ejection command to the large-capacity paper ejection storage device 7.

After that, the engine control unit 43 checks whether an optional jam has occurred, and in the case of a paper discharge jam, sends the paper discharge jam to the printer control unit 42. The printer control unit 42 guides the jam on the liquid crystal display unit 51 of the operation panel 41.

When the jam does not occur, the engine control unit 43 checks whether the discharge completion status is supplied from the large-capacity discharge accommodating device 7, and when the status is supplied, the processing is terminated.

Also, when the paper feed source is another and the paper discharge destination is another, the same operation is performed.

Next, the operation of the printer control unit 42 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the menu next item key on the operation panel 41
By pressing 59, the mode for specifying the paper source is displayed. At this time, by pressing the value next item key 61, the paper source is designated. As a result, the printer control unit 42 determines that the mode is the designated paper source, and the designated paper source is displayed on the liquid crystal display 51.

After that selection, the menu next item key
By pressing 59, the paper source displayed at this time is indicated as it is.

For example, a paper feed cassette 19 is used as a paper feed source.
a, 19b, the sheet feeding device 2, and the large capacity sheet feeding device 6 are selected.

The above-mentioned instruction of the paper source is the host computer.
It may be performed based on the command data from 10.

When the paper source is instructed, the printer controller 42 sends to the engine controller 43 a paper source specifying command corresponding to the specified content. The engine control unit 43, which has received this paper source designation command, stores it in an internal memory (not shown).

Next, the menu next item key on the operation panel 41
By pressing 59, the mode for specifying the paper discharge destination is displayed. At this time, by pressing the value next item key 61, the discharge destination is instructed. As a result, the printer control unit 42 determines that the mode is the discharge destination designation mode, and the designated discharge destination is displayed on the liquid crystal display 51.

Then, after the selection, the menu next item key
By pressing 59, the discharge destination displayed at this time is instructed as it is.

For example, as the paper discharge destination, the paper discharge tray 9,
33, the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7, and the paper distribution device 8 are selected.

The above-mentioned instruction of the discharge destination is made by the host computer.
It may be performed based on the command data from 10.

When the paper discharge destination is instructed, the printer control unit 42 sends a paper discharge destination designation command according to the designated contents to the engine control unit 43. The engine control unit 43, which receives the discharge destination designation command, stores it in an internal memory (not shown).

In such a state, the printer controller
When 42 receives the data from the host computer 10,
From the engine control unit 43 side, it is determined whether or not it is ready by a status signal. As a result of this determination, when the engine control unit 43 side is in the ready state, the printer control unit 42 sends a print command to the engine control unit 43.

When the printer controller 42 receives the vertical synchronizing signal from the engine controller 43, it sends a vertical synchronizing signal command to the engine controller 43 until the print completion signal is supplied from the engine controller 43. Send video data. When the print completion signal is received, the printer control unit 42 determines whether or not there is print data from the host computer 10, and if there is, the engine control unit again.
The video data is sent to 43, and if there is no video data, the process ends.

Further, the printer control unit 42 is printing by the printer body 1 when the front door release signal is supplied from the control circuit 241 while continuously discharging paper to the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7. Further, the paper P being conveyed after printing is conveyed as it is to the large-capacity paper ejection storage device 7, and the paper P to be printed is ejected onto the paper ejection tray 33.

As a result, the printing is not stopped in the middle of the print command, the accepted print can be completed, and the next print command can be accepted without fail.

Since the elevator mechanism is stopped when the front door is opened as described above, safety is ensured.

Next, the operation of the large-capacity sheet feeder 6 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, when the command reception from the engine control unit 43 is supplied, the control circuit 231 checks whether the command is the paper feed command, and when the paper feed command is issued, the pulse motor is used.
238 is driven for a certain period of time to rotate the transport rollers 116a and 116b. As a result, the paper P supplied from the upper device, for example, the transport path 87 of the re-feeding section 4 is transported by the transport path 116 and guided to the transport path 126 of the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7.

Next, the operation of the re-feeding unit 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, when the command reception from the engine control unit 43 is supplied, the control circuit 211 checks whether the command is a down straight, and switches the gate 88 downward when the command is a down straight. As a result, the paper P supplied from the transport path 83 of the reversing unit 3 is transported by the transport path 88 and guided to the transport path 116 of the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6.

Next, the operation of the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, when the command from the engine control unit 43 is received, the control circuit 241 checks whether the command is a paper discharge command. Control circuit 241 for eject command
Checks whether the sensor 127 is on, and when the sensor 127 is turned on, it checks whether the sensor 127 is off after a predetermined time has elapsed by the timer of the internal memory. If sensor 127 is on, control circuit 24
1 judges a jam and sends a jam detection signal to the engine control unit.
Send to 43.

When the sensor 127 is off, the control circuit 241 determines the end of paper ejection and sends the paper ejection end status to the engine control unit 43.

Further, the control circuit 241 determines the position of the uppermost sheet P on the elevator table 131 by the sensor 135, drives the elevator motor 247 according to the determination result,
The elevator stand 131 is lowered by a predetermined distance. When the elevator lower limit switch 137 is turned on, the control circuit 241
Determines that the storage is full (prohibition of storage), and sends a storage full signal to the printer control unit 42.

This storage full signal causes the printer controller to
Reference numeral 42 discharges the paper P to another paper discharge section without using the large-capacity paper discharge storage device 7.

When the control circuit 241 determines a jam, it sends a storage prohibition signal to the printer control unit 42.

The large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7 can store a large-capacity paper P, and since the paper storage position is always constant (uppermost part), the alignment of the paper P can be made uniform.

Further, one carried path is constituted by the loaded options, and a sheet detection sensor is provided at the entrance of each option. As a result, the paper discharge detection sensor of the optional upper stacking device that has been stacked is turned on, so that the drive unit of the lower device is turned on, and the paper is conveyed.

For example, the case where the discharge destination of the paper P is the large-capacity discharge storage device 7 in the optional stacking state of FIG. 3 will be described.

That is, when the paper discharge switch 35 is turned on by the paper P conveyed in the printer body 1, the printer control unit 42 outputs an ON signal to the control circuits 201 and 211. As a result, the reversing unit 3 and the re-feeding unit 4 start operating, and the paper P from the printer body 1 is conveyed by the reversing unit 3 and the re-feeding unit 4.

Then, the sensor 91 is detected by the conveyed paper P.
When is turned on, the control circuit 211 causes the control circuits 231, 241 to
ON signal is output to. As a result, the paper feed mechanism unit 103 of the large-capacity paper feed device 6 and the large-capacity paper ejection storage device 7 start operating, and the paper P from the re-feed paper supply unit 4 is conveyed by the paper feed mechanism unit 103, and the large-capacity paper ejection device 103 is delivered. It is stored in the storage device 7.

In the above example, the paper feed source is the large-capacity paper feed device 6 and the paper ejection destination is the large-capacity paper ejection storage device 7. Conveyance paths 90 and 89, the conveyance path 30 of the laser printer 1, the printing section of the laser printer 1, the conveyance paths 82 and 83 of the reversing section 3, and the conveyance path of the re-feeding section 4.
87, the paper is conveyed to the large-capacity discharged paper accommodating device 7 through the conveying path 116 of the large-capacity paper feeder 6.

A case will be described in which the sheets P are conveyed by the sheet re-feeding section 4 and are re-fed to the printer body 1 in the optional stacking state of FIG.

That is, when the paper discharge switch 35 is turned on by the paper P conveyed in the printer body 1, the printer controller 42 outputs an ON signal to the control circuits 201 and 211. As a result, the reversing unit 3 and the re-feeding unit 4 start operating, and the paper P from the printer body 1 is conveyed by the reversing unit 3 and the re-feeding unit 4.

Then, the sensor 91 is detected by the conveyed paper P.
Even if is turned on, the paper P does not change, and the paper P is conveyed to the conveyance path 30 in the printer body 1 via the conveyance path 89.

Therefore, since the designated device operates only when necessary for the operation, the life of the device is extended and the power consumption can be reduced.

Further, when the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 is set directly on the lower side of the printer main body 1, and when it is set on the lower side of the printer main body 1 via the re-feeding unit 4 as shown in FIG. The pre-feed amount of the paper P to be fed differs from that in the case.

For example, directly below the printer body 1,
When the large-capacity paper feeding device 6 is set, the conveyance roller pair
It is pre-fed before 30b, and when it is set via the re-feeding unit 4, it is pre-fed before the conveying roller pair 30a.

As a result, when the large-capacity sheet feeder 6 is set directly under the printer body 1, the sheet P
Since the tip of is pre-fed to the position where curl does not occur, even if it is hot and humid,
It is possible to prevent transfer blurring, transfer omission, skew, dock leg, and the like.

Next, the control operation of the printer control section 42 for the fullness of the sheet receiver in the sheet allocating device 8 will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

That is, the printer controller 42 sends a status request to the engine controller 43. When the status is received from the engine control unit 43 in response to this request, the printer control unit 42 checks whether or not the error status is set in the status.

If the result of this check is that the error status is set, the printer controller 42 checks the cause of the error, and if the cause of the error is stack full, stores the contents in an internal memory (not shown), and A stack full error message is displayed on the liquid crystal display 51.

When a print request is supplied from the host computer 10, the printer control unit 42 checks whether or not the discharge destination is in the stack full state. As a result, if the discharge destination is in the stack full state, engine control is performed. An engine face-down discharge command is sent to the unit 43.

When the paper discharge destination is not in the stack full state, the printer control unit 42 directly executes the printing process.

If the error status is not set in the status from the engine control section 43, or if the error message is displayed on the liquid crystal display 51, the printer control section 42 cancels the error message.

When the error factor is other than the stack full, the printer control unit 42 performs the process corresponding to the content of the error.

Next, the operation of the engine control unit 43 when the sheet receiver of the sheet sorter 8 is full will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

That is, the engine control unit 43 sends a status request to the control circuit of each option. In response to this request, when the status is received from the control circuit 261 of the sheet sorter 8 as an optional control circuit, the engine control unit 43 checks whether the status is the bin full state change status or not. To do. If the binful status change status is set as a result of this check, the engine control unit 43
Sends a bin full number status request command to the control circuit 261 of the paper sorting device 8. In response to this command, when the status is received from the control circuit 261 of the paper allocating device 8, the engine control unit 43 is full of the paper receiving destination specified by the printer control unit 42 according to the status. Check whether or not. As a result of this examination, when the paper receiver of the designated paper discharge destination is full, the engine control unit 43 sets the operator call status and the stack full status in the internal memory 43a.

As a result of the above check, if the paper receiver of the paper discharge destination designated by the printer control unit 42 is not full, the engine control unit 43 resets the operator call status and the stack full status of the internal memory 43a.

Next, the operation of the paper allocating device 8 when the paper receiver is full will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 37 and 38.

That is, when the command from the engine control unit 43 is received, the control circuit 261 checks whether the command is a paper discharge command. Control circuit 261 for paper discharge command
Drives the motor 265. After that, the control circuit 261 turns on the gate solenoid 267 corresponding to the designated paper receiver (bin) 152 of the discharge destination after a predetermined time has elapsed by the timer of the internal memory 261a.

When the gate solenoid 267 is turned on, the corresponding sorting gate 151 is rotated, and the sheet P conveyed by the conveying path 147 is distributed to the corresponding sheet receiver 152. Further, after a lapse of a predetermined time from the turning on of the gate solenoid 267, the control circuit 261 causes the corresponding paper receiver 152 to
It is checked whether the sensor 154 therein is on, and when it is turned on, it is checked whether the sensor 155 is off after a certain time.

At this time, when the sensor 155 is on, the control circuit 261 determines a jam and sends a jam detection signal to the engine control unit 43.

When the sensor 155 is off, the control circuit 261 increments the count content corresponding to the paper receiver 152 in the counting section provided in the internal memory 261a.
Then, the control circuit 261 indicates that the count content is "25".
When it reaches "25", the bin full status change status and the bin number status corresponding to the full paper receiver are stored in the internal memory 26.
Set to 1a. The engine control unit 43
Send the discharge completion status to.

When the paper P on the paper receiver 152 is removed, the control circuit 261 sets the bin full status change status by turning off the sensor 154, and clears the bin number status in which the paper receiver is full. , Clears the count contents of the count unit corresponding to the released paper receiver 152 in the internal memory 261a.

As described above, the number of sheets P stored in each sheet receiver 152 in the sheet sorting device 8 is counted, and when the number of stored sheets in each sheet receiver 152 reaches a predetermined number (full). The fact that the number of stored sheets in the sheet receiver 152 has reached a predetermined number is notified. As a result, the usage state of each sheet receiver 152 of the sheet sorting device 8 can be confirmed.

[0221]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide the image forming apparatus in which the sheet sorter is attached, in which the usage state of each sheet receiver of the sheet sorter can be confirmed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus including a laser printer and optional equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an external view showing the configuration of the laser printer of FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the laser printer of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the configuration of the operation panel of FIG.

7 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the paper feeding device of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of the re-feeding unit of FIG.

9 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the laser printer of FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the laser printer of FIG.

11 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the laser printer of FIG.

12 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the laser printer of FIG.

13 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a take-out / conveying unit in the large-capacity sheet feeding device of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the take-out and transport unit of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of the large-capacity discharged sheet storage device of FIG.

16 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of the paper sorting apparatus of FIG.

17 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a positioning mechanism of the re-feeding unit of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a positioning mechanism of the re-feeding unit of FIG. 1.

19 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a positioning mechanism and a positioning protrusion of the re-feeding unit of FIG.

20 is a top view showing a configuration of a guide rail in the positioning mechanism of the re-feeding unit of FIG.

21 is a rear front view of the image forming apparatus in FIG.

22 is a rear wiring diagram of the image forming apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the laser printer of FIG.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the paper feeding device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an inverting unit in FIG.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the re-feeding unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the large-capacity sheet feeder of FIG.

28 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the large-capacity discharged sheet storage device of FIG.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the paper sorting device of FIG. 1.

30 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the engine control unit in FIG.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the print control unit in FIG.

32 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the large capacity sheet feeding device of FIG. 1. FIG.

33 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the reversing unit in FIG.

34 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the large-capacity discharged paper storage device of FIG.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart for explaining the control operation of the printer control unit when the paper receiver is full in the paper sorting device.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the engine control unit when the sheet receiver is full in the sheet sorting apparatus.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the paper sorting device when the paper receiver is full.

FIG. 38 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the paper sorting device when the paper receiver is full.

[Explanation of symbols]

P ... Paper, 1 ... Laser printer body, 8 ... Paper sorting device, 42 ... Printer control unit, 43 ... Engine control unit, 147 ...
Conveyance path, 151 ... Sorting gate, 152 ... Paper receiver, 154, 15
5 ... Sensor, 261 ... Control circuit, 261a ... Internal memory.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technology display location G03G 15/00 304 (72) Inventor Satoshi Onuma 70 Yanagimachi, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Toshiba Intelligent Technology Within the corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image forming means for forming an image on an image forming medium, a conveying means for conveying an image forming medium imaged by the image forming means, and an image conveyed by the conveying means. A first accommodating portion for accommodating the forming medium, and an image forming medium being accommodated independently of the first accommodating portion, and a first accommodating portion for accommodating the image forming medium conveyed by the conveying means. No. 2 storage section, first detection means for detecting the fullness of the image forming medium in the first storage section, and second detection means for detecting the fullness of the image forming medium in the second storage section. And means for individually notifying the respective full states of the first accommodating portion and the second accommodating portion in response to the detection operations of the first detecting means and the second detecting means. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above. 2. An image forming means for forming an image on an image forming medium, a conveying means for conveying the image forming medium imaged by the image forming means, and an image conveyed by the conveying means. A first accommodating portion for accommodating the forming medium, and an image forming medium being accommodated independently of the first accommodating portion, and a first accommodating portion for accommodating the image forming medium conveyed by the conveying means. No. 2 storage section, first detection means for detecting the fullness of the image forming medium in the first storage section, and second detection means for detecting the fullness of the image forming medium in the second storage section. And informing means for individually notifying the respective full states of the first accommodating portion and the second accommodating portion in correspondence with the detection operations of the first detecting means and the second detecting means, The first and second storage parts whose fullness is detected by the first and second detection means. An image forming apparatus comprising a prohibiting means for prohibiting the conveyance of the image forming medium, by comprising a.