JPH06135068A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the user's convenience to handle recording images by providing a specific recording means and, printing by means of the recording means data of a fixed form in a different color from the printing color by a prior art recording means. CONSTITUTION:The image forming apparatus has a recording means B for forming images on a recording sheet 17, and a paper feeding/transferring means C for transferring the recording sheet 17 to the recording means B. Another recording means H than the recording means B is provided in the image forming apparatus. Data of images of a fixed form are recorded to the recording means B by the other recording means H. Moreover, the recording means H and B can print in different colors. Accordingly, the user's handling convenience of recording images is improved.

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 applicable to, for example, a facsimile machine, a copying machine and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventionally known image forming apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus includes a reading unit A'for reading information of an original while conveying the original and a recording sheet 103 of a general size as shown in FIG. Stacked cassette 1
02 is mounted on the main body of the apparatus, the recording sheets 102 are separated and fed one by one from the cassette 102, the image information is transferred to the recording sheet by the recording unit B ′, and the recording is performed by the fixing unit C ′. The information transferred onto the sheet is fixed by heat and pressure.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional example, since there is only one recording means, the contents printed on the recording sheet are all the same color. for that reason,
In the case of a facsimile machine, fixed information such as date, time of reception, telephone number of transmission destination, user abbreviations of transmission source and reception source, etc. is added to the head of the recording sheet in many received recording sheets.

When such a received recording sheet is transmitted as an original document to a destination, for example,
The recording sheet received by the other party, when the information such as the date, the receiving time, the telephone number of the sender is added as described above, the date, the receiving time, the telephone number of the recipient, the transmission sentence and the receiving side Since the user's abbreviation and the like are printed over two lines as shown in FIG. 12, there is a drawback that the sender cannot easily understand the sender.

Further, when a large number of received recording sheets are copied, there is a drawback that it is difficult to distinguish the received original document from the copied document as shown in FIG.

Further, when a large amount of received sheets are received, the received recording sheets are discharged to the tray 107 (see FIG. 11), so that stratifying the received sheets for each communication is very troublesome.

Therefore, in view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which a user can easily handle a recorded image.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a recording means for forming an image on a recording sheet, and a paper feeding and conveying means for conveying the recording sheet to the recording means. The image forming apparatus includes a recording unit other than the recording unit.

Here, it is preferable that the fixed image information is recorded on the recording means by one recording means, and at this time, one recording means and the other recording means are:
It is convenient to have a configuration in which color-separable printing is performed.

[0010]

In the above construction of the present invention, the recording means other than the conventional recording means is provided, and at the same time, the recording means (H) other than the conventional recording means prints the fixed form information on the recording sheet by the conventional recording means. By printing with a color different from the above-mentioned color, it is possible to improve the handleability of the recorded image for the user.

[0011]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

1 and 2 are cross-sectional explanatory views showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a facsimile machine, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view of the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a configuration explanatory view of a recording sheet supply / discharge portion.

First, the overall structure of this apparatus will be described.
Is a document reading unit, which reads information written on a document, converts the information into an electric signal, and transmits the electric signal to a predetermined recording system. A recording unit B records an image on a recording sheet conveyed according to an image signal. C is a recording sheet conveying means, which conveys the recording sheet accommodated in the cassette or the recording sheet supplied from the manual feeding port to the recording means B and discharges the sheet after recording.

In FIG. 3, D is an operation panel provided with the number of recorded sheets, recording density, a transmission switch, etc.,
E is a telephone. This image forming apparatus has a plurality of storage shelves inside and is mounted on a device mounting table G capable of storing a spare recording sheet or the like by opening and closing a door F.
Further, H in FIG. 1 is a recording means other than the recording means B,
The fixed image information is recorded on the recording sheet.

The structure of each part of the image forming apparatus will be described below in order.

Document Reading Means The document reading means A has a construction in which, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a document placing table 1 is formed on the upper surface of the apparatus, and the document placing surface is placed on the placing table 1 in a stacked manner. The lowermost original 3 among the originals 3 guided by the side guides 2 is preliminarily conveyed by the preliminary conveying roller 4a and the pressure contact member 4b which is in pressure contact with the preliminary conveyance roller 4a, and the separating roller 5a and the pressure contact member 5b which is in pressure contact with the separation roller 5a. The sheets are separated one by one and fed in the direction of arrow a in FIGS. 1 and 2 (on the left side of the apparatus main body).

The separated and fed original 3 is conveyed by a conveying roller 6a and a pinch roller 6b pressed against the conveying roller 6a by a spring 7.
The original surface is pressed against the reading glass 8c by the pressing portion 8b made of a white polyester film which is conveyed downward by the weighting shaft 8a, and the light from the light emitting member 8d such as an LED is passed when passing through the glass 8c. Is irradiated, and the light reflected from the document surface is imaged on the photoelectric conversion element 8f such as a CCD via the lens 8e, whereby the image described on the document is converted into an electric signal.

In this embodiment, a contact type reading sensor using a short focus image forming lens is used as the lens 8e.

The original 3 whose image has been read by the optical means is ejected to an original ejection tray 10 mounted on the left side surface of the apparatus main body by an ejection roller 9a and a pinch roller 9b which is pressed against the ejection roller 9a by a spring 7. There is.

Recording Unit B The recording unit B is configured as a laser beam printer in this embodiment. The structure will be described. The surface of the photosensitive drum 11 which rotates in the direction of the arrow b is charged by the charger 12 to charge the drum surface, and the light from the laser oscillator 13 that oscillates a laser beam in accordance with an image signal is polygonal. The electrostatic latent image is formed by exposing the rotating drum 11 by reflecting it by the mirror 14, and the developing unit 15 visualizes the latent image with toner.

Further, the toner image is transferred and recorded on the recording sheet 17 conveyed between the photosensitive drum 11 and the transfer roller 16 which is in pressure contact with the photosensitive drum 11. Further, the photosensitive drum 11 after the toner transfer is configured to be cleaned by the cleaning member 18.

The photosensitive drum 11, the charger 12, the developing section 15, and the cleaning member 18 are the recording cartridge 19
The cartridge 19 is housed inside and is detachably housed in the apparatus main body as described later.

On the other hand, the recording means H is constructed as an ink jet printer in this embodiment. The structure will be described. As shown in FIG. 8, a shaft 207 is rotatably arranged in a direction perpendicular to the recording sheet conveyance direction, and a recording head holder 208 is held by the shaft 207.
Is rotated in the h direction, the recording head holder 208 scans in the j direction, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording sheet.

Reference numeral 209 denotes a cartridge type recording head containing ink, which is detachably attached to the recording head holder 208.

At the time of standby, the recording head 209 is made to stand by on the recording head cap 210, and the recording head 209
And cleaning of ink and prevention of evaporation of ink.
Further, a platen roller 203 is arranged at a position facing the recording head 209, urges the elastic member 202 in the vicinity of the entrance of the platen roller, and the recording sheet 17 transferred and recorded by the recording unit B is conveyed by the conveying roller pair, The platen roller 203 and the elastic member 202 urge the platen roller 203 to urge the recording sheet 17 to move the recording head 20.
The position with 9 is held.

The recording sheet 17 transferred and recorded by the recording means B is controlled by the recording sheet detection sensor 201 by the recording head to control the printing position on the recording sheet, and the fixed form information is printed on the recording sheet. The types of standard information are
Each type of fixed form information is assigned to each key on the operation panel D, and it is possible to select from among them by key operation.

Recording Sheet Conveying Means Next, the recording sheet conveying means C will be explained. A cassette 20 for accommodating the recording sheets 17 is detachably attached to the lower part of the main body of the apparatus, as will be described later.
Recording sheets 17 made of cut sheets are stacked and accommodated in the cassette 20.

As shown in the arrow c in FIG. 2, the recording sheet 17 is fed by a half-moon shaped feeding roller 21 of the uppermost layer, and the cassette feeding roller pairs 22a and 22 are pressed against each other.
b is registered and conveyed, and further the driving roller 23a
And a pinch roller 23b are used to convey the photosensitive drum 11 in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 11.
An image is recorded when passing between the transfer roller 16 and the transfer roller 16.

The sheet 17 after recording has a fixing roller 25a having a heater 24 built-in and a pressure roller 25 which is in pressure contact with the fixing roller 25a.
While passing between b, heat and pressure are applied to fix the toner image, the recording sheet is reversed along the conveyance guide 90, and the curl of the recording sheet is removed by the curl removing roller 91 and the curl removing roller 92. Is conveyed along the guide members 97, 98 along the conveying roller pairs 93, 94 and further along the guide members 99, 200, and guided by the elastic member 202 urging the platen roller 203,
The fixed-form information is recorded by the recording means H at the position opposite to the platen roller 203, and the print surface is discharged onto the discharge tray 27 of the recording sheet on the back side and in the order of pages by the discharge roller pairs 95 and 96.

Further, in FIG. 2, a manual feed port is formed on the right side surface of the apparatus main body, and a manual feed tray 29 is attached to this manual feed port. This manual feed tray 29 is attached so as to be rotatable around a shaft 30, and when used, the tray 29 shown in FIG.
Tilt the tray 29 as shown in, and put the recording sheet 1 on it.
When 7 is placed and fed from the manual feed port, the drive roller 23a
It is configured to be separated one by one by a separating member 31 that is pressed against and to be conveyed to a recording position by a pair of conveying rollers 23a and 23b.

Manual Feed Tray and Auxiliary Tray Now, the manual feed tray 29 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG.
Slide guide 2 that can slide in the direction of 9a and arrow b
9b is provided, and the recording sheet 1 placed on the tray 29
7 is configured to guide the side end.

Further, the fitting concave portion 2 is provided at the tip of the rotation of the tray 29.
9c is provided, and the fitting convex portion 32a of the auxiliary tray 32 can be fitted into the fitting concave portion 29c. That is, by fitting the fitting convex portion 32a of the auxiliary tray 32 into the fitting concave portion 29c of the manual feeding tray 29, the auxiliary tray 32 can be connected to the manual feeding tray 29,
By pulling out the auxiliary tray 32, the manual feed tray 29
It is configured so that it can be removed from the.

Therefore, when the size of the recording sheet 17 placed on the manual feed tray 29 is long, the auxiliary tray 32 is connected to the manual feed tray 29 so that the recording sheet 17 is surely placed on the tray and manually fed. It is possible.

Further, when the size of the recording sheet 17 is short, by removing the manual feed tray 29, a useless space for stacking the recording sheets can be eliminated. The tray 32 can be removed and stored compactly, and no unnecessary space is created in the main body of the apparatus or the size of the entire apparatus is increased.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, key-like locking members 33 are provided on the lower surface of the sheet discharge tray 27 at intervals slightly wider than the width of the auxiliary tray 32. The locking member 33 constitutes a housing portion of the auxiliary tray 32, and the auxiliary tray 3 removed from the manual feed tray 29.
The auxiliary tray 32 can be accommodated on the lower surface of the recording sheet discharge tray 27 by inserting and locking 2 from the tapered side (the left end side in FIG. 3) between the hook-shaped locking members 33 as shown in FIG.

By providing the accommodating portion for the auxiliary tray 32 as described above, the auxiliary tray 32 removed from the manual feed tray 29 does not get in the way and can be prevented from being lost.

In general, the width and length of the discharge tray 27 are the same as the width and length of the manual tray 29 because the discharge tray 27 reloads the recording sheets 17 stacked on the manual tray 29. Alternatively, by providing the accommodating portion on the lower surface of the recording sheet discharge tray 27 located above the manual feed tray 29, which is slightly larger in size, the accommodating portions are accommodated so as to overlap each other and can be compactly accommodated in a space. .

Further, since it is not necessary to add a special space as an auxiliary tray accommodation portion to the main body of the apparatus, and since it is accommodated in the vicinity of the manual feed tray 29, the accommodation place is easy to understand and the handling is easy. is there.

Recording Size Switch Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the manual feed tray 29 is manually fed to the inside of the apparatus of the tray 29 and outside the fixed guide 29a, that is, outside the placement area of the recording sheet 17. A size switch 34 for inputting the size of the recording sheet 17 to be recorded is provided. In this embodiment, the switch 34 is configured so that three types of A4 size, letter size (LTR), and legal size (LGL) can be input.

As a result, the operator can manually feed the tray 29.
The size of the recording sheet 17 placed on the
When the data is input at 4, and recording is performed, the recording unit B performs recording according to the recording sheet size. Therefore, a sensor for detecting the size of the recording sheet 17 and an extra space for displaying the recording sheet size on the operation unit and a display device are not necessary, and the number of parts is reduced to downsize the device and reduce the cost. Can be planned.

The size switch 34 is used for the manual feed tray 2.
It is provided on the inner side of 9 and behind the tray open / close handle, and when the manual feed is performed, the open / close handle is found, and when the manual feed tray 29 is tilted by operating the open / close handle, the switch 34 is visible near the operating position. The position prevents the operator from forgetting to enter the size.

Removal of Opening / Covering Cover and Cartridge Further, in the present apparatus, the recording cartridge 19 can be exchanged, and as shown in FIGS. Table 1 and curl removing roller and roller for recording sheet, pair of conveying rollers 93, 9
4. The discharge roller pair 95, 96 can be integrated with the discharge roller pair 95, 96 and can be opened and closed upward by the opening / closing lever (not shown) about the rotation center 86.

In this open / closed state, the recording cartridge 19 is exposed, and the cartridge 19 can be replaced by pulling it out above the cartridge grip 19b (arrow).

Further, the recording cartridge 19 is provided with a light-shielding shutter 19c for protecting the photosensitive drum 11 so as to be openable and closable around a shaft 19c ₁ . The light-blocking shutter 19c is automatically opened when the cartridge 19 is attached to the main body, and the light-shielding shutter 19c and the transfer roller 1
When 6 and 6 are pressed against each other and the cartridge is pulled out in the upward direction (arrow), the photosensitive drum 11 is automatically shielded from light.

As described above, since the recording cartridge 19 can open and close the document reading section A and the document placing table 1 as a unit as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, when the apparatus is installed. This eliminates the need for a unique projection space for taking out the recording cartridge 19 and makes it possible to reduce the apparatus installation.

Space for Drawing Out Cassette Next, the space for drawing out the cassette 20 containing the recording sheet 17 will be described.

As described above, the cassette 20 is accommodated in the lower part of the main body of the apparatus so that it can be inserted and removed. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, slide protrusions 20a are provided on both outer surfaces of the cassette container, and a cassette accommodating portion 49 having an opening on the side where the document discharge tray 10 is attached is provided at the lower part of the apparatus. A guide groove 49a is formed on the inner wall of the accommodating portion 49, into which the slide protrusion 20a can be fitted and slid.

Therefore, the cassette 20 can be set by inserting the slide protrusion 20a into the guide groove 49a from the left side of FIG. 1 and pushing it in. When taking out the slide protrusion 20a, the cassette 20 has a handle 20b formed on the cassette 20, and this can be set in FIG. It can be removed by pulling it to the left.

Since the cassette 20 is taken out below the document discharge tray 10 as shown in FIG. 9, in this case as well, as in the case of the recording cartridge 19, a unique space for taking out the cassette 20 is provided. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the installation area of the device because it is not necessary to provide.

The cassette accommodating portion 49 is covered by the upper part of the door F of the apparatus mounting table G. That is, the mounting table G is shown in FIG.
As shown in 0, a door F is attached to a case portion 52 having a plurality of storage shelves 51 inside by a hinge 53 so as to be openable and closable, and the door F is located in the cassette accommodation portion 49 more than the height of the case portion 52. It is configured to project by the height.

Therefore, when the above-mentioned image forming apparatus is placed on the case portion 52 and the door F is closed by the lock portion 54 made of a magnet or the like, as shown in FIG. Is to be covered.

Arrangement of Fixing Means and Document Reading Means Further, in the apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the document reading means A and the recording means B are arranged at the ends of the apparatus. Therefore, as compared with the case where the document reading unit A is arranged above the recording unit B as in the related art, the recording unit B is
The fixing heat of 1 does not have a bad influence on the optical components of the reading means A, and at the same time, it is not necessary to provide a heat insulating member or the like.

In the above-described embodiment, the facsimile machine is described as an example, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

As the recording means, recording with a laser beam and recording with an ink jet are mentioned.
Other recording means and combinations may be used.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the fixed form information is selected by the key operation of the operation panel D, but the fixed form information may be arbitrarily input by the key on the operation panel D.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, in addition to the conventional recording means, another recording means is provided and the recording means prints the fixed form information on the recording sheet by the conventional recording means. By printing with a color different from the color, it is possible to improve the handleability of the recorded image by the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of an entire embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of an entire embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the overall appearance of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a manual feed portion of a recording sheet.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a state in which an opening / closing cover is opened.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a state where an opening / closing cover is opened.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state in which an opening / closing cover is opened.

8 is a perspective view of recording means H. FIG.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the cassette is pulled out.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the mounting table is opened.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a cross-sectional structure of a conventional example.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a received and recorded image.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an original received image and a copy received image.

[Explanation of symbols]

A document reading means B recording means C recording sheet conveying means D operation panel E telephone F door G mounting table H recording means 1 document mounting table 2 side guides 3 originals 4a preliminary conveying roller 4b pressure contact member 5a separation roller 5b pressure contact member 6a conveyance roller 6b Pinch roller 7 Spring 8a Weighting shaft 8b Pressing member 8c Reading glass 8d Light emitting member 8e Lens 8f Photoelectric conversion element 9a Delivery roller 9b Pinch roller 10 Original discharge tray 11 Photosensitive drum 12 Charger 13 Laser oscillator 14 Polygon mirror 15 Developing unit 16 transfer roller 17 the recording sheet 18 cleaning member 19 recording cartridge 19b grip 19c light shutter 19c ₁ shaft 20 cassette 20a slide projections 20b grip 21 feeding roller 22a, 22b cassette conveying roller 2 a, 23b Conveying roller 24 Heater 25a Fixing roller 25b Pressure roller 26a, 26b Discharging roller 27 Recording sheet discharging tray 29 Manual feed tray 29a Fixed guide 29b Sliding guide 29c Fitting recess 30 Shaft 31 Separation member 32 Auxiliary tray 32a Fitting convex portion 33 hook-shaped locking member 34 size switch 49 cassette housing 49a guide groove 51 storage shelf 52 case 53 hinge 54 lock 89 rotation center 90 guide member 91 curl removing roller 92 curl removing roller 93, 94 transport roller pair 95, 96 paper discharge roller pair 97, 98, 99, 200 guide member 201 recording paper detection sensor 202 elastic member 203 platen roller 205, 206 guide member 207 recording head holder shaft 208 recording head holder 209 recording Head 210 recording head cap

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having a recording means for forming an image on a recording sheet and a paper feeding and conveying means for conveying the recording sheet to the recording means, the recording means other than the recording means being provided. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixed image information is recorded on the recording unit by one recording unit. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one recording unit and the other recording unit perform color-separable printing.