JPH06167848A - Method and device for forming image - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly perform copying operation without interruption by plural ly feeding documents to a document placing tale and copying them in the case the documents having length of half the transfer paper size are continued, and copying only one document in the case they are not continued. CONSTITUTION:Among respective keys connected to the input side of a main body side control part 25, a size coexistently placing mode selection key 28 is a key for selecting the case of forming the image from the document having different size set on the document placing table of an automatic document feeder. Then, a 2 in/mode selection key 29 is a key for selecting the case of performing copying to one transfer paper in a state where two documents having the size of 1/2 of the length of the transfer paper are arranged. Furthermore, a one-side and both-sides mode selection key 30 is a key for selecting a copying mode for performing copying on one side or both sides of the transfer paper. Then, a transfer paper selection key 31 is a key for the case of performing manual selection by an operator.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming method and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a transfer paper selection and copy format when originals of different sizes are fed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art One of the copying systems used in the past is equipped with a document feeding device capable of automatically feeding a document to a document reading portion of an image forming apparatus. There is a configuration in which the size of the document to be printed is determined when the document reaches the document table and the transfer paper size is selected according to the result of this determination.

Further, in such an original feeding apparatus, since the originals are fed out one by one, it takes time to judge the size and to select the transfer paper, and the copy cycle execution time and the use of the transfer paper or the developer. There is a problem that the amount increases. Therefore, there is also proposed an image forming apparatus having a structure in which two originals are continuously fed out and combined and copied onto one sheet of transfer paper having a length twice the size of the originals fed in the feeding direction of the originals ( For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-285563
Issue). Furthermore, in recent years, as the structure of the document feeding device, in addition to the case where only documents of uniform size are stacked and fed out, documents of different sizes are mixed,
A structure has also been proposed in which the transfer paper size can be selected according to the feeding out from the original group.

[0004]

Discrimination of the document size in the conventional image forming apparatus is performed until the trailing edge of the document fed from the document feeding device toward the document placing table comes off the document feeding device. I couldn't. That is, as a general structure of this type of document size detection structure, an optical sensor capable of detecting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the document and an encoder that operates while detecting the passage of the document by the optical sensor are used. There is a structure. With this structure, it is necessary to wait for the document to pass to the trailing edge in order to determine the size by the encoder. Therefore,
Even if the leading edge of the original has reached the original placing table, if the trailing edge of the original has not yet been extended onto the original placing table, until the time when the extension of the trailing edge of the original onto the original placing table is completed,
The transfer paper cannot be fed according to the document size. Therefore, the transfer paper is fed out after the original is stopped on the original mounting table. In this case, the waiting time until the original size is determined becomes a loss time, and the transfer paper reaches the image forming unit. Until the time is extended significantly. Such a situation adversely affects the efficiency of the copying work, which is a factor that determines the number of copies per unit time.

On the other hand, as one method for improving the copying work efficiency, so-called miscopy is eliminated so as to prevent wasteful consumption of transfer paper and developer.
For this reason, conventionally, there has been proposed a structure for discriminating the size of the transfer sheet set in the sheet feeding unit of the image forming apparatus and the matching of the original side with respect to the set direction. According to this structure, when the size of the document and the direction of the document are not aligned with those on the transfer sheet, the image forming process can be interrupted and the operator can be warned, thereby increasing unnecessary copying. Can be prevented. The direction of the transfer paper in this case is set vertically with the longitudinal direction along the feeding direction being set, and the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction is the longitudinal direction along the so-called width direction of the transfer paper. There is a horizontal setting that is set and set. However, in such a structure, if the matching in size and orientation cannot be obtained, the image forming process is interrupted one by one, and the efficiency of the copying process becomes extremely poor.

As a structure for reducing the amount of transfer paper or the amount of developer used, a document whose longitudinal size is 1/2 the size of the transfer paper is continuously fed to transfer one sheet. The so-called 2 is used to obtain two-sided copy images on paper.
A structure that allows in1 copying is also proposed.
(For example, JP-A-63-285563). However, in the case of this structure, when one of the two documents arranged side by side has a different size from the other, the reduction of the copying efficiency due to the interruption of the copying operation cannot be denied, as in the case described above. This is because, if the succeeding originals of the continuously fed originals are different in size from the preceding originals, it is possible to return the succeeding original once to make a copy from only one original. This is because it is impossible, and in such a case, it is advantageous to interrupt the copying operation itself in order to suppress the occurrence of miscopy.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to use an original feeding device capable of successively feeding out originals of different sizes, even if there is no size matching between the transfer paper and the originals. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method and an apparatus thereof which can reduce the amount of transfer paper used by suppressing the interruption of the copying operation and suppressing the decrease of the copying efficiency.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, the invention according to claim 1 feeds out originals of different sizes placed on the original setting section one by one and conveys them toward the original reading section. At the same time, an image is formed from an original fed out on an original placing table provided in the original reading section by using an original feeding device having a structure for detecting the original size before starting the conveyance toward the original reading section. In the image forming method of performing the following, when the size of the document fed onto the document mounting table and the size of the transfer paper have the same width and the length in the transport direction is 1/2, the subsequent document is When the size of the preceding original document on the original document table is the same, the subsequent original document is fed to the original document table 2
When the images are read in a state where the originals are arranged side by side, and if they are not the same size, the mixed size 2-in-1 mode is performed in which the feeding of the subsequent originals is stopped and the image is formed from one original by only reading the preceding originals. It is characterized by executing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the first aspect, when the transfer sheet is vertically fed and the document fed on the document placing table is horizontally fed, the feeding direction is upstream on the document placing table. If the preceding original waiting on the side is also fed horizontally, arrange the two originals on the original table and set the magnification from the larger of the two originals and the transfer paper size to form an image. It is characterized in that the size unification 2 in 1 mode is executed.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the image forming method according to the first aspect, in a single-sided / double-sided copy mode in which a single-sided original is sequentially fed to form an image on both sides of a transfer sheet, the front side is printed. If the original size when forming the image on the back side differs from the transfer paper size during image formation, eject the blank sheet without forming the image on the back side and select the transfer paper that matches the original size to form the image. The feature is that the image formation is continued from the unprinted document.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the first aspect, in the mixed size loading mode in which originals of different sizes are fed, the transfer sheets of the same size are set in different directions with respect to the feeding direction. When the document is prepared, it is characterized by feeding a horizontal feed transfer paper when the original is horizontal feed and a vertical feed transfer paper when the original is vertical feed to form an image. There is.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the originals of different sizes placed on the original setting section are fed one by one and conveyed toward the original reading section, and before the conveyance toward the original reading section is started. In an image forming method for forming an image from a document fed out on a document placing table provided in a document reading section, using the document feeding device having a structure for detecting a document size in the document feeding device, By providing a document size detecting means which is provided and detects the document size in the feeding direction by the movement of the fed document in the feeding direction, and by detecting the length of the document in the direction orthogonal to the feeding direction. A document feeding direction detecting means for detecting the orientation of the fed document, and at least a document size detecting means and a document feeding direction detecting means on the side of the document feeding device,
Then, the 2 in 1 mode selection key and the single-sided / double-sided mode selection key are connected to the input side, and the output side is provided with the document feeding section on the side of the document feeding device, the image forming processing section, the scaling mechanism, and the paper feeding. Unit, display unit and image reading unit are connected,
When each mode is set by the 2-in-1 mode selection key or the single-sided / double-sided mode selection key, each mode is set according to the comparison between the document size on the document feeding device side and the transfer paper size on the sheet feeding unit on the device body side. It is characterized in that it is provided with a control section for selecting the feeding state of the original and the transfer sheet in the image forming mode.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the size of the original can be determined while the original is being fed to the original placing table, and when the original having a length of 1/2 of the transfer paper size is continuous. It is possible to feed two originals onto the original placing table and then make a copy, and if not continuous, only one original can be made.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even when the orientations of the original and the transfer paper are different, when the orientations of the consecutive originals are the same, the two originals are continuously placed on the original placing table. It is possible to make the direction of the transfer paper the same by feeding it out to.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the case of performing one-sided / two-sided copying, when the size of the original is different from that of the transfer paper, copying on one side only is performed without copying on both sides. Is discharged as it is, and copying is restarted using a transfer paper that matches the size of the original.

According to the invention described in claim 4, it is possible to determine the orientation of the transfer sheet from the size data of the document fed from the automatic document feeder and feed the sheet.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, various copying modes including selection of the transfer paper can be executed according to the detection of the document size in the automatic document feeder.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic layout diagram showing the overall configuration of a document feeding device used in an image forming apparatus for executing the image forming method of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the document feeding device 1 is a document. Setting unit 2, paper feeding unit 3, transport unit 4,
The document carrying-out section 5, the document reversing section 6, and the document stacker 7 are provided as main sections, and the respective sections will be described below together with their functions. The document setting unit 2 is composed of a tray provided on the upper part of the document feeding device main body, and one end in the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction is set as a reference end when placing the document, and this end portion is set. The leading edge of the placed document can be guided to the sheet feeding unit 3 by pressing the edge of the document. The document setting unit 2 is provided with a first detection unit 8 for detecting the size of the document along the feeding direction, which will be described later.
Will be explained.

The paper feeding section 3 is a section for separating one original placed on the original setting section 2 and transferring it to the original placing table 9, and the leading end of the original placed on the original setting section 2 is separated. A feeding roller 10 capable of reversing the feeding direction of the document by the peripheral surface is arranged at a position corresponding to the portion, and this feeding roller 10 has a feeding roller 10
A separation belt 11 movable in a relative direction with respect to the rotation direction (the direction of the arrow in the figure) is abutted. A plurality of feeding rollers 12 and 13 are arranged along the feeding direction at a position in front of the feeding roller 10 in the feeding direction of the document (direction indicated by symbol A) and reach the feeding roller 10. The rollers 12 and 13 project from the tray of the document setting section 2 toward the upper part so that they can contact the document. Also,
At the position where the feeding direction is reversed by the feeding roller 10, the feeding roller 1 that feeds the original toward the original placing table 9
4 is opposed to and abuts the original feeding path.

The feeding roller 10 and the separation belt 11 described above are used as the feeding roller 1 of the loaded originals.
This is for separating the original that is in contact with 0 from other originals and feeding it. Therefore, the coefficient of friction with respect to the document is set higher for the delivery roller 10 than for the separation belt 11, and the separation belt 11 moves in the relative direction to the delivery roller 10, so that only the document in contact with the delivery roller 10 is moved. Is being delivered.

The transport section 4 is a section for transporting the document fed from the paper feed section 3 on the document mounting table 9, and is provided with a transport belt 4A movable along the upper surface of the document mounting table 9. There is. The transport belt 4A is hung on both ends of the document placing table 9 along the feeding direction and a plurality of pulleys 4B, 4C and 4D arranged so as to face the document placing table 9 to transfer and set the document. It has become so. Further, the document carrying-out section 5 is a part for introducing the document, which has been read, into the document stacker 7, and is provided with a carry-out roller 5A at a position where the leading end of the document sent by the carrying belt 4A of the document carrying section 4 reaches. ing. Further, the document reversing unit 6
Is a portion for reversing the surface of the document whose one side has been read when reading a two-sided document. A switching claw 6A that can move forward and backward with respect to a document discharge path set by the discharge roller 5A of the document discharge section 5 and a guide portion facing the discharge roller 5A and a document whose surface is inverted by the switch claw 6A. Member 6 for guiding to
It has B. Therefore, by switching the position of the switching claw 6A, it is possible to select the transport path to the document stacker 7 and the transport path to the guide member 6B described above. Therefore, when the conveyance path is set toward the guide member 6B, the document discharged from the document placing table 9 is transferred again to the document placing table 9 with its front and back surfaces reversed.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned paper feeding section 3 is provided with a document size detecting mechanism. That is, this mechanism is provided with the above-mentioned first detecting means 8 and second detecting means 15, and the first detecting means 8 projects from the tray side of the document setting section 2 and is the lowest document. Driven roller 8 capable of abutting against
A, a sector 8B coaxially supported by the driven roller 8A, and a photo interrupter 8C arranged near the sector 8B. The first detecting means 8 is for detecting the length of the document along the feeding direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the first detecting means 8 extends in the longitudinal direction in the direction perpendicular to the document feeding direction indicated by the arrow. Of the length of the document placed in the horizontal direction, which is set and set, on the upstream side of the longest position, that is, on the side deviated from the rear end of the document, and along the feeding direction. It is provided on the downstream side of the shortest position of the length along the document feeding direction of the vertically placed document set in the longitudinal direction and placed, that is, on the front side of the so-called document rear end. As a result, it is possible to discriminate between the vertical placement and the horizontal placement of the original, and the original in the case of the vertical placement is rotated as the original moves. It should be noted that in the figure, the symbol a indicates the maximum length of a horizontal document.
The code b is the minimum length in the portrait original, and the code c
Indicate respective ranges in which the first detecting means 8 can be installed.

On the other hand, the second detecting means 15 is for detecting the size in the width direction corresponding to the direction perpendicular to the document feeding direction, and is constituted by, for example, a reflection type photo sensor. In FIG. 2, the document fed out from the paper feeding unit 3 is arranged immediately before it reaches the document placing table 9. Then, the second detecting means 15 reads the readable document width in order from the placement reference end side (the side indicated by (P) in the figure) of the document set in the document setting section 2 in FIG. At the position where each size in the direction can be detected,
The detection means 1 are arranged as indicated by reference numerals 15A, 15B, and 15C, and of these, the detection means 1 located on the reference end side.
5A is provided at a position separated from the reference end by a predetermined amount. This is to detect the case where the edge of the document is not aligned with the reference edge to detect the state of the document set.

Further, in the present embodiment, in order to guarantee the interlocking with the original by the first detecting means 8, the original setting section 2 is provided with a means for pressing the original toward the first detecting means 8. Has been. That is, the pressurizing means 16
As shown in FIG. 4, the first detecting means 8 is placed between the originals.
The pressure arm 16A is provided on the side opposite to the pressure arm 16A, and the pressure arm 16A is pivotally attached to one end of an actuating arm 16B capable of swinging the end opposite to the original. Has been done. The pressure arm 16A and the operating arm 1
6B is connected by a spring 16C, and the pressure arm 16A is swung toward a locking portion provided on the side of the actuating arm 16B, and normally the same straight line as the actuating arm 16B is provided as shown by the solid line. It is designed to set an extension on the line. On the other hand, the actuating arm 16B is swingably supported by a pin 16D, and an actuator 17A of a solenoid 17 is connected to an end portion on the side where the pressure arm 16A is not pivotally attached. This operating arm 16B
The spring 18 is hooked on the swing end on the side connected to the pressure arm 16A. The spring 18 has an urging force for rotating the operating arm 16B in the counterclockwise direction in the figure by fixing the end portion to the immovable portion in the apparatus, and the urging force causes the pressing arm 16A to rotate. It is designed to be pressed against the upper surface of the original. Further, the solenoid 17 operates when the actuator 17A is in the non-excited state.
Of the pressure arm 16 at this time by the urging of the spring 18 as shown by the solid line.
A is set to be in pressure contact with the upper surface of the original. At the time of excitation, as shown by the chain double-dashed line, the pressing arm 16A is separated from the upper surface of the document against the bias of the spring 18. In the present embodiment, the pressurizing means 16 can also determine the type of the document placed vertically or horizontally. That is, in the tray of the document setting unit 2 facing the swinging end of the pressure arm 16A, as shown in FIG. The concave portion 2A is formed so as to be positioned lower than the lower portion. Then, in the vicinity of the recess 2A, for example, a reflection type photo sensor 2B is arranged. Therefore, when the pressurizing arm 16A falls into the recess 2A when the solenoid 17 is not excited and is detected by the photosensor 2B, the end portion in the longitudinal direction corresponds to this position as described with reference to FIG. It is possible to determine that the original document in the blank state is placed horizontally.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned first and second detecting means 8,
Reference numeral 15 is connected to an automatic document feeder-side control unit (hereinafter referred to as an ADF control unit) 19 used for size determination. As shown in FIG. It is connected to an apparatus main body side control unit for performing sequence control for image formation. Then, in addition to the above-mentioned first and second detecting means 8 and 15, the document set sensor 20, the registration sensor 21, and the paper discharge sensor 22 are provided on the input side of the control section 19, and the document feed sensor is provided on the output side. A paper feed unit 3, a document transport unit 4, and a paper discharge unit 5 on the side of the feeding device 1 are connected via an I / O interface (not shown). A
In the DF control unit 19, the first and second document feeders 1 side
The original size is determined by combining the signals from the detection means 8 and 15 and the transfer paper is selected according to the result of the determination, and the detection means 15A on the placement reference end side of the second detection means 15 is selected. The presence / absence of a signal from is determined to determine the quality of the document placement state, and an error message is displayed based on the determination result.
Therefore, as shown in Table 1, a map for determining the document size based on the types of signals from the first detection unit 8 and the second detection unit 15 is registered in the control unit 19.

[0026]

[Table 1]

Further, the apparatus main body side control section (hereinafter referred to as the main body side control section) 25 is a section for executing a copy mode by an operator based on the data concerning the document size from the ADF control section 19. Therefore, on the input side of the main body side control unit 25, a data bus is connected to the ADF control unit 19, and a ten key 26 for setting the number of copies, a print key 27 for issuing a copy start command,
A mixed size loading mode selection key 28, a 2-in-1 mode selection key 29, a single-sided / double-sided mode selection key 30, a transfer sheet selection key 31 used by the operator to select a transfer sheet, and various sensors 32 arranged in the image forming apparatus are illustrated. Not connected via an I / O interface.

On the output side of the main body side control section 25,
In addition to the signal line to the ADF control unit 19, the image forming processing unit 33, the scaling mechanism 34, the paper feeding unit 35, and the display unit 36.
The image reading unit 37 is connected via the I / O interface.

Each key connected to the input side of the main body side control unit 25 is provided on the operation panel 100A of the image forming apparatus 100, as shown in FIG. Among these keys, the mixed size mode selection key 28 is a key for selecting the case where images are formed from originals of different sizes set on the original placing table of the automatic original feeding apparatus 1. , 2in1 mode selection key 29
Is for selecting a case where two originals each having a size of ½ of the length of the transfer paper are lined up and copied on one transfer paper. In addition, single-sided / double-sided mode selection key 30
Is for selecting the copy mode for one side or both sides of the transfer paper. Then, the transfer paper selection key 31 is
This is a case where the operator manually selects.

The main body side control unit 25 determines the on / off state of each selection key based on the document size to select and execute the copy mode. In this copy mode, the 2 in 1 copy mode is used. , Single-sided / double-sided copy mode and unified size copy mode. The copying operation used when executing each of these copying modes is selected from among the following modes and executed. That is, five types are set in this mode, and details thereof are as shown in Table 2 and the following description.

[0031]

[Table 2]

MODE 0: A mode in which a transfer paper size matching the original size is automatically selected and copying is performed at the same size. MODE1: The next original size is detected during copying of the original conveyed on the original table, and the transfer paper feed direction (orientation) and the original feed direction (orientation) for the specified size are detected.
If the and do not match, the specified size of transfer paper with different feed directions is selected and the specified paper scaling is performed.

MODE2: A mode in which it is determined whether or not the original size at the time of copying on the back surface of the transfer paper is different from that at the time of copying on the front surface of the transfer paper. .

MODE3: A mode in which when the designated transfer paper size and the original size are different, the copy magnification is set to match the designated transfer paper size and copying is executed.

MODE4: For example, as in the case where two A4 horizontal originals are continuous with respect to an A3 vertical transfer paper,
When the preceding and succeeding originals have a size of 1/2 the size of the transfer paper and are continuous, both of the originals are conveyed to the original placing table to perform equal-size copying.

MODE 5: When the transfer paper size is vertical feed and the original size and the transfer paper size are different, it is determined whether or not the original feed direction is horizontal feed and two sheets are continuous.
If two sheets are to be connected in succession, place two on the document table.
Sheets of originals are conveyed continuously, and the magnification is set to match the size of the transfer paper, and copying is performed.

Further, Table 3 shows the limit of the enlargement ratio of 155
%, When the limit of reduction ratio is set to 60%, the combination of originals for front side copying and back side copying in single-sided / double-sided copying, or the combination of originals and transfer paper in the size uniform mode 3 is a list showing modes that can be processed among the modes described above.

[0038]

[Table 3]

In Table 3, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, in the case where the B5 document is fed in the lateral direction and the transfer sheet is fed in the longitudinal direction, one side of the document is printed. When double-sided copying is selected, if the same size copying is performed on the back surface of the transfer paper, a part of the document is lost. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, set B5Y (meaning B5 lateral feed) to A
Reduce to 5Y (MODE3), or, as shown in FIG. 9, reduce and scale two B5Ys by arranging them two by 2in1 copy mode to A4T (meaning A4 vertical feed).
ODE5) is possible. Further, it is also possible to discharge a blank sheet without performing back side copying, select a new transfer sheet, and perform equal-size copying (MODE2).

Further, in the size uniform copying mode, if it is desired to unify the transfer paper to be A4 size, as shown in FIG. 10, A4T is switched to A4Y and the B5Y original document is copied to A4Y transfer paper at the same size. Copy or enlarge
(MODE1) is possible.

Since this embodiment has the above-mentioned configuration,
Now, the operation procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart for explaining the operation of the main body side control unit 25, as shown in FIGS. 11 to 20. That is, in FIG. 11, the copy size is received by receiving the document size determined by the control unit 19 on the automatic document feeder 1 side and determining the on / off status of each key provided on the operation panel. The mode of operation is selected.

When the mode is selected, the routine set for each mode is executed. That is, in "MODE0", as shown in FIG. 14, the original size and the transfer paper size are discriminated, and if they are the same, the normal size copying is executed. If they are different, the original size is changed. A normal-size copy is executed in which a transfer paper of a matching size is selected. Therefore, in this mode, the same-size copying is performed with the general transfer paper and the document size being matched.

In "MODE1", as shown in FIG.
The feed direction of the original and the feed direction of the transfer paper are determined. If they are the same, variable-magnification copying with the specified magnification is executed, and if they are different, the transfer paper that matches the original folding direction is selected. Then, scaling copy is executed based on the scaling ratio specified above. In this mode, although the original and the transfer paper are matched in size, if the feed directions are different, the same-size copying is performed on the transfer paper of the same size with the feed direction changed without changing the size.

In "MODE2", as shown in FIG.
The original size and the transfer paper size used for the back side copy are discriminated. If they are the same, the normal size copy is executed, and if they are different, it is discriminated whether it is the front side copy. Then, in the case of back side copying in a state where the sizes are different, without copying on the back side, so-called blank paper is discharged and the original to be copied on the back side is conveyed to the original placing table. When the original is fed onto the original table, a transfer sheet is selected according to the size of the original and copying at the same size is executed. In this mode, when the size of the original used for copying on the front side and the size of the original used for copying on the back side are different, copying is performed on the back side of the transfer paper selected according to the size of the preceding original. Instead, the sheet is discharged as it is, and a transfer sheet that matches a size different from that of the preceding document is newly selected to perform the same-size copying. On the other hand, in "MODE3", as shown in FIG. 17, the original size and the transfer paper size are discriminated, and if they are the same, it is discriminated whether or not the copying is to the front side, and then the normal size copying is executed. If the original size is different from the transfer paper size, the variable-magnification copy is performed on the designated transfer paper fed with the copy magnification set to match the specified transfer paper size. In this mode, variable magnification copying is performed on the designated transfer sheet by setting the copy magnification that matches the designated transfer sheet.

In "MODE4", as shown in FIG.
The original size and the transfer paper size are discriminated, and when they are the same, the one-sided / two-sided discrimination is performed and the process according to the discrimination result is executed. Also, if the sizes are different,
It is determined whether or not the document size is in a relation of 1/2 of the transfer paper size, and whether or not the size of the document continuously fed to the document used for this determination is the same as the preceding document. In the case where the succeeding document has a relationship of 1/2 of the transfer sheet as in the case of the preceding document, a signal for feeding the document is transmitted, and it is determined that the delivery of the transfer sheet from the sheet feeding unit is completed. After receiving the signal of, the same size copying is executed to perform the 2 in 1 copying. If the size of the succeeding document is different from that of the preceding document, the transfer paper is newly selected and the same size copying is executed. In this mode, when an original having a size of 1/2 of the transfer paper is continuous, 2 in 1 normal copying is performed with two originals having a size of 1/2 of the transfer paper arranged side by side. .

In "MODE5", it is judged whether or not the transfer paper is fed in the vertical direction.
As shown in FIG. 20, the original size and the transfer paper size are discriminated, and if they are the same, processing corresponding to the discrimination of single-sided / double-sided copying is executed. To execute. Then, in FIG. 19, when the transfer paper is fed vertically and is the same as the original size,
Executes processing according to the determination of single-sided / double-sided copying. Also,
If the original size and the transfer paper size are not the same, it is determined whether or not the original feeding direction is horizontal feeding, and if not, lateral magnification is set and variable magnification copying is performed.
On the other hand, if the document is fed horizontally, the orientation of the next document is also determined, and if it is fed horizontally, a signal for feeding the document is sent, and the transfer paper is fed from the paper feeding unit on the main body side. When the signal for determining the completion is received, the copy magnification for 2 in 1 copying is set and the variable magnification copying is executed. In this mode, 2 in 1 copying is executed when a laterally fed document is subsequently fed.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, the size of a document can be determined while the document is being fed to the document mounting table, and a document whose length is half the transfer paper size is continuous. In this case, two originals can be fed on the original placing table and then copied, and if they are not continuous, only one original can be copied. Therefore, even when the sizes are mixed, the copying operation can be smoothly performed without interruption, and the reduction of copying efficiency due to the interruption of copying can be prevented.

Further, according to the invention, even when the orientations of the original and the transfer paper are different, when the orientations of the consecutive originals are the same, the two originals are continuously fed out onto the original placing table. Thus, the direction of the transfer paper can be made the same. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the copying operation from being interrupted due to the mismatch of the feeding directions between the original and the transfer sheet during the size uniform copying, and to prevent the reduction of the copying efficiency.

Further, according to the invention, when the size of the original is different from that of the transfer paper when performing one-sided / two-sided copying, only one side is copied without copying on both sides and the back side remains blank. The sheet is ejected, and copying is restarted using a transfer paper that matches the size of the original. Therefore, it is not necessary to carry out an operation of copying for each original size, and the efficiency of the copying operation can be improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, it is possible to determine the orientation of the transfer sheet from the size data of the document fed from the automatic document feeder and feed the sheet. Therefore, since it is not necessary to prohibit the copying operation due to the discrepancy in the feeding directions of the original and the transfer paper, the copying time can be shortened and the size of the transfer paper can be unified into one type.
It is possible to suppress an increase in consumption of transfer paper.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, various copying modes including selection of the transfer paper can be executed in response to the detection of the document size in the automatic document feeder.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram showing an overall configuration of a document feeder used in an image forming apparatus applied to an image forming method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a layout diagram showing a main part of the document feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

3A and 3B are first and second parts of the document feeding device shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing the arrangement configuration of the detection means of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the configuration of a pressing unit used in the document feeding apparatus according to the present invention.

5 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of a control unit used in the document feeding apparatus shown in FIG.

6 is a partial perspective view of the image forming apparatus showing the configuration of the input member connected to the control unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a copy mode in which the image forming method of the present invention is used.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of the image forming method of the present invention from the copying mode shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining another example of the image forming method of the present invention from the copying mode shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining another example of the image forming method of the present invention from the copy mode shown in FIG.

11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the main body side control unit shown in FIG.

12 is a flowchart for explaining another operation of the main body side control section shown in FIG.

13 is a flowchart for explaining another operation in the main body side control section shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining “MODE0” of the operation of the main body side control section shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining “MODE1” of the operations in the main body side control section shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining “MODE2” of the operations in the main body side control section shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining “MODE3” of the operations in the main body side control section shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining “MODE4” of the operation of the main body side control section shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining “MODE5” of the operations in the main body side control section shown in FIG. 5.

20 is a flowchart for explaining another operation relating to "MODE5" of the operations in the main body side control section shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Document Feeding Device 2 Document Setting Unit 3 Paper Feeding Unit 8 First Detecting Unit 15 Second Detecting Unit 19 Automatic Document Feeding Device Side Control Unit 20 Mixed Size Key Switch 21 Staple Processing Selection Key 22 Copy Start Key Switch 23 Image forming processing unit 24 Display unit 25 Main body side control unit 28 Mixed size mode selection key 29 2in1 mode selection key 30 Single-sided / duplex mode selection key 33 Image forming processing unit 34 Variable magnification mechanism 35 Paper feeding unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A document placed on a document setting unit is fed out one by one and fed toward a document reading unit, and the size of the document is detected before the conveyance to the document reading unit is started. In the image forming method of forming an image from a document fed out on a document placing table provided in a document reading section by using a document feeding device having a structure, the size of the document fed out on the document placing table And the size of the transfer paper is the same width and the length in the carrying direction is 1/2
When the following original has the same size as the preceding original located on the original placing table, the succeeding original is fed and the image is displayed in a state where the two originals are lined up on the original placing table. Image formation, which is characterized by executing a size-mixed 2-in-1 mode in which reading is performed, and when the size is not the same, feeding of a subsequent document is stopped and an image is formed from one document only by reading the preceding document. Method. 2. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein when the transfer paper is vertically fed and the original fed on the original placing table is laterally fed, it stands by on the upstream side in the feeding direction on the original placing table. If the preceding document is also fed horizontally, 2 on the document table.
An image forming method characterized by executing a unified size 2 in 1 mode in which images are formed by arranging two originals and setting a magnification based on the larger one of the two originals and the transfer paper size. 3. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein in a single-sided / double-sided copy mode in which a single-sided original is sequentially fed to form an image on both sides of the transfer sheet, the transfer sheet size is set when the image is formed on the front side. On the other hand, if the size of the original when the image is formed on the back side is different, a blank sheet is ejected without forming the image on the back side, and the transfer paper that matches the size of the original is selected, and the original from which the image was not formed is selected. An image forming method characterized by continuing image formation. 4. The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein in the mixed size loading mode in which originals of different sizes are fed, when transfer sheets of the same size are prepared in different directions with respect to the feeding direction, An image forming method characterized in that an image is formed by feeding a horizontally-transferred transfer paper when the document is horizontally fed, and a vertically-fed transfer paper when the document is vertically-fed. 5. The originals of different sizes placed on the original setting unit are fed one by one and conveyed toward the original reading unit, and the original size is detected before the conveyance toward the original reading unit is started. In an image forming method for forming an image from a document fed out on a document placing table provided in a document reading section by using a document feeding device having a structure, the document feeding device provided in the document feeding device is provided. Document size detecting means for detecting the document size in the feeding direction by the movement of the document to be fed, and the length of the document fed by detecting the length of the document in the direction orthogonal to the feeding direction. Document feeding direction detecting means for detecting the orientation, at least document size detecting means and document feeding direction detecting means on the side of the document feeding device, and 2 in 1 mode selection key, single-sided The double-sided mode selection key is connected to the input side, and on the output side, the document feeding unit on the document feeding device side, the image forming processing unit, the magnification changing mechanism, the paper feeding unit, the display unit and the image reading unit are provided. When connected and each mode is set by the 2-in-1 mode selection key or the single-sided / double-sided mode selection key, it is possible to compare the document size on the document feeding device side with the transfer paper size on the paper feeding unit on the device body side. An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that selects a feeding state of a document and a transfer sheet in each image forming mode.