JPH06271189A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image forming device, a paper feeding device and a discharged paper housing device, which can display the residual quantity of paper and the residual capacity of housing of discharged papers and which can improve the efficiency of the printing. CONSTITUTION:A large capacity paper feeding device 6, which is provided with an elevator 104 to be loaded with papers P and an elevator upper limit switch 106 and an elevator lower limit switch 107, is arranged under a laser printer 1, and a large capacity discharged paper housing device 7, which is provided with an elevator 131 to be loaded with the papers P and an elevator upper limit switch 136 and an elevator lower limit switch 137, is arranged under the device 6 so as to be piled in order.

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, a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding the image forming apparatus, and a sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to a discharged paper storage device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a paper feeding device and a paper discharging device are optionally set in addition to the laser printer main body.

Generally, such optional equipment is
Since it is configured to be able to store a large amount of paper, a large amount of printing can be performed at one time by using such an optional device.

[0004]

As described above, when an optional device is connected, a large amount of printing can be performed at one time. However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, it is not possible to recognize how many sheets can be printed before starting printing,
There is a drawback that an unexpected paper shortage may occur during printing and the printing process may be interrupted midway. Further, when a large-capacity discharged paper storage device or the like is used, the remaining capacity that can be stored cannot be recognized, and the discharged paper storage unit may become fully stacked (stack full) during printing. was there.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such a conventional situation, and is capable of presenting the remaining amount of paper and the remaining storage capacity of discharged paper, thereby making it possible to improve the efficiency of print processing. Another object of the present invention is to provide a paper feeding device and a discharged paper storage device.

[0006]

That is, an image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a transfer material by the image forming means, and the transfer materials are placed so as to be stacked. An up-and-down movable table that is vertically movable, a transfer unit that sequentially transfers the transfer material on the upper part of the re-upper mounted on the lift table to the image forming unit, and the transfer material that is mounted on the lift table. An upper limit position sensor for detecting whether or not the upper end portion of the elevator is at a predetermined height position for carrying by the carrying means, and a lower limit position sensor for detecting that the lifting platform is lowered to a predetermined lower limit position, When the power is turned on, the elevating table is once lowered to the lower limit position detected by the lower limit position sensor, and then the upper limit position sensor detects the upper end of the transfer material placed on the elevating table. Before Raising the lifting platform, characterized in that a control means for outputting the stroke at this time to calculate the amount of the transfer material on the lifting platform.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus for forming an image on the transfer material by the image forming means, the transfer material on which the image is formed by the image forming means is laminated. And a vertically movable vertically movable table, a conveying means for carrying the transfer material sent from the image forming apparatus onto the vertically movable table, and the transfer material placed on the vertically movable table. An upper limit position sensor that detects whether or not the upper end portion of the elevator is at a predetermined height position that can be carried in by the transporting unit, and a lower limit position sensor that detects that the lift has descended to a predetermined lower limit position, When the power is turned on, the elevating table is once lowered to the lower limit position detected by the lower limit position sensor, and then the upper limit position sensor detects the upper end of the transfer material placed on the elevating table. It Raising the lifting table until the, characterized in that a control means which calculates and outputs the amount of storable the transfer material onto the lifting table from stroke at this time.

Further, in the sheet feeding device according to the third aspect of the invention, the transfer material placed so as to be stacked on the elevating table is delivered while sequentially elevating the elevating table from the transfer material located at the uppermost position. In the paper feeding device that feeds the image to the image forming apparatus that forms the image on the transfer material by the feeding means, the upper end portion of the transfer material placed on the elevating table is fed by the feeding means to a predetermined height. Upper limit position sensor for detecting whether or not the upper and lower positions are detected, a lower limit position sensor for detecting that the lifting platform is lowered to a predetermined lower limit position, and when the power is turned on, the lifting platform is temporarily supported by the lower limit position sensor. Then, it is lowered to the lower limit position to be detected, and thereafter, the elevator is raised until the upper end position of the transfer material placed on the elevator is detected by the upper limit position sensor. From the rise Characterized by comprising a control means which calculates and outputs the amount of the transfer material on the platform.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper ejection storage device for accommodating a transfer material on which an image has been formed by an image forming apparatus so as to be stacked on the elevating table while sequentially lowering the elevating table. In the apparatus, the transfer material sent from the image forming apparatus can be carried in by the carrying means, and the carrying means can carry in the carrying means for carrying in the transfer material on the elevating table, and the upper end portion of the transfer material placed on the elevating table. An upper limit position sensor that detects whether or not it is at a predetermined height position, a lower limit position sensor that detects that the lifting platform has descended to a predetermined lower limit position, and the lifting platform once lowers the lower limit when power is turned on. Then, it is lowered to a lower limit position detected by a position sensor, and then the elevator is raised until the upper limit of the transfer material placed on the elevator is detected by the upper limit position sensor. Characterized by comprising a control means which calculates and outputs the amount of storable the transfer material onto the lifting table from stroke when.

[0010]

The image forming apparatus of the present invention, the paper feeding apparatus, and the
In the discharged paper storage device, when the power is turned on, the lifting platform is once lowered to the lower limit position detected by the lower limit position sensor,
After that, the elevator is raised until the upper limit position sensor detects the upper end portion of the transfer material placed on the elevator.
Then, from the process at this time, for example, the drive time of the motor or the number of drive pulses, the remaining amount of the transfer material on the lift table or the amount of the transfer material that can be stored on the lift table is calculated and output.

As a result, the remaining amount of paper and the remaining capacity of discharged paper can be recognized in advance, and the efficiency of the printing process can be improved.

[0012]

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 an image recorded on paper is received from the received data. A laser printer 1 as an image forming apparatus for printing a sheet and optional equipment.

As an optional device, a paper feeding device 2 (M
PF; multi-purpose feeder), automatic double-sided feeding device (ADD; auto-duplexing device) 5 including reversing unit 3 and re-feeding unit 4, large-capacity feeding device (LCF; large-capacity feeder) 6, large-capacity Paper output storage device (L
CS; large capacity stacker) 7 etc. are 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, the large-capacity paper feeding device 6 in the lower part thereof, and the large-capacity paper ejection storage device 7 in the lower part thereof are positioned and stacked on a common loading rail for each device. There is.

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

The reversing section 3 is adapted to be attached to a mounting section provided commonly to the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 and the large-capacity sheet storage device 7. As a result, the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 and the large-capacity sheet discharging and accommodating device 7 can operate by stacking the reversing unit 3 and the laser printer 1 independently.

3 and 4 show the structure of the laser printer 1.

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

The laser optical system 11 includes a semiconductor laser oscillator (not shown) for generating laser light, a collimator lens (not shown) for correcting the laser light from the semiconductor laser oscillator into parallel light, and a laser from the collimator lens. A polygon mirror (rotating mirror) 26 as a rotating body having an octahedral mirror portion that reflects light for each scanning line, an f.theta. Lens 27, a mirror 28, and a mirror that rotates (drives) the polygon mirror 26. Motor 2
It is composed of 9 etc.

During the image forming operation, 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 shown in the drawing, and the charging device 13
The surface is charged by, 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 in accordance with the rotation of the polygon mirror 26 by the mirror motor 29, and the surface thereof is scanned. An electrostatic latent image is formed on. This electrostatic latent image is visualized by the toner attached by the developing device 14.

On the other hand, the paper feed cassette 19a or 19
The paper P (image forming medium) P of b is taken out one by one by the delivery roller 20a or 20b, and is conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 30
The sheet is guided to the aligning roller pair 21 through the sheet guide path 30 constituted by a and 30b, and is sent to the transfer portion by the aligning roller pair 21.

The paper 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 the aligning roller pair 2
1 is sent to the transfer section.

Further, the paper P from the automatic double-sided paper feeding device 5 and the large-capacity paper feeding device 6 as optional equipment installed in the lower part of the printer body 1 is guided to the aligning roller pair 21 via the conveying path 30. The aligning roller pair 21 feeds the image to the transfer portion.

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,
The toner image on the photosensitive drum 12 is transferred by the operation of the transfer device 15. The transferred paper P is peeled off from the photosensitive drum 12, and the fixing device 1 is conveyed through the conveyance guide 22.
7, the transfer image is heat-fixed by the heat roller 17a which generates fixing heat by passing therethrough.

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

Further, after the residual toner is removed by the cleaning device 18 on the photoconductor drum 12 after the transfer, the after-image is erased by the pre-exposure device 16 so that the next image forming operation can be performed. .

The photosensitive drum 12 and the charging device 1
3, 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 can be independently attached to and detached from the printer body 1 as an electrophotographic process unit.

Further, in front of the aligning roller pair 21, an aligning switch 34 for detecting a feeding error to the transfer portion due to the aligning roller pair 21 and the like is provided.
In front of the paper discharge roller pair 24, a paper discharge switch 35 for detecting a paper discharge error by the paper discharge roller pair 24 is provided, and in front of the carry roller pair 31, the paper feed device 2 or the paper P is manually fed. A conveyance detector 36 for detecting the sheet feeding, and a sheet feeding device connection switch 37 for detecting the connection of the sheet feeding device 2 are provided above the conveyance detector 36.
On the left side of a and 19b, an inversion unit connection switch 38 that detects the connection of the inversion unit 3 is provided.

An engine control unit 43 is installed between the paper feed cassettes 19a and 19b to control each electric device provided in the apparatus main body 1 to control the operation for completing the electrophotographic process. Engine control board and printer control unit 4 for controlling the operation of the engine control unit 43
A printer control board equipped with 2 is arranged.

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

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

The LED indicators 52 to 57 are "operator" requesting an operator call, "service" requesting a service call, "manual feed" indicating manual insertion by the operator, and the apparatus body 1 is in an operable state. “Ready” indicating that the image data is being transferred, and “Online” indicating whether or not it is connected to the host computer 10, that is, indicating an online / offline mode. .

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

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

There is a mode for designating a paper feed source or a paper discharge destination as the menu information, and in this mode, the paper feed sources are the paper feed cassettes 19a and 19b, the paper feed device 2, and the large capacity paper feed device 6.
Is specified, and the discharge destination is the discharge tray 33, the discharge tray 9, or the large-capacity discharge storage device 7.

The operator operates the previous menu item key 5
8, menu next item key 59, value previous item key 6
By operating the 0 and value next item keys 61, a desired operation is selected and instructed.

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 portion 3 is discharged by the gate 23 of the laser printer main body 1 and the conveying path 82 for guiding the paper P discharged by the gate 23 of the laser printer main body 1 to the paper discharge roller pair 81. From a downward conveying path 83 that conveys the sheet P or the sheet P guided by the reverse rotation of the pair of discharge rollers 81 to the lower device, and a sorting gate 84 that switches the conveying paths 82 and 83 that convey the sheet P. It is configured.

That is, the sheet P discharged by the gate 23 of the laser printer body 1 is guided to the sorting gate 84 by the transport path 82. The paper P guided 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 conveyed by the length of the paper P toward the paper discharge tray 9 and then rotated. It reverses and is guided to the distribution gate 84 again. The paper P from the paper discharge roller pair 81 is distributed to the sorting gate 8
4 is guided to the conveyance path 83. 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 carrying path 83 has a carrying roller pair 83a,
83b and the like. Further, on the right side of the reversing unit 3, a detection member 86 for turning on the reversing unit connection switch 38 in the laser printer body 1 is provided.

The sheet re-feeding section 4 receives the sheet P from the reversing section 3.
To a lower apparatus, a conveyance path 89 that branches from the conveyance path 87 by 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.

That is, the sheet P from the reversing section 3 is guided to the branch gate 88 by the transport path 87. The paper P guided to the branch gate 88 is guided to a lower device such as the large-capacity paper feeding device 6 or the transport path 89. The paper P transported by the transport path 89 is guided to the transport path 30 of the laser printer body 1. Further, the paper P from the lower device, for example, the large-capacity paper feeding device 6 is conveyed by the conveyance path 90 and the conveyance path 8.
The transport path 30 of the laser printer main body 1 is transported by
Be led to.

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

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

Next, the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 includes a storage unit 101 in which the paper P is stored, a take-out conveyance unit 102 that takes out the paper P from the storage unit 101 and conveys it, and a paper feed mechanism unit 1.
And 03.

An elevator table 104 on which the paper P is placed is provided in the storage section 101. Also, the storage unit 10
The upper surface of the paper P in 1 is supported by the paper separating claw 115 shown in FIG.

On the upper surface of the storage section 101, the elevator stand 1
A paper empty switch 105 for detecting that the paper P on 04 is completely gone, and an elevator upper limit switch 106 for detecting that the paper P on the elevator stand 104 has dropped by a predetermined number are provided. An elevator lower limit switch 107 that detects 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 of paper P are taken out of the elevator stand 104 and the elevator upper limit switch 106 is turned off, the motor is turned on for a predetermined time to raise the elevator stand 104. When the paper P on the elevator base 104 is exhausted and the paper empty switch 105 and the elevator upper limit switch 106 are turned on, the motor is rotated in the opposite direction to the rising direction, and the elevator base 104 is lowered until the elevator lower limit switch 107 is turned on.

Next, the operation of the elevator board 104 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

When the large-capacity sheet feeder 6 is turned on,
First, the state of the lower limit switch 107 is checked. Then, when the lower limit switch 107 is on, the processing described later is performed.

On the other hand, when the lower limit switch 107 is off, the state of the paper empty switch 105 is next checked, and when it is on, the upper limit switch 106 is further on.
The state of is checked. When the upper limit switch 106 is turned on, if the paper empty switch 105 is turned on, it is determined that there is no paper, the paper no status is set, and the elevator stand 1 is turned on until the lower limit switch 107 is turned on.
Down 04.

On the other hand, when the upper limit switch is off, the elevator platform 104 is raised until the upper limit switch 106 is turned on. Further, when the paper empty switch 105 remains off and the upper limit switch 106 is turned on, it is not in a paper out state, but the elevator base 104 is once lowered until the lower limit switch 107 is turned on.

In the processing of (1), the timer is started at the same time when the elevator base 104 is raised, and the time is counted until the paper empty switch 105 is turned off or the upper limit switch 106 is turned on. When both are in the ON state, it means that there is no paper, so the process of is executed.

When the paper empty switch 105 is turned off and the upper limit switch 106 is turned off, the timer is stopped to end the measurement, and after a predetermined time delay, the elevator stand 104 is stopped and the remaining amount of paper is calculated from the timer value. And set the status. The remaining amount of paper is calculated with respect to the time required for the elevator platform 104 to rise from the lower limit position to the upper limit position. Further, when the motor is operated at a constant speed, the elevator stand 10 is affected by the weight difference depending on the type of paper.
Since the variation of the moving time of 4 is suppressed, the remaining amount can be accurately calculated.

In the case of the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7, the remaining amount of paper on the elevator table 131 can be detected by the same method, but in this case, it can be replaced with information on how much paper can be discharged later. .

In the take-out / conveyance section 102, as shown in FIG. 6, the uppermost sheet P on the elevator table 104 is fed by the sheet feed roller 108 and conveyed by the conveyance guides 109, 10.
9, aligning roller pair 110, conveyance guide 111,
The sheet is conveyed to the upper apparatus, for example, the conveying path 90 of the re-feeding unit 4 via the conveying path 112 formed of 111. Transport path 1
The conveyance of the sheet P by 12 is detected by a sensor 113 provided near the conveyance guides 111, 111.

The rotation of a motor (not shown) is transmitted to the paper feed roller 108 by a drive pulley 114.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed mechanism section 103 includes a conveyance path 1 including conveyance rollers 116a and 116b.
16 configured to convey the paper P from the upper device to the lower device, for example, convey the paper P from the conveyance path 87 of the refeeding unit 4 to the large-capacity paper ejection storage device 7. . The conveyance of the paper P by the conveyance path 112, that is, the supply of the paper P from the conveyance path 87 of the refeed unit 4 is detected by the sensor 117 provided near the conveyance roller 116a.

Next, the large capacity discharged paper accommodating device 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 9.

The large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7 is composed of a storage portion 121 for storing the paper P using the elevator mechanism 120, and a storage portion 122 for storing the paper P in the storage portion 121.

In the take-in section 122, as shown in FIG. 9, the paper P supplied from the upper path, for example, the conveyance path 116 of the large-capacity sheet feeder 6, is conveyed by the conveyance guides 123a, 123b, 123b.
Transport guides 124, 124, discharge rollers 125, 12
Storage section 121 via a transport path 126 composed of 5, 125
Be transported to. 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 rotate in the direction of the arrow in the figure to release the transport path 126, and the plate body 1 fixed to the transport guide 123a.
A spring 129 connected to 28 is adapted to return to its original position.

A jogger mechanism 130 is provided in the vicinity of the transport guides 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. The elevator platform 131 is moved up and down by an elevator mechanism 120 including a belt 132, a winding roller 133, an idle roller 134, etc., which is driven by being connected to a motor (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 1, on the upper surface of the storage section 121, a paper empty switch 135 for detecting the absence of the paper P on the elevator base 131 and the elevator base 13 are detected.
An elevator upper limit switch 136 is provided for detecting that a predetermined number of sheets P on the sheet 1 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 on the lower side surface of the storage section 121.

The elevator table 131 has several sheets of paper P.
Is stored and the elevator upper limit switch 136 is turned on for a predetermined time or the elevator upper limit switch 1
By turning on the motor until 36 turns off,
The elevator base 131 is lowered.

Further, 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. FIG. 10 is a rear front view 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 section 4 is provided with a power inlet 4a, a fuse 4b, optional I / F connectors 4c and 4d, and a reversing section I / F connector 4e. The large-capacity sheet feeder 6 includes a power inlet 6a and a power outlet 6
b, a fuse 6c, a breaker 6d, optional I / F connectors 6e and 6f, and an inversion section I / F connector 6g are provided. The large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7 is provided with a power inlet 7a, a power outlet 7b, a fuse 7c, a breaker 7d, an optional I / F connector 7e, and a reversing section I / F connector 7f.

As shown in FIG. 11, the power inlet 1a and the power inlet 7a are connected to external power outlets via power cables 161, 162, respectively, and the power inlet 4a and the power outlet 6b are connected to the power cable. 163, and the power inlet 6a and the power outlet 7b are connected by a power cable 164.

The optional I / F connector 1b and I
/ F connector 2a is connected by a cable 165,
The option I / F connector 1c and the option I / F connector 4d are connected by a cable 166, and the option I / F connector 4c and the option I / F connector 6e.
Are connected by cable 167, and optional I / F
The connector 6f and the optional I / F connector 7e are connected by a cable 168, and the reversing section I / F connector 4e
And the I / F connector 3a are connected by a cable 169.

FIG. 12 shows the outline of interface connection between the laser printer 1 and the automatic double-sided paper feeding device 5, the large-capacity paper feeding device 6, and the large-capacity paper ejection accommodating device 7, which are external devices.

That is, in the laser printer 1, the automatic double-sided sheet feeding device 5, the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6, and the large-capacity sheet discharging and accommodating device 7, each of the communication circuit sections described later has an interface signal cable (the above-mentioned signal cable 166 , 167, 1
(Corresponding to 68) 300 is connected.

FIG. 13 shows the configuration of the above-mentioned communication circuit section.

In this figure, reference numeral 310 denotes a communication circuit section of the main body apparatus 1, which is composed of a CPU 311, which controls the overall control, a communication control circuit 312, an internal data bus 313, the connector 1c and the like.

On the other hand, reference numeral 320 denotes, for example, a communication circuit section of the re-feeding section 4 of the automatic double-sided sheet feeding device 5, which is composed of a CPU 321, a communication control circuit 322, an internal data bus 323, the connectors 4d, 4c and the like. .

Although not shown, the communication circuit units of the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 and the large-capacity sheet discharging and accommodating device 7 have the same structure as the communication circuit unit 320 of the re-feeding unit 4. .

The communication circuit section 310 of the laser printer 1 and the communication circuit section 320 of the re-feeding section 4 are connected to the connector 1c of the communication circuit section 310 and the connector 4d of the communication circuit section 320 via the interface signal cable 166. Connected by. In addition, the communication circuit unit 3 of the refeed unit 4
In FIG. 20, the communication circuit section of the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 is provided with an interface signal cable 168 via an interface signal cable 167 extending from the connector 4c. The communication circuit section of the large-capacity discharged sheet storage device 7 is connected via the.

The interface signals are TXD, RX.
It is composed of two signal lines D.

TXD is a signal for transmitting a command from the laser printer 1 to the re-feeding section 4, the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6, and the large-capacity sheet discharging and accommodating device 7. For example, as shown in FIG. The start bit of "0", the following bit data D0 to D7, and the stop bit of "1" are serially transmitted.

Bit data D0 to D7 are, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, it is defined as data indicating the contents of various commands. That is, the bit data D0 to D7
Of these, D7 and D6 are option ID bits for designating an external device (option), and D5 to D0 are command bits indicating the content of the command.

FIG. 16 shows an example of the command transmitted in this embodiment.

On the other hand, RXD is a signal for transmitting the status to the laser printer 1 from the re-feeding unit 4, the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6, and the large-capacity sheet ejection accommodating device 7, and FIG.
It has the same configuration as the TXD shown in FIG.

The bit data D7 to D0 of RXD are status bits for indicating the contents of the status, as shown in FIG. 17, for example. That is, in the case of the automatic double-sided sheet feeding device status, as shown in FIG. 18, for example, the bits D7 to D0 are assigned meanings. Further, in the case of the large-capacity paper feeding device status, as shown in FIG. 19, for example, each bit D7 to D0 is assigned a meaning. In the case of the large-capacity discharged sheet storage device status, for example, as shown in FIG.
The meaning of 0 is given.

Here, in the large capacity sheet feeding device status D
Bits 0 and D1 represent the remaining amount of paper, and as shown in FIG.
The level of the remaining amount can be notified to the laser printer 1 in four steps.

In the same manner, the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7
Is also provided so that the extent of the remaining amount can be seen on the status.

The TXD signal line is connected to the SO terminal of the communication control circuit 312 of the communication circuit section 310 on the laser printer 1 side, and to the SI terminal of the communication control circuit 322 of the communication circuit section 320 on the refeed section 4 side. Has been done.

The RXD signal line is connected to the SI terminal 312 of the communication control circuit on the laser printer 1 side.

FIG. 22 shows the configuration of the communication control circuit 312 described above.

When transmitting data, first, the above CP
The data is transferred by the U311 to the register 312a via the internal data bus 313. Then, the control signal 312c from the transmission control circuit 312b adds the start bit and the stop bit as described above.
Then, after the transmission data is transferred to the shift register 312d, the data is serially output from the SO terminal in synchronization with the transfer clock 312e from the transmission control circuit 312b. Also, when the data transmission is completed,
The transmission control circuit 312b outputs a pulsed transmission end signal EOT to the CPU 311.

In this way, the communication circuit section 31 described above is used.
The transmission of TXD from 0 is controlled.

On the other hand, the received data is taken into the communication control circuit 312 from the SI terminal, and the shift register 312f
And the reception control circuit 312g. When the start bit of the data is detected by the reception control circuit 312g, the shift register 31 is synchronized with the transfer clock 312h from the reception control circuit 312g.
Data is serially captured in 2f. When the stop bit is detected, the shift register 312 is controlled by the control signal 312i from the reception control circuit 312g.
The data fetched by f is transferred to the register 312j. When the data reception is completed in this way, the pulse-shaped transmission end signal EOR is output from the reception control circuit 312g.
It is output to the PU 311.

The data stored in the register 312j is sent to the CPU 311 via the internal data bus 313.

In this way, the communication circuit section 31 described above is used.
The reception of RXD from 0 is controlled.

Incidentally, reference numeral 312k in the figure denotes an oscillator circuit for generating a clock 312l for synchronizing during communication.

Although the communication control circuit 312 on the side of the laser printer 1 has been described as an example here, the communication control circuit 322 on the side of the re-feeding unit 4 also has the same configuration, and the reception of TXD and RXD. Transmission and control are controlled.

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

As shown in the figure, the control circuit is provided with an engine control section 43 which controls 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, the fixing device 17, the sensors 34, 35, and 3.
6, sheet feeding device connection switch 37, reversing unit connection switch 3
8, optional I / F connector 1b, 1c, high voltage power supply 1
71, the mechanism drive circuit 172, and the power supply device 173 are connected.

High voltage signals for developing bias, charging and transfer are output from the high voltage power source 171 to the developing bias power feeding unit (not shown), the charging device 13 and the wire high voltage power feeding unit (not shown) of the transfer device 15, respectively. To be done.

The mechanism section drive circuit 172 drives various motors, solenoids and the like.
2, a cooling fan 177, a main motor 178, a manual paper feed solenoid 179, and a cassette paper feed solenoid 18 are provided.
0, aligning solenoid 181, toner supply solenoid 182, gate solenoid 183, pre-exposure device 16
Are connected.

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

The laser optical system 11 is provided with a scanner control circuit 174 for controlling the entire laser optical system 11. A semiconductor laser oscillator 175 that generates a laser, a laser light detection sensor 176 that detects the amount of laser light from the semiconductor laser oscillator 175, and the mirror motor 29 are connected to the scanner control circuit 174.

The fixing device 17 has a structure shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, the heater roller 17a has a heater lamp 17b and a thermistor 17c for measuring the temperature in the vicinity of the heat roller 17a.

As shown in FIG. 23, the power supply device 173 is provided with a noise filter 185 and a fuse 186, which are connected to the inlet 1a via the noise filter 185, the fuse 186, and the main switch 187. .

The power supply device 173 has a main switch 187.
Is turned on, the power supply voltages of + 5V and + 24V are output. 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, + 24V
Is sequentially supplied to the engine control unit 43 through the cover switches 188 and 189. 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.

Then, 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, the aligning solenoid 181,
Toner supply solenoid 182, gate solenoid 18
3 and the cooling fan 177, etc., and are used as drive power sources for these.

Further, the power supply device 173 is provided with a heater lamp drive circuit (not shown) of a zero-cross switch system for driving the heater lamp 17b inside the fixing device 17, which is composed of, for example, a phototriac coupler and a triac. + 24V is used as a driving power source for the light emitting side LED of the phototriac coupler. In the heater lamp drive circuit of this configuration, as is well known, when the light emitting side LED is turned on / off, the photo triac on the light receiving side is turned on / off at the zero cross point of the AC power supply.
When turned off, the triac, which is the main switching element in the next stage, is turned on / off to turn on / off the AC power supply to the heater lamp 17b. Then, a heater control signal for turning on / off the light emitting side LED is supplied from the engine control unit 43 to the power supply device 173, and a temperature signal detected by the thermistor 17c provided in the fixing device 17 is supplied to the engine control unit. 43 is supplied.

The cover switch 188 is turned off when the top cover (not shown) is rotated upward, and the cover switch 189 is turned off when the rear cover (not shown) is opened. Therefore, when the top cover or the rear cover is opened, + 24V is cut off by the switches 188 and 189, so that the semiconductor laser oscillator 175 and the mirror motor 2 are
9, the operation of the high-voltage power supply 171, the main motor 178, the solenoids 179 to 183, the cooling fan 177, the heater lamp 17b, etc. is stopped so that the operator can touch the inside of the apparatus main body 1 without any trouble. There is.

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

As shown in the figure, the control circuit of the sheet feeding device 2 is provided with a control circuit 191 for controlling the entire sheet feeding device 2. The control circuit 191 includes an aligning switch 74, a paper empty switch 73, I
The / F connector 2a, the door switch 192, the driver 193 for exciting the motor 70, the driver 194 for exciting the sheet feeding solenoid 69, and the 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.

As shown in the figure, the control circuit of the inverting section 3 is provided with a control circuit 201 for controlling the inverting section 3 as a whole. The control circuit 201 includes the sensors 85, I
/ F connector 3a, door switch 202, motor 203
A driver 204 for exciting the gate solenoid 205, a driver 206 for exciting the gate solenoid 205, 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 section 4 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described using 6.

As shown in the figure, the control circuit of the re-feeding unit 4 is provided with a control circuit 211 for controlling the entire re-feeding unit 4. The control circuit 211 includes the sensor 9
1, 92, reversing section I / F connector 4e, option I /
F connector 4c, 4d, door switch 212, motor 2
Driver 214 for exciting 13 and gate solenoid 21
5, a driver 216 for exciting the driver 5, a driver 218 for exciting the aligning solenoid 217, and a step-down transformer 219 are connected.

When the gate solenoid 215 is excited, the gate 88 is switched. When the aligning solenoid 217 is excited, the rotation of the motor 213 is transmitted to the aligning roller pair 89d.

The step-down transformer 219 includes a noise filter 220, a fuse 4b, and a main switch 22.
1 is connected to the inlet 4a.

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

As shown in the figure, the control circuit of the large capacity sheet feeding device 6 is provided with a control circuit 231 for controlling the entire large capacity sheet feeding device 6. The control circuit 231 includes the sensor 117, the paper empty switch 105, the elevator upper limit switch 106, the elevator lower limit switch 107, the inverting section I / F connector 6g, and the option I / F.
Connectors 6e, 6f, pre-feed sensor 113, elevator down switch 232 for forcibly lowering elevator base 104, side cover switch 233, front cover switch 234, upper device such as a detector (not shown) from refeed unit 4 ), The upper device switch 235, the driver 237 for driving the elevator motor 236, the driver 239 for driving the pulse motor 238, the driver 241 for exciting the sheet feeding solenoid 240, the driver 243 for exciting the aligning solenoid 242, and the step down. The transformer 244 is connected.

When the sheet feeding solenoid 240 is excited, the rotation of the pulse motor 238 is transmitted to the sheet feeding roller 108. By exciting the aligning solenoid 242, the rotation of the pulse motor 238 is transmitted to the aligning roller pair 110.

The step-down transformer 244 includes a noise filter 245, a fuse 6c and a main switch 24.
It is connected to the inlet 6a and the outlet 6b via 6.

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

As shown in the figure, the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7
A control circuit 241 for controlling the entire large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7 is provided in the control circuit of. This control circuit 241
The sensor 127 and the paper empty switch 1
35, elevator upper limit switch 136, elevator lower limit switch 137, reversing unit I / F connector 7f, option I / F connector 7e, elevator down switch 242 for forcibly lowering the elevator stand 131, side cover switch 139, front cover switch 244. ,
An upper device switch 24 that is turned on by a detector (not shown) from the upper device, for example, the large-capacity paper feeder 6.
5, the jog sensor 246 that detects the state of the jogger mechanism 130, the driver 2 that drives the elevator motor 247
48, a driver 250 for driving the pulse motor 249,
Driver 25 for exciting electromagnetic clutch 251 for jogger
2. Driver 25 for exciting the jog solenoid 253
4. A step-down transformer 255 is connected.

The jogger mechanism 130 is driven by exciting the jogger electromagnetic clutch 251 and the jog solenoid 253.

The step-down transformer 255 includes a noise filter 256, a fuse 7c and a main switch 25.
It is connected to the inlet 7a and the outlet 7b through 7.

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

That is, when a print command is supplied from the printer control unit 42, the engine control unit 43
Confirms whether the paper source stored in the internal memory (not shown) is the large capacity paper feeder (LCF) 6.

When the paper source is the large-capacity paper feeder 6, the engine controller 43 sends an ON command for the large-capacity paper feeder 6 to the printer controller 42. In addition, the engine control unit 4
When the jam detection signal is supplied from the large-capacity sheet feeding device 6 after a predetermined time has passed by the timer of the internal memory, the number 3 is transmitted to the printer control unit 42. The printer control unit 43 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 or not the vertical synchronization signal request transmission timing is reached, and at the transmission timing, sends 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 this 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 is a liquid crystal display unit 51 of the operation panel 41.
Guide you through the jam.

When the jam does not occur, the engine control unit 43 determines that the discharge source is the large-capacity discharge storage device (LCS) 7
It is checked whether or not the reversing unit 3 is connected.

The discharge source is the large-capacity discharge storage device 7 and the reversing unit 3
Is connected, the engine control unit 43 controls the reversing unit 3
And send a down straight command to the large capacity paper feeder 6,
A sheet discharge command is transmitted to the large capacity sheet 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, by pressing the menu next item key 59 on the operation panel 41, the mode for designating the paper source is displayed. At this time, the value next item key 61 is pressed to specify the paper source. 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 unit 51.

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

For example, the paper feed cassette 1
9a, 19b, the sheet feeder 2, and the large capacity sheet feeder 6 are selected.

The instruction of the paper source may be issued based on the command data from the host computer 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 the paper source designation command stores the command in a built-in memory (not shown).

Next, by pressing the menu next item key 59 on the operation panel 41, the mode for designating the discharge source 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 designation mode of the discharge destination, and the designated discharge destination is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 51.

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

For example, the paper discharge tray 9 is used as the paper discharge destination.
33, the large-capacity discharged paper storage device 7 is selected.

The instruction of the paper discharge destination may be made based on the command data from the host computer 10.

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

In such a state, when the printer control unit 42 receives the data from the host computer 10, the engine control unit 43 side determines from the status signal whether or not it is ready. If the result of this determination is that 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, the printer controller 42 sends the 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. If there is print data, the video data is sent again to the engine control unit 43, and if not, the process ends.

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 238 is driven for a certain period of time to convey the rollers 116a. 1
Rotate 16b. As a result, the sheet P supplied from the upper device, for example, the transport path 87 of the re-feeding unit 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 section 43 is supplied, the control circuit 211 checks whether the command is the down straight, and when the command is the down straight, the gate 8
Switch 8 down. 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 sheet storage device 7 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 241 checks whether the command is a paper discharge command. In the case of a paper discharge command, the control circuit 241 checks whether the sensor 127 is on, and when the sensor 127 is turned on, after a predetermined time has elapsed by the timer of the internal memory,
Check whether the sensor 127 is off. When the sensor 127 is on, the control circuit 241 determines a jam and sends a jam detection signal to the engine control unit 43.

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

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. Transport paths 90 and 8
9, transport path 30 of laser printer 1, laser printer 1
The sheet is conveyed to the large-capacity discharged paper accommodating apparatus 7 via the printing section, the conveying paths 82 and 83 of the reversing section 3, the conveying path 87 of the re-feeding section 4, and the conveying path 116 of the large-capacity sheet feeding apparatus 6.

[0161]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus, a sheet feeding apparatus, and a discharged sheet storage apparatus that can present the remaining amount of paper and the remaining discharged sheet storage capacity, and can improve the efficiency of printing processing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus, a large-capacity sheet feeding apparatus, and a large-capacity sheet ejection storage apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an external configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus of FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the image forming apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a main part configuration of the large-capacity sheet feeding device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the large-capacity sheet feeding device in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the large-capacity sheet feeding device in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of main parts of the large-capacity discharged sheet storage device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a rear configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a rear structure of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a connection configuration of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of the apparatus of FIG.

16 is a diagram showing an example of the command of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of the apparatus of FIG.

20 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of the apparatus of FIG.

22 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG.

28 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 29 is a view for explaining the operation of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 30 is a view for explaining the operation of the apparatus in FIG.

FIG. 31 is a view for explaining the operation of the apparatus in FIG.

FIG. 32 is a view for explaining the operation of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 6 Large-capacity paper feeding apparatus 7 Large-capacity paper ejection storage apparatus 104,131 Elevator stand 106,136 Elevator upper limit switch 107,137 Elevator lower limit switch

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a transfer material by an image forming means, wherein the transfer material is mounted so that the transfer materials are stacked, and a vertically movable lift base is mounted on the lift base. A transfer unit that sequentially transfers the transferred transfer material on the re-upper portion to the image forming unit, and a predetermined height position where the upper end of the transfer material placed on the elevating table is transferred by the transfer unit. The upper limit position sensor for detecting whether or not the lower limit position sensor detects that the lifting platform is lowered to a predetermined lower limit position, and the lower limit position sensor detects the lifting platform once when the power is turned on. Down to a lower limit position, and then the elevator is raised until the upper limit of the transfer material placed on the elevator is detected by the upper limit position sensor. In front of the lift An image forming apparatus characterized by comprising a control means which calculates and outputs the amount of the transfer material. 2. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a transfer material by image forming means, wherein the transfer material on which the image is formed by the image forming means is
A vertically movable elevator that is placed so as to be stacked, a conveyance unit that carries the transfer material sent from the image forming apparatus onto the elevator, and an elevator that is placed on the elevator An upper limit position sensor that detects whether or not the upper end portion of the transfer material is at a predetermined height position that can be carried in by the conveying unit, and a lower limit position that detects that the lifting platform has descended to a predetermined lower limit position. The sensor and, when the power is turned on, the elevating table is once lowered to a lower limit position detected by the lower limit position sensor, and thereafter, the upper limit position sensor detects the upper end of the transfer material placed on the elevating table. And a control means for raising and lowering the elevating table until a copy is detected, and calculating and outputting the amount of the transfer material that can be stored on the elevating table from the process at this time. apparatus. 3. A transfer material, which is placed so as to be stacked on an elevating table, is sent out by a sending device while sequentially raising the elevating table from the transfer material located at the uppermost position, and an image is transferred onto the transfer material. In a paper feeding device for feeding to an image forming apparatus to be formed on, it is detected whether the upper end portion of the transfer material placed on the elevating table is at a predetermined height position for feeding by the feeding means. An upper limit position sensor, a lower limit position sensor that detects that the lifting platform is lowered to a predetermined lower limit position, and when the power is turned on, the lifting platform is once lowered to a lower limit position detected by the lower limit position sensor, Thereafter, the upper limit position sensor raises the lift table until the upper end of the transfer material placed on the lift table is detected, and from the process at this time, the transfer material on the lift table is moved. Calculate the amount And a control means for outputting. 4. A paper discharge storage device for storing transfer materials on which an image is formed by an image forming apparatus so that the transfer material is stacked on the lift table while sequentially descending the lift table, and is sent from the image forming apparatus. Conveying means for carrying the transfer material onto the elevating table, and whether or not the upper end portion of the transfer material placed on the elevating table is at a predetermined height position that can be carried in by the conveying means. An upper limit position sensor for detecting the lower limit position, a lower limit position sensor for detecting that the lift base is lowered to a predetermined lower limit position, and when the power is turned on, the lift base is once lowered to the lower limit position detected by the lower limit position sensor. After that, the elevator is raised until the upper limit of the transfer material placed on the elevator is detected by the upper limit position sensor, and the elevator is stored on the elevator from the process at this time. Discharge and storage apparatus characterized by comprising a control means which calculates and outputs the amount of capacity of the transfer material.