JPH06343118A - Image reader printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To integrate a read part and a print part compactly. CONSTITUTION:The read part B which reads information out of a document 3 and the print part A which prints the information on a form 2 by electrophotography at a print speed slower than the read speed of the read part B are provided integrally in a main body box 1, wherein a document conveyance path which guides the document 3 from a document supply part 30 to a document discharge part 38 through the read position S of the read part B and a form conveyance part which guides the form 2 from a foam supply part to a form discharge part through the print part A are provided partially in common; and a switching plate 60 for sending the document 3 to the side of the read part B and the form 2 to the side of the print part A is provided at the branch point of the document conveyance path and form conveyance path.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading / printing apparatus integrally provided with a printing section for printing by electrophotography and a reading section for reading information from a document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, printers such as LED printers and laser printers, which print on paper by electrophotography, and readers, such as scanners, which read information from documents, have been widely used as peripheral devices for information processing devices such as document filing systems. Has been done. Here, the reader has come to be able to perform processing at a considerably high speed due to the recent technological progress, and naturally, the document feeding speed is considerably high. On the other hand, in the above printing apparatus, if the printing speed is increased to the same level as that of the reading apparatus, the photosensitive drum in the printing apparatus rotates at a high speed while coming into contact with the cleaner, and the photosensitive drum is worn. Therefore, the printing speed of the printing device is much slower than the reading speed of the reading device (about 20 mm / sec).
I have to do it.

[0003]

Here, there is a strong demand for integrating the reading device and the printing device into a compact structure. However, as described above, the printing speed is slower than the reading speed, and it is not easy to adjust both speeds.

If the paper and the original are to be sent in a completely common conveying path, the original will be sent at a low printing speed in order to avoid the above abrasion. However, doing so sacrifices the high speed of the reading device. Also,
If the paper conveyance path and the original conveyance path are completely different from each other, a feed mechanism for each conveyance path is required, and the size of the apparatus becomes large, so that it is not possible to meet the demand for compactness.

Therefore, it is extremely difficult and impractical to integrate the reading device and the electrophotographic printing device compactly without sacrificing the high reading speed. No means have been devised to realize the.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading / printing apparatus which can compactly integrate a reading apparatus and an electrophotographic printing apparatus.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An image reading / printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing unit for reading information from a document and a printing unit for printing on paper at a printing speed lower than the reading speed of the reading unit by an electrophotographic method. Is integrally provided in the main body box, and in the main body box, a document conveyance path for guiding a document from the document supply unit to the document discharge unit via the reading position of the reading unit, and a sheet from the paper supply unit. A paper conveyance path that guides the paper to the paper ejection section via the printing section is provided in common, and the document conveyance path and the paper conveyance path are branched so as to feed the original to the reading section and the paper to the printing section. A transport path switching means is provided at the point.

[0008]

According to the above construction, by making a part of the paper feed path and the document feed path in common, the feed mechanism is shared, the increase in scale of the apparatus can be suppressed, and the apparatus can be made compact.
Further, the document is sent to the document discharge unit by the document path switching unit through the reading position by the document path. Further, the sheet is sent to the sheet discharging section through the printing section by the sheet conveying path. Here, on the downstream side of the branch point where the transport path switching means is provided, the document transport path and the paper transport path are different paths, so the feed speed at the time of document scanning is increased,
The feeding speed during printing can be slowed down so that the photosensitive drum is less likely to wear.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an image reading / printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a main body box,
It is vertically long (Tallboy type) so that it can be installed upright. In the first embodiment, an electrophotographic printing unit A that prints on the paper 2 at a low printing speed is provided above the internal space of the main body box 1, and the original 3 is placed below the printing unit A. A reading unit B for reading information is provided.

In the printing unit A shown, 4 is a photosensitive drum, 5 is a developing roller in contact with the photosensitive drum 4, 6 is a spring for pressing the developing roller 5 against the photosensitive drum 4, and 7 is a writing LED. , 8 are erase LEDs, and 9 is a charger. Also,
Reference numeral 10 is a toner storage device, 11 is a toner discharge roller, 12 is a stirring roller, and 13 is a magnet roller. Reference numeral 15 is a fixing roller having a heater, and 16 is a pressing roller that is biased by a spring 17 and comes into pressure contact with the fixing roller 15. That is, the toner 14 moves to the toner discharge roller 11 side as shown by the arrow N1, is stirred by the stirring roller 12, and adheres to the peripheral surface of the magnet roller 13. On the other hand, the photoconductor drum 4 is charged by the charger 9 and is exposed by the writing LED 7, and only the charge in the non-exposed region remains. Then, the toner 14 on the peripheral surface of the magnet roller 13 is attracted to the area of the photoconductor drum 4 where the electric charge remains while the toner is being electrically charged, so that development is performed. Then, on the paper 2 passing between the photosensitive drum 4 and the developing roller 5,
The toner 14 attached to the photosensitive drum 4 is transferred, and the heat and pressure of the fixing roller 15 and the pressing roller 16 act on the paper 2 to cause the toner 1 transferred to the paper 2
4 is dissolved and fixed.

In the transfer process described above, most of the toner 14 on the photosensitive drum 4 is transferred to the paper 2, but a small amount of the toner 14 remains on the photosensitive drum 4.
A cleaner 18 scrapes off the remaining toner 14, and the cleaner 18 constantly contacts the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 4. Therefore, if the feeding speed of the paper 2 in the printing unit A is increased as described in the section of the related art, the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 4 increases, and the cleaner 18 wears the photosensitive drum 4. For this reason, the feeding speed in the printing section A, that is, the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 4 and the fixing roller 15 must be lowered to some extent. In the present embodiment, the case where the LED printer is used has been described, but a laser printer may be used.

On the other hand, in the reading section B, 20 is a light source made of a fluorescent lamp, 21 is a reading sensor made of a CCD, 22 is a lens barrel having a built-in lens, and 23 is a transparent member provided near the reading position S of the original 3. It is a light board. Then, the light emitted from the light source 20 is applied to the document 3 at the reading position S,
As indicated by the chain line, while changing the optical path by the reflecting mirrors 24, 25, and 26, the light passes through the lens barrel 22, and the reading sensor 21
Image on.

Next, the paper transport path, the document transport path, etc. will be described. Reference numeral 30 is a substantially horizontal document supply unit, and 31 is a tray attached to the document supply unit 30 for receiving the document 3 underneath. Reference numerals 32 and 33 are substantially horizontal guides, and 34 is a rod of a cylinder that pushes the guide 33 and the document 3 placed on the guide 33 upward. Reference numerals 35 and 36 are substantially vertical guides, 37 is a guide curved to the right in FIG. 1, and 38 is a document discharge section which also serves as a sheet discharge section. Reference numeral 51 is a document feeding roller, 52 is a document separating roller, and 53 is a document retarding roller, which is rotated in the arrow direction by a document feeding motor 54 to convey the documents 3 one by one.

Reference numeral 40 denotes a door body whose lower portion is coaxially attached to the main body box 1 coaxially with a printing portion paper feed roller IR which will be described later. The door body 40 can be opened and closed in the direction of arrow N2. ing. Reference numeral 41 denotes an upright plate which is erected on the outer side of the door body 40. In the state shown by the chain line, the paper 2 is inserted into the space t (paper supply unit) between the door body 40 and the upright plate 41, and as shown by the solid line, When the door body 40 is closed, the sheet 2 is held in an upright state. Therefore, the bottom area can be made very small as compared with the case where the sheet 2 is laid down and supplied. Further, the door body 40 is provided with a guide 42 facing the guide 37, a guide 43 facing the guide 36, and a guide 44 facing the guide 35, and a guide transport path is formed by these guide groups. Also, R4, R
Denoted at 5 and R6 are driven rollers rotatably supported by the door body 40. These driven rollers R4, R5 and R6 are urged by springs K1, K2 and K3, respectively, and along the document conveying path. Conveyor roller R provided in the main body box 1
Press contact with 1, R2 and R3.

When the sheet 2 is held in an upright state, the lower end of the sheet 2 abuts on a friction plate 45 provided below the inside of the upright plate 41, as shown in FIG. Here, (friction coefficient between the peripheral surface of the printing unit paper feed roller IR and the paper 2)>
Since there is a magnitude relation of the number of frictions in the order of (friction coefficient between friction plate 45 and paper 2)> (friction coefficient between papers 2), papers 2 are conveyed one by one along the printing unit paper feed roller IR. To be done. Reference numeral 46 is a spring that presses the paper 2 toward the printing unit paper feed roller IR side.

Further, the paper transport path is provided in common with the document transport path in the portions of the guides 35 and 44. However, as indicated by the chain line arrow, the sheet 2 is sent from the original document transport path to the printing section A by the switching plate 60 serving as a transport path switching unit disposed at the branch point of these transport paths.

The switching plate 60 will be described below. In FIG. 5, 61 is a shaft to which the switching plate 60 is attached,
62 is a retaining ring fixed to a predetermined axial position of the shaft 61, 63 is a first pulley, 65 is a friction ring, 6
6 is a set screw in which the internal thread portion 66a is screwed into the external thread portion 61a engraved on the tip of the shaft 61, 64 urges the first pulley 63 in the arrow direction, and pushes the first pulley 63 against the friction ring 65. A spring 67 to be brought into contact is a switching plate driving motor. A second pulley 68 is attached to an output shaft 67a of the switching plate driving motor 67, and a belt 6 is attached to the first pulley 63 and the second pulley 68.
9 is banded. Therefore, when the motor 67 is driven, the switching plate 60 can be rotated in the arrow N4 direction. Note that, as shown in FIG. 1, the position of the switching plate 60 is regulated by the tip end of the switching plate 60 contacting the guide 35 or 43.

Further, in FIG. 1, S1 is a document sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the document 3, S2 is a sheet feeding sensor for detecting the passage of the document 3 or the sheet 2, and 70 is a conveying roller R1, R2, R3. It is a conveyance motor for driving the etc.

Next, the drive mechanism of the carry motor 70 will be described with reference to FIGS. The relationship between the respective elements of the mechanism shown in FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. In addition,
In FIG. 4, the solid line indicates that the shaft is attached, the arrow indicates that the teeth are engaged, and the broken line indicates that rotation is restricted. Also, C
1, C2, C3 are one-way clutches
There is a driven shaft side, and "subordinate" means a driven shaft side. The one-way clutch C1 transmits only clockwise rotation to the driven shaft side, the one-way clutch C2 transmits only counterclockwise rotation, and the one-way clutch C3 transmits only clockwise rotation. In addition, as shown in FIG.
The printing mechanism driving pulley P1 is a pair of pulleys P1a and P1.
In the conveyor roller driving pulley P2 of FIG. 4, the first pulley P2a is connected to the conveyor roller R1 and the second and third pulleys P2b and P2c forming a double pulley are connected to the conveyor roller R1. The conveyance roller R2 is provided with a fourth pulley P2.
d is axially attached to the transport roller R3. Further, between the first pulley P2a and the second pulley P2b and the third pulley P2c and the fourth pulley P, which form a pair, respectively.
Belts B2 and B3 are banded between 2d. Similarly, the relay pulley P3 of FIG. 4 is composed of a pulley P3a axially mounted on the relay gear G5 and a belt P4 belted on a pulley P3b axially mounted on the electromagnetic clutch C4. Further, in FIG. 4, “hour” in “()” indicates clockwise rotation, “counter” indicates counterclockwise rotation, and “stop” indicates stop, and “/” in “()” is indicated. The left side of is the conveyance motor 7
The rotation direction when the output shaft 70a of 0 rotates clockwise, the right side of "/" in "()" indicates the rotation direction when the output shaft 70a of the carry motor 70 rotates counterclockwise. However, with regard to the electromagnetic clutch C4, ON / OFF of the clutch is indicated by connecting / disconnecting.

Here, when the output shaft 70a of the carry motor 70 is rotated clockwise, the photosensitive drum 4 of the printing section A is rotated clockwise. On the other hand, when rotating counterclockwise, the photosensitive drum 4 is stopped.

Next, the transport system will be described. In conclusion, regardless of the rotation direction of the output shaft 70a, the printing section transport mechanism drive gear G3, the relay gear G5, and the relay pulley P3.
Always rotates integrally in the counterclockwise direction, and the reading unit transport mechanism drive gear G7, the transport roller drive gear G4, the transport roller drive pulley P2, and the transport rollers R1, R2, R3 always rotate in the clockwise direction. It is supposed to do. This is because when the output shaft 70a rotates in the clockwise direction, the clockwise rotational force of the motor output gear G1 causes the first intermediate gear G2 (counterclockwise) and the one-way clutch C2.
(Counterclockwise direction) through the printing section transport mechanism drive gear G3
Is transmitted as a counterclockwise rotation, resulting in the above-described rotation state. On the contrary, when the output shaft 70a rotates counterclockwise, the counterclockwise rotational force of the motor output gear G1 passes through the second intermediate gear G6 (clockwise direction) and the one-way clutch C3 (clockwise direction), and the reading unit. This is because the same rotational state as when the output shaft 70a is rotated clockwise is transmitted to the transport mechanism drive gear G7 as a clockwise rotational force. Then, when the output shaft 70a rotates, the transport roller R is irrespective of the rotation direction.
1, R2 and R3 rotate clockwise, and the relay pulley P3 in FIG. 4 rotates counterclockwise. Here, if the document feeding motor 54 is driven, the document feeding roller 51, the document separating roller 52, and the document retarding roller 53 convey the documents 3 one by one, and if the electromagnetic clutch C4 is connected, the printing unit The paper feed roller IR rotates counterclockwise, and the paper 2 is conveyed.

However, as shown enlarged in FIG.
The motor output gear G1, the first intermediate gear G2, the transport roller drive gear G4, the relay gear G5, the second intermediate gear G6, and the reading unit transport mechanism drive gear G7 have the same diameter, and the printing unit transport mechanism drive gear G3 has the same diameter. Since the diameter is smaller than the diameters of the other gears, the rotation transmitted to the transport roller driving gear G4 and the relay gear G5 when the output of the output shaft 70a rotates clockwise than when the output rotates counterclockwise. Will be late. Therefore, only by switching the rotation direction of the output shaft 70a, it is possible to switch between the reading mode in which the original 3 is conveyed at a higher speed and the printing mode in which the sheet 2 is conveyed at a lower speed.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an image reading / printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral C denotes a control means such as a CPU, which inputs a signal as to whether or not the original 3 is present in the original supply unit 30 from the original sensor S1 according to the operation flow chart shown in FIG. The image information read by the reading sensor 21 in the reading mode is input together with the input of a signal indicating whether or not the reading is completed. On the other hand, the control means C outputs an operation command to the switching plate driving motor 67, the conveyance motor 70, the document feeding motor 54, the electromagnetic clutch C4, and the printing section A.

The image reading / printing apparatus according to the first embodiment is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described below with reference to FIG. First, in step 1, the control means C refers to the operation mode information from the information processing device (not shown). Then, in the reading mode, the conveyance motor 70
The output shaft 70a is rotated counterclockwise (step 2). Then, as described above, the photosensitive drum 4 of the printing unit A remains stopped, and the switching plate 60 is brought into contact with the guide 35 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 to open the document conveyance path (step 3). Further, since the carry motor 70 is driven, the carry rollers R1, R2 and R3 rotate clockwise at a high speed (reading speed). Then, the control means C refers to the information of the document sensor S1 (step 4), and if there is no document, the operation ends (step 9). On the other hand, if there is a document, the document feeding motor 54 is driven (step 5), and the documents 3 are fed one by one toward the reading position S at high speed. When the document 3 has passed the paper feed sensor S2 (step 6), the document feed motor 54 is stopped (step 7) and the next document is put on standby. And the reading sensor 21
However, at the reading position S, information is read from the document 3 being conveyed on the document conveying path (step 8), and the image information is sent to the control means C. When the reading is completed, the above process is repeated until the original 3 in the original supply unit 30 is exhausted.

On the other hand, in the print mode, the control means C
Rotates the output shaft 70a of the carry motor 70 clockwise (step 10). Then, as described above, the photosensitive drum 4 rotates clockwise at a low speed. Then, the switching plate 60 is brought into contact with the guide 43 in the opposite manner to the above, and the sheet conveying path indicated by the chain line arrow in FIG. 1 is opened (step 11). Then
By connecting the electromagnetic clutch C4 (step 12) and rotating the paper feeding roller IR in the counterclockwise direction, the papers 2 are sent one by one to the paper transport path. Here, when the paper 2 passes the paper feed sensor S2 (step 13), the control means C disengages the electromagnetic clutch C4, and the printing portion paper feed roller IR.
By stopping the step, the succeeding sheet is made to stand by in the sheet supply section (interval t) (step 14). Then, the sheet 2 is guided by the switching plate 60 to reach the printing section A, and each mechanism of the printing section A is driven to print on the sheet 2 (step 15). Then, the above process is repeated until printing is completed (step 16).

During the above printing operation, the photosensitive drum 4 rotates clockwise, but as shown in FIG.
Since the diameter of a is smaller than the diameter of the pulley P1b, the conveyance speed of the paper 2 in the printing unit A is lower than that during the reading operation. The pulley P1a and the pulley P1
The ratio of the diameters of b is configured such that the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 4 becomes equal to the conveying speed of the paper 2 by the rollers R1, R2 and R3 in the print mode.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view of an image reading / printing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the printing unit A is arranged below the reading unit B. By doing so, it is possible to prevent a part of the toner in the printing unit A from being splashed onto the reading unit B, and thus lowering the reading accuracy of the reading unit B. Others are almost the same as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0029]

According to the image reading / printing apparatus of the present invention, a reading unit for reading information from a document and a printing unit for printing on a sheet by electrophotography are integrally provided in the main body box. And a document conveyance path for guiding the document from the document supply unit to the document discharge unit via the reading position of the reading unit,
A paper conveyance path that guides the paper from the paper supply section to the paper ejection section via the printing section is provided in common, and an original conveyance path is provided to feed the original to the reading section and the paper to the printing section. Since the transport path switching means is provided at the branch point with the paper transport path,
It is possible to keep the document conveying speed at the time of reading high, reduce the feeding speed in the printing unit so as not to cause abrasion, and integrate the reading unit and the printing unit compactly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an image reading / printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the image reading / printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an image reading / printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3B is a partially enlarged view of the image reading / printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a drive system relationship diagram of the image reading and printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a switching plate of the image reading / printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the image reading and printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the image reading / printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view of an image reading / printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main body box 2 Paper 3 Original 60 Switching plate A Printing unit B Reading unit S Reading position

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G06F 3/12 M 15/64 320 A

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A reading unit for reading information from a document and a printing unit for printing on a sheet by electrophotography at a printing speed lower than the reading speed of the reading unit are integrally provided in a main body box. Inside the main body box, a document feeding path for guiding the document from the document feeding section to the document discharging section via the reading position of the reading section and a sheet for guiding the sheet from the paper feeding section to the paper discharging section via the printing section And a paper feed path for the paper feed path, and a paper feed path switching means at a branch point between the document feed path and the paper feed path for feeding the document to the reading section and the paper to the printing section. An image reading / printing apparatus comprising: 2. The reading unit is provided on an upper stage of the main body box,
The image reading / printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing section is disposed in a lower stage of the main body box. 3. The image reading / printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the paper supply unit is formed to hold the paper in an upright state.