JPH06343125A - Double-sided recording controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To record images in a proper direction corresponding to a binding direction on both surfaces of a form by converting the top and bottom direction of recording information to be recorded on the 2nd surface to the top and bottom direction of recording information to be recorded on the 1st surface. CONSTITUTION:LBPs (laser printer) 1 and 2 have similar constitution and record the images on the front and rear surfaces of a sheet respectively, and an inversion part 3 turns over the sheet. Then the 1st LBP 1 records the image from the top to the bottom by a laser in the rotating direction E of a photosensitive drum 9 and the 2nd LBP 2, on the other hand, records the image from the bottom to the top by a laser. Namely, the images are printed while inverted in top and bottom direction after switch-back type inversion in the travel direction of the sheet. Therefore, character patterns of A-C, and D-F are printed on the respective surfaces, the top and bottom direction of the characters in the travel direction of the sheet are inverted before and after the switch-back inversion, so the character on a screen are never inverted in top and bottom direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention processes recorded information,
The present invention relates to a double-sided recording control device that outputs processed recording information to a double-sided recording unit that records on both sides of a recording sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a double-sided copying machine or the like, by changing the direction of a recording sheet discharged from an intermediate tray according to the scanning direction of a document, double-sided recording in the same direction as the top and bottom sides of the document is performed. There is something to do.

[0003]

However, in an apparatus that receives recording data from a host computer, such as a laser beam printer, the direction of input recording information is constant, so double-sided recording in which the recording information is converted upside down. There was no device.

An object of the present invention is to input record information whose top and bottom directions are the same regardless of which side of the sheet is recorded, and to record information whose top and bottom directions are different depending on the binding direction of the recording sheet. It is to provide a double-sided recording control device capable of outputting.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the up-and-down conversion means records even if the recording information in which the direction of up and down is the same is input regardless of which of the recording sheets is input by the input means. By controlling the access to the record information stored in the means, the direction of the record information to be recorded on the second surface can be changed from the top and bottom direction of the record information to be recorded on the first surface according to the binding direction. Can be converted.

[0006]

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

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of a double-sided recording apparatus according to the present invention. Reference numerals 1 and 2 denote recording units for recording images on the front and back surfaces of a sheet, respectively, which are laser beam printers (hereinafter referred to as LBPs). ). LBP
1 and 2 have the same structure. Reference numeral 3 denotes a reversing unit for reversing a sheet, and 4 denotes a paper feeding cassette, which is mounted on the first laser printer and not mounted on the second laser printer, and is placed in the pedestal 21. Reference numeral 5 denotes a paper discharge tray, which is not attached to the first LBP 1, is detached and stored in the pedestal portion, and is attached to the second LBP 2. 6 is a cradle for receiving the paper feed cassette 4, 7
Is a pickup roller for taking out the sheets one by one from the paper feeding cassette 4, and 8 is a registration roller for feeding the taken out sheets to the transfer portion at a predetermined timing. 9 is a photosensitive drum, 10 is a charger for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum, 11 is a semiconductor laser, 12 is a scanner, 13 is a laser beam, 14 is a folding mirror, 15 is a developing device, 16 is a transfer charger, 17 Is a cleaner, and a laser beam 13 of a semiconductor laser 11 which blinks in accordance with image information is scanned by a scanner 12 in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 9 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 9, and a developing device 15 In this configuration, the toner image is obtained. Reference numeral 18 denotes a conveyer that suctions a sheet having a toner image transferred on its upper surface by a suction mechanism and conveys it by a belt, and 19 a fixing device that thermally fixes the toner image on the sheet.
Reference numeral 0 is a paper discharge roller. 21 is a pedestal for placing the LBP, 22 casters are attached, 23
You can move the floor.

Next, the structure of the reversing device 3 will be described.
Reference numeral 24 is a first connecting portion with the first LBP 1 and is attached to the receiving tray 25 on which the paper discharge tray 5 has been removed. Two
Reference numeral 6 denotes a second connecting portion with the LBP 2, which is a paper feed cassette 4
It is attached to the pedestal 6 on which the mark is removed. Reference numeral 27 is a conveyor for belt-conveying the sheet, and 28 is a conveyance roller, which comes into contact with the conveyance belt of the conveyor 27 and sends out the sheet.
Reference numeral 29 denotes a sheet separating plate for sorting the odd-numbered sheets sequentially conveyed by the conveyor 27 upward and the even-numbered sheets downward. Reference numeral 30 is a separation shaft which serves as a swing center of the sheet separation plate. Reference numeral 31 is a reversing roller, 32 is an input roller, and 33 is an output roller. Reference numeral 34 denotes an upper reversing guide, and 35 denotes a lower reversing guide, in which the sheet switches back. 36 is an up roller that rotates in a direction of lifting the sheet fed to the reversing guide 34 or 35, 37 is a down roller that rotates in a direction of feeding the sheet downward, and 38 and 39 are pressure rollers. The roller-to-sheet that moves and abuts is fed. Four
Reference numerals 0 to 45 are guide plates for guiding the sheet. 46 is a conveyor that conveys the sheet by a belt, and 47 is a re-feeding plate,
It is supported by 48 rotary shafts and is biased to information by 49 paper feed springs. Reference numerals 50 to 53 are sheet sensors that detect the leading edge or the trailing edge of the sheet. Reference numeral 50 denotes a sheet sensor for operating the separation plate 29 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the leading edge of the sheet was detected. Reference numeral 51 is an upper sheet sensor for detecting the trailing edge of the sheet and simultaneously performing a seesaw movement of the pressure rollers 38 and 39 to reverse the sheet feeding direction. Similarly, reference numeral 52 is a lower sheet sensor for detecting the trailing edge of the sheet and simultaneously performing a seesaw movement of the pressure bonding rollers 38, 39 to reverse the sheet feeding direction. Reference numeral 53 is a sheet sensor for detecting the leading edge of the sheet conveyed while being attracted to the belt by the conveyor 46 and driving the pickup roller 7 of the second LBP 2 to re-feed the sheet.

Reference numerals 54 to 58 are cooling fans. The sheet having one surface (front surface) printed by the first LBP1 has residual heat due to heat fixing, and is cooled by the cooling fans 54 to 58 to prevent curling of the sheet and toner offset to the apparatus. In addition, the exterior of the reversing device is provided with louvers at important points for taking in cool air. The upper and lower reversing guides 34 and 35 are provided with ventilation holes (not shown) such as punching metal for cooling the sheet.
Reference numeral 59 is a moving caster of the reversing device, which floats from the floor surface 23 in the connected state.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the reversing device 3 shown in FIG. 1. The swinging mechanism of the separating plate 29 and the pressure bonding rollers 38, 39 are shown in FIG.
2 shows a crimping mechanism and a crimp releasing mechanism of FIG. Reference numeral 60 denotes a front side plate of the reversing device 3, which is swingably supported by the separation shaft 30 by a bearing (not shown). A separation arm 61 is fixed to the separation shaft 30.

62 is an electromagnetic solenoid, 63 is a link, 6
Reference numeral 4 is a tension spring, and 65 and 66 are stoppers. When the electromagnetic solenoid 62 is not excited, the separating plate 29 acts downward by the action of the tension spring 64 to feed the sheet conveyed in the arrow direction A in the arrow direction B, that is, to the upper reversing guide 34. On the other hand, when the electromagnetic solenoid 62 is excited, the separating plate 29 is directed upward as shown by the broken line in FIG. 1 to feed the sheet in the arrow direction C, that is, the lower reversing guide 35.
67 is a pressure bonding arm, which rotatably supports the pressure bonding rollers 38 and 39 as a bearing, and performs a seesaw motion around a swing support shaft 68 to switch the sheet feeding direction. Reference numeral 69 is a tension spring, 70 is a link, 71 and 72 are upper and lower electromagnetic solenoids, and 73 is a stopper. Normally, the up roller 36 and the pressure roller 38 are in contact with each other at the upper reversing portion, and the down roller 37 and the pressure roller 39 are in contact with each other at the lower reversing portion. When the exciting solenoids 71 and 72 are excited, the electromagnetic arm 67 makes a seesaw motion.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the reversing device 3, showing a drive mechanism for rotationally driving the conveyors 27, 46, the upper and lower reversing rollers 31, and the up / down rollers 36, 37. Reference numeral 74 denotes a rear plate of the reversing device 3, which supports the various rollers described above together with the front plate 60 by bearings (not shown). 75 is a drive motor, 76 and 77 are timing belts, 78 is a drive pulley, 79 to 84 are driven pulleys, and 85 is a free pulley. Reference numerals 86 and 87 denote driven gears, which mesh with gears (not shown) on the back side of the driven pulleys 80, 81, and 84. The driven pulleys 79 to 84 and the driven gears 86 and 87 are directly connected to the rotary shafts of the conveyors 27 and 46, the upper and lower reversing rollers 31 and the up / down rollers 36 and 37, respectively. It is configured to rotate in a predetermined direction via belts 76 and 77 and driven gears 86 and 87.

The printing operation during double-sided recording in the above configuration will be described below. First, the first sheet is fed from the paper feed cassette 4 of the first LBP 1 by the pickup roller 7. Then, in order to synchronize with the toner image of the first page formed on the photosensitive drum 9, the registration roller 8 feeds the toner image onto the photosensitive drum 9 at a predetermined timing, and the transfer charger 16 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 9 to a sheet. Transfer to the top. Then, the sheet is fed to the thermal fixing device 19 by the conveyor 18, and the toner image of the first page is fixed on the surface of the sheet.
Then, the paper is discharged from the LBP 1 to the reversing device 3 by the paper discharge roller 20. Further, the sheet is fed from the sheet feeding cassette 4 at a predetermined timing, and as described above, the third page, the fifth page ...
And an odd page is recorded on the surface of the sheet.

Next, in the reversing device 3, the driving motor 75 is started at the same time when the sheet feeding is started in the first LBP 1. Then, the sheets discharged from the LBP 1 are sequentially sucked and conveyed by the conveyor 27, and sent to the conveyance roller 28 while the image surface is cooled by the cooling fan 54. At this time, the separating plate 29 is in a state as shown by the solid line in FIG. Therefore,
The sheet is sent to the input roller 32 along the upper surface of the separating plate 29 and the guide plates 40 and 42, further sent upward along the reversing guide 34, and lifted by the up roller 36. The trailing edge of the sheet passes the input roller 32, and the sheet is completely accommodated in the upper reversing guide 34.

At this time, all the residual heat from the heat fixing is removed by the cooling fans 55 and 56 in the reversing guide 34, and the sheet is lightly pressed against the left wall surface of the reversing guide by wind pressure. Then, the sheet sensor 51 detects the rear end of the sheet and, at the same time, excites the upper electromagnetic solenoid 71 to move the pressure bonding arm 67 in a seesaw motion. That is, the up roller 3
The contact between 6 and the pressure roller 38 is released, and conversely, the down roller 37 and the pressure roller 39 contact to feed the rear end of the sheet to the output roller 32 below. The sheet thus reversed reaches the conveyor 46 along the guide plates 43 and 44, is sucked and conveyed by the belt, and is placed on the re-feeding plate 47.

At this time, when the sheet sensor 53 detects the leading edge of the sheet, the printing operation of the second LBP 2 is started. The second LBP 2 rotates the pickup roller 7 and feeds the reversed first sheet, prints the toner image of the second page on the back surface of the first sheet, and ejects the sheet. Discharge to 5.

In the reversing device 3, the second sheet following the first sheet is detected by the sheet sensor 50 at the leading edge of the second sheet, and the separating electromagnetic solenoid 62 is excited after a predetermined time. The separating plate 29 faces upward and is accommodated in the lower inverting guide 35. Then, at the same time that the trailing edge of the sheet has passed the sheet sensor 52, the exciting solenoid 72 is excited to bring the up roller 36 and the pressure roller 38 into contact with each other, and cooperate with the wind pressures of the cooling fans 57 and 58 to move the sheet. The rear end is sent to the output roller 33, and the second sheet is turned over.

As described above, the odd numbered sheets are reversed by the upper reversing mechanism and the even numbered sheets are reversed by the lower reversing mechanism from the start of printing.

Next, an embodiment of an image recording process in the double-sided recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 4 shows a first LBP1 and a second LBP2.
2 is an example in which double-sided recording is performed by different image forming methods.
In the first LBP 1, the image is laser-recorded in the direction from the top to the ground with respect to the rotation direction E of the photosensitive drum 9, while the second LBP 1 is recorded.
In BP2, on the contrary, the image is laser-recorded from the ground to the sky. That is, printing is performed so that the top and bottom of the image are reversed with the switchback type reversal as a boundary with respect to the traveling direction of the sheet.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the character patterns of ABC and DEF are printed on one side respectively, the top and bottom of the character with respect to the traveling direction of the sheet are reversed before and after the switchback type inversion, so that the top and bottom of the characters on both sides are reversed. Will never be reversed.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the control unit 40 for performing the upside-down conversion only on the backside information of the image information as described above and recording the images on both sides of the sheet by the LBPs 1 and 2. The control unit 40 is provided in the reversing device 3.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 91 denotes a memory, which can store image information for one page. Reference numeral 99 is a vertical conversion control unit for converting the vertical direction of the image information, 93 is a memory for storing the surface image information converted by the vertical conversion control unit 99, and 94 is a vertical conversion control unit in the double-sided recording method. The memories 93 and 94 are memories for storing the image information for the back side which is upside down converted by 99, and the memories 93 and 94 can store the additional information for one page. Reference numeral 95 is a switch for selecting the page memories 90 and 91 for storing the image information, and 96 is a page memory 90, 9 for reading the image information.
1 is a switch for selecting 1, 97 is a switch for selecting the front side image memory 93 or the back side image memory 94 for storing the vertically and horizontally converted image information, and 98 is for selecting the addresses of the page memories 90 and 91. Address bus to Reference numeral 100 is an address bus for selecting an address of the page memory 91.

The front surface image information sent from the CPU, MT, etc. is stored in the front surface image memory 93 from the switch 95. An image is recorded on the surface of the sheet by the LBP 1 based on this image information. The back side image information is stored in the page memory 91 from the switch 95. Then, the up-and-down conversion control unit 99 performs address control so that the data written in the page memory 91 in the row direction is read from the last row in the direction opposite to the written row direction. The image information thus converted upside down is stored in the backside image memory 94,
Image recording is performed on the back surface of the sheet by the LBNP 2 based on this image information.

The sheets printed out on the discharge tray 5 by the above double-sided recording system can be taken out, filed by binding the left side or the right side, and bound.

However, when a file or a book is bound by binding the upper side of the sheet such that the upper side is bound by a bag in a folded state of the output paper of a line printer or the like, as shown in the image recording process shown in FIG. The first LBP1 is used in the same manner as the normal single-sided recording method without converting any image information.
The information for the front side is sent to the second LBP2 and the information for the back side is sent to the second LBP2 for printing.

Therefore, it is possible to predetermine the binding direction of the printed sheet, select the double-sided recording method or the single-sided recording method, and print on the front and back sides of the sheet.

Although the laser beam printer using the semiconductor laser is used as the recording apparatus in this embodiment, the recording apparatus is not limited to this. For example, an electrophotographic printer using an LED array, a printer using a multi-stylus, or the like may be used.

The control unit for changing the direction of the image information may be provided in the reversing device 3 or in each printer.

As described above, double-sided recording is realized easily and at a low cost by a machine which uses two compact and low-priced recording devices exclusively for single-sided recording and connects a switchback type sheet reversing device between them. can do.

Since the reversing device has two sets of reversing mechanisms, one set upside and one downside, which are used alternately, double-sided recording can be performed at the maximum printing speed of the recording device without lowering the throughput.

Further, since the sheet is cooled in the reversing device, the curl of the sheet is prevented to reduce the jam at the time of reversing and re-feeding, and at the same time, the fixing heat of the toner image is removed to completely remove the heat. The toner offset to the apparatus can be reduced because the sheet is fixed, then inverted and then reprinted.

Further, as a recording apparatus, a paper feed unit and a paper ejection unit are on opposite sides, a sheet is conveyed substantially horizontally, and a printer for printing a toner image on the upper surface of the sheet is used. The printer can print the front side of the sheet first, switch it back and turn it over, and then use the second printer to print the back side of the sheet and output it to the output tray, which simplifies the transportation of the sheet and reduces jams. Not only is it possible to output continuously, but there is also an effect that the first sheet surface is the lowermost surface on the discharge tray and the sheets are sequentially stacked so that the pages are aligned.

The reversing device is provided with a vertical / horizontal or vertical conversion circuit for changing the direction of image information, and can output a double-sided print suitable for a sheet filing method or a bookbinding method.

When double-sided printing is not required, the printer can be separated from the reversing device and separated as an independent small terminal device.

Also, double-sided recording can be performed with a simple structure without lowering the throughput.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to record an image in an appropriate direction according to the binding direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a double-sided recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the reversing device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the reversing device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a double-sided image recording process in the double-sided recording method in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control unit for converting image information.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a double-sided image recording process in a single-sided recording method in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 1st LBP 2 2nd LBP 3 Reversing device 4 Paper feed cassette 5 Paper ejection tray 9 Photosensitive drum 29 Separation plate 31 Reversing roller 34 Upper reversing guide 35 Lower reversing guide 36 Up roller 37 Down roller 38, 39 Pressure roller 47 Re-feeding plate 50 to 53 Sheet sensor 54 to 58 Cooling fan 61, 71, 72 Electromagnetic solenoid 75 Drive motor 76, 77 Timing belt 99 Image up / down conversion circuit A, B, C Sheet traveling direction D Laser scanning direction E Photosensitive drum Direction of rotation

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Junichi Kimizuka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A double-sided recording control device for processing recording information and outputting the processed recording information to a double-sided recording means for recording on both sides of a recording sheet. Input means for inputting record information in the same upside down direction regardless of whether they are recorded on a surface, storage means for storing record information to be recorded on at least one of the first surface and the second surface of a recording sheet, An upside-down converting means for converting the upside-down direction of the recording information to be recorded on the second surface of the recording sheet with respect to the upside-down direction of the recording information to be recorded on the first surface of the sheet; Thus, the double-sided recording control device is characterized in that whether or not the upside-down conversion process is performed can be selected according to the binding direction of the recording sheet.