JPH0652925B2 - I / O device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an input / output device such as a facsimile.

(Prior Art) In a facsimile machine, one feed roller is provided for both transmission and reception (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-22353)
Or an integrated transmission / reception head (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-3427).
No. 3) is known. In this case, however, the original and recording paper are conveyed separately, and the device is large and complicated. In addition, although there is an example in which the conveyance path is partially shared, there is no attempt to reduce the size by combining it with an integrated head. Further, since a sensor is provided between the roll paper holding unit and the recording unit in order to detect the presence / absence of the recording paper (end detection) and to detect the remaining amount, there is a problem of high cost.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in order to improve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and promotes sharing of functional portions of respective parts in document reading and recording operations, simplification of configuration, downsizing of apparatus, An object of the present invention is to provide an input / output device that realizes cost reduction and saves power consumption during recording operation.

(Structure of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, an input / output device of the present invention includes a reading unit that reads a document, a recording unit that records image information on a recording sheet, and a conveyance roller that conveys the document and the recording sheet. A head unit that arranges the reading unit on the upstream side in the conveying direction and the recording unit on the downstream side, a light source unit including a plurality of light sources that illuminates the reading position when reading an original, and a light source in the light source unit is selected. And a lighting control unit for lighting the recording paper, and the recording unit detects the state or the shape of the recording paper at the time of recording.

According to the above configuration, one conveying roller is also used for conveying the original and the recording paper, and the reading unit is arranged on the upstream side in the conveying direction and the recording unit is arranged on the downstream side. The shape can be detected. Then, at the time of detection, the light source in the light source section is selectively turned on,
It is possible to save power and prevent heating of the head unit.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a document table, 2 is a separation roller, 3 is a separation piece, 4 is a recording paper roll, 5 is a delivery roller, 6 is a tension roller, and 7 is a roller.
Is a feed roller, 10 is a head unit formed by integrating the reading unit 8 and the recording unit 9, 11 and 12 are fixed blades and rotary blades that constitute a cutter, 13 is a discharge roller, 14 is a tension roller, and 15 is a stacker. Is.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The document is separated from the document table 1 by the separation roller 2 and the separation piece 3 and pulled out one by one, read by the reading unit 8, and then discharged to the stacker 15 by the discharge roller 13. At this time, the head unit 10 moves to the left by 1/2 distance, or the feed roller 7 moves to the right by the same distance, and the reading unit 8 appropriately contacts the feed roller 7 to read it. Is possible. Also, the cutter does not work. On the other hand, for recording, since the leading end of the recording paper pulled out from the recording paper roll 4 is between the feeding roller 5 and the feeding roller 7, when the recording signal comes, the feeding roller 7 feeds it to the recording unit 9. After the recording, the process further proceeds, is cut by the cutter, and is discharged to the stacker 15 by the discharge roller 13. At this time, the head unit 10 moves to the right by a distance of 1/2, or the feed roller 7 moves to the left by the same distance, and the recording unit 9 appropriately contacts the feed roller 7 and prints. Is possible. The cut unrecorded recording paper is returned to the initial position by the feed roller 7 and the feeding roller 5. Illustration of the drive system is omitted.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the head unit 10 in which the reading unit (contact sensor) and the recording unit (thermal head) are integrally formed, and the integrated read / write feed roller 7 are relatively arranged. By displacing only a minute distance,
Both reading and recording are possible, the transport path and transport drive system can be shared, and significant cost reduction and downsizing can be achieved.

FIG. 2 (a) shows a mechanism for displacing the feed roller 7. The position indicated by the solid line of the feed roller 7 is the position at the time of recording, and the alternate long and short dash line is the position at the time of reading. solenoid
The suction of 16 pulls the lever 18 against the urging force of the compression spring 17, the lever 18 rotates about a fulcrum 19, the feed roller 7 is displaced, and the recording portion is switched to the reading portion. In order to facilitate the movement of the feed roller 7 during switching, the solenoid 20 may be attracted and the head unit 10 may be lifted against the biasing force of the compression spring 21. Solenoid 20
The head unit by sucking when a document or recording paper comes in.
The purpose is to temporarily raise 10 to ensure gripping of the original and recording paper, but this is not necessary depending on conditions such as contact pressure and conveyance force.

The drive system of the roller 7 is, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), a pulley 28 and a gear 29, which are rotatably supported by a fulcrum shaft 27 by a belt 26 to rotate a motor (not shown). The feed roller 7 is rotated by transmitting it to a gear 31 fixed to the feed roller shaft 30. Further, when the feed roller 7 is displaced toward the reading unit side or the recording unit side, the gear 31 meshes with the gear 32 or 33, and the rotation of these gears drives, for example, the separation roller 2 or the feeding roller 5.

FIG. 3 shows a mechanism for displacing the head unit 10, contrary to FIG. The lever 24 is pulled against the urging force of the compression spring 23 due to the suction of the solenoid 22, the lever 24 rotates around a fulcrum 25, the head unit 10 is displaced, and the reading unit is switched to the recording unit. . The lever may be moved by using a motor and a cam instead of the solenoid.

FIG. 4 shows the basic configuration of the head unit 10, in which a reading side driver circuit 34 and a recording side driver circuit 35 are provided in the head unit.

In the conventional apparatus, generally, in the recording sheet conveyance path to the recording unit, the presence or absence of the recording sheet, the jam of the recording sheet, and the apparatus which can be used by changing the size of the recording sheet, the shape and size (paper width) of the recording sheet are set. A required number of paper sensors for detection are provided.
However, in recent years, with the demand for smaller size, lighter weight, and lower cost, restrictions on the mounting location of these sensors have become stricter, and wiring materials and connectors for power supply and signal extraction for connecting to the sensor and their mounting members. Etc. are becoming difficult to implement. Further, workability such as assembling and adjusting also causes problems. In the present invention, by disposing the reading unit on the upstream side of the transport path as described above, the recording unit can be detected by the reading unit, and a dedicated sensor for detecting the recording paper as in the prior art is used. There is no need to provide it.

By the way, when the reading unit detects or reads various states of the recording paper, the strict accuracy is not required as compared with the case of reading the detailed information of the document. 8 in the current version
While reading at a resolution of books / mm is required, on recording paper, the presence or absence, skew (skew), or relatively large characters or marks such as air end marks printed on the recording paper. It should be detectable.

When reading a document, it is necessary to perform image signal processing or image processing of the signal level (analog signal) from the reading unit sensor to reproduce information faithfully, but in the case of recording paper, it is necessary to detect it. It should have good performance. There is no change in the signal level (analog signal) from the reading sensor when detecting or reading the recording paper. However, in the case of characters, marks, etc., there is a level change, but resolution is not required. Therefore, even if the performance of the reading unit when reading the recording paper is lowered to some extent, the recording paper can be sufficiently detected.

In the present invention, the image signal processing circuit or the image processing circuit for binarizing the signal level (analog signal) from the sensor of the reading unit is commonly used both when reading the original and when detecting the recording paper.

In consideration of the above-mentioned conditions, in the present invention, only some specific light sources of the plurality of illumination light sources provided in the reading unit are constantly turned on, and the recording paper conveyed during the recording operation is used as the specific light source. The illumination is used for detection. Further, all the light sources are turned on when reading the original.

First, in the conventional general contact sensor, LE
D (light emitting diode) is used, and illumination is provided along the main scanning line of the document for a required length (one scanning line length). As shown in FIG. 5 (a), this one line is composed of N blocks of LED groups, and each block has n LEDs in series as shown in FIG. 5 (b). It is connected to the. Therefore, when an ON signal is applied to the base of the transistor Q1, the transistor Q1 becomes conductive, power is supplied, and all the LEDs light up.

In addition, as shown in FIG.
Some have LED groups.

The presence / absence of the recording paper can be detected by a method of detecting a specific location on the recording paper. Therefore, when the recording paper passes under the reading unit, if only the LEDs of the specific blocks inside the width ends of the recording paper among the 1 to N blocks of the LED group are turned on, the sensor reads by the illumination. ,
The presence or absence of recording paper can be determined. FIG. 7 shows the configuration of a light source and its drive circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, c, e, and k among 1 to N blocks
The three blocks are always turned on. When the power supply of the device is turned on, the required voltage (Vcc) is supplied from the power supply unit, and each block of c, e, and k is lit, and the block is always lit as long as the voltage is supplied. Next, when reading a document, it is necessary to turn on all the blocks 1 to N, but since the blocks c, e, and k are already turned on, the other blocks are turned on. When an ON signal is applied to the base of the transistor Q1, voltage is supplied to all the LEDs in the other blocks and the LEDs turn on.

Here, unless the light emission amounts of the light sources of the blocks c, e, and k are substantially the same as the light emission amounts of the light sources of the other blocks, the illuminance on the document surface is not uniform, and thus the signal level of the reading sensor is Is, for example, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, the illuminance is small in the c and e parts and large in the k part. To prevent such variations, it is necessary to use LEDs with the same number of LEDs and characteristic values in each block, and
Appropriately select the values of resistors R1 and R2 so that the amount of light emitted from each block is approximately uniform. The uniformity of the amount of light emission can be measured using a measuring instrument, but with an input device that reads the original, the flatness of the signal can be measured using a test chart (a special original for investigating the flatness of the signal level). Can be investigated, and the values of R1 and R2 may be properly selected so that the flatness of the signal falls within the level difference that does not affect the image signal processing.

9 and 10 show a light source and a driving circuit thereof according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 shows a collector-emitter drop of the transistor Q1 of FIG. A circuit for correcting the voltage component is provided, and the resistor R1 is shared. The diode D may be a transistor. The tenth one has a structure in which the anode side common line of the c, e, and k blocks connected to the resistor R2 provided in the head unit of FIG. 7 can be controlled from outside the head unit. ing.

Input / output devices generally require a large amount of power during recording, and operating the reading section simultaneously during recording requires more power, leading to an increase in the temperature of the head unit and the shape of the heat sink. The size, size, cooling fan, and other heat countermeasures become difficult. In addition, the load on the power source is large, which affects the size and capacity. By turning on a specific light source of the reading unit and detecting the recording paper by the illumination as in the above-described embodiment, a great effect can be obtained in reducing power consumption and heat countermeasures.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, a head that also serves as one conveyance roller for conveying a document and a recording sheet, and that arranges the reading unit on the upstream side in the conveyance direction and the recording unit on the downstream side in the conveyance direction Since the unit is provided so that the reading unit can detect the state or shape of the recording paper, the paper sensor that was conventionally equipped is no longer necessary, and therefore the wiring member and the assembly process required for it are not necessary, and the number of parts can be reduced. The cost will be significantly reduced by reducing the number of steps and mounting man-hours. Further, when the recording paper is detected, the light source in the light source unit is selectively turned on to reduce the power consumption while maintaining the required performance, so that it is possible to save power and prevent the head unit from being heated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a feed roller displacement mechanism and a feed roller drive system in the same embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a head unit in another embodiment. 4 is a block diagram of the displacement mechanism, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the head unit, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a light source for illumination of the contact sensor, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of a light source for illumination. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of an illumination light source and its drive circuit in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing variations in signal level caused by a difference in light emission amount between a constant light source and another light source. ，
FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are diagrams showing the configurations of the illumination light source and its drive circuit of another embodiment, respectively. 1 ... Original table, 2 ... Separation roller, 4 ... Recording paper roll, 5 ... Feeding roller, 7 ... Feeding roller, 8 ... Reading section, 9 ... Recording section, 10 ... Head unit, 13 …… Discharge roller, 15 …… Stacker, 16,20,22 …… Solenoid.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A reading unit for reading an original, a recording unit for recording image information on a recording paper, a conveying roller for conveying the original and the recording paper, the reading unit on the upstream side in the conveying direction, and the recording unit on the downstream side. A head unit for arranging a light source, a light source section including a plurality of light sources for illuminating a reading position when reading a document, and a lighting control section for selectively lighting the light sources in the light source section. An input / output device characterized in that only a specific light source is turned on by a section and the state or shape of the recording paper is detected by the reading section.