JPH07110725B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of folding a recording material on which an image has been formed.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, there is known a folding device that folds and ejects a copied recording sheet. In such a device, the time required for folding processing is determined by the size of the recording paper.
Further, the feeding interval of the recording material changes according to the scaling factor. Therefore, depending on the scaling factor and the recording material size, the next recording material may be fed before the folding processing of the previous recording material is completed, causing a collision and causing a paper jam.

Further, in order to prevent this, if the feeding interval of the recording paper is made longer than the time required for folding the recording paper of the maximum size that can be used, the throughput decreases.

〔Purpose〕

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing a conveyance failure of a recording material during folding processing and preventing a decrease in throughput. It is in.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration sectional view showing an entire embodiment of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

In the figure, 100 is a copying machine main body, the surface of the drum 1 is a photoconductor, a seamless photoconductor using a conductor, is rotatably supported, and is a main motor that operates in response to pressing of a copy start key. By 3, the rotation starts in the direction of the arrow. Then, when the predetermined rotation of the drum 1 and the potential control processing (preprocessing) are completed, the original placed on the original table glass 34 is illuminated by the illumination lamp 40 integrally formed with the first scanning mirror 39, and The reflected light is the first mirror 39, the second
An image is formed on the drum 1 through the mirror 36, the third mirror 37, the lens 35, and the fourth mirror 38.

The drum 1 is corona charged by the high voltage unit 2. After that, the image irradiated by the exposure lamp 40 is slit-exposed, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum 1 by a known method.

Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 is developed by the developing roller of the developing device 7 and visualized as a toner image, and the toner image is transferred by the transfer charger 5.

The transfer paper inside the upper cassette 13 or the lower cassette 13 is
It is sent to the inside of the main body by the paper feed roller 11 or 12, and is sent to the photosensitive drum 1 by the registration roller 15 with accurate timing so that the leading edge of the latent image and the leading edge of the transfer sheet are aligned. After that, the transfer paper passes between the transfer charger 5 and the drum 1, so that the toner image on the drum 1 is transferred.

After the transfer is completed, the transfer paper is separated from the drum 1 by the separation charging device 8, guided to the fixing device 32 by the conveying belt 17, fixed by pressure and heating, and then discharged by the discharge roller 19-1.
And it is discharged to the outside by 19-2.

After the transfer, the drum 1 is continuously rotated, and the surface thereof is cleaned by a cleaning device 6 including a cleaning roller and an elastic blade.

Pedestal 200 can be separated from the main body 100,
It has a deck 54 capable of accommodating 2000 sheets of transfer paper and an intermediate tray 59 for double-sided copying. Further, the lifter 54L of the deck 54 capable of accommodating 2000 sheets ascends according to the amount of transfer paper so that the transfer paper always contacts the paper feed roller 50.

When performing double-sided copying or multiplex copying, first raise the paper ejection flapper 33 of the main body 100 to pedestal the copied transfer paper.
It is stored in the intermediate tray 59 via the transport path 57 of 200. At this time, the large-volume flapper 52 is lowered during double-sided copying, and the large-volume flapper 52 is raised during multiplex copying. This middle toy
The 59 can store up to 99 transfer sheets. The stored transfer paper is pressed by the intermediate tray weight 53.

At the time of the next back side copy or a large number of copies, the transfer sheets stored in the intermediate tray 59 are registered one by one from the bottom by the action of the sheet feeding roller 51 and the weight 53, and are transferred to the main body 100 via the path 58. Guided to the roller 15.

Reference numeral 300 is a recycle type document feeder (RDF), 301 is a stacking tray for setting documents, and 302 and 303 are document size detection sensors, which are provided at predetermined intervals in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface. The size of the document in the width direction can be determined by checking whether both the sensors 302 and 303 detect the document or only the sensor 303 (assuming 303 is on the back side of the paper) detects the document. A more accurate size can be determined by increasing the number of sensors. Further, the size in the length direction can be determined by the time when the sensor 303 (302) is detecting the document.

Also, in this RDF300, from the stack tray 301 to the sheet path 304
The original sent to the exposure surface through the sheet path 305 can be stacked on the stack tray 301 again.

The detailed operation of RDF is described in Japanese Patent Application No.
Since it is described in detail in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 206619 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-90944), it is omitted here.

400 is a finisher, which is half-folded or Z-folded at the paper folding unit 450 according to the designation of the copy ejected from the main body, and is output to the swinging copy tray 401 or the stable tray 4
It is output to 02, and each part is stapled 403 and dropped to the stacker tray 404.

When Z-folding is specified for the paper folding unit 450, the flapper 454
When turned on, the copy paper is guided to the lower path, the leading edge of the paper is stopped by 451 and the part that is folded into 1/4 through roller 453 reaches 452 and is folded in half and again guided from 453 through 455 to 400. Be freaked out. In the case of half-folding, it is folded in half at 451 and is not output to 452 but output from 455 to 400 as it is. When there is no folding, the flapper 454 is turned off and is output straight to 400.

When the staple mode is selected in the finisher 400, a copy is output to the staple tray 402, the staple 403 is turned on by an instruction from the main body, and the staple 400 is stapled. After that, it is dropped into the stack tray 404. The repeated copies are combined to complete the multiple copies.
If the staple is not selected, the copy is output to the swinging copy tray 401, and according to the instruction from the main body, it is possible to make a copy of a plurality of copies by shifting 30 mm to the left and right at a place where the nail is good.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the entire operation section of the main body 100.

101 is an (asterisk) key, which is used by the operator in setting modes such as setting of the binding margin amount and size setting of document frame erasing.

102 is an all reset key and is pressed to return to the standard mode.

103 is a preheat key, which is pressed to put the machine in the preheat state and release the preheat state. Also, press it to return to the standard mode from the auto shut-off state.

104 is a copy start key, which is pressed to start copying.

105 is a clear / stop key. Press the clear key during standby and the clear key, which has the meaning of a stop key during copying, to release the set number of copies. Also used to cancel the (asterisk) mode. The stop key is pressed to interrupt continuous copying. After the copy at the time of pushing is completed, the copy operation is stopped.

106 is a ten-key pad that is pressed to set the number of copies.
Also used when setting the (asterisk) mode.

107 is a memory key that allows the user to register frequently used modes.

108 and 109 are copy density keys, which are manually pressed to adjust the copy density.

110 is an AE key, which is pressed to automatically adjust the copy density according to the density of the original, or to cancel AE and switch to manual.

111 is a cassette selection key, which is pressed to select the upper cassette, the middle cassette, and the lower paper deck. Also, RD
APS can be selected when the manuscript is on the F / DF.

112 is a 1x key, which is pressed to make a 1x (actual size) copy.

113 is an auto scaling key, which is pressed to automatically reduce or enlarge the original to fit the specified copy paper size.

114 and 115 are zoom keys, which are pressed to specify an arbitrary magnification between 64% and 142%.

116 and 117 are standard scaling keys, which are pressed to specify reduction / enlargement of the standard size.

Reference numeral 118 denotes a double-sided key, which is pressed to make a double-sided copy from a single-sided original, a double-sided copy from a double-sided original, or a single-sided copy from a double-sided original.

A binding margin key 119 can create a binding margin of a specified length on the left side of the copy paper.

120 is a photo key, which is pressed to copy a photo original.

Reference numeral 121 denotes a multiple key, which is pressed to create an image on the same side of copy paper from two originals.

Reference numeral 122 denotes an original frame erasing key, which the operator presses to erase the frame of a standard size original document, and the size is set by the key.

123 is a sheet frame eraser key, which is pressed to erase the frame according to the cassette size.

104 is a page continuous shooting key, which is pressed to copy the left and right pages of the original on different sheets.

125 is pressed with the stable key when stable.

126 is a Z fold key, which is pressed to fold A3 and B4 sizes into a Z shape.

127 is a half-fold key and is pressed when folding A3 and B4 sizes in half.

128 is a sort key, and if it has a sorter, it is lit in standard mode. Press to cancel or to switch to sort mode.

Numeral 129 is a group key for copying a plurality of originals one by one and storing them for each pin if a sorter is provided, and for storing the finisher in different positions in the swinging copy tray.

201 is an LCD (liquid crystal) message display, which is a 5 × 7 dot, one character, and 40 characters. It is a semi-transmissive liquid crystal, and is usually used with a pack light. Normally, a green pack light is lit when an error occurs or when copying is not possible.

202 is a magnification display, and the set magnification is displayed in%.

203 is a normal size display, and is lighted when the normal size is selected.

Reference numeral 204 denotes a color developing device display, which lights up when the sepia developing device is set.

205 is a copy number display, which displays a copy number or a self-diagnosis code.

Reference numeral 206 denotes a cassette to be used, which indicates whether the upper cassette, the middle cassette, the lower cassette or the deck is selected.

A document orientation display 207 displays the document orientation (portrait / landscape).

208 is an AE display, which lights when AE (automatic density adjustment) is selected.

209 is a preheat display, which lights up in the preheat state. Flashes when in the auto shut-off state.

210 is a lady / weight display, green and orange L
ED lights green when ready (when copying is possible) and lights orange when weight (when copying is not possible).

Reference numeral 211 denotes a double-sided copy display, which lights up when either one-sided copy is selected from two-sided copy or one-sided copy is selected.

In the standard mode, when RDF is used, the number of copies is 1, the density AE mode, automatic paper selection, normal size, single-sided copy to single-sided copy are set. 1 copy when RDF is not used,
Density manual mode, normal size, 1-sided original to 1-sided copy setting. The difference between using RDF and not using RDF depends on whether the document is set in RDF or not.

Next, the operation control of FIG. 1 of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram for carrying out the present invention.
1 is a central processing unit (CPU), for example, NEC's μCOM87AD is used. 502 is a ROM memory stored in the control program
01 controls the device according to this program.
503 is a RAM memory that is a main storage device, 504 is an interface that outputs a control signal to a load such as a main motor, 505 is an interface that inputs an input signal such as an image sensor, and 506 is a key 507 and a display 508. It is an interface that controls input and output. In addition, display 50
8 is each display of FIG. 2 using LED and LCD, and key 507
Shows which key is pressed by a known key matrix in each key of FIG.

FIG. 4 shows the time required for Z-folding depending on the paper size, which is 700 msec for A3 size and 640 msec for B4 size.

Fig. 5 shows the time interval between sheets at normal magnification, which is A3, B4 at the same magnification.
Both have a sheet interval of 500 msec. Similarly, 460mse from A3 to B4
c, A4 → B4 is 413 msec, A4 → A3 is 360 msec.

From Fig.4 and Fig.5, if you copy with normal size A3, when you specify the paper folding, (paper folding time 700msec)-(time 500
msec) = (delay time 200msce).

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart when Z-folding is designated. 6-1
When the copy key is pressed at, it is judged at 6-2 whether the wait timer is being counted. This is described in (Paper Folding Time)
The timer t set by t ₁ −paper interval t ₂ ) = t waits until the count ends. That is, the sheet interval is controlled. Since the timer is not set for the first card, we go to the next step without waiting.

Reference numeral 6-3 is a one-sheet copy processing routine in which the optical system is started, the document is scanned, the processing is performed until the optical system is reversed, and the processing is performed until the first resist CL15 is turned on and then turned off. In other words, CL15 is turned on to scan one original and send out copy paper, and after turning ON for the paper size, OF
When you do F, exit the process of 6-3. The return of the optical system to the home is checked, not shown.

Then, check the magnification with 6-4, 6-6, 6-8, and if A3 → B4, 6-5, (paper folding time 640 msec)-(normal paper interval 460 ms
ec) = 180 msec is set to t. Similarly, 6-7 and 6-9 are performed.

At other magnifications, when the paper size is A3, 6-10 t = 200m
sec (6-11), at B4 6-12 t = 140 msec (6-13)
Are set respectively, and for other sizes, t = 0 (no weight) is set.

6-16 performs t = t + 20 msec. 20 in folding time
This is to make a margin of msec.

These t's are incremented by 1 every 1 msec in a 1 msec timer interrupt process (not shown), and the process is stopped when t = 0.

It is judged whether or not the copy for the number of sheets set in 6-15 is completed, and if it is not completed, the procedure goes to 6-2 again. Here, if t is set, the next copy operation is performed until t = 0. Does not move to.

That is, the optical operation is stopped for a period of time from the time when the Kobu paper has passed through the first resist CL15 to the time t = 0, and as a result, the paper interval is opened. That is, the relationship of (paper folding processing time t ₁ ) <(paper interval time t ₂ ) is satisfied.

[Effect]

As described above, before the folding process of the recording material is completed,
By controlling the next recording material so that it does not come in, it is possible to prevent paper jams due to rear-end collisions.

Further, by controlling the feeding interval of the recording material according to the image forming mode, it is possible to prevent the decrease of the sloping as much as possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is a view showing an operation display section of the image forming apparatus, FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a table, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a sheet interval time table based on the magnification in the normal mode, and FIG. 6 is a copy flow chart when Z-folding is designated. 100 …… Copier body 200 …… Pedestal 300 …… RDF 400 …… Finisher

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Yoshio Mizuno 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tomofumi Nakayama 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Incorporated (72) Inventor Toru Ohbuchi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) Reference JP-A-60-232372 (JP, A) JP-A-62-240261 (JP , A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming means for forming an image on a recording material, a folding means for folding the recording material image-formed by the image forming means, a time t ₁ concerning the folding processing of the folding means, and a selection. The time t ₂ corresponding to the feeding interval of the recording material determined by the selected image forming mode is compared, and the feeding of the recording material during the image forming operation is performed according to the comparison result in order to maintain the relationship of t ₁ <t _2. An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the interval.