JPH07219401A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the fast copying time and shorten the total processing time by first using the right-side sheet. CONSTITUTION:Sheets of size A4 are arranged in the lateral direction on the right and left of a cassette 76. When a plurality of sheets of size A4 are to be copied, a sheet stored on the right side of the cassette 76 is first extracted by a pick-up roller 84 and is fed to a resist roller 44. A sheet stored on the left side is extracted by a pick-up roller 84 and is fed to the resist roller 44 at the prescribed timing in succession to the sheet on the right side.

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,
In particular, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which is applied to, for example, a copying machine, a laser printer, a facsimile, or the like, and which has at least two sheet storage sections and at least two sheet feed paths corresponding to the sheet storage sections having different lengths.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional copying machine 1 of this type shown in FIG.
The housing 2 is included, and inside the housing 2, the photoconductor 3, the registration roller 4 for feeding the paper to the photoconductor 3 at a predetermined timing, and the plurality of storage portions 5a to 5g for storing the paper.
Was arranged. Then, the registration roller 4 and the storage units 5a to 5g are communicated with each other via the paper feed paths 6a to 6g having different lengths. Due to the difference in the lengths of the paper feed paths 6a to 6g, the time required for the first copy differs depending on the position of the storage section, and the first copy time is the shortest when the paper in the upper storage section 5a in the right column is designated. The first copy time is the longest when the paper in the storage section 5 in the lower row of the left column is designated.

When a large number of sheets are continuously copied using the same size of paper, the same size of paper is stored in two different storage units, and when one storage unit runs out of paper, the other storage unit is stored. The copy operation was continued by switching to the copy section.

[0004]

In the prior art, when a sheet in a storage section having a long distance to the registration roller 4, that is, a length of a paper feed path is designated, the first copy time becomes long, so that the entire processing is performed. There was a problem that the time was long. Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of shortening the overall processing time.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there are provided a photoconductor, paper feeding means for feeding paper to the photoconductor at a predetermined timing, first and second accommodating portions for accommodating first and second papers, A first paper feed path that connects the paper feed unit and the first storage unit, and a first paper feed path that connects the paper feed unit and the second storage unit and that is longer than the first paper feed path. When the image forming operation is performed a plurality of times by providing two sheet feeding paths, the first sheet is supplied to the sheet feeding unit through the first sheet feeding path during the first at least first operation, and the remaining operation is performed. Sometimes, the image forming apparatus is configured to supply the second sheet to the sheet feeding unit through the second sheet feeding path at a predetermined timing.

[0006]

In the first at least first operation, the first paper sheet stored in the first storage portion is supplied to the paper feeding means through the first paper feeding path. Then, during the rest of the operation, the second sheet is pulled out from the second storage portion so as to be continuous with the first sheet, and is supplied to the sheet feeding means at a predetermined timing through the second sheet feeding path. . Since the first paper feed path is shorter than the second paper feed path, the first copy time can be shortened.

[0007]

According to the present invention, since the first copy time can be shortened, the total processing time in the case of continuous copying can be shortened. The above-mentioned objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A copying machine 10 of this embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a housing 12 which is vertically separable, and an optical scanning portion 14 and an image forming portion 16 are arranged inside an upper housing 12a. Inside the two housings 12b, a paper feed unit 18 for feeding paper to the image forming unit 16 is arranged.

The optical scanning unit 14 includes a first housing 12a.
An original table 20 made of glass or the like is provided on the upper surface of the original table 20. Below the original table 20, an exposure lamp 22 and an exposure lamp 22 for exposing an original (not shown) placed on the original table 20 are exposed. Reflecting mirrors 26a to 26e for guiding the reflected light from the original to the image sensor 24 and a variable power lens 28 are arranged at predetermined positions. When exposing a document, the exposure lamp 22 and the reflection mirror 26a
Is moved in the arrow direction at the same speed as the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 30 described later, and the reflection mirrors 26b and 26c are moved at a speed half the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 30. In the image sensor 24, the reflected light from the original is photoelectrically converted, a predetermined editing process is performed by an image processing device (not shown), and then a light image is emitted to form a latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30.

The image forming section 16 includes a photosensitive drum 30 having a photoconductive layer (not shown) formed on its outer peripheral surface, and a motor (not shown) for rotating the photosensitive drum 30 in the direction of the arrow is provided in the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 30. Will be placed. In addition, the photosensitive drum 3
Around the 0, a charge corotron 32 for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 30, an unnecessary charge eraser 34 for removing unnecessary charges, and 2 for attaching toner of different colors to the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. Two developing devices 36a and 36b, an image is transferred to a sheet (not shown) supplied to the photosensitive drum 30, and a transfer / separation corotron 38 for separating the photosensitive drum 30 and the sheet, and a toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 are removed. A blade-type cleaning device 40 and a residual charge eraser 42 for removing residual charges are arranged in this order.

When the image sensor 24 irradiates a light image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 uniformly charged by the charge corotron 32, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 according to its photoconductive characteristics. It is formed. Then, the unnecessary electric charge eraser 34 removes electric charges outside the image area or in an unnecessary portion at the time of synthetic copying, and toner is attached to the electrostatic latent image by the developing device 36a or 36b. The image (toner image) developed in this manner is transferred by the transfer / separation corotron 38 to the sheet supplied from the registration roller 44 described later at a predetermined timing. The sheet on which the image is transferred is fed to the fixing unit 48 via the transport unit 46, and after the image is fixed, the flapper 5
The sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 54 through the sheet discharge roller 52 and the discharge roller 52. Here, the flapper 50 is for feeding a sheet to a transfer path 56, which will be described later, when performing multiplex copying such as composite copying.

Further, on the side surface of the first housing 12a,
A paper feed table 58 for manual feeding is provided. The sheet manually fed from the sheet feeding table 58 is conveyed to the registration roller 44 by the sheet feeding roller 60. Further, the first housing 12
Paper feed ports 62 and 64 for taking in the paper from the paper feed unit 18 are provided at the bottom of a. The paper taken in from the paper feed port 62 is conveyed to the registration roller 44 by the paper feed roller 66, and the paper taken in from the paper feed port 64 is flapper 68, paper feed rollers 70, 72 and 74.
It is conveyed to the registration roller 44 via a transfer path 56 constituted by the above.

The registration roller 44 is for synchronizing the image (toner image) formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 with the sheet, and the tip of the image (toner image) formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 is It is configured to rotate when it reaches a predetermined position. The paper feed unit 18 includes four paper storage cassettes 76, 78, 80 and 82. Each of the cassettes 76, 78, and 80 is configured so that two types of paper can be stored in two left and right rows.
A pickup roller 84, a paper feed roller 86 and a reverse rotation roller 88 are provided above both ends of 6, 78 and 80 and above the right end of the cassette 82, respectively. The pickup roller 84 is for pulling out the sheet from the cassette, and is brought into contact with the upper surface of the sheet pushed up by a knock-up plate (not shown). The paper feed roller 86 and the reverse rotation roller 88 are rotated in the same direction. When two or more sheets are pulled out from the cassette by the pickup roller 84, only the sheet in contact with the sheet feeding roller 86 is separated. Then, the separated sheet is conveyed to the image forming unit 16 from the sheet feeding port 62 or 64 through the sheet feeding path 90 or 92.

In this embodiment, A4, B5, B
Sheets A4, A5, and A3 are stored "vertically" or "horizontally" as shown in FIG. Here, "vertical" means a stored state in which the lengthwise direction of the paper matches the paper supply direction,
“Horizontal” refers to a storage state in which the short-side direction of the paper matches the paper supply direction. In general, "vertical" is used when copying a scaled image to a sheet, and "horizontal" is used when performing normal copying or double-sided copying.

The control unit 10 of the image forming apparatus 10 as described above.
As shown in FIG. 2, 0 includes a CPU (central processing system) 102 that performs various controls. The CPU 102 has a ROM 106, a RAM 108, and an I / O via a bus 104.
The interface 110 is connected. The ROM 106 stores programs for various controls performed by the CPU 102, and the RAM 108 temporarily stores data required for control by the CPU 102. RAM1
Reference numeral 08 has a flag area for storing various flags necessary for control. The I / O interface 110 includes an operation panel 112 for selecting an operation mode and a paper size, a document size detection sensor 114, a paper presence / absence detection sensor 116, a paper size detection sensor 118, a main motor 120, a paper feed. The clutch 122, the registration clutch 124, the flapper solenoid 126, etc. are connected.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the control operation of the image forming apparatus 10. When the main routine of the CPU 102 (FIG. 2) is started, first, in step S1, the size of the document placed on the document table 20 is detected by the document size detection sensor 114. Then, in step S3, it is determined whether or not there is a designated sheet in the right column of the cassette 76, 78, 80 or 82, and if it is determined to be "present", after the sheet size and the storage location are recognized in step S5. , And proceeds to step S7. In step S7, it is determined whether or not there is a designated sheet in the left column of the cassette 76, 78, 80, or 82. If it is determined that the sheet exists, in step S9, the sheet size and the storage location are recognized. In step S11, the original is read by the optical scanning unit 14 (FIG. 1). Then, in step S13, after the image processing device performs the editing process / image processing, the process proceeds to step S15, and the process shown in FIG.
After the tasks 1 and 3 shown in FIG. 6 are activated, the process proceeds to step S51.

When task 1 shown in FIG. 4 is started in step S15, the paper feed operation of the designated sheets stored in the right column is started in step S17, and the task shown in FIG.
Task 2 shown in is started. When task 2 is activated, first, in step S19, the registration roller 44
It is determined whether or not the sheet has reached (FIG. 1). If it is determined that the sheet has arrived, the sheet feeding operation is stopped and tasks 1 and 3 are stopped in step S21.
Then, after the copy sequence is started in step S23, in step S25 the registration roller 4
4 is driven, tasks 1 and 3 are restarted, the paper feeding operation is restarted, and task 2 is ended. When task 1 (FIG. 4) is restarted, it is determined in step S27 whether the next paper feed timing has come, and if it is determined that the paper feed timing has come, the process proceeds to step S31 via step S29 and the counter The designated paper in the right column is fed until the value of 1 becomes 0. Note that step S2
The paper feed timing in 7 and the value to be set in the counter 1 are calculated in advance according to the paper size, the storage location, etc. recognized in steps S5 and S9 (FIG. 3).
It is stored in the ROM 106 (FIG. 2) of the control unit 100.

When task 3 shown in FIG. 6 is started in step S15, it is determined in step S33 whether or not a predetermined time set in advance has elapsed. If it is determined that "passed", in step S35. When the feeding operation of the designated paper stored in the left column is started, the operation shown in FIG.
Task 4 shown in is started. When task 4 is activated, first, in step S37, the registration roller 44
It is determined whether or not the sheet has reached (FIG. 1). If it is determined that the sheet has reached, the sheet feeding operation is stopped and the task 3 is stopped in step S39. And
After the copy sequence is started in step S41, the registration rollers 44 are driven in step S43, the task 3 is restarted, the paper feeding operation is restarted, and the task 4 is ended. When task 3 (FIG. 6) is restarted, it is determined in step S45 whether the next paper feed timing has come. If it is determined that the paper feed timing has come, step S47 and step S4 are performed.
In step 9, the designated paper in the left column is fed until the value of the counter 2 becomes 0.

The predetermined time T in step S33
Is the specified time after the paper in the right column that was previously fed.
Gu T₁So that the paper in the left column can be fed in step S5.
And paper size and storage space recognized in S9
The ROM 10 of the control unit 100 is calculated in advance according to the location and the like.
6 (FIG. 2). The paper in the right column is pulled from the cassette.
Is delivered to the registration roller 44 via the paper feed path 90.
Time to reach T ₂， The paper in the left column of the cassette is
From the printer and passes through the paper feed path 92, etc.
T to reach LA 44₃, T₃To T₂Divided by
T when the remaining_FourThen, T₁= T_FourIn Case of,
If you pull out the left and right paper from the cassette at the same timing
Good, but T₁> T_Four, Pull the first sheet in the left column.
Delay the start timing (predetermined time T) to₁<T_Four
In the case of, the timing for pulling out the paper in the left column
It is necessary to speed up the interval T).

Tasks 1 to 4 (FIGS. 4 to 7) are processed in parallel in the interrupt routine. In step S51 of the main routine (FIG. 3), it is determined whether or not tasks 1 to 4 have been completed.
At 53, it is determined whether the final sheet has been discharged,
When it is determined that "emitted", the main routine ends. The above operation is the operation when the specified sheets are stored in both the right column and the left column of the cassette.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 (FIG. 3) that there is no designated sheet in the right column of the cassette, the process proceeds to step S55, and it is determined whether or not there is designated sheet in the left column of the cassette. If it is determined in step S55 that "there is no paper", it means that there is no specified paper in either the right column or the left column of the cassette, and the image processing operation and the like are not executed and the process is ended. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is paper in step S55, step S57.
After the paper size and the storage place are recognized in step S59, the process proceeds to step S59, and the document is read by the optical scanning unit 14 (FIG. 1). Then, in step S61, after the image processing device performs the editing process / image processing, the process proceeds to step S63, and after the task 3 shown in FIG. 6 is activated, the process proceeds to step S51. Since the operation in task 3 has already been described, duplicate description will be omitted.

When it is determined in step S7 (FIG. 3) that there is no designated sheet in the left column of the cassette, the process proceeds to step S65, the original is read by the optical scanning unit 14 (FIG. 1), and in step S67, Edit processing / image processing is performed. Then, after the task 1 is activated in step S69, the process proceeds to step S51. Task 1
Since the operation in 1 has already been described, duplicate description will be omitted.

According to this embodiment, the registration roller 44
The paper in the right column with the shortest paper feed path is pulled out first, and then the paper in the left column is pulled out at a specified timing. Since the first copy time can be shortened in the case of continuously copying one sheet, the overall processing time can be shortened. Further, since the left and right paper sheets can be used without being evenly consumed, the paper supply efficiency can be improved.

Further, in this embodiment, since the digital optical system is employed for the editing process, for example, for an A4 size document, A4 size paper may be set horizontally or vertically. It can be copied at the same size. Therefore, even when the sheets are set in different directions on the left and right sides of the cassette, the original document can be copied at the same size.

Although the digital optical system is adopted in the above-mentioned embodiment, it may be replaced with the analog system. Further, the present invention can be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as a laser printer and a facsimile in addition to the copying machine as in the above-described embodiment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control unit of FIG. 1 embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a main routine of a control unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing task 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing task 2.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing task 3.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing task 4.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative view showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Image forming apparatus 12 ... Housing 18 ... Paper feeding section 24 ... Image sensor 30 ... Photosensitive drum 56 ... Transfer path 62, 64 ... Paper feeding port 66, 70, 72, 74 ... Paper feeding roller 44 ... Registration roller 84 ... Pickup roller

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] February 23, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0002

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional copying machine 1 of this type shown in FIG.
The housing 2 is included, and inside the housing 2, the photoconductor 3, the registration roller 4 for feeding the paper to the photoconductor 3 at a predetermined timing, and the plurality of storage portions 5a to 5g for storing the paper.
Was arranged. Then, the registration roller 4 and the storage units 5a to 5g are communicated with each other via the paper feed paths 6a to 6g having different lengths. Due to the difference in the lengths of the paper feed paths 6a to 6g, the time required for the first copy differs depending on the position of the storage section, and the first copy time is the shortest when the paper in the upper storage section 5a in the right column is designated. First copy time is the longest If you specify a paper in the left column lower housing portion 5 g.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G03G 15/00 518 // B65H 7/18

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A photoconductor, a paper feed unit for feeding paper to the photoconductor at a predetermined timing, first and second storage units for storing first and second paper, the paper feed unit and the first paper storage unit. A first paper feed path communicating with one storage section, and a second paper feed path communicating with the paper feeding means and the second storage section and having a length longer than that of the first paper feed path. When a plurality of image forming operations are performed by providing a paper feed path, the first paper is supplied to the paper feed means through the first paper feed path during the first at least first operation, and the remaining paper is supplied. An image forming apparatus configured to supply the second sheet to the sheet feeding unit at a predetermined timing through the second sheet feeding path during operation.