JPH0761817B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine having a scaling function of reduction / enlargement, and in particular, to set copy paper to an optimum state according to the scaling state. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

[Prior art]

As a conventional copying machine, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, there is a copying machine main body 100 provided with an automatic document feeder 200 and a sheet collating device (hereinafter referred to as a sorter) 300.

In the copying machine main body 100, 101 is a contact glass on which a copy original is placed, 102 is an optical system for scanning the copy original on the contact glass 101, and this optical system 102 controls the image of the copy original by 50 to 141%. It has a function to change the magnification to any magnification within the range.

103 is a drum-shaped photoconductor, 104 is a charging charger that uniformly charges the surface of the photoconductor 103, and 105 is an eraser for removing the surface charge of the photoconductor 103 in a portion that does not correspond to the original image. The surface of 103 is exposed by the document light guided from the optical system 102, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the document image is formed. This electrostatic latent image is developed with toner by the developing device 106.

The paper feed sections 107, 108, 109, and 110 are paper feed cassettes that store different copy papers, 107A, 108A, 109A, and 110A are paper feed rollers that send the copy papers from the paper feed cassettes 107, 108, 109, and 110, and 111 is the copy paper that is exposed at a predetermined timing. Registration roller that sends out to the body 103, 112 is the photoconductor 103
A transfer charger for transferring the above toner image to a copy sheet, 113 and 114 for separating charge and a separating claw for separating the copy sheet from the photoconductor 103, 115 for a conveying belt for conveying the separated copy sheet, 116. Is a fixing device for fixing the toner image by heat-pressing the copy sheet, 117 is a conveying roller for sending the fixed copy sheet to the sorter 300, 118 is a discharge sensor for detecting the discharge of the copy sheet, and 119 is the copy sheet. Is a guide plate for guiding the sorter 300.

Further, 120 is a static elimination lamp for removing the residual toner on the surface of the photoconductor 103, and 122, 123, 124, 125, 126 and 127 are guide plates for guiding the copy paper along the transport path.

In the automatic document feeder 200, 201 is a document table on which a copy document is placed, 202 is a paper feed roller that sends out the copy document on the document table 201, 203 is a separation roller that separates the copy documents one by one, and 204 Reference numeral 205 is a carry-in roller for carrying in the separated copy original, 205 is a conveyor belt for carrying the copy original on the contact glass 101, and 206 is a discharge roller for discharging the copied original to the original tray 207.

Reference numeral 208 denotes a sensor that detects the separated copy original, and 209 denotes a sensor that detects the size of the copy original. The copy original separated by the separation roller 203 is detected by the sensor 208 and then comes into contact with the carry-in roller 204. The separation roller 203 is stopped to put the copy original in a standby state, and a feed-in roller 204 is supplied by a feed-in signal applied from the copying machine main body 100.
When is operated, the conveyor belt 205 is also operated, and the original size and the carrying-in direction are determined based on the detection signal of the sensor 209, and the conveyor belt 205 is stopped at the timing when one end of the original reaches the home position HP, The copy document is positioned.

In the above-mentioned structure, the paper cassettes 107 to 110 are set with copy paper of a size that is frequently used.
In particular, the paper feed cassettes 109 and 110 can set a large number of sheets, and the cassettes rise as the number of paid-out sheets increases.

At the time of copying, the original is placed on the original table 201, and the reduction ratio, the paper size, the density, etc. are manually set. When the copy start button is pressed, the paper feed roller 202 rotates, the original on the original table 201 is fed out, and only the uppermost one separated by the separation roller 203 is contacted by the carry-in roller 204. Is supplied to. The supplied originals are sequentially sent out onto the contact glass 101 by the conveyor belt 205, and when the leading edge of the original reaches the home position HP, the conveyor belt 205 stops. On the other hand, copy paper is fed from the designated paper feed cassette at a predetermined timing.
It is sent out by either 9A or 110A and stopped immediately before the registration roller 111.

When the copied document is set to the home position, the optical system 10
Scanning of the second document starts, and at the same time, the photoconductor 103 rotates,
The charging surface of the charging charger 104 is sequentially exposed. The latent image forming surface by exposure is subjected to toner development by the developing device 106, and the registration roller 111 is rotated at the same timing as the developing portion reaches the copy charger 112, and the copy sheet is sent to the transfer portion. At the transfer section, the toner image is transferred by the transfer charger 112 onto the supplied copy paper. Since the transfer paper by this transfer is adsorbed on the surface 103 of the photoconductor by the charger, it is peeled off from the surface of the photoconductor by the separation charger 113 and the separation claw 114. The toner image on the surface of the peeled transfer paper is fixed by the fixing device 116. The transfer paper after fixing is the transport roller 117.
Is supplied to the sorter 300 via.

The above process is repeated every time the document is supplied.

By the way, in the case of making a copy with a scaling factor of equal to or more than one, it is necessary to select the size of the copy paper in accordance with the scaling factor and also to select the portrait or landscape orientation. That is, it is necessary to set the copy sheet in a state in which the set direction of the copy sheet is set 90 degrees with respect to the set direction (horizontally long or vertically long) of the original placed on the original table.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9 (a), when copying an A4 original document at the same size, if the original document is placed vertically, copy paper is also used.
A4 size vertical feed. Further, in the case of reduction copy from A3 original to A4 copy paper, by setting both in the same direction as shown in FIG. 9B, the reduction copy is made on the entire copy paper.

As is clear from FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b), even when copying to the same A4, the paper feed surface is different between equal magnification and variable magnification. For this reason, two types of paper feed cassettes, vertical and horizontal, are prepared and used properly according to need.

However, in a conventional copying machine, it is necessary to prepare two types of copy sheets of the same size, one for vertical placement and the other for horizontal placement. As a result, set mistakes and forgetting to convert occur, and paper replacement work is required, which is troublesome.

Further, conventionally, an image forming apparatus as described in JP-A-56-59245 has been proposed.

This image forming apparatus is provided with a table connected to a motor via a gear, and a paper feed cassette is placed on the table. According to the variable magnification set by the operator, the motor is driven to rotate the paper feed cassette mounted on the table by 90 degrees to change the orientation of the paper.

However, in this image forming apparatus, since the table is structured to rotate at a fixed position, when a particularly large-sized sheet cassette is placed on the table, the corner of the sheet cassette is rotated when the sheet cassette is rotated. Sufficient space must be provided so that the part does not hit other members. Therefore, not only the device becomes large, but also the length of the push-up arm that pushes up the bottom plate in the cassette and the arm that supports the feed roller must be increased, which causes an increase in weight and cost. It has drawbacks such as

〔Purpose〕

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of automatically converting a copy sheet into portrait orientation or landscape orientation according to the setting of the variable magnification copy mode.

〔Constitution〕

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image scaling means capable of reducing or enlarging an image to be formed, a scaling ratio setting means capable of arbitrarily setting a scaling ratio of an image to be formed, and fed. An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet, a plurality of sheet feeding cassettes for feeding the sheet to the image forming unit, a cassette rotating unit for rotating the direction of the sheet feeding cassette by 90 degrees, and a set original document. A document sensor that detects the orientation, a paper sensor that detects the orientation of the paper stored in the paper feed cassette, and a paper that is determined according to the scaling ratio and the document size set by the scaling ratio setting means. Paper feed cassette selecting means for selecting the paper feed cassette containing a size of paper, detection signals from a document sensor and the paper feed cassette selected by the paper feed cassette selection means When it is determined that the orientation of the original is different from the orientation of the paper to be fed based on the detection signal from the paper sensor that has detected the orientation of the paper, the paper feeding is performed by the cassette rotating means. Rotation control means for stopping the rotation after rotating the cassette by 90 degrees and moving means for moving the rotation center position of the paper feed cassette from the paper feed standby position to the paper feed cassette rotation position It is characterized by that.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are a sectional view of a cassette sheet feeding mechanism, a front view and a plan view of a cassette rotating mechanism, showing an embodiment of the present invention. The present invention is intended for detachable sheet feeding cassettes such as the sheet feeding cassettes 107 and 108 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1A, as shown in FIG. 2, the paper feeding cassette is provided with pressure plates 2 and 3 which are screwed openably and closably at the end near the center of the cassette, as shown in FIG. Pressure holes 4 and 5 are provided on the bottom surface of the main body. Further, in the longitudinal direction of the bottom center of the main body 1, a cassette rotating mechanism is provided.
Three set holes 6 for fixing to 10 are provided.

A copy sheet 7 is placed on the upper surfaces of the pressure plates 3 and 5, and a paper feed roller 8 is disposed above the pressure plate (the pressure plate 3 in this embodiment) set on the paper feed side. Paper feed roller 8
A pressure arm 9 is placed in and out of a pressure hole 4 provided at a portion opposed to.

The upper part of the pressing arm 9 is formed in an inverted J shape and can come into contact with the bottom bottom surface of the pressing plate 3 or 2, and the other end is rotatably supported by a fulcrum 11. The pressure arm 9 is connected to the arm 12, and the other end of the arm 12 is urged downward by a spring 14. Further, an armature of a solenoid 13 is connected to a connecting point between the arm 12 and the spring 14. When the solenoid 13 is excited, a force that extends the spring 14 is generated, and the arm 12 rotates counterclockwise.

As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the cassette mounting base 16 having the cassette mounting pins 15 fitted in the three cassette holes 6 of the main body 1 mounted on the upper portion thereof is rotatable via the cassette mounting base 17 Is supported by a moving plate 18. Further, a fan gear 19 is provided over about half the circumference of the cassette mount 16, and a worm 21 mounted on the rotary shaft of the motor 20 is attached to the fan gear 19.
Are arranged so as to mesh with each other. Motor 20 is a moving plate
Mounted and fixed on 18.

The other end of the moving plate 18 is rotatably supported by a shaft 22 fixed to the base of the copying machine main body 100, and a gear 23 is fixedly installed coaxially with the shaft 22. A gear 24 meshes with the gear 23, and a gear 25 meshes with the gear 24. Further gears
A rotation shaft of a motor 26 is attached to 25.

Although not shown in the above drawings, a sensor for detecting that the cassette mount 16 is rotated by a predetermined angle and a sensor for detecting that the moving plate 18 is moved by a predetermined angle are provided. ing. Also, in the cassette,
A paper sensor is provided to detect whether the paper is placed horizontally or vertically.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a display panel according to the present invention, which corresponds to a configuration using a maximum of five paper feed cassettes.

The reduction button 70 is arranged so that it can be set from six stages of reduction ratios of 50% to 93%, and each button indicates the reduction ratio, the original, and the size of the paper corresponding to the original. ing. Similarly, the enlargement button 71 is composed of three buttons, and displays the enlargement ratio of 115% to 141% and the corresponding paper size.

Also, according to the mounting state of the paper feed cassettes # 1 to # 5,
A paper selection display 72 for displaying the paper size detected by the sensor is provided, and a paper size display 72a and a paper direction (vertical, horizontal) display 72b are provided. In addition, a magnification indicator 73 that displays the magnification when an arbitrary setting rate is set regardless of the standard magnification, a magnification indicator 74 for equal-magnification copying, a copy count indicator 75, and a paper jam position There are provided a misfeed position indicator 76, a copy enable indicator 77, a standby indicator 78, an automatic sheet selection indicator 79 that lights up when a sheet is automatically selected, and the like.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 4 and the position explanatory view of FIG.

First, a paper feed cassette on which sheets of a predetermined size are set is attached to the cassette attachment base 16 with the attachment pins 15 and the cassette holes 6 aligned (step 31). When it is determined that the cassette has been installed (step 32), the contact glass
It is determined whether the copy document on 101 is placed vertically or horizontally (step 33). The initial position of the cassette mount 16 is such that the center of rotation is at position C in FIG. This position is a paper feed cassette rotation position that allows the cassette to rotate freely without causing obstacles to the surrounding objects.

Further, at this position, the leading end of the sheet is separated from the sheet feeding roller 8, and the sheet cannot be fed. Therefore, the motor 26 is energized (step 34) to rotate the motor, the rotational force is transmitted to the gear 23 via the gears 25 and 24, and the shaft 22
With the center of rotation as the center of rotation, the moving plate 18 is moved to the position A (paper feed standby position) where the paper feed surface coincides with the home position X (paper is in the solid line position). When reaching the position A is detected by the sensor, the solenoid 13 is turned off (step 36), the upper end of the arm 9 is brought into pressure contact with the pressure plate 2 by the urging force of the spring 14, and the sheet is fed by the roller. Press it to No. 8. When the sheet feeding roller 8 is driven by a control unit (not shown), sheet feeding is started (step 42).

On the other hand, it is determined that the document is placed horizontally (step
In the case of 33), it is necessary to place the copy paper horizontally according to the original, so rotate the paper feed cassette 90 degrees. To this end, the motor 20 is rotated (step 37) and the cassette mount 16
Is detected to have rotated 90 degrees (step 38), the rotation of the motor 20 is stopped. At the same time, in order to adjust the cassette to the home position X, the cassette is moved from position C to position B (paper feed standby position). For this movement, the motor 26 is rotated (step 39), and the rotation of the moving plate 18 moves the center of the cassette mount 16 to the B position. When the completion of the movement to the B position is detected (step 40), the solenoid 13 is turned off (step 41) to start the paper feed preparation, and the paper feed roller 8
When is rotated, paper feeding starts (step 42).

The above description shows the rotation processing performed each time the paper cassette is set, and does not show the processing when the sheet that has been set vertically or horizontally is set horizontally or vertically. In this case, set the paper feed cassette to the A position or the B position after step 42.
A process for returning from the position to the C position may be inserted, and after this process, the process may return to step 33.

Various displays corresponding to the above processing will be described with reference to FIG. The scaling ratio is set before the start of copying, and the paper corresponding to the description content of the reduced or enlarged button is selected, and the indicator light such as the LED provided on the operated button lights up. To do. The control unit selects the set paper cassette of the size of the paper according to the set scaling ratio, determines whether or not the paper cassette is set in a direction deviated by 90 degrees from the direction of the original, and the process of FIG. To rotate the paper feed cassette.

Also, if the paper cassette that fits the scaling setting is not installed, the standby display 78 is lit (or flashes).
Then, the operator is warned and a paper cassette is requested to be replaced. The paper size of the newly installed paper feed cassette is selected to match the paper size described on the surface of the reduction or enlargement button 70.

6 and 7 are a perspective view and a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment is applied to an elevator type sheet feeding cassette such as the sheet feeding cassettes 109 and 110 shown in FIG. 8 in contrast to the detachable sheet feeding cassette used in the above example.

On both sides of a paper stand 51 on which the copy paper 50 is placed, guide fences 52 are provided to guide the copy paper so as not to shift. At the bottom bottom of the center of the paper tray 51, the gear 53
The worm gear 54 is arranged so as to mesh with the gear 53. The rotation shaft of the motor 55 is fitted in the worm gear 54. The shaft of the gear 53 is rotatably attached to the paper support 56, and the gear 53 rotates according to the rotation of the motor 55 fixedly installed on the paper support 56.

Slide bearings 57 are attached to the ends of the two opposite sides of the paper support base 56, and two rods 58 are provided on each side.
Is penetrated, and this rod 58 has a slide bearing 57
Moves while sliding. Both ends of the rod 58 are fixed to a pair of paper feeding racks 59. An abutting plate 60 is arranged on the front surface (paper feeding direction) of the paper support base 51. Backing plate
A spring 61 is provided between one side of the paper support base 56 on the side of 60 and the paper supply base 59, and the spring 61 biases the paper support base 56 so as to draw it toward the contact plate 60.

A wire 62 is stretched so as to draw a loop between each pair of slide bearings 57 provided on the side of the paper support 56, and reels 63 are arranged at both ends of the loop, and one pulley 63 The rotating shaft of the motor 64 is connected to the rotating shaft.

Similarly, wires 65A and 65B are tied to each of the same side ends of a pair of upper parts of the paper feeding stand 59, and pulleys 66A and 66B arranged on the upper part thereof are arranged.
The other ends of 5A and 65B can be wound around a reel 67. The reel 67 uses a motor 68 as a drive source, and the wires 65A and 65B are wound or unwound depending on the rotation direction of the motor 68.

Next, the operation of the configuration shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 will be described.

When the motor 64 is not driven, the paper tray 51 is pulled toward the contact plate 60 by the urging force of the spring 61, and the copy paper 50 is pushed toward the contact plate 60 by its front portion as shown in FIG. It is applied.

When it is necessary to rotate the paper 90 degrees in this state, the motor 64 is rotated so that the wire 62 is pulled in the B direction, and the paper support base 56 is pulled away from the contact plate 60 (retraction).
So that the paper tray 51 can rotate freely.

Next, the motor 55 is rotated and the gear is passed through the worm gear 54.
Rotate 53 and rotate the paper tray 51 by 90 degrees. After the completion of this rotation operation, the rotation of the motor 55 is stopped and
64 is rotated in the reverse direction to advance the paper tray 51 to the state shown in FIG. When rotating the paper tray 51, the guide fence 52
So that it does not face the contact plate 60.

As the number of copies increases, it is necessary to raise the paper tray 51. For this purpose, the motor 68 is rotated and the wires 65A and 65B are pulled up in the C direction so that the uppermost surface of the copy paper 50 is the paper feed roller 69. Make sure that it is pressed against the bottom.

〔effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the orientation of the original document and the orientation of the paper stored in the paper feed cassette storing the paper of the paper size determined according to the set scaling ratio and the original size are set. When different, the rotation center position of the paper feed cassette is moved from the paper feed standby position to the paper feed cassette rotation position, and the orientation of the paper feed cassette is rotated 90 degrees. It is possible to perform image formation without exchanging a paper feed cassette that accommodates paper whose orientation is different from that of the paper to be fed, eliminates image formation errors, and improves usability.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A, 1B and 1C are sectional views of a cassette sheet feeding mechanism showing an embodiment of the present invention, a plan view and a plan view of a cassette rotating mechanism, and FIG. 2 shows the details of the cassette body 1. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a display panel, FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C, and FIG. 5 is a forward movement accompanying the rotation of paper. -Explanatory view of the retracting operation, Figs. 6 and 7 are perspective views and front views showing another embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 8 is a front view showing an example of a conventional copying machine, and Fig. 9 ( 9A and 9B are explanatory views of the set direction corresponding to the originals of the copy paper at the same magnification and the variable magnification. 1 ... Main body, 2,3 ... Pressure plate, 9 ... Pressure arm, 10 ...
… Pressurizing mechanism, 13 …… Solenoid, 16 …… Cassette mount, 18 …… Movement plate, 19 …… Fan gear, 20,26,55,64 ……
Motor, 51 …… Paper stand, 53 …… Gear, 54 …… Worm gear, 56 …… Paper support, 57 …… Slide bearing,
58 …… Rod, 59 …… Paper stand, 62 …… Wire, 70 ……
Reduction button, 71 …… Enlargement button, 72 …… Paper selection indicator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image scaling unit capable of reducing or enlarging an image to be formed, a scaling ratio setting unit capable of arbitrarily setting a scaling ratio of an image to be formed, and forming an image on a fed sheet. Image forming means, a plurality of paper feed cassettes for feeding paper to the image forming means, cassette rotating means for rotating the orientation of the paper feed cassettes by 90 degrees, and a document sensor for detecting the orientation of the set original document. A paper sensor for detecting the orientation of the paper stored in the paper cassette, and a paper having a paper size determined according to the scaling ratio set by the scaling ratio setting means and the original size. Paper feed cassette selecting means for selecting the paper feed cassette, detection signals from the document sensor and the orientation of the paper stored in the paper feed cassette selected by the paper feed cassette are detected. When it is determined that the orientation of the original is different from the orientation of the paper to be fed based on the detection signal from the paper sensor, the orientation of the paper feed cassette is set to 90 by the cassette rotating means. A rotation control means for stopping the rotation after rotating once, and a moving means for moving the rotation center position of the paper feed cassette from the paper feed standby position to the paper feed cassette rotation position. Image forming apparatus.