JPH08101015A - Device for evaluating and adjusting optical system unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily evaluate and adjust an optical system unit in a short time before the unit is incorporated in a device by arranging testing jigs carrying test patterns in the reading the scanning area of the unit and picking up and displaying the images of the patterns. CONSTITUTION: An optical system unit 20 is positioned on the unit placing stage of the device for evaluating and adjusting optical system unit by means of positioning pieces and testing jigs 70 are arranged in the reading and scanning area of the unit 20. Then, the optical image information of test patterns 80 (A-C and D-F) are picked up with an image pickup means 71 composed of a CCD sensor, etc., and the information is displayed by controlling the lighting and driving of a light source lamp 23 and reading of mirrors 25, 27, etc. The focusing, magnification, lateral deviation, positional deviation of front end, and distortion of the unit 20 are evaluated from the displayed patterns 80 and, when adjustment is required, the inclination, position, etc., of each of each mirror 25, 27, 29, 31, and 33 and a lens unit 35 for forming image of reflected light are adjusted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical system unit adjustment / evaluation apparatus for adjusting and evaluating an optical system unit used in an image reading system of an electronic copying machine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the case of evaluating the performance of an optical system unit used in an electronic copying machine or the like, electronic copying is manually performed in an inspection step after an assembly step in which the optical system unit is incorporated in the electronic copying machine or the like. Place the test document on the platen of the machine, evaluate the printout, and remove the platen for the optical system unit that needs adjustment based on the evaluation result and adjust the position of the components such as the light source lamp and the reflection mirror. After that, it was usual to carry out the complicated process of incorporating the document table, placing the test document again on the document table, and performing the image evaluation.

[0003]

However, since the conventional adjustment and evaluation process described above is executed after the process of assembling the optical system unit to the electronic copying machine or the like, the original table or the optical system unit of the electronic copying machine or the like is not used. You have to do the disassembly work,
Since both the evaluation and adjustment processes cannot be performed at the same time, the adjustment evaluation process requires a lot of time and the work efficiency is poor, and the test document for drawing out is manually placed on the platen. Since the evaluation is performed, there is a problem that the evaluation result tends to be non-uniform and lacks reliability.

Therefore, the present invention provides an optical system unit adjustment / evaluation apparatus capable of executing an adjustment / evaluation process in a simple and short time before being incorporated into an image forming apparatus and also improving the reliability of an optical system unit. The purpose is.

[0005]

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an optical system unit adjusting and evaluating device for positioning an optical system unit for scanning a document and forming an image of the read optical image information at a predetermined image forming position. A positioning jig for performing, a test jig with a test pattern arranged in the reading scanning area of the optical system unit, and an image pickup arranged at a position corresponding to an image forming position of optical image information by the optical system unit. Means, display means for displaying the picked-up image information of the test pattern by the image pickup means, and optical system unit control means for setting the optical system unit in a test pattern reading scanning state.

An optical system unit adjustment and evaluation device according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a positioning jig for performing scanning for reading a document and positioning the optical system unit for forming the read optical image information at a predetermined image forming position. A test jig provided with a test pattern consisting of a diagram arranged in the reading scanning area of the optical system unit; and an image pickup means arranged at a position corresponding to an image forming position of optical image information by the optical system unit. Display means for displaying the picked-up image information of the test pattern consisting of the diagram by the image pickup means, and enabling adjustment of each component of the optical system unit based on the display magnification, position shift, and distortion of the test pattern; And an optical system unit control means for setting the optical system unit to a test pattern reading scanning state.

[0007]

The function of the present invention will be described below.

In the optical system unit adjustment / evaluation apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the positioning jig is used to scan the document and position the optical system unit for forming the read optical image information at a predetermined image forming position. A test jig with a test pattern is placed in the reading scanning area of the optical system unit.

Then, the optical system unit control means sets the optical system unit in a test pattern reading and scanning state. As a result, the image pickup means arranged at a position corresponding to the image formation position of the optical image information by the optical system unit images and displays the optical image information of the test pattern obtained by reading and scanning by the optical system unit. Send to the means.

As a result, the captured image information of the test pattern is displayed by the display means.

Thus, the adjustment and evaluation of the optical system unit can be performed simply and in a short time, under the same conditions as when the optical system unit was installed in the image forming apparatus before the image forming apparatus was installed. It is possible to improve the efficiency of adjustment and evaluation and the reliability of the optical system unit.

In the optical system unit adjustment / evaluation apparatus according to the present invention, the positioning jig is used to scan the original for scanning and position the optical system unit for forming the read optical image information at a predetermined image forming position. A test jig with a test pattern consisting of a diagram is placed in the reading scanning area of the optical system unit.

Then, the optical system unit control means sets the optical system unit in a test pattern reading scanning state. As a result, the image pickup means arranged at a position corresponding to the image forming position of the optical image information by the optical system unit reads the optical image information of the test pattern consisting of the diagram obtained by reading and scanning by the optical system unit. An image is taken and sent to the display means.

As a result, the picked-up image information of the test pattern consisting of the above diagram is displayed by the display means.

Thereby, the display magnification of the test pattern,
Based on the positional deviation and distortion, each of the optical system units of this optical system unit is simply and in a short time under the same conditions as the case where the optical system unit is installed in the image forming apparatus before the image forming apparatus is installed. It becomes possible to adjust the constituent elements, and it is possible to improve the adjustment evaluation efficiency and the reliability of the optical system unit.

[0016]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

The optical system unit adjustment evaluation apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has an optical system unit 20 on an upper portion of a box-shaped base 2.
A unit mounting table 3 having a flat upper surface on which the optical system unit 20 is mounted and a flat lower surface facing the optical system unit 20 are provided on the upper portion of the unit mounting table 3.
Has been arranged. Then, a lower positioning piece 5 is arranged on the unit mounting table 3 so that the position can be adjusted, and an upper positioning piece 6 is arranged on the lower surface side of the support bracket 4 so that the position can be adjusted. 5, the upper positioning piece 6 constitutes a positioning jig for positioning the optical system unit 20.

Further above the support bracket 4, there is provided a horizontal base 7 supported in a horizontal arrangement by columns 9 standing upright from the base 2. On the horizontal base 7, for example, three CRT displays are provided. The display means 8 are arranged in a row as shown in FIG.

The upper surface of the optical system unit 20 is shown in FIG.
As also shown in FIG. 5, the test jig 70 provided with the test pattern 80 composed of, for example, a cross-shaped diagram at three positions (positions A to C or positions D to F) is read and scanned by the optical system unit 20. It is designed to be installed in the area.

Inside the unit mounting table 3, as shown in FIG. 1, three image pickup means 71 such as CCD sensors are provided at positions corresponding to the image forming positions of the optical image information read by the optical system unit 20. Are arranged. Imaging means 7
1, a stage movable in X, Y, Z, and arbitrary angle directions is arranged. When the model of the optical system unit 20 to be evaluated is changed, the position can be automatically changed. There is.

Next, the optical system unit 20 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

Although not shown in FIG. 4, the optical system unit 20 includes mirrors 24, 25, 27, 29 for reflecting the light emitted from the light source lamp 23 in addition to the light source lamp 23.
Lens units 31 and 33 and a lens unit 35 for forming an image of reflected light are arranged in a predetermined arrangement in the housing 20A.

FIG. 5 shows a control system of the optical system unit adjustment / evaluation apparatus 1, which includes the optical system unit 20.
Is provided with an optical system unit control means 90 for setting the optical system unit 20 in the reading and scanning state of the test pattern 80, such as the lighting control of the light source lamp 23, the reading drive of the light source lamp 23, the mirrors 24, 25 and 27. further,
The image pickup means 7 is controlled by the optical system unit control means 90.
1. The display means 8 is controlled.

Next, the optical system unit adjustment evaluation apparatus 1
The evaluation and adjustment operation of the optical system unit 20 will be described with reference to FIG.

In this optical system unit adjustment and evaluation device 1, the optical system unit 20 is positioned on the unit mounting table 3 by the lower positioning piece 5 and the upper positioning piece 6 which form a positioning jig, and the test jig is used. 70 is arranged at the position shown in FIG. In this state, the optical system unit control means 90 controls the lighting of the light source lamp 23, the reading drive of the light source lamp 23, the mirrors 24, 25, 27, etc., and reads and scans the test pattern 80 to obtain an optical image thereof. Information is formed on the image pickup means 71.
The image pickup means 71 picks up the optical image information of the test pattern 80 obtained by reading and scanning by the optical system unit 20 and sends it to the display means 8.

As a result, the picked-up image information of the test pattern 80 is displayed by the display means 8 as shown in FIGS.

As a result, the performance of the optical system unit 20 can be evaluated.

The evaluation contents of the performance of the optical system unit 20 will be described below.

The focus evaluation is performed by determining the resolving power of the image corresponding to the test pattern 80 at the positions A and C shown in FIG.

The magnification is evaluated by the position of the image of the test pattern 80 projected on the display means 8. In the case of FIG. 6 (1), the magnification is evaluated as large, and in the case of FIG. 6 (2), the magnification is evaluated as small.

The lateral deviation is evaluated at the position of the test pattern 80 displayed on the display means 8. In the case of FIG. 6 (3), it is evaluated as right deviation, and in the case of FIG. 6 (4), it is evaluated as left deviation.

The displacement of the tip position is evaluated by the position of the image corresponding to the test pattern 80 at the position B shown in FIG. The case of FIG. 6 (5) is evaluated as an upper deviation, and the case of FIG. 6 (6) is evaluated as a lower deviation. .

The distortion is evaluated at the position of the image corresponding to the test pattern 80 at each of C, D and F positions shown in FIG. In the case of FIG. 6 (7), FIG. 6 (8)
In the case of, it is evaluated as a strain state.

If the optical system unit 20 requires adjustment based on the evaluation results of these items, the optical system unit 20
Each of the mirrors 24, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33 inside and the inclination of the lens unit 35 for forming an image of the reflected light,
Adjust the position and lens position. After the adjustment is completed, the optical system unit 20 is removed from the unit mounting table 3, and the adjustment in this apparatus is completed.

The change of the model of the optical system unit 20 to be evaluated can be dealt with by replacing the positioning jig.

By such an operation, the optical system unit 2 is based on the display magnification, the positional deviation and the distortion of the test pattern.
0 under the same conditions as the case where 0 was incorporated in the copying machine 100 shown in FIG. 7, which is an image forming apparatus, before the incorporation, and
Each component of the optical system unit 20 can be adjusted simply and in a short time, so that the adjustment evaluation efficiency and the reliability of the optical system unit 20 can be improved.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a copying machine 100 in which the optical system unit 20 is actually incorporated.

In this copying machine 1, a drum-shaped photosensitive member 103 is provided in a substantially central portion of a copying machine main body 100A (hereinafter referred to as main body 100A) so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrow a in the figure.

The photoconductor 103 has a photoconductive layer on its surface. The following devices are arranged around the photoconductor 103 along the rotation direction thereof.

That is, a charging charger 105 as a charging means for uniformly charging the surface of the photoconductor 103 and a light source of an original image on the charged photoconductor 103 above the charging charger 105 on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photoconductor 103. A slit glass (not shown) is provided for slit exposure. Further, the photoconductor 1 is provided on the downstream side of the slit glass.
A developing device 40 for adhering toner to the electrostatic latent image on 03 for development is installed. In the developing device 40, toner mixed with a carrier as a developer is stored.

Further, in the developing device 40, a stirring roller 41 as a stirring / conveying member that stirs the toner by rotating the blades and frictionally charges the carrier, and the toner stirred by the stirring roller 41 is conveyed to the developing roller 43. A conveying roller 42 as a stirring and conveying member is provided. Further, in the developing device 40, a developing roller 43 in which S poles and N poles are alternately arranged along the rotation direction is provided inside the developing device 40.
It is provided rotatably in the direction of the arrow e in the drawing in the state of being close to 03.

On the downstream side of the developing device 40, a transfer device 111 and a peeling device 113 as transfer means are provided.

The transfer device 111 transfers the toner image formed by the developing device 109 to an image forming medium (hereinafter referred to as "paper P").
Say. The peeling device 113 is a device that peels the sheet P adsorbed on the surface of the photoconductor 103 by the transfer device 111 from the surface of the photoconductor 103.

The photoconductor 10 is provided on the downstream side of the peeling device 113.
Of the toner 110 attached to the surface of No. 3, the transfer device 11
A cleaning device 115 that removes the toner 110 remaining on the photoconductor 103 after the transfer is performed by the method described in No. 1 is provided. Between the cleaning device 115 and the charging device 105, a static eliminator 117 for removing the residual potential of the photoconductor 103 is provided.

The main body 100A incorporates the original glass 19 on which the original is placed and the optical system unit 20 which guides the original on the original glass 19 to the light and guides the reflected light onto the surface of the photoconductor 103. There is.

The optical system unit 20 includes a light source lamp (hereinafter referred to as "lamp") 23 as a light source and mirrors 24, 25, 2 for reflecting light emitted from the lamp 23.
7, 29, 31, 33 and a lens unit 35 for focusing reflected light.

Lamp 2 which constitutes the first carriage
The mirror 3 and the mirror 24 are configured to be movable under the original glass 19, and in order to keep the optical path length constant,
The mirror 25 and the mirror 27 which constitute the second carriage of the scanning means move at a speed half the speed of the first carriage. The reflected light from the mirror 33 is configured to be guided to the surface of the photoconductor 103.

Further, a paper feed cassette 141 for accommodating the paper P is detachably provided in the middle of the right side of the main body 100A.
The paper P stored in the paper feed cassette 141 above the leading edge of the paper 1.
A pickup roller 143 for pulling out the paper is provided.

Further, on the left side of the main body 1A, a paper discharge tray 171 for discharging the copied paper P is provided. A conveyance path of the paper P, that is, a conveyance path 142 is formed between the paper feed cassette 141 and the paper discharge tray 171, and the conveyance path 142 is shown by a dotted line in FIG.

Upstream of the conveying path 142, two pairs of first and second rollers are attached to the main body 1A. First
The roller pair is adjacent to the paper feed cassette 141 and is composed of two rollers, a paper feed roller 145 and a separation roller 147.

The paper feed roller 145 is a roller which is rotatable in the direction of the arrow f in the figure and which feeds the paper P pulled out by the pickup roller 143 to the second roller pair.

The separating roller 147 is provided below the paper feed roller 145 so as to be in contact therewith, and when the number of the paper P sent from the pickup roller 143 is two or more, it is opposite to the rotation direction of the paper feed roller 145. The extra paper P is pulled back to the paper feed cassette 141 by rotating in the direction. Separation roller 14
When the number of sheets P sent from the pickup roller 143 is one, the number 7 is rotated by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 145. The second roller pair is a registration roller 149 composed of an upper roller and a lower roller. The registration roller 149 aligns the front end of the paper P by hitting the front end of the paper P sent from the paper feed roller 145, and then moves the paper P between the photoconductor 103 and the transfer device 111. The toner image is fed so as to overlap the toner image on 103.

On the downstream side of the peeling device 113, the paper P
A belt-shaped belt for transporting paper, that is, a transport belt 1
51 is provided. Further, on the downstream side of the transport path 142, the toner 110 is heated and pressed to apply the toner 11 to the toner 11.
A fixing device 53 that fixes 0 on the paper P is installed.

The fixing device 53 has a heat roller 57 and a pressure roller 59 which are rotatable in the directions indicated by arrows c and d, respectively. The heat roller 57 has a built-in heat lamp 55, which is a heating body, and is pressed against the pressure roller 59.

Further, downstream of the conveying path 142, a paper discharge roller 161 for discharging the paper to a paper discharge tray 171.
Is provided.

The optical system unit 20 of this embodiment is incorporated in such a copying machine 100.

[0057]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the optical system unit is incorporated into the image forming apparatus at a stage before being incorporated into the image forming apparatus, under the same conditions as in the case where the optical system unit is incorporated into the image forming apparatus, and in a simple and short time. The adjustment and evaluation of the optical system unit can be executed, and the efficiency of adjustment and evaluation and the reliability of the optical system unit can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, based on the display magnification, the positional deviation and the distortion of the test pattern, the same condition as when the optical system unit is incorporated in the image forming apparatus at a stage before being incorporated in the image forming apparatus. In addition, it is possible to adjust each component of the optical system unit of this optical system unit simply and in a short time, thereby improving the adjustment evaluation efficiency and the reliability of the optical system unit. Can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a display unit of the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a transparent perspective view of an optical system unit evaluated by an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a test pattern on a display unit of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of a copying machine incorporating an optical system unit evaluated by the apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical system unit evaluation device 5 Lower positioning piece 6 Upper positioning piece 6 8 Display means 8 20 Optical system unit 70 Test jig 70 71 Imaging means 80 Test pattern 90 Optical system unit control means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A positioning jig for scanning a document and positioning an optical system unit for forming the read optical image information at a predetermined image forming position, and a positioning jig arranged in the reading scanning area of the optical system unit. A test jig with a test pattern, an image pickup means arranged at a position corresponding to an image forming position of optical image information by the optical system unit, and image pickup image information of the test pattern by the image pickup means is displayed. An optical system unit adjustment / evaluation apparatus comprising display means and optical system unit control means for setting the optical system unit to a test pattern reading scanning state. 2. A positioning jig for positioning and scanning an optical system unit, which scans a document and forms the read optical image information at a predetermined image forming position, and a positioning jig disposed in the read scanning area of the optical system unit. Test jig with a test pattern consisting of a line diagram, image pickup means arranged at a position corresponding to an image forming position of optical image information by the optical system unit, and a test consisting of the line diagram by the image pickup means. Display means for displaying the captured image information of the pattern and enabling adjustment of each constituent element of the optical system unit based on the display magnification, displacement, and distortion of the test pattern; An optical system unit adjustment and evaluation device, comprising: an optical system unit control means for setting.