JPH0897990A - Image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simplify the processing for feeding recording paper after an original is read without need for idle circulation of the original by describing black paper information onto a page succeeding to a final page of a memory management section when it is discriminated that a page number of the original after reading is an odd number. CONSTITUTION: An image data storage means C includes a memory and a memory table to store image data and a control section 26 is provided with an operation section 28. The operation section 28 selects the mode using the automatic draft feeder or the mode not using the automatic draft feeder and also selects the one side recording mode in which an image forming means D records an image on one side of recording paper or the double side recording mode in which image is recorded on both sides of recording paper. The control section 26 describes blank information onto a page succeeding to a final page of a memory table in the image data recording means when the operation section 28 selects the double side recording mode and number of pages of an original after reading is an odd number.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic copying machine, and more particularly, to improvement of a double-sided copying machine for recording images on both sides of recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A machine for recording a double-sided original on both sides of a recording paper in an electrophotographic copying machine is called a double-sided copying machine and is known to have a high performance.

This type of machine is equipped with an automatic document feeder and forms an image on one side of a recording sheet, accumulates it in an internal intermediate tray, and sequentially sends it out to form an image on the remaining one side. In a double-sided copying machine, it is extremely complicated to reliably and automatically control the operations of both double-sided originals and individual recording sheets. As such a recording device, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-10493 discloses a device in which a document is installed in a circulating automatic document feeder and is circulated a plurality of times to read the document and form a plurality of copies. ing.

[0004]

According to the above-mentioned method, in double-sided copying, since the original and the recording paper are handled differently depending on whether the one-sided original is an even-numbered page or an odd-numbered page, prior to forming an image on the recording paper, The one-sided document is circulated without copying (empty circulation of the document) to determine whether the number of the one-sided document is an even number or an odd number, the configuration of the subsequent processing method is changed, and then the document is copied.

In such a conventional technique, it is necessary for the image forming apparatus to perform different management depending on whether the original image is an even number or an odd number, and the feeding / conveying of the recording paper is different between the normal image output and the blank paper discharge. Since it is different, complicated control is required. In particular, once a jam (paper jam) occurs in both a document and a copy, extremely complicated processing is required for recovery. On the other hand, the empty circulation of the original document which does not directly contribute to the copy making as described above may damage the original document, and the noise generation due to the empty circulation is becoming less preferred as a cause of deteriorating the office environment.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus in which it is not necessary to idle-circulate the original and the processing of feeding the recording paper of the image forming apparatus is simple after reading the original. Is.

[0007]

Therefore, an image recording apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a reading means for reading an original image by photoelectric conversion to obtain image data, and an automatic original for automatically feeding the original to the reading means. A feeding device, an image data storing means for storing the image data, an image forming means for forming an image based on the image data selectively read from the image data storing means, the automatic document feeding device and the image In an image recording apparatus including a control unit that controls a data storage unit and an image forming unit, the image data storage unit includes a memory that stores image data and a memory table, the control unit includes an operation unit, and the operation is performed. The unit is configured so that a mode using the automatic document feeder and a mode not using the automatic document feeder can be selected, and the image forming unit is configured to print on the recording paper. One-sided recording mode for recording an image on one side or a two-sided recording mode for recording an image on both sides of a recording sheet is configured to be selectable, and the control unit is configured to operate when the operation unit selects the two-sided recording mode. The blank page information is written on the page next to the last page in the memory table of the image data storage means when it is determined that the number of pages of the read document is odd.

[0008]

According to the present invention, when the number of pages of an original is an odd number, blank page information is recorded on the next page on the memory table, and all image data read from the memory can be treated as an even-page original. Because it is possible
It is not necessary to perform the recording sheet feeding of the image forming apparatus after the document is read separately in the two systems of the normal image output mode and the blank sheet discharge mode. Further, according to the present invention, since it is not necessary to idle-circulate the original document, it is possible to realize an apparatus having excellent copy productivity that does not cause unnecessary time during copying.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall construction of a monochrome digital copying machine of this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the monochrome digital copying machine includes an image reading section A, an image processing section B, an image storage section C,
The image forming unit D is configured. The image reading unit A corresponds to a reading unit, the image processing unit B corresponds to an image processing unit, the image storage unit C corresponds to an image data storage unit, and the image forming unit D corresponds to an image forming unit.

In the image reading section A, a document 121 is described on a document table glass (hereinafter abbreviated as platen glass) 122, and is illuminated by a halogen light source 123 provided on a carriage moving on a guide rail (not shown). It The movable mirror unit 126 provided with a pair of mirrors 124 and 125 moves on the slide rail and, in combination with the mirror 127 provided on the carriage, reflects light from the original 121 on the platen glass 122, that is, The optical image is led to the lens reading unit 128. The lens reading unit 128 includes an imaging lens 129 and a CCD line sensor 130. The mirrors 124, 125, 127
The optical image corresponding to the image on the original 121 reflected and transmitted by the optical system is converged by the image forming lens 129 and imaged on the light receiving surface of the CCD line sensor 130, and the optical image on the line is formed by the CCD line sensor 130. Photoelectric conversion is sequentially performed on the electric signal.

When a single-scanning start button 33 provided on the operation unit 28 is pressed, a carriage provided with a halogen light source 123 and a mirror 127, which is driven by a motor (not shown), and a movable mirror unit 126. The image information of one page of the original is detected by the movement of the CCD line sensor 130.
Read by. The originals 121 placed one by one on the platen glass 122 are sequentially read as described above and output as image data for one page.

The image signal of the original image read by the image reading section A, that is, image data, is subjected to various image processing such as density conversion, filter processing, scaling processing, and gamma correction in an image processing section B described later. After that, the image is output to the image forming unit D via the image storage unit C. The image forming unit D forms an image on a recording sheet according to the input image data by a laser printer using an electrophotographic technique.

That is, in the image forming section D, a laser beam generated by a semiconductor laser (not shown) is modulated based on the image signal. The laser beam driving motor 14
Rotate and scan with the polygon mirror 142 rotated by 1.
After passing through an fθ lens (not shown), the optical path is bent by the reflection mirror 143 and projected onto the surface of the photosensitive drum 151 to form an electrostatic latent image on the uniformly charged photosensitive drum 151.

Further, a charging device 152 for uniformly charging the photoconductor drum 151, a developing device 153, a transfer electrode 157, a separation electrode 158, a cleaning device 159, and a fixing device 160 are provided. The electrostatic latent image formed on the 151 is developed by the developing device 153 to form a toner image, and the toner image is further transferred and fixed on a recording paper.
A copy image of the original is obtained.

Recording papers are provided for each size of paper feed cassettes 171-1.
The recording paper is taken out from the corresponding paper feed cassettes 171 to 174 according to the recording paper size instruction and stored in the recording paper conveyance mechanism 175 including a plurality of conveyance rollers and a conveyance belt. It is supplied to the drum 151.

In the case of a single-sided copy, the toner image is sequentially transferred and fixed on one side of the recording paper sequentially taken out from the paper feeding cassette, and is discharged onto the recording paper discharge tray 176.

In the case of double-sided copying, the recording paper fed with the toner image transferred and fixed on one side is sent out, and the first switching claw 177 (broken line in the figure) arranged immediately after the fixing device 160 in the recording paper conveyance path. Direction) and is guided to a duplex unit (hereinafter referred to as ADU). The second switching pawl 180 (the position of the broken line in the figure) in the recording paper conveyance path allows the recording paper to pass to the right and then the reversing roller 181 reverses, and at the same time, the second switching pawl 180 is shown by the solid line in the drawing. Switch to position. As a result, the recording paper is turned upside down and then fed to the photoconductor drum 151 via the reversing conveyance path 183 similarly to the paper feeding from the paper feeding cassettes 171 and 172. The image data on the back side of the document is read from the image storage section C and sequentially image-formed on the back side of the recording paper to obtain a double-sided copy.

In the black-and-white digital copying machine according to the present embodiment, a circulating automatic document feeder (R-ADF) 18 for automatically conveying the read document 121 on the platen glass 122.
1 is provided in the image reading unit A. The automatic document feeder 181 sets a plurality of originals to be read on the original setting table 182, and when a copy start button (not shown) is pressed, the pages of the originals are sequentially fed to the first reversing unit. The direction is changed by 190 and automatically conveyed to a predetermined position on the platen glass 122 in order, and the read original 121 is removed from the platen glass 122 and discharged onto the original discharge tray 199.

Further, the R-ADF 181 sequentially feeds out the single-sided original 121 with an image printed on one side of the original as described above and reads it out, and also takes out one double-sided original and sends it to the platen glass 122 to send the single-sided original. When the image reading is completed, the document is moved in the opposite direction, the direction is changed by the second reversing unit 191, the document is turned over and sent to a predetermined position of the platen glass 122 so that the image information on the back of the document can be read. .

Furthermore, the R-ADF 181 feeds the document after reading directly to the third document reversing section 192 instead of directly ejecting it onto the document ejection tray 199, and reverses it to the original reversing tray 194. accumulate. When the switching plate 196, which rotates about the fulcrum 195 as an axis, moves from the lower position (the position indicated by the broken line in the figure) to the upper position (the position indicated by the solid line in the figure), the bundle of documents after the first reading of the document returns to 1 Feeding starts from the first document and the second document reading starts.

In order to automatically convey the originals as described above, the paper feed roller 184 for feeding the originals on the original set table 182 one by one, the intermediate conveyance roller 185, the driving roller 188 and the driven roller 187, Drive roller 188 and driven roller
A conveyor belt 189 wound around 187, a discharge roller 193,
The first reversing part 190, the second reversing part 191, and the third, which are guide plates.
It is composed of an inversion unit 192.

By using the R-ADF as described above, the original 121 can be automatically sent to predetermined reading positions on the platen glass 122 sequentially and output as read image signals for both double-sided and single-sided originals.

Now, the circuit configuration of the black-and-white digital copying machine including the image reading section A, the image processing section B, the image storage section C and the image forming section D will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

First, in the image reading unit A, the C
The analog image signal output from the CD line sensor 130 is converted into a digital image signal (image data) by the A / D converter 11 and output to the image processing unit B via the interface 12. The digital image signal (luminance information) input to the image processing unit B is first converted into density information by the density conversion unit 13. After that, the enlargement / reduction processing unit 14 performs the scaling processing according to the operator's designation.

The image discrimination processing unit 15 discriminates a character image / photograph image based on the density information converted by the density conversion unit, and the filter characteristics in the filter processing unit 16 are determined based on the discrimination result. Setting and filtering section
At 16, the spatial filtering process is performed according to the above setting.

The image discrimination processing section 15 corresponds to the image discrimination means and the processing characteristic changing means in this embodiment,
Discrimination between a character image and a photographic image includes discrimination between a character image region and a photographic image region in a mixed image of a character image and a photographic image.

On the other hand, the EE processing section 19 obtains histogram data in order to obtain the characteristics of the original image from the image information obtained by the pre-scan before the main scan at the time of scanning the original. Then, the CPU 40 of the image processing system provides the γ correction processing unit 20 with appropriate γ correction data based on the histogram data.

The image data (density information) which has been subjected to the filter processing and the scaling processing is subjected to the γ correction processing according to the characteristics of the image forming apparatus 25, which will be described later, in the γ correction processing section 20,
It is output to the image area processing unit 21. The image area processing unit 21
Then, in addition to extracting the effective image area of the document, area processing such as frame erasing and erasing is performed.

The image data (density information) which has undergone all the image processing necessary for image formation as described above and is in the final output state to the image forming apparatus to be described later is stored in the interface 22 via the image storage unit C. It is output to the image forming unit D via the.

The image storage section C stores and holds the input image data for a plurality of pages.

The image forming section D has a function of immediately forming an image on a recording sheet in response to the reading of an original, and also causes the stored image data to be read out in an arbitrary order later and then form an image. It has a function.

The image forming section D is provided with a data selector 24, an image forming apparatus 25 such as a laser printer, and a control section 26, and an image memory for rewritably storing image data in order to realize an electronic RDH function. The image recording is executed by connecting to the unit (image data storage means) C or the real-time image forming function (real-time copy) as a normal copying machine.

The data selector 24 stores either one or both of the image data accumulated and read in the image storage section C and the image data sequentially output in real time in response to the reading from the image processing section B. Switch
The image is selectively output to the image forming apparatus (laser printer) 25. That is, the image data is stored in the image storage unit C, and the image data read from the image storage unit C and the image data from the image processing unit B are selectively output by the data selector 24 to generate an image. An image can be formed in the forming device 25 in the same manner. The image processing system B is in charge of the CPU 40, and the image storage unit C, the control unit 26 of the image forming unit D, and the operation unit 28 are in charge of the CPU 27.

Next, the structure of the image storage section C will be described with reference to FIG. The image storage means 23 comprises a memory 30 for storing image data in page units, an image data writing / reading means 31 including an address register, a data buffer, and a latch for holding a read / write signal. The control unit 26 that controls the image storage unit C and the image forming apparatus 25 is the CPU 2
7, a memory table 29 set on the RAM connected to the operation unit 28 and the CPU 27.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the operation panel 45 of the operation unit 28.

Reference numeral 50 denotes an automatic return button. By pressing this button, the sorter is used, the copy magnification is 1: 1, automatic paper size selection, automatic copy density adjustment, and automatic document feeder are all automatically performed. Among these functions, paper size selection button 56, magnification enlargement button 57,
When the manual reduction is specified by pressing the magnification reduction button 58, copy density (light) button 59, copy density (dark) button 60, copy mode (single-sided / double-sided) selection button 61, sorter mode selection button 62, each item is specified. The display indicating that is automatically designated disappears, and the mode designated by each button is displayed by the LED. There is no button to manually select the ADF181, but when using the ADF181 in close contact with the platen glass 122, it is in the ADF use mode, and the ADF181 is released (open) to the platen glass 122 to manually read the original 121. When this is done, the ADF non-use mode is entered, and the LED indicating that the ADF above the auto return button is in use is turned off.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a copy mode selection button when the memory is used, which is a mode in which the image data is simply stored in the memory by pressing it, and the image data is sent to the image forming section D for immediate image formation (real-time copy). It is possible to sequentially specify the mode and the mode for storing in the memory at the same time while copying.

Reference numeral 52 denotes a manual reading LED which lights up when the image data read from the original at the time of manual reading reaches one page, and 53 denotes the image data for one page described above in the memory 30.
A memory write button for writing to. Reference numeral 54 denotes a manual mode display LED indicating that the copy mode is selected only for storage and the reading without using the ADF is being executed, that is, the manual reading is being performed. Reference numeral 55 denotes an end button that is manually pressed when reading each page of the document is completed.

Copy mode (single-sided / double-sided) selection button 61
Specifies whether the original is single-sided or double-sided, and whether the output copy is single-sided or double-sided. This copy mode selection button
The designation of 61 sets conditions such as the operation of the ADF, the reading order of the image data stored in the memory, and the use / non-use of the ADU.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the control operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

First, the preparation for reading the original image is checked (step S101). Then, it is inquired whether the mode is the ADF use mode (step S102). If YES, one document is fed, one page of the document is read, and one page of image data is written in the memory. This work is continued until the manuscript is finished (step S106). If the ADF is not used, one original is manually set, and when the LED 52 is turned on to confirm the image reading for one page, the memory writing button 53 is pressed to execute the memory writing for one page (step S203). When the manual reading is completed, the end button 55 is pressed (step S204).

When the memory reading of the image data of the original of each page is completed, it is checked in step S107 whether or not the duplex copying mode is set. When the duplex copying mode is selected, the reading result is an odd number of sheets. It is checked whether or not. When the number is an odd number, the control unit adds a blank page on the memory table and finishes reading the data.

Next, the blank page assignment in the memory table will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

In the case of FIG. 6, as shown in Table 1, the content of the address table stores the page number, the start address and the end address of the memory. It is assumed that the writing of the image data in the memory is completed up to page 5, the control unit determines that the original is an odd page, and the command to add a blank page is issued to the sixth page.

[0047]

[Table 1]

The control unit loads the address of the final image data from the memory final address of page 5 in Table 1 (step S301), and determines the start address of the next page. Next, write the output FFH (or 00H) corresponding to the image data for blank pages in succession to the memory specified by this address, and add an automatically assigned address to the start address as the final address. To the final address. This completes the writing of the image data of the page to which the blank page is added.

Table 2 shows an example of the address table used in the flowchart of FIG.

[0050]

[Table 2]

Also in this case, the state in which writing to the memory from page 1 to page 5 has been completed and a blank sheet adding command has been issued from the control unit is shown.

As shown in step S401 in FIG. 7, the page number of the final image is loaded, and 1 is added to determine the next page number (step S402). Next, it is assumed that the control unit determines that the original is an odd page, and a blank page adding command is issued on the sixth page. The control unit will add Z
When the image data as shown in Table 2 is read out from the memory and output to the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus recognizes that the sixth page is blank sheet data and outputs the blank sheet. Is configured to be output.

[0053]

According to the present invention, all the image data read from the storage unit is handled as a series of image data consisting of even pages, so that the image forming apparatus operates in the normal image output mode and the blank sheet output mode. It is not necessary to execute the two modes separately, and the completely same function can be realized in the normal image output mode. Therefore, the recovery work process when a paper jam occurs is simplified, the reliability of the machine is improved, and an image recording apparatus with excellent operability can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a monochrome digital copying machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an image storage unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an operation panel of a control unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit at the time of copying in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit when a blank page is added (part 1) in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit when a blank page is added (No. 2) in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 23 Image storage unit 24 Data selector 25 Image forming device 26 Control unit 27 CPU 28 Operation unit 29 Memory table 30 Memory 45 Operation panel 50 Auto restore button 51 Copy mode selection button 52 Manual read LED 53 Memory write button 54 Manual mode display LED 55 Finish button 61 Copy mode selection button

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A reading means for reading an original image by photoelectric conversion to obtain image data, an automatic original feeding device for automatically feeding the original to the reading means, and an image data storing means for storing the image data. An image forming means for forming an image based on the image data selectively read from the image data storing means, and a control section for controlling the automatic document feeder, the image data storing means and the image forming means. In the image recording apparatus including, the image data storage unit includes a memory for storing image data and a memory table, the control unit includes an operation unit, and the operation unit includes a mode using an automatic document feeder and an automatic document feed. It is configured so that a mode not using the device can be selected, and a single-sided recording mode in which the image forming means records an image on one side of the recording paper and an image on both sides of the recording paper. It is configured such that either one of the double-sided recording mode for recording is selectable, and when the double-sided recording mode is selected by the operation unit, the control unit has determined that the number of pages of the read document is odd. An image recording apparatus, characterized in that blank information is written on the page next to the last page of the memory management section of the image data storage means. 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blank page information written in the memory table is address information written in a page following the last page. 3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blank page information entered in the memory table is a blank page code entered in a page number following the last page. 4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the automatic document feeder is a circulating automatic document feeder.