JPH1039550A - Both-surface image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a both-surface image forming device constituted so that the turbulence of a toner image is prevented from being caused by the deviation of a recording paper or the like when the recording paper is carried by being closely brought into contact with a belt-like toner image receiving body carrying the toner image. SOLUTION: A photoreceptor drum 10 which carries the toner image being the image of a front surface and whose drum diameter is comparatively small is made to abut on the belt-like image receiving body 15 which carries the toner image being the image of a back surface and which is stretched in a vertical direction at an upper position corresponding to 1/10-4/10 of the belt length L of the vertical direction from the intermediate point M of the body 15. Besides, the carrying distance of the supplied recording paper until it receives the transfer action of the toner image being the image of the front surface by a transfer unit 14 and it receives the transfer action of the toner image being the image of the back surface by a back surface transfer unit 19 after it is closely brought into contact with the belt surface by a paper electrostatic charger 18 is made as short as possible. Thus, the turbulence of the toner image being carried is suppressed to the utmost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to copying in which a charging means, an image exposing means and a developing means are arranged around an image carrier to transfer and fix a toner image formed on the image carrier to both sides of a transfer material. The present invention relates to an electrophotographic double-sided image forming apparatus such as a machine, a printer, and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in double-sided copying, an image on one side formed on an image carrier is transferred and fixed on a transfer material, and this is temporarily stored in a two-sided reversing paper feeder, and the image bearing is again performed. A method has been adopted in which a transfer material is fed from a double-sided reversing sheet feeder in synchronization with an image formed on the body, and an image on the other surface is transferred and fixed onto the transfer material.

In this double-sided copying apparatus, as described above, the transfer of the transfer material, such as feeding to the two-sided reversing paper feeder and passing through the fixing device twice, is performed, so that the reliability of transfer of the transfer material is low. And so on. On the other hand, after forming a toner image on both surfaces of a transfer material according to JP-B-49-37538, JP-B-54-28740, JP-A-1-44457 and JP-A-4-214576, fixing is performed once. Things have been suggested.

[0004]

As is well known, an image forming apparatus for forming a two-sided image using the above-described two-sided reversing sheet feeder requires a long processing distance for transferring a transfer material, so that it takes much processing time for copying. Further, since the transfer material is heated twice for fixing the image, there is a problem that paper quality is damaged.

The inventor of the present invention has previously provided two image bearing means and two transfer means to transfer a toner image to both sides of a transfer material and to simultaneously fix the transfer material having toner images on both sides. A study was made on an apparatus that performs double-sided copying, and a double-sided image forming apparatus capable of significantly increasing the processing speed of double-sided copying was realized.

However, a drum-shaped photosensitive member and a belt-shaped intermediate transfer member are used as the two image bearing means described above, and while the transfer material is being conveyed by the intermediate transfer member, the photosensitive member is provided on both front and back surfaces thereof. Since the process of sequentially transferring the front surface image and then the back surface image on the intermediate transfer body is taken, the transfer distance of the transfer material becomes longer. Therefore, even if the transfer material is slightly moved during the transfer of the transfer material, the toner on the intermediate transfer body is The image may be disturbed and the image quality may be reduced.

The present invention solves this problem and improves the relationship between the photosensitive member and the intermediate transfer member and the position at which the transfer material is fed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a double-sided image forming apparatus capable of preventing a toner image on a transfer member from being disturbed and shortening a copying time.

[0008]

An object of the present invention is to provide a first image carrying means for carrying a toner image formed by a toner image forming means, and a transfer of the toner image carried by the first image carrying means. A second image holding means for holding the transferred toner image on the surface, a first transfer means for transferring the toner image carried on the first image holding means to a surface of a transfer material, A two-sided image having a second transfer unit for transferring the toner image carried by the second image holding unit to the back surface of the transfer material, and a fixing unit for fixing the toner images transferred to both surfaces of the transfer material In the forming apparatus, the first image bearing means is a drum-shaped image forming body, and the second image bearing means is a belt-shaped toner image receiving body, and the toner image receiving body is stretched in a vertical direction. The upper belt position from the middle position of the upper and lower belt length. A double-sided image forming apparatus (the invention according to claim 1), which is a contact position where transfer is performed between the image forming body and the image forming body, and a second image forming apparatus that carries the toner image formed by the toner image forming unit. A toner image carried by the first image carrying means and the first image carrying means;
A second image holding means for holding the transferred toner image on the surface, a first transfer means for transferring the toner image carried on the first image holding means to a surface of a transfer material, 2
Double-sided image forming apparatus, comprising: a second transfer unit that transfers a toner image carried by the image carrying unit to the back surface of the transfer material; and a fixing unit that fixes the toner images transferred to both surfaces of the transfer material. , The first image bearing means is a drum-shaped image forming body, and the second image bearing means is a belt-shaped toner image receiving body, wherein the toner image receiving body is a pair of rollers arranged in a vertical direction. A double-sided image forming apparatus (the invention according to claim 3), wherein the upper side of the lower roller member is set as an entry position of the transfer material. A first image carrying means for carrying the transferred toner image, a second image carrying means for carrying the toner image carried on the first image carrying means, and carrying the transferred toner image on the surface; Carried by the first image carrier A first transfer unit for transferring the toner image on the front surface of the transfer material, a second transfer unit for transferring the toner image carried by the second image carrying unit to the back surface of the transfer material, A fixing device for fixing the toner images transferred to both surfaces of the transfer material, wherein the first image bearing means is a drum-shaped image forming member, and the second image bearing means is a belt-shaped image forming body. A toner image receiver, wherein the toner image receiver is stretched in a vertical direction,
This is achieved by a double-sided image forming apparatus (the invention according to claim 6), wherein the toner image receiving body is provided so as to be openable to the image forming body.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Prior to the description of each embodiment of the present invention, the structure and functions of a double-sided image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.
It will be explained by.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a photosensitive drum serving as a first image bearing means, which is formed by applying an OPC photosensitive member on the drum, and is driven and rotated clockwise in a grounded state. 11
In the present embodiment, a scorotron charger applies negative and uniform charging to the peripheral surface of the photoreceptor drum 10 by corona discharge with a grid and a corona charging wire maintained at a predetermined potential to give a potential V _H.

After the photosensitive drum 10 is charged, an original reading device or a memory (I) to be described later
The image data of the back side image of the document is input as a signal, and the formation of a latent image is started.

The laser writing device 12 is a polygon mirror 1 which rotates using a laser diode (not shown) as a light source.
The main scanning is performed through the 2A, the fθ lens 12B, and the reflecting mirror 12C. The sub-scanning is performed by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 10 to form a latent image on the photosensitive drum 10. Low V _L absolute value than V _H potential at the exposed portion in the present embodiment
And a latent image is formed.

On the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10, there is provided a developing device 13 containing a developer composed of monochrome, for example, a black toner and a magnetic carrier, and has a magnet inside to hold the developer. The reversal development for the latent image is performed by the rotation of the developing sleeve 13A. The developer is regulated on the developing sleeve 13A to an appropriate layer thickness and transported to the developing area, where the developing sleeve 13A and the photosensitive drum 10
V _L toner having a negative polarity by negative DC voltage V _DC applied to the photosensitive drum 10 side between the
Is adhered to the latent image portion having the potential of, and visualization is performed.

The toner image of the back side image of the original formed on the photosensitive drum 10 is applied with a DC voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner by the transfer unit 14 as the first transfer unit, and the second image holding unit Is transferred to the peripheral surface of the toner image receiver 15. The toner image receiver 15 has a thickness of 0.5 to 2.
An endless rubber belt of 0 mm, a semiconductive substrate of silicon rubber or urethane rubber having a resistance value of 10 ⁸ to 10 ¹² Ω · cm, and a thickness of 5 to 10 μm as a toner filming prevention layer outside the rubber substrate. And a two-layer structure with fluorine coating. This layer is also 10 ¹⁰ to 10 ¹⁶ Ω
cm semiconductivity is preferred. Instead of the rubber belt substrate, semiconductive polyester, polystyrene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate or the like having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.5 mm can be used. The above-mentioned toner image receiver 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a driving roller 1 by pressing the tension roller 15A.
5B and the driven roller 15C are stretched in the vertical direction, and the peripheral surface thereof is in contact with the photosensitive drum 10 and is rotated counterclockwise in synchronization with the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 10 by rotation of the driving roller 15B. It is circulated and transported. The driving roller 1
5B and the driven roller 15C are grounded.

After the transfer of the photosensitive drum 10 to the toner image receiving member 15 is completed, the photosensitive drum 10 is cleaned by removing the residual toner by a cleaning device 100. Subsequently, a _VH potential is applied by a scorotron charger 11, and subsequently, a laser writing device is used. The formation and transfer of the toner image of the back side image of the document are continuously performed by the exposure scanning of No. 12.

When the formation and transfer of the toner image on the entire back surface image are completed by a plurality of rotations of the photosensitive drum 10, the image data of the front surface image of the document is called from a memory (II) described later and input as a signal. The formation of a toner image of a surface image on the photosensitive drum 10 is started.

The toner image of the front side image is synchronized with the toner image of the back side image formed on the toner image receiving body 15 formed earlier, and the photosensitive drum is formed by the same process as that for forming the toner image of the back side image. 10 is formed. The image data is converted so that the toner image of the front surface image formed at this time becomes a mirror image of the toner image of the rear surface image formed earlier.

The recording paper is carried out of the paper supply cassette 16 in parallel with the formation of the toner image of the front surface image, and is synchronized with each toner image on the photosensitive drum 10 and the toner image receiver 15 by the operation of the timing roller 17. Fed.

The recording paper is charged to the same polarity as the toner by a paper charger 18, is adsorbed on the toner image receiving body 15 and is fed integrally, and the transfer unit 14 forms the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 on the upper surface thereof. The toner image of the image is transferred.

Next, the recording paper is charged in the opposite polarity to the toner in a back transfer unit 19 provided as a second transfer means, and the toner image of the back image on the toner image receiver 15 is transferred to the lower surface thereof.

The recording paper on which the toner images have been transferred to both the upper and lower surfaces is thus neutralized by the neutralizer 20 and the toner image receiving member 15 is removed.
The recording paper that is further separated and moves up and down
Is heated from both left and right sides by the nipping and conveying of the fixing roller 21A and the pressure roller 21B to fuse the toner, and then discharged onto the tray 23 via the paper discharge roller 22.

Photosensitive drum 10 after transfer of toner image
In the cleaning device 100, the residual toner is removed, while the toner image receiving body 15 is cleaned of the residual toner by the cleaning device 150 in which the blade 150A is pressed, so as to prepare for the formation of the toner image of the backside image of each subsequent document.

The image data for each color of the document input to the double-sided image forming apparatus is read by, for example, an image reading apparatus 50 provided separately from the apparatus main body shown in FIG.

In the case of the image reading apparatus 50 described above, the originals D are stacked in page order from the lower side with the front side facing downward, and the lowermost original D is directed to the transport path 53 by the operation of the discharge belt 51 and the separating roller 52. It is carried out.

The conveyed document D is retracted to the position shown by the broken line without the guide plate G biased to the position shown by the solid line, and is placed on the transparent platen glass 55 via the transport belt 54. The document is fed, and is temporarily stopped at the document reading position with the back face down.

The back side image of the original D on the platen glass 55 is composed of a first mirror unit 56 composed of an illumination lamp and a first mirror constituting a scanning optical system, and a second V-shaped second mirror unit 56.
Second mirror unit 57 including a mirror and a third mirror
Of the first mirror unit 56 at the speed V and the speed V / 2 in the same direction by the second mirror unit.
Is read by the moving exposure of the camera, and an image is formed on the image sensor CCD by the projection lens L. The back surface image formed on the image pickup device CCD is temporarily stored in the image memory (I) as image data, and is output as an electric signal to the laser writing device 12 to be used as the photosensitive drum 10.
A latent image is formed thereon, and the toner image formed after the development is transferred by the transfer device 14, and a back surface image is formed on the toner image receiver 15 described above.

When the reading of the back side image is completed in the image reading apparatus 50, the original D is turned upside down through the reversing sheet feeding path 58 by the temporary reverse rotation of the conveying belt 54, and again passed through the conveying path 53 to the conveying belt 54. Through the platen glass 5
5, and is temporarily stopped at the document reading position with the front surface facing downward.

The original image on the platen glass 55 is read by the scanning optical system, and is temporarily stored in the image memory (II) as image data for each color. And the above-described surface image on the photosensitive drum 10 is formed.

At the time of copying the second and subsequent sheets, the image of the original D is not read, and the image data from the image memory (I) is output so that the back side image and the image data from the image memory (II) are output. The surface image is formed by outputting the image data.

On the other hand, in the image reading device 50, the originals D, for which the images have been read, are stacked on the tray 60 via the discharge rollers 59 by the operation of the transport belt 54, with the front surface facing down, in order from the bottom. Paper is discharged as follows.

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the invention according to claims 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the double-sided image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the photosensitive drum 10 is located at an intermediate position of a belt length above and below a belt surface moving above the toner image receiving member 15 stretched in the vertical direction. A transfer unit 14 which is in contact with a belt surface adjacent to a driven roller 15C located at an upper position, that is, an upper position, and which is provided so as to be opposed to the drum surface, and transfers the surface toner; The distance between the back transfer unit 19 provided opposite to the belt surface for transferring the back toner image to be transferred and the separation position by the static eliminator 20 is reduced, and the transfer is performed in close contact with the toner image receiver 15. The transport distance of the recording paper P is significantly reduced. As a result, almost no disturbance of the toner images on the front and back surfaces transferred onto the recording paper is recognized. On the other hand, when the contact position is below the intermediate position, disturbance of the toner image before and after transfer is recognized.

The most suitable contact position of the photosensitive drum 10 with respect to the toner image receiver 15 is the photosensitive drum 1
When the photoconductor drum 10 having a small drum diameter is used, it is different from the intermediate point M of the belt stretched in the up-down direction by 1 in the belt length L in many cases.
It is possible to set the contact position above / 10 to 4/10, so that the sheet feeding position of the recording sheet P can be set near the intermediate point M, and the sheet feeding from the belt surface can be stopped. The total paper feeding distance of the recording paper P until separation after transfer is also significantly reduced.

As a result, the toner image receiving body 15 is
The contact time with the belt is extremely short, and the possibility that the toner image of the front surface image on the belt is disturbed by the recording paper P before the transfer is extremely small. It will be.

The toner image receiving member 15 is cleaned in a space below the photosensitive drum 10 on the side of the toner image receiving member 15 caused by setting the sheet feeding position near the intermediate point M on the belt surface. Cleaning device 1
The double-sided image forming apparatus can be made more compact by arranging a paper feed cassette 16 and the like for feeding the recording paper P to the paper feed position.

(Embodiment 2) An embodiment of the invention according to claims 3 to 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the double-sided image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the photosensitive drum 10 contacts the belt surface which moves upward from the central position in the vertical direction of the toner image receiving member 15 extended in the vertical direction. As a result, the advancing position of the recording paper P, that is, the paper feeding position N with respect to the belt surface, is above the driving roller 15B for driving the toner image receiving body 15 as a lower roller member, preferably the driving roller 158. It is provided in the vicinity of the intermediate portion of the belt surface above the belt surface, and reduces the total paper feeding distance from the feeding of the recording paper P to the belt surface to the transfer of the front toner image and the transfer of the rear toner image to the separation. Thus, the disturbance of the toner image of the back surface image on the toner image receiving body 15 due to the conveyance of the recording paper P is minimized.

By setting the paper feeding position N near the intermediate portion of the belt surface of the toner image receiving member 15 stretched in the vertical direction, the space on the belt surface generated between the belt and the driving roller 15B is reduced. The cleaning device 150 for the toner image receiving member 15 can be installed, and the sheet feeding cassette 16 can be accommodated below the photosensitive drum 10 on the side of the belt surface, so that the device can be made compact. Is done.

Further, the cleaning device 150 is moved to a position where the distance on the belt surface from the transfer device 14 is smaller than the distance on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10 from the transfer device 14 to the exposure position Q of the laser writing device 12. , It is possible to prevent the blade of the cleaning device 150 from being released from the pressure contact during the exposure of the image. That is, it is also possible to prevent the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 10 from being abnormal due to the shock of the drum due to the release of the pressure contact of the blade of the cleaning device 150, and to prevent the image formed by the image exposure from being disturbed.

The photosensitive drum 10 on the side of the belt surface
By disposing the paper feed cassette 16 at a position below
Not only can the space be effectively used to achieve compactness, but also the length of the paper feed path from the paper feed cassette to the paper feed position N is set to be extremely short, so that paper jams and the like that occur during the paper feeding process are reduced. Accidents will be significantly reduced.

(Embodiment 3) An embodiment of the invention according to claims 6 to 8 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the double-sided image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the toner image receiving member 15 stretched between the driven roller 15C and the driving roller 15B positioned above and below is transferred to the transfer unit 1
4. a cleaning device 150, and a belt-side guide plate 160 that forms a paper feed guide member for the recording paper P provided between the paper feed cassette 16 and the timing roller 17;
A U-shaped frame 200 that connects the front and rear side plates to be integrated.
And is incorporated in the main body of the apparatus while being supported.

The frame 200 is rotatable counterclockwise about a fulcrum 200A coaxial with the rotation axis of the driving roller 15B. Each member supported by the frame body 200 including the toner image receiving body 15 locked to the plywood 200B is set at a position where image formation is possible. At the position where image formation is possible, the photosensitive drum 10 and the toner image receiving body 15 are in a contacting position.

Further, the apparatus main body is provided with an openable door 300 on a side surface facing the frame body 200, and is configured to be opened counterclockwise through a fulcrum 300A, and to be opened through a lock lever 300D. Locked on the side wall 300B of the apparatus main body, the side surface of the apparatus main body is closed during image formation.

The door 300 is connected to the lock lever 3
By rotating 00D, the lock with the side wall 300B of the apparatus main body is released, and the apparatus is opened almost perpendicularly to the position shown by the dashed line from the position shown by the solid line in FIG.
When the frame 200 is further opened, the lock of the frame 200 is also released by rotating the lock lever 200D, and the frame 200 is released from the position shown by a solid line in the drawing with a dashed line. It is rotated in a direction substantially perpendicular to the position shown, and the inside is opened.

As a result, the conveyance surface of the recording paper P is opened over a wide range from the guide plate 160 through the image transfer area to the back transfer device 19 and the static eliminator 20, so that the jam processing and other maintenance can be performed. It can be done easily and accurately.

Further, by adopting a configuration in which the process unit including the photosensitive member and the developing device is replaceable from the opened state, the maintenance can be simplified.

[0048]

According to the present invention, a compact and practical double-sided image forming apparatus requiring a small floor area for installation can be provided. The contact conveyance distance is shortened, and the disturbance of the toner image before transfer is reduced. Further, according to the third aspect, a space below the sheet feeding position of the recording paper is generated, so that the cleaning device (the fourth aspect) and the sheet feeding cassette (the second aspect) Item 5) can be accommodated to make the apparatus more compact, and the paper feed path is shortened, so that poor conveyance of the recording paper such as a jam is less likely to occur, and the recording paper conveyance surface is opened according to the sixth aspect. Then, the jam clearance and other maintenance are facilitated, and the opening of the feeding surface is widened by opening the paper feed guide member (claim 7). It was to be done easily also processing of the waste toner by integral opening device (claim 8).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a two-sided image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional configuration diagram of a document image reading apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a contact position of a photosensitive drum with respect to a toner image receiver.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a sheet feeding position of a recording sheet with respect to a toner image receiver.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an open configuration of a toner image receiver.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 photoconductor drum 11 scorotron charger 12 laser writing device 13 developing device 14 transfer device 15B drive roller 15C driven roller 16 paper feed cassette 17 timing roller 18 paper charger 19 backside transfer device 20 static eliminator 50 image reading device 100, 150 cleaning Device 160 Guide plate 200 Frame 300 Door 200D, 300D Lock lever

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tadayoshi Ikeda 2970 Ishikawacho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation (72) Inventor Akira Matsubara 2970 Ishikawacho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation (72) Invention Person Masakazu Fukuchi 2970 Ishikawacho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation

Claims (8)

[Claims] A first image carrying means for carrying the toner image formed by the toner image forming means; and a toner image carried by the first image carrying means. A second image carrying means carried on the surface;
A first transfer unit that transfers the toner image carried by the image carrying unit to the front surface of the transfer material; and a first transfer unit that transfers the toner image carried by the second image carrying unit to the back surface of the transfer material. 2. A double-sided image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer unit of No. 2; and a fixing unit for fixing a toner image transferred to both sides of the transfer material, wherein the first image bearing unit is a drum-shaped image forming body;
The second image carrying means is a belt-shaped toner image receiving body, and the toner image receiving body is stretched in a vertical direction, and a position above an intermediate position of the vertical belt length is defined as the image forming body. A two-sided image forming apparatus, wherein the abutting position is such that transfer is performed between the two sides. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a contact position of the toner image receiver with the image forming member is higher than an intermediate position of the upper and lower belt lengths by (1/10 to 4/10) of the belt length. The double-sided image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A first image carrying means for carrying a toner image formed by a toner image forming means, and a toner image carried by the first image carrying means is transferred. A second image carrying means carried on the surface;
A first transfer unit that transfers the toner image carried by the image carrying unit to the front surface of the transfer material; and a first transfer unit that transfers the toner image carried by the second image carrying unit to the back surface of the transfer material. 2. A double-sided image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer unit of No. 2; and a fixing unit for fixing a toner image transferred to both sides of the transfer material, wherein the first image bearing unit is a drum-shaped image forming body;
The second image bearing means is a belt-shaped toner image receiving member, and the toner image receiving member is stretched over a pair of roller members arranged in a vertical direction, and the upper portion of the lower roller member is transferred to the transfer member. A two-sided image forming apparatus characterized in that it is located at a material entry position. 4. A double-sided image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said toner image receiving member cleaning means is provided between said lower roller member and a position at which said transfer material enters. 5. A double-sided image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said transfer material feeding means is arranged on a side of said toner image receiving body and below said image forming body. . 6. A first image carrying means for carrying a toner image formed by a toner image forming means, and a toner image carried by said first image carrying means is transferred, and said transferred toner image is transferred to said first image carrying means. A second image carrying means carried on the surface;
A first transfer unit that transfers the toner image carried by the image carrying unit to the front surface of the transfer material; and a first transfer unit that transfers the toner image carried by the second image carrying unit to the back surface of the transfer material. 2. A double-sided image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer unit of No. 2; and a fixing unit for fixing a toner image transferred to both sides of the transfer material, wherein the first image bearing unit is a drum-shaped image forming body;
The second image bearing means is a belt-shaped toner image receiving member, the toner image receiving member is vertically stretched, and the toner image receiving member is provided so as to be openable to the image forming member. A two-sided image forming apparatus. 7. A double-sided image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said toner image receiving member can be integrally opened with a sheet feeding guide member for said transfer material. 8. The toner image body according to claim 6, wherein a cleaning unit can be opened integrally.
Or a double-sided image forming apparatus according to 7.