JPS60131531A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change easily exposure starting positions by forming a step part at an original scale along its 1st reference surface, using the step surface as the 2nd reference surface, and setting an original on the basis of the 2nd reference surface when necessary. CONSTITUTION:The original scale 41 has one flank as the 1st reference surface 42 and also has the step part 43 along the 1st reference surface 42, and the step surface is regarded as the 2nd reference surface 44. Then, the original O is set on a platen 42 on the basis of the 1st reference surface 42 of the original scale 41 or the 2nd reference surface 44. Consequently, exposure starting positions for the original are changed according to the way of setting the original. Therefore, even when the original and a material on which an image is formed are equal in size, the original is positioned easily.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus used, for example, as a thermal transfer printer.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

For example, a general thermal transfer printer scans and exposes the document 0 placed on the first document mounting table a, and then receives the light through a lens at the photoelectric conversion unit and converts it into image information. Based on the reading information, the thermal head generates heat and transfers the ink from the thermal transfer ribbon to the paper to form an image.By the way, in this thermal transfer printer, the paper is transferred between the platen and the platen. Pressure port that connects to
Since the sheet P is held between the top two and conveyed back and forth for multicolor printing, the first area 8 of the sheet P requires two margins at the leading edge and trailing edge i along the conveying direction. For example, as shown in Figure 2, if the IP size is A'O-
If it is X'BO, margins with widths e and f are created at the front and rear ends of the paper 'P, respectively. (However, it is monochrome.) Then, the dimension B of the copy area of paper P at this time is B. −
(e+f). Also, the margins for the widths c and d on both sides of the paper P can be set to zero, but c, d=! It is often set to 1FO. In the end, the copy area S for paper P is A, X B
, O However, in the past, since the exposure start position for document 0 and the image formation start position for paper P are different, if the sizes of document 0 and paper P are the same, the image on the rear edge side of document O is not copied onto the paper P, and when it is desired to put the entire image onto the paper P, there is a problem in that it is not possible to determine from where to start the exposure scan.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that has a simple configuration and is capable of changing the exposure start position for a document. [Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first
A second reference surface is provided, a document is placed in alignment with the first or second reference surface, and the document is exposed and scanned from the first reference surface.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 19.

FIG. 3 shows the external appearance of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 4 shows its schematic configuration. In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of the image forming apparatus, and an operation panel section 1a is formed on the upper front surface of the apparatus main body 1. As shown in FIG. Further, a document table 2 having a document holding cover 3 on the left side is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1, and the lower side of the document table 2 in the apparatus main body 1 is used for holding documents set on the document table 2. A document scanning section (scanner section) 4 scans the image, and an image forming section (printer section) 5 is located on the right side of the main body 1 of the apparatus.

On the operation panel section 1a, a copy number setting section 7 consisting of a display section 6 and a numeric keypad 7, buttons 8, etc. are arranged.

The document scanning section 4 is constructed as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. That is, the scanning section 4 is connected to the document mounting table 2.
A light source 31 that illuminates the document placed above, and this light source 3
A lens placed on the path of the reflected light from the illuminated original.

32 and a photoelectric conversion unit (image sensor f) 33 that receives light that has passed through this lens 32 and converts it photoelectrically, and these are supported by a carriage 34. This carriage 34 is disposed between a guide 35 and a rail 36 and is movable. Further, one end of the carriage is fixed to a timing belt 37, and this timing belt 37 is stretched between a drive pulley 39 driven by a motor 38 and a driven pulley 4O that rotates. The timing belt 37 is then driven by the driving force of the motor 38.
The carriage 34 is moved in a straight line via.

Further, on one side of the document table 2, as shown in FIG. It has a stepped part 43 along the
This document scale 41 has a memory 45 for displaying the size of the document. Further, the height □ of the lower part side of the stepped part 43 of this document kale 41' is Hl, and the height of the higher part side is H2.

The height H8 is set to a size such that the original comes into contact with it. The original O is aligned with the first reference surface 42 of the original scale 41 as shown in FIG. 15, and is aligned with the second reference surface 44 as shown in FIG. , the dimension m between the first reference surface 42 and the second reference surface 44 of the document scale 41 is made equal to the width e of the image formation impossible area of the paper P, that is, the width dimension between the reference line A-13, which will be described later. There is.

Further, exposure scanning of the original by the scanning section 4 is started from the first reference surface 42 of the original scale 41.

Thus, when the original O is set in alignment with the reference surface 42 of the original scale 41, as shown in FIG. The image information from the leading edge of the document O is transferred to the photoelectric conversion unit (
image sensor) 5. Also, manuscript O
For example, when a document is set in alignment with the second reference surface 44 of the document scale 41 as shown in FIG. The image information is read by a photoelectric conversion unit (image sensor) 5 from a point a distance m away from the tip.

On the other hand, the image forming section 5 has a configuration as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7. That is, the platen 10 is located approximately at the center of the image forming section 5, and in front of the platen 10 (toward the left in the state of FIG. 7), a thermal head 11 as a recording head is located relative to the platen 1θ. It is arranged so that it can be moved in and out.

Further, a thermal transfer ribbon (ink ribbon) 15 as a transfer material is interposed between the thermal head 11 and the platen 1O, and the paper P is transferred to the platen 10 with this thermal transfer ribbon 15 interposed. The heating element (not shown) formed in the line tod shape of the thermal head 11 in this state is pressed and in this state, the above-mentioned image information (=
The colorant (
In addition, a paper feed row 216 is provided diagonally below the platen 10 so that the ink (ink) is heated and melted and transferred onto the paper P. The sheets P are taken out one by one in sequence.The taken out sheets P are aligned at the leading edge by a registration roller 18 arranged diagonally above the paper feed roller 16. It is transported toward the platen 10 and is accurately fed (into a state in which it is wrapped around the platen 10 by the pressing rollers 19 and 20 by the pressing rollers 5).

On the other hand, the thermal head 1.1 presses the PP onto the platen 10 via the thermal transfer ribbon 15 as a transfer material, and ink 21 as a colorant on the thermal transfer ribbon 15 as shown in FIG. It is designed to be heated and melted and transferred onto the paper P.

Also, the above thermal transfer ribbon 1! ? is approximately the same size as the paper P, as shown by range (A) in Figure 9, and is yellow (Y);
Magenta (M), cyan (C).

The ink portions 21&, 21b, and 21c may be arranged side by side, or the ink portions 21&, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (B) may be provided side by side, or as shown in the range (b), each ink portion 21&, magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (B) may be provided. plb, 21c.

Even if 2Jd were arranged side by side, the paper P would be transferred one color at a time, then the paper P would be returned to its original position, and the paper P would be accurately stacked one after another.

A thermal transfer ribbon with a black ink portion 21d is used when you want to produce a clear black, and even a ribbon without a black ink portion 21d can produce almost black by layering three colors.

In this way, the paper P is reciprocated by the number of colors by the rotation of the platen 10, but the path of the paper P at this time is the first one that is sequentially arranged along the lower surface of the paper output tray 22. It will be guided onto the second guide 23.24.

That is, the explanation will be made with reference to FIGS.

First, the paper P fed from the paper feed cassette 17 passes through the placement part of the resistroid 25 and is wound around the platen 10 (see FIG. 10(A)). When the platen 1
A heating element (not shown) of a thermal head 1) formed in a line tod shape along the axial direction of O generates heat in accordance with image information, and ink 21 of thermal transfer ribbon 15 is transferred to paper P. At this time, if the document O is set on the mounting table 2 and aligned with the first reference surface 42 of the document scale 41, the document O is set at a distance e1 from the leading edge of the paper P as shown in FIG. From there, the image of the document is transferred from the leading edge. Further, when the original 0 is set aligned with the second reference surface 44, the image of the original is moved from a distance e away from the leading edge of the paper P to a distance m from the leading edge, as shown in FIG. Transcribed from a distance. Here, since the distance e and the distance *m are equal as described above, the leading edges of the document 0 and the paper P are aligned.

Therefore, even if original O and paper P are the same size,
It becomes possible to transfer the entire document image onto the paper P.

Furthermore, the leading edge of the paper P that has passed through the platen 10 is located at the second
The paper is sent onto a first guide 23 provided along the lower surface of the paper discharge tray 22 by a sorting guide 26 . (10th
(See figure (b)) In this way, one color of ink 21
The paper P on which the image has been transferred is transported backwards by reversing the platen 10, and is moved to a second guide provided along the lower surface of the first guide 23 by the rotational displacement operation of the first distribution guide 250. Sent on 24. (See FIG. 10(c)) In this way, by reciprocating the paper P a plurality of times, a plurality of colors are transferred.

Finally, the paper P to which all the colors of ink 21 have been transferred is
The paper is guided by the second sorting guide 26 to two pairs of paper discharge rows 27 and discharged onto the paper discharge tray 22 . (See FIG. 10) Furthermore, the image forming apparatus has a configuration including a document scanning section 4, a color conversion section 12, a memory section 13, an image forming section 5, and an overall control section 14 as shown in FIG. It has become.

Then, the green (G) detected by the original scanning unit 4
), yellow (Y), and cyan (C), the color conversion unit 12 converts the values of the color components of magenta (M
), yellow (Y), and cyan (C), and the color-converted values are stored in the memory unit 13 for each color together with position information on the document. The image forming unit 5 uses magenta (M) based on the value read out from the memory unit 13.
, yellow (y), cyan (C), and black (B) [black is an AND output of magenta (M), yellow (Y), and cyan (C)] are transferred onto paper P. The overall control section 14 includes a document scanning section 4, a color conversion section 12, and a memory section 13.
, and controls the entire image forming section 5.

Further, two pairs of paper ejection rows 27, a paper ejection tray 22, a first paper ejection row 27, and a first paper ejection tray 22 are provided. Second
The guides 23, 24 are unitized, and this unit can be removed if necessary.

As described above, the second reference surface 44 of the document scale 41
If you set original 0 according to This means that you can put it on paper.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the present invention, as described above, first and second reference surfaces are provided on the original scale, and the original is placed aligned with the first or second reference surfaces.

From this, the hoarfrost start position for a document can be changed depending on how the document is set. Therefore, even if the sizes of the original and the image forming material are the same, the entire original image can be transferred to the image forming material without taking time to align the original.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a conventional example. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a document table, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an image forming area of paper, and FIGS. This shows one embodiment of the invention, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an image forming apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an image forming apparatus.
The figure is a partially cutaway perspective view, Figure 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the image information reading device, Figure 6 is a perspective view thereof, and Figure 7 is a schematic longitudinal sectional side view of the image forming section. , FIG. 8 is a perspective view for explaining the transfer operation state, FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the ink application state of the thermal transfer ribbon, and FIGS.
The direction is an explanatory diagram explaining the movement of paper during multicolor transfer,
Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main parts, ilZ drawing is a perspective view showing the manuscript table and manuscript school, Fig. 13 is a side view showing a part thereof, and Fig. 14 is the first reference plane of the manuscript scale. Side view showing the state where the original is set according to the first
Fig. 5 is a side view, Fig. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing the image transfer to the paper when it is set, Fig. 17 is a perspective view showing the state in which the original is set according to the second scale, and Fig. 18 is its illustration. The side view, FIG. 19, is an explanatory view showing the image transfer to the paper at the time of setting. 2... Placement table, O... Original, 41... Original scale, 42... First reference surface, 44... Second reference surface, 43... Step portion, P...・Image forming material (paper). Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 4 Figure 41 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 8 Figure 9 A Figure 10 Figure 12 Ml? 12 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 17

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Place the original on the mounting table so as to align it with the first reference plane of the original scale, scan the original to expose and read its image information, and based on this image information, image forming material,
1''', k''', and the document sheet 72'' form a stepped portion along the 10th reference plane, and use the stepped surface as the second reference plane, and adjust as necessary. An image forming apparatus characterized in that an original is placed so as to be aligned with the second reference surface. (2) The area between the first reference surface and the second reference surface of the document scale corresponds to an area in which image formation is not possible from the tip of the image forming material. Image forming device.