JPS62216470A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form an image of large size by connecting an image reading part and an image writing part so as to constantly maintain a prescribed relative position and supporting the image reading part and the image writing part with respect to an original and transfer material support base so as to freely perform a translation. CONSTITUTION:The picture reading part 1 for reading the original picture while scanning the original in a main scanning direction, and the picture writing part 2 for writing the picture on the transfer material P based on read image information are provided. Both the members are connected by a connecting arm 3 so as to constantly maintain the prescribed relative position relation. The plate shape support base 5 capable of fixing and holding the original 0 and the transfer material P so as to constantly maintain the prescribed relative position relation is provided and a Y axis rail 7 and an X axis rail 8 are disposed on the support base 5 in order to mount a image formation part main body so as to freely perform the translation with respect to the support base 5. Thereby, the image of the large size can be formed and the image having no seam even by a multiplex scanning can be formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and in particular, an image reading section that reads a document image while scanning the document, and an image forming section that reads a document image while scanning the document, and a transfer material that is attached to a transfer material based on the read image information. The present invention relates to a manual scanning image forming apparatus that includes an image writing section and writes an image corresponding to a document image on a transfer material by manually moving the image writing section.

[Background of the invention]

Conventionally, widely used image forming apparatuses consist of an image reading device and an image writing device corresponding to the effective image width. there were. In recent years, a manual scanning type simple image forming apparatus with a small effective image width has been developed with emphasis on miniaturization and cost reduction of the apparatus main body. However, it is essential to enlarge the image except for special purposes, and therefore, in order to form a copy image of a large original, the original is divided into several narrow areas and each copy image is It is necessary to perform troublesome operations such as forming and connecting the images, and therefore, the use of the above-mentioned manual scanning type simple image forming apparatus is limited.6 [Object of the Invention] is designed to reduce the cost of image forming devices by downsizing the main body of the image forming section, including the image reading section and image writing section, while retaining the advantages of the conventionally widely used large-sized image forming devices. Another object of the present invention is to provide a manual scanning type simple image forming apparatus that can form larger-sized images by manual scanning and can form seamless images even by multiple scanning.

[Summary of the invention]

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, an image reading section that reads a document image while scanning the document, and an image writing section that writes an image on a transfer material based on the read image information are always in a predetermined relative positional relationship. an image forming unit main body connected to maintain the
The present invention is characterized in that it has a support base capable of fixedly supporting the original and the transfer material so that they always maintain a predetermined relative position, and that the image forming unit main body is manually attached to the support base so as to be freely translatable. It is something.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, which is configured to read an image on a document O and write an image on a transfer material P based on the read image information.

The image forming unit main body includes an image reading unit 1 that reads the original image while scanning the original in the main scanning direction, and an image writing unit 2 that writes the image on the transfer material P based on the read image information. ,
Both are connected by a connecting arm 3 so as to always maintain a predetermined relationship.

Also, the image information read by the reading unit 1 is transferred to the writing unit 4.
5 and are electrically connected by a flat cable 4.

A flat plate-shaped support stand 5 is provided which can fixedly hold the original O and the transfer material P so as to always maintain a predetermined relative positional relationship, and in the illustrated embodiment, the original 0 and the transfer material P are fixed in a flat shape. A known electrostatic adsorption member (not shown) is disposed on the upper surface of the support base to support or detach the support, and an electrostatic adsorption control unit 6 is provided to control the action thereof.

Further, a Y-axis guide 7 and an X-axis seal 8 are provided on the support base 5 in order to fix the image forming unit main body to the support base 5 in a freely translatable manner. The fixed rail 71L (!:%) is connected to the fixed rail 7aK slidably integrated with the fixed rail 7b via the bearing. is firmly supported by the support body 5. That is, the slide rail 7b of the Y-axis rail 7 is slidable relative to the support base 5 in the direction of arrow a.

The X-axis seal 8 has basically the same structure as the Y-axis rail 7.
It is fixedly supported on the sliding rail A/7b in the orthogonal direction. That is, the slide rail 8b of the X-axis seal 8 (see FIG. 3) is slidable in a direction bK perpendicular to the slidable direction a of the slide rail 7b of the Y-axis seal 7.

The sliding rail 8b of the X-axis seal 8 includes a reading section 1 having an operation switch 9, a power supply, and a control section, and a writing section 2 that is integrally supported with the reading section 1 via a connecting arm 3. The main body of the image forming unit is attached.

As mentioned above, the reading section 1 and the writing section 2 are electrically connected by the flat cable 4, and the writing section 2 is configured to be controlled according to the signal from the control section of the reading section 1. ing. That is, the image forming unit main body is freely translatable in one direction, the direction b, over the document 0 and the transfer material P fixedly supported on the support stand 5. More specifically, since the image forming unit main body is supported by perpendicular sliding rails, its rotational movement relative to the original O and the transfer material P is restricted, and the reading unit 1 and writing unit 2 are integrally connected, so the document 0
The image forming section main body can be freely translated while maintaining a one-to-one correspondence between the area where the reading section 1 is located on the top and the area where the writing section 2 is located on the transfer material P. That is, when the reading section 1 is located at the position of the image A (solid line) on the original O, the writing section 2 can write the image indicated by the broken line at the corresponding position on the transfer material P.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming unit main body in the embodiment of the present invention. Moreover, FIG. 3 (,) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the reading section 1,
FIG. 3) is a longitudinal sectional view of the writing section 2.

As shown in the figure, the image reading unit 1 includes a light source 11 composed of an LED array that illuminates the upper surface of the document 0, a protective glass 12 that protects the optical system, a reduction lens 13, and a -dimensional CCD 14.
, a control section 15 , and a power source 16 . The light reflected from the original image irradiated by the light source 11 is collected by the reduction lens 13 and formed into an image on the -dimensional CCD 14 . In this case, main scanning is performed by the CCD in the b direction, and the resulting binary image signal is converted by the control section 15 and sent to the writing section 2 via the flat cable 4. Power supply 1
For example, a nickel cadmium battery is used as 6, and power is supplied to each member by pressing a switch 9.

In the illustrated example, the image writing section 2 generates heat from a thermal head 17, generates heat appropriately according to an output signal from the image reading section 10, and writes an original image onto a transfer material P composed of thermal paper. Write images that correspond one to one.

As described above, in this device, main scanning is performed by the CCD in the b direction, but sub-scanning is performed manually in the a direction. That is, sub-scanning is performed by moving the image forming unit main body in one direction while pressing the operation switch 9.

In this embodiment, a light emitting diode array (22 elements, red) is used as the light source 11, and 102 as the -dimensional CCD 14.
When using a 4-pixel CCD, a thermal radar 17 of 320 degrees, ) (7, 6 degrees, t/■), and 42 degrees during main scanning, the manual sub-scanning speed is approximately 10W. /B to form an A4 size image, the operation was completed in about 150 seconds. The copying procedure in this case is to move the image forming unit body including the reading unit 1 from one end to the other in the a direction on the A4 original 0, then shift it by 42 m in the b direction and move it again in the a direction five times. I returned the favor. At this time, the thermal head 17 also moves on the A4 size thermal paper which is the transfer material P while being in close contact with the thermal paper due to its own weight.

In the above example, it takes a relatively long time of about 150 seconds to form an image equivalent to the entire A4 size, but in this example, only the necessary area on the original O is
It is possible to form a corresponding image on the transfer material P even if the image reading unit is manually moved in a direction (not limited to the direction b), so it takes only 150 seconds to form the necessary image. Images can be formed in a relatively short time (depending on the copy area).

In this embodiment, the movable direction (b direction) of the engaged rail of the image forming unit main body and the main scanning direction are the same direction, but the main scanning direction is not limited to this, and the main scanning is performed in the a direction. It is obvious that the reading section 1 and the writing section 2 may be mounted together, and in that case, it is sufficient that the main scanning direction of the reading section 1 and the line direction of the thermal head are parallel.

Further, as a writing device having a mechanism similar to the translatable sliding device used in this example, there is a pen plotter used in automatic drafting machines, etc., but in these devices, writing due to automatic scanning is This method is unsuitable for use as a simple copying device such as the present invention because it is unavoidable that the drive device for each section must be duplicated, the writing speed is slow because writing is done in dots, and the writing speed is limited to line drawings.

FIG. 4(,)(b) shows a second embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. This embodiment differs only in that the above-mentioned thermal head is used as the image writing section and a thermal transfer type recording system is used, and the other parts use the same configuration. Only this writing section will be explained.

FIG. 4(,) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a writing section in a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4(b) is a cross-sectional view thereof.

This image writing section includes a thermal head 18, a roller 19 in contact with the transfer material P, an ink film 20, and a reel 21.
It is equipped with This writing section receives the signal sent from the reading section 1 via the flat cable 4 to the thermal terminal.
8, the thermal head 18 is configured to write an image on the transfer material P with ink by heating an ink film 20 having an ink layer in response to the signal.

In FIG. 4 (&), the sub-scanning (
When the direction a) is manually performed, the roller 19 in contact with the transfer material P rotates in the writing section. The surface of the roller 19 is covered with a material that prevents the transfer material P from separating from the support base 5 due to the frictional force with the transfer material P. That is, when the writing section integrated with the reading section moves in the direction a, the rollers are driven to rotate. As shown in Figure 4(b), the roller 19
is made up of two wheels arranged around a central shaft 22. This central shaft 22 is fixed to a roller 19, and as the roller 19 rotates, the central shaft 19 also rotates. At this time, the ink film also rotates together with the central shaft 22, and an unused portion is always present in the thermal head.

As shown in FIG. 4 (1), the ink film 20 is wound around an open reel 21, and the central shaft 22 of two sets of rollers
and are connected to the thermal head 18, and when manual sub-scanning is performed as described above, they are sequentially fed and wound onto the other reel.

In this embodiment, due to the structure of the writing section 2, the sub-scanning direction must always be perpendicular to the main-scanning direction.

In addition, in the first embodiment, only a thermal head is used in the writing section, so the transfer material P is limited to thermal paper, but in the second embodiment, a thermal transfer type recording method is adopted. Therefore, the transfer material can be used without any restrictions, and so-called plain paper recording is possible.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention connects the image reading section and the image writing section so as to always maintain a predetermined relative position, and always maintains a predetermined relative position between the original and the transfer material. It has a document and transfer material support stand that can be fixedly supported so as to maintain its position, and the image reading section and image writing section are supported so as to be able to move freely in translation relative to the document and transfer material support stand, making it compact and inexpensive. image reading section.

Larger size images can be formed using the image writing unit, and seams can also be created by manual scanning.

A manual scanning type image forming apparatus capable of reducing image unevenness is provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the main body of the apparatus, and FIG.
) and (b) are longitudinal sectional views of the reading section and writing section, and FIG. 4 (
, ) and (b) are a vertical cross-sectional view and a cross-sectional view of a writing section in a second embodiment of the present invention in which thermal transfer is used in the writing section. O...Original P...Transfer material 1...Image reading section 2...Image writing section 3...Connection arm
4...Flat cable 5...Support stand
6... Electrostatic adsorption control unit 7... Y-axis seal 8
...X-axis seal 9...Operation switch 11...
Light source 12...protective glass 13...reducing lens 14...-dimensional CCD 15-...control unit 16
Source 17... Thermal head 18
... Thermal head 19 ... Roller 20 ... Ink film 21 ... Reel Figure 4 λ5 (b) ':) 1 person 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image reading section that reads a document image while scanning the document, and an image writing section that writes an image on a transfer material based on the read image information are connected so that a predetermined relative positional relationship is always maintained. It has a forming unit main body and a support base that can fixedly support the document and the transfer material so that they always maintain a predetermined relative position,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that an image forming unit main body is manually attached to the support base so as to be freely translatable.