JPS6255678A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a correct imaging image by a sequence program, and to improve the number of sheets of an imaging image formation per unit time of the time of a printer mode, by providing a signal generating means for generating a control signal which is generated when a copying means is operated, when an imaging means is operated by a timing being different from the time of a copying operation. CONSTITUTION:A microswitch 4010 which is switched in accordance with a printer mode and a copying mode is connected to a contact t2 in case of a usual copying mode, and constituted so as to be connected to the contact t2 by being interlocked with an operation or an action for setting an original platen 1008 to a prescribed part of the time of the printer mode. A printer use controller 4000 which is operated in accordance with a connection to the contact t2 of this microswitch 4010 executes a control of a liquid crystal shutter array driving circuit 4003, and a lighting circuit 4001 of a printer use light source 1011, and also outputs a spurious original platen position detecting signal 3001' corresponding to an original platen position detecting signal 3001, from a timer counter being a signal generating means which is contained in this controller 4010.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus equipped with an original copying machine section and a printing function.

[Prior art]

Various types of image forming apparatuses using a laser scanner have been proposed as this type of image forming apparatus, but in the case of this type, the overall size of the apparatus is not only large but also expensive. Therefore, it was difficult to adopt this method under the development intention of adding a printer function within the range of price increase corresponding to the increase in the functions of ordinary copying machines, and there was a demand for the emergence of other methods to replace this. One method is to attach a printer head with a recently developed liquid crystal shutter array to a copier that uses a normal electrophotographic method, and use this liquid crystal shutter array to receive signals from external devices (external computers), etc. Based on the shutter array, the light from the light source is controlled to transmit or block light, and the photoconductor of the copying machine is irradiated with light through this shutter array.
There is a method that attempts to write figures (figures, etc.).

A conventional image forming apparatus of the above type will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Here, a case is shown in which a copying machine with a moving document table is used as the copying means.

In FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B), reference numeral 1020 is a general copying machine with a moving document table, and a slot 7) 1013 is formed on the upper surface of the main body 1020a. A photosensitive drum 1001 that rotates in the direction of arrow a during copying is provided at the center of the interior of the copying machine main body 1020a, and above it is a focusing lens array (hereinafter referred to as SLA) 1002 and a light source for illuminating the original. (For example, a halogen lamp) 1003 is fixedly installed. Around the photoreceptor drum 1001, a charging unit) 1004 and a toner developing unit) 10 are provided.
05, a transfer unit too, a cleaning unit 1014 for cleaning the drum surface, and the like are arranged in the order of the electrophotographic copying process.

Further, on the right side of the copying machine main body 1020a, transfer paper P stacked on a cassette-type paper feed table 1015 is located, and the transferred paper P is transferred to the photosensitive drum 1001 and the transfer unit 1006 via registration rollers 1016. Arrow C between
The paper is configured to pass through the heat roller type fixing unit 1007 and be sent out from there to the outside of the apparatus. Furthermore, an original table 1008 is provided at the top of the copying machine main body 1020a and is movable in the direction of the arrow.

Further, 1012 is a printer head fixed to the rear end of the document table 100B, and a liquid crystal shutter array 1012 is installed inside the printer head.
010 and a printer light source 1011 are built in, and together with the 5LA 1002, they constitute a printing means.

The block diagram shown in FIG. 2 is an example of a general control system of the document table-dynamic copying machine.

In the figure, 2000 is a sequence controller (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine controller) that controls the operation sequence of the copying mode, and is composed of a well-known microcomputer.
Each boat includes a high voltage generation circuit 2001, a motor driver 2002 which is the power limit for each mechanism, a lighting circuit 2003 for a halogen lamp Z008 for irradiating originals, an operation display section 2004 for the copying machine, and sensors 20 such as micro switches.
05 is connected, and each circuit and driver is configured to be operated by commands from the controller 2000. Further, 2007 is an encoder that rotates in synchronization with the motor 2006, and its pulse output is transmitted to the motor 2006.
Each of the motors is configured to receive feedback to the motor driver 2002 so that the motor can rotate stably.

Note that the same reference numerals in the figure as in FIG. 1 above indicate the same parts.

The case where continuous copying is performed in the copy mode in the image forming apparatus having the above configuration will now be described with reference to FIG.

First, after setting the entire device to copy mode, as shown in Figure 1 (A)
For example, a book manuscript 10 is placed on the manuscript table 1008 as shown in FIG.
When 09 is placed at 1& and the copy mode is started, the document table 1008 starts to move (see FIG. 3 (c)), and in synchronization with this, the document reflected light in the copying machine main body 1020a changes to 5L.
I am guided to A1002. On the other hand, since the surface of the photosensitive drum 1001 rotating in the direction a is uniformly charged in advance by the charging unit 1004 at the timing shown in FIG. An image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1001 to form an electrostatic latent image. Thereafter, a developing bias is applied to the developing unit 1005 at the timing shown in FIG.
The process of transferring the toner image onto the transfer paper P by the transfer paper P (transfer 22) 1006 and fixing the toner by the heat roller type fixing unit 1O07 is shown in FIGS. They are performed sequentially at the timings shown. Here, the period of the copying process is defined as the period from the start of the forward movement of the original platen too until its end, that is, the period until the electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 1001. When the first copying process is completed, the document table 1008 immediately starts moving backward and returns to the initial document table position after one hour t1 has elapsed. Thereafter, the document table 1008 starts moving forward again, and a second copying process is performed in accordance with the document table position detection signal 3001 in the same manner as the first copying process.

Next, a description will be given of the expected manner in which the printer mode is set and used.

First, as shown in FIG. 1(B), the printer head 101
Place the original platen 10 at a position where the irradiation optical axis of No. 2, the aperture center of No. 3 and G 1013, and the optical axis of the copying optical system 1002 coincide.
08 and fix it in this position. Next, the writing light source 1011 is turned on to guide the light beam that has passed through the liquid crystal shutter array 1010 and the slit 1013 to the 5LA 1002, and forms an image on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1001.
Forms an electrostatic latent image in response to an external signal. Thereafter, an image can be formed on the transfer paper P in the same manner as in the copying mode.

However, when trying to adopt a method using a printer head as described above, although the change in mechanical structure is not that great, when in printer mode the original platen is
Since the oa does not move, the document platen position detection signal cannot be obtained.
It is necessary to add a sequence program dedicated to the printer mode that is separate from the sequence program for the copy mode.

This additional sequence program uses a timer counter instead of the document glass position detection signal.
This is a considerable amount of space, so if the program area of the copier controller is full,
There was a problem in that new memory had to be added and it became expensive.

〔the purpose〕

It is an object of the present invention to form an appropriate printed image using a sequence program used in a copy mode in an image forming apparatus having a copy function and a printer function, and to produce a print image per unit time in a printer mode. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can increase the number of printed images.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8. Note that the same or equivalent parts as in the conventional example are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the first embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 4010 denotes a microswitch that is switched depending on the printer mode and the copy mode. In the normal copy mode, it is connected to the contact t2, and
8 to a predetermined position in the printer mode, the contact t2 is connected to the contact t2. Reference numeral 4000 denotes a printer controller that is activated in response to the connection to contact t2 of this microswitch 4010, and controls the liquid crystal shutter array drive circuit 4003 and the lighting circuit 4001 for the printer light source toll, and also outputs the document platen position detection signal described above. A pseudo document table position detectability 43001' corresponding to 3001 is outputted from a timer counter as a signal generating means built in this controller 4010. Further, this pseudo document table position detection signal 3001' is inputted to the copying machine controller 2000 via the microswitch 4010. 500
0 is an external device such as a personal computer connected to this printer controller 4°00.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus having the above configuration will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. First, the scanning section 200
When the power switch 4 is turned on (step 1), it is checked in step 2 whether or not the wait state has ended, and if it has ended, it is further determined whether the copy start key has been turned on ( Step 3) After this, it is determined whether the mode set in step 4 is printer mode or copy mode. If it is copy mode, microswitch 4010 is connected to terminal t1, and as shown in FIG. Each part is controlled according to the normal copying sequence shown. If it is determined that the printer mode is selected, the microswitch 4010 is connected to the terminal t2, and first performs initial operations (for example, moving and stopping the document table 1008 and outputting a cassette paper feed signal) (step 6); The operation of the timer counter in the printer controller 74000 is started (step 7), and in step 8, the timing of the next event to be performed is set as the count value of the timer counter.
In steps 8 to 11, the count value of the timer counter is compared, and when the values match, the event is processed,
Returning again to step 8, the same operation is performed for each event to form a predetermined number of 6 (in this case 2) printed images.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart of each event in the printer mode performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. The period t2 until the start of the copying process in step 2 is t during the copying mode.
The difference is that it is much shorter than l. This is the setting of the next event in the ρ flowchart mentioned above (
This can be done by decreasing the set count value in step 8), thereby making it possible to increase the number of images formed per unit time compared to the copy mode.

In other words, when comparing the number of continuous prints per unit time and the number of continuous copies, it is found that in the copy mode, the document table 1008 is moved backward for each copy, so the number of sheets of transfer paper that is continuously formed is The paper spacing has to be changed by this operation time. The copying speed is determined not only by the process speed (peripheral speed of the photoreceptor drum) but also by the paper spacing by the time the document table 1008 moves backward. Minutes late. However, as mentioned above, when in print mode, the original platen
Since the O-8 is stopped and there is no need to provide time for the document table 1008 to move backward, the paper gap during continuous image formation can be significantly shortened, and the printed image formation speed is almost exclusively determined by the process speed. It will be done. Therefore, even if the process speed is the same during copying and printing, the printing speed can be improved by shortening the paper spacing as described above. Yes, process speed is 50+s
■/sec, what is the copying speed when A4 size paper is fed vertically?

Process speed x 80/(A4 height + paper spacing)
Assuming that the paper spacing is A4 in height, the rate is 6.7 sheets/minute.

On the other hand, in the printer mode shown in FIG. 4, the paper spacing is % of the vertical width of A4 paper, so the printing speed is approximately 8.
1 page per minute, which is faster than copying speed.

As described above, in the above embodiment, among the signals for performing the copy mode sequence, the pseudo document table movement signal 3001' corresponding to the document table position detection signal 3001 for starting the image forming process, which is generated only in the copy mode, is used. This is generated during the printer mode and is used as the original platen position detection signal 3.
By using this in place of 001, the printer can be operated using a copy sequence program.
Moreover, the operation can be improved over the copying operation.

Furthermore, as is clear from the above description, in this embodiment, the printer head is simply provided on a part of the document table 1008 without changing the mechanical structure inside the copying machine main body 1020a, and some wiring is removed. All you have to do is change it.

In addition, in FIG. 4, the pseudo document table position detection signal 300
Although the signal 3001' is generated by the printer controller 4000, it is also possible to generate the signal 3001' by the copying machine controller 2000 or an electronic circuit.

Further, although the above embodiment has been described using a fluorescent lamp as a light source for a printer, and the light source 1011 for a printer is provided in a single unit, the present invention is not particularly limited to this. isn't it.

For example, FIGS. 7 and 8 show another specific example using a copying machine with a movable document table. It was established by

In the figure, a head unit 5000 includes a liquid crystal shutter array 1010 installed at the rear of a document table cover 1008a and an optical fiber bundle 5001.

Further, a printer light source 5002 is provided at a location separated from this head portion 5000, and is optically connected by an optical fiber bundle 5001. Then, in the printer mode, the document table 1008 is moved to a position where the center of the liquid crystal shutter array 1010 and the optical axes of 5LAIO0 and 5LAIO2 coincide, so that one end surface of the optical fiber bundle 5001 is aligned with the document table 1008.
A liquid crystal shutter array TOI receives the light beam from a light source 5001 for a printer installed at a location other than 8.

The information can be transmitted to the 5LA 1002 on the copying machine main body side via the (see FIG. 7).

Alternatively, as described above, an optical fiber may be used, or a suitable beam splitter may be installed in the exposure optical system, and these may be used in the printer mode to control the light source 100 for irradiating the document.
It is also possible to guide the emitted light flux from 3 to the photosensitive drum 1001 via the liquid crystal shutter array 101O, so that a single light source can be used for both printer mode and copy mode.

Furthermore, the copying means of the present invention is not limited to a copying machine with a movable document table, but can also be applied to a copying machine using a general copying machine. In this case, this can be easily realized by replacing the signal related to document table movement in the above embodiment with a signal related to document exposure light source movement.

Furthermore, in the above explanation, the case where the printer head is installed on the document table or document table cover is shown, but in the case of a printer head installed between the SLA and the charging unit, or between the imaging optical system and the developing unit. The present invention is also applicable.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention,
In an image forming apparatus having a copy function and a printer function, an inexpensive configuration using a sequence program in the copy mode enables proper operation in the printer mode, and improves the number of images formed per unit time in the printer mode. It has the effect of being able to

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus equipped with a copying means and a printer means.
) shows the copy mode, and (B) shows the printer mode. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the general control system of a copying machine, and Figure 3 is the same as shown in Figure 1 (A). FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a sequence program of the one shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the sequence program shown in FIG. The timing chart of each event in the printer mode, FIG. 7 is the second example of this invention.
FIG. 8 is a side view schematically showing the structure of the embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the optical fiber bundle shown in FIG. 6. 1001...Photosensitive drum 1008...
...... Original table 1010 ...... Liquid crystal shutter array to1
i......Light source 1020 for irradiating the original platen...
・・・・・・Movable document table copying machine 2000・・・・・・
...Copy machine controller 3001...
・Document table position detection signal 3001' ...Pseudo document table position detection signal 400...Printer controller 4005 with built-in timer counter as signal generation means... ......Original platen stop signal 4010.
・・・・・・・・・Micro switch 5ooo・・・・・・
...External equipment Fig. 7 Fig. 8 (6) 1

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) comprising a copying means for forming an image by irradiating light reflected from a document onto a photoreceptor; and a printing means for forming an image by irradiating light onto the photoreceptor based on a predetermined image signal; An image forming apparatus capable of continuously performing image forming operations by each of the means, wherein a control signal generated when the copying means is operated is a signal that is generated when the printing means is operated at a timing different from that during the copying operation. An image forming apparatus comprising a generating means. (2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the copying means is a copying machine with a moving document table. (3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the printing means includes a liquid crystal shutter array.