JPS6294064A - I/o device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a conveyance route and a conveyance drive system in common and to scale down a device by displacing a head unit integrally constructed of a read part and a recording part and one read-cum-write feed roller by a relatively small distance. CONSTITUTION:The head unit 10 is composed of the read part 8 and the recording part 9, and the read part 8 is arranged before the recording part 9 with respect to the conveyance route. When the feed roller is located at a recording action position by facing the recording part 9, the roller 7 and other members lie outside the readable focus depth of a sensor in the read part 8 and a recording paper passes with the focus depth of said sensor or in the vicinity of said depth. Originals are pulled out by a roller 2 and a separation piece 3 from a table one by one and read by the read part 8, after which they are discharged by a roller 13 to a stacker 15. At this time, the unit 10 moves in the left side by a l/2 distance, or the roller 7 moves in the right side by the same distance, thereby making a read action possible. For recording, the unit 10 or the roller 7 moves in the reverse direction of the read action so as to be operable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to an input/output device such as a facsimile.

(Prior art) In facsimile machines, there are those in which one feed roller is provided for both transmission and reception (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-22353), and those in which the transmission and reception heads are integrated (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-22353).
6-34273) is known.

However, in this case, the document and recording paper transport paths are separate, making the apparatus large and complicated. Other 1: There are examples where the conveyance path is partially shared, but there are no examples where the head is combined with an integrated head to reduce the size.Also, detection of the presence or absence of recording paper (end detection) Since a sensor is provided between the roll paper holding section and the recording section in order to detect the amount of remaining paper and the amount remaining, there is a problem in that the cost is high.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made to improve the problems of the prior art described above, and aims to promote common use, simplify the configuration, and realize miniaturization and cost reduction of the device. 3゜ (Structure of the Invention) which provides an input/output device A reading section is arranged before the recording section in the recording paper conveyance path, the reading section and the recording section are integrated, and t'-1, -ni. 1
constitute ~. Furthermore, when the feed roller is in a positional relationship for recording operation facing the recording section of the head unit, the feed roller and other members are located outside the depth of focus that can be read by the sensor of the reading section, and the recording paper is The beam is configured to pass within or near the focal depth of . Then, the reading unit detects the chronological state of the conveyance of the recording paper, the state of the recording paper, the shape of the recording paper, and the like.

(Embodiment) An embodiment will be described below in detail based on the drawings.9 Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1- is an original table, 2 is a separation roller, and 3 is a separation piece.

4 is a recording paper roll, 5 is a feed roller, 6 is a tension roller, 7 is a feed roller, 10 is a reading section 8 and a recording section 9
Head units 11 and 12 configured by integrating
13 is a discharge roller, 14 is a tension roller, and 15 is a stacker.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. The original is pulled out from the original table 1 one by one by the separating roller 2 and the separating piece 3, and is read by the first reading section 8, tl.

After that, it is discharged to the stunker 15 by the discharge roller 13.
At this time, either the head unit 1-10 moves to the left by a distance of N/2, or the feed roller 7 moves to the right by the same distance, so that the reading section 8 properly contacts the feed roller rough and reads. becomes possible. Also, the cutter doesn't work. On the other hand, regarding recording, the leading edge of the recording paper pulled out from the recording paper roll 4 is between the feeding roller 5 and the feeding roller 7, so that when a recording signal is received, the leading edge of the recording paper is fed into the recording section 9 by the feeding roller ruff. After recording, the recording material advances further, is cut by a cutter, and is discharged by a discharge roller 13 to an input tacker 15. At this time, the head unit IO is ff/2.
The recording section 9 is moved to the right by a distance of , or the feed roller 7 is moved to the left by the same distance, and the recording section 9 is brought into proper contact with the feed roller 7, making it possible to record.

The cut unrecorded recording paper is pulled back to the initial position by the feed roller 7 and the feed roller 5. The illustration of the drive system is omitted.

In this embodiment configured as described above, the head unit 10, which integrally includes the reading section (contact sensor) and the recording section (thermal head), and one feed roller '/ for both reading and writing are arranged relative to each other. By displacing the recording medium by a minute distance, reading and recording can be performed separately, and the conveyance path and conveyance drive system can be shared, resulting in significant cost reduction and miniaturization.

FIG. 2 shows a mechanism for displacing the feed roller rough. The position of the feed roller 7 shown by a solid line is the position at the time of recording, and the one-dot chain line is the position at the time of reading. Solenoid 16
The lever 18 resists the biasing force of the compression spring 17 due to the suction of
is pulled, the lever 18 rotates around the fulcrum 19,
The feed roller 7 is displaced to switch from the recording section to the reading section. To make it easier to move the feed roller rough when switching,
The solenoid 20 may be sucked to lift the head unit 10 against the biasing force of the compression spring 21.

The solenoid 20 is provided to temporarily lift the head unit 10 by suction when a document or recording paper arrives, and to ensure that the document or recording paper is held in its mouth. ), it is no longer necessary.

FIG. 3, contrary to FIG. 2, shows a mechanism for displacing the head unit 1-IO. The suction of the solenoid 22 pulls the collar 24 against the biasing force of the compression spring 23, and the lever 24 rotates around the fulcrum 25, displacing the head unit 10 and moving it from the reading section to the recording section. Switch. Note that the lever may be moved using a motor and a cam instead of a solenoid.

The placement of the reading section and recording section has layout issues, but by placing the reading section on the upstream side of the conveyance path, the reading section can detect the leading edge and end of the recording paper, detect the remaining amount, etc. It is also possible to detect the temporal elapsed state related to the conveyance of the recording paper, the state of the recording paper, the shape of the recording paper, etc. FIG. 1 shows an example of detecting the remaining amount of recording paper. The remaining amount can be detected by printing letters 27 or marks 28 indicating the remaining amount on the roll paper in, for example, yellow (a color different from the color of the recording paper and which does not cause any problems) and reading it. .

In addition, in conventional devices, in general, the presence or absence of recording paper in the conveyance path of the recording paper leading to the recording section, the jam of the recording paper, and the shape of the recording paper in devices that can be used with different sizes of recording paper,
A paper sensor is provided to detect the size (paper width).

In addition, a mark or the like is attached to the recording paper as an indication that the remaining recording paper is running low, and by detecting the mark, it is detected that the recording paper is near-end (meaning that the recording paper is almost running out). This is to avoid applying power to the recording element when there is no recording paper. Further, an abnormal state of the apparatus such as a jam of the recording paper in the conveyance path, skew (oblique feeding), recording outside the width of the recording paper, etc. is detected, and a warning or display is provided to the operator.

Hereinafter, a method for detecting the temporal elapsed state related to conveyance of the recording paper, the state of the recording paper, the shape of the recording paper, etc., and a method for reading characters, symbols, etc. marked on the recording paper will be described in detail.

In this embodiment (FIG. 1), a contact type sensor is used in the reading section, but since the driving method and operation of the sensor are already well known, they will not be described here.

In reading devices using contact sensors, white rollers are used as feed rollers (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-73
275) is common. In this embodiment as well, a white roller is used as one feed roller that is used for reading and recording.

Note that for recording purposes, it is not necessary that the color be particularly white.

The first problem here is, when using a white feed roller, whether the reading section can distinguish between the white color of the recording paper and the white color of the roller, that is, whether the recording paper can be detected. The reading means of the reading section is an LED (light emitting diode).
The reflected light from the document is detected and read using illumination such as the above, and the same is true for recording paper. In Fig. 5, the range that the sensor of the reading section can read (the distance between the sensor and the object surface where the sensor can read information from the object surface...here referred to as the depth of focus of the sensor) is p. If there is no recording paper, there is a feed roller in the F section of the reading section at a distance q greater than the depth of focus p, and there are no other members within the depth of focus p, so the sensor cannot detect the object. do not have. On the other hand, when the recording paper is conveyed, the recording paper passes within or near the depth of focus p of the sensor and is therefore subject to detection. Therefore, depending on whether or not there is an object to be detected within the depth of focus, the signal from the reading section changes accordingly.For example, if there is no object within the depth of focus...a "black" signal is detected within the depth of focus. If there is an object in the area...a "white" signal will be generated. Of course, even in the latter case, when symbols or characters such as those shown in FIG. 4 are marked on the recording paper, it is the same as in the case of document reading. Then, the "black" and "white" signals are input to the system control unit, and various status judgments are executed. These system control units can also be processed by software using a μCPU or the like. In addition, the temporary guide 30 in FIG.
It guides the recording paper so that the passing position is at a predetermined position.

(a) Method for detecting the state of recording paper over time The jar 11 during conveyance, the maximum recording length, time limitations, etc. will be explained with reference to FIG. The leading edge of the recording paper is at a predetermined position between the feeding roller 5 and the feed roller 7, and when the recording operation starts, the recording paper is conveyed at a predetermined speed and with a predetermined speed. If the recording paper cannot be detected by the reading unit 8, it is assumed that there is an abnormality in the conveyance system.
jam) is detected. The flow is shown in FIG. 6(a). Next, when the recording paper is detected, recording starts, and recording ends, if the recording continues indefinitely,
That is, depending on the input/output device, in such a case, there is a device that sets a maximum recording length and determines that the device is abnormal if some abnormality occurs, but the amount of conveyed recording paper or By detecting the time, it becomes iJ function. FIG. 6(b) shows the flow of maximum length restriction, and FIG. 6(c) shows its time chart. In Figure 6(c),
The time elapsed after the recording paper was detected is monitored, and the time 'r is measured to make a decision. Note that although the time is shown here, it is also possible to judge the conveyance amount. That is, conveyance is generally performed by a pulse motor, and it is possible to determine the conveyance amount of the recording paper by counting the number of steps.

(b) Method for detecting the state of recording paper The presence or absence of recording paper, skew, etc. is detected, and the presence or absence of recording paper can be detected by the method described in (b).

Next, the recording paper skew can be detected as shown in FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b). When the recording paper enters in the state shown in Figure 7(a), the signal from the reading line (main scanning direction) L becomes a signal as shown in Figure 7(b), and the signal is used to convey the recording paper. According to ■,■,...

It can be seen from these signals that the recording paper is in a skewed state. Changes in the signal as it is transported can be determined by 5-image processing.

(c) Recording paper shape detection method An example of width size detection is shown in FIG. A signal with a width corresponding to the width of the recording paper is obtained. Further, if the leading edge of the recording paper is deformed due to tearing or the like, it is detected as shown in FIG. A black signal is output corresponding to the torn part X,
It is determined based on this.

(d) Reading symbols and characters marked on recording paper As shown in Figure 4, for example, when the diameter of the recording paper roll gradually decreases and the remaining amount decreases, a near-end mark on the recording paper appears, and the reading section By detecting or reading this, the system control unit can make a judgment and issue a warning to the operator (buzzer, display, etc.). It is also possible to notify that the recording paper is at the near end.

As described above, once the recording operation starts, the reading section can detect various states and situations of the recording paper, even while the recording paper is being conveyed and even after the recording paper has reached the recording section and printing has started. Furthermore, after detecting that there is no recording paper, it is clear that there will be no more recording paper in the recording section if the paper is conveyed in a predetermined manner, so that recording can be stopped.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the reading section and the recording section are integrated into a head unit, the document and recording paper conveyance path is shared, and the time involved in recording paper conveyance is reduced. Since the reading unit detects the state of the paper, the state of the recording paper, the shape of the recording paper, etc., there is no need for the paper sensor that was previously installed, and therefore the wiring materials and assembly process required for it are no longer necessary. By reducing the number of parts and man-hours, significant cost reductions can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a feed roller displacement mechanism in the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
A configuration diagram of the head unit 1-displacement mechanism in another embodiment, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the characters and marks marked on the recording paper indicating the remaining amount, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the detection of the recording paper by the reading unit. The explanatory diagrams, Figures 6(a) and (b), are diagrams showing the flow of jam detection and maximum recording flame limit, respectively, and Figure 6(c).
) is the time chart 1- in the flow of FIG. 6(b).
1. Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram of the recording paper skew detection method.
The diagram is. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a recording paper width detection method, and is a diagram illustrating a method of detecting deformation due to tearing or the like at the leading edge of a recording paper. 1 ・Document table-2...separation roller, 4...
Recording paper roll, 5...feeding [70-ra, 7
...Feeding roller, 8...Reading section, 9...Recording section, 10...Head unit, 13...Ejection roller, 15...Stacker, 16.20.22...
solenoid. Patent applicant Ricoh Co., Ltd. Figure 1 10. Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 (a) (b) Figure 5 Figure 6 (a) (b) 1 (e) (a) Condolence (a) Condolence (a) Figure 7 (b) Figure 8 (b) Figure 9 (b)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A head unit is constructed by integrating a reading unit that reads a document and a recording unit that records necessary information on recording paper so that the reading unit is located in front of the recording unit on a conveyance path that conveys the recording paper. At the same time, when the feed roller faces the recording section of the head unit and is in a positional relationship for recording operation, the feed roller and other members are located outside the depth of focus that can be read by the sensor of the reading section, and the recording paper An input/output device characterized in that the input/output device is configured to pass within or near the depth of focus of the sensor.