JP3146437B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine provided with a multi-light type document illuminating device for illuminating a document with a plurality of flash lamps.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when an original is illuminated obliquely with a single flash lamp in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, for example, when illuminating an original having a step-like unevenness, so-called original shading is caused to cause a copy of exposure unevenness. Occurs,
In a multi-light type document illuminating device in which the main flash lamp and the auxiliary flash lamp are simultaneously turned on from different directions, the image surface of the document can be uniformly illuminated.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional multi-light type document illuminating device, a plurality of flash lamps are simultaneously turned on from different directions. If the copying operation is performed without noticing the original, there is a problem that the original is shaded and a copy with uneven exposure occurs. Therefore,
If it does not turn on more properly, stop the image forming operation,
For example, to that effect, prompt the replacement of the flash lamp,
All flash lamps now work properly
Sometimes, if the image forming operation is restarted, the problem of exposure unevenness
Will be resolved. But the flash lamp lights up normally
If the image forming operation is always stopped when there is no
Increases, which causes a problem in production efficiency.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, the main
The first flash lamp becomes
If not, stop the image forming operation and
When one of the second sub-flash lamps is not turned on due to a broken ball or the like and no exposure unevenness occurs, an image forming operation is performed as it is, and an image forming apparatus capable of performing efficient processing is provided. The purpose is to:

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first flash lamp for illuminating a document, and a plurality of flash lamps for illuminating the document from a direction different from the first flash lamp. A second flash lamp comprising: an image processing means for optically reading a document illuminated by the first and second flash lamps to process a document image; and a display means for performing a predetermined display; an image forming apparatus for forming an image based on the read document image, during processing of the image processing unit
When the non-lighting of the first flash lamp is detected
To stop the processing of the image processing means,
Non-lighting of the first flash lamp is displayed on the display means.
Displaying, when one of the lamps flash lamps constituting the second flash lamp does not light correctly, when the exposure unevenness with respect to the document is not a problem
Except for this, the processing of the image processing means is stopped, and the fact that the second flash lamp is not normally lit is displayed on the display means.

[0006]

[0007]

According to the present invention, the first flash lamp operates normally.
If it does not light up, normal image formation cannot be performed.
The image processing operation is stopped when the second one of the flash lamp <br/> exposure unevenness even when not lit normally due balls out of the flash lamp group constituting the flash lamp is not a problem, Since no problem occurs in the formed image, the image processing operation is continued.

[0008]

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a copying machine to which the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 is applied, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the apparatus, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the original illuminating apparatus of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an illumination state using only the first flash lamp, and FIG. 6 is an illumination state in FIGS. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing main signals in the image forming apparatus of FIG.

In FIG. 1, a main first flash lamp 102 and an auxiliary second flash lamp group 123 are shown.
Respectively illuminates a document by emitting light from the independent lamp power supplies 1 and 2 and the lighting voltage from the power supply line, and the lamp power supply 1 controls the non-lighting detection means 1a for detecting the non-lighting of the first flash lamp 102. Have. The lamp power supplies 1 and 2 are supplied with a power supply voltage from a common power supply 3.
A lighting voltage controlled via a 5-bit data bus from a CPU (microprocessor) 4 is applied to the first flash lamp 102 and the second flash lamp group 123.

The CPU 4 also controls the first flash lamp 1
02, each charge signal for accumulating the light emission energy of the second flash lamp group 123 and each trigger signal for light emission of the first flash lamp 102 and the second flash lamp group 123 are output to the lamp power supplies 1 and 2. I do. The lamp power supplies 1 and 2 respectively accumulate the luminous energy of the first flash lamp 102 and the second flash lamp group 123 based on the respective charging signals from the CPU 4 and output the respective charging completion signals to the CPU 4 when the charging is completed. Causes the first flash lamp 102 and the second flash lamp group 123 to emit light simultaneously.

The lamp power supply 1 outputs a light emission detection signal to the CPU 4 when the non-lighting detection means 1a detects, for example, that the first flash lamp 102 is normally turned on. It is configured not to output. When the light emission detection signal is input, the CPU 4 outputs each charging signal for the next copy to the lamp power supplies 1 and 2. When the light emission detection signal is not input after a predetermined time has elapsed after the output of the trigger signal, the CPU 4 outputs each charge signal. Do not output the charging signal to the lamp power supplies 1 and 2,
The copy processing unit A such as 07 controls so as to stop the next copy, and that fact is displayed on the display means 5.

The display means 5 comprises an LED (Light Emitting Diode), an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and the like.
4. The above program and copy operation program are stored in ROM
(Read only memory) 6 and the first
Data such as whether or not the flash lamp 102 emits light is RA
M (random access memory) 7.

Next, a detailed configuration of a copying machine to which the image forming apparatus of this embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIG. The copying machine includes a copy processing unit A for copying an original image onto transfer paper, a large capacity paper feeding unit B for supplying the transfer paper to the copy processing unit A, and a copy processing unit A for copying the original image. It is schematically constituted by a transfer paper post-processing unit C for binding the bundle of transferred papers and making holes for the binding.

The copy processing section A automatically puts a plurality of originals bundled and set on an original platen (contact glass)
An automatic document feeder 101 for transporting the document onto the document feeder 120, a first flash lamp 102 for main use, and a second flash lamp for auxiliary use for optically scanning an image of the document conveyed by the automatic document feeder 101 Group 123
And an optical system including mirrors 103, 104, and 124, a lens 105, and the like. With this optical system, an original image is exposed on the photosensitive belt 106 to form an electrostatic latent image. This optical system will be described later.

The photoreceptor belt 106 rotates in a counterclockwise direction (sub-scanning direction).
A charger 107 that charges the photosensitive belt 106 before exposure.
A potential sensor 122 for detecting a potential on the photoreceptor belt 106 after exposure; a developing device 108 for developing an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor belt 106 with toner;
A transfer unit 110 that transfers the upper toner image onto transfer paper conveyed from a transfer paper supply unit 109 and a cleaning unit 111 that removes residual toner on the photosensitive belt 106 are sequentially arranged. The toner image transferred onto the transfer paper is supplied to the fixing device 1
Then, the transfer paper is stacked on a paper discharge tray 113. The number of transfer sheets stacked on the discharge tray 113 is detected by a detection unit 118 such as a counter.

The large-capacity paper supply section B has substantially the same configuration as the above-described transfer paper supply section 109, and has a storage section 114 for storing a large amount of transfer paper, and a copy processing section for transferring the transfer paper stored in the storage section 114. There is a transporting unit 115 for transporting the sheet so as to coincide with the transfer timing of the portion A. The transfer paper post-processing unit C includes a detection unit 119 such as a counter that detects the number of transfer papers discharged from the copy processing unit A, and a stapler 11 that binds the bundle of transfer papers counted by the detection unit 119 with staples.
7 and a tray section 116 and the like. A series of operations of the copy processing section A, the large-capacity sheet feeding section B, and the transfer sheet post-processing section C are controlled by the CPU 4 shown in FIG.

Next, the details of the lighting device of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, the direction of light emitted by the first main flash lamp 102 is limited by the reflector 131 and the reflector 132 so that the lower surface of the contact glass 120 has substantially uniform illuminance. The light emitted by the auxiliary second flash lamp group 123 is reflected by the reflector 131 and the reflecting mirrors 134 and 124 so that the lower surface of the contact glass 120 has uniform illuminance by the combined light with the first flash lamp 102. The direction is limited, and the shielding plate 135 prevents flare. Note that, as shown in FIG.
Is composed of, for example, a circular arc lamp having a radius of 75 mm and a central angle of 120 °.
It is formed in a fan shape of 0 °. Further, the second flash lamp group 123, the reflection shade 133, the reflection mirror 134, the shielding plate 1
35 is a pair of auxiliary lamps (123a, 123a
b), reflectors (133a, 133b), reflectors (134
a, 134b) and shielding plates (135a, 135b), each of which is configured to illuminate a half area of the contact glass 120.

In such a multi-light type illuminating device, as shown in FIG. 5, when illuminating a document in which a document 12 is laminated on a mount 11, when illuminating obliquely with light 14 of only the first flash lamp 102, An original shade 13 occurs due to the thickness of the bonded original 12. Therefore, the original cover 13 is blackened and copied by the copying machine shown in FIG. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the originals 11 and 12 are connected to a first flash lamp 102 and a second flash lamp group 1.
When illuminated with synthesized light from 23 different directions, the original shading 13 due to the thickness of the bonded original 12 does not occur.

Here, since the exposure amount of the original image is adjusted by the combined light of the first flash lamp 102 and the second flash lamp group 123, the first flash lamp 10
If 2 is not turned on due to a broken ball or the like, it is impossible to obtain an image having no exposure unevenness by using the second flash lamp group 123 alone, and the operator will know that the first flash lamp 102 is not turned on. It is difficult to do so, resulting in a large number of bad copies.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment, particularly the operation of the lamp power supplies 1 and 2 and the CPU 4, will be described with reference to FIGS. The CPU 4 controls the first flash lamp 102, the second flash lamp 102,
Each low-level charge signal for accumulating the luminous energy of the flash lamp group 123 is output to the lamp power supplies 1 and 2 (step S1 in FIG. 7), and the lamp power supplies 1 and 2 receive the charge signals from the CPU 4 respectively. The charging is started and each low-level charge completion signal is output to the CPU 4, and when the charging is completed, each high-level charge completion signal is set (step S2).

When this charge completion signal is input, the CPU 4 outputs low-level trigger signals for causing the first flash lamp 102 and the second flash lamp group 123 to emit light in synchronization with the processing of the copy processing unit A by the lamp power supply 1. And 2 (step S3 in the same step), and the lamp power supplies 1 and 2 respectively cause the first flash lamp 102 and the second flash lamp group 123 to emit light at the same time in response to trigger signals from the CPU 4.

When the non-lighting detection means 1a of the lamp power supply 1 detects that the first flash lamp 102 is lit normally, for example, and outputs a low-level light emission detection signal to the CPU 4 (step S4), the CPU 4 proceeds to the next step. Each charge signal for copying is output to the lamp power supplies 1 and 2. On the other hand, when the lamp is not lit normally (step S4), the lamp power supply 1 does not output a low-level light emission detection signal to the CPU 4, and the CPU 4 does not output each charging signal to the lamp power supplies 1 and 2 (step S5). ), The display means 5 is displayed to that effect (step S6), and the copying operation of the copy processing section A is stopped (step S7).

Therefore, according to the above embodiment, when the first flash lamp 102 does not light up normally, the copy operation of the copy processing section A is stopped, so that a large number of erroneous copies can be prevented. Is displayed, the first flash lamp 102 can be repaired by an operator call.

In this embodiment, the copying operation of the copy processing section A is stopped or the fact is displayed only when the first flash lamp 102 is not normally turned on. However, the second flash lamp is displayed. Even when any of the groups 123 does not light up normally, the copy operation of the copy processing unit A may be stopped or a message to that effect may be displayed. The second
If the exposure unevenness does not matter even if one of the flash lamp groups 123 does not light normally, the copy processing unit A
Alternatively, only the display may be performed by continuing the copying operation of the above. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the case of illuminating obliquely with a plurality of flash lamps, but is also applicable to an illuminating device in which a surface light source is configured by a plurality of flash lamps and the illuminance of a document surface is uniform. be able to.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention,
If the first flash lamp does not light properly,
Since normal image formation cannot be performed, stop the image formation operation.
Allowed, if the flash lamps or flash lamps constituting the second flash lamp does not light correctly due balls out, except when the exposure unevenness is not a problem, because the operation by the image processing operation , Flash
Image processing operation depending on the degree of abnormality
It is decided whether or not to perform the operation
The processing operation does not stop, and efficient image formation becomes possible.

[0027]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a copying machine to which the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 is applied;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the document illumination device in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the document illumination device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an illumination state using only a first flash lamp.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an illumination state in FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing main signals in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, lamp power supply 1a non-lighting detection means 4 CPU (microprocessor) 5 display means 102 first flash lamp 123 flash lamp A copy processing unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-61-26036 (JP, A) JP-A-63-307447 (JP, A) JP-A-62-10672 (JP, A) JP-A-63-672 100473 (JP, A) JP-A-61-7855 (JP, A) JP-A-61-49342 (JP, U) JP-A-63-128544 (JP, U) JP-A-60-92237 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/04-15/04 120 G03G 21/00 370-500 G03B 27/32 G03B 27/72-27/80

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A first flash lamp for illuminating the original; a second flash lamp including a plurality of flash lamps for illuminating the original from a different direction from the first flash lamp; and the first and second flash lamps. An image forming apparatus that optically reads a document illuminated by a flash lamp to process a document image by optically reading the document, and display means for performing a predetermined display, and forms an image based on the read document image. The first flash run is performed during the processing of the image processing means.
When the non-lighting of the lamp is detected, the processing of the image processing means is performed.
And the first flash lamp
Is displayed on the display means, and if any one of the flash lamps constituting the second flash lamp does not light up normally ,
Unless exposure unevenness on the document does not matter ,
An image forming apparatus, wherein the processing of the image processing means is stopped, and a message indicating that the second flash lamp is not normally lit is displayed on the display means.