JPH0125264B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a facsimile device having copy recording and image transmission/reception functions.

In recent years, along with advances in information transmission means, facsimile devices have become widespread.

On the other hand, copy machines are now frequently used in most offices.

It can be said that facsimile machines and copying machines have the same function in terms of reproducing images on recording paper.

However, since conventional facsimile machines and copying machines are configured as separate devices, the space and cost required for installation are wasted.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an office machine with high cost performance by combining the common functions of a facsimile machine and a copying machine.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus that accepts reception even when a reception occurs during copy recording and records the received image after copy recording is completed.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an internal sectional view showing the overall structure of the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a top view of the operation panel 1 in FIG. 1. First, the operation of the entire apparatus will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

By pressing the power button 41 on the operation panel 1, power is turned on to the electric circuit of the entire apparatus, and a preparatory operation (period) such as reaching a certain temperature by a heater (not shown) in which the fixing means 27 is incorporated is performed. When the preparation is completed, the ready lamp 42 lights up to indicate that preparation is complete. When the ready lamp 42 is on, operation in the following four modes is possible.

(1) Transmission mode (2) Reception mode (3) Print mode (4) Copy mode Therefore, the operation of each of the above modes will be explained in detail.

(1) Transmission mode Place the original 15 to be sent on the document table 16 and press the trans button 45 (Fig. 2) on the operation panel 1. A lamp (not shown) inside the trans button 45 lights up and the following message appears. (The operation panel 1 is the system controller 55 in FIG. 4.)
and exchange information). Original 1 on the original platen 16
5 is illuminated by the illumination lamp 17, and the reflected light is further reflected by the reflecting mirror 18 and the reflecting mirror 13 inside the lens system 40, and is then reflected onto the imaging plane (first The image is formed on the image forming position). Here, the lens system 40 consists of three lenses 91, 92, 93 (lens blocks) and a reflecting mirror 13, as shown in FIG. 3a, and constitutes an in-mirror lens. The light incident on the lens block is reflected by the reflecting mirror 13, passes through the lens block again, and forms an image at a predetermined position. In FIG. 3a, 90 is an aperture for adjusting the amount of light, 94 is the lens block, the reflecting mirror,
This is a mount to support the aperture.

The lens system 40 shown in Figure 3a has an optical axis 35 passing through the center of the lens block. The lens system 40 or the reflecting mirror 13 passes through the intersection of the optical axis 35 and the reflecting mirror 13 on the reflecting surface, and is rotated in the direction of an arrow 95 or in the opposite direction to the arrow 95 about a rotation axis 50 that is perpendicular to the plane of the paper. It is possible to swing (hereinafter referred to as "movement" because the purpose is achieved by movement).

FIG. 3b shows a configuration for performing the movement. Lens system 40 or reflector 1
A worm gear 88 is fixed to lens system 4.
0 or the reflecting mirror 13 moves together with the worm gear 88 around the rotating shaft 50. Further, the worm gear 88 meshes with a worm 89 and is driven by the pulse motor 12. Therefore, when the pulse motor 12 rotates in response to a control signal, the rotational force is transmitted to the worm 89 and the worm gear 88, and then the lens system 40 or the reflecting mirror 13 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 9.
5 or in the direction opposite to arrow 95.

Now return to Figure 1. Among the optical axes of light emitted from the insulating film that reach the lens system 40 via the reflecting mirror 33, the optical axis from the reflecting mirror 33 to the lens system 40 is referred to as the optical axis 36 (light from the insulating film 3 to the reflecting mirror 33). The axis is 36'). Among the optical axes in which the reflected light from the original 15 reaches the lens system 40 via the reflecting mirror 18, the optical axis 37 extends from the reflecting mirror 18 to the lens system 40, and the light emitted from the lens system 40 reaches the photosensitive drum. An optical axis 38 extends to the imaging plane (second imaging position) of 24, and an optical axis 39 extends to the point where the light emitted from the lens system 40 reaches the photodetector element 11.
In the transmission mode, the optical axis 35 of the lens system 40
[Fig. 3a] is set in the direction that coincides with the bisector of the optical axis 37 and the optical axis 39, so the image on the original 15 is placed on the photodetecting element 11 (first imaging position). Form an image. The photodetecting element 11 is composed of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) in which 2048 elements are arranged in one row.

Note that a photodiode array or the like may be used instead of the CCD.

The photodetector element 11 converts detected optical information (first optical image) into an electrical image signal. The image signal is sent to the reading circuit 53 in the control circuit (block diagram) shown in FIG. 4, and the information for one line is converted into 2048 dot signals (representing white or black).
is converted to The converted dot signal is input to a data compression circuit 52 and encoded using run-length data compression or other known data compression methods. The data compression circuit 52 then sends the facsimile signal to the modem 51. The photodetecting element 11, the reading circuit 53, and the data compression circuit 5
2. Each sequence of modem 51 is controlled by system controller 55. The modem 51 is a modulation/demodulation circuit that enables the facsimile signal to be transmitted and received over a telephone line, and the output signal (first electrical signal) of the modem 51 is sent to a receiver (not shown) via the telephone line (transmission line). It will be done. (here,
The reading circuit 53, data compression circuit 52, and modem 51 constitute a transmitting means). When one line of information has been read, the original 15 in Figure 1
together with the document table 16, the document table feeding mechanism 54 shown in FIG.
is sent in the direction of arrow 15a, and reaches the reading position for the next line. In this case, the transfer rate for one line (signal processing time for data compression) changes depending on the density difference of information on the document, that is, the difference in repetition pitch between black and white. Therefore, the document table 16 is operated by a stepping motor 72 (not shown) (shown in FIG. 5).
The transfer rate is intermittently driven according to the transfer rate. When the transmission of one page of the original is completed through the series of operations described above, the unillustrated lamp built into the transformer button 45 is turned off, and the original table 16 returns to the starting position.

(2) Receiving mode In FIG. 2, when the receiving button 46 on the operation panel 1 is pressed, a lamp (not shown) inside the receiving button 46 lights up and the receiving operation starts in the following order.

In FIG. 4, a signal (second electrical signal) received from a telephone line (transmission line) is converted back into an encoded facsimile signal by a modem 51, and further passed through a decoding circuit 57 to the reading circuit 53. That is, one line is converted into an image signal of 2048 dots. The image signal is input to the recording head 8 via a write circuit 58. (Here, the modem 51, decoding circuit 57, and writing circuit 58 constitute receiving means). The recording head 8 consists of 2048 multi-styli, and each dot of the image signal outputted from the writing circuit 58 is applied to each of the 2048 multi-styli. and recording head 8
records the electrostatic latent image of the received image on the insulating film 3 (first recording medium) shown in FIG. Each sequence of the modem 51, decoding circuit 57, and writing circuit 58 is controlled by a system controller 55. In FIG. 1, a soft copy/print mechanism 60 includes an optical recording head 8, a back electrode 6, a developing station 5, a (toner 14) lamp 4, an AC or DC charger 9, and a cleaning device 10 (erasing means). It is composed of an image forming means, an insulating film 3, and a soft copy feeding mechanism 61 (FIG. 5) comprising rollers 7a, 7b, and 7c. In the soft copy printing mechanism 60, a transparent or semitransparent (eg, diffusive) insulating film 3 (eg, a polyethylene terephthalate film with a thickness of 100 μm) is sandwiched between the recording head 8 and the back electrode 6. This insulating film 3 (holding means) is mounted on rollers 7a, 7b, 7c.
5 (at least one of which is driven by a motor not shown) in the direction of arrow 3a. The one line of image information is recorded by the recording head 8 on the surface of the insulating film 3 as one line of electrostatic image. Since the data for each line is received at a non-uniform speed due to the data compression operation, the movement of the insulating film 3 is also transmitted intermittently in the direction of the arrow 3a at a speed corresponding to the receiving speed (non-uniform speed). It will be done. In this way, the insulation film 3
On top, an electrostatic latent image is obtained corresponding to the transmitted document. The electrostatic latent image is indicated by the arrow 3 on the insulating film 3.
As it moves in the direction a, it reaches the position of the developing station 5, and the colored toner 14 (charged particles) adheres to the insulating film 3, thereby developing the electrostatic latent image and forming a received image. The received image (second optical image) visualized by the development moves further together with the insulating film 3 and reaches the position of the viewer 2 . The insulating film 3 is connected to the lamp 4 from the inside.
The operator can visually see the visualized received image on the insulating film 3 through the viewer 2 (transparent glass plate).
(The viewer 2, lamp 4, and developing station 5 constitute display means.) Here, on the operation panel 1 shown in FIG. 2, the print auto/manual switch 47 is set to auto (push in the auto side). If so, it will automatically shift to the print mode described below. In addition, the auto
If the manual changeover switch 47 is set to manual (push in the manual side),
The visualized received image for one page stops at the viewer 2 position. Here, when the operator decides that he wants to keep the received image, he can obtain a hard copy that is difficult to erase by pressing the print button 48 shown in FIG. 2 using the print mode described later. When the hard copy is not needed, the erase button 49 is pressed. Then the insulation film 3
further moves in the direction of the arrow 3a, and the received image passes through the roller 7b and reaches the position of the cleaning device 10. Then, the cleaning device removes the toner forming the received image from the insulating film 3. Next, the surface potential remaining on the insulating film 3 is made uniform by an AC or DC charger 9 in preparation for the next recording.

(The print button 48 and the erase button 49 constitute selection means.) (3) Print mode The print mode is a received image made with toner on the insulating film 3 in the above-mentioned receive mode (soft copy that is easy to erase). In this mode, the data is transferred to a hard copy that is difficult to erase.

In the aforementioned reception mode, the operation panel 1 in Fig. 2
When the automatic manual changeover switch 47 is set to auto or when the print button 48 is pressed, the hard copy is obtained in the following order.

The received image (soft copy, ie, second optical image) is moved between rollers 7b and 7c and is illuminated from inside the insulating film 3 by the lamp 4. At this time, the optical axis 35 of the lens system 40
[FIG. 3a] is directed by the pulse motor 12 in a direction that coincides with the bisector of the optical axis 36 and the optical axis 38. Therefore, the soft copy image passes through the optical axis 36', is reflected by the reflecting mirror 33, passes through the lens system 40, the reflecting mirror 13, and the optical axis 38, and then reaches the photosensitive drum 2.
4 (second imaging position) as a third optical image. Here, the hard copy printing mechanism 59 (recording means) includes a first corona charger 19,
cleaning device 20, AC corona charger 21,
Hard copy printing means consisting of a full-surface exposure lamp 22, a developing device 23, a photosensitive drum 24, a transfer charger 25, a fixing means 27, and roller materials 28, 29,
30 and a hard copy feeding mechanism 86 (FIG. 5) consisting of rollers 26.

The hard copy printing mechanism 59 uses, for example, an electrophotographic device, and as an example of the electrophotographic process applied to the present invention, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 42-23910 filed by the present applicant, a conductive support is used. , the surface of the insulating layer of the photosensitive drum 24 whose basic constituents are a photoconductive layer and an insulating layer is uniformly charged positively or negatively by the first corona charger 19, and the photoconductive layer and the insulating layer are A charge having a polarity opposite to the charged polarity is captured at the interface or inside the photoconductive layer, and then a light image is exposed to the surface of the charged insulating layer, and at the same time, an AC corona discharge is applied by the AC corona charger 21. A pattern is formed on the surface of the insulating layer by a difference in surface potential according to a clearly planned pattern of the image, and the entire surface of the insulating layer is uniformly exposed to light by the entire surface exposure lamp 22 to form a high-contrast electrostatic latent image. is formed on the surface of the insulating layer, and furthermore, the electrostatic latent image is developed and visualized by a developing device 23 with a developer mainly consisting of charged colored particles (toner), and then transferred onto a transfer material 32 such as paper. The visible image is transferred by a transfer charger 25, and then the transferred image is fixed by a fixing means 27 such as an infrared lamp or a hot plate to obtain an electrophotographic print image. The surface of the insulating layer is cleaned by a cleaning device 20 to remove residual charged particles, and the photosensitive layer 24 is used repeatedly.

As yet another embodiment, an electrostatic latent image forming process of electrophotography as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 19748/1974 filed by the present applicant is applied. That is, a photosensitive plate is used that has a conductive support, a photoconductive layer, and an insulating layer as basic constituents, and the surface of the insulating layer is uniformly charged positively or negatively by a first corona discharge, thereby making it photoconductive. A charge having a polarity opposite to the charged polarity is captured on the surface of the insulating layer and the inside of the photoconductive layer, and an alternating current corona discharge is applied to the charged surface to attenuate the charge on the surface of the insulating layer. An image is irradiated to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the insulating layer according to the brightness of the light image. The process of developing the electrostatic latent image and the subsequent steps are as described above. In FIG. 1, the recording paper 32 (second recording medium) placed in the case 34 is composed of roller members 28, 29, 30, and a roller 26.
The hard copy transport mechanism 86 (third driving means) transports the hard copy toward the tray 31. Therefore, the tray 31 stores recording paper (hard copy) on which the third optical image on the photosensitive drum 24 is recorded. When the soft copy on the insulating film 3 moves from the roller 7b to the roller 7c in the print mode, the insulating film 3 is sped up at a constant speed in synchronization with the photosensitive drum 24 (as will be described later, the induction motor shown in FIG. 5) 8
5). Furthermore, the lens system 40 is 1:
1, a hard copy of the same size as the received image visually viewed by the viewer 2 can be obtained on the recording paper 32. Note that the cleaning device 10 and charger 9 also operate in the print mode (same as when the erase button is pressed in the reception mode described above), so the photosensitive drum 2 is operated as described above.
The soft copies read in step 4 are sequentially erased by moving the insulating film 3 in the direction of the arrow 3a, in preparation for receiving the next image. When obtaining a plurality of hard copies, the function of the optical image forming means is stopped and the soft copy feeding mechanism 61
It is also possible to further move the insulating film 3 (FIG. 5) and obtain a second hard copy in the same manner.

(4) Copy mode Place the original 15 to be copied on the original platen 16, and
When the number of copies dial 44 on the operation panel 1 shown in the figure is set to the required number of copies and the copy button 43 is pressed, a lamp (not shown) built into the copy button 43 lights up and the following order is activated. Start the copy operation. Original 1 on the original platen 16
5 is illuminated by the illumination lamp 17, the reflected light is further reflected by the reflecting mirror 18 and the reflecting mirror 13 inside the lens system 40, and forms an image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 24. Here, the optical axis 35 of the lens system 40
[FIG. 3a] is directed by the pulse motor 12 in a direction that coincides with the bisector of the optical axis 37 and the optical axis 38. The operation up to this point is the image (soft copy) of insulation film 3 in the print mode mentioned above.
Instead, the image of the original 15 placed on the original platen 16 is placed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 24 (second image forming position) at a third position.
It can be said that the image was formed as an optical image. After this, the recording paper 3 is processed by performing the same operation as the electrophotographic process described in the print mode.
A hard copy can be obtained on 2 (therefore, the explanation of its operation will be omitted). The operation panel 1 performs the reciprocating movement of the document table 16 and the operation for creating the hard copy described above.
The copy mode is repeated for the number of copies preset on the number of copies dial 44, and then the copy mode is completed. It should be noted that since it is not necessary to use the same mechanism for the above-mentioned reception mode and copy mode, it is also possible to use the reception mode (however, when viewing a soft copy) while using the copy mode. At this time, an unillustrated lamp built into the receiving button 46 of the operation panel 1 is lit to indicate that the receiving mode is being used, and if the auto-manual switch 47 is set to the auto side, When the copy mode ends, it is possible to automatically switch to the print mode. Next, in the four types of modes mentioned above,
A document table feeding mechanism 54 for feeding the original 15 and a soft copy feeding mechanism 6 for feeding the insulating film 3
1. How the operations of the hard copy feeding mechanism 86 for feeding the recording paper 32 and the rotation mechanism of the photosensitive drum 24 are related is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, in the transmission mode, the stepping motor 72 drives the document table feeding mechanism 54. In FIG.
In the transmission mode, the clutches 65 and 76 are disengaged, the clutch 74 is engaged, and the induction motor 8
5 does not rotate. Therefore, the stepping motor 72
The driving force is transmitted from a gear 70 fixed to the shaft of a stepping motor 72 to a timing belt 71,
The signal is transmitted to the document table feeding mechanism 54 via a gear 73, a clutch 74, a gear 75, and a gear 77. The document table feeding mechanism 54 drives the document 15 via the document table 16 (FIG. 1). At this time, the photosensitive drum 24, the hard copy feeding mechanism 86, and the soft copy feeding mechanism 61, which are connected to the induction motor 85 through gears or the like, are not driven and are stopped. In the reception mode, the stepping motor 72 drives the soft copy feeding mechanism 61. In the reception mode, clutches 66 and 74 are disengaged, clutch 65 is engaged, and induction motor 85 does not rotate. Therefore, the driving force of the stepping motor 72 is transmitted from the gear 69 fixed to the shaft of the stepping motor 72 to the soft copy feeding mechanism 61 via the timing belt 68, gear 64, clutch 65, gear 63, and gear 62. communicated. The soft copy feeding mechanism 61 consists of rollers 7a, 7b, and 7c shown in FIG. 1, and drives the insulating film 3 in the direction of the arrow 3a. At this time, the photosensitive drum 24, the hard copy feeding mechanism 86, which is connected to the induction motor 85 via gears etc.
The document table feeding mechanism 54 is not driven and is stopped. In the print mode, induction motor 8
5 drives the photosensitive drum 24, hard copy feeding mechanism 86, and soft copy feeding mechanism 61.

In the print mode, clutches 65 and 76 are disengaged, clutch 66 is engaged, and stepping motor 72 does not rotate. Therefore, the driving force of the induction motor 85 is
The photosensitive drum 24 is rotated via a gear 82 fixed to a shaft of an induction motor 85, and a hard copy feeding mechanism 86 is driven via a gear 83 and a gear 84. The data is transmitted from the gear 80 to the soft copy feeding mechanism 61 via the timing belt 81, gear 67, clutch 66, gear 63, and gear 62. Then, the insulating film 3 (FIG. 1) is driven as described above. At this time, the document table feeding mechanism 54, which is connected to the stepping motor 72 via a gear or the like, is not driven and is stopped.

In the copy mode, the induction motor 85 moves the photosensitive drum 24, the hard copy feeding mechanism 86,
The document table feeding mechanism 54 is driven. In the copy mode, clutches 66 and 74 are disengaged, clutch 76 is engaged, and stepping motor 72 does not rotate. Therefore, the driving force of the induction motor 85 is transmitted from the gear 83 fixed to the shaft of the induction motor 85 to the photosensitive drum 24 via the gear 82.
, and drives the hard copy feeding mechanism 86 via gear 83 and gear 84, and also drives the timing belt 87, gear 78, and clutch 7 from gear 79 fixed to the shaft of induction motor 85.
6, the document table feeding mechanism 5 via gear 75 and gear 77
4. Then, the original 15 (FIG. 1) is driven as described above. At this time, the soft copy feeding mechanism 61, which is connected to the stepping motor 72 via a gear or the like, is not driven and is stopped.

Each sequence of rotation, stopping, coupling, and disengagement of the step pin motor 72, induction motor 85, and clutches 65, 66, 74, and 76 described above is controlled by the system controller 55 (control means) shown in FIG.
controlled by. That is, the document feeding mechanism 54, soft copy printing mechanism 60, and hard copy printing mechanism 59 shown in FIG. 4 are controlled by the system controller 55. Additionally, the system controller 55 inputs a timing signal that determines drive timing to the power control circuit 56. Accordingly, the power control circuit 56 controls the power supplied to the pulse motor 12, the document table feeding mechanism 54, the soft copy printing mechanism 60, and the hard copy printing mechanism 59.

Furthermore, regarding the optical system, in the copy mode, the original and the hard copy are generally the same size. In such a case, the first
In the figure, the optical distance from the lens system 40 to the photosensitive drum 24 and the optical distance from the lens system 40 to the original 15 via the mirror 18 must be equal.

Similarly, it is desirable that the toner image formed on the insulating film 3 be at the same magnification as the hard copy.

An example of an optical system suitable for such a case is shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, it is not necessary that the original and the image formed on the photodetecting element 11 have the same magnification, but for convenience of explanation, the case where they have the same magnification is shown.

In FIG. 6, members having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are numbered one, and members unnecessary for explanation of the optical system are omitted.

In the copy mode, the two optical axes 37 and 38
The optical axis 35 of the lens system 40 coincides with the equal dividing line, and in the print mode, the optical axis 35 of the lens system 40 coincides with the bisecting line of the optical axis 35 and the optical axis 38, and in the transmission mode, the optical axis The optical axis 35 of the lens 40 coincides with the bisector of the optical axis 37 and the optical axis 39.

That is, the corners 96, 97, and 98 are each equal to each other, and in such a case, the image on the photosensitive drum 24, the toner image on the insulating film 3, the image on the original 15, and the image on the photodetecting element 11 are the same size as each other. A relationship is established.

As described above, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention includes a reading means for reading a document image, a transmitting means for transmitting the image read by the reading means to another device via a transmission line, and a receiving means for receiving the image from the other device. , a recording means for recording a copy of a manuscript image or recording a received image; a holding means for temporarily holding a received image when an image is received by the receiving means while the recording means is copying; and a holding held by the holding means; a display means for visualizing and displaying an image; an erasing means for erasing the retained image; a selection means for selecting whether to record or delete the retained image based on the display image of the display means; Control for controlling the recording means and the erasing means so that when selected, the retained image is recorded after copying and recording is completed and the retained image is then erased, and when deletion is selected, the retained image is erased without being recorded. It consists of means.

With this configuration, not only can the recording means be used both for copy recording and received image recording, but also it is possible to receive images during copy recording. Moreover, it becomes possible to visually check the received image held by the holding means on the display means, and if a hard copy is required, it is recorded, and then the held image is erased, and if the hard copy is not needed, the held image is erased. be. Therefore, it is possible not only to prevent the generation of unnecessary hard copies, but also to prepare for the next reception.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a sectional view showing the inside of the facsimile machine of this embodiment, Figure 2 is a front view of the operation panel of the facsimile machine, Figure 3a is a cross-sectional view of the lens system installed in the facsimile machine, and Figure 3b is 4 is a block diagram of the electric circuit that controls the facsimile device, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the drive mechanism that drives the facsimile device, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of the drive mechanism inside the facsimile device. FIG. 3 is an optical path diagram. In the figure, 3 is an insulating film, 7a, 7b,
7c, 26 are rollers, 8 is a recording head, 10, 2
0 is a cleaning device, 11 is a photodetecting element, 12
is a pulse motor, 15 is a document, 16 is a document table, 2
4 is a photosensitive drum, 28, 29, 30 are roller materials,
32 is a recording paper, 40 is a lens system, 59 is a hard copy printing mechanism, 60 is a soft copy printing mechanism, 61 is a soft copy feeding mechanism, 65, 6
6, 74, 76 are clutches, 72 is a stepping motor, 85 is an induction motor, 86 is a hard copy feeding mechanism, 88 is a worm gear, 89
is warm.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Reading means for reading the original image, transmission means for transmitting the image read by the reading means to another device via a transmission line, receiving means for receiving the image from another device, copy recording or reception of the original image A recording means for recording an image, a holding means for temporarily holding the received image when the receiving means receives an image while the recording means is copying and recording, and a display for visualizing and displaying the retained image held by the holding means. means,
erasing means for erasing the retained image; selection means for selecting whether to record or erase the retained image based on the display image of the display means; copy recording of the retained image when recording is selected by the selection means; A facsimile apparatus comprising a control means for controlling the recording means and the erasing means so as to record the retained image after completion, and then erase the retained image when deletion is selected, without recording the retained image. .