JPH02234162A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the resetting of a leader sheet by detecting any loading abnormality at the automatic loading of the leader sheet at the time of attaching of a media cartridge and feeding back the leader sheet to its original position. CONSTITUTION:The media cartridge 10 which contains a media sheet S is loaded in a carriage 60 of a main body 1, and in the carrying path of the media sheet S are provided a micro switch MS1 which detects the setting condition of the sheet S to a sprocket 62 in the upper stream side of the sprocket 62, in its lower stream side a micro switch MS2 as a loading detecting means, and a micro switch MS3, as the loading detecting means in the lower stream side of a pressure roller 51, etc., are provided. Then, when any abnormality arises in the initial loading of the leader sheet L which is the leading tip of the media sheet S, the loading abnormality is detected by the loading detecting means MS2 and MS3, and the leader sheet L is wound back to its original position by a winding means. Thus, resetting of the leading tip of the wound back leader sheet L can be facilitated.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Al industrial application field This invention Regarding the media production equipment, It's a special thing.

('b) A light-receiving sheet (media sheet) coated with microcapsules containing a photo-curing material and an image forming agent, which has been developed in recent years for automatically loading an image-forming material, and An image forming method using an image receiving sheet coated with a developing material that reacts with an image forming agent to develop color is carried out as follows.

When an image-receiving sheet is placed over a media sheet on which a selectively cured image has been formed by exposing the original image to light and pressure is applied, the image forming agent in the uncured microcapsules flows out and reacts with the developing material on the image-receiving sheet, producing color. and an image is formed.

Therefore, the media sheet must not be exposed to external light and exposed to light, or the microcapsules must not be destroyed by external force until the original image is exposed.

It is not appropriate to feed the media sheet with the sheet surface in contact with the media sheet by feeding the media sheet, as this will lead to the destruction of the microcapsules on the sheet surface. Therefore, the media sheet is generally formed into a roll and is directly fed by the rotational force of a pair of upper and lower pressure rollers without using a paper feed roller. Furthermore, the rolled media sheet is stored in a cartridge (media cartridge), and the cartridge can be attached to and removed from the main body of the image forming apparatus, improving operability. When the media cartridge is installed in the image forming apparatus main body, first,
Load the media sheets in the media cartridge onto each roller of the device main body. Manually loading the sheet onto the roller is a complicated task, and various techniques have been devised. For example, a leader sheet may be connected to the leading edge of the media sheet, an adhesive section may be provided on the take-up roller of the cartridge, or a sprocket may be installed along the media sheet conveyance path in the main body of the device, and sprockets may be installed on both sides of the leader sheet correspondingly. This includes creating sprocket holes. Additionally, sheet loading has been automated (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-217350). The above automatic loading is performed as follows. Open the front cover of the image forming apparatus and pull out the carriage for inserting the media cartridge. The carriage is equipped with a sprocket, and when the media cartridge is installed, the media sheet is set on the sprocket, the carriage is returned to its original position, and the front cover is closed. A sheet detector is installed near the subrocket, for example,
The actuator of the sheet detector comes into contact with the media sheet set on the sprocket by closing the front cover. When the sheet detector detects a media sheet, the conveyance roller is driven and the media sheet is guided to the pressure roller, and due to the rotational force of the extra pressure roller, it reaches the take-up roller of the media cartridge and adheres to its adhesive part. It is then wound up. As described above, loading of media sheets into a media cartridge is automated, reducing the operator's workload and improving operability.

On the other hand, since the media sheet is in roll form, a non-image area is created between the exposure point and the pressure point for each image process, or once a conveyance defect such as wrinkles occurs in the sheet, it is difficult to correct it. However, as a countermeasure to these drawbacks, a media sheet rewinding mechanism was developed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 177974/1983).
Improvements have been made in maintainability, economy, etc. (C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In an image forming apparatus using a rolled media sheet as described above, the media sheet must be smoothly fed out from the cartridge, passed through each process, and smoothly wound onto the take-up roller. is important. If the sheet is fed diagonally, it may ride on one of the frames on either side of the cartridge, or it may become wrinkled or damaged. Before these problems have a negative impact on the quality of image formation, there is a high possibility that they will increase the load on the pressure roller and cause problems such as drive locking. In other words, it is determined whether the entire image forming apparatus operates normally thereafter. Smooth feeding and winding of the media sheet depends on whether the leader sheet connected to the tip of the media sheet is loaded correctly. However, although the leader sheet is rigid, it is a film with a thickness of about 100 to 250 μm, and rollers, especially pressure rollers, are subject to high loads, so the tip of the leader sheet is automatically aligned correctly perpendicular to the roller axis. Difficult to load. If a problem occurs at the beginning of loading, such as the leading edge of the leader sheet becoming slanted or bent due to some kind of hindrance, it is often impossible to reload it from the beginning. In addition to being impossible to operate, the entire media sheet becomes unusable, resulting in extremely poor operability, maintainability, and economic efficiency. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can easily reset the leader sheet if the initial loading of the leader sheet at the leading end of the media sheet is not performed correctly (d ) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention detects the loading status of the leader sheet in an image forming apparatus equipped with an automatic loading mechanism and a rewinding mechanism for a rolled media sheet having a leader sheet connected to the leading end. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a loading detecting means and a loading abnormality rewinding means for rewinding the abnormally loaded leader sheet to its original position when the loading detecting means detects a loading abnormality of the leader sheet.

+e) Effect In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in the initial loading of the leading edge of the media sheet when installing the media cartridge into the apparatus main body,
The loading detection means detects a loading abnormality, and the rewinding means rewinds the leader sheet to its original position. The tip of the rewound leader sheet is easily re-centered by the operator, and automatic loading is performed again.

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

A document table 3 is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1, and an optical system 2 including a light source, a mirror, and a lens is provided below the document table 3. The original is scanned by moving the optical system 2 in the direction of the arrow. A paper feed section 4 is disposed on the right side of the zero body 1, and upper and lower pressure rollers 51 and 5 are disposed approximately in the center of the body 1.
2 is provided. The media cartridge lithography 10 that stores the media sheet S pulls out the carriage 60 on the slightly left side of the main body l and is mounted therein, and the upper and lower pressure rollers 51 and 52 A conveyance path for media sheets is provided up to. A sprocket 62 is provided at a portion of the conveying roller 61 corresponding to the outside of the width of the media sheet, into which sprocket holes 63 on both sides of a leader sheet, which will be described later, are fitted. Conveyance rollers 61 and 65
An opening is formed approximately in the center of the transport plate 66 between the two to expose light reflected from the original. At this position, the original document is exposed, and the exposed media sheet S, on which a selectively cured image has been formed, is guided between upper and lower pressure rollers 51 and 52. The media sheet S and the image receiving sheet (not shown) fed from the paper feeding section 4 are overlapped and pressed by upper and lower pressure rollers. As a result, the microcapsules on the uncured media sheet S are destroyed and the flowing out image forming agent reacts with the developing material on the image receiving sheet, thereby performing development and transfer. The media sheet S that has completed the pressurizing process is moved along the guide plate 7 to the media cartridge cartridge 1.
0 is wound onto the winding roller 11. On the conveyance path of the media sheet S, there is a microsinch MSI on the upstream side of the sprocket 62 that detects the state of the sheet to the sprocket, and on the downstream side there is a loading detection means (a microswitch is used in this embodiment) MS2, and a pressure roller. On the downstream side of the 5L loading detection means (in this example, a microswivel) MS3, the media cartridge 10 of the cartridge 60 is installed.
A microswitch MS4 (known) for detecting the installation status of the media cartridge 10 is provided at a position corresponding to the bottom of the housing l2. Micro switch M
SI and MS2 are in a state where their actuators slightly protrude into the conveyance path of the media sheet S, and when the leader sheet L at the leading end of the media sheet is present in the conveyance path, they come into contact with it and the actuators are displaced. The microsinch is turned on. Accordingly, MS1 is turned on if the soaker hole 63 of the leader sheet L is correctly inserted into the soot hole 62, and MS2 is turned on when the sheet starts to be conveyed. In addition, when the microswitch MS3 is first loaded, the leader sheet L is conveyed along the temporary guide 7, and when it wraps around the take-up roller 11, the leader sheet is pulled and becomes taut, and the actuator moves the sheet taut. It makes contact, shifts and turns on. Therefore, the microswitch MS3 detects that the lead sheath 1-L is correctly wound onto the winding roller. On the other hand, after the pressurizing process is completed, the image receiving sheet is guided to the heating device on the left side by the conveyor belt of the zero body 1, and is then delivered to the paper paper section.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the appearance when a media sheet and a leader sheet at the leading end of the media sheet are pulled out from a media cartridge installed in the image forming apparatus. A human seat S is pulled out from the housing l2 of the media cartridge 10, and a leader seat L is connected to the tip thereof. The leader sheet is wider than the media sheet S, and a subrocket hole 63 is formed in the increased width part. When loading a sheet, the sprocket holes 63 are connected to the sprockets 6 on both sides of the conveyance roller 61 of the apparatus main body 1.
Fitted into 2. Thereafter, the sheet is conveyed along the conveying plate 66, the conveying roller 65, the upper and lower pressure rollers 51, 52, and the guide plate 7 (see FIG. 1), and is wound onto the winding roller l1.

Figure 3 is an external perspective view of the vicinity of the upper and lower pressure rollers of the image forming apparatus. Both ends of the rotating shaft of the upper pressure roller 51 are attached to front and rear frames 2l fixed to the image forming apparatus main body 1. An arm 22 is attached to the lower part of the front and rear frames 21 so as to be rotatable about a fulcrum 23, and a rotating shaft of a lower pressure roller 52 is attached to the right side of this arm 22. Further, a spring 24 is applied between the right end of the arm 22 and the frame 21, and biases the lower pressure roller 52 in the direction of pressing the upper pressure roller 51. A roller 25 is attached to the left end of the arm 22, and a cam 26 is in contact with this roller 25. Rotating shaft 2 of cam 26
A gear 28 is attached to 7, and a rotating shaft of a motor 30 is connected to this gear 28 via a reduction gear 29. The rotation of the motor 30 is transmitted to the gear 28 via the reduction gear 29, causing the cam 26 to rotate. When the long diameter portion of the cam 26 comes into contact with the roller 25, the arm 22 rotates clockwise about the fulcrum 23, and the lower pressure roller 52, which was in pressure contact with the upper pressure roller 51, is separated from the upper pressure roller 51. When the short diameter portion of the cam 26 is in contact with the roller 25, the lower pressure roller 52 is in pressure contact with the upper pressure roller 51. The upper pressure roller 51 is connected to the motor 3 via the gear 33.
It is driven by 4. Install the media cartridge, fit the leader sheet's sprocket hole into the main body's sprocket, and then insert the front cover (
(not shown), the microswitch MS4 detects the presence of a media cartridge, and the microswitch MSI detects that the league seat is fitted into the sprocket.The motor 34 is rotated in the forward direction to apply vertical pressure to the leader seat. It passes through the rollers and is loaded onto the take-up roller. If a loading abnormality occurs at the leading edge of the leader sheet at this time, the loading abnormality is detected because the microswitch MS3 is not turned on even after a certain period of time has elapsed since the microswitch MS2 detected the leading edge of the leader sheet. The motor 34 is stopped by a loading abnormality signal, the motor 30 is rotated, and the upper pressure roller 5 is rotated by the long diameter part of the cam 26.
Release the lower pressure roller 52 from l. Upper and lower pressure rollers 5L
When the pressure contact state of and 52 is released, the conveyance system and motor 3
4 in the reverse direction, and return the reader seat with the loading error to the position where the microswitch MS2 is turned off.

Figure 4 shows a block diagram of part of the control section of the image forming apparatus. The CPU 70 has an RO that stores programs.
M71, a timer 8l, a RAM 72 used as a working area, and ■/073 are connected.

The I/O 73 includes an operation panel 76 including a display section 74 and operation switches 75, and the microswitches MSI, MS2,
A sensor group 77 including MS3 and MS4, a conveyance system 78 that feeds the image receiving sheet from a paper feeding outlet (not shown) and drives a conveyance belt (not shown), and a motor 30 connected to the cam 26.
A drive circuit 79 that drives the upper pressure roller 5l, and a drive circuit 80 that drives the motor 34 connected to the upper pressure roller 5l are connected.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the automatic loading and rewinding operations in the event of an automatic loading error in the image forming apparatus. First, open the front cover (not shown) of the main body 1 (nl). Pull the carriage 60 forward, attach the media cartridge 1O from the top, fit the subrocket hole 63 of the leader sheet L into the subrocket 62, and set the carriage 60 back to its original position (n2). Close the front cover (n3)
, If the cartridge cartridge is inserted correctly, the MS4 turns on (n4), and if the sheet is correctly inserted into the subrocket, the MSI turns on and the abnormality lamp turns off (n6). If either MS4 or MS1 does not turn on, return to nl, open the front cover, and reset. When the abnormal lamp goes out, the sheet feeding operation is started at n7, and at the same time the motor 30 is rotated to move the upper and lower pressure rollers 51, 5.
2 into pressure contact state. When sheet feeding is started smoothly, MS2 provided on the downstream side of the subrocket 62 detects the leading edge of the sheet and turns on (n8). Next, timer t is reset and started (n9). If MS3 is not turned on even after a certain period of time T1 has elapsed (nlo), the leader sheet has not been taken up by the take-up roller as described above, so the feeding operation is stopped at nl3 and the motor 30 is rotated. to release the pressure on the upper and lower pressure rollers. In this state, the sheet is fed backwards (n14), and the leading edge of the sheet passes through MS2.
When S2 is turned off (nl5), the reverse feeding of the sheet is stopped (nl6) and the abnormal lamp is turned on (nl?).If MS3 is turned on within a certain period of time T1 at nlO (nll), the sheet is rolled. Since the media sheet has been reliably taken up by the take-up roller, the sheet feeding operation is stopped and automatic loading of the media sheet is completed. Note that even if MS3 is turned on at nil, the sheet feeding operation may be continued for a predetermined period of time in order to ensure more reliable winding.

In the above configuration, n8 to l7 correspond to the loading error recovery means of the present invention.

(g) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, when a loading abnormality occurs during automatic loading of a leader sheet when a media cartridge is attached to the main body of an image forming apparatus, the loading abnormality detection means detects the occurrence of a loading abnormality. then move the leader sheet back to its original position. Therefore, the operator can easily re-centre the leader sheet in a short time, resulting in extremely improved operability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a media cartridge, a media sheet, and a leader sheet installed in the image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the vicinity of the pressure roller of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a part of the control section of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the automatic loading and recovery operations when an automatic loading error occurs in the image forming apparatus. Yes 4 Figure MS2, MS3 - Loading abnormality detection means (micro spinch in this example), 10-media cartridge, 1l take-up roller, 51, 52 single-pressure corolla, L-leader sheet, S-media sheet ．．

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an image forming apparatus including an automatic loading mechanism and a rewinding mechanism for a roll-shaped media sheet having a leader sheet connected to a leading end thereof, a loading detection means for detecting the loading status of the leader sheet; An image forming apparatus comprising: a loading abnormality rewinding means for rewinding the abnormally loaded leader sheet to its original position when a loading abnormality of the leader sheet is detected.