JPH0358061A - Insertion guide controller for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate an operation in the insertion of a paper from a bypass paper feeding part by detecting the position of the movements of original and transfer paper inserting guides, judging whether their positional relation is proper or not, and outputting a signal which indicates the result. CONSTITUTION:In the advance insertion of a transfer paper from the bypass paper feeding part 20, when the paper insertion guide 22 is moved to be aligned with the inserted paper, a position detecting means detects the position of the guide 22. When the original insertion guide 30 is then moved, the position detecting means detects its position; from the result of the detection of both the guide positions, a control means judges whether the picture information of an original is transferred on the paper or not; the result is displayed on a operation panel 33. The position of the guide 30 is adjusted according to the display, and the original is inserted along the guide 30. In the advance insertion of the original, the guide 30 is similarly aligned with the original, and the position of the guide 22 is adjusted according to display.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides an insertion guide control method for controlling the position of a guide when inserting a document and paper onto which image information of the document is to be transferred into an image forming apparatus. Regarding equipment.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art In image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, a technique is known in which the size of transfer paper (hereinafter referred to as "paper"), that is, the paper feed cassette, is selected according to the size of a document. However, for large-sized paper such as AO size, the paper feed cassette is not normally used and bypass paper feeding is performed, so the size of the document and the paper size are not automatically matched.

Therefore, for example, in a large machine capable of making AO size copies, a guide member is provided in the document insertion section to guide the insertion of the document, and a paper bypass feed section is provided with an insertion position for each paper size. There are printed guide lines for alignment. Then, the operator inserts the paper along this guide line to make copies.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the conventional large-sized machines described above, it is difficult to insert the paper along the guide line, and it is not possible to accurately align the paper with the document side. Also, in the bypass paper feed section,
Although it is conceivable to provide a guide member similar to the document insertion section, it is difficult to accurately align the guide member on the document side and the guide member on the bypass side, and the work of adjusting the position of the guide member is troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an insertion guide control device for an image forming apparatus that can easily position and insert a document and paper even when paper is inserted from a bypass paper feed section, and that can be operated efficiently. It is about providing.

[Means to solve the problem]

The insertion guide control device for an image-type command device according to the present invention includes:
The image forming apparatus includes a document insertion guide provided in a document insertion section, a transfer paper insertion guide provided in a paper insertion section, a position detection means, and a control means.

The original document insertion guide and the transfer paper insertion guide are movable in the insertion width direction of the original and the paper, respectively.

Further, the position detection means detects the respective movement positions of the document insertion guide and the transfer paper insertion guide, and the control means determines the positional relationship between the two guides based on the detection result of the position detection means. It determines this and outputs a signal indicating the determination result.

[Effect]

In this invention, the original and the paper are inserted along the original insertion guide and the transfer paper insertion guide, respectively.

At this time, the moving position of each guide is detected by the position detecting means, and a signal indicating the positional relationship between both guides is output.

For example, when inserting paper first, the paper is inserted into an appropriate position in the paper insertion section, and the transfer paper insertion guide is moved to align the transfer paper insertion guide with the inserted paper. The position of this transfer paper insertion guide is detected by a position detection means.

Next, move the document insertion guide. The position of the document insertion guide is detected by a position detection means, and the positional relationship between the two guides, such as whether image information of the document can be transferred to the paper, is determined from the position detection results of both guides. The determination result is displayed using, for example, a display lamp. According to this display, the operator adjusts the position of the document insertion guide. After that, insert the original along the original insertion guide.

Conversely, if you want to insert the original first, align the original insertion guide with the inserted original, adjust the position of the transfer paper insertion guide according to the display on the display lamp, etc., and then align the original insertion guide with the inserted original in the same way as above. Insert the paper along the

This allows the operator to insert paper and manuscripts.
There is no need for accurate positioning, and adjustment of the insertion guide becomes very easy.

〔Example〕

3 and 4 show a copying machine for large originals in which an insertion guide control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is adopted, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a schematic thereof. This is a cross-sectional composition diagram. Note that the copying machine shown in this example is of a so-called centering type, in which the center position serves as a reference position when inserting a document and paper.

A contact glass 2 extending in the width direction of the document is arranged on the top surface of the main body of the copying machine 1, and a photosensitive drum 3 is arranged inside the main body.
is provided. A main charging device 4, an optical system 5, a developing device 6, a transfer device 7, a separating device 8, a cleaning device 9, etc. are provided around the photosensitive drum 3, and the optical system 5 is located below the contact glass 2. It is located.

At the bottom of the main body is a large paper feed cassette 10 (A1 in this example).
size) is attached, and the tray 11 stored in this paper feed cassette 10 is connected to the feed roller 12 and the paper ejection roller 1.
3, 14, etc., the paper is fed to the photosensitive drum 3 via a return path 15 and a pair of registration rollers 19, where the image is transferred, and then passed through a conveyance path 16 and a fixing device 17, and then transported to the outside by a pair of ejection rollers 18. It is designed to be discharged to

Further, above the paper feed cassette 10, a bypass paper feed section 2 is provided.
0 is set. This bypass paper feed section 20 is provided with a paper loading table 2l on which sheets are placed, and one side of this sheet loading table 21 is provided with a transfer sheet insertion guide (hereinafter referred to as a sheet insertion guide) for guiding the insertion of sheets. ) 22 is provided. The paper insertion guide 22 has a U-shape when viewed from the side, and is provided so as to sandwich the front end of the paper tray 21. It is movable in the insertion width direction of the paper, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction, and at its outer end, there is a contact portion 2 that contacts the edge of the paper.
It has 2a. Further, between the paper loading table 21 and the pair of transport rollers 14, a paper insertion switch 2 for detecting insertion of paper is located near the transport roller 14.
3 is provided.

Above the contact glass 2, a document conveying device 25 is provided.
is located. The document delivery device 25 includes a pressure roller 26 that presses against the upper surface of the contact glass 2, and an upstream roller pair 27 and a downstream roller pair 28 that are disposed upstream and downstream of the pressure roller 26, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, an operation panel 33 is provided on the side of the document conveying device 25. As shown in FIG. The operation panel 33 is provided with a numeric keypad, a liquid crystal display, a key for setting the paper feeding mode, a clear key for setting each condition setting to the initial state, and the like.

In front of the document conveying device 25 (on the right side in FIG. 4), a document placing table 29 is provided for placing a document. A document insertion guide 30 is provided on one side of the document table 29 to guide insertion of the document. The document insertion guide 30, like the paper insertion guide 22 described above, has a U-shape when viewed from the side, and is provided so as to sandwich the front end of the document placement table 29. It is also movable in the width direction of insertion of the original, and has an abutment portion 30a at the outer end that abuts the end of the original. Further, on the upstream side of the upstream roller pair 27, a document insertion switch 31 is provided close to the upstream roller pair 27 for detecting insertion of a document. Furthermore, a document ejection tray 32 is provided downstream of the downstream roller pair 2B.

Next, details of each guide 22.30 are shown in FIG. Below the tray mounting table 2l on which the paper insertion guide 22 is attached, pulleys 34 and 35 are rotatably provided at both left and right ends. A wire 36 is wound between these two pulleys 34 and 35, and both ends of the wire 36 are fixed to the lower part of the paper insertion guide 22. The wire 3
A part of 6 is wound around the potentia meter 37. Therefore, when the paper insertion guide 22 is moved by the operator, the wire 36 moves and the potentiometer 37
rotates, so that the moving position (y shown in FIG. 1) of the paper insertion guide 22 can be detected.

Similarly, a document with the document insertion guide 30 attached! Below the 1-place stand 29, pulleys 38 and 39 are rotatably provided at both left and right ends. A wire 40 is wound between the two boots 738 and 39, and both ends of the wire 40 are fixed to the lower part of the document insertion guide 30. Further, a part of the wire 40 is wound around a potentiometer 41, and a part of the wire 40 is wound around a potentiometer 41,
0 movement position (X in FIG. 1) can be detected.

The output of each potentiometer 37, 41 is manually inputted to a control unit 42, which includes a green light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as LED) 43, a yellow LED 4
4 and a red LED 45 are connected respectively. Each of these LEDs 43 to 45 is provided on an operation panel 33 provided at the top of the device.

FIG. 2 shows a control block diagram of the entire device.

The control unit 42 includes a CPU. ．． It is composed of ROM, RAM, etc. An operation panel 33 , potentiometers 37 and 41 , a document insertion switch 31 , a paper insertion switch 23 , and other input sections 46 are connected to the control section 42 . In addition, the output of the control unit 42 includes each LED 4.
3 to 45, document and paper transport system 47, photosensitive drum 3
An image forming section 48 and other output section 49 are connected thereto.

Next, the operating method and operation of this device will be explained.

First, the paper feeding mode, copying conditions, etc. are set using the operation panel 33. As for the paper feeding mode, the cassette mode is selected by default, and the bypass mode setting key only needs to be pressed when selecting the bypass mode. In this embodiment, the copying magnification is only 100%.

First, a case will be described in which copying is performed with the paper feeding mode set to cassette mode. In this cassette mode,
Automatic paper feeding is performed using Al size paper in the paper feeding cassette 10. When inserting a document, the document insertion guide 30 is used, and depending on the position of the document insertion guide 30, a green, yellow, or red LED is lit. That is, since the Al size is selected as the paper size, the yellow LED 44 lights up when the document insertion guide 30 is at the position corresponding to the Al size, and when it is at the center position than the position corresponding to the Al size. That is, when the document size is smaller than the paper size (AI size), the green LED 43 lights up. On the other hand, if the document insertion guide 30 is located outside the position corresponding to the Al size, the red LDE 45 lights up, and if the document is inserted along the document insertion guide 30 in this state, Displays that the image information of the original is not transferred properly onto the paper.

Therefore, the operator only has to move the document insertion guide 30 from side to side, set it so that the yellow or green LED 4 4.43 lights up, and insert the document along the document insertion guide 30 in this state. . When the original is inserted, the insertion of the original is detected by the original insertion switch 31, the original transport device 25 starts driving, and the original is transported. In addition, in synchronization with this, paper 11 is fed from the paper feed cassette 10 and sent to the image forming section constituted by the photoreceptor drum 3, etc., and the image is transferred onto this paper 11 and sent to the outside of the apparatus. be discharged.

Next, when inserting paper from the bypass paper feed section 20, the bypass mode key provided on the operation panel 33 is pressed. The device is then set to bypass mode. In this pie buzz mode, there are two operating methods: insert the paper first and then insert the original according to its position, and conversely, insert the original first and insert the paper according to the position of the original. be.

First, we will explain the case where the paper is inserted first and the original is inserted at that position. In this case, the operator places the paper at an appropriate position on the paper mounting table 21, moves the paper insertion guide 22, and brings the abutting portion 22a into contact with the right end of the paper.

When the paper is further inserted into the apparatus along the paper insertion guide 22, the paper insertion switch 23 is turned on, the pair of transport rollers 14 rotate, and the paper is sent into the apparatus. The paper passes through the return path 15 and is made to wait at the registration roller pair 19 position.

In this state, the original is inserted along the original insertion guide 30, and depending on the position of the original insertion guide 30, one of the LEDs 43 to 45 is lit. That is, when the paper insertion guide 22 and the original insertion guide 30 are in the same position, the yellow LED 44 lights up, and when the original insertion guide 30 is located closer to the center than the paper insertion guide 22, the green LED 44 lights up. The LED is lit. In this case, since the original size is smaller than the paper size and all the image information of the original can be transferred onto the paper, the operator can simply insert the original along the original insertion guide 30. On the other hand, the document insertion guide 30 is connected to the paper insertion guide 22.
If it is located further outside, when the original is inserted along the original insertion guide 30, there will be a portion where the image information of the original is not transferred onto the paper, so the red LED 45 lights up.

As described above, when the document insertion guide 30 is set at an appropriate position and a document is inserted along the document insertion guide 30, the document insertion switch 31 is turned on. As a result, the document transport device 25 starts rotating, and the document is fed into the device. In synchronization with this, the sheet of paper waiting at the position of the pair of registration rollers 19 is conveyed to an image forming section formed by the photosensitive drum 3 or the like, and the image information of the document is transferred onto the sheet.

When the original is inserted first and the paper is inserted accordingly, substantially the same operation is performed. That is, the original is placed on the original placing table 29, and the contact portion of the original insertion guide 300 is brought into contact with the right end of the original. And this document insertion guide 3
When the document is further inserted into the interior along line 0, the document insertion switch 31 is turned on, and the document transport device! 25 rotates. The original is conveyed into the apparatus by a pair of upstream rollers 27,
Waiting in a designated position. Next, the paper insertion guide 22
, and move it to a position where the yellow or green LEDs 44 and 43 light up. In this state, when paper is inserted along the paper insertion guide 22, the paper insertion switch 2
3 is turned on, and as a result, the pair of transport rollers 14 and the like start rotating, and the paper is transported through the return path 15.

In synchronization with the conveyance of the paper, the original is sent to the optical system 5, and the image information read by the optical system 5 is transferred onto the paper.

The above operation will be explained according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5A and 5B.

When the copying machine 1 is turned on, initial settings are performed in step S1. In this initial setting, the paper feeding mode is set to cassette mode, flags F and G are each set to 0, and the position y of the paper insertion guide 22 is set to a position corresponding to A1 size. Next, in steps 32 to S6, it is determined whether each key on the operation panel 33 has been pressed. If the key for setting copying conditions such as the number of copies is pressed, YES is determined in step S2, and the process moves to step S3. In step S3, processing for setting conditions is performed, and the process returns to step S2. Next, the paper feeding mode will be determined, and a case will be described in which the bypass mode key is not pressed and the initial setting cassette mode is selected.

In the case of cassette mode, steps S4, S5. S6
In each case, the determination is No, and the process moves to step S7.

In step S7, the output data of the potentiometer 41, that is, the movement position X of the document insertion guide 30 is read. Next, in steps S8 to S312, the document insertion guide 3
The magnitude relationship between the moving position X of 0 and the moving position y of the paper insertion guide 22 is determined. Note that when the paper feeding mode is the cassette mode, a value corresponding to the Al size is set as the movement position y of the paper insertion guide 22 in the initial setting in step S1. The magnitude relationship between X and y is determined, and if X is larger than y, that is, if the document size is smaller than the paper size, it is determined YES in step S8, and the process moves to step S9. Turn on the green LED 43.

Further, if X and y are the same, that is, if the original size and the paper size are the same, then in step S10
It is judged as ES, moves to step Sll, and turns on the yellow LED.
Turn on 44. Furthermore, if X is smaller than y, that is, if the document size is larger than the paper size, the determination in step S8 and step S10 is No, and the process moves to step S12, where the red LED 45 is turned on.

Next, it waits for the position of the document insertion guide 30 to be adjusted or for the document to be inserted. For example, if the position of the document insertion guide 30 is not appropriate and the red LED 45 is lit, the operator may
will be moved. In this case, it is determined NO in step S13, and the process proceeds to step 314, where the lit LE
Turn off D temporarily. Next, in steps S15 and 516, it is determined whether flags F and G are O.
In the cassette mode, flags F and G are O, so YES is determined in steps S15 and S16, and the process returns to step S2.

Thereafter, the same operation as above is repeated, and the document insertion guide 30 is
Lights up any of the LEDs 43 to 45 depending on the position. When the document insertion guide 30 is set at an appropriate position and a document is inserted, it is determined in step S13 that the document insertion switch 31 is turned on, and the process proceeds to step 317.
to move to.

Incidentally, in step S13, it is detected that the document insertion switch 31 or the paper insertion switch 23 is turned on, and here, it is determined that the switch is turned on at the rising edge of the output signal of each switch 23, 31. In step S17, a normal copying operation is performed. When the copying operation for the set number of sheets is completed, the process moves to step 318, and the flag F
, G is set to 0 and the process returns to step S2.

Next, a control flow when the bypass mode is selected as the paper feeding mode and paper is inserted first from the bypass paper feeding section 20 will be described.

When the bypass mode key on the operation panel 33 is turned on, YES is determined in step S6, and the process proceeds to step Sl8, where the paper feeding mode is set to bypass mode. Next, in step 319, it is determined whether the paper insertion switch 23 is turned on.

Here, before the paper insertion switch 23 is turned on in step S19, as explained in the above-mentioned operation method, the contact portion of the paper insertion guide 22 is attached to the right end of the paper placed on the paper table 21. Actions such as hitting 22a are being performed.
When the paper insertion guide 22 is placed against the edge of the paper and the paper is further inserted into the apparatus, the paper insertion switch 23 is activated.
is turned on, and the process moves to step 520. Step S20
Then, flag G is set to 1. and step S2
1, and the paper conveyance system is controlled. As a result, the paper is conveyed through the return path 15 and is kept on standby at the registration roller pair 19 position.

Next, move to the step switch 322 and press the potentiometer 37.
The output data, that is, the movement position y of the paper insertion guide 22 is read. Next, the process moves to step S7, and the document insertion guide 30, which is the output data of the potentiometer 4l,
Read the movement position X. Then, as described above, the magnitude relationship between X and y is determined in steps S8 to S12, and if the positions of each insertion guide 22.
44 lights up, and if the original insertion guide 30 is closer to the center than the paper insertion guide 22, the green LED 43 lights up, and if the original insertion guide 30 is outside, the red LED 45 lights up. .

Then, in step 313, the process waits for the original to be inserted.

If the document insertion guide 30 is not in the appropriate position, the document will not be inserted and the document insertion switch 3l will not be turned on, so the process moves to step S14 and the lit LED is temporarily turned off. Then, in steps S15 and S16, it is determined whether flags F and G are O or not. If the bypass mode is set and paper has been inserted first, the flag G is set to 1 in step S20, so the determination in step 316 is NO and the process returns to step S7. In step S7, the position lx of the document insertion guide 30 is read, and the positional relationship between the guides 20 and 30 is determined in the same manner as described above.

By repeating the above operations, if the document insertion guide 30 is set at an appropriate position and the operator inserts the document along this document insertion guide 30, YES is determined in step S13, and the process moves to step 317. . Step Sl7
Then, a normal copying operation is performed, and when the operation for the set number of copies is completed, the process moves to step 318, and flags F,
G is set to O and the process returns to step S2.

Then it is set to bypass mode as mentioned above,
The control flow when a document is inserted first and paper is inserted accordingly will be described.

In this case, since the paper feeding mode has been set to the bypass mode in the above-described operation (step St8), YES is determined in step S5, and the process moves to step 319. Then, in steps 319 and 323, it is determined whether the paper insertion switch 23 is turned on and whether the document insertion switch 3l is turned on. If the original is to be inserted first, the determination in step S19 is NO, and the determination in step S323 is YES. Here, step 323
Until the document insertion switch 31 is turned on at s!, the document is placed on the document table 29 as described above. The document insertion guide 30 is placed on the right edge of the document to be inserted. When the original is inserted along the original insertion guide 30 and the original insertion switch 3l is turned on, the flag F is set to 1 in step 324, and the process proceeds to step 325, where the original transport device 25 is controlled. As a result, the document is conveyed to a predetermined position and placed on standby.

Next, in steps S26 and 327, the document insertion guide 30
The output data of the potentiometer 41, which is the moving position X, and the output data of the potentiometer 37, which is the moving position Wy of the paper insertion guide 22, are read. Said step S
After reading the X and y values in steps 26 and 327, each guide 22 and 30 is
determine the positional relationship between the green, yellow, or red LE.
Turn on any one of 043 to 45.

Next, in step S13, the process waits for the paper insertion switch 23 to be turned on. If the paper insertion guide 22 is not in the appropriate position, no paper will be inserted, so press N in step S13.
It is determined that the LE is turned on in step S14.
D is once turned off and the process moves to step S15. In step 315, it is determined whether the flag F is O or not. Since the flag F is now set to 1 in step S24, NO is determined in step S15, and the process moves to step S527. In step S27, the position y of the paper insertion guide 22 is
is read and the same judgment operation as above is repeated.

When the paper insertion guide 22 is set at the appropriate position and the yellow or green LED 44.43 lights up, the operator inserts the paper along the paper insertion guide 22, and the paper insertion switch 23 is turned on in step S13. It is determined, and the process moves to step 317. In step S17,
When the copying operation is completed for the set number of copies, the process moves to step 31B, flags F and G are set to 0, and the process returns to step S2.

To shift from bypass mode to cassette mode, press the mode clear key on the operation panel 33. Then, it is determined in step S4 that the mode clear key has been pressed, and the process moves to step S29, where the paper feeding mode is set to cassette mode. Thereafter, the operation is exactly the same as the operation in the cassette mode described above.

In this embodiment, when inserting a paper or original, there is no need to consider the insertion position etc. if the paper or original is inserted first, and for the original or paper to be inserted later, the position of the insertion guide is determined by the LED. tl! This makes the work much easier. [Other Embodiments] (a) In the embodiment described above, the paper insertion guide 22 and the document insertion guide 33 were provided only on one side, but they may be provided on both sides. In this case, the left and right guides may be fixed to opposing sides of the wire, as shown by the dashed lines in FIG.

(b) In the embodiment described above, the potentiometers 37.41 were provided as means for detecting the position of each guide 22.30, but the mechanism for detecting the position is not limited to this potentiometer. For example, the position may be detected using magnetism or light. (C) In the above embodiment, the case where the copying magnification is only 100% has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to a copying apparatus having a zoom function. In this case, after calculating and correcting the position X of the document insertion guide 30 according to the magnification ratio,
The positional relationship can be determined by comparing with y.

(B) In the embodiment described above, the LEDs 43 to 45 were provided to judge the positional relationship between the paper insertion guide 22 and the document insertion guide 30 and display the results. You can also do this.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In this way, in the present invention, a document insertion guide and a paper insertion guide are provided, and the position of each guide is detected to determine the positional relationship of each guide, and a signal indicating the result is output. This allows you to confirm the proper position of each guide, making it much easier to insert documents or paper.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of an insertion guide control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of a copying machine incorporating the control device, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the copying machine. 4
The figures show the overall cross-sectional structure of the copying machine, Figures 5A and 5B.
The figure is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the copying machine. 20... Bypass paper feed section, 21... Paper mounting table, 2
2...Paper insertion guide, 29...Document placement table, 3o
... Document insertion guide, 37.41 ... Potentiometer, 42 ... Control section, 43 ... Green LED, 44
...Yellow LED, 45...Red LED,

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A document insertion guide provided in the document insertion portion of the image forming device and movable in the insertion width direction; and a transfer paper insertion guide provided in the transfer paper insertion portion of the image forming device and movable in the insertion width direction. and a position detection means for detecting the respective movement positions of the original insertion guide and the transfer paper insertion guide, and determining the positional relationship between the two guides based on the detection results of the position detection means, and indicating the determination result. An insertion guide control device for an image forming apparatus, comprising: a control means for outputting a signal;