JPH05310366A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] It is possible to eliminate wasted space and save space, and to easily provide a device with an appropriate size or a layout suitable for the function desired by the user. In addition, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of conveyance failure or the like due to the unit being pulled out during the transfer sheet conveyance. [Structure] A plurality of process units (101 to 1) in which each unit related to an image forming process is divided into units for each process.
06), an image forming apparatus main body (10) having a unit accommodating portion for accommodating a plurality of process-specific units, and detection means (S1 to S6) for detecting whether or not a sheet is conveyed in the process-specific units. And a release prohibiting means (not shown) for prohibiting the release of the storage state of the corresponding process unit from the unit storage portion of the image forming apparatus body when the detection means detects the conveyance of the sheet.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a copying machine, a printer,
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, and more particularly to a cabinet-type image forming apparatus that saves space.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers, which have been widely spread, have respective units for forming respective steps such as sheet feeding, image formation, double-sided, and sheet discharge, which are provided in predetermined units of the image forming apparatus main body. It is arranged at a position and fixed. Also,
There is no layout compatibility among the units, and thus there is no freedom in layout of each unit. For example, the image forming unit is fixedly attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus and cannot be moved to another position.

Similarly, the sheet feeding unit for feeding the sheet to the image forming unit is also preset with the layout and the number of stackable stages for the image forming apparatus main body. Therefore, when the required number of sheet feeding units is less than the settable number of sheet feeding units, there is an empty space in the unmounted portion.

Further, when the conventional image forming apparatus uses a mode such as double-sided copying or two-color composition, a two-sided reversal tray or a sub-developing unit for two-color composition mode is provided at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus body. It is configured to be used by mounting. For this reason, it is necessary to previously provide a space for mounting inside the device. If the mounting space is not secured inside the apparatus in advance, image formation cannot be performed using the above mode.

Further, options such as a sorter do not have a space for mounting them inside the image forming apparatus main body, and when the options are added, they are generally attached externally to the image forming apparatus main body. In other words, when installing an option, a new space is needed for that purpose.

[0006]

However, the conventional image forming apparatus has the following problems (1) to (4).

(1) Since each unit forming each process is arranged and fixed at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus main body, and there is no layout compatibility between the units, there is a certain problem. There is a problem that the unit cannot be moved to another position and used, and even if there is an empty space inside the image forming apparatus, it cannot be effectively used. For example, even if there is a paper feed unit that is not used among the paper feed units that have multiple stages,
Since other units cannot be attached and used in that space, a wasteful space is generated in the limited space inside the image forming apparatus.

(2) In order to be able to support modes such as double-sided copying and two-color composition, it is necessary to secure a space for an additional device inside the image forming apparatus in advance. There was a problem that it wasted space when not used, and it hindered space saving of the device.

(3) Since the option such as a sorter is externally attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, it is not necessary to secure a space inside the apparatus in advance, but the addition of the option increases the occupied area of the image forming apparatus. For,
There is a problem that it hinders space saving.

(4) Although it is possible to provide a device having a function desired by the user by adding options, etc., due to the problems (1) to (3) above,
There is a possibility that useless space may be generated in the image forming apparatus as a whole, and an apparatus of an appropriate size that necessarily corresponds to the function,
Alternatively, there is a problem that it is not possible to provide a device having an appropriate layout.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to eliminate wasteful space and save space.

Further, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus having an appropriate size or an apparatus having an appropriate layout corresponding to a function desired by a user.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of process units in which each unit related to an image forming process is divided into units, and a plurality of process units. An image forming apparatus main body having a unit storing section for storing a sheet, a detection unit for detecting whether or not a sheet is conveyed in a process unit, and an image forming apparatus when the sheet conveyance is detected by the detecting unit. And a release prohibition means for prohibiting release of the storage state of the corresponding process unit from the unit storage portion of the main body, selecting some process units from a plurality of process units, and storing the image forming apparatus main unit. The present invention provides an image forming apparatus that is connected and housed in a unit to form an apparatus capable of executing a desired image forming mode.

In the above-mentioned structure, the process-specific unit is fixed to the unit main body casing and the unit housing portion of the image forming apparatus main body, and is an outer casing for holding the unit main body casing so that it can be pulled out. It is desirable that the release prohibiting means, which is composed of a body, prohibits pulling out the unit main body housing from the outer housing. In addition, it is desirable that the release prohibiting unit prohibits the pulling out of all the process-specific units on the downstream side in the paper transport direction from the corresponding process-specific unit when the detection unit detects the conveyance of the paper.

[0015]

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the number of units necessary for executing a desired image forming mode is selected from a plurality of process units in which each unit related to the image forming process is divided into units. The unit for each process is selected and connected and stored in the unit storage portion of the image forming apparatus main body to form the image forming apparatus. In other words, the image forming apparatus is configured without securing an unnecessary space for a unit for each process.

Further, the release prohibiting means prohibits the release of the storage state of the corresponding process unit from the unit storage portion of the image forming apparatus main body when the conveyance of the sheet is detected by the detection means, and prevents the occurrence of jams and the like. To do.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied to a copying machine as an example and will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cabinet copying machine 1 of this embodiment.
A schematic configuration of 0 is shown. Cabinet copier 1 of this embodiment
0 is a configuration in which a plurality of units obtained by dividing each unit related to the image forming process into units and accommodating them are accommodated in the unit accommodating portion of the copying machine main body. As the units, as shown in the figure, a scanner unit 101 for reading original images, a sorter / paper discharge unit 102 for sorting and discharging transfer sheets, an image forming unit 103 for forming images on the transfer sheets, and a transfer unit. Reversing unit 104 for reversing paper
And sheet feeding units 105 and 106 for feeding the transfer sheet. Further, a main control box 107 is arranged on the inner side of the main body of the cabinet copying machine 10.

Excluding the scanner unit 101,
Each unit is provided with sheet position detection sensors S1 to S6 that detect the conveyance of a sheet (transfer sheet).

The height of each unit is the same as that of the reversing unit 104.
Is 50 mm, the image forming unit 103 and the paper feeding unit 10
5, 106 is 100 mm, and the scanner unit 101 and the sorter / paper discharge unit 102 are 150 mm. In addition, the cabinet of the cabinet copying machine 10 that houses these units has a dimension from the top surface of the device to the bottom plate that is a common multiple of the height of each unit, 650 mm.
Is configured to be. Although not shown,
Instead of the sorter / paper discharge unit 102, only the paper discharge unit can be configured with a height of 50 mm.

Further, the cabinet copying machine 10 can be set to a height of about 700 mm with casters attached, which is equal to the height of a general office desk, and can be laid out on the desk side. I am trying.

The width of each unit is less than a certain size, and the unit is set by inserting it from the front of the cabinet copying machine 10. The other units except the scanner unit 101 have a depth less than a certain size, and the cabinet copier 1
A sufficient space for accommodating the main control box 107 is secured in the rear part of 0.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the main body structure 20 of the cabinet copying machine 10. The main body structure 20 is the left side plate 20.
1, a rear side plate 202, a right side plate 203, and a middle side plate 204 having a box-shaped frame structure having four side plates. The left and right side plates 201 and 203 have 12 to 13 unit guides 201a at 50 mm intervals, 203a is provided. Here, the inner side plate 204 and the unit guides 201a, 203
The space formed by a serves as a unit housing portion.

In addition, the middle side plate 204 is provided with a connector mounting hole 204a for electrically connecting the main control box 107 and each unit and for installing a common connector for supplying power to each unit. Are provided at predetermined intervals. In addition, the cutout portion on the upper side of the inner side plate 204 is the scanner unit 1 disposed here.
This is because the depth dimension of 01 is larger than other units.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the structure of the unit casing 30 which is the outer frame of each unit and the method of attaching the unit casing 30 to the main body structure 20 will be described. The height of the unit housing 30 differs depending on the unit as described above, but the unit housing 30 will be described in common here.

As shown in FIG. 3, the unit housing 30 is
A rectangular unit tray 302 that internally houses the components necessary for the operation of the unit, and the unit guide 2 described above.
01a, 203a fixedly attached to the outer casing 3 for holding the unit tray 302 so that it can be pulled out
It consists of 01 and.

In the outer casing 301, as shown in FIG.
A conveyance path hole 301a is provided to secure a paper conveyance path. For attachment to the main body structure 20, the unit guides 201a and 203a are inserted at desired positions, and screws are passed through the screw holes 301b and 205 to be mechanically fixed. In addition, the unit tray 302 is the outer housing 3
The rail fitting member 302b is fitted in the rail member 301c of No. 01 so that it can be pulled out.
Reference numeral 302a denotes a tray handle portion when the unit tray 302 is pulled out. A transport path hole (not shown) is also provided on the unit tray 302 side.

The common connector may be installed in all of the connector installation holes 204a described above, or may be installed in the necessary connector installation holes 204a. On the other hand, a unit-side common connector is arranged at the rear part of the unit tray 302 facing the common connector, and is connected to the common connector by a sliding operation for housing the unit tray 302 in the main body structure 20.

Further, in this embodiment, each unit has a built-in independent drive source, and the drive source is also controlled for each unit. Therefore, it is desirable to slightly increase the linear velocity of the downstream unit in order to stably convey the paper. However, the paper feeding unit 105,
As for 106, since a plurality of paper feeding units do not feed paper at the same time, one paper feeding unit 105
The drive source is built into the paper feeding unit 106, and the drive source is not built in the other paper feeding unit 106. In this case, the switching of the sheet feeding stage may be performed by turning on / off the drive source by the electromagnetic clutch, or may be performed by releasing the pressure between the sheet and the pickup roller.

FIG. 4 shows a method of transmitting drive from the driven paper feeding unit 105 to the non-driven paper feeding unit 106.
The drive is transmitted from the drive source gear 410a of the driven paper feeding unit 105 to the gear 410b of the non-driven paper feeding unit 106 via the idler 411 attached to the inner side plate 204. In FIG. 1, the sheet feeding units 105 and 106 have a two-stage configuration.
It is also possible to configure the paper feed unit 106 having two stages and no drive in two stages. In this case, drive is transmitted from the drive source gear 410a of the sheet feeding unit 105 to the other gear 410b via the two idlers 411 and one gear 410b as shown in FIG.

Further, the main body idler 411 is not necessary in the case of only the paper feeding unit 105, and the paper feeding unit 10
Since 6 is used as a drive transmission means between one and two sheets and the sheet feeding unit as the number of stages increases to one and two, it can be attached to and detached from the inner side plate 204 as shown in FIG. When the paper feeding unit has multiple stages, it can be attached as needed. In this embodiment, since the height of the sheet feeding units 105 and 106 is 100 mm, the main idler 411 is attached at 100 mm intervals.

Further, the gear 410 on the paper feeding units 105 and 106 meshes with the gear on the main body idler 411 so that the gears on the paper feeding unit side are on the front side so that the paper feeding units 105 and 106 can be pulled out to the front side of the apparatus main body. It comes to mesh with.

In this embodiment, an independent drive source is built in each unit. However, a common drive source may be arranged on the apparatus main body side and drive may be transmitted from the common drive source to each unit. good.

The cabinet copying machine 10 according to the present embodiment has a main control unit 1 installed in a main control box 107.
07a (master unit) and scanner unit 10
1, each unit such as the scanner unit 101 (hereinafter,
Various functions (copy, FAX, printer, etc.) can be realized in combination with a master unit and a slave unit).

FIG. 5 shows an overall control block diagram. As described above, the slave unit can be attached to any stage of the unit accommodating portion of the main body structure 20, so it is preferable to minimize the signal lines passing through the connector. Therefore, the main control unit 107a is provided in the main control box 107 on the main body side, and each slave unit has a sub-control unit that controls each unit.

As the sub-control unit, as shown in the figure, the ADF
There are a control unit 108a, a scanner control unit 108b, a sorter control unit 108c, a reversing unit control unit 108d, an image forming control unit 108e, and a paper feed control unit 108f.

By fitting the connector part mounted on the main control box 107 and the connector part mounted on the slave unit, a communication signal for communicating between the main control part 107a and each sub-control part, and a paper A common signal bus 109 used for carrier synchronization signals, etc., and a video signal necessary for operating in real time between slave units,
The dedicated signal bus 110 used for the video synchronization signal and the wiring for supplying power from the main power supply unit 107c to the slave unit are simultaneously formed. Although detailed description is omitted, electrical connection is facilitated by performing control signals of the main control unit 107a and each sub control unit by serial communication using optical fibers.

In the main control box 107,
The operation panel control unit 107b is arranged, and it is possible to add an optional controller such as a printer controller control unit 107d and a FAX controller control unit 107e.

The main controller 107a executes sequence control, communication control, various mode controls in the copy mode, serviceman mode control, layout error display control, unit withdrawal prohibition control and the like.

The sequence control is a control for giving a command to each sub-control unit so that the sequence becomes a sequence corresponding to each image forming mode. At this time, the sub control unit that has received the command operates based on the video synchronization signal and the paper conveyance synchronization signal at a predetermined timing. Communication control is control for exchanging commands and statuses with the sub-control unit. In addition, in each operation mode,
Arbitration between each control unit is performed. The various mode controls in the copy mode are performed so as to operate according to each copy mode. At this time, necessary commands are transmitted to each sub-control unit so that the slave unit can perform the necessary operations. In serviceman mode control, control is performed so that the operation is necessary for inspection, repair, etc.

Next, the layout error display control will be described. In the cabinet copying machine 10 of the present embodiment, the layout compatibility between the units is improved so that the layout of each unit can be freely performed, thereby eliminating wasteful space and saving space. Another object is to provide a device having an appropriate size or a device having an appropriate layout corresponding to the function desired by the user. However, if even one of the scanner unit 101, the image forming unit 103, the paper feeding unit 105, and the sorter / paper discharge unit 102, which are the minimum required configurations for a copying machine, is inoperable, the presence or absence of these units I try to check.

The scanner unit 101 is preferably located at the uppermost part in terms of operability and workability.
It should be installed in the first stage. By fixing it to the upper first stage, as shown in FIG.
There is also an advantage that only one can be made large and the reading range of the scanner can be made large.

Since the other units are compatible in layout, they can be basically arranged at any position. However, when the other units can be arranged without considering the transfer paper conveyance direction. The transfer paper conveyance control becomes complicated, and CP
In this embodiment, since the load on U is increased and the productivity is decreased, a layout error is displayed based on the basic layout in consideration of the transfer direction of the transfer sheet, and it is impossible to form an image other than the basic layout. I'm trying to do.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining layout error display control. The basic layout 1 shows the basic layout when the reversing unit is mounted in the copy mode. Further, the basic layout 2 shows a basic layout in the case where two sheet feeding units are mounted in the copy mode. Here, the sheet feeding unit 1 is a type with a built-in driving source (sheet feeding unit 105), and the sheet feeding unit 2 is a type without a driving source (sheet feeding unit 106). The paper feeding unit 2 uses the drive of the paper feeding unit 1 to reduce the number of parts. However, the constraint condition is that the unit with built-in drive source is at the top.

Layout error 1 is an example when the units are mounted in an order in which image formation is impossible. Here, although the transfer paper on which the image is transferred is conveyed from the bottom to the top, the paper feed unit is mounted on the uppermost stage.

Layout error 2 is an example of the case where a driveless type unit is arranged above the constraint conditions.

Layout error 3 is an example in which any of the minimum required units is not mounted.

When the main controller 107a detects the layout error as described above, the operation panel controller 107b is operated.
The error display command is transmitted to and the error display screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed.

Next, the unit withdrawal control will be described. In the cabinet copying machine 10 of this embodiment,
The copying machine having a desired function is formed by accommodating each desired unit in the unit accommodating portion of the main body structure 20. Further, jam processing, paper replenishment, consumable replenishment, etc. are performed. Since various operations are performed by pulling out the unit to the front side of the device, each unit is appropriately pulled out and used as needed even after being stored in the unit storage section. However, if each unit is pulled out while the cabinet copying machine 10 is operating, a jam may occur or the operation cannot be performed in some cases. Therefore, once mounted, each unit is key-locked by the control of the main controller 107a so as to be prohibited from being pulled out from the cabinet copying machine main body. The lock mechanism (release prohibiting means) uses a conventional technique such as ON / OFF of a solenoid, and therefore illustration and description thereof are omitted. Normally, the lock is released by a drawer lever (not shown) of the unit and the drawer can be pulled out. However, in the following cases, the lock is not released under the control of the main controller 107a.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when there is a sheet that is being conveyed, the unit through which the sheet has already passed is released, but the unit in which the sheet still remains is unlocked. In this embodiment, since the sheet is conveyed basically from the lower unit (upstream unit) to the upper unit (upstream unit), the unit lower than the sheet being conveyed can be opened. Become. At this time, the presence or absence of the sheet being conveyed in each unit is determined based on the detection signals of the sheet position detection sensors S1 to S6.

The lock is not released even when the unit is pulled out while the power is on. However, the lock is released for a unit that is not supplied with power or a unit that does not affect the operation even if the drive is cut off by the drawing operation.

[0052]

As described above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention accommodates a plurality of step-by-step units in which each unit related to the image forming step is divided into steps and unitized. An image forming apparatus main body having a unit accommodating portion, a detection unit that detects whether or not a sheet is conveyed in a process unit, and a unit of the image forming apparatus main body when the detection unit detects the conveyance of the sheet. And a release prohibition means for prohibiting the release of the storage state of the corresponding process unit from the storage unit, selecting some process units from a plurality of process units and connecting them to the unit storage unit of the image forming apparatus main body. Since a device that can be housed and can execute a desired image forming mode is configured, it is possible to eliminate wasteful space and save space. Also,
It is possible to provide a device having an appropriate size or a device having an appropriate layout corresponding to the function desired by the user. Further, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a conveyance failure or the like due to the unit being pulled out during the conveyance of the transfer paper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a cabinet copying machine of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a main body structure of a cabinet copying machine.

FIG. 3 is a configuration of a unit casing that is an outer frame of each unit,
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of attaching the unit housing to the main body structure.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of transmitting drive from a sheet feeding unit with drive to a sheet feeding unit without drive.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall control block diagram.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining layout error display control.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing unlocking of the unit when there is a sheet being conveyed.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Cabinet copier 20
Main body structure 30 Unit housing 101 Scanner unit 102 Sorter / paper discharge unit 103 Image forming unit 104 Reversing unit 105 Paper feeding unit (with built-in driving source) 106 Paper feeding unit (without driving source) 107 Main control box 107a Main control unit 301 Outer housing 302 Unit trays S1 to S6 Paper position detection sensor (detection means)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical display location G03G 15/00 101 8910-2H 102 103 (72) Inventor Hiromi Ogiyama 1 chome Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. 3-6 Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shozo Ishibashi 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co. Ltd. (72) In-house Masaru Shiina 1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Issue Stock Company Ricoh

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus main body having a plurality of step-by-step units obtained by dividing each unit related to the image forming step for each step into a unit, and a unit accommodating portion for accommodating the plurality of step-by-step units, A detection unit that detects whether or not a sheet is conveyed in the process-specific unit, and when the detection unit detects the conveyance of the sheet, the unit-containing unit of the corresponding process unit is detected from the unit storage unit of the image forming apparatus main body. A release prohibition unit that prohibits release of the stored state is provided, and some process-based units are selected from a plurality of process-based units and are connected and stored in the unit storage unit of the image forming apparatus main body so that a desired image forming mode can be obtained. An image forming apparatus comprising an executable device. 2. The step-by-step unit includes a unit main body casing, and an outer casing fixedly attached to the unit accommodating portion of the image forming apparatus main body and holding the unit main body casing in a retractable manner. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a release prohibiting unit that prohibits the unit main body housing from being pulled out from the outer housing. 3. The release prohibiting means prohibits the pulling-out of all the step-by-step units in the downstream side in the paper-conveying direction from the corresponding step-by-step unit when the sheet is detected by the detecting means. The image forming apparatus described.