JPH063910A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The image quality is improved without lowering the productivity by automatically changing the copy parameter according to the copy material only when different copy material information is detected. [Structure] The first copy material is pre-fed from the tray (S2), and in this state, copy material information of the transfer paper and OHP is detected (S3). Next, the type of copying material is determined based on the detected value (S4). Copy parameter O for OHP
HP is set (S5). On the other hand, in the case of transfer paper, one of the copy parameters suitable for the judged physical quantity is determined (S6) and set (S7). Then, from the second sheet, the type of copying material is determined to determine whether it is the same as the first sheet (S10). If they are the same, the copy parameters are sent without resetting (S11). If the mode is not the continuous mode, the type of copying material is determined in step S4 and steps S5 to S9 are executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which can obtain good image quality on different kinds of copying materials without lowering productivity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic copying machines, laser printers and facsimiles, copying materials having different properties such as plain paper, special-purpose paper and OHP film can be used. Further, as transfer papers such as plain papers and special papers, papers having various properties such as papers having different paper qualities, papers having different rigidity, or papers having different paper thicknesses are used. In order to obtain the optimum image quality for these transfer paper and OHP film, it is necessary to change each parameter of development, transfer, and fixing (hereinafter, these parameters are collectively referred to as "copy parameter"). Conventionally, it is known that the transfer paper detects the rigidity and thickness of the paper and changes the transfer parameter based on the result. This type of device is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2-190885 and 3-138678.

On the other hand, in the case of an OHP film (hereinafter referred to as "OHP"), the user selects the OHP on the console panel, and the copy parameters such as the drum potential change and the fuser (FUSER) speed are previously selected by the OHP selection information. There is a method of setting and copying and copying, or a method of detecting an OHP in the middle of the paper transport system and automatically changing a copying parameter based on the OHP information to perform copying. By the way, a copy material matching unit (registration) is provided in the paper carrying system in order to match the transfer of the transfer paper or the OHP with the processing timing of image formation. Normally, the copy material matching unit is a gate type or a roll nip type. It is used.
In such a paper conveyance system, in order to detect the paper thickness, the paper rigidity, or the OHP, the copy material is conveyed to the front of the copy material alignment section (pre-feed), and the copy material is temporarily stopped there. The OHP detection sensor of No. 1 detects the copy parameter each time, and then changes or resets the copy parameter.

[0004]

Therefore, in the conventional apparatus, even if the same kind of copying material is used, the detecting operation and the resetting operation of the copying parameter are performed every time, which is a factor of lowering the productivity. There is. An object of the present invention is to automatically change the copy parameter according to the copy material only when different copy material information is detected, so that the image quality can be improved without lowering the productivity. To provide a device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention guides a copying material sent from a paper feeding section to an image carrier through a conveying roller section and a copying material aligning section, and in a set mode. In an image forming apparatus that forms a developed image on the image carrier, transfers the developed image to the copy material, and fixes the copy material based on the set copy parameters, copy material information is displayed in front of the copy material matching unit. Copy material detecting means for detecting, copy material type judging means for judging the kind of copy material based on the detection signal of the copy material detecting means, and copy material for judging the following copy material as the same kind when the set mode is continuous. Copy parameters are set based on the copy material type information from the copy material type determination means and the copy material type information from the copy material type determination means to reset the copy parameters according to the copy material. In configuration with a Cormorant copying parameter setting means.

According to another invention, in the above invention, the copying material detecting means is composed of a sensor for detecting at least plain paper or OHP film. In still another invention, in the above invention, the copying material detecting means is composed of a sensor for detecting the physical quantity of the transfer paper and the OHP film, and the copying parameter and the copying parameter of the OHP film are determined according to the detection result. Then, there is a configuration to set this.

[0007]

When the copying material is fed from the paper feeding section, only the first sheet is pre-fed to the copying material matching section, for example, before the take-alore, and at least the copying material type is used as the copying material information by the copying material detection means. To detect. The copying parameters are set based on the detection result, and the copying material is re-fed and copied. For copying materials that are transported thereafter,
The copy material difference determining means determines whether or not the copy material is the same as the first copy material, and if the copy material is the same, the copy parameters are not changed and the copy material is conveyed to the image carrier.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. In the image forming apparatus, a charging device 3, a developing device 4, a transfer charger 6, a separation charger 7 and a cleaner 8 are arranged around a photoconductor (image carrier) 2 in the apparatus body 1. An image of the original is exposed by the writing beam 9 on the photoconductor 2 that is uniformly charged by the charging device 3 by the electrostatic photography process, and an electrostatic latent image is formed. Subsequently, the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 2 is developed by the developing device 4 to form a toner image. This toner image is on the copy material tray 1.
Copy material, such as plain paper, fed from 0 to the transfer portion along the photoconductor 2 through the paper feed path 11 through the paper feed path 13.
It is transferred to the transfer paper such as thick paper or OHP by the action of the transfer charger 6.

The copying material after the transfer is separated from the photosensitive member by the separation charger 7, conveyed by the conveyor belt 14 and fixed by the fixing device 12 to complete the image formation.
It is discharged outside the aircraft. On the other hand, the toner remaining on the photoconductor 2 is removed by the cleaner 8. Paper transport path 1
3 is a take-a-roll (T / T) for temporarily stopping the copying material supplied from the copying material tray 10 through the paper feeding section 11.
A roll) 15 and a paper feed roller 16 in the middle, and a registration roll 1 forming a feed roll unit at a position near the photoconductor 2 for timing of feeding the paper to the transfer unit.
7 are provided. A sensor S, such as an OHP detection sensor, a paper thickness detection sensor, and a paper rigidity detection sensor, for detecting the type and physical quantity of the copying material is provided on the downstream side of the T / A roll 15 in the middle of the paper conveyance path 13. ing. Here, the T / A roll 15 and the resist roll 17 temporarily stop the conveyance of the copying material before these rolls and feed the copying material to the image carrier 2 at the timing of the electrostatic photography process. Of the copying material matching section.

FIG. 2 shows a control block for setting copy parameters according to copy material. The M / C controller 20 causes the paper feed unit 11 to receive a copy start signal.
The copy material is composed of the T / A roll 15 and / or the registration roller 17 in response to a command for operating the paper transport system drive unit 21 including the above and signals from a plurality of feed sensors S _f provided in the paper transport system 13. And a command for transporting the paper, such as stopping before the copy material aligning section, sending the copy material to the image carrier 2 or sending to the fixing device 12 at the timing of the electrostatic photography process. , O
The type and physical quantity of the copy material are judged based on the copy material information detected by the HP detection sensor, the paper thickness detection sensor, and the paper rigidity detection sensor, and the copy parameter suitable for the judgment is determined. 4. Processing for setting the transfer device 6 and the fixing device 12 is executed.

For OHP detection, a band that can be detected by a transmissive sensor is attached to the side of the OHP, and this transmissive sensor is turned ON-OFF-ON.
Judge whether it is OHP or plain paper depending on the ON time of. Alternatively, when the transmissive sensor is ON (light incident) and the reflective sensor is ON (light incident), it is detected as OHP. The OHP detection sensor is composed of a combination of a transmissive sensor and a reflective sensor. Here, the sensor S including an OHP detection sensor, a paper thickness detection sensor, a paper rigidity detection sensor, and the like constitutes a copy material detection unit that detects copy material information.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the M / C controller. First, the paper feed unit 11 is operated to feed the first copy material from the copy material tray 10 (S
1) The T / R roll stops (pre-feed) this copying material (S2). Here, the copy material information is detected by the paper thickness detection sensor, the paper rigidity detection sensor, and the OHP detection sensor (S3). Next, the type of copying material is determined based on the detection value of each sensor (S4). In the case of OHP, the copy parameter OHP is set (S5). On the other hand, in the case of transfer paper, the physical quantity of the transfer paper such as plain paper, thick paper, strong paper, and weak paper is determined, and the copy parameter suitable for each physical quantity is determined (S6). For example, a copy parameter is determined for plain paper, and a copy parameter for thick paper is determined and set (S7).

Then, the copying material stopped by the T / A roll is fed again (S8), and the second copying material is fed from the tray (S9). At that time, the type of copying material is again determined to determine whether it is the same as the first sheet (S10). If they are the same, at this time, the copy parameters are sent without resetting (S11). That is, in the case of the same copy material as the first copy, it is not necessary to change the set copy parameter. When the image forming process is performed on the copy material and it is output,
The completion of copying is determined (S12), and if the set number of sheets is output, the copying is completed. If the set number of sheets has not been reached, the process returns to step S9, and copying of the second and subsequent sheets is executed.

When a copy material different from the first copy material is determined in step 10, the type of copy material is determined again (S).
4). Here, if the first copy material is OHP, the different copy material is the transfer paper, and if the first copy material is the transfer paper, the different copy material is the OHP. The same processing is repeated thereafter, but copying with this different copying material is performed with the time determined in step 10 as the first sheet. In this embodiment, the copy material detection is performed by the T / A provided on the conveyance path near the copy material tray 10.
Any position provided on the downstream side of the roll 15 as long as copy parameters can be set and reset based on the copy material information detected while the copy material is being sent to the image carrier 2. It doesn't matter.

Further, in the present embodiment, the physical quantity of the transfer paper is detected, and three kinds of copying parameters are selected from the detected values, but the present invention is not limited to these three kinds, and copying is not limited. The parameters can be appropriately selected by adding or reducing the parameters according to the device specifications. Further, instead of measuring the physical quantity of the transfer paper, the copy parameter of the transfer paper is set to one, and the processing is performed in two ways, OHP and transfer paper, and step S6 shown in FIG. 3 is omitted. The simplified device configuration can be simplified. Further, in the present embodiment, the copying material matching unit is of the roll type, but it may be changed to the gate type.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, the copy parameter is set based on the detection information of the copy material detecting means, and when the detection information is different, the copy parameter is reset and the detection information is obtained. By controlling not to reset the copy parameters in the same case, the number of copies per unit time can be processed with substantially the same productivity even when the type and physical quantity of the copy material are different. Especially O
When using HP, it is possible to detect whether it is OHP or plain paper earlier, and it is possible to change the drum potential and the copying parameters such as fuser speed in advance, and copy OHP with the same productivity as plain paper. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram for setting a copy parameter according to a copy material.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of an M / C controller.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 device body, 2 photoconductor (image carrier), 3 charging device, 4 developing device, 6 transfer charger (transfer device),
7 Separation Charger, 8 Cleaner, 9 Writing Beam, 10 Copy Material Tray, 11 Paper Feeding Section, 12 Fixing Device, 13 Paper Conveying Path, 15 Take A Roll,
17 Registration roller

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location G03G 15/08 7810-2H 15/16 15/20 109 15/22 103 Z 6830-2H

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A copying material sent from a paper feeding section is guided to an image carrier through a conveying roller section and a copying material matching section, and is transferred onto the image carrier based on a copying parameter set in a set mode. In an image forming apparatus for forming a developed image, transferring the developed image to the copy material, and fixing the copy material, a copy material detection unit for detecting copy material information before the copy material alignment unit, and a detection by the copy material detection unit. A copying material type judging means for judging the kind of copying material by a signal, a copying material difference judging means for judging the succeeding copying material as the same kind when the set mode is continuous, and a copying material from the copying material type judging means. A copy parameter setting unit for setting a copy parameter according to the type information and resetting the copy parameter according to the copy material difference information from the copy material difference determination unit. An image forming apparatus. 2. The copying material detecting means is at least plain paper or O.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a sensor that detects whether the film is an HP film. 3. A copying material detecting means is used for the physical quantity and OH of the transfer paper.
It is composed of a sensor for detecting the P film, and the copy parameter and the OH corresponding to the physical quantity of the transfer paper are detected by the detection result.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a copy parameter of P film is determined and set.