JPH0675449A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image forming device which can make a both-side copy with a single copying action and does not require a place for transiently housing a paper sheet. CONSTITUTION:The image forming device is provided with an adhesive coating roller 10 movably provided to coat the rear surface of the paper having the completion of a fixing process with an adhesive, a paper stopping plate 0 for stopping the paper at a fixed position, a pair of press-contact rollers 30a and 30b attaining press-contacting/sticking in such a manner that the central part of the paper coated with the adhesive is folded with the surface coated with the adhesive inside, and a control means 4 moving the adhesive coating roller 10 so as to abut it on the rear surface of the paper and operating the paper stopping plate 20 to operate a pair of the press-contact rollers 30a and 30b.

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 such as a copying machine capable of forming images on both sides of a sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some image forming apparatuses such as copying machines are provided with a double-sided copying section 60 capable of copying on both sides of a sheet as shown in FIG. . The double-sided copy section 60 includes a carry-in port 62 for the sheet after the single-sided copy, reversing rollers 63 and 64 for reversing the sheet, an intermediate tray 65 for receiving the reversed sheet,
It is composed of a paper carry-out port 61 and the like.

In the copying operation by the copying machine having the above structure, first, in the case of the copying operation on only one side, the original on the original placing table 70 is converted into an optical image by the optical unit 71,
The surface of the photosensitive drum 72 is irradiated with the optical image to form an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image by the developing unit 74. On the other hand, the registration roller 75 feeds the sheet from the sheet feeding unit 79 that stores the sheet to the photosensitive drum 72 side. Then, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 72 is transferred to the sheet by the transfer unit 76, the sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 73 by the conveyance belt 77, and is discharged to the outside through the conveyance path switching unit 78. It

Next, in the case of the double-sided copy operation, the first copy operation is performed in the same manner as the above-described single-sided copy operation up to the fixing step. When the first copy is completed, the sheet is conveyed to the double-sided copy section 60 side by the conveyance path switching section 78 switching the conveyance path. Carry-in port 6 of double-sided copy section 60
The sheet carried in from 2 (in the drawing, the copy surface of the paper faces the lower side) is stored in the intermediate tray 65 by the reversing rollers 63 and 64 (at this time, the copy surface of the paper faces the upper side). Then, when the second copying operation is started, a toner image (a toner image of the original to be copied on the back surface) is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 72, as in the case of the first copying described above. On the other hand, the paper on the intermediate tray 65 is carried out from the carry-out port 61 by a carrying roller, and is further sent to the photosensitive drum 72 side by the registration roller 75 (at this time, the copy surface of the paper faces downward and the back surface faces the photosensitive surface side). The toner image is transferred to the back surface of the paper. After that, fixing is performed in the same manner, and the double-sided copied sheet is discharged to the outside by switching the transport path of the transport path switching unit 78.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned structure, the copying operation needs to be performed twice for each side, and a temporary storage place for storing the reversed paper is required. There is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing double-sided copying by one copy operation and requiring no temporary storage place for paper.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in order to apply an adhesive agent to the back surface of a sheet on which a fixing process has been completed, an adhesive agent applying means that is movably provided and to stop the sheet at a predetermined position. The paper stopping means, the paper folding adhesive means for bending and pressure-bonding the central portion of the paper coated with the adhesive by the adhesive applying means with the adhesive applied surface inside, and the adhesive applying means for the paper. The image forming apparatus is provided with a control unit that moves the sheet so that the sheet comes in contact with or comes close to the back surface, operates the sheet stopping unit, and operates the sheet folding and adhering unit.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the control means moves the adhesive applying means so as to contact or approach the back surface of the paper, and the movement causes the adhesive applying means to apply the adhesive to the back surface of the paper after the fixing process. After coating, the control means operates the paper stopping means, the operation stops the paper at a predetermined position, and the control means operates the paper folding and adhering means.
By this operation, the sheet bending and adhering means bends the central portion of the sheet on which the adhesive has been applied, with the adhesive application surface inside, and press-bonds the same.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings showing its embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a side view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. That is, in a copying machine which is an image forming apparatus, an original placing plate 80 on which an original is placed, an optical unit 81 which exposes the placed original to generate an optical image, and an optical image emitted from the optical unit 81 causes a static image. A photoconductor drum 82 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a developing unit 83 for developing an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor drum 82 into a toner image, and a registration roller 84 for feeding the paper stored in the paper feed cassette 86 to the photoconductor drum 82. A transfer unit 85 that transfers a toner image onto a sheet, a conveyor belt 87 that conveys the transferred sheet, and the like are provided.

Further, a fixing roller 5 for fixing the toner image on the sheet is provided on the downstream side of the conveying belt 87, and a double-sided copy section 7 for double-sided copying of the sheet is provided on the downstream side of the fixing roller 5. Is provided (details of the double-sided copy unit 7 will be described later). A sheet discharge port and the like are provided on the downstream side of the double-sided copy section 7.

FIG. 2A is a schematic configuration diagram of the above-mentioned double-sided copy section 7. The double-sided copy section 7 is provided on the downstream side of the fixing roller 5, and the adhesive application means 1 is provided on the upstream side of the double-sided copy section 7. The adhesive application means 1 includes the upper roller 16 and the upper roller thereof. 16, an adhesive applying roller 10 that can abut against the moving member 16, a moving rod 11 that movably supports the adhesive applying roller 10, a driving member 14 that has a slope 13 slidably contacting a slope 12 of the moving rod 11, and its drive. The solenoid 15 is configured to move the member 14.

A guide plate 51 to which a rail-shaped sheet supporting member 52 is attached is provided on the downstream side of the adhesive applying means 1 (see FIG. 3A), and near the center of the guide plate 51, A sheet folding and adhering means 3 is provided. The sheet folding and adhering means 3 is a pair of pressure contact rollers 30a and 30b for bending and pressure contacting a sheet at the central portion, and the pressure contact roller pair 30.
Roller drive unit 33 for driving a and 30b, guide plate 51
Through the paper and press the paper from the back side to the pressure roller pair 30a, 30
The bending member 31 is configured to be pushed up while being bent toward the b side, and a solenoid 32 for moving the bending member 31.

A paper stopping means 2 for stopping the paper at a predetermined position is provided on the downstream side of the guide plate 51, and the paper stopping means 2 is movable up and down.
0, a drive member 23 having a slope 22 slidably abutting the slope 21 of the sheet stop plate 20, and a solenoid 24 for moving the drive member 23.

Solenoid 1 of the above adhesive applying means 1
5, the roller driving unit 33 and the solenoid 32 of the sheet bending and adhering unit 3, and the solenoid 24 of the sheet stopping unit 2 are connected to the control unit 4 for controlling them. or,
A paper detection switch 50 for detecting the passage of the paper is provided on the upstream side of the fixing roller 5, and the paper detection switch 50 is connected to the control means 4.

A conveying path 53, a discharging roller 54, and a discharging path 55 are provided above the pressure roller pair 30a, 30b to discharge the sheet that is bent and bonded at the center, and the sheet is stopped. On the downstream side of the sheet stopping plate 20 of the means 2, there is provided an ejection port 56 for ejecting the sheet for single-sided copying.

The adhesive applying roller 10 described above is laminated, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, so that no adhesive is applied to a portion corresponding to the sheet supporting member 52 attached to the guide plate 51. Adhesive non-impregnated portion 10
b and an adhesive impregnated portion 10a made of felt or the like impregnated with a liquid adhesive so that the adhesive is supplied to the portion where the paper support member 52 is not provided. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3B, the adhesive 8 is applied to the back surface 6a of the paper 6 with a gap.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

First, in the case of the normal single-sided copy mode, the original placed on the original placing table 80 is scanned by the optical unit 81, and the optical image is irradiated onto the surface of the photosensitive drum 82. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the optical image is formed on the photosensitive drum 82, and the electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image by the developing unit 83. On the other hand, the paper is conveyed from the paper feed cassette 86, and the registration roller 8
4 is sent to the photosensitive drum 82 side. Then, the transfer unit 85 transfers the toner image on the photoconductor drum 82 to a sheet, and the sheet is further conveyed by the conveyance belt 87 to the fixing roller 5, and the toner image is fixed.

At this time, the solenoid 15 of the adhesive applying means 1 does not operate, the driving member 14 moves to the right side (in the drawing), the slope 12 of the moving rod 11 slides down on the slope 13, and the moving rod 11, and thus The adhesive application roller 10 hangs downward (shown by a chain double-dashed line). Further, the solenoid 24 of the sheet stopping means 2 does not operate, the driving member 23 moves to the left side (in the drawing), the slope 21 of the sheet stop plate 20 slides down on the slope 22, and the sheet stop plate 20 of the guide plate 51 moves. It is located below the sheet support member 52. Further, the solenoid 32 of the sheet bending and adhering means 3 does not operate, the folding member 31 is lowered below the sheet supporting member 52 of the guide plate 51, and the roller driving unit 33 is also not driven. Therefore, the pressure contact roller pair 30a. , 30b are stopped.

Since the double-sided copy section 7 is in the above-described state, the sheet fixed by the fixing roller 5 and copied on one side passes between the upper roller 16 and the adhesive application roller 10 to remove the adhesive. The sheet is conveyed to the sheet supporting member 52 without being applied, and then discharged from the discharge port 56 without being stopped by the sheet stopping unit 2.

Next, in the double-sided copy mode, the original placed on the original placing table 80 (the originals, for example, two A4 originals are placed side by side so as to correspond to double-sided copying) is scanned by the optical unit 81. Then, the optical image is irradiated onto the surface of the photosensitive drum 82. Photoconductor drum 82
Above, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the optical image is formed, and the electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image by the developing unit 83. On the other hand, a sheet (the sheet size used here is, for example, A3 size in the case of double-sided copy of A4 size) is conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 86, and is further fed to the photosensitive drum 82 side by the registration roller 84. Then, the transfer unit 85 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 82 onto a sheet, and the sheet is conveyed to the fixing roller 5 by the conveying belt 87, and the toner image is fixed.

In this case, when the paper is conveyed to the position before the fixing roller 5, the paper detection switch 50 is turned on (step S1 in FIG. 4) and the signal is sent to the control means 4. Then, the control means 4 causes the solenoid 15 of the adhesive applying means 1 to operate.
Is operated (step S2 in FIG. 4) to move the driving member 14 to the left side (on the drawing). By the movement of the driving member 14, the slant surface 13 slides on the slant surface 12 of the moving rod 11 to lift the moving rod 11, and thus the adhesive application roller 10, to the upper side and abut against the upper roller 16. After that, the adhesive application roller 10 starts to rotate (step S in FIG. 4).
3). On the other hand, the fixed paper is fed from the fixing roller 5, and the adhesive applying roller 10 is moved to the adhesive impregnating portion 10a.
The adhesive impregnated in the paper is applied to the back surface of the paper (application of the adhesive is applied to a portion where the paper support member 52 provided on the guide plate 51 does not exist, as shown in FIG. 3B). Done.).

Next, the control means 4 operates the solenoid 24 of the sheet stopping means 2 (step S4 in FIG. 4) to move the drive member 23 to the right side (on the drawing). Due to the movement of the drive member 23, the slope 22 of the drive member 23 is changed to the slope 2 of the sheet stop plate 20.
1 is lifted up, and the paper stop plate 20 is projected above the paper support member 52 of the guide plate 51. Then, the adhesive is applied to the back surface, the paper is supported by the paper support member 52, and the paper conveyed to the guide plate 51 side hits the abutting surface 20a of the paper stop plate 20 and stops.

Then, the control means 4 operates the solenoid 32 of the sheet bending and adhering means 3 to project the folding member 31 to the upper side of the sheet supporting member 52, and the central portion of the sheet 6 to the back surface (the surface coated with the adhesive). ) 6a is bent with the inside facing, and at the same time, that portion is pushed up between the pressure contact roller pair 30a, 30b (see FIG. 2 (b)). At the same time, the pressure roller pair 30a, 30b is rotated (step S5 in FIG. 4),
The sheet 6 is pressure-bonded and pulled out from the bent portion (see FIG. 2C). After the sheet 6 is adhered to the edges, the sheet 6 is discharged from the pressure contact roller pair 30a, 30b through the conveyance path 53 and the discharge roller 54 to the discharge path 55 (step S6 in FIG. 4). A sheet of which one side has been copied in this manner can be bent and adhered from the central portion to obtain a half size double-sided copy.

In the above embodiment, the paper size is A3.
Although the example of -A4 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and other paper sizes such as B4-B5 may of course be used. In this case, the sheet stop position by the sheet stop means 2 may be provided so as to correspond to the sheet size. Alternatively, the sheet folding and adhering means 3 may be arranged so as to correspond to the central portion of the sheet.

In the above embodiment, the copy surface is on the upper side and the adhesive application surface is on the lower side. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and after fixing, the sheet is turned over so that the copy surface is on the lower side. The coating surface is on the upper side, and the configuration of the sheet bending and adhering means 3 is upside down (the pressure contact roller pairs 30a, 30b and the like are arranged on the lower side of the guide plate 51, and the bending member 31 and the like are arranged downward from the upper side). You may In this case, since the paper is supported on the copy surface, the adhesive can be applied to the entire back surface.

Further, in the above embodiment, in order to support the surface coated with the adhesive, the guide plate 51 is provided with the rail-shaped paper support member 52, and the adhesive is applied so as not to touch the paper support member 52. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the paper is lightly sucked and held from the copy surface side to the extent that the paper can be conveyed by, for example, air, and the support of the paper from the lower side of the guide plate 51 and the like is eliminated, and the entire back surface is covered. You may make it the structure which applies an adhesive agent.

In the above embodiment, the solenoid is used to move the adhesive applying roller 10, the sheet stopping plate 20, and the bending member 31, but the moving mechanism is not limited to this.

Further, in the above embodiment, the adhesive applying roller 10 was used for applying the adhesive, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be brought into contact with, for example, a pad impregnated with the adhesive. Alternatively, the adhesive may be sprayed from a position near the passing paper.

In the above embodiment, the control means 4 is composed of dedicated hardware, but instead of this, the same function may be realized by software using a computer.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in order to apply the adhesive to the back surface of the paper, the adhesive applying means is provided so as to be movable and the paper is stopped at a predetermined position. Since the paper stopping means and the paper folding and adhering means for bending and pressing and adhering the central portion of the paper to which the adhesive is applied with the adhesive application surface inside, It has the advantage of being able to perform double-sided copying and not requiring a temporary storage space for paper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a schematic configuration diagram of a double-sided copy unit of the same embodiment, and FIGS. 2B and 2C are schematic diagrams for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 (a) is a partial perspective view of the adhesive applying means of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 (b) is a front view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of operations of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view of an image forming apparatus including a conventional double-sided copy unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Adhesive Applying Means 2 Paper Stopping Means 3 Paper Folding Adhesive Means 4 Control Means 5 Fixing Roller 6 Paper 6a Paper Backside 7 Double-sided Copy Section 8 Adhesive 10 Adhesive Applying Roller 20 Paper Stop Plate 51 Guide Plate 52 Paper Support Member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An adhesive application unit that is movably provided to apply an adhesive to the back surface of a sheet on which a fixing process has been completed, a sheet stopping unit that stops the sheet at a predetermined position, and A paper folding and adhering means for bending and pressure-bonding the central portion of the paper coated with the adhesive by the adhesive applying means with the adhesive applying surface inside, and the adhesive applying means on the back surface of the paper. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a control means for moving the sheet stopping means and operating the sheet folding and adhering means so as to contact or approach.