JPH09160318A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently record image information, without forming a large blank part on a cut paper, even if recorded image information is less than the half of the size of the cut paper. SOLUTION: This image recorder is provided with a cutting mechanism 42 for cutting the cut paper 29 between a cut paper housing part 15 and a recording part 16 and a preserving part 46 for transiently preserving the cut residual part of the cut paper 29. When the image information is less than the half of the size of the cut paper 29, in recording the image information, the cut paper 29 is cut in half by the cutting mechanism 42 and the residual part is preserved in the preserving part. In recording onto a half cut paper next, the image information is recorded by using the residual part of the cut paper 29 preserved in the preserving part 46.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for recording an image using a cut sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional image recording apparatus of this type, cut sheets of a predetermined size are stored in a cut sheet storage section, and the cut sheets are fed from the cut sheet storage section to the recording section one by one. Image information is recorded on the cut sheet.

[0003]

However, in this conventional apparatus, when the image information to be recorded is less than half the size of the cut sheet, the margin on the cut sheet becomes large and it is uneconomical. was there.

In order to solve such a problem, a double-cassette type image in which two types of cut papers of the same series but different sizes, such as A3 size and A4 size, can be accommodated in the cut paper recording portion Recording devices have also been proposed.

However, in this conventional device,
There is a problem that the apparatus main body is large and expensive, and the number of types of cut sheets increases and the handling becomes troublesome. The present invention has been made by focusing on the problems existing in such a conventional technique. Its main purpose is to form a large amount of blank area on the cut sheet even if the recorded image information is less than half the size of the cut sheet.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus capable of efficiently recording image information and economically using cut sheets.

Another object of the present invention is to achieve the same function as that of the double cassette type and to cut the apparatus body in spite of being able to form the apparatus main body as small and inexpensive as the single cassette type. An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording device that can easily handle paper without preparing a large number of types of paper.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention of the image recording apparatus according to claim 1, for cutting the cut sheet between the cut sheet accommodation section and the recording section. The cutting means and the storage unit for temporarily storing the remaining portion of the cut cut paper are provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the first aspect, when the remaining portion of the cut sheet is stored in the storage section, it is detected to detect the next half-cut sheet. The detection means is provided so as to be preferentially used in recording.

Therefore, in the image recording apparatus according to the first aspect, when recording the image information, when the image information is less than half the size of the cut sheet, the cut sheet is cut in half by the cutting means. The remaining part is stored in the storage unit. For this reason, image information can be efficiently recorded without forming many blank areas on the cut sheet, and the cut sheet can be used economically.

Further, in the image recording apparatus according to the second aspect, when the remaining portion of the cut sheet is stored in the storage unit, the remaining portion is detected by the detecting means, and the next half-cut sheet is recorded. Sometimes used preferentially. Therefore, the structure of the storage unit is simple and it is not necessary to secure a large storage space.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. Now, this embodiment is embodied in a copy / facsimile multifunction machine, and as shown in FIG. 1, a document feeding section 12, a document placing section 13, and a reading section 14 are provided in an apparatus main body 11. A cut sheet storage unit 15, a recording unit 16, and a cut sheet discharge unit 17
And are installed.

The original document feeding unit 12 includes a document table 19 on which the original document 18 is placed, a separating unit 20 for separating and supplying the original documents 18 one by one, and a plurality of feeding rollers for feeding the separated original documents 18. 21 and a transparent plate 22 through which the document 18 passes,
A document discharge table 23 for stocking the discharged documents 18 is provided.

The original document placing section 13 is provided with a transparent original document placing plate 24 for placing the original document 18 on the upper surface thereof. The reading unit 14 changes the light source 25 that irradiates the original 18 passing on the through hole plate 22 or the original 18 placed on the original placing plate 24 with light, and the optical path of the reflected light from the original 18. A plurality of reflection mirrors 26 and a condenser lens 2 for converging light
7 and an image pickup device 28 for reading the image information of the document 18. Documents 18 fed by the document feeder 12
When reading the document, the light source 25 is stopped and arranged below the through-hole plate 22, and when reading the document 18 placed on the document placing section 13, the light source 25 and the mirror 26 on the objective side are placed on the document placing plate. It is moved along the lower surface of the plate 24.

The cut sheet accommodating portion 15 has a sheet feed cassette 30 that supports cut sheets 29 of a predetermined size in a stacked state.
A paper feed roller 31 for feeding the cut papers 29 in the paper feed cassette 30 one by one toward the recording unit;
And a guide plate 32 for guiding the feeding of the sheet. The cut sheet storage unit 15 has a rectangular cut sheet 29.
Is fed along the extension direction of its long side.

The recording section 16 supplies a toner to the photosensitive drum 33, an exposure device 34 for forming an electrostatic latent image of image information on the photosensitive drum 33, and toner to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 33. And a developing device 35 that visualizes the latent image. The recording unit 16 further includes a feeding roller 36 that feeds the cut sheet 29 to the photosensitive drum 33, and a toner image on the photosensitive drum 3.
3, a transfer device 37 for transferring the toner image on the cut sheet 29, and a heat fixing device 3 for heating and fixing the toner image on the cut sheet 29.
8 is provided.

The cut sheet discharge section 17 includes a discharge roller 39 for discharging the recorded cut sheet 29, and the cut sheet 29.
A guide plate 40 for guiding the discharge of the cut sheets and a discharge tray 41 for stocking the discharged cut sheets 29 are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cutting mechanism 42 constituting the cutting means is disposed in the paper feed passage between the cut paper accommodating portion 15 and the recording portion 16, and has a fixed blade 43 and a movable blade. The blade 44 is provided with an actuator 45 such as a solenoid for operating the movable blade 44. When the recording unit 16 records image information on the cut sheet 29 fed from the cut sheet accommodation unit 15 and the image information is less than half the size of the cut sheet 29, the cutting mechanism 42 The cut paper 29 is cut in half.

The storage section 46 is arranged between the cut sheet storage section 15 and the recording section 16 so as to be located downstream of the cutting mechanism 42 in the sheet feeding direction. The storage section 46 is connected to the guide plate 32, and carries the half-cut paper tray 47 branched from the paper feed path and the remaining portion of the cut cut paper 29 into the half-cut paper tray 47, and Half-cut paper tray 47
It is provided with a pair of conveyance rollers 48 that are carried out from.
The half-cut paper tray 47 extends above the recording unit 16. The switching guide 49 is provided at the entrance of the half-cut paper tray 47, that is, the paper feed passage and the half-cut paper tray 4.
7 and is selectively switched between a first position P1 shown by a solid line in FIG. 1 and a second position P2 shown by a chain line by an actuator 50 such as a solenoid.

The cut sheet 29 fed from the cut sheet accommodating portion 15 is placed in the lower arc-shaped guide surface 49 of the guide 49 while the switching guide 49 is arranged at the first position P1.
It is guided and guided to the recording unit 16 along a. Further, in this state, the remaining portion of the cut paper 29 carried out from the half cut paper tray 47, that is, the half cut paper 29.
a is guided and guided to the recording unit 16 along the upper arcuate guide surface 49a. On the other hand, the switching guide 49 moves to the second position P2.
In the state in which the half-cut sheet 29a is fed from the cutting mechanism 42 side, the half-cut sheet 29a is guided into the half-cut sheet tray 47 along the vertical guide surface 49c and temporarily stored in the tray 47. It

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the first sensor 5
1 is arranged at the entrance of the recording unit 16 and detects the cut sheet 29 fed to the recording unit 16 at the time of recording image information and detects it and outputs a detection signal to the CPU 53. The second sensor 52, which constitutes the detecting means, is arranged opposite to the half-cut paper tray 47 of the storage unit 46, and when the half-cut paper 29a is stored in the half-cut paper tray 47,
It is detected and a detection signal is output to the CPU 53.

The CPU 53 constitutes a control means and stores the image information in the memory 54 when the image information of the document 18 is input from the reading section 14 or when the image information is input by facsimile reception. Also, the CPU 53
Reads the image information stored in the memory 54 and causes the recording unit 16 to record the image information on the cut sheet 29 fed from the cut sheet storage unit 15.

Further, when recording the image information, the CPU 53 operates the actuator 45 of the cutting mechanism 42 and the actuator 50 of the switching guide 49 when the recorded image information is less than half the size of the cut sheet. Output a signal. Then, the cutting mechanism 42 cuts the cut paper 2
Cut 9 in half. Then, the CPU 53 causes the first half portion of the cut sheet 29 to perform recording, and stores the half cut sheet 29a in the remaining portion of the cut sheet 29 in the storage unit 4.
The half-cut paper tray 47 of No. 6 is temporarily stored.

Further, when the CPU 53 inputs an abnormal feeding detection signal of the cut sheet 29 from the first sensor 51 at the time of recording the image information, for example, when the first sensor 51 is kept on for a predetermined time or more. Displays a paper jam on a display unit (not shown). Moreover, when recording the half-cut sheet 29a, the CPU 53 outputs an operation signal to the conveyance roller 48 of the storage section 46 and the actuator 50 of the switching guide 49 when the storage detection signal of the half-cut sheet 29a is input from the second sensor 52. Output. Then, the half-cut paper 29a stored in the half-cut paper tray 47 is preferentially used to record the image information.

The memory 54 stores a program that advances under the control of the CPU 53 shown in FIG. The motors 55 and 56 shown in FIG. 3 are for driving the rotation of the paper feed roller 31 and the transport roller 48, respectively.

Next, the operation of the image recording apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When recording the image information stored in the memory 54 in this image recording apparatus, first, the switching guide 49 is held at the first position (step S1), and the size of the image stored in the memory 54 is changed. It is determined whether or not the size is suitable for the cut paper in the paper feed cassette 30 (step S2). If the size is suitable, the motor 55 is driven to move the sheet cassette 30 to the recording unit 16.
The cut sheet 29 is fed to the sheet (step S3), and the image information is recorded on the cut sheet 29 (step S4).

That is, when recording the image information, if the image information is larger than half the size of the cut sheet 29, the switching guide 49 remains in the first position P1 shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, the image information is recorded without cutting the cut sheet 29 by the cutting mechanism 42.

On the other hand, when recording the image information, if the image information is less than half the size of the cut paper 29, the second sensor 52 for detecting the remaining paper in the storage unit 46 is subjected to the above step S2. The state is determined (step S5),
If there is no remaining sheet, the first sheet in front of the recording unit 16
It is determined whether or not the sensor 51 is turned on (step S
6). When the first sensor 51 is turned on by the recording paper 29 passing through the first sensor 51, a certain period of time is awaited (step S7). When the rear end of the first half of the cut sheet 29 approaches the cutting mechanism 42, the actuator 50 is operated to switch the passage (step S8), and the cutting mechanism 42 is operated to cut the cut sheet 29 in half. Be disconnected (step S
9).

Therefore, the remaining portion of the half-cut paper 29a is carried into the half-cut paper tray 47 of the storage unit 42 along the vertical guide surface 49c of the switching guide 49 and temporarily stored. Image information is recorded in the first half. The presence of the remaining portion in the half cut paper tray 47 is recognized by the second sensor 52. When the remaining portion is held in the half-cut paper tray 47, the switching guide 49 returns to the first position P1 (step S1).
0).

When recording the image information in the state where the remaining portion of the cut sheet 29 is held in the half-cut sheet tray 47, if the image information is less than half the size of the cut sheet 29, the step S2 is performed. , S5,
While the paper feed roller 31 on the paper feed cassette 30 side is stopped, the transport roller 48 of the storage unit 46 is rotated in the carry-out direction by driving the motor 56 (step S11). As a result, the half-cut paper 29a in the half-cut paper tray 47 is preferentially fed to the recording unit 16 along the upper arc-shaped guide surface 49a of the switching guide 49 arranged at the first position P1, and the half thereof is half-cut. Image information is recorded on the cut sheet 29a.

The effects achieved by the above embodiment will be described below. (1) In this image recording apparatus, a cutting mechanism 42 for cutting the cut sheet 29 and a remaining portion of the cut cut sheet 29 are temporarily provided between the cut sheet storage section 15 and the recording section 16. A storage unit 46 for storing is provided. Therefore, even when the image information to be recorded is less than half the size of the cut sheet 29, the cut sheet 29 is recorded by performing recording on the first half and the remaining portion of the cut sheet 29.
It is possible to efficiently record image information without forming many blank areas above. Therefore, the cut sheet 29 can be economically used. (2) In this image recording apparatus, only one sheet feeding cassette 31 is provided in the cut sheet accommodating portion 15, and actually, two types of cuts of different sizes in the same series, such as A3 size and A4 size, are actually used. Image information can be recorded on paper. Therefore, although the apparatus main body 11 can be formed in a small size and at a low cost as in the case of the single cassette type, substantially the same function as that of the double cassette type can be exhibited. Moreover, it is not necessary to prepare many kinds of cut sheets 29, and the handling can be easily performed. (3) In this image recording apparatus, when the half cut sheet 29a of the remaining portion of the cut sheet 29 is stored in the storage unit 46, the half cut sheet 29a of the remaining portion is recorded at the next recording of the half cut sheet 29a. Is used preferentially. Therefore, the residual half-cut paper 29a is not additionally stocked in the storage unit 46, the paper separating mechanism for feeding the residual half-cut papers 29a one by one is not required, and the structure can be simplified and the half-cut paper The tray 47 does not require a large storage space, and the apparatus body 11 can be made compact. (4) In this image recording apparatus, the cutting mechanism 42 is arranged between the cut sheet accommodation unit 15 and the recording unit 16, and the cut sheet 29 is fed from the cut sheet accommodation unit 15 to the recording unit 16. Then, it is designed to be cut in half. Therefore, unlike the configuration in which the cutting mechanism is provided on the downstream side of the recording unit 16 in the paper feeding direction, after the cut sheet 29 is cut in half, the remaining half-cut sheet 29a is inverted and transferred to the recording section. There is no need to carry it back to the 16 side.

Therefore, the transport structure of the half-cut paper 29a is simplified and the loading / unloading control can be easily performed. Further, when the cut sheet passes through the heating and fixing device of the recording unit, the smoothness of the cut sheet may be lost and clear recording may not be performed. However, in this embodiment, there is no such possibility. .

[0032]

[Other Embodiments] Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the second shown in FIG.
In the embodiment, the cut sheet storage unit 15 is equipped with two sheet feeding cassettes 30A and 30B. In each of the paper feed cassettes 30A and 30B, two types of cut papers 29A and 29B having different sizes, such as A3 size and B4 size, are stacked and supported in different series.

Further, two half-cut paper trays 47A and 47B are arranged in parallel in the storage section 42, and each of the cut papers 2
About 9A and 29B, those half cut papers 29a
It is designed to save each separately. The switching guide 49 is switched by the actuator 50 into three positions, that is, a first position P1 shown by a solid line in FIG. 5, a second position P2 shown by a chain line, and a third position P3 also shown by a chain line. There is.

Then, with the switching guide 49 switched to the first position P1, the sheet feeding cassettes 30A and 30B are arranged.
The cut sheets 29A and 29B fed from are guided and guided to the recording unit 16 along the lower arc-shaped guide surface 49b.
Also, in this state, each half-cut paper tray 47
Half cut paper 29a carried out from inside A, 47B is
The recording portion 16 is guided and guided along the upper arc-shaped guide surface 49a.

On the other hand, when the switching guide 49 is arranged at the second position P2, the cutting mechanism 4 is disconnected from the sheet feeding cassette 30A.
The half-cut paper 29a of the cut-paper 29A fed via 2 is guided along the vertical guide surface 49c into the half-cut paper tray 47A and temporarily stored.
Further, in the state where the switching guide 49 is arranged at the third position P3, the half-cut paper 29a of the cut paper 29B fed from the paper feed cassette 30B through the cutting mechanism 42 moves to the other side along the vertical guide surface 49c. Half-cut paper tray 4
7B is introduced and temporarily stored.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a paper discharge tray 41 is disposed in the cut paper discharge unit 17 so as to be movable in the horizontal direction, and is moved by a moving motor 61 via a pinion 62 and a rack 63. It is moved and arranged in two positions, an inner side and an outer side. In addition, in the second embodiment, the first sensor 51
The cut sheets 29A, 29 fed to the recording unit 16 by
It is configured to detect whether B is full size or half size. If the detection result is full size, the CPU 53 causes the moving motor 6 to move.
1 is rotated, and the discharge tray 41 is moved to the outer position. On the other hand, when the detection result is the half size, the CPU 53 rotates the moving motor 61 in the opposite direction to move the paper ejection tray 41 to the inner position.

Therefore, in the image recording apparatus of the second embodiment, in the double cassette type structure in which the cut sheet accommodating portion 15 is provided with the two sheet feeding cassettes 30A and 30B, the type of sheet size is actually doubled. Then, the image information can be recorded on four types of cut sheets.

Further, in the image recording apparatus of the second embodiment, the paper discharge tray 41 is moved to two internal and external positions,
A full-size cut sheet and a half-size cut sheet can be sorted and discharged to different positions on the tray 41. Therefore, it is possible to easily handle the discharged cut sheets thereafter without causing confusion of sheets.

Next, in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 6, two sheet feeding cassettes 30A and 30B are provided in the cut sheet accommodating portion 15 as in the second embodiment, and the sizes are different in different series. Two types of cut sheets 29A and 29B are stacked and supported separately. Further, in the storage section 42, two half-cut paper trays 47A and 47B are arranged in parallel, and a switching guide 49 is arranged to be switched among three positions P1, P2 and P3.

On the other hand, in the third embodiment, two sheet discharge trays 41A and 41B are arranged in the cut sheet discharge section 17, and the upper sheet discharge tray 41B is located at the lower working position and the upper position along the long hole 64. It is arranged to be moved to the inoperative position. In addition, in the third embodiment also, the second
Similar to the embodiment, the recording unit 16 is configured by the first sensor 51.
It is configured to detect whether the cut sheets 29A and 29B fed to the printer are full size or half size.

When the detection result is full size, the moving motor 61 is rotated by the CPU 53, and the upper paper discharge tray 41B is moved to the upper inoperative position via the pinion 62 and the rack 63. This allows
The full-size cut sheets 29A and 29B are discharged onto the lower discharge tray 41A. On the other hand, when the detection result is the half size, the CPU 53 rotates the moving motor 61 in the opposite direction, and the lower paper ejection tray 41B is moved to the lower working position. As a result, the half-sized cut sheets 29A and 29B are discharged onto the upper discharge tray 41B.

Therefore, also in the third embodiment, the paper size can be actually doubled and used in the double cassette type structure as in the second embodiment. Further, the full-sized cut sheet and the half-sized cut sheet can be separately discharged to the two discharge trays 41A and 41B, and the cut sheet can be easily handled thereafter.

The present invention may be modified and embodied as follows. (A) In the second embodiment, the discharge tray 41 is switched to four positions and two types of cut sheets 29A, 2A are used.
Regarding 9B, it should be configured so that full size and half size can be separately discharged. (B) Embodying the present invention in a single-function device such as a printer or a facsimile device, or other image recording device.

The technical ideas understood from each of the above-mentioned embodiments will be listed below. (1) The storage section is branched from the paper feed path, and a switching member is arranged at the branch section, and the cut sheet from the cut sheet storage section is guided to one of the recording section and the storage section by the action of the switching member. The image recording device according to claim 1 or 2.

According to this structure, the cut sheet not cut by the cutting means and the remaining portion after cutting can be distributed to the recording section or the storage section with a simple structure. (2) The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a determination unit that determines the size of the image information and a control unit that controls the operation of the cutting unit based on the determination result.

According to this structure, the cut sheet that has not been cut by the cutting means and the remaining portion after cutting can be reliably distributed to the recording section or the storage section. (3) The image recording device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage unit is arranged above the recording unit.

According to this structure, the space above the recording unit can be effectively used to arrange the storage unit, which contributes to downsizing. (4) The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cassette paper storage unit has a plurality of paper feed cassettes.

With this structure, the practically usable paper size can be further increased.

[0049]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects. According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the image information to be recorded is less than half the size of the cut sheet, the image information can be efficiently recorded without forming many blank areas on the cut sheet. The cut paper can be used economically. In addition, it is possible to perform recording on more types of sizes than the types of paper sizes stored in the cut sheet storage unit.

For example, although the main body of the apparatus can be formed small and inexpensive as in the case of the single-cassette type, it can substantially exhibit the same function as that of the double-cassette type, and prepares many kinds of cut sheets. It can be handled easily without the need.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the remaining portion of the cut sheet is stored in the storage section, the remaining portion of the cut sheet is preferentially used. For this reason, the structure of the storage unit can be simplified, a large storage space is not required, and the apparatus main body can be made compact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of an image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial front view showing an enlarged configuration of the switching guide.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the image recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image recording apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the image recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Device main body, 14 ... Reading section, 15 ... Cut sheet accommodating section, 16 ... Recording section, 29, 29A, 29B ... Cut sheet,
29a ... Half-cut paper, 30, 30A, 30B ... Paper feed cassette, 42 ... Cutting mechanism as cutting means, 43 ... Fixed blade, 44 ... Movable blade, 46 ... Storage section, 47, 47A, 4
7B ... Half-cut paper tray, 48 ... Conveying roller, 49
... switching guide, 52 ... second sensor as detecting means, 5
3 ... CPU as control means.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cutting means for cutting the cut sheet and a storage section for temporarily storing the remaining portion of the cut sheet are provided between the cut sheet storage section and the recording section. Image recording device. 2. When the remaining portion of the cut sheet is stored in the storage section, a detection means for detecting it and a control means for controlling the detected remaining portion to preferentially record. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: