JPH0512271B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus equipped with an image forming apparatus such as a double-sided copying machine, a laser printer, or a liquid crystal printer that forms images on both sides of a sheet.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art As image forming apparatuses, such as copying machines, have become more multi-functional, many products have been commercialized that are equipped with double-sided copying functions and composite copying functions.

As shown in FIG. 6, this double-sided composite copying machine has a paper discharge path 203 that directly discharges the sheet copied by the photosensitive drum 201, a switchback path 205 that reverses the conveyance direction of the copied sheet, and a switchback path 205 that reverses the conveyance direction of the copied sheet. Synthesis route 207 to flip the front and back of the sheet
and switchback pathway 205 or synthetic pathway 2
07, an intermediate tray 209 that temporarily stores the sheets conveyed to the intermediate tray 209, a paper feeder 211 that sends out the sheets stored in the intermediate tray 209, and a sheet feeder 211 that turns over the sheets sent out by the paper feeder 211 and transfers them to the photosensitive drum 201. A paper feed path 213 is provided for supplying paper to the paper feed path 213.

When single-sided copying is performed using this double-sided composite copying machine, the sheet copied by the photosensitive drum 201 is directly discharged from the paper discharge path 203.

In addition, in the case of double-sided copying, the conveyance direction of the sheet copied on one side is reversed in the switchback path 205, and then stored in the intermediate tray 209, and then fed to the drum 201 through the paper feed path 213, and the sheet is copied on the back side of the sheet. By doing so, copies are made on both sides of the sheet.

Furthermore, in the case of composite copying, the sheet copied on one side is transferred to the intermediate tray 20 via the composite path 207.
9 and feed it through the paper feed path 213 to the drum 20.
1 and copies again on the previously copied surface, thereby performing composite copying.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the sheet P peeled off from the drum 201 is curled in an upwardly protruding direction, and the sheet stored in the intermediate tray 209 during double-sided copying is curled as shown in FIG. It is stored in a convex curl. Further, the sheets stored in the intermediate tray 209 during composite copying are curled in a concave state as shown in FIG. 8.

In this way, the intermediate tray 209 accommodates sheets with different curling directions, so that no matter which direction the sheet is curled, it can be accommodated without any trouble and the sheet can be reliably sent to the paper feed path 213. Countermeasures must be taken and the design is difficult.

Furthermore, since the switchback path 205 is provided, it is difficult to downsize the device.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention allows sheets to be stably stored in a storage unit such as an intermediate tray with the same curl direction even when images are formed on both sides of the sheet or when images are formed multiple times on the same sheet surface. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus that can be downsized and can reliably supply sheets from a storage section to an image forming section.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Configuration> (Overall Configuration) The image processing device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a mounting table 2,
A sheet conveying device 4 placed on this mounting table 2,
An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine 5 attached to the sheet conveying apparatus 4 is provided.

(Configuration of Copying Machine 5) The copying machine 5 includes a platen 77 made of contact glass on which a document is set, and a document cover 75 attached to the back side with a hinge so that it can be opened and closed.
The image forming section 7, the intake section 11 into which the paper feed cassette 9 is set, the paper feed rollers 13, 15 that feed out the sheets of the paper feed cassette 9 set in the intake section 11, and these paper feed rollers 13, 15.
Paper feed path 1 that conveys sheets sent out by
7, 19 and a paper feed path 21 that transports sheets from the sheet transport device 4, and a paper feed path 17, 19, 2.
A registration roller 55 that aligns the leading edge of the sheet supplied from 1, a conveyor belt 57 that conveys the sheet whose registration has been corrected by the registration roller 55 to the image forming section 7, and a conveyor belt 57 that conveys the sheet on which an image has been formed in the image forming section 7. It also includes a discharge roller 95 for discharging the paper.

The image forming section 7 includes a slit illumination device 79 movable in the left-right direction along the platen 77, two movable reflecting mirrors 81 that guide a light image of an image of a document illuminated by the slit illumination device 79,
83, a lens 85, and two fixed reflectors 87,
89; a photosensitive drum 59 that forms an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image of the document on the outer peripheral surface exposed by the exposure optical device; a charging device 61; an unnecessary charge eraser 63; A developing device 65 that visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the drum 59 with toner, a transfer device 67 that transfers the toner on the photosensitive drum 59 onto a sheet, a separating charge device 69, and a sheet transfer device from the photosensitive drum 59. a separation claw 71 that separates the
, a conveyance roller 91 , and a fixing device 93 are provided.

Incidentally, in order to perform composite copying, toner of a plurality of colors is provided, and copies are made using toner of a designated color.

(Configuration of Sheet Conveyance Device 4) The sheet conveyance device 4 includes a paper discharge path 101 for discharging sheets discharged from the copying machine 5, and a paper discharge tray 103 for storing sheets discharged from this paper discharge path 101. , a reversing path (first path) 105 for reversing the front and back sides of the sheet copied by the copying machine 5;
Then, there is a storage unit, for example, an intermediate tray 107, which stores the sheet conveyed through this reversing path 105, and the sheet stored in the intermediate tray 107 is reversed from the front side to the image forming unit 7 of the copying machine 5 from the side opposite to the storage side. a paper feed path (second path) 109 for feeding the sheets stored in the intermediate tray 107, and a paper feed path (third path) 11 for feeding sheets stored in the intermediate tray 107 from the storage side to the image forming unit 7.
1, and a changing means 161 for changing the position at which the sheet is fed from the reversing path 105 to the intermediate tray 107 according to the size of the sheet.

The paper ejection path 101 is provided with a conveyance roller 102 and a paper ejection roller 104 . Further, a switching guide 108 is provided at the branching portion to the reversing path 105.

A conveying roller 106 is provided on the reversing path 105 .

The intermediate tray 107 is provided with a stopper 113 at its tip that is movable back and forth. This stopper 1
For example, a rack 112 is attached to the motor 118 as shown in FIG.
It is designed to be driven by

Further, at the leading and rear ends of the intermediate tray 107, vertically movable paper feeding means, such as paper feeding rollers 11, are provided.
7 and 119 are provided to feed the sheets accommodated in the intermediate tray 107 to the paper feed path 109 or the paper feed path 111 starting from the uppermost sheet.

Furthermore, the paper feed path 109 is provided with a guide 121 that guides the sheet, and a separation unit 141 that separates the sheet sent out by the paper feed roller 117 into one sheet.

The separating means 141 includes, for example, a paper feed roller 143 that rotates in the sheet conveyance direction, and this paper feed roller 1.
A separating roller 145 is provided for repelling the sheet that follows the sheet conveyed by 43.

Further, the paper feed path 111 includes a guide 120 that guides the sheet, and a separation unit 147 that separates the sheet sent out by the paper feed roller 119 into one sheet.
Guides 123 and 125 that guide the sheets separated by this separation means 147, and conveyance rollers 12
4,126 are provided.

The separating means 147 includes, for example, a paper feed roller 149 that rotates in the conveying direction of the sheet, and this paper feed roller 1.
A separating roller 151 is provided for repelling the sheet following the sheet conveyed by the conveyor 49.

Further, at the confluence of the paper feed path 109 and the paper feed path 111, there is a registration roller 1 for correcting the inclination of the sheet.
27,129 are provided.

The changing means 161 includes auxiliary paths 163 and 16 that guide the sheets on the reversing path 105 to the intermediate tray 107.
5,167 and these auxiliary routes 163,165,
Switching gate 169, 17 to select 167
1,173 are provided.

These switching guides 169, 171, 17
3 is driven by, for example, individually provided solenoids 175 and returned by springs 177, as shown in FIG.

<Operation> In such a configuration, this device operates as follows.

(Double-sided copying operation)...See FIG. 2 First, the document cover 75 shown in FIG. 1 is opened, a document is set on the platen 77, and copying conditions are set. The switching guides 169, 1
71, 173 is operated, and the stopper 113 is moved to the reference position as shown in FIG. 2A. Note that it is assumed here that the switching guide 171 has been selected.

In this state, when the copy button is pressed, a sheet is fed from the paper feed cassette 9 according to the size and the image forming section 7 copies the sheet. The copied sheet is discharged by a paper discharge roller 95 and supplied to a reversing path 105 by a switching guide 108. This sheet is blocked from the paper feed path 111 by the switching guide 171 and is discharged to the intermediate tray 107 from the auxiliary path 165. Then, the tip is regulated by a stopper 113 and housed as shown in FIG. 2B.

When the above operation is performed for the set number of sheets, the switching guide 171 closes. In addition, the original on the platen 77 is turned over or the next original is set, and preparations are made for copying onto the back side of the sheet stored in the intermediate tray 107. When this preparation for copying is completed, the stopper 113 is moved toward the separating means 147 as shown in FIG. 2C, and the accommodated sheets are set at the paper feeding position. Then, the paper feed roller 119 is dropped onto the sheet,
Rotate and feed out the top paper.

The leading edge of the fed sheet rises along the guide 120 as shown in FIG.
The sheet is separated into one sheet at 47 and fed to the paper feed path 111 across the auxiliary path 163. The direction of this sheet is changed by the guide 123, and the conveyance roller 1
24 and 126, the paper is conveyed through the paper feeding path 111.

Then, the stopped registration roller 127,
129 and the registration is corrected, the registration rollers 127 and 129 rotate to move the paper from the paper feed path 109 to the paper feed path 21 of the copying machine 5.
supplied to Then, the image forming unit 7 copies the sheet on the back side, and the sheet is discharged from the paper discharge path 101 to the paper discharge tray 103 . This operation is performed until there are no more sheets stored in the intermediate tray 107.

(Synthetic copying operation)...See FIG. 3. As in the case of double-sided copying, the original is set on the platen 77, and copying conditions are set. At this time, the toner color is also specified. For example, the switching guide 171 is operated according to the size of the copy sheet specified by the setting of the copying conditions, and the stopper 1
13 to the reference position as shown in FIG. 3A.

In this state, when the copy button is pressed, the image is copied onto the sheet fed from the paper feed cassette 9 according to the size, as in the case of double-sided copying, and then passed through the reversing path 105 and the auxiliary path 165 as shown in FIG. 3B. It is supplied to the intermediate tray 107 as shown in FIG.

When the above operation is performed for the set number of sheets, the stopper 113 is moved to the right side and retracted as shown in FIG. 3C. Further, the next document is set on the platen 77, and the toner color is specified.

When this preparation for copying is completed, the paper feed roller 117 is dropped onto the sheet and rotated to feed out the uppermost paper as shown in FIG. 3D.

The tip of this fed sheet is at the guide 12.
1, and is separated into one sheet by the separating means 141 and supplied to the sheet feeding path 21.

Then, the image forming section 7 copies the previously copied sheet using toner of a different color, and the sheet is discharged from the paper discharge path 101 to the paper discharge tray 103 .
This operation is performed until there are no more sheets stored in the intermediate tray 107.

<Effects of the Embodiment> According to the embodiment described above, the sheet ejected from the copying machine 5 is transferred to the intermediate tray 107 via the reversing path (first path) 105 during both duplex copying and composite copying. During double-sided copying, the sheets stored in the intermediate tray 107 are supplied from the storage side to the image forming unit 7 via the paper feed path (third path) 111, and during composite copying, the sheets are stored in the intermediate tray 107. Since the sheets are fed to the image forming section 7 of the copying machine 5 from the side opposite to the storage side via the paper feed path (second path) 109, the intermediate tray is used both during double-sided copying and composite copying. The curling direction of the sheet stored in the intermediate tray 107 becomes one direction, and there is less consideration given to the shape of the guide according to the curling direction around the intermediate tray 107, and the design is easy, and the sheets stored in the intermediate tray 107 and the intermediate Feeding from the tray 107 becomes smooth.

Further, a changing means 161 changes the position at which the sheet is fed from the reversing path 105 to the intermediate tray 107 according to the size of the sheet, and a changing means 161 moves to a reference position when storing the sheet, pushes the sheet during double-sided copying, and retreats during composite copying. Since the movable stopper 113 is provided, the sheets accommodated in one intermediate tray 107 can be fed out from different directions during double-sided copying and composite copying, and the sheets accommodated in the intermediate tray 107 can be fed out during double-sided copying. The sheets can be aligned during movement, and the sheets can be reliably supplied from the intermediate tray 107 to the image forming unit 7.

Furthermore, during composite copying, by driving one of the switching guides 163, 165, and 167 according to the sheet size, the sheets accommodated in the intermediate tray 107 are aligned and set at the reference position, and the sheets are fed from that position. The paper can be sent to the paper path 109.

Furthermore, since the conveyance direction of the sheet is changed on the intermediate tray 107 and the sheet is fed to the paper feed path 111 without providing a switchback path as in the conventional case, there is no need to provide a special switchback path, and the paper is saved accordingly. , the device can be made smaller.

[Modified example]

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, the following modifications are possible.

(1) In the above embodiment, the copying machine 5 and the sheet conveying device 4
Although the image processing device 1 and the image processing device 1 are shown as separate bodies, the two may be integrated.

(2) In the above embodiment, the switching guides 163, 165, 16 are set according to the sheet size even during double-sided copying.
7 is selectively driven, for example, the sheet may be supplied to the intermediate tray 107 from the auxiliary path 163 regardless of the sheet size, and the stopper 113 may be moved in accordance with the sheet size.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In summary, the present invention provides an image processing apparatus that stores a sheet on which an image has been formed in an image forming section in a storage section and then supplies the sheet to the image forming section again to form an image. a first path for supplying the sheet on which the image forming apparatus has been formed to the storage section; a second path for supplying the sheet stored in the storage section to the image forming section from a side opposite to the storage side; a third path for supplying the sheets stored in the accommodating section from the accommodating side to the image forming section; and a changing means for changing the position at which the sheets are supplied from the first path to the accommodating section according to the size of the sheet. Therefore, even when images are formed on both sides of the sheet, or when images are formed multiple times on the same sheet surface, the sheet on which the image has been formed in the image forming section passes through the first path. The sheets are supplied to the storage section, and the sheets can be stably stored in the storage section with the same curl direction, and the sheets stored in the storage section can be aligned by selecting the sheet supply position with the changing means. Since the sheet can be reliably fed from the storage section to the image forming section, and the conveyance direction of the sheet is changed in the storage section, it is possible to obtain an image processing apparatus that can be downsized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the image processing device, FIGS. 2 and 3 are operation explanatory diagrams, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a stopper moving mechanism. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a modification of the invention. Figures 6 to 8
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the prior art. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Image processing device, 2... Placing table, 4... Sheet conveying device, 5... Copying machine, 7... Image forming section, 101... Paper discharge path, 105... Reversing path,
107... Intermediate tray, 109, 111... Paper feed path, 113... Stopper, 117, 119...
Paper feed roller, 161... Changing means, 163, 16
5,167...Auxiliary route, 169,171,17
3...Switching guide.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus that stores a sheet on which an image has been formed in an image forming section in a storage section and then supplies the sheet to the image forming section again to form an image, comprising:
a first path for supplying sheets with images formed in the image forming section to the storage section; and a second path for supplying the sheets stored in the storage section to the image forming section from a side opposite to the storage side. A path, a third path for supplying the sheet stored in the storage section from the storage side to the image forming section, and a position for supplying the sheet from the first path to the storage section according to the size of the sheet. An image processing apparatus comprising: changing means for changing the image. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the changing means includes a plurality of switching guides that open and close for each sheet size. 3. In the image processing apparatus according to claim 1, the second and third paths each include separating means for separating the sheets supplied from the storage section to the image forming section into one sheet. An image processing device characterized by: