JP2783733B2 - Copier - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copying machine in which a document table is reciprocated by a document table driving device during a copying operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a copying machine which performs copying by moving a platen, when a document on the platen is scanned by an optical system, the platen first moves from a standby position to a scanning start position in a return direction. Then, after moving in the feed direction to the scanning end position to scan the original, the scanning unit moves from the scanning end position to the original standby position in the return direction.

The conventional platen driving device 51 for moving the platen as described above is provided below the platen 52 as shown in FIG. 6, and has a structure as shown in FIG. In the platen driving device 51, when the platen 52 is moved in the feed (F) direction from the scanning start position, the feed solenoid 53 is turned on, whereby the latch 54 is turned on by the clutch brake of the feed spring clutch 55. Spring clutch 5 for feeding
5 is in the coupled state. Accordingly, the driving force input to the input gear 57 is transmitted to the output gear 58 and further transmitted to the platen drive gear 59, and the platen 52 provided with the rack that meshes with the platen drive gear 59 is fed (F) )
It moves in the direction.

After that, when the document table 52 reaches the scanning end position, this state is detected by the detection switch 60 shown in FIG. 6, and the feed solenoid 53 is turned off and the return solenoid 61 is turned on. As a result, the latch 62 is engaged with the clutch brake 63 of the return spring clutch 67, and the return spring clutch 6
7 is connected. Therefore, the driving force input to the input gear 57 is changed to the gear 64, the input gear 65, and the output gear 6.
The document table 52 is transmitted to a document table drive gear 59 via the output gear 6 and the output gear 58, and the document table 52 moves to a standby position in the return (R) direction.

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the original table 5
The reciprocating movement of 2 requires devices such as the feed spring clutch 55, the return spring clutch 67, the feed solenoid 53, and the return solenoid 61, which complicates the drive mechanism and increases the number of parts. In general, there are drawbacks in a copy manuscript copying machine of a movable platen type, which is often inexpensive and small in size, in that the size of the apparatus and the cost can not be reduced as desired.

In order to solve such a problem, there has been proposed a document table driving device adopting a direct connection type endless gear system for driving the document table 52 without using a clutch, a solenoid or the like.

The above-mentioned platen driving device will be described with reference to FIG. 4 which is an explanatory view of the present invention.
And the return side and feed side semicircle internal gear 7 having internal teeth arranged at each end in a semicircular shape.
The document table 2 is connected to an annular endless gear 8 connected at a 7b, and an input to which a driving force of a main motor (not shown) serving as a driving source is input inside the endless gear 8. The gear 9, the input gear 9, and the endless gear 8
A planetary gear 10 meshing with both gears is provided.

By rotating the input gear 9, the planetary gear 10 is rotated, and by rotating the planetary gear 10, the endless gear 8 is linearly moved. Platen 2
Is reciprocated. Thus, the configuration of the device can be simplified, and the size and cost can be reduced.

In a copier equipped with such a document table driving device, as shown in FIG. 8A, the movement of the document table 2 is controlled only by turning on / off a main motor as a driving source. As a result, the photosensitive member 13 makes one rotation and one copy is performed together with the one reciprocating operation of the document table 2, and the main motor (not shown) controls the transfer paper S When the paper output sensor 37 detects that the sheet is discharged outside the apparatus via the fixing device 19, the operation is stopped. Then, when the transfer sheet S of a predetermined fixed size is used, the transfer sheet S is discharged out of the apparatus at the same time when the movement of the document table in one cycle is completed.

[0010]

However, in a copying machine using the endless gear system, the transfer paper S
Is detected by the paper output sensor 37 or the like,
Since the main motor is stopped based on this detection, when the transfer paper S larger than the standard size is used, the paper output sensor 37 is used as shown in FIGS. Even if the discharge is detected and the main motor is stopped, the document table 2 stops after the end of one reciprocating operation and stops in a state of overlapping with the copying machine body 1, but the transfer sheet S smaller than the standard size is stopped. FIG. 9 is used when
As shown in (a) to (d), when the paper ejection sensor 37 detects discharge and stops the main motor, the document table 2 stops before the end of one reciprocating operation. It stops without shifting and does not overlap.

Therefore, from the user side, an improvement is desired because the stop position of the document table 2 varies depending on the size of the transfer sheet S, and the appearance is impaired.

On the other hand, even in a conventional copying machine using a solenoid, a clutch or the like, the paper output sensor 37 or the like detects that the transfer paper S has been discharged outside the machine, and based on this detection, the main motor is controlled. In the case of the configuration in which the transfer is stopped, the same problem occurs. In the conventional model, in order to solve such a problem, the main motor is not stopped at the same time as the discharge of the transfer paper S, but is stopped after a predetermined time elapses. Thus, the document table 52 is stopped in a state where the document table 52 overlaps the copying machine body.

However, in this method, the above-mentioned fixed time is set so as to be able to cope with a case where a transfer sheet S sufficiently smaller than the standard size is used, regardless of the transfer sheet size. Causes a problem that the time required for copying is long, and adopting this method as it is has a negative side.

Therefore, the copier of the present invention employs a direct connection system to simplify the structure, reduce the size and cost of the apparatus, and to use transfer paper S of any size that can be copied. It is another object of the present invention to make it possible to stop the document table in a state of being overlapped with the copying machine main body without making the required copying time longer than necessary.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, a copying machine according to the present invention has an endless gear and a driving gear for driving the endless gear, and a document for reciprocating a document table in a linear direction. A table driving device and a paper output sensor for detecting that the transfer paper has been discharged out of the machine, and transmission of a driving force from a driving source to the driving gear is directly performed without passing through a clutch mechanism. With one copy operation,
One cycle of movement of the platen for document scanning is performed,
The drive source is turned off by detecting the discharge of the transfer paper to the outside of the machine by the paper output sensor, and when the transfer paper of a predetermined fixed size is used, the transfer is performed simultaneously with the completion of the movement of the document table in one cycle. A copying machine in which the paper is discharged out of the machine, a transfer paper size detecting unit for detecting a size of the used transfer paper,
When the size of the transfer paper detected by the transfer paper size detection means is smaller than the standard size, the difference between the time required to output the standard size paper and the time required to output the small size paper, the driving source And a correction means for delaying the timing of turning off the power supply.

[0016]

According to the above construction, there is provided an original table driving device which has an endless gear and a driving gear for driving the endless gear, and which reciprocates the original table in a linear direction. Since the transmission of the driving force is performed directly without passing through the clutch mechanism, and one copy operation is performed, the original platen is moved for one cycle for scanning the original. The structure is simplified, the cost can be reduced, and the size can be reduced, as compared with a case where various clutches are provided in the mechanism for transmitting the drive.

Then, the transfer paper size detecting means detects the size of the transfer paper to be used, and the correcting means sets the time required to output the fixed size paper and the output time of the small size paper based on the detection result. And the drive source is O
Since the FF timing is delayed, even if the paper is small-sized paper smaller than the standard size, it is not necessary to use one of the document tables.
After the cycle movement, the drive source is turned off, and the document table is stopped in a state of being overlapped with the copying machine main body. As a result, in the case where transfer paper of any size that can be copied is used, the document table is stopped in a state of being overlapped with the main body of the copying machine, and the appearance can be improved without impairing the appearance.

Further, the duration of turning on the drive source varies depending on the size of the transfer paper, so that the time required for copying is not made unnecessarily long unlike the related art.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, the copying machine according to the present embodiment has a document table 2 on the upper surface of a substantially rectangular box-shaped copying machine main body 1. The platen 2 is formed by a transparent member such as a glass plate at a central portion, and is driven by a platen driving device 3 described later to linearly move in the horizontal direction.

A copy lamp 1 is provided above the copying machine body 1.
5 and an optical system 2 composed of a rod lens array 24, etc.
0, and a drum-shaped photoconductor 13 is disposed below the optical system 20. The photoreceptor 13 is driven to rotate by a main motor 43, which will be described later, and is exposed to the reflected light of the light emitted from the copy lamp 15 toward the document 25, and the residual charge is generated by the direct light from the copy lamp 15. Is to be neutralized.

Around the photosensitive member 13, the photosensitive member 13
And a stirrer 26, a supply roller 27, a stirring roller 28, a magnet roller 29, and the like. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 13 by the exposure operation of the optical system 20 is developed with toner. Developing device 30
A transfer roller 12 for transferring the toner image formed by the developing operation onto the transfer paper S; and a cleaning device 18 for collecting the residual toner on the surface of the photoconductor 13 by a blade 17.

A transport section 32 is provided on the supply side of the transfer paper S with respect to the photoconductor 13, and a paper supply section 3 is provided on the supply side.
3 are provided. The paper feed unit 33 includes a manual tray 34 on which the transfer paper S is placed, a paper feed roller 35 that feeds the transfer paper S one by one from the manual feed tray 34, and a paper feed solenoid described below that operates the paper feed roller 35. The transfer sheet S is supplied to the transport section 32.

On the other hand, the conveyance section 32 includes a paper input sensor 36 which is turned on when the transfer paper S is detected, a registration roller 16 for temporarily stopping the transfer paper S, and a registration roller 16.
The transfer paper S supplied from the paper supply unit 33 is transported between the transfer roller 12 and the photoconductor 13 at a predetermined timing.

Further, in the transport direction of the transfer paper S from the photoconductor 13, a paper jam, that is, jam sensors 38 and 39 for detecting the position of the jam paper when a jam occurs, and a toner image is fixed on the transfer paper S. A fixing device 19 for detecting the transfer sheet S and an output sensor 37 that is turned on when the transfer sheet S is detected and detects that the transfer sheet S has reached a discharge unit (not shown) are provided.

During the copying operation, the original table 2 is driven by the original table driving device 3, and the end in the return direction (R) substantially coincides with the end of the copying machine main body 1, that is, the standby position. from P _1, first, it moved to the scanning start position P ₂ of the return direction (R), then, for the document scanning by the optical system 20, and moved to the scanning end position P ₃ in the feed direction (F), then moves to the original standby position P _1.

On the other hand, while the original table 2 moves from the scanning start position P ₂ to the scanning end position P ₃ , the original 25
Is performed. That is, the document 2 placed on the platen 2
5 is irradiated by the copy lamp 15, and the reflected light is incident on the photoconductor 13 via the rod lens array 24. At this time, the photoreceptor 13 is uniformly charged by the main charger 14 and is exposed by the reflected light,
An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor 13.

This electrostatic latent image is developed with toner supplied from the developing device 30, and a toner image corresponding to the image of the original 25 is formed on the photoconductor 13. This toner image is
The image is transferred by the transfer roller 12 onto the transfer sheet S that has been conveyed from the manual paper feed unit 34 via the conveyance roller 35 and the registration roller 16. Thereafter, the toner image on the transfer paper S is transferred to the transfer paper S by heating and pressing operation by the fixing device 19.
The transfer paper S that has been fixed thereon and has passed through the fixing device 19 is discharged to the outside of the copying machine main body 1 from the paper discharge unit.

On the other hand, after the above transfer operation, the transfer roller 12
The toner adhering to the surface moves onto the photoconductor 13 by applying a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner to the transfer roller 12, and is collected by the cleaning device 18 together with the residual toner on the surface of the photoconductor 13. Further, the surface of the photoreceptor 13 after the transfer operation is uniformly discharged by the direct light of the copy lamp 15 to be in a standby state. In addition, the above-mentioned original scanning
A document table sensor 2 provided in a document table driving device 3 described later.
2 is started based on the output signal from the control unit 2.

The platen driving device 3 for moving the platen 2 as described above is provided on the back side of the copying machine main body 1 and is provided with
The configuration is as shown in FIG. The platen driving device 3 has a vertical wall shape, is connected to the platen 2 in a hanging manner, and has a main support 4a that moves with the platen 2 along the side surface of the copying machine main body 1. An oval concave portion is formed at the center of the support 4, and an annular endless gear 8 having internal teeth is provided in the concave portion.

The endless gear 8 has an upper rack portion 5 and a lower rack portion 6 provided in parallel with their tooth surfaces facing each other, and the respective ends of these two rack portions 5, 6 are connected to each other to form a semicircular shape. Return-side semicircular internal gear portion 7 having internal teeth aligned with each other
a and a feed-side semicircle internal gear 7b.
The upper rack portion 5 has a gear pitch smaller than that of the lower rack portion 6 and is formed to have a gear width substantially half, a side surface is along the copying machine main body 1 side, and a return side semicircle internal gear portion. The inner gear 7a and the feed-side semicircle internal gear 7b are disposed inside the endless gear 8 with a step.

Inside the endless gear 8, a sun gear 9 as a driving gear is fixedly provided at an intermediate portion between the upper and lower racks 5 and 6, and is provided between the sun gear 9 and the endless gear 8. Includes a small-diameter planetary gear 10c that is a drive gear;
A large-diameter planetary gear 10b is provided integrally and concentrically with the small-diameter planetary gear 10c as a driving gear. The small-diameter planetary gear 10c is formed to have a smaller diameter than the large-diameter planetary gear 10b and has a smaller number of teeth. The small-diameter planetary gear 10c is arranged on the copying machine body 1 side of the large-diameter planetary gear 10b and meshes with the upper rack section 5. I have. On the other hand, the large-diameter planetary gear 10b meshes with the lower rack 6, the return-side semicircle internal gear 7a, and the feed-side semicircle internal gear 7b.

The gear shaft 10a as a gear shaft of the large-diameter planetary gear 10b and the small-diameter planetary gear 10c is
The input shaft 9a of the sun gear 9 is rotatably connected to the vicinity of one end of the connecting plate 11 near the center of the connecting plate 11. The connecting plate 11 has a sliding member (not shown) connected thereto slides in a sliding guide groove (not shown) provided on the back side of a protective cover (not shown) of the main support 4. Thus, the rotation is made along the endless gear 8.

A groove 4a for passing the input shaft 9a, which is the rotation shaft of the sun gear 9 when the endless gear 8 is moved, is formed in the main support 4 in parallel with the upper and lower rack portions 5,6. ing. Driving force from a main motor 43, which is a driving source shown in FIG. 6, is transmitted to the input shaft 9a.

Further, the platen driving device 3 includes the platen 2
Platen sensor 22 shown in FIG. 5 for detecting the position and is provided, the platen sensor 22, the document table 2 is adapted to output an ON signal when it reaches the scan start position P ₂ .

In the above configuration, as shown in FIG.
The small-diameter planetary gear 10c of the platen driving device 3 is
When the sun gear 9 rotates in the direction A due to the input to the input shaft 9a when the input shaft 9a is engaged, the small-diameter planetary gear 10c rotates in the direction B, and the document table 2 moves together with the endless gear 8 in the feed direction (F). I do. Then, small diameter planetary gear 1
When 0c reaches the end on the return side semicircle internal gear portion 7a side of the upper rack portion 5, the meshing between the small-diameter gear 10c and the upper rack portion 5 is released, while the large-diameter planetary gear 10b is moved to the return side. It meshes with the semicircle internal gear 7a. In this state, the large-diameter planetary gear 10b rotates 180 ° around the sun gear 9 about the input shaft 9a of the sun gear 9 together with the connecting plate 11. When the large-diameter planetary gear 10b meshes with the lower rack portion 6, the document table 2 moves together with the endless gear 8 in the return (R) direction opposite to the above. Thereafter, when the large-diameter planetary gear 10b meshes with the feed-side semicircle internal gear 7b, the large-diameter planetary gear 10b and the connecting plate 11 move around the sun gear 9 around the input shaft 9a of the sun gear 9 by one.
It rotates by 80 ° and reaches the upper rack section 5.

As described above, as long as the sun gear 9 is rotating, the document table 2 alternately moves in the return direction and the feed direction. The large-diameter and small-diameter planetary gears 10b and 10c rotate only in the direction B, and the sun gear 9
Make a full turn around.

Further, the copying machine main body 1 has a control device 31 shown in FIG. The control device 31 is composed of a microcomputer, and receives input signals from a main power switch 40, a print switch 23, a paper input sensor 36, a document table sensor 22, and a paper output sensor 37 of the copying machine main body 1 as described later. Based on the main motor 43, a ready lamp 4 provided on a display panel (not shown) of the copying machine body 1
1. The operation of the copy lamp 15, the paper feed solenoid 44, the registration roller solenoid 45, the high voltage unit 46 for supplying a high voltage to the main charger 14 and the transfer roller 12, and the like are controlled. That is, the control device 31 is a transfer paper size detecting means and a correcting means of the present invention, and the transfer paper S is determined based on the ON continuation time of the paper output sensor 37 which is turned on by the transfer paper S as described later. Detect the size of
Based on this, the timing for turning off the main motor is corrected.

Next, the operation of the copying machine under the control of the control device 31 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, when the main power switch 40 is turned on (S1), an initial operation such as a check operation of a voltage and a remaining amount of toner at each part is performed (S2), and then the fixing device 19 is warmed up. (S3). Thereafter, the warm-up is completed and the preparation for the copying operation is completed (S
4) When the print switch 23 for instructing the start of copying is turned on (S5), the bias for the developing device 30 and the like, the main motor 43, the copy lamp 15, and the paper supply solenoid 44 are turned on (S6).

Thereafter, when the transfer paper S is fed and the paper input sensor 36 is turned on (S7), the paper feed solenoid 44 is turned off.
FF is performed, the high voltage unit 46 is turned on, and output is started (S8).

[0040] Then, the original table 2 has reached the scan start position P _2, platen sensor 22 is turned ON (S9), and starts the front end adjustment timer T _s for aligning the tip portion of the copied image (S10) .

[0041] Then, a timer T _s is determined whether reaches a predetermined value T _m1 that is set in advance (S11),
When it reaches, turn on the registration roller solenoid,
The transfer paper S is sent out (S12). And the paper input sensor 3
6 is turned off and the transfer of the transfer paper S is confirmed (S
13), the registration roller solenoid 45 is turned off (S14).

Thereafter, when the transfer paper S reaches the paper output section and the paper output sensor 37 is turned on (S15), the paper output timer T _0.
Is started (S16). After that, the paper output sensor 37
There was OFF, if the emission to the outside of the transfer sheet S has been confirmed (S17), this time, the value of the timer T _0, a predetermined value T _m2 which is set in advance, i.e., the transfer of the standard size The paper S reaches the paper output unit, turns on the paper output sensor 37, is discharged outside the copying machine main body 1, and turns off the paper output sensor 37.
Time (ON continuation time) until T ₀ ≧ T
Determines _m2 or not (S18), if T ₀ ≧ T _m2, the main motor 43, the copy lamp 15, high voltage unit 46
Is turned off (S19), and the print switch 23 is turned on again.
It waits until N is reached (S5). On the other hand, in S18, if it is determined not to be _{T 0 ≧ T m2, T 0} = T
Wait until _m2, when it becomes T ₀ = T _m2, the main motor 43, the copy lamp 15, a high voltage unit 46 O
FF is performed (S19), and the process waits until the print switch 23 is turned ON again (S5).

As described above, in the copying machine of the present embodiment, the original table driving device 3 having the direct connection structure using the endless gear 8 is provided, and the control device 31 controls the output of the standard size transfer paper S. The ON duration of the sensor 37 is compared with the ON duration of the paper output sensor 37 for the transported transfer paper S. If the ON duration of the transported paper S is shorter, the standard size is set. ON of transfer paper S
The timing for stopping the main motor 44 is delayed until the duration becomes equal to the duration.

Therefore, the structure is simplified, the size of the apparatus is reduced, the cost is reduced, and even if the transfer paper S smaller than the standard size is used,
As in the prior art, it is eliminated that the original table 2 is stopped without returning to the standby position P _1. In addition, unlike the conventional case, the time for turning on the main motor 43 extra is changed according to the transfer paper size, instead of correcting for a fixed time so as to correspond to all sizes that can be copied. The time required for copying is not unnecessarily long.

[0045]

As described above, the copying machine of the present invention has an endless gear and a drive gear for driving the endless gear, and a document table driving device for reciprocating the document table in a linear direction, and a transfer sheet. And a paper output sensor for detecting that the paper is discharged out of the machine. The transmission of the driving force from the driving source to the driving gear is directly performed without passing through the clutch mechanism, so that one copy operation can be performed. Accordingly, the original platen is moved for one cycle for scanning the original, and the drive source is turned off by detecting the discharge of the transfer paper to the outside of the machine by the paper output sensor. A copying machine in which, when paper is used, the transfer paper is discharged to the outside of the machine at the same time as the end of one cycle of movement of the platen, a transfer paper size detecting means for detecting the size of the used transfer paper; Transfer detected by the transfer paper size detection means Is smaller than the standard size, the difference between the time required to output the standard size paper and the time required to output the small size paper, and a correction means for delaying the timing of turning off the drive source are provided. Configuration.

As a result, as compared with the case where various mechanisms are provided in the mechanism for transmitting the drive to the platen, the structure is simplified, the size and the cost are reduced, and all sizes of the copy that can be copied are provided. Even when using transfer paper,
The document table can be stopped in a state of being overlapped with the main body of the copying machine without increasing the time required for copying unnecessarily, so that the appearance can be improved without deteriorating the aesthetic appearance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an operation of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the copying machine.

FIG. 3 is a schematic overall configuration diagram of a copying machine that performs the above operation.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of a platen driving device provided in the copying machine.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a control unit in the copying machine.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a structure near a document table in a conventional copying machine.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a main part showing a platen driving device in the copying machine shown in FIG. 6;

FIGS. 8A to 8D are explanatory diagrams showing a moving state of a document table and a transfer sheet transfer state in copying in a conventional copying machine.

9 (a) to 9 (d) are explanatory diagrams showing a moving state of a document table and a transfer sheet transfer state in copying in a conventional copying machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Copier main body 2 Original table 3 Original table drive device 8 Endless gear 9 Sun gear (drive gear) 10b Large-diameter planetary gear (drive gear) 10c Small-diameter planetary gear (drive gear) 22 Original table sensor 31 Control device (transfer paper size) Detection means, correction means) 37 paper output sensor 43 main motor (drive source) S transfer paper

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An endless gear and a drive gear for driving the endless gear; a platen drive for reciprocating the platen in a linear direction; and an output for detecting that the transfer paper has been discharged out of the apparatus. A paper sensor is provided, and transmission of a driving force from a driving source to the driving gear is directly performed without using a clutch mechanism, and one cycle of a document table for document scanning is performed with one copying operation. The drive source is turned off by detecting the discharge of the transfer paper to the outside of the machine by the paper output sensor, and when the transfer paper of a predetermined fixed size is used, one cycle of the document table is performed. Transfer paper is discharged to the outside of the machine at the same time as the transfer of the paper is completed, the transfer paper size detecting means for detecting the size of the used transfer paper, and the transfer detected by the transfer paper size detecting means Paper size is smaller than the standard size A copying machine provided with a difference between a time required to output fixed-size paper and a time required to output small-sized paper, and a correction means for delaying a timing of turning off a driving source. .