JPH0444865B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a thermal transfer color copying machine. [Technical Background of the Invention] Recently, a thermal transfer color copying machine that performs color copying using, for example, thermal transfer ink ribbons of a plurality of colors has been considered. The outline of this copying machine is to extract image information (color signal of light) by scanning and reading a document with an optical scanning means, and to transfer this image information to the colors corresponding to each ink color on a thermal transfer ink ribbon. A device that performs color copying by sequentially transferring one color to paper by converting it into a signal, selecting the corresponding ink portion of the thermal transfer ink ribbon according to this color signal, and thermally transferring the ink to paper using a thermal head. It is. [Problems with the Background Art] However, in the above-mentioned apparatus, the time required for copying is longer than in the conventional electrophotographic copying machine. When printing one color, the time is not very long, but
In the case of multi-color printing, it takes three to four times as long as one-color printing. Therefore, a problem arises in that the user who operates the copying apparatus has to wait for a long time from the start to the end of copying without knowing anything about the operating state of the apparatus. [Object of the invention] This invention was made in view of the above circumstances,
The purpose is to provide an image forming apparatus that can inform a user of the progress of an image forming operation. [Summary of the Invention] The present invention has a plurality of colorants, forms an image on an image forming medium sequentially for each color using the colorants, and forms an image on the image forming medium using the colorant. A determining means determines the color of the colorant to be imaged on the image forming medium, and information indicating the color of the coloring agent determined by the determining means according to the image forming operation state of the image forming means. are displayed in sequence. Further, the present invention has a plurality of colorants, and an image forming means forms an image on an image forming medium sequentially for each color using the colorants, and image information of the plurality of colors is used.
The image forming medium is conveyed by a conveying means, the conveying state of the image forming medium being conveyed is detected by a detecting means, and the coloring material to be image formed on the image forming medium by the image forming means is detected. The color is determined by a determining means, and information indicating the conveyance state of the image forming medium detected by the image forming means and the color of the colorant determined by the determining means are sequentially displayed. [Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 schematically show a thermal transfer color copying machine according to the present invention. That is, 1 is a main body of a copying machine, and an operation panel 2 is provided at the front of the upper surface of the main body 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the operation panel 2 is provided with a copy key 3, a sheet number display section 4, a display section 5 for displaying the operating status, a numeric keypad 6, and the like. The left side of the main body 1 includes a document scanning section 8 that scans and reads a document set on a document table (transparent glass plate) 7;
Further, the right side is an image forming section 9. In addition,
Reference numeral 10 denotes a document cover provided on the document table 7 so as to be openable and closable. The document scanning section 8 is configured as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, for example. That is, the document table 7 is fixed to the main body 1, and below the document table 7 there is an arrow a shown along the lower surface of the document table 7.
A scanner 11 is provided which optically scans and reads the original O set on the original table 7 by reciprocating in the direction. The scanner 11 includes an illumination lamp 12 that illuminates the original O, a photoelectric converter 13 that receives reflected light from the original O, an optical system 14 such as a lens that guides the reflected light from the original O to the photoelectric converter 13, and a carriage 15 that supports them
Consisting of: The photoelectric converter 13 outputs image information as color signals of green, yellow, and cyan light by photoelectrically converting the light reflected from the original O, and is mainly composed of, for example, a CCD type line image sensor. be done. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the carriage 15 is guided by a guide rail 16 and a guide shaft 17 so as to be able to reciprocate in the direction of arrow a. A driving pulley 19 driven by a scanning motor 18 capable of forward and reverse rotation is provided at one end of the guide shaft 17, and a driven pulley 20 is provided at the other end. A timing belt 21 is stretched between them. Furthermore, one point of the timing belt 21 is fixed to the carriage 15 via a fixing member 22. This allows the carriage 15 to move linearly by rotating the scanning motor 18 in the forward or reverse direction. Further, the image forming section 9 is configured as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, for example. That is,
A platen 30 is located approximately in the center of the image forming section 9.
A thermal head 31 is provided on the left side facing the platen 30. The thermal head 31 is attached to a heat radiator 33 integrally formed on the rear end surface of the holder 32. A ribbon cassette 35 containing a thermal transfer ink ribbon 34 as a thermal transfer material is detachably attached via the holder 32.
A thermal transfer ink ribbon 34 is interposed between the thermal head 31 and the platen 30. The ribbon cassette 35, as shown in FIG.
It has two parallel winding cores 36 and 37 around which both ends of the thermal transfer ink ribbon 34 are wound, and a midway portion of the thermal transfer ink ribbon 34 is interposed between the platen 30 and the thermal head 31. Hopefully,
It has a structure in which a part thereof is exposed and covered with a case 38. Then, the winding core 36, 3
7 is connected to a drive shaft of a motor (not shown) via a drive force transmission mechanism (not shown) when the ribbon cassette 35 is mounted, and is rotated as required. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the ribbon cassette 35 can be attached to or removed from the boulder 32 through an insertion/removal opening 39 formed on the right side of the main body 1. Note that the insertion/removal port 39 is provided with a lid 40 that can be opened and closed. On the other hand, a paper feed roller 41 is provided diagonally below the right side of the platen 30, and a paper feed cassette 42 is provided.
The sheets P, which serve as transfer materials, housed inside are taken out one by one. Then, the paper P taken out by the paper feed roller 41 is sent to a registration roller 43 disposed diagonally above and to the right of the paper feed roller 41, and after its leading edge is aligned, the paper P is transferred to a platen by the registration roller 43. 30, and is wrapped around the platen 30 by pressing rollers 44, 45, thereby being accurately fed. Here, the paper feed cassette 42 is detachable from the front of the main body 1. Note that 46 in FIG. 6 is a manual paper feeding device for manually feeding the paper P. The thermal head 31 presses the paper P against the platen 30 via the thermal transfer ink ribbon 34, and heats and melts the ink 47 as a colorant on the thermal transfer ink ribbon 34, as shown in FIG. It is designed to be transferred onto paper P. Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, for example, the thermal transfer ink ribbon 34 has yellow, magenta, cyan, and black ink portions 47 _Y , 47 _M , 47 _C , 47 having approximately the same width size as the paper P. _B are arranged in sequence, and after transferring one color at a time, the paper P is returned to the transfer starting position, and the sheets P are stacked one after another accurately. In this way, the paper P is reciprocated by the number of colors by the rotation of the platen 30, but the path of the paper P at that time is the lower surface of the paper output tray 48 that is provided on the main body 1 at an angle. It is guided onto first and second guide plates 49 and 50 which are sequentially arranged along the same direction. This includes a platen 30, first and second guide plates 49,
This is done by first and second distribution gates 51 and 52, respectively, provided between the ends of the distribution gate 50. That is, first, the paper P taken out from the paper feed cassette 42 is transferred through the registration rollers 43 and the first distribution gate 51, and its leading end is wound around the platen 30. Next, the platen 30 is rotated in the forward direction by a pulse motor (not shown) to transport the paper P at a constant speed, and the heating elements ( (not shown) generates heat in accordance with the image information, and thereby the ink 47 of the thermal transfer ink ribbon 34 is transferred onto the paper P. Then, the leading edge of the paper P that has passed through the platen 30 is sent onto the first guide plate 49 provided along the lower surface of the paper discharge tray 48 by the second distribution gate 52 located at the solid line position at this time. In this manner, when the transfer of ink 47 of one color is completed, the platen 30 is rotated in the opposite direction, thereby transporting the paper P in the opposite direction and returning it to the transfer starting position. At this time, the rear end portion of the paper P is sent onto the second guide plate 50 provided along the lower surface of the first guide plate 49 by the first sorting gate 51 which is rotationally displaced to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line. In this way, a plurality of colors are transferred by moving the paper P back and forth a plurality of times. And finally, all colors of ink 4
At this time, the paper P on which the transfer to 7 has been completed is guided to the paper ejection roller 53 by the second sorting gate 52, which is rotated to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line, and is guided by the paper ejection roller 53 onto the paper ejection tray 48. This is what is discharged. As shown in FIG. 9, the display section 5 of the operation panel 2 is a layout diagram of segments constituting a schematic diagram of a thermal transfer type copying machine displayed on a liquid crystal display element. In the figure, 61 is a liquid crystal display panel;
2 and 63 are pictograph display segments indicating whether or not a copying operation is possible; segment 62 alone indicates that copying is allowed; both segments 62 and 63 indicate that copying is not allowed. 64 is
A segment indicating that B5 size paper is selected, 65 is a segment indicating that B4 size paper is selected, 66 is a segment indicating that A4 size paper is selected, 67 and 68 are for frame display , 69 is a pictogram display segment indicating that a paper jam has occurred, 70 is a paper feed cassette segment for storing paper, 71
is a segment that displays no paper. 72 is a pictogram display segment indicating a ribbon cassette;
3 is a segment indicating the color of the ribbon being printed, 7
4, 75, 76, 77 are segments for displaying the transport path through which the paper passes; 78 is a segment indicating that a paper jam has occurred during paper feeding; 79 is a segment indicating that a paper jam has occurred during paper ejection; 880, 8
Segments 1, 82, and 83 indicate the conveyance state of the recording paper and the print color state, and 84 is a segment for displaying the platen on which an image is formed. The above segments 73, 80, 81, 82, 83
As shown in Figure 10, each consists of eight segments, SM1 to SM5 represent magenta, and SY
1 to SY5 can display yellow, SC1 to SC5 can display cyan, and SB1 to SB5 can display black. Further, the segment 73 indicates the color of the ink ribbon, the segment 80 indicates the color being printed, and the segments 81, 82, and 83 indicate the printed color. FIG. 11 schematically shows the control circuit. That is, a main control section 91 controls the entire copying machine, and is mainly composed of, for example, a CPU (central processing unit) and its peripheral circuits, to which a bus line 92 is connected. And, on the bus line 92,
The operation panel 2, the scanner control section 93, the photoelectric conversion section 94, the color conversion section 94, the transport control section 95, the thermal head drive section 96, the thermal head temperature control section 9
7, a display control section 98 and a storage section 99 are connected to each other. The scanner control section 93 operates in response to a signal sent from the main control section 91 via the bus line 92, and controls the illumination lamp 1 of the scanner 11.
2. Drive control of the photoelectric converter 13 and scanning motor 18, respectively. The photoelectric converter 13 detects an image on the document in response to a signal sent from the main control section 91 via the bus line 92, and outputs a light color signal as described above. The color conversion section 94
receives the signal output from the photoelectric converter 13, processes it, converts it into color signals of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks, and outputs each color signal to the bus line 92. In addition, the color conversion section 9
4 can also perform color conversion on the signal sent from the bus line 92 and output a new signal to the bus line 92. The conveyance control section 95 includes:
A motor that operates in response to a signal sent from the main control section 91 via a bus line 92 and drives the platen 30, and a motor that drives the core 3 of the ribbon cassette 35.
6, 37, the paper feed roller 4
1. Drive control of a motor that drives the registration roller 43 and the paper ejection roller 53, and a solenoid (none of which is shown) that drives the first and second sorting gates 51 and 52. The thermal head driving section 96 operates in response to signals sent from the main control section 91 via the bus line 92 and signals from the thermal head temperature control section 97 to drive and control the heating elements of the thermal head 31. . The thermal head temperature control section 97 outputs a temperature control signal to the thermal head driving section 66 in response to a signal sent from the main control section 91 via the bus line 92. The display control section 68 lights up the displayed graphics on the liquid crystal display panel 61 in response to a signal sent from the main control section 91 via the bus line 92. The storage section 99 operates in response to signals sent from the main control section 91 via the bus line 92, and stores information sent via the bus line 92 or reads out stored information. For example, in the storage unit 99, a first area stores information on a yellow component for one page of a document, a second area stores information on a magenta component, a third area stores information on a cyan component, The fourth area stores information about black components. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of the display control section 68. In the figure, 91 is the main control section,
At the same time as controlling the main body of the copying machine, each state of the copying machine is converted into a binary code signal of [1, 2, 4, 8] and outputted to the output terminal D. In addition, the output terminal L
A latch signal and a clock signal are output from _CP , respectively. Reference numeral 101 denotes a liquid crystal drive circuit, into which a data signal from the main control section 100 is inputted to an input terminal D in synchronization with a clock signal at an input terminal _CP . Reference numeral 102 denotes an oscillation circuit, which oscillates at the optimum frequency for driving the liquid crystal.From the output of this oscillation circuit 102, a DRIVE/PULSE signal and an inverted signal are generated by an inverter circuit 103, which are used to drive the liquid crystal. It is input to the circuit 101. Therefore, each output of the output terminals O1 to O32 of the liquid crystal drive circuit 101 is connected to the segment S of the liquid crystal display element provided in the liquid crystal display panel 61.
1 to S32, and the output of the oscillation circuit 102, that is, the DRIVE/PULSE signal, is supplied to the segment S33 of this liquid crystal display element, and the common electrode provided opposite to each of the segments S1 to S33. 84 has an inverter circuit 10
The output of 3, that is, the signal is supplied. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the liquid crystal drive circuit 101, and shows the shift registers SR1 to SR1.
In the SR32, a data signal input from the input terminal D is sequentially transferred to each of the 32 registers SR1 to SR32 in synchronization with the clock signal of the input terminal _CP . These 32 shift registers SR1 to SR32 include store registers RG1 to RG for holding the contents of each register in response to a latch signal from input terminal L.
32 are directly connected. This store register RG
1 to RG32 control 32 switches SW1 to SW32 depending on the contents held and output terminal O.
Output DRIVE/PULSE signal to 1 to O32
Outputs DRIVE/PULSE signal. When the contents of the above store registers RG1 to RG32 are “1”
When the DRIVE・PULSE signal is “0”・
PULSE signal is output to the corresponding output terminal.
In addition, shift register SR1, store register RG
1. Switch SW1 and output terminal O1 correspond to each other, and in the same way, they correspond to the other 31 shift registers SR2 to SR32 and store registers RG2 to RG3.
2. Switch SW2~SW32, output terminal O2~
O32 also corresponds to each. Table 1 shows a state in which predetermined contents are input to the liquid crystal drive circuit 81 by the main control section 91 and output to the output terminals O1 to O32.

【table】

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can inform a user of the progress status of an image forming operation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the invention.
The figure is an external perspective view schematically showing the overall configuration, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway schematic perspective view, FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the operation panel 2, and FIG. 4 is a manuscript. FIG. 5 is a side view schematically showing the structure of the scanning section, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the scanner moving mechanism of the document scanning section, FIG. 6 is a longitudinal side view schematically showing the structure of the image forming section, and FIG. 7 is a side view schematically showing the structure of the scanning section. is a perspective view for explaining the transfer operation state, FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the configuration of the thermal transfer ink ribbon, FIGS. 9 and 10 are views for explaining the arrangement of segments in the display section, and FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of the control circuit, FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of the drive circuit of the display section, FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of the liquid crystal drive circuit, and FIGS. 14 and 15 show the operation of FIG. 12. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing examples of display figures for the copy standby state, FIGS. 17 to 20 are diagrams for explaining the paper conveyance state, and FIG. 21 is a diagram showing segments during operation. It is a figure which shows the example of a display. P...paper, 5...display section, 9...image forming section, 11
...scanner, 30...platen, 31...thermal head,
34...Thermal transfer ink ribbon, 47...Ink, 61
...Liquid crystal display panel, 62-84...Graphic display segment, 91...Main control section, 93...Scanner control section,
94...Color conversion section, 95...Transportation control section, 96...Thermal head drive section, 98...Display control section, 99...Storage section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An image forming means having a plurality of colorants and forming an image on an image forming medium sequentially for each color using the colorants, and this image forming means a determining means for determining the color of the colorant to be imaged on the image forming medium in the image formation medium; 1. An image forming apparatus comprising: display means for sequentially displaying information; 2. an image forming means having a plurality of colorants and forming an image on the image forming medium sequentially for each color using the plurality of color image information using the coloring agents; a detection means for detecting the conveyance state of the image forming medium conveyed by the conveying means; and a detection means for detecting the conveyance state of the image forming medium conveyed by the conveying means; A judgment means for judging a color; and a display means for sequentially displaying information indicating the transport state of the image forming medium detected by the image forming means and the color of the colorant judged by the judgment means. An image forming apparatus characterized by: