JPH071912B2 - Input/Output Devices - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an input/output device such as a facsimile.

(Prior Art) A facsimile machine in which a single feed roller is provided for both transmission and reception (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-22353)
or a unit with a transmitting and receiving head (JP Patent Publication 56-3427
(See Publication No. 3). However, in this case, the transport paths for the document and the recording paper are separate, making the device large and complicated in configuration. There are also examples where the transport paths are partially shared, but there are no examples where the device is combined with an integrated head to achieve compactness. Also, a sensor is provided between the roll paper holder and the recording unit to detect the presence or absence of recording paper (end detection) and the amount of remaining paper, which increases costs.

(Objective of the Invention) The present invention has been made to improve upon the problems of the prior art described above, and provides an input/output device which promotes commonality, simplifies the configuration, and realizes a smaller device with lower costs.

(Configuration of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, a reading unit that reads a document;
The recording unit records necessary information on the recording paper, and the reading unit is positioned before the recording unit on the transport path along which the recording paper is transported. The arrangement length of the reading element group in the reading unit is made longer than the arrangement length of the recording element group in the recording unit so that the reading unit performs detection related to the transport of the recording paper.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a document table, 2 is a separation roller, 3 is a separation piece, 4 is a recording paper roll, 5 is a delivery roller, 6 is a tension roller, 7 is a
denotes a feed roller, 10 denotes a head unit formed by integrating the reading section 8 and the recording section 9, 11 and 12 denote a fixed blade and a rotary blade that form a cutter, 13 denotes a discharge roller, 14 denotes a tension roller, and 15 denotes a stacker.

In the above configuration, the originals are separated and drawn one by one from the original table 1 by the separation roller 2 and the separation piece 3, read by the reading unit 8, and then discharged by the discharge roller 13 to the stacker 15.
At this time, the head unit 10 is discharged to the
The feed roller 7 moves left by a distance of 0.01 mm, or the feed roller 7 moves right by the same distance, so that the reading section 8 comes into contact with the feed roller 7 appropriately and reading becomes possible. The cutter does not operate. On the other hand, for recording, the leading edge of the recording paper pulled out from the recording paper roll 4 is between the feed roller 5 and the feed roller 7, so when a recording signal is received, the feed roller 7
After recording, the sheet is cut by a cutter and discharged by a discharge roller 13 to a stacker 15.
At this time, the head unit 10 is discharged to the
Then, the feed roller 7 moves to the right by a distance of 0.01 mm, or the feed roller 7 moves to the left by the same distance, so that the recording unit 9 comes into proper contact with the feed roller 7, enabling recording. The cut, unrecorded recording paper is pulled back to its initial position by the feed roller 7 and the pay-out roller 5. The drive system is not shown in the figure.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the head unit 10, which is an integral structure of the reading section (contact sensor) and the recording section (thermal head), and the single feed roller 7, which is used for both reading and writing, are displaced by a small distance relative to each other.
This enables both reading and recording, and allows the transport path and transport drive system to be shared, resulting in significant cost reduction and miniaturization.

2 shows the mechanism for displacing the feed roller 7. The position of the feed roller 7 shown by the solid line is the position during recording, and the dashed line is the position during reading. The lever 18 is pulled against the biasing force of the compression spring 17 by the attraction of the solenoid 16, and the lever 18 rotates about the fulcrum 19, displacing the feed roller 7 and switching it from the recording section to the reading section. To facilitate the movement of the feed roller 7 during switching, a solenoid 20 is provided.
, and the head unit
The solenoid 20 is provided to temporarily lift the head unit 10 by suction when an original or recording paper arrives, ensuring that the original or recording paper is gripped, but may not be necessary depending on the contact pressure, transport force, and other conditions.

Fig. 3 shows a mechanism for displacing the head unit 10 in the opposite manner to Fig. 2. The attraction of the solenoid 22 pulls the lever 24 against the biasing force of the compression spring 23, causing the lever 24 to rotate about the fulcrum 25, displacing the head unit 10 and switching it from the reading section to the recording section. Note that a motor and a cam may be used instead of the solenoid to move the lever.

In conventional devices, the recording paper transport path leading to the recording unit is generally provided with a required number of paper sensors to detect the presence or absence of recording paper, whether the recording paper is jammed, and, in devices that can use recording paper of different sizes, the shape and size (paper width) of the recording paper.
However, in recent years, as the demand for smaller, lighter, and lower cost continues, restrictions on the installation locations of these sensors have become stricter, making it difficult to mount wiring and connectors for power supply and signal extraction, as well as their mounting members, etc. Furthermore, problems arise during assembly, adjustment, and other operations. In the present invention, by locating the reading unit on the upstream side of the transport path as described above, the reading unit can detect the recording paper, eliminating the need to provide a dedicated sensor for detecting the recording paper as in the past.

In addition, in the past, in input/output terminal devices, etc.,
It can read A3 or B4 size documents and records in A4 format.
There are devices that can read a combination of sizes, i.e. A3 or B4 width, and convert it to A4 size before sending.
In this case, if the line density of the main scan lines is made the same for reading and recording, the number of reading elements must be greater than the number of recording elements.

Even in the present invention where the reading unit is disposed before the recording unit on the recording paper transport path, the length of the recording element group of the recording unit 9 is set to the A4 length corresponding to the width of the recording paper, and the length of the reading element group (including the LED group and the photosensor element group) of the reading unit 8 is set to the B4 length capable of reading a B4 width document, as shown in Fig. 4. In addition, if the positional relationship between the recording element group and the reading element group is centered and the line density is 8 dots/mm in the main scanning direction, then _lP = A4 = 216 mm = 1728 dots _lS = B4 = 256 mm = 2048 dots.

When the recording paper (A4) is set and the recording operation starts, the recording paper passes through the reading unit 8 from the position of the recording paper in FIG. 4(a) and reaches the recording unit 9, where the printing operation starts.
As the recording paper passes through the paper feed tray, it is detected in the same manner as when the original is read.

When the recording paper is set in a specified location and transported, the signal read by this reading unit 8 passes through the center part excluding part a in Fig. 4, and since the recording paper is generally white, a signal like that shown in Fig. 4(b) is obtained. The signal in Fig. 4(b) is the analog signal from the reading unit 8 that has been processed into a binary signal. When setting and transporting the recording paper, some deviations may occur, and there may also be errors in the paper size,
Although it cannot be said that the amount is exactly a, the error stipulated by the device can be determined and processed accordingly. When the signal shown in Fig. 4(b) (where a±α is allowed) is obtained, it can be confirmed that the recording paper is being conveyed as specified.

Next, if the recording paper is transported as shown in Fig. 5(a) and a signal from the reading unit is obtained as shown in Fig. 5(b), it can be determined that if the recording paper is transported as is, it will not be printed correctly on the recording paper. That is, the recording paper is transported to the position shown in Fig. 6, and the portion d is not printed on the recording paper, resulting in a loss of information. If the recording paper is transported to the position shown in Fig. 5(a) in this way, it is determined that the desired transport has not been performed, and the device can be controlled as a whole, such as by stopping the device or warning the operator. Even if the recording paper is transported at an angle, a signal such as that shown in Fig. 5(b) can be obtained.

The signal from the reading unit is input to the system control unit of the device, and generally a μCPU or similar makes a judgment, so these judgments are easy to make. Figure 7 shows an example of a flow for judgment by the system control unit or similar from the signal in Figure 5(b). If the result in Figure 7 is "NO", the recording paper has been transported within a specified range, and printing begins when the recording paper reaches a specified position for the recording element group. If the result is "YES",
If so, it is determined that the recording medium is being conveyed outside the predetermined range, and an abnormality is detected, and measures such as stopping the recording operation are taken.

The above shows a method of detecting recording paper using the portion a where the length of the read element group arrangement is longer than the length of the recording element group arrangement, in a configuration where the reading width of the reading section is B4 size and the recording width is A4 size, but even if the reading width and recording width are both A4 size, it is possible to treat it as a portion equivalent to the above a by adding a small number of read elements to both sides of the A4 reading width and perform the same detection of the recording paper. Even if the linear density of this added portion is "coarser" than the linear density of the reading element group, it is possible to detect the recording paper.

In FIG. 8, _lP is the length of the recording element group. If the linear density is 8 dots/mm, it is 1728 dots, 216 mm. The length of the reading element group is
It is _lP + 2e, where e is an additional element group for monitoring the transport of the recording paper. If the _lP part of the reading element group has the same linear density as the recording element group, it will have the same number of dots. The linear density of e does not need to be the same as the other parts as long as it can detect the recording paper. For example, 4 dots/mm or 2 dots/mm is sufficient. If e is 2 dots/mm and there are 8 dots, it will be 4 mm. In other words, _lP mm + (4 x 2) mm is the array length of the reading element group, and the number of dots at that time is 8 dots + 1728 dots + 8 dots = 1744 dots.

In this case, if the document is read at the same position as an A4 size recording paper, the read image signal is 1744 dots, and by discarding the 8 dots on both sides and treating only 1728 dots as the image signal, the document can be read correctly. As is well known, the reading unit can be driven in this case by inputting the necessary clock input, timing signal, etc. corresponding to 1744 dots to the reading unit, and is the same as when driving 1728 dots.

In addition, when detecting recording paper, the LEDs that serve as illumination means for the reading element group can be used to detect the paper by turning on only the LEDs in specific locations, which reduces power consumption and prevents the head unit from overheating.

FIG. 9 shows a concrete example of recording paper width detection.
For example, the reading unit 8 can read A3 size documents, and the recording unit 9 can
B4 size recording is possible, and the recording paper roll 4a is A4 size,
There are two types of recording paper roll 4b, one B4 size. Normally (standby state), the mode is receive mode, and the previously used roll paper is fed to the reading section so that the paper width can be detected. Here, A4 size paper is set in this state. The operation is as follows: Reading The leading edge of the A4 size roll paper is returned by the feed roller 5a by a distance of y. → Document reading (reading operation omitted), → After reading is completed, the leading edge of the A4 size roll paper is fed to the reading section by the feed roller 5a (receive mode).

Recording on A4 size recording paper After detecting the paper width (A4), the paper is sent directly to the recording section.
→ Recording (recording operation omitted), → After recording ends, return to original state (receive mode).

Recording on B4 size recording paper After detecting the paper width (A4), the feeding roller 5a returns the leading edge of the A4 size roll paper by a distance y. → The feeding roller 5b sends the leading edge of the B4 size roll paper to the recording unit. → Recording (recording operation omitted), → After recording is completed, the leading edge of the B4 size roll paper is returned to the reading unit (reception mode).

This makes it possible to detect the recording paper roll width (previously, a separate sensor was provided). In the explanation of operation, the paper width used last time was set to standby (set in the reading section), but it is also possible to select either A4 or B4, whichever is used more frequently, and always set that.

As described above, according to the present invention, the reading unit is disposed before the recording unit on the recording paper transport path, and the length of the array of the reading elements in the reading unit is made longer than the length of the array of the recording elements in the recording unit, thereby making it possible for the reading unit to detect the presence or absence of recording paper, jams, and the shape and size of the recording paper, and thus eliminating the need for a paper sensor as conventionally provided, and therefore eliminating the need for the wiring members and assembly process required for that, reducing the number of parts,
A significant cost reduction can be achieved by reducing the number of steps, and the size of the device can also be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a feed roller displacement mechanism and a drive system for the feed roller in the same embodiment, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a head unit displacement mechanism in another embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the detection state and the detection signal when the recording paper is normally transported.
Fig. 5 shows the detection state and the detection signal when the recording paper is conveyed out of alignment, Fig. 6 shows the positional relationship between the recording unit and the recording paper when the recording paper is conveyed out of alignment, Fig. 7 shows the flow for determining whether the recording paper is conveyed normally or abnormally, Fig. 8 shows another embodiment in which a small number of recording paper detection elements are provided on both sides of a reading unit having the same number of dots as the recording unit, and Fig. 9 shows a specific example of recording paper width detection. 1... document table, 2... separation roller, 4, 4a, 4b...
Recording paper roll, 5, 5a, 5b...feed roller, 7...feed roller, 8...reading unit, 9...recording unit, 10...head unit, 13...ejection roller, 15...stacker, 16,2
0,22...Solenoid.

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] An input/output device comprising: a reading unit that reads image information from an original and detects the shape of the recording paper; a recording unit that records the image information on the recording paper; transport rollers that transport the original and the recording paper; and a head unit that arranges the reading unit on the upstream side of the transport direction and the recording unit on the downstream side, wherein the arrangement length of a group of reading elements in the reading unit is longer than the arrangement length of a group of recording elements in the recording unit.