JPH0813587B2 - Image forming device with bookbinding function - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus with a bookbinding function, which includes bookbinding means.

[Conventional technology]

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-41261 shows a copying machine having a bookbinding device provided adjacent to a heating roller of a fixing device. In this copying machine, bookbinding is performed using the heat of the fixing device.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-121456 shows a copying machine in which a bookbinding device is incorporated in a sorter provided adjacent to the copying machine main body. In this copying machine, the copy sheets discharged from the main body are received by a bookbinding device to perform bookbinding.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional configuration utilizing the heat of the fixing device, the heating operation is unstable and insufficient, and good bookbinding cannot be performed.

In the above-described conventional configuration in which the bookbinding device is incorporated in the sorter, since the dedicated heater is provided, the above problem can be solved. However, with that configuration, when the copied sheets obtained in the main body of the copying machine are not bound by the bookbinding apparatus, but the other sheets are bound by the bookbinding apparatus, the bookbinding apparatus operates independently of the main body of the copying machine. I will let you. In this independent work, if the copying apparatus and the bookbinding apparatus are operated at the same time, excessive power consumption will result. Further, in order to deal with this, it is necessary to equip a power source transformer or the like having a large power capacity, which increases manufacturing cost.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus with a bookbinding function, which does not consume excessive electric power at one time and requires a small electric power capacity.

[Means for solving the problem]

An image forming apparatus with a bookbinding function according to the present invention includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a bookbinding unit, an image formation processing instruction unit, a bookbinding processing instruction unit, and a control unit. The bookbinding means is provided adjacent to the image forming means, and applies either high power for fast heating or low power for slow heating to a bookbinding object having an electric heating element and an adhesive. It is a means for selectively supplying. The image forming processing command means is means for issuing a command to execute the image forming processing. The bookbinding processing command means is means for issuing a command to execute bookbinding processing. The control unit determines whether or not the image forming process is being executed when the bookbinding process is instructed, and when the image forming process is not being executed, a large amount of power is supplied to the bookbinding target. It is means for controlling the bookbinding means so that a small amount of electric power is supplied to the bookbinding target when the forming process is being executed.

[Action]

In the image forming apparatus with bookbinding function according to the present invention, the image is formed on the sheet by the image forming unit. The bookbinding is performed by a bookbinding means.

The binding process command is issued by the binding process command means. When this bookbinding processing command is issued, the power supplied to the bookbinding target is controlled depending on whether or not the image forming processing is being executed. That is, when the bookbinding instruction is issued, the large power is supplied to the bookbinding target when the image forming process is not executed, and the small power is supplied to the bookbinding target when the image forming process is executed.

Here, two processes can be performed in parallel and
Since the power supplied to the bookbinding target is reduced when the two processes are executed in parallel, the power supply power may be low. If a small amount of power is supplied to the bookbinding target, the bookbinding time will be longer, but the bookbinding quality will not be significantly affected.

〔Example〕

2 and 3 show a copying machine as an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a document table 2 is fixed to the upper surface of a copying machine body 1, and a document retainer 3 is arranged on the document table 2 so as to be openable and closable. A paper feed tray 4 and a paper feed cassette 5 are detachably mounted on the right side of the copying machine body 1 in the figure. On the left side of the main body 1 of the copying machine, a paper discharge tray 6 for discharging copied paper is mounted.

An exposure device 7 for reading a document is provided above the copy machine main body 1. The exposure device 7 is composed of a light source, a mirror and the like. An image forming unit 8 is provided in the center of the copying machine body 1. At the center of the image forming unit 8, a photosensitive drum 9 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed is arranged. Around the photosensitive drum 9, a main charger 10, a developing device 11, a transfer charger 12, a separation charger 13, a cleaning device 14 and the like are arranged.
Between the paper feed tray 4 and the paper feed cassette 5 and the image forming unit 8, a paper feed conveyance path 15 including a plurality of conveyance rollers is provided. Further, between the image forming unit 8 and the paper discharge tray 6, a paper discharge conveyance device 16 and a fixing device 17 are arranged.

A bookbinding device 30 is provided on the right side of the image forming unit 8 in the copying machine body 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the bookbinding device 30 has a case-shaped loading section 31. Loading section 31
Is open to the side wall 1a of the copying machine body 1 and extends obliquely downward from the side wall 1a. A lid 32 is provided at the opening of the loading section 31. The lid 32 can be opened and closed by a hinge portion 33 at the upper end. An electrode 34 for supplying electric power to a binder described later is provided on the lower end surface of the loading section 31.

Further, the bookbinding device 30 has a control circuit 35 shown in FIG.
have. In FIG. 5, a + 24V power source is connected to one of the pair of electrodes 34. + 24V power supply and electrodes
An oscillating circuit 41 is connected to the capacitor 34 via a capacitor 40, and a capacitor 42 for storing electricity is also connected. The collector of the power transistor 43 is connected to the other electrode 34.

The emitter of the power transistor 43 is connected to the collectors of a pair of power transistors 48a and 48b arranged in parallel. The emitters of the power transistors 48a and 48b are grounded via resistors 49a and 49b, respectively. Both resistors 49a and 49b have different resistance values.
Is 1/10 of the resistance of the resistor 49b.
A fast heating terminal 50a and a slow heating terminal 50b are connected to the bases of both power transistors 48a and 48b.

At the base of the power transistor 43, the comparator 45
The output terminal of is connected. The remote terminal 46 is connected to the + terminal of the comparator 45. comparator
A power transistor is connected to the-terminal of 45 through a resistor 47.
43 emitters are connected.

Branch from between the power transistor 43 and the electrode 34,
An abnormality detection circuit 47 and a start detection circuit 48 are provided. The abnormality detection circuit 47 has a pair of comparators 49 and 50, and outputs a high level output from the NG terminal 51 only when the collector voltage of the power transistor 43 is within a predetermined normal range. On the other hand, the start detection circuit 48 includes one comparator 52, and when detecting an increase in the collector voltage of the power transistor 43, outputs a high level to the start terminal 53.

As shown in FIG. 2, an operation panel 20 is arranged on the front side of the upper surface of the copying machine main body 1. control panel
The 20 is provided with an LCD 21 for displaying the operating state (the number of copies, operating time, etc.). In addition, the operation panel 20
Print key 2 for instructing the start of the copy operation.
2, numeric keypad 23 to specify the number of copies, bookbinding device 30
A heating display lamp 24 for displaying the heating operation state of the above, a cooling display lamp 25 for displaying the cooling state thereof, and the like are provided.

Further, this copying machine has a control unit 60 as shown in FIG.
have. The control unit 60 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM and the like. The image forming unit 8, the LCD 21, the heating display lamp 24, the cooling display lamp 25, and other input / output units are connected to the I / O port 61 of the control unit 60.
Further, in this embodiment, the I / O port 61 is provided with the bookbinding device 3
The remote terminal 46, the high speed heating terminal 50a, the low speed heating terminal 50b, the NG terminal 51 and the start terminal 53 of the control circuit 35 of 0 are connected.

In the bookbinding operation in this embodiment, the binder 70 shown in FIG. 7 is used. The binder 70 has an electric heating element 72 and an adhesive 73 covering the electric heating element 72 on the inner surface side of the spine cover 71. The adhesive 73 is made of, for example, a thermoplastic resin. Further, a pair of electrodes 74 are provided on both ends of the electric heating element 72. The electrode 74 is exposed on the outer surface (the lower surface in the drawing) of the spine cover 71.

Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment will be described with reference to the control flowcharts of FIGS. 6A to 6F.

When the program starts, an initial setting operation such as heating the fixing device 17 to a predetermined temperature is performed. In this initial setting operation, various flags are set to the OFF state.

When the initial setting is completed, the interrupt processing is started based on the timer that times up every 1-2 msec.
In Figure 6A showing the timer interrupt process, the steps
In S1, which branch is executed is determined by referring to the scan table. Among the branches executed based on the determination in step S1 based on the scan table, branch B1 performs the processing based on the key input. Branch
At B2, the copy operation is processed. At the branch B3, processing at the start of the bookbinding operation is performed. In the branch B4, the processing when the heating step of the bookbinding operation is completed is performed. Branch
In B5, processing at the end of the cooling step in the bookbinding operation is performed. Since the branch B6 and the subsequent branches are general processing, the description thereof is omitted here.

Key Input Processing In the key input processing of branch B1, the control of FIG. 6B is executed. In FIG. 6B, in step S2, the print key 22
It is determined whether or not a copying operation start command is issued through.
If the determination is No, the process proceeds to step S3, and it is determined whether or not a command for setting the number of sheets has been issued through the ten keys 23. If the determination is No, after performing other key input processing in step S4, the processing returns to the processing of FIG. 6A.

Here, if the ten key 23 is pressed to set the number of copies, the program proceeds from step S3 to step S5.
Then, the input numerical value is stored as the number of copies.
In step S6, the number of copies is displayed on the LCD 21. When the processing in step S6 ends, the program returns to the main routine.

Next, if the print key 22 is pressed, the program proceeds from step S2 to step S7. Step S7
Now, set the print flag to ON. Step
When the processing in S7 is completed, the program returns to the main routine.

Copy Process The process at branch B2 which performs the copy operation process is shown in FIG. 6C. In step S8 in FIG. 6C, it is determined whether the print flag is in the ON state. Step S2 (6B
If the print key 22 is not pressed in the figure), the print flag is in the OFF state, and therefore the processing in the branch B2 ends. On the other hand, when the print flag is ON, the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, it is determined whether or not the copying operation described later is completed. The judgment is No during the copying operation, and the processing of the branch B2 ends. However, since the copying operation has not yet started at the beginning, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, it is determined whether or not the display number has become zero. If it is not 0, the set number of sheets have not been copied yet, so that the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, 1 is subtracted from the number displayed on the LCD 21 and the value is displayed on the LCD 21. In step S12, a normal copy operation is started. When the processing in step S12 ends, the program returns to the processing in FIG. 6A.

When the copy start command is issued in step S12,
The document on the document table 2 is scanned by the exposure device 7, and the obtained image information is transferred to the sheet conveyed from the sheet feed tray 4 or the sheet feed cassette 5 in the image forming section 8. The sheet on which the image has been transferred is subjected to a fixing process by the fixing device 17, and then discharged onto the discharge tray 6. During this copying operation, the determination in step S9 continues to be No.

When the series of copying operations is completed, the process proceeds from step S9 to step S10. The program proceeds from step S11 to step S12 until the copying operation for the set number of sheets is executed, and the copying operation is restarted. Judgment is Y in step S10
If es, the process proceeds to step S13 and the print flag is set to O.
Set to FF state. This results in step S8 in FIG. 6C.
At No, the copying operation is not repeated. When the processing in step S13 ends, the control returns to the control in FIG. 6A.

Bookbinding start processing When bookbinding is performed using the bookbinding apparatus 30, the paper 75 is stored in the binder 70 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.
One end thereof is brought into contact with the adhesive 73 on the spine cover 71. Then, the binder 70 is folded as shown in FIG. 8, and is accommodated in the loading section 31 while pushing the lid 32 open as shown in FIG. When the binder 70 reaches the bottom of the loading section 31 as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the electrode 74 of the binder 70 and the electric heating element are formed.
A pair of electrodes 34 are electrically connected via 72.

When the pair of electrodes 34 becomes conductive, the potential of the + terminal of the comparator 52 of the start detection circuit 48 in the control circuit 35 (FIG. 5) of the bookbinding device 30 rises, and the start terminal 53
Outputs a high level signal. This high-level signal is detected by the control unit 60 (FIG. 4), and as a result, the determination in step S14 of FIG. 6D becomes Yes.

FIG. 6D shows specific control of the branch B3 in FIG. 6A. In step S14, it is determined whether or not a bookbinding operation start command has been issued based on the rise in the potential of the start terminal 53. If there is no command to start the bookbinding operation,
The processing of the 6D diagram ends as it is. If the determination in step S14 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S15. Step S15
Then, it is determined whether or not the bookbinding flag is set to the ON state. At the beginning of bookbinding, this flag is set to the OFF state, so the program proceeds to step S16. In step S16, it is determined whether the error flag is set to the ON state. This error flag is also set to OFF at the beginning of bookbinding, so
The program moves to step S17.

In step S17, the bookbinding flag is set to the ON state. Next, in step S18, the timer is started. In step S19, the LCD 21 starts to display the remaining time required to complete the bookbinding operation. In step S20,
The heating indicator lamp 24 is turned on. In step S21, while outputting a high level signal to the remote terminal 46,
It also outputs a high-level signal to the low-speed heating terminal 50b.
On the other hand, a low level signal is output to the high speed heating terminal 50a. As a result, the power transistor 43 of the bookbinding device 30
Also, the power transistor 48b is turned on, and a current flows through the resistor 49b. Here, since the resistance value of the resistor 49b is set to be high, the current flowing between the pair of electrodes 34 is relatively small. Therefore, the electric heating element 72 of the binder 70 is
Gradually generates heat and gradually melts the adhesive 73. When the processing in step S21 ends, the control returns to the control in FIG. 6A.

Heating end process When the heating process in the bookbinding device 30 is completed, branch B4
Is processed.

In FIG. 6E showing the specific processing of branch B4, the steps
In S22, it is determined whether or not the bookbinding flag is in the ON state.
If the bookbinding flag is in the OFF state, it means that the bookbinding operation has not been started, and therefore the processing of FIG. 6E ends as it is.

If the determination in step S22 is Yes, step S2
Move to 3. In step S23, it is determined whether or not the print flag is in the ON state. Where the print flag
The ON state means that the copying operation is being executed.
Therefore, when the print flag is ON,
The program moves from step S23 to step S24.
In step S24, a high level signal is output to the low speed heating terminal 50b and a low level signal is output to the high speed heating terminal 50a in FIG. With binder 70 electric heating element 72
Heat gradually.

On the other hand, if the print flag is in the OFF state in step S23, the copying operation has not been executed, and thus the process proceeds to step S25. In this case, since no power is consumed for the copying operation, a large amount of power can be used to perform bookbinding operation at high speed. Therefore, in step S25, a low level signal is output to the low speed heating terminal 50b and a high level signal is output to the high speed heating terminal 50a. As a result, a current flows through the resistor 49a having a low resistance value, and the pair of electrodes 34
A large current will flow between them. As a result, the electric heating element 72 of the binder 70 strongly generates heat, and the adhesive 73 melts early.

The electric power supplied to the electric heating element 72 during the high speed heating and the low speed heating is adjusted by the feedback circuit (the portion of the resistor 47) for the comparator 45.

When the process in step S24 or step S25 is completed, the process proceeds to step S26. In step S26, the binder 70
The total amount of heat supplied to the adhesive by the electric heating element 72 of is calculated. This amount of heat is calculated based on the time of high speed heating and the time of low speed heating. Next, in step S27, it is determined whether or not a sufficient amount of heat has been applied to the adhesive 73 of the binder 70. While it is determined that the amount of heat is insufficient, since the heating by the bookbinding device 30 has not finished,
The program moves from step S27 to step S28.

In step S28, it is determined whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the bookbinding device 30. Here, when an abnormality such as a resistance value abnormality of the electric heating element 72 or a contact failure between the binder 70 and the electrode 34 occurs, the abnormality detection circuit 47 detects the abnormality.
Here, when the potential of the collector of the power transistor 43 deviates from the normal potential region defined by the pair of comparators 49 and 50, the output from the NG terminal 51 becomes low level. This change in the output from the NG terminal 51 is detected in step S28. If an abnormality is detected, the program proceeds to step S29. In step S29, a low level signal is output to the remote terminal 46 to stop energizing the binder 70. In step S30, the LCD 21 displays an error. Then, in step S31, the error flag is set to the ON state. When the processing in step S31 ends, the processing returns to the processing in FIG. 6A. Note that when the error flag is turned on, the determination in step S16 in FIG. 6D is Yes, so the heating process is not restarted.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S27 that the heating process has ended, then the process transitions to step S32. Step S
At 32, the heating end flag is set to the ON state. In step S33, a low level signal is output to the remote terminal 46, and the power supply to the bookbinding device 30 is stopped. Step S34
Then, the heating display lamp 24 is turned off. When the processing in step S34 ends, the program returns to the processing in FIG. 6A.

Cooling End Process When the heating process in the bookbinding device 30 is started in step S21 in FIG. 6D and stopped in step S33 in FIG. 6E, the bookbinding device 30 enters the cooling process.

Termination of the cooling step is performed at branch B5 in Figure 6A. In FIG. 6F showing the specific processing of the branch B5, in step S35, it is determined whether or not the heating process in the bookbinding device 30 is completed. This judgment is based on the heating end flag (6E
It is determined based on whether or not step S32) in the figure is in the ON state. Step until the heating process is completed
The determination in S35 is No, and the processing in FIG. 6F ends as it is.

If the determination in step S35 is Yes, step S3
Go to 6. In step S36, the cooling display is performed by turning on the cooling display lamp 25. Then step
In S37, it is determined whether or not a predetermined cooling time has elapsed. Until the predetermined cooling time elapses, step S37
The result of the determination in No is No, and the process directly returns to the process of FIG. 6A.

If the determination in step S37 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S38. In step S38, the bookbinding flag and the heating end flag are set to the OFF state. In step S39, the display of the time from the start of bookbinding is erased from the LCD 21, and the cooling display lamp 25 is turned off. In step S40, the display on the LCD 21 is returned to the number display. When the processing in step S40 ends, the program returns to the processing in FIG. 6A.

As described above, in this embodiment, two types of resistors are used.
By using 49a and 49b, it is possible to control the bookbinding device 30 to perform low-speed heating while the copy operation and the bookbinding operation are simultaneously executed, and to perform high-speed heating while only the bookbinding operation is executed. Even if both the bookbinding operation and the bookbinding operation are performed at the same time, excessive power is not consumed at one time.

[Other Examples]

The operation panel 20 may be provided with a bookbinding mode key, and the bookbinding operation of the bookbinding apparatus 30 may be started based on a command via the bookbinding mode. In this case, the start detection circuit 48 shown in FIG. 5 can be omitted.

〔The invention's effect〕

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the bookbinding operation is performed with low power during the high power consumption operation of the image forming unit. Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the image forming operation and the bookbinding operation are simultaneously performed, excessive power is not consumed at one time, and a small power capacity is required, so that the manufacturing cost is low. An image forming apparatus with a bookbinding function can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view thereof, FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical sectional view thereof, FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of its control unit, and FIG. Is a circuit diagram of the bookbinding apparatus, FIGS. 6A to 6F are control flow charts, FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective views of the binder, and FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 show usage states of the bookbinding apparatus. FIG. 1 ... Copier body, 8 ... Image forming unit, 30 ... Bookbinding device, 49a, 49b ... Resistor, 50a ... High-speed heating terminal, 50b ...
… Slow speed heating terminal, 60 …… Control part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet, and a bookbinding object which is provided adjacent to the image forming unit and has an electric heating element and an adhesive, and a large electric power for high speed heating and Bookbinding means for selectively supplying any one of small electric power for low-speed heating, image forming processing command means for issuing an instruction to execute the image forming processing, and command for executing the bookbinding processing. The bookbinding processing command means determines whether or not the image forming processing is being executed when the bookbinding processing is instructed, and when the image forming processing is not being executed, large power is supplied to the bookbinding target. An image forming apparatus with bookbinding function, comprising: a control unit that controls the bookbinding unit so that a small amount of electric power is supplied to a bookbinding target when the image forming process is being performed.