JPH046570A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the cost, to improve processing ability, and to prevent loss due to setting error by providing a display means of selected image formation speed and by instructing the image formation speed during the image formation with its pointer. CONSTITUTION:A photosensitive body drum 42 and a fixing roll 44 are rotated and driven by a sub-main motor 76, and the rotation speed can be changed over between two levels of high and low. Furthermore, an image formation speedometer 65 as the image formation speed display means has its pointer 65c driven by a pulse motor 65b provided in the backside of a disk scale plate 65a. Then, the number 0 on the scale plate 65a shows that the image formation is stopped, 20 shows the image formation of low speed at 20 pieces per minute (most appropriate image formation speed) being carried out, and 30 shows the image formation of 30 pieces per minute being carried out. Then, while the image formation is stopped, the pointer 65c shows 0, with the start of the image formation a specified image formation speed is shown, and is returned to 0 with the stopping of the image formation. Thus, image formation is quickend, the cost is reduced and furthermore, operation error is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having multiple image forming speeds.

(Prior Art) Generally, an image forming apparatus moves and scans a document placed on a document table using a light source, forms an image on a synchronously rotating photoreceptor drum, and then converts the document into a latent image. The image is visualized using a developer, transferred to a supplied sheet of paper, and heated and fixed by a fixing roller to complete image formation. By using an appropriate scanning speed, rotation of the photoreceptor drum, development processing, etc., images with an appropriate density can always be obtained. number) is kept strictly constant.

Hereinafter, this speed will be referred to as the optimum image forming speed.

The optimal image forming speed of such image forming apparatuses is increasing year by year in order to improve efficiency, but at the same time, the quality thereof is always maintained at a high level regardless of the purpose of use. Therefore, the technical problems to be solved become more sophisticated, and the equipment becomes more and more expensive.

On the other hand, in cases where high-quality image formation with a very wide density distribution is required, as shown in FIG. 13, and in cases where image formation of only text is required, as shown in FIG. The resulting quality is not necessarily the same, and treating them the same has disadvantages such as being uneconomical in various respects.

In consideration of these circumstances, it seems that an image forming apparatus that is inexpensive and has a high image forming speed even if the image forming density is somewhat low is being considered.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, conventional image forming apparatuses are very expensive, and because they process images at the optimal image forming speed regardless of the purpose of use, they are wasteful and uneconomical. Moreover, as the number of sheets of image formation increases, there is a problem in that a slight operational error can lead to large losses.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that is inexpensive, has a high image forming speed, is highly economical to use, and prevents operational errors. shall be.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is provided with an image forming speed display means for displaying a selected image forming speed from among a plurality of image forming speeds, and an optimal image forming speed display means. An image forming apparatus having an image forming speed and a higher image forming speed, the image forming apparatus comprising: a scale board having scales indicating the optimum image forming speed and the high speed image forming speed, respectively; a pointer having a scale indicator; The image forming apparatus is characterized by comprising a driving means for moving the scale to a position indicating the optimal image forming speed and a position of the scale indicating the high image forming speed when the image forming speed is high.

(Function) Generally, when the image forming speed is increased, the developing conditions become worse, and when the image forming speed is decreased, the developing conditions are improved and high quality image formation can be obtained.

Since the present invention has a plurality of image forming speeds consisting of an optimal image forming speed and a faster image forming speed, it is possible to select a high image forming speed within the range permitted by the image forming quality, and it is also possible to Since a forming speed display means is provided, the image forming conditions can be checked at all times, and the operating state can also be checked.

(Example) The details of the present invention will be explained below with reference to illustrated embodiments.

First, a first example will be explained. This embodiment uses a single color of black and has two image forming speeds: high and low. Fig. 1 shows the overall configuration, Figs. 2 to 4 show the two-speed drive system, Fig. 5 is an external perspective view, Fig. 6 shows the operation panel, and Fig. 7 shows the operation panel.
Figures 11 to 10 are diagrams showing the image forming speed meter.
The figure is a flowchart explaining the operation.

Note that this embodiment is the same as the conventional one except for the parts related to the second image forming speed, so regarding the similar parts,
Explain the outline.

This embodiment includes a main body 1, a document holding section 11, an exposure scanning section 21, a paper feeding section 31, an image forming section 41, and a paper discharging section 51.
and an operation panel 61.

The main body 1 accommodates various parts, and has openings at the upper end and lower left and right sides, and has a cooling fan 2 installed inside.

The document holding section 11 has a document table 12 made of a glass plate, and a document cover 14 having a platen sheet 13 covers the document table 12 so as to be openable and closable, and holds a document 15.

The exposure scanning section 21 includes a moving first carriage 22 having a light source body 22a consisting of an illumination device and a reflecting mirror 22b.
, a second carriage 24 that moves with reflective mirrors 24a and 24b, an imaging lens 25, a reflective mirror 26a,
It consists of 26b and 26c.

Then, as the first carriage 22 moves, the light source body 22a
scans the original 15 while irradiating it, the original 15
The reflected light from the imaging lens 2 passes through the reflecting mirror 24a224b of the second carriage 24, which moves at an appropriate speed.
5 and forms an image on the photosensitive drum 42. The exposure scanning section 21 has a plurality of scanning speeds corresponding to the optimum image forming speed and faster image forming speeds.

The paper feed section 31 includes a manual cassette 32a1 and a cassette 32b.
, 32c, and the paper is taken out as appropriate in response to an external signal, passes through a separation roller 33a or 33b, reaches an aligning roller 34, and is sent to a photoreceptor drum 42 at an appropriate time.

The image forming section 41 has the above-mentioned rotating photosensitive drum 42, and a developing device 42a1, a transfer charger 42b1, a peeling charger 42C1, a cleaner 42d1, a static eliminator 4 are arranged on the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum 42.
A 2e1 main charger 42f and the like are arranged. Further, a conveyor 43 and a pair of fixing rollers 44 are provided.
The latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 42 by image formation is visualized by a developing device 42a, transferred to paper by a transfer charger 42b, peeled off by a peeling charger 42c and conveyed, and transferred to a fixing roller 44. The image is fixed by heating and sent to the paper discharge section 51. The photosensitive drum 42 and the fixing roller 44 have a plurality of rotational speeds corresponding to the above scanning speed.

In the paper discharge section 51, the fixed paper passes through a paper discharge roller 52 and is stored in a paper discharge tray 53.

The operation panel 61 is provided at the front of the top surface of the main body, and, like the conventional one, an image formation start key 62, a number setting key 63, and various other display symbols and operation keys are arranged from the right end, and the present invention is located at the left end. An image forming speed meter 65 as an image forming speed display means, which is one of the important components of the system, and a turbo key 6 for instructing high-speed switching of image forming speed.
6 is installed.

Next, the drive system and image forming speed meter 65, which are the main components of the present invention, will be explained mainly in FIGS.
This will be explained with reference to FIG.

The drive system is provided with a main motor 71 and a sub-main motor 76 as main drive sources.

The main motor 71 has a cooling fan 2 attached to one side of its rotating shaft 72, and a clutch 7 attached to the other side.
The driving side member 73a of No. 3 is fixed, and the driven side member 73b is rotatably fitted in opposition thereto. This driven side member 73b is connected to the developing device 42a via a belt and a pulley.
to drive. Now, when the main motor 71 is driven,
When only the cooling fan 2 rotates and the image forming key 62 is further pressed, the magnet 74 is energized, the clutch 73 is engaged, and the developing device 42a is also driven. This motor 71 has only one rotational speed and always rotates at a constant speed.

Therefore, the developing device 42a1 and the cooling fan 2 are always driven at a constant speed, which is the rotational speed at the optimum image forming speed, regardless of the size of the image forming speed.

The sub-main motor 76 rotates the photosensitive drum 42 and the fixing roller 44, and the rotational speed can be switched between high and low speeds. Therefore, when the turbo key 66 is turned on and the rotation of the motor 76 is set to a high speed, the image forming speed becomes higher than the optimum image forming speed, and when the turbo key is released and the rotation speed is set to a low speed, the image forming speed becomes the optimum image forming speed.

Note that these rotational speeds are linked to the scanning speed.

Image forming speed meter 65 as image forming speed display means
I will explain about it.

A pointer 65c is driven by a pulse motor 65b provided on the back side of a circular scale plate 65a.

Numbers 0.20.30 are written on the scale plate 65a, where 0 indicates that image formation is stopped, 20 indicates that image formation is in progress at a low speed of 20 sheets per minute (optimum image forming speed), and 30 indicates that image formation is in progress at a low speed of 20 sheets per minute (optimum image forming speed). Indicates that images are being formed at a high speed of 30 sheets per minute. This guideline 65c
The 0 position indicated by the indicator 65g is the positioning piece 65d.
By entering the detection gap 65f of the position detection body 65e,
The position is detected and held.

The pointer 65c points to 0 while image formation is stopped, points to a predetermined image forming speed at the same time as image formation starts, and returns to 0 when image formation stops.

Note that the pulse motor 65b, the positioning piece 65d, and the position detection body 65e constitute a driving means 65h.

Although the present embodiment is configured as described above, the overall operation will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, an example will be explained in which the document is black and white and has a wide range of density levels, as shown in FIG. 13, that is, a case where high-quality image formation is required.

Turn on the main switch and start the main motor 71 (step Pi). Normal mode (low optimum image forming speed) is selected (step P2). The image forming speed meter 65 indicates the O position (step P3). The image forming key 62 is pressed (step P4). Image formation is started, the developing device 42a starts rotating, and at the same time, the sub-main motor 76 is started at low speed rotation (step P5).

Image forming speed meter 65 indicates 20 (step P
6). Image formation is completed, and the paper is discharged to the tray 53 (step P7). Pointer 6 of image forming speed meter 65
5c returns to 0 (step P8).

Next, an example will be described in which a large amount of images are formed at high speed on a document containing only characters as shown in FIG. 14, even if the image forming density is somewhat low.

Press the turbo key 66 to select turbo mode (step P2). The image forming speed meter 65 indicates the 0 position (
Step P10). Press the image forming key 62. As a result, the developing device 42a rotates, and at the same time, the sub-main motor 76
The photosensitive drum 42 rotates in a turbo mode (high speed),
The fixing roller 44 rotates at high speed (step P11). Image formation is started (step P12). The image forming speed meter 65 indicates the high speed image forming speed 30 (step P
13). Image formation is completed, and the paper is discharged to the tray 53 (step P14). Image forming speed meter 65 is 0
Return to the position (step P15) In this case, since the image forming speed is high, the density will be low, but there is no problem with the movement for practical purposes.

With a meter that indicates the image forming speed with a pointer like in this example, it is easy to check the speed setting, and since the image forming speed is instructed only during image formation, the operating status can also be checked. Formation errors can be reliably prevented. In addition,
Although the present embodiment has been described with reference to the case of 2nd speed, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this, and 3rd or higher speeds may be used.

Next, a second embodiment will be explained.

The image forming apparatus of this embodiment includes a main body 101, an original holding section 111, an exposure scanning section 121, a paper feeding section 131, an image forming section 141, a paper ejection section 151, and an operation panel 161 as in the first embodiment. It is composed of

The configuration of each part is almost the same as that in the first embodiment, so a detailed explanation will be omitted.
The difference is that 2a and 142g are provided.

Therefore, by switching between the developing devices 142a and 142g, monochrome images of different colors can be easily formed.
By using two image forming speeds, high and low, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention allows the image forming speed to be selected according to the required density quality, so it is inexpensive, has high processing capacity, and is economical. We can also provide an excellent image forming apparatus. Additionally, in addition to providing a means for displaying the selected image forming speed, this guideline indicates the image forming speed only during image formation, allowing the operating status to be checked at all times and alerting the operator to prevent setting errors. It is possible to reliably prevent losses and has excellent economical effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the drive system, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the drive of the main motor, and Fig. 4 is a switching section of the main motor. , FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the overall appearance, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the operation panel, FIG. 7 is a plan view of the main part (image forming speed display means), and FIG. 8 is a plan view of the main part (image forming speed display means). A perspective view of the above-mentioned main part, Fig. 9 is a plan view of the above-mentioned main part, Fig. 10
11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation, FIG. 12 is an overall configuration diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 13 is used to explain each of the above embodiments. The manuscript explanatory diagram, FIG. 14, is also a manuscript explanatory diagram. 5... Image forming speed display means 5a
...... Scale plate 5C ... Pointer 5g ... Indicator section 5h ... Drive means

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image forming apparatus comprising an image forming speed display means for displaying a selected image forming speed among a plurality of image forming speeds, and having an optimum image forming speed and a higher image forming speed, the image forming apparatus has an optimum image forming speed and a higher image forming speed. A scale plate having scales each indicating a high-speed image forming speed, a pointer having a scale indicator, and moving this pointer to the position of the scale indicating the optimal image forming speed when the speed is high. An image forming apparatus comprising: a driving means for moving the image forming apparatus to the position of the scale.