JPH03231562A - Picture forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent vibration from being delivered to a read section even when the vibration takes place in a picture forming part at the picture forming by arranging a buffer member between the picture read part and the picture forming part so as to separate both the parts. CONSTITUTION:A read part 1 is formed to the upper part of the forming device and a picture forming part 2 is formed to the lower part integrally and the read part 1 including a platen glass (not shown) and the picture forming part 2 at the lower part are separated by a partition plate 50. The partition plate 50 is a bottom plate of the reader part 1 and all the devices of the reader part 1 are arranged on the bottom plate 50 and acts like a support member. Then the bottom plate 50 is fitted onto a stay 201 of a printer part 2 via an elastic member 202. The bottom plate 50 acts like a ceiling plate of the picture forming part 2. At the forming of a picture, shock or vibration takes place in the picture forming part by the drive of a motor or the like, but the reader part 1 is immune to the vibration and an original picture is read with high accuracy.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic apparatus or an electrostatic recording apparatus, and in particular to a method for preventing vibrations of an image forming part from being transmitted to an image reading part. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided with a means for doing so.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as this type of image forming apparatus, for example, a digital color electrophotographic apparatus shown in FIG. 4 is known. In the figure, 100 is a color image reading device (hereinafter referred to as a reader unit), 120 is a color image forming device (hereinafter referred to as a printer unit), and the reader unit 100 and printer unit 12
0 is connected by a cable 123.

The original image on the platen (1) 8 is scanned by the mirror group (1) (
1) (1) 3, an image is formed on a reading sensor (1) 5 such as a CCD via a projection lens (1) 4. This image reading league section is provided independently and placed on the printer section 120 via rubber feet 130. Printer section 12
0, a laser scanning unit 124 performs main scanning using laser emission.

A scanning mirror 126 changes the optical path of the laser beam. 12
7 is a photosensitive drum capable of forming a latent image based on a known electrophotographic method. 128 has various developing units (
Developing sleeve 128Y according to Y, M, C, BK),
128M, 128C.

It has 128 BK and can sequentially visualize each latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 127 for each color by scanning the document multiple times. 129 is adapted to transfer a toner image onto a recording sheet wound around a transfer drum.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such conventional technology, the league part and the printer part are provided separately, and the league part is placed above the printer part via rubber feet. This caused a number of disadvantages to the machine configuration, as shown above, and increased machine costs.

■ The league part and the printer part have the same exterior cover and cannot be formed as one piece.

■ The front, left, and right side plates of the league section and printer section are not common.

■ The bottom plate of the league section and the top plate of the printer section are not the same.

■ Even though there are common parts (power supplies, etc.), those parts must be placed separately, and as a result, the equipment becomes larger due to the duplication of parts that are common to both the league and printer parts. Put it away.

For this reason, in conventional digital optical devices, a variable magnification imaging lens is attached as a unit to the device body, a moving mirror image for reading is provided on the side plate of the device body, and the analog optical system league part and printer part are integrated. Devices have also been devised in which the entire device is made smaller and simpler by forming the device into a single layer or by overlapping the parts.

However, simply integrating the league part and the printer part will cause vibrations and shocks when the printer is operating! (For example, rotation/stop impact of the paper feed roller and register rotor, vibrations generated from the rotation of the developer unit, photosensitive drum, transfer drum, and fixing roller, vibrations generated from the motor or transmission system that drives these, etc.) The vibrations and shocks are not only transmitted to the reading movement optical system of the device, but also to the reading sensor such as the COD.

In particular, in a digital reduction optical system such as the device shown in Fig. 4 described above, the lateral magnification is a, and the amplitude of vibration in the CCD is b.
In this case, the amplitude of the vibration becomes aXb on the image plane on the platen glass, and the accuracy of reading the image of the document is significantly deteriorated.

This damage caused by the deterioration of the image reading accuracy of originals is particularly noticeable in inexpensive multicolor image forming apparatuses such as full-color ones that do not have large-capacity memory for image processing. In the case of leagues that read images by scanning a group of moving reading mirrors multiple times, the phase of the vibrations and shocks of each scan do not match, which has become a decisive problem in terms of color misalignment in the read images.

Although there is a method of increasing the strength of the apparatus main body in order to solve this vibration of the printer section, in this case, the problem arises that the apparatus becomes larger and heavier, and the cost increases.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.The purpose of the present invention is to integrate the league part and the printer part into a compact unit, and to achieve high precision that is not affected by the vibrations and shocks of the printer part. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reading an image of a document.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes an image reading section that images a document on a reading sensor via optical means and reads the image, and the above-mentioned reading section. In an image forming apparatus that is integrally formed with an image forming section that outputs an image onto a transfer sheet based on an image signal from the image forming section, a buffer member is provided to prevent vibrations and shocks to the reading section. Features.

The buffer member may be configured as an elastic member disposed at a fixed portion of a partition plate between the image reading unit and the image forming unit, and the buffer member may be configured to fixedly support the image reading unit. It can also be configured as an elastic member disposed on the fixed part of the support member for the purpose of holding the support member.

Further, it is more effective if the buffer member is configured as an elastic member integrally formed as a partition plate between the image reading section and the image forming section.

(Function) Therefore, even if vibration or the like occurs in the image forming section during image formation, it will not be transmitted to the reading section, making it possible to always perform highly accurate image formation.

(Example) The present invention will be explained below based on the illustrated example. 1st
1 and 2 show an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. First, the overall outline of the device of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.
This is an image forming apparatus in which an image forming section 2 (referred to as a printer section 2) is integrally formed at the bottom thereof.

That is, the reader section 1 is arranged in the upper part of the image forming apparatus, and the original image on the platen 18 is transferred to the exposure part located between the primary charger 22 and the surface electrometer 23 of the printer part 2 in the lower part. It is configured to project onto a photosensitive drum 27. Although any optical system can be used for the league part, in this embodiment, the first scanning mirror (1), the first scanning mirror (
2nd and 3rd moving in the same direction at half the speed of 1)
Scanning mirrors 12 and 13, imaging lens 14. as well as.

It consists of a CCD 15 integrated with B, G, and R filters, a laser scanner unit, etc.

Further, in the reader section l, the document illumination light source 10 is a first
It is configured to move together with the scanning mirror (1).

Therefore, the first to third scanning mirrors (1). After passing through the lens 14, the reflected light image of the original scanned by 12.13 is color-separated by the CCD l 5 equipped with a BGR 4-color separation filter and converted into an electrical signal, and this original information signal is converted into an A/D converter. After undergoing information processing such as the following, it is sent as a video signal to a microprocessor unit (hereinafter referred to as MPU) that controls the entire copying machine. The MPU is set to oscillate a laser beam from a laser unit via a laser driver based on this signal, and to start a copying sequence while this laser beam is ON10FF to the photosensitive drum 1.

Inside the printer section 2, a photosensitive drum 27 having an electrophotographic photosensitive layer on its surface is rotated in the direction of arrow X. A primary charger 22 , a surface electrometer 23 , and a developing device 28 are arranged around the upper portion of the photosensitive drum 27 .

This developing device 28 is a developing unit 28M.

28C, 28Y, and 28B are loaded and rotated. Also, a transfer device M is provided around the bottom of the photosensitive drum 27.
29 and other known devices are arranged.

Further, a fixing device 20 and a paper feed device 30 are arranged on the right side of the printer section 2, and a transfer device 29 and a fixing device 2
Transfer sheet conveying systems 25 and 35 are respectively disposed between the transfer sheet 0 and the paper feeding device 30. In the figure, 60 is an exterior cover that integrally covers the reader section 1 and the printer section 2.

Next, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the leader section of FIG. 1. In the figure, 2 is a first optical bench on which an illumination light source and a first scanning mirror are installed, 3 is a second scanning mirror,
This is a second optical bench on which a third scanning mirror is installed. The drive source of the first optical bench 2 and the second optical bench 3 is a drive wire 4,
5. It is composed of a stepping motor M (hereinafter referred to as motor M) as a drive motor that is driven via a large drive pulley 6 having a radius R and a small drive pulley 7 having a radius R/2.

One drive wire 4.4 is installed at each end of the first optical bench 2, and one drive wire 5, 5 is installed at each end of the second optical bench 3.
The two drive wires 4.4 are individually wound around the large drive pulley 6.6, and the two drive wires 5, 5 are individually wound around the small drive pulley 7.7. Individual idle pulleys 8, 8. It is placed under tension by...

The large drive pulley 6.6 and the small drive pulley 7.7 are all fixed to one drive shaft 9, and the drive shaft 9 is rotationally driven by a motor M via a timing pulley 40, 41 and a timing belt 42. Ru.

Further, in the figure, reference numeral 90 denotes a rail, and the first and second optical benches are arranged to slide on the surface of the rail.

Reference numeral 50 includes a platen glass (not shown) and serves as a partition plate between the printer section and the lower printer section.

That is, this partition plate is the bottom plate of the beam section, and all devices of the league section are disposed on this bottom plate 60, and it serves as a supporting member. The bottom plate 60 is attached and fixed onto the stay 201 of the printer section 2 via an elastic member (rubber, elastomer rubber foam, etc.). This bottom plate 60 becomes the top plate of the printer section 2.

That is, unlike an analog optical system, a digital optical system does not require relative positional accuracy between the league part and the printer part, so an elastic member, which is a deformable member, can be placed between the league part and the printer part.

In the image forming apparatus having the above configuration, the photosensitive drum 27 is charged, exposed, and charged for each color separated by the CCD 15.
Each process of development, transfer, and cleaning is carried out by a primary charger 22.
The leader section (1) is applied by a developing device 28, a transfer device 29, a cleaning device, and the like.

The developing device 28 includes a developing unit 22), 28M (magenta developing unit), 28C (cyan developing unit), 28Y (yellow developing unit), and 28B (black developing unit), and converts latent images of each color separated into The image is visualized by each corresponding developing unit.

The transfer device 29 typically comprises a transfer drum having a gripper on its circumferential surface for gripping the transfer material or sheet. The transfer device 29 uses a gripper to grip the leading edge of the transfer sheet fed from the transfer sheet roller 301 or 302 of the paper feed device 30 via the transfer paper conveyance system 35, and transfers the developed image of each color onto the photosensitive drum 27. The rotation phase is adjusted to transfer the image. A transfer charger is disposed inside the transfer drum in the transfer area.

The transfer paper P on which the toner image of each color has been sequentially transferred is released from the gripper and peeled off from the transfer drum by a separation charger 21 or the like.Next, the transfer sheet is transferred to a fixing device by a transfer sheet conveyance system 25. Sent to 20. The toner image on the transfer sheet is fused onto the transfer sheet by fusing device 20, after which the transfer sheet is ejected onto tray 210.

During image formation, the printer section generates many vibrations, shocks, etc. due to motor drive, etc., but the league section performs high-precision document image reading that is unaffected by the printer's vibration shocks. Furthermore, by providing the elastic member, there is a dust-proofing effect that prevents toner, fixing oil, etc. from the printer section from entering the league section, and there is also a heat insulating effect against the rise in temperature of the printer section.

In addition, in the first embodiment described above, the elastic member as a buffer member is provided only at the fixed part of the bottom plate of the league part.
The bottom plate eye may be integrally constructed as a buffer member (for example, a member in which an elastic member is sandwiched between two sheet metals). In this case, mechanical assembly is simplified because an elastic member for vibration absorption is not required.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. Components that are the same as those in the first embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals and redundant explanations will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the left and right stays 16 and 17 of the league section are attached to the stay 201 of the printer section via an elastic member 202. The leader bottom plate is attached to the left and right stays 16 and 17.

In this embodiment, the left and right stays of the league part serve as league part support members, and the league part bottom plate serves as a mere partition plate.

In this embodiment as well, the same effects as in the first embodiment described above can be obtained.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention has the above-described configuration and operation, and by disposing a buffer member between the image reading section and the image forming section to partition the image reading section and the image forming section, the image reading section and the image forming section can be integrated. It is also possible to provide an image forming apparatus in which the image reading section is capable of reading an image of a document with high precision without being affected by vibrations and shocks of the image forming section. In addition, there is no need to increase mechanical strength to prevent vibrations and shocks in the image forming section, which simplifies the configuration and allows the device to be made more compact. Commonality can also be achieved. In addition, since parts can be arranged across both parts, there is also the effect that the cost of the device can be lowered.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a diagram showing an overall outline of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the reader section of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. The overall schematic diagram of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment, FIGS. 4 and 5, are diagrams showing a conventional image forming apparatus. Explanation of symbols 1... Image reading section 2... Image forming section 50.
...Partition plate (bottom plate) 202...Elastic member (buffer member) Fig. 30 Fig. 5

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Integrating an image reading section that images a document onto a reading sensor via optical means and reads the image, and an image forming section that outputs an image onto a transfer sheet based on the image signal from the reading section. An image forming apparatus according to the present invention, further comprising a buffer member for preventing vibrations and shocks to the reading section. (2) Image forming according to claim 1, wherein the buffer member is an elastic member disposed at a fixed portion of a partition plate between the image reading section and the image forming section. Device. (3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the buffer member is an elastic member disposed at a fixed portion of a support member for fixedly supporting the image reading portion. (4) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the buffer member is an elastic member integrally formed as a partition plate between the image reading section and the image forming section.