JP2000159416A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform postprocessing without hindrance in the case where a discharge tray comes to a state of full load at the point midway in an image forming process. SOLUTION: In the case where sheets are in a state of full load on an upper sheet discharge tray 113, they are set to be switched to another vacant rear sheet discharge tray 128, and in this case, when the sheets are so detected as being a state of full load on the upper sheet discharge tray 113 by an upper sheet overload sensor, page order in the sheet to be discharged whereby they are discharged to the rear sheet discharge tray 128 in order to reverse two sides of image information of the individual sheets.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has an image reading apparatus for reading an original on which image information is described, a function of copying image information output from a facsimile apparatus or a computer as well as a function of copying an ordinary sheet material. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-2720, an image reading apparatus for reading an original and an image forming apparatus such as a printer are combined and copied by one unit.
It functions as a printer, facsimile, etc., and has two paper output trays to switch the recording paper between face-up and face-down and discharge it. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known an image forming apparatus in which, when a full load state is reached, another discharge tray is automatically selected as a discharge destination.

With this configuration, it is possible to use one of the discharge trays as a dedicated tray for facsimile reception, and to prevent an overload of recording paper on the discharge tray.

[0004]

However, in the above-described image forming apparatus, the face-down discharge tray set in advance so as to preferentially discharge the paper is fully loaded during the recording of the recording paper, and the face-up discharge is performed. When switching to the paper tray, the page order of the recording paper is also reversed by reversing the front and back of the recording paper. For this reason, there has been a problem in that the recording sheet discharged over the face-up and face-down discharge trays has a different page order from the switching of the discharge tray.

[0005] When the discharge tray becomes full during recording of recording paper and switches to another discharge tray during automatic operation of the apparatus main body, such as during facsimile reception or output from a computer, the discharge is terminated. When taking out the recording paper, there is also a problem that the user is not aware that the recording paper is discharged over the two paper discharge trays.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which recording paper is easy to handle.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming section for recording image information on a sheet material and an image forming section for discharging the discharged sheet material so that the image information is on the back side. A back-side discharge tray for stacking, a front-side discharge tray for stacking the discharged sheet material such that image information is on the front side, and a back-side discharge sheet material stack for detecting a stacking amount of the sheet material stacked on the back-side discharge tray The image information is formed from an amount detection unit, a front-side discharge sheet material stacking amount detection unit that detects a stacking amount of the sheet material stacked on the front-side discharge tray, and the back-side discharge tray and the front-side discharge tray. Discharge tray selection means for selecting a tray for discharging the sheet material, and the loading amount of the sheet material loaded on the discharge tray selected by the discharge tray selection means is the image type. If it is detected to be fully loaded by said detecting means on the way the image formation by parts,
Discharge tray switching setting means for setting whether or not the discharge tray on which the sheet material is being loaded is switched to another discharge tray by the discharge tray selection means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the discharge tray switching setting means is set so as to switch to another discharge tray, and a sheet material is being loaded during image formation by the image forming section. When the detection means detects that the discharge tray has reached a full load state,
The apparatus further comprises means for changing the recording order of the sheet material.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the discharge tray switching setting means is set so as not to switch to another discharge tray, and a sheet material is stacked during image formation by the image forming unit. When the detecting means detects that the inside discharge tray has reached the full load state, the apparatus further comprises image information storing means for storing image information to be recorded after the detection.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the two sheet material stacking amount detecting means detects a stacking amount smaller than a stackable stacking amount by a fixed stacking amount as a full stacking state. And

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect, the sheet material on which the image information is to be recorded based on the detection result of the discharged sheet material loading amount detecting means during the image forming operation of the image forming section. And a means for calculating the remaining amount and outputting a result of comparing the calculated amount with the fixed load amount.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the discharge tray switching setting means is set so as not to switch to another discharge tray, and the sheet material is stacked during image formation by the image forming section. If the detection unit detects that the middle discharge tray has reached the full loading state, and if the calculated amount is smaller than the fixed stacking amount, the image forming unit further includes a unit for continuing the image forming operation. It is characterized by having.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the image information storage means for storing image information and the discharge tray switching setting means are set so as not to switch to another discharge tray. In the case where the detecting unit detects that the discharge tray on which the sheet material is stacked during the image formation by the forming unit has reached the full load state, and the calculated amount is larger than the fixed stacking amount, the detecting unit Means for causing the image forming unit to continue the image forming operation up to the loadable amount of the discharge tray based on the detection result, and storing the remaining image information before image formation in the image information storage means. It is characterized by the following.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the image information storage means for storing image information and the discharge tray switching setting means are set so as not to switch to another discharge tray. In the case where the detecting unit detects that the discharge tray on which the sheet material is stacked during the image formation by the forming unit has reached the full loading state, and the calculated amount is larger than the fixed stacking amount, the remaining image is displayed. Means for storing image information before formation in the image information storage means.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to eighth aspects, the image forming section forms an image by an electrophotographic process using a laser beam.

Further, the invention of claim 10 is the invention of claims 1 to 9
Any one of the above, further comprising communication means for supplying information received from a communication line as the image information.

Further, the invention of claim 11 is the invention of claims 1 to 9
Any one of the above, further comprising means for supplying information read by the image reading means as the image information.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) An example in which a first embodiment according to the present invention is applied to a facsimile machine will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. Here, the description will be made in the following order.

The configuration of the image reading unit for reading image information The configuration of the cassette paper feeding unit The configuration of the MP paper feeding unit The configuration of the image forming unit for recording received information The configuration of the double-sided transport unit Control Configuration of Unit Concept of Image Formation Discharge Tray Switching Setting Means {Overview of Facsimile Apparatus} First, an overview of the entire facsimile apparatus configured according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the same facsimile apparatus.

First, an outline of the entire facsimile apparatus will be described. 3 and 4, reference numeral 101 denotes an apparatus main body;
Is a document table configured to be able to stack a plurality of documents S, 103 is an image reading unit that reads image information of the document S, 104 is a recording device main body composed of a laser beam printer, 105 is a display unit and input An operation unit including keys and the like; 106, a document conveying unit; 107, a document pressing unit;
108 is a contact image sensor, 109 is a document discharge tray, 110 is a laser scanner, 111 is an image forming unit,
Reference numeral 112 denotes a cassette sheet feeding unit; 113, an upper sheet discharge tray configured to stack a plurality of sheet materials P on an upper cover of the apparatus main body 101; 114, a cartridge cover; 115, an ADF (automatic document feeder) ) Cover, 116 is an outer document guide, 117 is a document holding plate, 118 is an inner document guide, 119 is a partition between the laser scanner 110 and the recording apparatus main body 104, 120 is a control unit of the facsimile machine, 121 is a sheet transport unit, 12
Reference numeral 2 denotes a front cover, 123 denotes a paper discharge cover, 124 denotes a resist transport unit, 125 denotes an MP (multi-paper) paper feed unit that can also serve as a front cover, and 150 denotes a double-side transport unit.

{Configuration of Image Reading Unit} Image Reading Unit 103
Are separated one by one by a separation roller 106b pressed against a separation pad 106a, and the outer document guide 116 is separated by a conveyance roller 106d pressed against a conveyance roller 106c pressed by a pressing spring. And a U-turn paper path constituted by a part of the inner document guide 118. The document S is further conveyed to the close contact type image sensor 108 by a sheet feeding roller 106f or the like pressed against the sheet feeding roller 106e pressed by the pressing spring, and the document pressing portion 107 deforms the document pressing plate 117 so that the document S is closely contacted. After reading the image information of the document S while pressing and bringing the document S into close contact with the mold image sensor 108, the document S is discharged to the document discharge tray 109 by a discharge roller 106h pressed against a discharge roller 106g pressed by a pressing spring. It has become. During this time, the original S is guided by the outer original guide 116 and the inner original guide 118.

The document table 102 is provided with a slider 102a slidable in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the document S is transported (the width direction of the document S), and the document stacked on the document table 102 by the slider 102a. Both sides of S can be aligned. The original S
If the document is a long document, by opening the extension document tray 102b, it is possible to prevent the trailing end of the document S from protruding from the document table 102 and hanging down.

The contact image sensor 108 irradiates light from the LED array as a light source to the image information surface of the original S,
The image information is read by forming an image of the reflected light reflected from the image information surface on a sensor element by a SELFOC lens (trademark).

{Configuration of Cassette Paper Feeding Unit} The cassette paper feeding unit 112 is provided at the bottom of the apparatus main body 101. The sheet material P loaded on the sheet cassette 112a is
2e is urged upward by a middle plate spring 112f and pressed against a semicircular paper feed roller 112b to separate the separation pad 112
The sheets are separated one by one by c (friction piece separation method) and transported. The leading end of the separated sheet material P is detected by the registration sensor 124b after a predetermined time. If the registration sensor 124b does not detect the leading end of the sheet material P within a predetermined time from the start of sheet feeding, it is determined that a jam has occurred,
Display is performed on the operation unit 105.

If the registration sensor 124b detects the leading edge of the sheet material P within a predetermined time after the start of sheet feeding, the separated sheet material P is supplied to the sheet feeding roller 112b.
, And is guided by the pressure nip N of the registration roller pair 124a.

The rotation of the registration roller pair 124a is stopped when the leading end of the sheet material P reaches the press-contact nip portion N of the registration roller pair 124a.
The leading end of the sheet material P abuts against the press-contact nip portion N of the registration roller pair 124a in the rotation stopped state and is received. Thereafter, the sheet material is fed by the sheet feeding roller 112b, so that the sheet material P is somewhat bent. A loop is formed, and the skew of the sheet material P is corrected by parallelizing the tip side of the sheet material P along the nip line of the press-contact nip N by the reaction force of the bending loop.

Next, the registration roller pair 124a is driven at a predetermined control timing, the sheet material P is conveyed, and the registration roller pair 124a and the registration sensor 1
The sheet transport U-turn guide 124d, which is composed of a resist transport guide 124c in which the reference numeral 24b is disposed, and a part of a main body frame forming a skeleton of the apparatus main body 101, the apparatus main body 1
01 is inverted by the MP guide 125g arranged at the position No. 01.

Further, the sheet material P being fed continues to be conveyed after reaching the pre-transfer roller pair 124e, and the TOP sensor 12
4f, the tip position is detected, and the photosensitive drum 111a is detected.
After the sheet is fed and the image output timing is adjusted so that the leading edge of the toner image formed on
The sheet is conveyed between the transfer charger 111f and the photosensitive drum 111a.

The side end surface of the sheet material P is regulated by a sheet regulating plate 112d movably mounted in accordance with the sheet size so that skewing and non-feeding do not occur. The image is recorded on the lower surface side of the sheet material P stacked on the sheet cassette 112a.

The presence or absence of the sheet material P is detected by the cassette sensor 112h. The number of sheets that can be stacked on the cassette 112a is about 250, and the cassette 112a is configured to be pulled out in front of the apparatus main body 101 (front loading method). There are seven types of sheet sizes that can be stacked: A3, A4, A5, B4, B5, letter, and legal.

{Configuration of MP Paper Feeding Unit} In the facsimile apparatus, it is possible to dispose a MP (multi-paper) paper feeding unit 125 by removing a front cover 122 disposed on the front surface of the apparatus main body 101. The MP (multi-paper) paper feed unit 125 has an openable / closable MP tray 125f, and the recording paper of a size that cannot be stacked on the MP tray 125f is pulled out of the MP extension tray 125e so that the rear end of the recording paper protrudes. It prevents drooping.

The MP middle plate 125c is a MP middle plate spring 125h.
However, since the MP middle plate 125c is pushed down by a cam (not shown) in the standby state, the sheet material P can be stacked on the MP middle plate 125c.

From the control unit 120 of the facsimile apparatus, the MP
When a signal for starting sheet feeding is transmitted, a cam (not shown) is rotated, and the stacked sheet material P is pressed against the semicircular MP sheet feeding roller 125a by releasing the pressing of the MP middle plate 125c. Then, the sheets are separated one by one by the MP separation pad 125b (friction piece separation method) and transported. The separated sheet material P is supplied to the MP feed roller 125a and the MP separation pad 1
25b, the roller pair 124 continues to be pressed and transferred.
e.

Within a predetermined time from the start of sheet feeding, TO
When the P sensor 124f does not detect the leading end of the sheet material P, it is determined that a jam has occurred, and a display is made on the operation unit 105.

Further, the sheet material P being fed continues to be conveyed even after reaching the pre-transfer roller pair 124e, and the TOP sensor 12
4f, the tip position is detected, and the photosensitive drum 111a is detected.
After the sheet is fed and the image output timing is adjusted so that the leading edge of the toner image formed on
The sheet is conveyed between the transfer charger 111f and the photosensitive drum 111a.

Since the MP sheet feeder 125 does not have a registration mechanism, the side edge of the sheet material P is regulated by the sheet glue plate 125i movably mounted in accordance with the sheet size so that skewing and non-feeding do not occur. Has become. The image is recorded on the upper surface side of the sheet material P stacked on the MP tray 125f. The presence or absence of the sheet material P is determined by the MP sensor 12.
5d. The number of sheets that can be stacked in the MP sheet feeding unit 125 is about 100. By attaching the MP sheet feeding unit 125, a postcard or a business card can be added to a sheet size that can be fed.

The cassette sheet feeding section 112 and a second-stage cassette sheet feeding section having the same configuration as that of the cassette sheet feeding section 112 (not shown) can be separated and combined as options, and the sheets of the entire apparatus can be separated. The number of stackable sheets can be changed from about 250 sheets to about 600 sheets.

{Configuration of Image Forming Unit} Recording Device Main Body 104
Is a laser beam oscillator 110a of the laser scanner 110 based on the image signal output from the control unit 120.
A modulation signal is emitted from the photosensitive drum 1 of the image forming unit 111 by the polygon mirror 110b.
By irradiating the scanning light 11a with the scanning light, image information is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 111a, and the image information is transferred onto the sheet material P fed from the cassette sheet feeding unit 112 to the image forming unit 111.

The photosensitive drum 111a is a primary charger 111
b, developing roller 111c and cleaning blade 111
d and is integrally incorporated in the recording cartridge 111e, and is configured to be detachable from the apparatus main body 101. The surface of the photoconductor drum 111a is uniformly charged by the primary charger 111b, and when the scanning light is reflected from the polygon mirror 110b by the return mirror 110c and irradiated on the surface, a latent image is formed. 11
The image is visualized by the toner supplied from 1c.

The photosensitive drum 111a of the image forming unit 111
A transfer charger 111f is disposed in a peripheral portion, and a thermal fixing device 111g is disposed in a sheet conveyance path downstream of the photosensitive drum 111a.

After the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 111a is transferred by the transfer charger 111f, the sheet material P is conveyed along the recording sheet conveying section 121. The sheet conveyance guide 121a has a conveyance belt 121 at the center.
b, 121c in a V-shape.
The sheet conveyance from the downstream of a to the heat fixing device 111g is assisted, and the sheet material P shorter than the conveyance path length of the photosensitive drum 111a and the heat fixing device 111g can be conveyed without disturbing the toner image.

The sheet material P conveyed along the recording sheet conveying section 121 is fixed with a toner image by the thermal fixing device 111g. If the sheet material P is not conveyed to the double-sided conveying section 150, small-size paper can be conveyed. Is conveyed to the sheet discharge intermediate roller 111j arranged at the first position.

The sheet material P conveyed to the discharge intermediate roller 111j is switched by a signal from the control unit 120 by a discharge flapper 126 disposed thereafter, and an upper sheet disposed above the apparatus main body 101 is switched. The paper is selectively discharged to a paper discharge tray 113 and a rear sheet discharge tray 128 arranged at the rear of the apparatus main body 101.

As described above, the upper sheet discharge tray 113
The sheet material P discharged to the rear sheet discharge tray 128 is stacked with the image information on the back side, and the sheet material P discharged to the rear sheet discharge tray 128 is stacked with the image information on the front side.

The sheet material P stacked on the upper sheet discharge tray 113 is supplied to the upper sheet overload sensor 111k.
The sheet material P stacked on the rear sheet discharge tray 128 is configured to be able to detect whether or not the sheet material P on the tray is fully loaded by a rear sheet overload sensor 129.

The main unit 101 has a cartridge cover 1
14, the recording cartridge 111e is pulled out of the apparatus main body 101 and can be replaced by opening the cartridge cover 114. The cartridge cover 114 is provided with an interlock mechanism, and whether the cartridge cover 114 is open or the recording cartridge 111e is
When it is not set to 01, the recording apparatus main body 104 does not operate. Further, a drum exposure prevention shutter 111i provided on the recording cartridge 111e is adapted to interlock with the setting of the recording cartridge 111e on the apparatus main body 101.
4 to open the apparatus main body 101 of the recording cartridge 111e.
When the shutter 111i is set to the photosensitive drum 111a, the shutter 111i is opened and when the recording cartridge 111e is removed from the apparatus main body 101, the shutter 111i is closed.
Unnecessary exposure to light is prevented.

When a jam occurs during recording, the sheet material P staying inside can be taken out by opening any one of the cartridge cover 114, the front cover 122, and the paper discharge cover 123. I have.

The partition section 119 is a duct for separating the laser scanner 110 and the recording apparatus main body 104, and the laser scanner 110 adversely affects the laser scanner 110 due to the heat generated from the recording apparatus main body 104 by flowing air with a fan (not shown). This prevents the water vapor evaporated from the sheet material P from condensing and dropping on the sheet material P.

{Structure of Double-Side Conveying Unit} The double-sided conveying unit 150 is disposed at the rear of the apparatus main body 101, and flappers the sheet material P conveyed by the thermal fixing device 111g based on an image signal output from the control unit 120. By switching 151, the sheet material P can be conveyed to the duplex conveying unit 150. The flapper 151 is switched, and the sheet material P conveyed to the double-sided conveyance section 150 is subjected to heat and pressure by the heat fixing device 111g by the curling roller pair 152 to correct the curl of the sheet material P curled. The sheet is conveyed to a switchback roller 153 which is the next conveying means. The sheet material P conveyed to the switchback roller 153 is temporarily covered by the cover 11 placed above the sheet cassette 112a.
It is conveyed above 2 g and stored in the lower part of the apparatus main body 101.

Thereafter, when the rear end of the sheet material P is conveyed to the vicinity of the switchback roller 153, the rear end of the sheet material P is detected by a sensor (not shown), and before the sheet material P exits the switchback roller 153. The transport stops once. Then, the switchback roller 153 rotates in the reverse direction, and the refeeding unit 154 disposed below the rear lower portion of the duplex conveying unit 150.
Transported to

The skew of the sheet P conveyed to the re-feed unit 154 is corrected by a plurality of rollers disposed in the re-feed unit 154, and then reaches the re-feed roller 155. The sheet passes through the inside of the sheet cassette 112a and is transported to the apparatus main body 101 again.

{Structure of Control Unit} FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system 300 of the facsimile apparatus using the BP. In the figure, reference numeral 301 denotes a CPU for controlling the entire facsimile apparatus.
ROM 312 for storing a control program (including the control programs shown in FIGS. 1 and 2), and R used as a work area for various data processing and a temporary storage for image information.
An AM 313 and an image processing unit 314 that performs image scaling, resolution conversion, and the like.

The CPU 301 is provided with a calendar, a clock function and the like having a well-known configuration. An area for storing important system setting information such as one-touch key destination information and software switch information in the RAM 313 is provided by a battery backup for power failure or the like. Protected from accidental disability. The control system of the facsimile machine is the CPU 3
01 and the following elements 302 to 310 are connected via an interface.

The operation unit 302 includes various key switches such as a numeric keypad 315, a function key 316, a one-touch key 317, a start key 318a, and a stop key 318b. The display unit 303 includes an LCD 319 for displaying various messages and various LEs for displaying a transmission mode and the like.
D320a, a tally lamp 320b for notifying a distant operator of a communication state and occurrence of a failure, and the like.

The reading unit 304 includes a driving unit 3 such as a reading motor.
21, a reading sensor 322 for reading an image, an image processing unit 323 for shading and binarizing the read image,
It is composed of various sensors 324 for detecting a document.

The recording unit 305 is a driving unit 32 such as a recording motor.
5, a recording unit 326 for controlling a laser scanner and an electrophotographic process, an image processing unit 327 for smoothing an image to be recorded, and various sensors 328 for detecting recording paper and the like.

The communication control unit 306 for performing outgoing calls, incoming calls, encoding of image data, and the like has a connection unit 329 composed of MODEM, NCU, etc., and a communication network 307 and a handset 308 are connected to the connection unit 329. The CPU external interface 309 is an interface for directly transmitting and receiving data from the CPU 301, and is, for example, RS232C, SCS
The apparatus is used as a scanner printer of the external computer by connecting to an external computer through a line such as I or LAN. The HDD 310 is used as a large-capacity nonvolatile memory for storing image information and the like.

{Concept of Image Formation} Next, the basic operation of LBP will be described with reference to FIG. 6 which is a conceptual diagram. In FIG. 6, 4
00 is a semiconductor laser that blinks a laser beam for image data to be recorded, 401 is a polygon motor, 402 is a polygon mirror rotated by the polygon motor 401, 40
Reference numeral 3 denotes an optical system for performing image formation, tilt correction, and the like; 404, a photodetector; 405, a folding mirror; 406, a photosensitive drum; 407, a developing device; 407, a recording paper;

In the above configuration, first, the semiconductor laser 4
The laser light emitted from 00 is reflected by the polygon mirror 402 and deflected, and is irradiated on the photosensitive drum 406 via the optical system 403 and the return mirror 405 (main scanning). At this time, the head is caught by the photodetector 404 and the irradiation position is determined. While this main scanning is completed for one line, the photosensitive drum 406 rotates one line (sub-scan). The image formed on the photosensitive drum 406 as described above is developed by the developing device 407 and the recording paper P
(408). The sheet is further conveyed along a conveyance guide 409, is fixed by a fixing device 410, and is discharged.

The photosensitive drum 406 and the developing device 40
7. The components of the sub-scanning system such as the fixing device 410 are synchronously driven by a recording motor (not shown), a gear, a belt, and the like.

Next, a detailed operation of the image forming apparatus of the first embodiment when outputting a sheet material will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a control flowchart of the first embodiment of the present invention.

A signal from the communication network 307 is transmitted to the communication control unit 306 via the connection unit 329, or
An output signal from the computer is transmitted via the PU external interface 309. Then, the CPU 301 starts accumulating the image information in the RAM 313, and when the accumulation of the image information for one page is completed, the CPU 301 checks where the discharge tray set to discharge the sheet material P is (step 1). ). At this time, for example, it is assumed that the upper sheet discharge tray 113 is set. When this is confirmed and the discharge tray is selected, the process proceeds to the next step and the upper sheet overload sensor 1
It is determined whether or not the sheet material P is fully loaded on the upper sheet discharge tray 113 by 11k (step 2). If it is determined that the sheet is fully loaded, the process proceeds to the next step, where another empty rear sheet discharge tray 12 is provided.
8 is determined (step 3). If it is set to switch to the rear sheet discharge tray 128, the process proceeds to the next step, and it is determined whether or not the image information of the sheet material P is turned upside down (step 4). Here, the image information of the sheet material P is stored in the upper sheet discharge tray 1
In order to switch from 13 to the rear sheet discharge tray 128, the sheet is turned upside down. Then, the page order of the sheet material P to be discharged is changed (step 5). Thereafter, a signal for feeding the sheet material P is transmitted from the CPU 301 to the recording unit 305, the recording motor is driven, and the sheet material P is conveyed from the sheet material feeding unit 112. Conveyed sheet material P
Is controlled by the image processing unit 327 of the recording unit 305 so that the leading edge of the sheet material P matches the image. After that, the image information stored in the RAM 313 of the CPU 301 is transmitted to the image processing unit 327 of the recording unit 305, and the ON / OFF of the laser is controlled based on the signal, whereby the image of the dot pattern is formed on the photosensitive drum 111a. Formed. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 111a is turned into a visible image by the toner in the image processing unit 327 of the recording unit 305. The visible image formed on the photosensitive drum 111a is transferred to the sheet material P, and the heat fixing unit 111 is moved by the conveyance unit 121 so that the sheet material P is not shocked.
g applies heat and pressure to form a permanent image.

Thereafter, the sheet material P is conveyed by a discharge intermediate roller 111j arranged so as to be able to convey small size paper, and is discharged by a discharge flapper 126 to the rear sheet discharge tray 1.
Head to 28. Here, the image information is turned to the front side by the paper discharge roller 127, and the sheet material P discharged onto the upper sheet discharge tray 113 is discharged in a reverse order to the page order (step 6). Thereafter, the process proceeds to the next step, and it is determined whether or not there is a next print (step 7). If it is determined that there is no next print, the print operation ends (step 8).

If it is determined in step 2 that the discharge tray selected is not full, the process proceeds to step 6, and after the same image forming operation as described above, the discharge tray is not switched and the discharge tray is not switched. Is done.

If it is determined in step 3 that the discharge tray is not to be switched, the process proceeds to step 9 without performing the above-described image forming operation.
All remaining image information to be recorded is stored in a memory such as

If the image information of the sheet material P is not turned upside down in step 4 (for example, unlike the image forming apparatus of FIG. 3, when there are a plurality of upper sheet discharge trays and rear sheet discharge trays), The process skips the flow of step 5 and proceeds to step 6, where the sheet material P is discharged to the switched discharge tray without changing the page order.

If the next print operation exists in step 7, the process returns to step 2 and repeats the same flow as the previous print operation. At this time, for example, once the flow of step 9 is performed, it may be possible to forcibly make settings such as switching the paper discharge tray in step 3.

Thus, in the case where the face-down discharge tray set in advance so as to preferentially discharge the paper is full during the recording of the recording paper and is switched to the face-up discharge tray, or vice versa. In addition, it is possible to prevent the paper discharge tray from being overloaded without changing the page order of the recording paper. In the case where the recording paper becomes full during recording, the overloaded state is prevented by storing all the image information after the full loading in the memory, and the recording paper on the paper output tray which is full is removed to remove the recording paper. Paper can be discharged without changing the page order. At the same time, one of the paper discharge trays can be used as a dedicated tray for facsimile reception or the like.

(Second Embodiment) Next, as a second embodiment, the recording sheet discharged over the face-up and face-down discharge trays is changed in page order from the switching of the discharge tray. Another example of the configuration for preventing the change will be described with reference to FIGS. The members having the same functions as those of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and the description is referred to.

In the second embodiment, the upper sheet overload sensor 111k and the rear sheet overload sensor 129 are provided with a sheet material P that can be actually loaded on the upper sheet discharge tray 113.
The configuration is such that the full stacking state can be detected with a fixed stacking amount smaller than the stacking amount of the sheet material P and the stacking amount of the sheet material P that can be stacked on the rear sheet discharge tray 128.

FIG. 2 is a control flowchart of the second embodiment. Steps 1 to 8 are the first
This is the same flow as the embodiment. However, the control flow in the case where the setting of not changing the paper discharge tray in step 3 is different from that of the first embodiment. The detailed operation in this regard will be described below.

If it is determined in step 3 that the discharge tray is not switched, the process proceeds to step 10 where the RAM 3
13 or the amount of the sheet material P to be recorded after full loading is calculated from the image information stored in the memory such as the HDD 310. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 11 where the calculated remaining recording amount is compared with the set loading amount that can be loaded up to the actual full load state, and when the remaining recording amount is larger than the set loading amount, step 1 is performed.
Proceed to 2. Here, it is determined whether or not all the remaining recorded image information is to be stored in the memory. If it is set to store all in the memory, the process proceeds to step 13 and the data is stored in the memory. If it is determined in step S11 that the remaining recording amount is smaller than the set stacking amount, the process proceeds to step S14 and the sheets are forcibly discharged to the same discharge tray.

If it is not set in step 12 that all the data is to be stored in the memory, the process proceeds to step 15 where the sheets are discharged to the same discharge tray up to the set stacking amount. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 16, where image information exceeding the set load amount is stored in the memory.

As a result, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Furthermore, when the paper output tray becomes full during recording of recording paper during automatic operation of the main body such as facsimile reception or output from a computer, switching to another paper output tray switches to recording when paper discharge is completed. At the same time, it is possible to prevent the user from noticing that the paper is discharged across the two paper discharge trays when taking out the paper.

(Other Embodiments) Steps 3, 4, 6, 11, and 12 of the above-described embodiment may be configured to be selectively set before the main body operation.

In the above-described embodiment, a facsimile apparatus is exemplified as an example using an image forming apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser beam printer. It is also possible to use.

[0077]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the discharge tray becomes full during image formation, it is set whether to switch the discharge tray or not to perform the subsequent processing. Can be performed without any trouble. For example, it is possible to avoid a problem that the page order is changed or a series of recorded sheet materials is discharged across two discharge trays.

Even if the discharge tray becomes full during the recording of the sheet material, all the image information after full loading is stored in the image information storage means without switching the discharge tray, thereby preventing the overload state. By removing the sheet material on the discharge tray that has been fully loaded and then discharging the sheet, the page order of the sheet material can be aligned. At the same time, one of the discharge trays can be used as a dedicated tray for facsimile reception or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control flowchart of a facsimile apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control flowchart of a facsimile apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration sectional view of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a control system block diagram of a facsimile apparatus using the LBP according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a basic operation of the LBP according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 101: the apparatus main body 102: an original mounting table configured to be able to stack a plurality of originals S; an image reading unit 104 for reading image information of the original S 104; a recording apparatus main body composed of a laser beam printer 105; Configuration of Operation Unit 106 Document Conveying Unit 107 Document Pressing Unit 108 Contact Image Sensor 109 Document Discharge Tray 110 Laser Scanner 111 Image Forming Unit 112 Cassette Feeding Unit 113 Upper Sheet Discharge Tray 114 Cartridge Cover 115 ADF (Auto Document Feeder) ) Cover 116 Outside document guide 117 Document holding plate 118 Inner document guide 119 Partition section between image reading section and recording apparatus main body 120 Control section of facsimile apparatus 121 Sheet transport section 122 Front cover 123 Discharge cover 124 Register G transport unit 125 MP (multi-paper) paper feed unit 128 Rear sheet material discharge tray 150 Double-sided transport unit 300 Control system of facsimile machine using LBP 301 CPU for controlling the entire facsimile machine 302 Operating unit 303 Display unit 304 Reading unit 305 Recording unit 306 Communication control unit 307 that performs outgoing / incoming calls, encoding of image data, etc. 307 Communication network 308 Handset 309 CPU external interface 310 HDD 311 MPU 312 ROM 313 RAM 314 Images for which image scaling, resolution conversion, etc. are performed Processing unit 315 Numeric keypad 316 Function key 317 One-touch key 318a Start key 318b Stop key 319 LCD 320a Various LEDs 320b for displaying transmission mode and the like 320b Tally lamp 321 Drive unit for reading motor and the like 22 Reading Sensor 323 for Reading Images 323 Image Processing Unit for Shading and Binarization of Read Images 324 Various Sensors for Detecting Original Documents 325 Drive Units such as Recording Motor 326 Recording Unit 327 Smoothing of Images to be Recorded Image processing unit 328 Various sensors for detecting recording paper etc. 329 Connection unit composed of MODEM, NCU, etc. 400 Semiconductor laser 401 Polygon motor 402 Polygon mirror 403 Optical system 404 Photodetector 405 Folding mirror 406 Photosensitive drum 407 Developing device 408 Recording paper 409 Transport guide 410 Fixing unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 1/00 108 H04N 1/00 108L (72) Inventor Haruhisa Oshinda 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Naoyuki Tomura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Yoshiyuki Nakayama 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Kya Non-corp. F term (reference) 2H027 DA32 DC08 DC09 DC11 DC12 DE07 EC06 ED19 ED22 EE07 EE08 EF09 EJ15 FA30 ZA07 2H072 AA28 AB14 FA01 FB01 3F053 EA02 EA04 EB07 EC02 ED14 ED25 LA02 LA05 A03 BF03 A08 BF03 AB22 AB32 AB35 AB46 AC04 AC11 AC15 AC22 AC58 AC71 AD03 AE15 AF10 BA00

Claims (11)

[Claims] An image forming unit that records image information on a sheet material; a back surface discharge tray that stacks the discharged sheet material so that the image information is on the back surface; A front discharge tray to be stacked, a back discharge sheet stacking amount detecting means for detecting a stack amount of the sheet material stacked on the back discharge tray, and a stacking of the sheet material stacked on the front discharge tray. A front discharge sheet material stacking amount detecting means for detecting an amount, a discharge tray selecting means for selecting a tray for discharging a sheet material on which image information is formed, from the back discharge tray and the front discharge tray, and the discharge tray The loading amount of the sheet material loaded on the discharge tray selected by the selection unit is in a full state by the detection unit during image formation by the image forming unit. Discharge tray switching setting means for setting whether or not the discharge tray currently loaded with the sheet material is switched to another discharge tray by the discharge tray selection means when it is detected that the sheet material is present. Image forming device. 2. The discharge tray switching setting unit according to claim 1, wherein the discharge tray switching setting unit is set to switch to another discharge tray, and the discharge tray on which a sheet material is being stacked during image formation by the image forming unit is in a full load state. The image forming apparatus further comprises means for changing the recording order of the sheet material when the detection means detects that the sheet material has been reached. 3. The discharge tray switching setting means according to claim 1, wherein the discharge tray switching setting means is set so as not to switch to another discharge tray, and the discharge tray on which a sheet material is stacked during image formation by the image forming unit is fully loaded. An image forming apparatus further comprising: image information storage means for storing image information to be recorded after the detection when the detection means detects that the state has been reached. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two sheet material stacking amount detecting units detect a stacking amount smaller than a stackable stacking amount by a fixed stacking amount as a full stacking state. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image forming unit calculates a remaining amount of the sheet material on which the image information is to be recorded based on a detection result of the discharged sheet material loading amount detecting unit during the image forming operation. An image forming apparatus further comprising means for outputting a result of comparing the calculated amount with the fixed load amount. 6. The discharge tray switching setting means according to claim 5, wherein the discharge tray switching setting means is set so as not to switch to another discharge tray, and the discharge tray on which a sheet material is stacked during image formation by the image forming unit is fully loaded. When the detection unit detects that the state has been reached, and when the calculated amount is smaller than the fixed load amount, the image forming unit further includes a unit that continues the image forming operation. Image forming device. 7. The image forming section according to claim 5, wherein the image information storing means for storing image information and the discharge tray switching setting means are set so as not to switch to another discharge tray, In the case where the detection unit detects that the discharge tray during which the sheet material is being loaded has reached the full loading state, and when the calculated amount is larger than the fixed loading amount, based on the detection result of the detection unit, Means for causing the image forming unit to continue the image forming operation up to the loadable amount of the discharge tray, and storing the remaining image information before image formation in the image information storage means. Forming equipment. 8. The image forming unit according to claim 5, wherein the image information storing means for storing image information, and the discharge tray switching setting means are set so as not to switch to another discharge tray, In the case where the detecting means detects that the discharge tray during which the sheet material is loaded reaches the full loading state, and when the calculated amount is larger than the fixed loading amount, the remaining image information before image formation is Means for accumulating the image information in the image information accumulating means. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit forms an image by an electrophotographic process using a laser beam. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit that supplies information received from a communication line as the image information. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a unit that supplies information read by an image reading unit as the image information.