JP6321495B2 - Image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

  The embodiment described in this specification relates to a technique in which a fixing unit used for fixing an image of a toner image and a decoloring unit for heating and decoloring an image printed with a decolorable color material on a sheet are used in common. .

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a toner image transferred to a sheet is heated by a fixing unit as a heating unit and fixed on the sheet. An image with an image erasing function that uses such a heating unit as a erasing unit for paper reuse and erases images printed on paper with a erasable colorant that can be erased by heating. A forming apparatus has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

  By the way, when an image forming apparatus having an image erasing function mainly uses a printing operation, the image erasing operation must be performed in consideration of a time during which no other user performs the printing operation.

  In general, when performing an image erasing operation, paper on which an image is printed with an erasable color material (referred to as erasable paper) is stocked, and the erasable paper is stored in a paper feed cassette. To do. When the user selects and operates the erasing mode of the operation unit of the image forming apparatus, the erasing operation is started. In this case, if a signal such as a printing operation is input during the image erasing operation, the erasing operation is stopped and the printing operation is started.

JP 2013-250583 A

  An object of an embodiment described in this specification is to provide an image forming apparatus having an image erasing function that can efficiently perform erasing processing of a erasable processing sheet while giving priority to a printing operation. Another object is to provide a program for switching from an image forming operation to a decoloring operation.

  The image forming apparatus according to this embodiment includes an image forming unit that transfers a toner image formed on an image carrier to a sheet, a heating unit that heats and fixes the image transferred to the sheet, and thermal decolorization. A sheet stacking unit for stacking the sheets for color erasing processing printed with a clear color erasing toner image, a sheet number detecting unit for detecting the number of sheets for color erasing processing stacked on the sheet stacking unit, and the sheet A sheet size detection unit that detects a size of a sheet stacked on the stacking unit, a sheet conveyance unit that conveys the color erasable processing sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit to the heating unit at a predetermined conveyance speed, and A control unit that controls the temperature of the heating unit to a fixing temperature for fixing the toner image at the time of the printing process and to a decoloring temperature for erasing the decolored toner image at the time of the decoloring process. The controller is decolorized Seeking physical time, of the decoloring processing time and the number of sheets on the display unit to display at least the decoloring processing time.

  The switching program from the image forming operation to the erasing operation according to the present embodiment detects the standby mode of the printing operation, and controls the temperature of the heating unit to the erasing processing temperature after a predetermined time has elapsed since the detection of the standby mode. The process of switching to the decoloring mode, the number of sheets to be subjected to the decoloring process, the length of the sheet in the sheet conveying direction for the decoloring process, the conveyance speed for conveying the sheet to the heating unit and the sheet Based on the number of sheets and the length in the sheet conveyance direction, the erasing processing time is obtained, and a computer is caused to execute processing for displaying at least the erasing processing time among the erasing processing time and the number of sheets on the display unit.

1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus having an image erasing function according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. The flowchart which shows the flow which performs a decoloring operation | movement.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus having an image erasing function according to an embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 10 includes a developing device 12, a laser exposure unit 14, a cleaning unit 15, a transfer unit 16, and the like around a photosensitive drum 11 that is an image carrier. For example, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 11 by image light from the laser exposure unit 14 on the basis of document information from a personal computer (not shown), and the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner from the developing device 12. Form an image. The control unit 30 controls the entire image forming apparatus 10, and various modes are displayed on the display unit 25 by the operation of the operation unit 24.

  It has an upper sheet cassette 17 and a lower sheet cassette 18. The upper sheet cassette 17 stores printing sheets S in a stacked state, and the lower sheet cassette 18 stacks sheets D, which are erasable processing sheets on which images are printed with decolorable toner. Stored in a state.

  Note that a plurality of paper discharge trays are arranged on the paper discharge unit 13 side of the image forming apparatus, or a finisher (not shown) having a plurality of paper discharge trays is provided, so that the print paper and the decolored sheet D are separated from each other. The paper may be discharged to a paper discharge tray.

  A color erasable color material (erasable color material) such as a color erasable toner and a color erasable ink includes a color developing compound, a color developer, and a color eraser. Examples of the color developing compound include leuco dyes. Examples of the developer include phenols. The decolorizer includes a substance that is compatible with the color developing compound when heated and does not have an affinity for the developer. Colors that can be decolored develop color due to the interaction between the color developing compound and the developer, and decolorize because the interaction between the color developing compound and the developer is interrupted by heating above the decoloring temperature. . The heat erasable color material used in the present embodiment is composed of at least a color developing compound, a color developer and a color erasing agent.

  In the print mode, the sheets S of the upper sheet cassette 17 are conveyed one by one to a conveying unit 19 by a sheet feeding unit (not shown) such as a sheet feeding roller, temporarily stopped by a registration roller 20, and transferred at a predetermined timing. It is conveyed toward position 21. At the transfer position 21, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 11 is transferred to the sheet S by the transfer unit 16. Further, the sheet S is conveyed to a heating unit 22 having a fixing temperature, and an unfixed toner image is fixed to the sheet S by heating and pressurization, and is discharged to a paper discharge unit 13 by a paper discharge roller 23.

  On the other hand, in the erasing mode, the sheets D in the lower sheet cassette 18 are conveyed one by one to a conveying unit 19 by a sheet feeding unit (not shown) such as a sheet feeding roller, and further to the heating unit 22 having the erasing temperature. Be transported. In the heating unit 22 having the decoloring temperature, the decolored toner image is heated and decolored, and the sheet D can be reused. The decolored sheet D is discharged to the paper discharge unit 13.

  The number of sheets D stored in the lower sheet cassette 18 is detected by the number detection sensor 26. The sheet number detection sensor 26 detects the height of the sheet D stacked in the sheet feeding cassette 18. If the state in which sheets D are fully loaded in the sheet cassette 18 is 100%, for example, the stacking heights of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% are detected. The control unit 30 acquires the number detection information of the number detection sensor 26. Further, the paper feed cassette 18 outputs information on the size of paper to be stored to the control unit 30.

  FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the image forming apparatus of FIG.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes a control unit 30, a sheet number detection sensor 26, a sheet size detection unit 34, a display unit 25, an operation unit 24, a sheet feeding unit of the sheet feeding cassettes 17 and 18, a heating unit 22, a finisher 40, and the like. Connected to. The paper size detection 34 is a known means provided in the paper feed cassettes 17 and 18, for example.

  The control unit (controller) 30 includes a processor 31 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), and a memory 32.

  The memory 32 is, for example, a semiconductor memory, and includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 33 that stores various control programs, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 34 that provides a temporary work area to the processor 31. For example, the ROM 33 stores the lengths of various paper sizes in the sheet conveyance direction. The number of sheets corresponding to the detection information of the number detection sensor 26 is stored.

  The control unit 30 counts the approximate number of sheets (N) based on the stacking height of the sheets D that are the erasable processing sheets stored in the lower sheet cassette 18. Further, the control unit 30 determines the time required to decolor all sheets D by the sheet length (L) along the conveyance direction determined by the size of the sheet D, the number N of sheets, and the sheet conveyance speed ( Erasing processing elapsed time).

  When the printing operation is selected by the operation unit 24, the control unit 30 conveys the sheets S in the upper cassette 17 to the conveyance unit 19 one by one by the sheet feeding unit. Further, in order to use the heating unit 22 as a fixing unit, the temperature is adjusted to the fixing temperature. When the image forming apparatus 10 is turned on, a warming-up operation is performed. After the temperature is raised to the fixing temperature, the image forming apparatus 10 is lowered to a standby temperature and maintained in a standby state. Since the decoloring temperature is higher than the fixing temperature, it is a heavy load to raise the temperature to the decoloring temperature when the power is turned on. In this embodiment, the temperature is raised to the fixing temperature.

  The control unit 30 has a start mode in which a decoloring operation is started when a predetermined time has elapsed after shifting to the standby state. The start mode includes a first mode in which the decoloring operation is always started in the standby state, and a second mode in which a time zone is designated in the day and the decoloring operation is started in the standby state in the time zone. The third mode (specifying the first mode or the second mode can be specified in the third mode) for specifying a specific day of the week and the state in which the previous decoloring operation was performed And a history mode for starting a decoloring operation on the same day of the week, time zone, and the like. These start modes are displayed on the display unit 25, and are set in advance by the user operating the operation unit 25.

  On the other hand, the time required for decoloring all sheets D based on the approximate number of sheets D stored in the lower cassette 18, the transport direction length of the sheets D, and the sheet transport speed (decoloration processing elapsed time). Is obtained). The erasing process elapsed time is displayed on the display unit 25, and the erasing process elapsed time is transmitted to a personal computer (not shown) or the like via the interface. If the printing operation is interrupted, the erasing process elapsed time is known, and the user can determine whether or not to start the printing operation after the erasing process is completed depending on the time.

  Further, the user of the printing operation who feels that the erasing process elapsed time is long can set the time or the number of sheets to permit the erasing process by operating the operation unit 24.

  Further, the erasing process is started when the total number of sheets D stored in the lower sheet cassette 18 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (for example, 25% or more), and other jobs such as a printing operation are not accepted midway. The erasing operation of all sheets D is performed. However, if another job such as a printing operation is received on the way and the remaining number of sheets D at that time is less than 25%, for example, the heating unit 22 is raised from the fixing temperature to the decoloring temperature in order to perform the decoloring process again. Must be warmed. That is, for the small number of remaining sheets D, a large amount of energy is required and the heating unit 22 is heated from the fixing temperature to the decoloring temperature.

  Therefore, the erasing operation may not be performed under such circumstances. Then, a warning that prompts replenishment of the sheet D may be displayed on the display unit 25.

  Next, the operation start timing of the color erasing process of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. The case where the start mode is set to the first mode and the decoloring process is started regardless of the remaining number of sheets D will be described as an example.

  In Act1, it is determined whether or not printing is in progress. If printing is not in progress (end of the printing operation), the process proceeds to Act2.

  In Act 2, it is determined whether or not a predetermined set time has elapsed since the transition to the standby state. If not, the process returns to Act 1, and if it has elapsed, the process proceeds to Act 3.

  In Act 3, it is determined whether or not the sheet D is stored in the lower sheet feeding cassette 18, and if it does not exist, it is replenished and the process proceeds to Act4.

  In Act 4, the number N of sheets D is counted based on the detection information detected by the number detection sensor 26, and the process proceeds to Act 5.

  In Act 5, the length L of the sheet D in the sheet conveyance direction is obtained based on the paper size information acquired by the paper size detection unit 35, and the process proceeds to Act6.

  In Act 6, the time (DT) required for the decoloring processing of the N sheets D is obtained based on the number N of sheets D, the length L of the sheets D, and the sheet conveyance speed, and the process proceeds to Act7.

  In Act 7, the erasing mode is started, and the process proceeds to Act 8.

  In Act 8, the heating unit 22 is controlled to the decoloring temperature, and the process proceeds to Act 9.

  In Act 9, the decoloring processing time (DT) is displayed on the display unit 25, and the process proceeds to Act10. The display unit 25 displays the number of sheets D in addition to the decoloring processing time (DT).

  In Act 10, the sheet D is started to be fed from the lower sheet feeding cassette 18, and the process proceeds to Act11.

  In Act 11, it is determined whether or not the sheet D is present in the lower sheet cassette 18 as the erasing process is performed. If it remains, the process proceeds to Act 12, and if not, the process proceeds to Act 13.

  If no other job signal such as a print operation request is detected in Act 12, the process returns to Act 10, and the operations of Act10 and Act11 are repeated. If other job signals are detected, the process proceeds to Act13.

  In Act 13, in order to use for the next printing operation, temperature control to set the heating unit 22 to the fixing temperature is started (power supply to the heating unit 22 is stopped and the heating unit temperature is raised from the high color erasing temperature). Proceed to Act14.

  In Act 14, the decoloring process end time, for example, the time required for the decoloring process or the remaining time which is the unprocessed time of the decoloring process is displayed on the display unit 25, and the process proceeds to Act15.

  In Act 15, the fixing temperature is detected, and the decoloring mode is ended.

  According to the present embodiment, if the sheet D for color erasure processing is stored in the lower sheet cassette 18, the color erasing processing is automatically executed between printing operations. For this reason, an image forming apparatus having a decoloring function can be used efficiently. In addition, by discharging the erased sheet D and the printed sheet S to separate sheet discharge units (sheet discharge trays), it is possible to avoid mixing both sheets.

  Further, when there are a plurality of finisher or paper discharge trays of the image forming apparatus, the sheet D and the sheet S can be discriminated by sorting the sheet D to be reused after erasing processing and the normally printed sheet S. .

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to check the use status of whether or not the image forming apparatus is currently performing a printing operation, and the erasing operation is automatically performed. It becomes possible.

  The case where the erasable processing paper is stored in the lower sheet cassette 18 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the erasable processing paper having different sizes is fed differently. You may make it accommodate in a cassette.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 17 Upper sheet cassette 18 Lower sheet cassette 22 Heating unit 25 Display unit 26 Number of sheets detection sensor 30 Control unit 35 Paper size detection unit 40 Finisher

Claims (7)

An image forming unit that transfers a toner image formed on the image carrier to a sheet;
A heating unit for heating and fixing the image transferred to the sheet to the sheet;
A sheet stacking unit for stacking sheets to be erased printed with a decolorable toner image capable of being thermally decolored;
A sheet number detection unit for detecting the number of sheets to be erased stacked on the sheet stacking unit;
A sheet size detection unit for detecting the size of the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit;
A sheet conveying unit that conveys the sheet to be erased stacked on the sheet stacking unit to the heating unit at a predetermined conveying speed;
The temperature of the heating unit is controlled to a fixing temperature for fixing the toner image during the printing process, and is a decoloring temperature for decoloring the decolored toner image during the decoloring process , which is higher than the fixing temperature. A control unit for controlling the erasing temperature ;
Have
The controller is
The erasing process is performed after a set time has elapsed since the transition to the standby mode in which the printing process is not performed, the erasing process time is obtained, and at least the erasing process time and the number of sheets are displayed on the display unit. Display the color processing time ,
When a print job is accepted during the decoloring process, the print process is interrupted,
2. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the number of sheets to be erased to be detected detected at the time of receiving a print processing job is equal to or less than a set number, the interrupted color erasing process is not resumed after the end of the printing process . Wherein the control unit, the number of sheets detected in the previous SL number of sheets detector, and a sheet conveying direction length detected by the sheet size detecting unit, based on the predetermined conveying speed, the determination of the decoloring processing time The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit obtains a time required for the color erasing process for all the detected number of color erasing sheets as the color erasing process time . Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit can specify an upper limit of a decoloring processing time or can specify the number of decoloring sheets. Wherein the control unit, the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that to start the decoloring processing in the standby mode of the set time period.   The control unit discharges the sheet on which the toner image has been fixed discharged from the heating unit and the decolored sheet discharged from the heating unit to different discharge units. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Detect standby mode of print processing in the image forming apparatus ,
After the standby mode a predetermined time from the time of detection of the heating unit and the temperature control to the erasing processing temperature change to another color erasing mode,
Detects the number of sheets to be erased loaded on the sheet stacking unit ,
Detect the sheet conveyance direction length of the sheet to be subjected to decoloring processing,
Based on the conveyance speed for conveying the sheet to the heating unit, the number of sheets, and the length in the sheet conveyance direction, a decoloring processing time is obtained, and at least the decoloring of the decoloring processing time and the number of sheets on the display unit Display the processing time ,
When a print processing job is received during the decoloring process, the printing process is interrupted and the number of sheets to be erased stacked on the sheet stacking unit is detected,
If the number of sheets for the decoloring processing to be detected is less than the set number, after the completion of the print processing, pulp program to execute the process does not resume the interrupted decoloring processing in the computer.