Electrophotography – Control of electrophotography process – Responsive to copy media characteristic
Reexamination Certificate
2003-12-22
2004-10-26
Braun, Fred (Department: 2852)
Electrophotography
Control of electrophotography process
Responsive to copy media characteristic
C271S009020, C271S009050, C399S389000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06810219
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and in particular, to an image forming apparatus wherein workability in forming images on recording materials of various types and sizes has been improved.
As a conventional image forming apparatus, there has been provided an image forming apparatus in which an image is formed on a transfer sheet (recording material) feds from a sheet feed cassette. To be more concrete, those recognized as an image forming apparatus include a copying machine in which a document is placed on or fed to a platen glass, and images of characters or patterns written or drawn on the document or of a combination thereof are copies on the aforesaid transfer sheet, a printer in which images similar to the foregoing formed on a word processor of a personal computer, for example, are printed on the transfer sheet, and a facsimile machine in which images similar to the foregoing transmitted through communication lines are printed.
In the image forming apparatus of this kind, it is not necessary to supply transfer sheets from outside each time, and it is possible to form continuously the images stated above on a relatively large quantity of transfer sheets, because the sheet feed cassette is provided and a plurality of transfer sheets can be stored in the sheet feed cassette in advance.
Further, there has already been available an image forming apparatus that is provided with a plurality of sheet feed cassettes, and in this case, it is possible to prepare in advance transfer sheets in plural types in terms of size and type.
Incidentally, even when transfer sheets having specific type and size are prepared in advance for each sheet feed cassette as stated above, there have been the following problems in the conventional image forming apparatus. Namely, when forming images on transfer sheets each having different type and different size, control conditions for the total image forming apparatus, namely, sheet conveyance condition and process condition usually need to be changed for each type and size. In the past, however, when forming images on a sheet of a specific type and a sheet of a specific size, the changes of the aforesaid conditions have been made by the method to cope with the condition change by conducting operations such as “mode setting” specially on all such occasions prior to image forming. Therefore, in the case of coping with the transfer sheet that is different from a transfer sheet called an ordinary sheet usually, operations of the image forming apparatus are time-consuming and are generally complicated, thus, there have been problems in its workability. When using the transfer sheet of a specific type or one having a specific size in a bypass feed tray, complicated operations of mode setting like those stated above must be conducted in addition to placing the transfer sheet on the bypass feed tray, which has extremely worsened workability.
For example, when forming images on a transfer sheet that is in “irregular size” in terms of transfer sheet size, it has been necessary to select “irregular size input model” capable of inputting longitudinal and lateral sizes of the transfer sheet and to input the aforesaid conditions, prior to conducting image forming. On this point, in particular, when it is considered that a user using “irregular size” is frequently in the state to form images always on the irregular size, it is possible to assert that mode setting conducted each time as stated above is extremely problematic on the point of efficiency.
Further, there has been an occasion to conduct image forming for “irregular size” in a simpler way wherein transfer sheets other than those in regular size are grouped together equally by the handling of “special size” and by applying finally to them equally the control condition concerning, for example, “maximum size”. However, this method is far from the optimum image forming, resulting in problems.
Further, even in the case where the type is different, it has been necessary to establish, for example, a mode of “thick sheet”, a mode of “thin sheet” and “an applied mode” that is more general, and to input information necessary for determining the aforesaid control condition from an established image plane concerning the mode concerned prior to image forming, which is basically the same as the occasion about “size”.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention has been achieved in view of the circumstances stated above, and its object is to provide an image forming apparatus wherein its workability is excellent when conducting image forming on a transfer sheet that is of a specific type or in a specific size.
To solve the subjects and problems mentioned above, the invention has taken the following structures.
An image forming apparatus for forming images on a recording material characterized in that a plurality of recording material storing members each storing the recording materials are provided, and each of the recording material storing members is provided with an input means that establishes establishment information of a type and/or non-regular size of the recording material stored in the recording material storing member.
In this case, “non-regular size” means sizes other than “regular size” (including, for example, A4, A3, B5, B4, 8.5×11 inch and 11×17 inch, and each of them takes a longitudinal type and a lateral type). Though a recording material wherein at least its length in the conveyance direction (hereinafter referred to as “longitudinal direction”) does not accord with the length in the longitudinal direction of the regular size can be established as the non-regular size, it is more preferable that a recording material wherein a length in the longitudinal direction does not accord with the length in the longitudinal direction of the regular size and a length in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction (hereinafter referred to as “lateral direction”) does not accord with the length in the lateral direction of the regular size either is established as the non-regular size. Further, “regular size” in a concrete means is a regular size with which a regular size detection section can detect which of a plurality of regular sizes corresponds to the size of the recording material. For example, in Japanese and European specifications, A4, A3, B5 and B4 are called the “regular size”, while in the American specifications, 8.5×11 inch and 11×17 inch are called the “regular size”, and regular sizes other than the foregoing are called the “special regular size” (representing 8.5×11 inch and 11×17 inch in Japanese and European specifications and A4, A3, B5 and B4 in the American specifications). However, even in the case of Japanese and European specifications, for example, if the regular size detection section is arranged to be capable of detecting 8.5×11 inch, it is a regular size. The wording simply expressed as “size” in the present specifications means both “non-regular size” and “regular size”.
With regard to “type”, control conditions (conveyance conditions and process conditions) in an image forming apparatus usually need to be changed at need for improvement of image quality and for optimization of an image forming process, and this “type” includes both “ordinary sheet” (in the embodiment, recycled sheet, colored sheet, quality sheet and peelable sheet are handled as an ordinary sheet because the control conditions for them are the same as those for the ordinary sheet, and if some of them are different from the ordinary sheet in terms of control conditions, they can be handled as “special sheet” for distinguishing them from the ordinary sheet) and “special sheet) (in the embodiment, the special sheet includes thick sheet, thin sheet, mother print, tabulation sheet and OHT, and control conditions for them are different from those for the ordinary sheet, and the control conditions are different from each other).
Further, “input section” is an operation section (touch panels and buttons) provided on an ima
Asakawa Minoru
Sakai Takaaki
Sato Junji
Suzuki Chikatsu
Ueda Akio
Braun Fred
Frishauf Holtz Goodman & Chick P.C.
Konica Corporation
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