Patent Application
20250093808
The present invention relates to an image forming system including a booklet generation apparatus that generates a booklet by applying heat and pressure to an adhesive toner formed on a plurality of recording materials and bonding the plurality of recording materials together.
There are a booklet generation apparatus and an image forming system for forming adhesive toner images on recording materials using an electrophotographic process and bonding the recording materials together to generate a booklet as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-111025.
However, the image forming apparatus including the booklet generation apparatus as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-111025 may worsen the appearance and quality of a booklet for the following reasons.
For example, there may be a case where recording materials set in a sheet feed cassette by a user are not regulated properly in a width direction depending on the force applied by the user and each recording material is fed and conveyed in a state of being misaligned in the width direction. Further, the recording materials may be misaligned due to various causes during bonding. In a case where such issues occur, a booklet may be generated with an adhesive toner image formed at a misaligned position on each recording material.
In a case where a booklet is generated with an adhesive toner image formed at a misaligned position on each recording material, when the generated booklet is viewed from a front or back cover, the adhesive toner image for bonding inner recording materials of the booklet may become transparently visible outside the adhesive toner image bonding the front or back cover, which worsens the appearance and quality of the booklet.
The present invention is directed to preventing the appearance and quality of a booklet from worsening even in a case where an adhesive toner image is formed at a misaligned position on each recording material.
According to an aspect of the present invention, an image forming system includes an image forming apparatus configured to form an adhesive toner image on a recording material, and a booklet generation apparatus configured to generate a booklet including a recording material to be a front cover, a recording material to be a back cover, and two or more recording materials to be middle pages between the front cover and the back cover, the booklet generation apparatus including a thermal compression bonding unit configured to heat and press an adhesive toner image portion in a state where a plurality of recording materials each with the adhesive toner image formed thereon is stacked in order to bond the plurality of recording materials together, wherein each adhesive toner image is formed so that at least one of the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together becomes greater in area than the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together when viewed from a direction perpendicular to a surface of the recording material, and wherein the booklet is generated so that the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together, the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together, and the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together overlap when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the surface of the recording material.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. Each of the embodiments of the present invention described below can be implemented solely or as a combination of a plurality of the embodiments or features thereof where necessary or where the combination of elements or features from individual embodiments in a single embodiment is beneficial.
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The following embodiment is not intended to limit the present invention and may be replaced with another configuration within the spirit of the present invention. An image forming apparatus and a booklet generation apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to
First, the image forming apparatus 1 will be described in detail below. As illustrated in
According to the present embodiment, a maximum size at which an image can be formed on a recording material P is A4 size (length 297 mm×width 210 mm), and image forming is performed by conveying an A4-sized recording material P in a lengthwise direction.
The recording material cassette 8 is inserted in a lower portion of the image forming apparatus 1 so that the recording material cassette 8 can be pulled out of the housing 19, and a plurality of recording materials P is stored in the recording material cassette 8. The recording material cassette 8 includes a regulating plate (not illustrated), and the regulating plate regulates a recording material width direction (a direction perpendicular to a conveyance direction on a recording material surface) that can be operated by a user. A recording material P stored in the recording material cassette 8 is fed from the recording material cassette 8 by a sheet feed roller 8a, which is a sheet feed portion, and conveyed by a pair of conveyance rollers 8b. Further, recording materials set on a multi-tray 20 may be fed singly. The top sensor 4 includes a flag for detecting leading edges of recording materials, and a toner image forming start position where the image forming unit 1e starts forming a toner image is corrected based on the detection results of the flag.
The image forming unit 1e is a tandem type electrophotographic unit including four process cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, and 7c, a scanner unit 2, and a transfer unit 3. A process cartridge refers to a replaceable integrated unit containing a plurality of components for an image forming process. The process cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, and 7c have substantially the same structure, except for the types of powder stored in four powder storage portions Gk, Gy, Gm, and Gc. Specifically, the process cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, and 7c respectively include photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc, charging rollers Ck, Cy, Cm, and Cc, and the powder storage portions Gk, Gy, Gm, and Gc. The photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc are image bearing members, and the charging rollers Ck, Cy, Cm, and Cc are charging devices. The powder storage portions Gk, Gy, Gm, and Gc store powder and supply the powder to the photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc. The four powder storage portions Gk, Gy, Gm, and Gc respectively store black, yellow, magenta, and cyan toners Tk, Ty, Tm, and Tc as toners for forming visible images on recording materials P.
The scanner unit 2 is situated under the process cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, and 7c and above the recording material cassette 8. The scanner unit 2 is an exposure unit according to the present embodiment that irradiates the photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc of the process cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, and 7c with laser light and forms electrostatic latent images.
The transfer unit 3 includes a transfer belt 3a as an intermediate transfer member (secondary image bearing member). The transfer belt 3a is a belt member stretched around an inner secondary transfer roller 3b and a tension roller 3c, and an outer peripheral surface of the transfer belt 3a faces the photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc of the process cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, and 7c. On the inner peripheral side of the transfer belt 3a, primary transfer rollers Fk, Fy, Fm, and Fc are situated at positions corresponding to the photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc. Further, a secondary transfer roller 5 as a transfer unit is situated at a position facing the inner secondary transfer roller 3b. A transfer nip 5n between the secondary transfer roller 5 and the transfer belt 3a is a transfer portion (secondary transfer portion) where toner images are transferred from the transfer belt 3a onto a recording material P.
The fixing device 6 is a fixing unit for heating the toner images on the recording material P, melting the toner images, and fixing the toner images and is situated above the secondary transfer roller 5. The fixing device 6 is a fixing device that uses a heat fixing method and includes a heating film 6b and a pressing roller 6c. The heating film 6b is a fixing member that heats using a ceramic heater 6a as a heat source, and the pressing roller 6c is a pressing member. The heating film 6b may heat using a halogen lamp or a heat generation mechanism using an induction heating method. The pressing roller 6c is rotated by a drive unit (not illustrated) and is pressed against the heating film 6b by a biasing member such as a spring to generate a pressing force to press the recording material P conveyed through a nip portion (fixing nip 6n) between the heating film 6b and the pressing roller 6c. The power input to the ceramic heater 6a is controlled by a control unit so that the surface temperature of the heating film 6b becomes a predetermined value using a radiation thermometer (not illustrated).
According to the present embodiment, conventional publicly-known toners for printing may be used. Among such toners, toners for printing that use a thermoplastic resin as a binder resin are desirable. Resins that can be used in the thermoplastic resin are not particularly limited, and resins that are used in conventional toners for printing may be used, such as polyester resin, vinyl resin, acrylic resin, or styrene-acrylic resin. More than one of the resins described above may be contained. Among the resins, toners for printing that use styrene-acrylic resin are more desirable. The toners for printing may contain colorants, magnetic materials, charge control agents, waxes, and/or external additives.
In a case where image data to be printed and an instruction to perform printing are input to the image forming apparatus 1, a control unit (not illustrated) of the image forming apparatus 1 starts a series of operations (image forming operation) to convey a recording material P and form an image on the recording material P. In the image forming operation, first, a recording material P is singly fed from the recording material cassette 8 and conveyed along the top sensor 4 via the pair of conveyance rollers 8b to the transfer nip 5n. While passing along the top sensor 4, the recording material P pushes down the flag of the top sensor 4 in the conveyance direction, and based on this, the control unit detects whether the leading edge of the recording material P has passed, and an image forming start position is determined based on the detection results.
Simultaneously with the feeding of the recording material P, the process cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, and 7c are sequentially driven, and the photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc are driven and rotated. At this time, uniform charges are applied to surfaces of the photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc by the charging rollers Ck, Cy, Cm, and Cc. Further, the scanner unit 2 irradiates the photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc of the process cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, and 7c with laser light modulated based on the image data, and electrostatic latent images are formed on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc. Next, the electrostatic latent images on the photosensitive drums Dk, Dy, Dm, and Dc are developed into toner images using the powders borne on development rollers Hk, Hy, Hm, and Hc in the powder storage portions Gk, Gy, Gm, and Gc of the process cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, and 7c.
The transfer belt 3a rotates anti-clockwise (arrow v) in
After arriving at the transfer nip 5n, the toner images borne on the transfer belt 3a are secondarily transferred onto the conveyed recording material P by an electric field formed between the secondary transfer roller 5 and the inner secondary transfer roller 3b. Hereinafter, the toner Tk is used to bond recording materials together, and an image after the secondary transfer of the toner Tk to the recording material P will be referred to as “adhesive toner image Ta”. The present embodiment is not limited to that described above, and the adhesive toner image Ta may be formed using the toner Ty, Tm, or Tc other than the toner Tk or may be formed by overlaying several of the toners Tk, Ty, Tm, and Tc.
Thereafter, the recording material P is conveyed to the fixing device 6 and undergoes a fixing process. Specifically, while the recording material P passes through the fixing nip 6n, the toner images on the recording material P are heated and pressed to cause the toners Ty, Tm, and Tc for printing and the adhesive toner image Ta to melt and thereafter solidify, whereby an image fixed to the recording material P is obtained.
A switching guide 33 is a flap-shaped guide member for switching the conveyance direction based on a selected mode in a case where one of a one-sided printing mode in which an image is formed on one side of a recording material P and a two-sided printing mode in which an image is formed on both sides of a recording material P is selected. In the case of the one-sided printing mode, the switching guide 33 conveys the recording material P to a pair of discharge rollers 34.
On the other hand, in the case of the two-sided printing mode, the switching guide 33 conveys the recording material P to a pair of switchback rollers 35, and after the trailing edge of the recording material P is discharged, the rotation direction of the pair of switchback rollers 35 is reversed to convey the recording material P to a two-sided conveyance path 36 for two-sided printing. The recording material P conveyed to the two-sided conveyance path 36 passes through the secondary transfer portion and the fixing unit again so that an image is formed on an unprinted surface of the recording material P, and the switching guide 33 eventually conveys the recording material P to the pair of discharge rollers 34. The image forming operation of the image forming apparatus 1 has been described above. Operations after the conveyance to the pair of discharge rollers 34 will be described below as an operation of the booklet generation apparatus 300. Further, an operation panel 50 is on the outside of the housing 19 and includes a liquid crystal display unit 50a, and the user can view the liquid crystal display unit 50a and perform touch operations on the liquid crystal display unit 50a. An operating status of the image forming apparatus 1 and a status of consumables such as toners are displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 50a of the operation panel 50 by the control unit, and the liquid crystal display unit 50a has a navigation function to guide the user through specific operations.
A cross section of the booklet generation apparatus 300 according to the first embodiment and a booklet generation operation to generate a booklet will be described below with reference to
The recording material P conveyed from the intermediate conveyance unit 200 is passed to a pair of conveyance rollers 21 of the booklet generation apparatus 300. Based on a time at which the trailing edge passes through an entrance sensor 27, a pair of conveyance rollers 22 accelerates the recording material P at a predetermined timing. In a case where the recording material P is to be discharged to an upper discharge tray 25, once the trailing edge of the recording material P reaches between the pair of conveyance rollers 22 and reverse rollers 24, the recording material P is decelerated to a predetermined discharge speed and is discharged to the upper discharge tray 25. During the booklet generation process by the thermal compression bonding unit 51, an output destination of the recording material P is a lower discharge tray 37. In this case, a non-return valve 23 biased clockwise by a spring (not illustrated) temporarily stops conveying the recording material P at the timing when the trailing edge of the recording material P exits, and thereafter the non-return valve 23 switches the recording material P back and conveys the recording material P to inner discharge rollers 26. The recording material P conveyed from the inner discharge rollers 26 is conveyed to kick-out rollers 29 via intermediate conveyance rollers 28 and conveyed to an intermediate stacking unit 42. At the bottommost part of the intermediate stacking unit 42, lengthwise alignment reference plates 39 are placed, and the bundle of recording materials P is aligned by pressing end portions of the recording materials P in the conveyance direction against the lengthwise alignment reference plates 39.
A method of aligning the recording materials P will be described below with reference to
The structure of the thermal compression bonding unit 51 will be described further below with reference to
By the foregoing process, the adhesive toner image Ta applied to the recording material P acts as an adhesive through heat melting and solidification to bond the recording materials P together. Further, according to the present embodiment, the adhesive toner image Ta is applied to the recording material P in an amount of about 0.5 mg/cm2, and the adhesive toner image Ta with a specific gravity of about 1.0 g/cm3 is used.
The booklet generation apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment generates a booklet by repeating a process of stacking a plurality of recording materials P, performing the heating and pressing process on the stacked recording materials P, stacking a plurality of recording materials P on the bundle of recording materials P having undergone the heating and pressing process, and performing the heating and pressing process. For example, in a case where five recording materials P are stacked at a time, in order to generate a booklet of 15 recording materials P, the process described above is performed three times in total.
After the binding process of the thermal compression bonding unit 51 is complete, a bundle discharge guide (not illustrated) moves parallel from a stand-by position toward a recording material discharge port 45 to thereby push out the bundle of recording materials P. The recording material discharge port 45 is provided with bundle discharge rollers 38. Once the leading edges of the bundle of recording materials P reach a position slightly beyond the bundle discharge rollers 38, the bundle discharge guide stops and returns to the stand-by position. The bundle discharge rollers 38 discharge the bundle of recording materials P received from the bundle discharge guide to the lower discharge tray 37.
In relation to factors that may worsen the appearance of a booklet, which is the issue of the present application, an example of a mechanism causing misalignment of adhesive toner images formed on recording materials of a booklet will be described below. A case where an adhesive toner image is formed at a position misaligned from a predetermined position on a recording material by the image forming operation as illustrated in
Further, misalignment of adhesive toner images may occur even in generating, for example, a booklet of a combination of thick paper and thin paper using the multi-tray 20 and the recording material cassette 8. For example, in a case where the recording materials differ in thickness from each other, a small deviation may occur in the timing of pushing down the flag of the top sensor 4. Thus, the image forming start position varies between thick paper and thin paper, and misalignment of adhesive toner images may occur with respect to the conveyance direction in generating a booklet of a combination of thick paper and thin paper. In a case where there is a change in the type of some of the recording materials in the booklet, the user is to input information indicating that a booklet is to be generated using the changed type of recording materials only for front and back covers to the booklet generation apparatus 300, or the type of the recording materials may be identified using a sensor to address the change. Further, it is assumed that one type of recording materials is used in one booklet, and even in a case where different types of recording materials are used for different booklets, the possibility that the deviation in the timing to push down the flag of the top sensor 4 varies for each booklet may be taken into consideration. As described above, in a case where an adhesive toner image is formed at a position misaligned from the predetermined position on a recording material, the adhesive toner images formed on the recording materials of a booklet generated in the booklet generation apparatus 300 become misaligned. When the booklet in which the adhesive toner images on the recording materials are misaligned is viewed from its front cover, the misaligned adhesive toner images inside the booklet are transparently visible from the front cover, which may worsen the appearance of the booklet. Especially in a case where the toners used to form the adhesive toner images Ta include a color toner, the adhesive toner images Ta are often transparently visible and easily recognizable, which often has a negative impact on the booklet quality.
Next, a method for forming an adhesive toner image (image pattern) that is a feature of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to
Alternatively, the rectangular shape may be formed so that the longer side of the rectangular shape is aligned with the shorter side of the recording material.
In
Next, an adhesive toner image pattern according to the present embodiment that does not cause the appearance of the booklet to worsen even in a case where there is a misalignment of adhesive toner images will be described below with reference to
In
A feature of the present embodiment is that even in a case where there is a misalignment of the adhesive toner images, in order to maintain the appearance of the booklet, the adhesive toner image T0′ for bonding the front cover and the middle page together is formed to be greater in size than the adhesive toner images (T1 to Tj-1) for bonding the middle pages together. The adhesive toner image T0′ according to the present embodiment has a width (X direction) of 6 mm and a length (Y direction) of 289 mm. The width and the length are greater than the width (X direction), which is 4 mm, and the length (Y direction), which is 287 mm, of the adhesive toner images (T1 to Tj-1) formed on the recording materials other than the front cover of the booklet. Specifically, the adhesive toner image T0′ is greater in area than the adhesive toner images (T1 to Tj-1) when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the surfaces of the recording materials.
A relationship in the widthwise direction (X direction), the lengthwise direction (Y direction), and the height direction (Z direction) of the adhesive toner image regions formed on the recording materials of the booklet will be described below. As illustrated in
Desirably, the size of the adhesive toner image T0′ for bonding the front cover is determined considering a maximum value of an amount of misalignment of images that may occurs in the image forming apparatus 1. Specifically, the adhesive toner image T0′ is desirably large enough to cover even the maximum misalignment of images. However, from the point of view of the adhesive toner consumption, the adhesive toner image T0′ is desirably set to the smallest possible area that still covers the entire region where misalignment of adhesive toner images may occur. Not only the area of the adhesive toner image for bonding the front cover and the middle page together but also the area of the adhesive toner image for bonding the back cover and the middle page together may be increased, or both the area of the adhesive toner image for bonding the front cover and the middle page together and the area of the adhesive toner image for bonding the back cover and the middle page together may be increased.
While the adhesive toner image on the front cover of the booklet is increased in length in both the lengthwise and widthwise directions of the booklet according to the present embodiment, the image may be enlarged only in the lengthwise direction of the booklet or only in the widthwise direction of the booklet. For example, in a case where there is a tendency for the recording materials to become skewed in a particular direction, a misalignment of the adhesive toner images is likely to occur in the skew direction, so that it is desirable to select a direction for increasing the length of the adhesive toner images based on the tendency. Further, in a case where recording materials having a different thickness from each other are used to generate a booklet, the timing to push down the flag of the top sensor 4 may vary slightly due to the difference in thickness between the recording materials, and this changes the image forming start position of the adhesive toner images in the lengthwise direction, so that only the length in the lengthwise direction of the recording materials may be increased. Thus, even in a case where the adhesive toner images for bonding the middle pages together are misaligned in both the lengthwise direction and the widthwise direction from the adhesive toner image for bonding the front cover and the middle page together, the adhesive toner images are prevented from becoming transparently visible by increasing only in the lengthwise direction or only in the widthwise direction, so that the appearance is expected to improve.
There are other possible mechanisms causing misalignment of adhesive toner images besides the above-described mechanism according to the present embodiment. For example, the booklet generation apparatus 300 may fail to align recording materials properly in generating a booklet. In the booklet generation apparatus 300 illustrated in
In this case, it is desirable to increase the length of the adhesive toner images only in the direction that is aligned with the semicircular roller 32. As described above, it is desirable to select a direction for increasing the length of the adhesive toner image T0′ on the front cover of the booklet based on the toner image pattern formed on the recording material and the printing rate. Specifically, it is desirable to change the shape and/or size of the adhesive toner images.
The extent of skew of recording materials in the image forming apparatus 1 and the extent of misalignment of recording materials in the booklet generation apparatus 300 as described above vary depending on physical property values of the recording materials, such as thickness, surface properties, and moisture content (paper stiffness). Specifically, the direction in which a misalignment of adhesive toner images occurs and the misalignment amount vary depending on the types of recording materials used to generate a booklet and an operating environment (such as temperature and humidity). Examples regarding the thickness and surface properties are as described above. Regarding the moisture content, for example, thin paper and plain paper with high moisture content are easily curled in the width direction, and this often makes the alignment in the widthwise direction difficult, so that it is desirable to increase the length of the adhesive toner image T0′ in the width direction. To measure the operating environment (such as temperature and humidity) of the booklet generation apparatus 300, sensors for the measurement are installed in the booklet generation apparatus 300 or in the image forming apparatus 1 connected to the booklet generation apparatus 300. Desirably, directions in which misalignment of adhesive toner images tends to occur and misalignment amounts are identified in advance for each type of recording materials and for each operating environment of the booklet generation apparatus 300, and the shape and size of the adhesive toner image T0′ on the front cover of the booklet are changed based on booklet generation conditions (types of recording materials, operating environment). Specifically, the adhesive toner image T0′ on the front cover is set to the smallest possible area that still covers the entire region where misalignment of adhesive toner images may occur for each booklet generation condition (types of recording materials, operating environment). For example, in a booklet generation condition in which misalignment of adhesive toner images is small, the adhesive toner image T0′ on the front cover may be set to be smaller than the region (6 mm×289 mm) according to the present embodiment described above. By changing the shape and size of the adhesive toner image T0′ on the front cover of the booklet for each booklet generation condition (types of recording materials, operating environment) so that the adhesive toner image T0′ is set to a minimum required area for the booklet generation condition, the appearance of the booklet is prevented from worsening while reducing the adhesive toner consumption.
Next, evaluation experiments conducted to check effects of the present embodiment will be described below. Effects of increasing the area of an adhesive toner image for bonding a front cover of a booklet to be greater than the area of adhesive toner images for bonding middle pages together will be evaluated. In the evaluation experiments, the present embodiment in which the area of the adhesive toner image T0′ for bonding the front cover is increased as illustrated in
In the evaluation experiments on the present embodiment, a booklet was generated using a CS-060F (manufactured by Canon) as recording materials, and misalignment of adhesive toner images transparently visible from a front cover was evaluated by measuring densities of toners transparently visible from the front cover. As to evaluation conditions, a booklet of the comparative example was placed on 10 sheets of GFC081 (manufactured by Canon) placed on top of another on a horizontal flat surface, and a booklet of the present embodiment was placed on other 10 sheets of GFC081 (manufactured by Canon) placed on top of another on a horizontal flat surface. Then, densities of adhesive toner images at image edge portions and densities of backgrounds of the recording materials were measured from the front covers (−Z direction) of the booklets using a digital microscope (PIAS®-II manufactured by QEA). The 10 sheets of GFC081 (manufactured by Canon) were placed on top of another to eliminate the influence of densities of backgrounds other than the measurement samples. In the evaluation experiments, standard set conditions for wavelength range in density are a status T.
The image edge portion according to the present embodiment refers to a position misaligned by 1 mm in the widthwise direction (−X direction) from an edge of the adhesive toner image T0 bonding the front cover of the booklet as illustrated in
Table 1 presents measurement results of densities of the image edge portions and the background portions of the booklets of the comparative example and the present embodiment and calculation results of differences between the densities of the image edge portions and the background portions.
As described above, in the comparative example in which all the adhesive toner images formed on the recording materials have the same size, the density of the image edge portion is 0.14, and the density of the background is 0.07. Therefore, the difference in density between the adhesive toner image edge portion and the background is 0.07. The presence of the difference in density indicates that an adhesive toner image bonding middle pages together is transparently visible, and the adhesive toner image T1 of the booklet of the comparative example is transparently visible when viewed from the front cover, which worsens the appearance of the booklet.
On the other hand, in the present embodiment in which the area of the adhesive toner image T0′ bonding the front cover is increased, the density of the image edge portion is 0.07, and the density of the background is 0.07. Therefore, the difference in density between the adhesive toner image edge portion and the background is 0.00. The absence of the difference in density indicates that the adhesive toner images bonding the middle pages together are not transparently visible.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the area of the adhesive toner image for bonding the front cover of the booklet is increased so that even in a case where misalignment of the adhesive toner images occurs, the adhesive toner images bonding the middle pages together are not visible from the front cover, which prevents the appearance of the booklet from worsening. In a case where the number of recording materials in the booklet increases or the recording materials increase in thickness or white level, misalignment of the adhesive toner images in the booklet becomes less visible.
Since the feature of the present embodiment is that misalignment of adhesive toner images is prevented from becoming transparently visible from the front cover, the adhesive toner image for bonding the front cover is to have the greatest size among the adhesive toner images in a visible range (on the visible recording materials). Thus, patterns and sizes of adhesive toner images in the booklet that are outside the visible range from the front or back cover are not particularly limited. The visible range herein refers to, for example, a case where the difference in density is 0.01 or higher in a case where there is a misalignment of adhesive toner images. Specifically, in a case where the recording materials are thick or high in white level, the visible range often becomes small (the number of visible recording materials decreases).
Further, as another effect, if the area of the adhesive toner for bonding the front cover and the middle page together is increased, the adhesive toner is present also in portions near edges of end portions of longer and shorter sides of the recording materials, which prevents the end portions of the longer and shorter sides of the front cover from lifting. Similar effects are also produced with respect to the back cover.
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Descriptions of those that are similar to the first embodiment will be omitted below. The second embodiment is intended to generate a corner bound booklet, and a form with adhesive toner image shapes different from those according to the first embodiment will be described below. An adhesive toner image forming method (image pattern) that is a feature of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to
Next, an adhesive toner image pattern according to the present embodiment that does not cause the appearance of the booklet to worsen even in a case where there is a misalignment of adhesive toner images will be described below with reference to
In
A relationship in the widthwise direction (X direction), the lengthwise direction (Y direction), and the height direction (Z direction) of the adhesive toner image regions formed on the recording materials of the booklet will be described below. As illustrated in
Desirably, the size of the adhesive toner image T0′ for bonding the front cover is determined considering a maximum value of an amount of misalignment of images that may occurs in the image forming apparatus 1. Specifically, the adhesive toner image T0′ is desirably large enough to cover even the maximum misalignment of images. The recording material where the area of the adhesive toner image is to be increased to be greater than the area of the adhesive toner images for bonding the middle pages together is not limited to the front cover only and may be the back cover only or may be both the front and back covers. While the adhesive toner image on the front cover of the booklet is increased in length in both the lengthwise and widthwise directions of the booklet according to the present embodiment, the image may be increased in length only in the lengthwise direction of the booklet or only in the widthwise direction of the booklet. Further, the shape and size of at least one of the adhesive toner images on the front and back covers of the booklet may be changed based on the types of the recording materials and the operating environment. Desirably, the adhesive toner image for bonding at least one of the front and back covers of the booklet is greater in area than the adhesive toner images for bonding the middle pages together among the adhesive toner images in the visible range (on the visible recording materials).
While all the adhesive toner image patterns for bonding the booklet on the recording materials have the same triangular shape according to the present embodiment, this is not a limiting shape. For example, adhesive toner image patterns illustrated in
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Descriptions that are similar to those of the first or second embodiment will be omitted below. The third embodiment is intended to generate a corner bound booklet, and a form with adhesive toner image shapes different from those according to the second embodiment will be described below.
While the booklet generation apparatus 300 including the thermal compression bonding unit 51 is placed next to the image forming apparatus 1 according to the first to third embodiments, a top-mounted booklet generation apparatus 301 and the thermal compression bonding unit 51 may be placed on top of the body of the image forming apparatus 1 as illustrated in
The embodiments disclose at least the following image forming systems.
An image forming system including an image forming apparatus configured to form an adhesive toner image on a recording material and a booklet generation apparatus configured to generate a booklet including a recording material to be a front cover, a recording material to be a back cover, and two or more recording materials to be middle pages between the front cover and the back cover, the booklet generation apparatus including a thermal compression bonding unit configured to heat and press an adhesive toner image portion in a state where a plurality of recording materials each with the adhesive toner image formed thereon is stacked in order to bond the plurality of recording materials together, wherein each adhesive toner image is formed so that at least one of the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together becomes greater in area than the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together when viewed from a direction perpendicular to a surface of the recording material, and wherein the booklet is generated so that the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together, the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together, and the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together overlap when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the surface of the recording material.
The image forming system according to item 1, wherein the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together are formed in a rectangular shape so that a longer side of the rectangular shape is aligned with a longer or shorter side of the recording material.
The image forming system according to item 2, wherein each adhesive toner image is formed so that at least one of a shorter side of the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and a shorter side of the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together becomes longer than a shorter side of the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together.
The image forming system according to item 2, wherein each adhesive toner image is formed so that at least one of a longer side of the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and a longer side of the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together becomes longer than a longer side of the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together.
The image forming system according to item 1, wherein the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together are formed in a rectangular shape in a corner portion formed by longer and shorter sides of the recording material.
The image forming system according to item 5, wherein each adhesive toner image is formed so that at least one of a shorter side of the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and a shorter side of the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together becomes longer than a shorter side of the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together.
The image forming system according to item 5, wherein each adhesive toner image is formed so that at least one of a longer side of the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and a longer side of the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together becomes longer than a longer side of the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together.
The image forming system according to item 1, wherein the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together are formed in a triangular shape in a corner portion formed by longer and shorter sides of the recording material.
The image forming system according to item 8, wherein the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together is formed in a triangular shape in the corner portion formed by the longer and shorter sides of the recording material.
The image forming system according to any one of items 1 to 9, wherein at least one of a shape or area of the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and a shape or area of the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together is changed based on a type of the recording material.
The image forming system according to any one of items 1 to 10, wherein at least one of a shape or area of the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and a shape or area of the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together is changed based on an operating environment of the booklet generation apparatus.
The image forming system according to any one of items 1 to 11, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to form a toner image in a region other than a region where the adhesive toner image is formed on the recording material, wherein the booklet generation apparatus includes an alignment roller configured to align the plurality of recording materials, and wherein at least one of a shape or area of the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together and a shape or area of the adhesive toner image bonding the back cover and the middle page together is changed based on at least one of an image pattern on a portion of the toner image other than the adhesive toner image formed on the recording material and a printing rate of the portion, the portion being in contact with the alignment roller.
The image forming system according to any one of items 1 to 12, wherein the booklet is generated so that the adhesive toner image bonding the middle pages together entirely overlaps with the adhesive toner image bonding the front cover and the middle page together when the generated booklet is viewed from a direction perpendicular to a surface of the front cover.
The present invention makes it possible to prevent the appearance and quality of a booklet from worsening even in a case where an adhesive toner image is formed at a misaligned position on each recording material.
While the present invention has been described with reference to embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-149009, filed Sep. 14, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-149009 | Sep 2023 | JP | national |
