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US 6,285,849 B1Granted
Color image forming apparatus
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsMasaya Shimada, Naomi Uchida, Yuhzoh Kawano, Tadayuki Kajiwara, Tomoyuki Noguchi, Kazuhiko Soeda, Akira Sadamoto
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A registering pattern having a predetermined configuration for each color is formed on a transfer material, and color misregistering is detected and corrected by laser beams and a photosensor.
Claims14
A color image forming apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of image stations comprising photosensitive bodies, on which latent images are formed, and developing means for developing the latent images formed on said photosensitive bodies as toner images, for respective colors to be developed;
- a plurality of exposure means for irradiating light to said respective photosensitive bodies to form latent images;
- transfer means for successively superposing and transferring toner images of respective colors having been formed on said image stations to a transfer material to form a composite image on said transfer material;
- registering pattern generating means for generating registering patterns on said plurality of exposure means to form predetermined registering patterns on said image stations provided corresponding to said exposure means;
- pattern detecting means for detecting said predetermined registering patterns developed and transferred onto said transfer means, said pattern detecting means being composed of a semiconductor laser for irradiating laser beams on one of said predetermined registering patterns and a photosensor for detecting light reflected from said transfer means;
- and
- misregistering correcting means for correcting misregistering on the basis of the results detected by said pattern detecting means, wherein said pattern detecting means is provided with comparison for outputting results of comparison between an output of said photosensor and a predetermined comparison value, and wherein said pattern detecting means is provided with comparison value varying means for making said predetermined comparison value for said output of said photosensor variable.
4 more elements
A color image forming apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of image stations comprising photosensitive bodies, on which latent images are formed, and developing means for developing the latent images formed on said photosensitive bodies as toner images, for respective colors to be developed;
- a plurality of exposure means for irradiating light to said respective photosensitive bodies to form latent images;
- transfer means for successively superposing and transferring toner images of respective colors having been formed on said image stations to a transfer material to form a composite image on said transfer material;
- registering pattern generating means for generating registering patterns on said plurality of exposure means to form predetermined registering patterns on said image stations provided corresponding to said exposure means;
- pattern detecting means for detecting said predetermined registering patterns transferred onto said transfer means, said pattern detecting means being composed of a semiconductor laser for irradiating laser beams, a first lens for focusing the laser beams irradiated from said semiconductor laser onto said transfer material, a second lens for focusing the reflected light from said transfer material and a photosensor for detecting the laser beams focused by said second lens;
- and
- misregistering correcting means for correcting misregistering on the basis of the results detected by said pattern detecting means, wherein said semiconductor laser and said photosensor, respectively, are mounted on substrates, and said substrates are arranged with long sides thereof along the widthwise direction of said transfer material, and with longer sides thereof, as viewed from said semiconductor laser and said photosensor, opposed to said transfer material.
4 more elements
A color image forming apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of image stations comprising photosensitive bodies, on which latent images are formed, and developing means for developing the latent images formed on said photosensitive bodies as toner images, for respective colors to be developed;
- a plurality of exposure means for irradiating light to said respective photosensitive bodies to form latent images;
- transfer means for successively superposing and transferring toner images of respective colors having been formed on said image stations to a transfer material to form a composite image on said transfer material;
- registering pattern generating means for generating registering patterns on said plurality of exposure means to form predetermined registering patterns on said image stations provided corresponding to said exposure means;
- pattern detecting means for detecting said predetermined patterns registering patterns transferred onto said transfer means, said pattern detecting means being composed of a semiconductor laser for irradiating laser beams on said transfer material, a lens for focussing the laser beams irradiated from said semiconductor laser to said transfer material, light branching means for branching the reflected light beam from said transfer material and a photosensor for detecting the laser beams branched by said light branching means;
- and
- misregistering correcting means for correcting misregistering on the basis of the results detected by said pattern detecting means.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.