JP2003335030A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of an imaging apparatus comprising a rewritable storage means and a display means that a user cannot determine under rewrite or end of rewrite of the storage means readily, and to inform under rewrite or end of rewrite of the storage means definitely to a user. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging apparatus comprises the rewritable storage means and the display means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a rewritable storage device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, it has become possible to easily connect a computer to a network. Therefore, the version upgrade of the device driver that activates each device that configures the computer can be obtained by downloading. The distribution of various drivers by downloading is becoming mainstream.

Further, in the image forming apparatus which is one of the peripheral equipment of the computer, the printer driver is also distributed by downloading.

Conventionally, the control program for driving the engine (hardware) of the printer cannot be rewritten.
It was stored in OM. Therefore, the engine control program cannot be easily changed. But,
Recently, flash memory, which is a rewritable ROM, has been supplied at a lower cost than before. Therefore, it has been considered to rewrite the control program of the printer engine by downloading.

By making the control program of the printer engine rewritable, it becomes possible to bring out the performance of the printer after sale and to easily correct the problem.

[0006]

When the engine control program of the image forming apparatus is actually rewritten,
Usability is not considered.

For example, when the engine control program is rewritten, the user is worried whether the engine control program is rewritten smoothly. This is due to the rewriting of the flash memory,
This is because there is no movement or sound.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first object thereof is to notify the user of the completion or the rewriting of the storage means. A second object of the present invention is to test whether or not rewriting is normally performed by outputting an image after rewriting the engine control program.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the first image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus having a rewritable storage means, and the rewriting of the storage means is completed. After that, an image for notifying the user that the rewriting of the storage means is completed is output.

The second image forming apparatus of the present invention is the first image forming apparatus, and after the rewriting of the storage means is completed, notifies the user of the completion of the rewriting of the storage means and the contents of the rewriting. It is characterized by outputting an image.

Further, a third image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus having a rewritable storage means and a display means for displaying that the storage means is being rewritten. The rewriting of the storage means is displayed by the display means during rewriting.

Further, a fourth image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus having rewritable storage means and display means for displaying completion of rewriting of the storage means, and rewriting of the storage means is completed. In addition, the completion of rewriting of the storage means is displayed by the display means.

In addition, the fifth image forming apparatus of the present invention is the first to fourth image forming apparatus, and acquires rewriting information from a computer at a remote place using a communication line, The rewritable storage means is rewritten.

A sixth image forming apparatus according to the present invention is the first to fifth image forming apparatus, wherein the rewritable storage means stores an engine control sequence. To do.

A seventh image forming apparatus of the present invention is the first to fifth image forming apparatus, wherein the rewritable storage means stores a control sequence of a video controller. And

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a laser printer which is an example of an image forming apparatus for realizing the present invention. The laser printer shown in FIG. 1 will be described below.

The laser printer main body 101 (hereinafter referred to as the main body 101) has a cassette 102 for accommodating the recording paper S, a cassette presence / absence sensor 103 for detecting the presence / absence of the recording paper 8 in the cassette 102, and recording in the cassette 102. A cassette size sensor 104 (composed of a plurality of micro switches) for detecting the size of the paper 8 and a paper feed roller 105 for feeding the recording paper S from the cassette 102 are provided. A registration roller pair 106 that synchronously conveys the recording paper S is provided downstream of the paper feed roller 105. An image forming unit including a process cartridge 108 and a transfer roller 121 is provided downstream of the registration roller pair 106. In the image forming unit, a toner image is formed on the recording paper S based on the laser light from the laser scanner unit 107. A fixing device 109 that thermally fixes the toner image formed on the recording sheet S is provided downstream of the image forming unit. Then, downstream of the fixing device 109, a paper discharge sensor 11 for detecting the conveyance state of the paper discharge unit.
0, a discharge roller 111 for discharging the recording paper S, and a stacking tray 112 for stacking the recording paper S for which recording has been completed. The conveyance reference of the recording paper S is set to be centered with respect to the width of the recording paper S when the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording paper S in the image forming apparatus is the width direction of the recording paper S. .

Further, the laser scanner 107 is a laser unit 113 for emitting laser light modulated based on an image signal (image signal / VDO) sent from an external device 131 described later, and a laser from this laser unit 113. A polygon motor 114 for scanning light on a photosensitive drum 117, which will be described later, an image forming lens 115, a folding mirror 116, and the like.

The process cartridge 108 (and 108 ') is required for a known electrophotographic process,
Photosensitive drum 117, primary charging roller 119, developing device 12
0, a transfer charging roller 121, a cleaner 122 and the like.

The main motor 123 includes a paper feed roller clutch 124 and a paper feed roller 105 and a registration roller 1.
25 through the registration roller pair 106, the photosensitive drum 11
Driving force is applied to each unit of the process cartridge 108 including the fixing roller 109b, the fixing roller 109b, and the discharge roller 111.

An engine controller 126 controls the electrophotographic process including the laser scanner unit 107, the image forming unit, and the fixing unit, and controls the conveyance of the recording paper in the main body 101.

Next, the structure of the engine controller 126 will be described. Reference numeral 126a is a CPU that performs calculations. 1
26b is a non-rewritable ROM. The non-rewritable ROM 126b includes the communication control circuit unit 126c for downloading and the ROM rewrite control circuit 12
6d, a display / operation unit control circuit 126e, and other circuits 127f. Further, 126g is a rewritable ROM such as a flash memory, and 126b is a RAM.

A video controller 127 is connected to an external device 131 such as a personal computer through a general-purpose interface (Centronics, RS232, etc.) 130, and develops image information sent from this general-purpose interface into bit data. , The bit data as a / VDO signal, and the engine controller 12
6 is being sent. In addition, the ROM 12 that is connected to the host computer 133 and can rewrite desired information
Data is relayed when downloading to 6g or RAM 126h.

Next, the ROM rewriting operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the ROM rewriting flow chart of the present embodiment shown in FIG.

In step S01, RO is operated by the operation unit 135.
This is a sequence of waiting for the rewriting of M to be input.
When a ROM rewriting request is received from the operation unit 136,
Step S02 is executed. In step S02,
The communication control circuit 126c operates to request the user to input the address of the download file. When receiving the address of the download file, the communication control circuit 126
c accesses the host computer 133 of the download file, as shown in step S03. Then, the download is performed as shown in steps S04 to S06. First, the ROM rewrite control circuit 12
6d erases the contents of the rewritable flash memory 126g (step S04). In this embodiment, all are erased. However, you may delete only the part you want to delete. Next, the ROM rewrite control circuit 126d writes the data obtained from the host computer via the communication line into the flash memory 126g (step S0).
5). Finally, the ROM rewrite control circuit 126d verifies whether the written data is correct (step S).
06).

If there is a write error, step 8
Notify the user of a write error, as shown in. The display of the write error is performed by the display / operation unit control circuit 126.
done by e. Next, the ROM rewrite control circuit 126d asks the user whether to rewrite the data again (step S09). When redoing, redoing from step S4. When not redoing, it ends.

On the other hand, if no writing error has occurred, as shown in step S10, an image for notifying the user of the completion of download is output. This step S1
0 is a feature of this embodiment. In this way, the user can be notified of the completion of the download. Moreover, since the test print is executed immediately after the rewriting of the ROM, the rewriting error can be detected early. Moreover, it is good that it is not necessary to prepare a display pattern for notifying the display unit that the download is completed.

If no print error occurs in step S10, the process ends. When a print error occurs in step S10, the user is caused to make a print error as shown in step S12. And
Ask the user if they want to try the printout again.

If the printout is to be redone, step S10 is executed.

When the printout is not performed again, the process ends.

In the present embodiment, in step S10, the image of the content notifying the completion of the download is printed. At this time, the rewritten contents of the ROM may be added and printed.

In this embodiment, the rewriting of the rewritable ROM 126g in the engine controller 126 is taken as an example. However, it can also be used when rewriting a rewritable ROM in the video controller 127.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the laser printer shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the ROM rewriting flowchart of the present embodiment shown in FIG.

In step S10l, the operation unit 135 operates the R
This is a sequence of waiting for input of OM rewriting. When a ROM rewrite request is received from the operation unit 136, step S102 is executed. In step S102, the communication control circuit 126c operates to request the user to input the address of the download file. Upon receiving the address of the download file, the communication control circuit 126c accesses the host computer 133 of the download file as shown in step S103.

When access is possible, the communication control circuit 126
c is the display / operation unit control circuit 126e, step S104.
As shown in FIG.
6g is being rewritten ”is displayed. This step S104
Is a feature of this embodiment. Then, the download is performed as shown in steps S105 to S107. First, the ROM rewrite control circuit 126d
Erases the contents of the rewritable flash memory 126g (step S105). In this embodiment, all are erased. However, you may delete only the part you want to delete. Next, the ROM rewrite control circuit 126d writes the data obtained from the host computer via the communication line into the flash memory 126g (step S10).
6). Finally, the ROM rewrite control circuit 126d verifies whether the written data is correct (step S).
107).

If there is a write error, step S
The user is notified of the write error, as shown at 109. The display / operation unit control circuit 126e displays the write error. Next, the ROM rewrite control circuit 12
6d asks the user whether to rewrite the data again (step S110). When redoing, redoing from step S104. When not redoing, it ends.

On the other hand, if no write error has occurred, the display of "rewriting the flash memory 126e" on the display unit 135 is erased, as shown in step S111. Then, as shown in step S112, an image that notifies the user of the completion of the download is output. In this way, the user can be notified that the download is in progress and that the download is complete. Also in this embodiment, R
Since the test print is executed immediately after the OM rewriting, the rewriting error can be detected early. Also, it is good that there is no need to prepare a display pattern for notifying the display unit that the download is completed.

If no print error occurs in step S112, the process ends. If a print error occurs in step S112, step S114
As shown in, the user is caused to make a print error. Then, the user is asked if the printout should be redone.

If the printout is to be redone, step S1ll is executed.

If the printout is not performed again, the process ends.

In the present embodiment, in step S112, the image of the content notifying the completion of the download is printed. At this time, the rewritten contents of the ROM may be added and printed.

In this embodiment, the rewriting of the rewritable ROM 126g in the engine controller 126 is taken as an example. However, it can also be used when rewriting a rewritable ROM in the video controller 127.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the laser printer shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the ROM rewriting flowchart of the present embodiment shown in FIG.

In step S201, the operation unit 135 operates the R
This is a sequence of waiting for input of OM rewriting. When a ROM rewrite request is received from the operation unit 135, step S202 is executed. In step S202, the communication control circuit 126c operates to request the user to input the address of the download file. Upon receiving the address of the download file, the communication control circuit 126c accesses the host computer 133 of the download file as shown in step S203.

When access is possible, the communication control circuit 126
c is the display / operation unit control circuit 126e, step S204
As shown in FIG.
6g is being rewritten ”is displayed. This step S204
Step S211 described later is a feature of this embodiment. Then, the download is performed as shown in steps S205 to S207. First of all, RO
The M rewrite control circuit 126d erases the contents of the rewritable flash memory 126g (step S20).
5). In this embodiment, all are erased. However, you may delete only the part you want to delete. Next, the ROM rewrite control circuit 126d writes the data obtained from the host computer via the communication line into the flash memory 126g (step S206). Finally, the ROM rewrite control circuit 126d verifies whether the written data is correct (step S207).

If there is a write error, step S
The user is notified of the write error, as shown at 209. The display / operation unit control circuit 126e displays the write error. Next, the ROM rewrite control circuit 12
6d asks the user whether to rewrite the data again (step S210). When redoing, redoing from step S204. When not redoing, it ends.

On the other hand, if no write error has occurred, the display of the display unit 135 is switched from "rewriting the flash memory 126e" to "rewriting the flash memory 126g completed", as shown in step S211. In this way, the user can be notified that the download is in progress and that the download is complete. The present embodiment is characterized in that no paper or toner is required to notify the completion of ROM rewriting.

In this embodiment, the rewriting of the rewritable ROM 126g in the engine controller 126 is taken as an example. However, it can also be used when rewriting a rewritable ROM in the video controller 127.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the image forming apparatus having the rewritable storage unit, the user can easily and surely complete or rewrite the storage unit by notifying the user of the completion or rewriting of the storage unit. This can give the user a sense of security. Then, since the user recognizes that the storage unit is being rewritten, the risk of the user operating the image forming apparatus during the rewriting of the storage unit is reduced.

Further, by outputting the image after rewriting the engine control program and the like, it is possible to test whether the image forming apparatus operates normally after rewriting the program.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a laser beam printer according to a first embodiment, a second embodiment, and a third embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for rewriting a rewritable ROM provided in the laser beam printer in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for rewriting a rewritable ROM included in the laser beam printer according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for rewriting a rewritable ROM provided in the laser beam printer in the third embodiment.

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Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising a rewritable storage means, and outputting an image for notifying a user of the completion of rewriting of the storage means when the rewriting of the storage means is completed. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the rewriting of the storage unit is completed, an image for notifying the user of the completion and rewriting content of the storage unit is output. . 3. An image forming apparatus comprising a rewritable storage means and a display means for displaying that the storage means is being rewritten while the storage means is being rewritten. 4. An image forming apparatus comprising rewritable storage means and display means for displaying completion of rewriting of said storage means when rewriting of said storage means is completed. 5. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein rewriting information is acquired from a computer at a remote place by using a communication line and the rewritable storage unit is rewritten. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rewritable storage means stores an engine control sequence. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a control sequence of a video controller is stored in the rewritable storage means. 8. An address containing a program for displaying that rewriting is not allowed to be rewritten.