JP2006317977A - Control method of image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus, constituted so that an appropriate trouble removing guidance can be displayed on an operation screen, in matching with the constitution of an optional apparatus set in the image forming apparatus, when troubles occur. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus includes a display apparatus 240 for displaying a procedure for removing troubles; a display data storage apparatus 102 for storing display data and display order related to trouble removing information, where the trouble removing procedure to be displayed in a display apparatus is previously prepared for each trouble; and a display controller 130 for rearranging the display order stored in the display data storage apparatus, based on the loaded state of the attachable/detachable external apparatus and the detection result by the trouble-detecting apparatus. The optimum trouble-removing guidance is displayed on the operation screen. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image corresponding to image data by an electrophotographic process and outputs the image to a sheet, and particularly when a failure occurs in a state where an additional apparatus attached to the image forming apparatus is added. Further, the present invention relates to a method for controlling an image forming apparatus for releasing the obstacle.

  In an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process, light whose intensity is modulated in accordance with image data is irradiated from an exposure apparatus while the photosensitive member is charged to a predetermined surface potential by a charging device. As a result, a latent image corresponding to the image data is formed on the photosensitive member.

  The latent image formed on the photoconductor is developed with toner supplied by a developing device and converted into a toner image.

  The toner image is a sheet that is electrostatically attracted to the photoconductor by applying a transfer bias voltage having the same polarity as the surface potential provided to the photoconductor from the transfer material, that is, the back surface of the recording paper. It is transcribed.

  The toner image transferred to the recording material is melted by the heat from the fixing device, and is fixed to the paper by the simultaneously provided pressure.

  In recent years, in this type of image forming device, a recording paper jam (paper jam) transported inside the device due to the enhancement of the self-diagnosis function, or display of a failure location (hereinafter referred to as failure) when some failure occurs , And the guidance for canceling the failure can be displayed.

  However, according to the failure display method and the failure release guidance display method as described above,

(1) When the type of failure is notified
It is assumed that information on the type of failure is notified from the control unit in the system main unit or a system including a preset optional device, and the failure location is estimated from the paper feeding means and the option configuration state at that time For this reason, there is a problem that the estimated failure occurrence site and the failure occurrence site where the failure actually occurs do not necessarily match. Further, since it is necessary to prepare release guidance according to all patterns of the option configuration, there is a problem that the amount of data becomes enormous.
(2) When the type of failure and the location of the failure are notified
Even when the type of failure and the location where the failure has occurred are notified, there is a problem that the appropriate cancellation guidance cannot be displayed if the failure cancellation guidance differs depending on the option configuration. Further, in order to deal with all options, there is a problem that the amount of data becomes enormous as in (1).
(3) As described above, the most serious problem in displaying the failure cancellation guidance is the presence of a failure in which the cancellation procedure changes depending on whether the option is installed or not. For example, the release procedure differs depending on whether the finisher is installed as an option or not when the next inner cover is opened after the front cover is opened.

  At present, no image forming apparatus has been proposed to cope with the difference in the release procedure depending on whether the option is installed or not. In fact, the image forming apparatus in which the option can be inserted does not display the failure release guide. Only the location of the failure and the message that occurred are displayed. In addition, when the release guidance is displayed, the application is limited to a device in which no option is attached or a device in which the release procedure is the same regardless of whether the option is attached.

  The present invention has been made based on the above-described problems. When a failure occurs, the image forming apparatus can display an appropriate failure cancellation guidance on the operation screen in accordance with the set configuration of the optional device. The purpose is to provide.

  The present invention has been made based on the above problems, and detects that the second device attached to the first device is attached to the first device, and the first device and the second device. When a failure occurs in either or both, a predetermined failure cancellation method is extracted in association with the failure that has occurred, and the cancellation methods identified in a specific order among the extracted failure cancellation methods are According to the situation of the occurrence site and the first device and the second device acquired in advance, adding, exchanging, or deleting, and assembling a release procedure for releasing the failure that occurred An image forming apparatus control method is provided.

  As described above, according to the failure cancellation guidance display method of the present invention, the failure occurrence site is identified by matching the actual failure occurrence location without being estimated, and the change in the failure release procedure due to the variation of the option configuration In addition, various failure cancellation guidance can be displayed with a small amount of data.

  In other words, when a failure occurs, when the failure release guide is displayed on the operation screen, an appropriate release guide can be displayed even if the failure occurs at the same location due to the optional configuration of the copier. Even in the case of an apparatus with abundant variations, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that displays a cancellation guidance in accordance with option settings.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus, that is, an electrophotographic digital copying apparatus 2 is positioned on an apparatus main body 4 and an upper portion of the apparatus main body 4, and is formed so as to be openable and closable with respect to a document table to be described later. It has an automatic document feeder 6 that functions as a document presser that feeds an object, that is, a document one by one toward the document table, and that closely contacts the document with the document table. A finisher 8 for processing a recording sheet holding an image formed by the apparatus main body 4 is connected to the left side of the apparatus main body 4. Note that the automatic document feeder 6 notifies the main controller 311 described later with reference to FIG. 2 that the automatic document feeder 6 is connected to the apparatus main body by the signal line 6a and the finisher 8 by the signal line 8a. .

  The apparatus main body 4 is disposed at an upper portion of the apparatus main body 10 so as to face the closed automatic document feeder 6 and hold a document to be brought into close contact with the automatic document feeder 6. A document guide 11 indicating a position where the document should be set on the document table 10 is provided. A control panel described in detail in FIG. 7 is disposed in the vicinity of the document table 10 surrounding the document table 10.

  Below the document table 10, an exposure lamp 12 for illuminating the document set on the document table 10, an auxiliary reflector 13 for condensing light from the exposure lamp 12 on the document D, and reflection from the document D A first mirror 14 or the like that bends light in the left direction in the figure is disposed. The exposure lamp 12, the auxiliary reflector 13 and the first mirror 14 are fixed to the first carriage 15, and are arranged so as to be movable in parallel with the document table 10 as the first carriage 15 moves. The first carriage 15 is reciprocated in the left-right direction in the drawing along the document table 10 by the driving force of a pulse motor (DC motor) (not shown) transmitted by a toothed belt (not shown).

  On the left side of the document table 10 in the drawing, it is formed to be movable in parallel with the document table 10 by a driving mechanism (not shown) such as a toothed belt (not shown) in the direction in which the reflected light reflected by the first mirror 14 is guided. A second carriage 20 is provided.

  The second carriage 20 is provided with a second mirror 21 for bending the reflected light from the document guided by the first mirror 14 downward in the figure and a third mirror 22 for bending rightward in the figure at right angles to each other. . The second carriage 20 is moved in parallel along the document table 10 following the first carriage 15 at a speed that is ½ of the speed at which the first carriage 15 is moved.

  The reflected light reflected by the third mirror 22 is coupled at a predetermined magnification within a plane below the first carriage 15 and including the optical axis of the light reflected by the third mirror 22 of the second carriage 20. An imaging lens 23 to be imaged and a CCD sensor 24 for converting the reflected light given the focusing property by the imaging lens 23 into an electrical signal, that is, image data, are arranged.

  A photosensitive drum 30 serving as an image carrier is positioned approximately at the center of the apparatus main body 4 so as to be rotatable in a predetermined direction. The photosensitive drum 30 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed by a motor (not shown).

  A predetermined position around the photosensitive drum 30 corresponds to a charging charger 31 for charging the photosensitive layer on the drum surface to a predetermined surface potential, and image data supplied from an image processing unit described later, that is, image information to be formed. The laser exposure device 32 forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 by exposing the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 with a laser beam generated from a laser diode (not shown) whose intensity is modulated, and this laser exposure. A developing device 33 having a developing roller 33a for supplying and developing toner as a developer to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive layer on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 by exposure by the device 32, is fed from a paper cassette described later. The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 30 is transferred to the recording paper P to be transferred, and the paper P on which the toner image is transferred is transferred from the photosensitive drum 30. The transfer / peeling device 34 for separating the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 and the pre-cleaning static eliminator 35 for improving the cleaning property by removing the electric charge remaining on the photosensitive drum 30 before cleaning. A cleaning device 36 for cleaning and a neutralization device 37 for neutralizing the potential remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 are sequentially arranged.

  At the bottom of the apparatus main body 4 positioned below the photosensitive drum 30, a multi-stage sheet supply device 40 is disposed as a sheet feeding unit that is stacked in a vertical direction and is detachably mounted from the front side of the apparatus body 4. Has been.

  The multi-stage sheet feeding device 40 includes an upper cassette 41, a middle cassette 42, and a lower cassette 43 for storing a plurality of types of recording paper P of various sizes, and each of the cassettes 41, 42, and 43 includes, for example, a longitudinal direction. Each of the A4 size copy paper, the B4 size copy paper, and the A3 size copy paper placed so as to be conveyed along the length of the paper is formed so that about 500 sheets can be stored.

  At predetermined positions of the upper cassette 41, the middle cassette 42 and the lower cassette 43, pickup rollers 44a, 44b and 44c for taking out the sheets stored in the respective cassettes 41, 42 and 43 one by one are arranged.

  Conveying rollers 45a, 45b for separating the paper P one by one and at positions where the leading ends of the paper P taken out from the cassettes 41, 42 and 43 are passed by the respective pickup rollers 44a, 44b and 44c, and 45c and separation rollers 46a, 46b and 46c arranged integrally with the respective conveying rollers are arranged. The separation rollers 46a, 46b, and 46c are arranged so that their axes are in parallel with the transport rollers combined with each other at a predetermined pressure and rotate in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the transport rollers. As a result, only the uppermost sheet P of the paper P taken out from each cassette is sent out to a conveyance path described later.

  On the right side of the multi-stage sheet feeding device 40, there is provided a large-capacity cassette 47 formed so that about 3000 sheets of frequently used sheets, for example, A4 size sheets, can be stored. Note that the large-capacity cassette 47 notifies the main control unit 311 described later with reference to FIG.

  At a predetermined position of the large-capacity cassette 47, a pickup roller 48 for taking out the sheets P stored in the large-capacity cassette 47 one by one is arranged. A separation mechanism 49 including a pair of upper and lower conveying rollers 49 a and a separation roller 49 b is disposed between the pickup roller 48 and the photosensitive drum 30. The separation mechanism 49 rotates the separation roller 49b in a direction opposite to the direction in which the conveyance roller 49a is rotated, thereby conveying only the uppermost sheet taken out from the large-capacity cassette 47 by the pickup roller 48, which will be described later. Send to the road. Note that a paper empty switch 47a for detecting that the paper in the cassette has run out is disposed at the top of the large-capacity cassette 47.

  Above the large-capacity cassette 47, the cassettes 41, 42, 43 and the large-capacity cassette 47 are independent of the large-capacity cassette 47, above the side cassette 50 integrally with the side cassette 50 and the side cassette 50. A manual feeder 51 that is formed and capable of feeding one sheet or a non-standard sheet is formed. Note that paper empty switches 50a and 51a for detecting the absence of paper are disposed at the front ends of the side cassette 50 and the manual feeder 51, respectively.

  Between the manual feeder 51 and the photosensitive drum 30, a pickup roller 52 that takes in the paper P from the manual feeder 51 and a conveyance roller 53 that conveys the paper P taken in by the pickup roller 52 are provided. The transport roller 53 is also used for feeding paper from the side cassette 50.

  Between the respective cassettes 41, 42 and 43 and the large-capacity cassette 47 and the photosensitive drum 30, conveyance for guiding the paper P from the respective cassettes 41, 42 and 43 and the large-capacity cassette 47 toward the photosensitive drum 30. A path 54 is formed. The conveyance path 54 is formed integrally with a conveyance belt and a fixing device, which will be described later, through a transfer region between the photosensitive drum 30 and the transfer peeling device 34, and is extended to the outside of the apparatus main body 4. Yes.

  Between the cassettes in the conveyance path 54, the sheet is guided toward the photosensitive drum 30 beyond the conveyance rollers 45a and separation rollers 46a, 45b and 46b, and 45c and 46c arranged corresponding to the respective cassettes. And a plurality of transport roller pairs 55 for transporting papers sent by the respective rollers 45a and 46a, 45b and 46b and 45c and 46 are arranged. 54a, 54b, and 54c match the timing at which the immediately subsequent transport roller pair 55 transports toward the photosensitive drum 30.

  In the vicinity and upstream of the photosensitive drum 30 in the conveyance path 54, the inclination of the sheet P guided through the conveyance path 54 is corrected, and the leading edge of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 30 and the leading edge of the sheet P are corrected. Aligning rollers 56 for feeding the paper P to the transfer area at the same speed as the movement speed of the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 30 are disposed.

  Further, an aligning sensor 56 a that detects the arrival of the paper P at the aligning roller 56 is disposed in front of the aligning roller 56, that is, on the conveying roller 55 side.

  In the direction in which the sheet that has passed through the transfer region travels, a conveyance belt 57 that guides the sheet on which the image (toner image) has been transferred by the transfer peeling device 34 to the fixing device described later is incorporated.

  The sheet in which the sheet P is conveyed by the conveyance belt 57 and is difficult to apply heat to the photosensitive drum 30 includes a pair of heat rollers whose roller surfaces are pressed against each other, and the sheet onto which the toner image has been transferred. A fixing device 58 for fixing the toner image on the paper P by pressing the toner image and the paper P while melting the toner image by heating P is provided.

  A finisher 8 for discharging the paper P on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 58 is connected to the side wall of the copying apparatus 2 facing the fixing device 58.

  The finisher 8 includes a paper discharge tray 59a that holds the paper P on which the toner image has been fixed by passing through the fixing device 58, and is disposed between the fixing device 58 and the paper discharge tray 59a, and the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 58. The discharged paper P is held under the control of the discharge switching unit 60 that guides the copy paper P to either a paper reversing section (to be described later) or a discharge tray 59a. The finisher 8 includes a pair of reversing rollers 59 b for discharging the sheet discharged from the discharge switching unit 60 onto the discharge tray 59 by inverting the surface on which the toner image is transferred, and one sheet of the discharged sheet. A stapler 59c is provided for stapling each time.

  The discharge switching unit 60 is disposed between the first and second discharge rollers 61 and 62 that propel the paper P that has passed through the fixing device 58, and the first and second discharge rollers 61 and 62, and is fixed. There is a sorting gate 63 that sorts the sheet that has passed through the apparatus 58 to either a discharge tray 59a (finisher 8) or a sheet reversing section described later. Note that a discharge sensor 62 a that detects the conveyance state of the sheet sent to the finisher 8 is disposed between the second discharge roller 62 and the finisher 8.

  The reversing mechanism 64 passes through the transfer region and the fixing device 58 and temporarily accumulates at least one side of the sheet on which the toner image is fixed, the temporary accumulating unit 65, the temporary accumulating unit 65, and the sorting gate 63. A reversing guide path 66 that guides the paper that is arranged between and distributed by the sorting gate 63 and guided to the temporary stacking unit 65, a pickup roller 67 that picks up the sheets stacked in the temporary stacking unit 65 one by one, and a temporary stacking unit The sheet P picked up by the pickup roller 67 from 65 is fed again to the aligning roller 56, and the sheet P guided to the reversing path 68 is fed toward the aligning roller 56. A paper roller 69 is provided. The reversing guide path 66 is provided with a jam sensor 65a for detecting jammed paper, and a paper stop for measuring the timing at which the paper feed roller 69 feeds to the subsequent stage is located in front of the paper feed roller 69. A switch 68a is arranged. The paper stop switch 68a determines that a paper jam (jam) has occurred when no paper is detected after a predetermined time has elapsed after the operation of the pickup roller 67 and the paper feed roller 69 has started.

  The automatic document feeder 6 has a cover 71, and the rear edge of the cover 71 is attached to the rear side of the upper surface of the copying apparatus 2 by a hinge device (not shown). Is formed so as to be openable and closable with respect to the document table 10 as described above.

  On the left side of the upper surface of the cover 71, a document feed table 72 that holds a plurality of documents D is disposed. The documents D set on the document feeding table 72 are sequentially taken out one by one on the left side of the document feeding table 72 in the drawing, that is, on one end side of the automatic document feeder 6, and the document table 10 is placed from the left end side in the drawing. A pickup roller 73 for supplying to one end side is arranged.

  A document detection sensor 72 a that detects whether or not the document D is set on the document feed table 72 is disposed at a predetermined position on the document feed table 72.

  In the document take-out direction of the pickup roller 73, that is, on the document table 10 side, the document D picked up by the pickup roller 73 is fed toward the document table 10, and the document D fed by the sheet feed roller 74 is fed. An aligning roller 75 that temporarily holds and removes the inclination of the leading edge of the document is disposed. An aligning sensor 75 a that detects that the document D is conveyed toward the aligning roller 75 is disposed between the aligning roller 75 and the paper feed roller 74.

  The position facing the document table 10 with the automatic document feeder 6 inside the cover 71 closed is given a size that covers almost the entire document table 10, and includes a pickup roller 73, a feed roller 74, and A conveying belt 76 is arranged for conveying the document D conveyed from the document feeding table 72 via the aligning roller 75 to a predetermined position on the document table 10. The conveyor belt 76 is stretched around a pair of belt rollers 77 arranged on the left and right sides in the figure, and is rotated in both directions on the right side in the figure and the left side in the figure by a belt drive mechanism (not shown).

  On the right side portion of the automatic document feeder 6, the document D is pressed against the reversing roller 78 and the reversing roller 78 that feeds the document D moved from the left side to the right side in the drawing by the conveying belt 76 toward the outside of the cover 71. The flapper 80 and the flapper 80 for switching whether the document D conveyed by the pinch roller 79, the reverse roller 78 and the pinch roller 79 is returned to the conveying belt 76 or discharged onto a predetermined discharge position, that is, on the cover 71, are set on the discharge side. A paper discharge roller 81 that discharges the document D conveyed by the reversing roller 78 when it is switched, a jam sensor 82 that detects a jam of the document D in the vicinity of the reversing roller 78, and the like are disposed.

  2 to 6 are block diagrams schematically showing a control unit mechanism of the laser exposure type digital copying apparatus 2 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the electrophotographic digital copying apparatus 2 receives and stores image data from the basic unit 301 and the basic unit 301 constituting the digital copying apparatus 2, and stores the stored image data again as the basic unit 301. The page memory unit 302 is transferred to the page memory unit 302.

  The basic unit 301 is connected to the main control unit 311 via the system bus 310 and the system bus 310 to which various devices or circuits including the main control unit 311 and the main control unit 311 that control the apparatus body 4 are connected. A CCD sensor 24, which will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 5 of the apparatus main body 4, a reading unit for transmitting image information to the CCD sensor 24, and a photosensitive drum 30 shown below with reference to FIG. And an image forming unit including a peripheral device, a facsimile 312, and an image processing unit 313. The system bus 310 is connected to a system bus (to be described later) of the page memory unit 302 via the system bus connection unit 314. The image processing unit 313 is connected to the image bus of the page memory unit 302 by the image data interface 315.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the main control unit 311 includes a system CPU 100 of the digital copying apparatus 2 including the apparatus main body 4, the automatic document feeder 6 and the finisher 8, and warms up the laser exposure copying apparatus 2 to perform image processing. An initial program for enabling formation is stored, a ROM (read only memory) 102 connected to the system CPU 100, and a RAM (random access memory) 104 for temporarily storing numerical data input from the control panel, which will be described later. The NVM (nonvolatile memory) 106 that holds the numerical data set when the apparatus 2 is assembled semipermanently, the image memory 108, the timer memory 110, the timer 112, the internal interface 122, the external interface 124, and the like.

  7 is connected to the internal interface 122, and the finisher 8 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the external interface 124. The external interface 124 is connected to an external device (such as a personal computer).

  A printer CPU 130 and a facsimile 312 for controlling the apparatus main body 4 are connected to the system CPU 100.

  Connected to the printer CPU 130 is an image forming unit comprising the photosensitive drum 30 and its peripheral devices shown in FIG. 4, and a CCD sensor 24 and a reading unit for transmitting image information to the sensor 24 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the image forming unit includes a motor driving unit 132 that drives a motor that rotates the photosensitive drum 30 of the apparatus main body 4 illustrated in FIG. 1 at a desired speed, and conveyance sensors 54 a and 54 b of the conveyance unit 54. And 54c, sensor inputs for detecting the output of the aligning sensor 56a, the discharge sensor 62a, the jam sensor 65a, and the paper stop switch 68a, and notifying the printer CPU 130 and the system CPU 100 of the paper conveyance state inside the apparatus main body 4. Unit 140, a cleaning blade (not shown) of the cleaning device 36, a solenoid (not shown) used for the switching mechanism 60, a mechanism driving unit 141 for turning on / off a driving coil, a lighting time and a passing current value of a fixing lamp of the fixing device 58. Control the fixing run to set the fixing temperature within a predetermined range. The control unit 142, the charging device 31, the transfer unit and the peeling unit of the transfer peeling device 34, the high voltage output control unit 143 that controls the respective output voltages of the pre-cleaning static elimination device 35, and the static elimination device control unit 144 that controls the static elimination device 37. In order to rotate each of the pickup rollers 44a, 44b and 44c, 48 and 51 at a predetermined timing, a paper feed controller 145 for controlling a paper feed motor arranged corresponding to each roller, and transport rollers 45a and 45b , 45c, 55,..., Aligning roller 56 and the like are rotated at a predetermined timing to control a motor disposed corresponding to each roller, and a laser diode (not shown) of laser exposure device 32. By a laser driving circuit 150 for driving the light source and light emission control by the laser driving circuit 150 A modulation circuit 151 that modulates the intensity of laser light from the emitted laser diode according to image data to be formed, a polygon motor control circuit 152 that rotates a polygon motor (not shown) of the laser exposure device 32 at a predetermined speed, and the like It is comprised by.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the reading unit moves the first carriage 15 including the exposure lamp 12, the auxiliary reflector 13, and the first mirror 14 in the apparatus main body 4 illustrated in FIG. 1 in parallel with the document table 10 at a predetermined speed. A motor driver 160 that drives a pulse motor (not shown) that reciprocates, a lamp controller 162 that controls the terminal voltage of the exposure lamp 12 so that a predetermined amount of light reaches the document on the document table 10, a pickup roller 73, and a paper feed In order to rotate the roller 74 at a predetermined timing, a document feed control unit 164 that controls a document motor arranged corresponding to each roller, and an aligning roller 75 that is rotated by the document feed control unit 164 An aligning roller system that turns on / off a solenoid or drive coil (not shown) to stop and rotate at timing. One of the unit 166, the discharge / reverse control unit 168 that controls the position of the flapper 80, and the belt roller 77 around which the conveyance belt 76 is wound is rotated at a predetermined speed, and the document conveyed toward the document table 10 is conveyed. The document is guided to a predetermined position on the document table 10 and, if necessary, the size (length) of the document is detected based on the output of the document conveyance control unit 170 for discharging or inverting the document and the aligning sensor 75a. The document size detection circuit 172, the jam sensor 82 or the document detection sensor 72a is configured by a sensor input unit 174 that notifies the printer CPU 130 (and the system CPU 100) of the output.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the output of the CCD sensor 24 is an image processing unit including an A / D conversion circuit 181, a resolution conversion circuit 182, a shading correction circuit 183, an image quality improvement circuit 184, a binarization circuit 185, and the like. By 313, a predetermined characteristic is given and transferred to a predetermined area of the page memory unit 302 via the printer CPU 130 and stored (stored).

  Next, the page memory unit 302 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 again.

  The page memory unit 302 includes a page memory 321 and a communication memory 322 that temporarily store (stores) the supplied image data, and a system control unit 323 that controls access from the basic unit 301 to the page memory 321. An address control unit 324 that generates an address of the memory 321, an image bus 325 used for data transfer between devices in the page memory unit 302, and a control between each device in the page memory unit 302 and the system control unit 324 A data control unit 327 that controls data transfer when transferring data between the page memory 321 and another device via a control bus 326 and an image bus 325 used for signal transfer, and a basic unit 301 Between the basic unit 301 when transferring image data via the image interface 315. Image data interface control unit 328 used for data transfer, when image data is transmitted to a device having a different resolution, the image data is converted to a resolution of another device, or image data received from a device having a different resolution is basically used. A resolution conversion / binary rotation circuit 329 that converts the image forming unit of the unit 301 to a resolution that can be imaged or rotates binary image data by 90 degrees, and compresses the image data for transmission by facsimile or storage on an optical disk A compression / decompression circuit 330 that compresses image data input for a device that transmits and stores data and stores the compressed image data for visual printing, and an image data interface controller 315 and rotate the image data by 90 degrees or -90 degrees when outputting the image data from the image forming unit. Composed of such multilevel rotation memory 331 that is used to output.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the inside of the apparatus main body 4 shown in FIG. 1, that is, the facsimile 312 of the basic unit 301 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a facsimile 312 is connected to a public line via a modem 190 which is a modem for analog line connection, and CODECs 191 and 192 which are binary image data encoding / decoding apparatuses, EPROM 193 for communication control program, memory for storing image data, pseudo SRAM 195 backed up by battery 194, work RAM 196 used for various processing of image data, additional memory 197, and received by facsimile And an interface 198 for outputting the received data to the image processing unit 313 of the basic unit 301.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a control panel incorporated in the digital copying apparatus 2 shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the control panel 200 executes a copy key 202 for setting a copy mode for executing a copy function, a FAX key 204 for setting a FAX mode for executing a facsimile function, and a printer function. A printer key 206 for setting a printer mode is provided.

  The control panel 200 has a numeric keypad 208 for inputting numerical values such as the number of copies in the copy mode, a print key 210 for instructing the start of copying, and used for correcting the number of copies or stopping the copying operation. A clear / stop key 212, an all clear key 214 for clearing all selected modes and various set conditions, and a magnification setting key 216 for setting a copying magnification are provided.

  Further, the control panel 200 includes a paper size key 218 for selecting and setting the size of the paper on which an image is to be formed, and automatic paper for automatically setting the paper size by detecting the size of the document placed on the platen. A selection key 220, a document size key 222 for setting the document size, and an automatic magnification selection key 224 for automatically setting a copy magnification based on the paper size set by the paper size key 218 and the detected document size. Is provided.

  In addition to these various setting keys, an operation guide key 226 for displaying guidance information such as set mode contents and operation procedures, a preheating key 228 for setting a preheating state, and instructing interruption during operation of the printer unit. An interruption key 230 is provided.

  In the approximate center of the control panel 200, a display panel constituted by a touch panel type liquid crystal display (LCD) that displays the state of the apparatus, operation procedures, and various messages to the user in characters and graphics. 240 is provided. The display panel 240 displays a failure cancellation guidance and an illustration (see FIGS. 8A and 8B described later) and predetermined keys, which are described below, and an operation procedure.

  Next, an operation for copying a document image by the copying apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 will be described.

  The apparatus 2 is warmed up according to a control program stored in the ROM 102 when a main switch (not shown) is turned on, and an image corresponding to the supplied image data in response to a print request or facsimile reception from the external apparatus. Is initialized to be formable. In this case, the display unit of the control panel 200 shown in FIG. A message indicating that the printer is waiting is displayed.

  When the print key 210 of the control panel 200 is turned on after the document D to be copied is set on the document tray 72 of the automatic document feeder 6, it is checked that the empty sensor 72a of the automatic document feeder 6 is on. After detecting that a document is set on the document tray 72, the pickup roller 73 is driven in response to a drive current supplied from the document feed control unit 164 to a document motor (not shown), and the document tray 72 is loaded. The lowermost document among the set documents is guided to the paper feed roller 74.

  The document D guided to the paper feed roller 74 is further conveyed toward the aligning roller 75.

  Subsequently, when the leading edge of the document D passes through the aligning sensor 75a, a clutch (not shown) is turned on by the aligning roller control unit 166, and the aligning roller 75 is stopped. As a result, the document D taken out from the document tray 72 via the pickup roller 73 is temporarily stopped, whereby the inclination of the document D with respect to the document transport direction is corrected.

  Next, a drive motor (not shown) is rotated under the control of the document conveyance control unit 170, the belt roller 77 is rotated in the document feeding direction, the conveyance belt 76 is rotated, and a clutch (not shown) is turned off at a predetermined timing. The aligning roller 75 is rotated again, and the document D is fed from the aligning roller 75 to the conveying belt 76.

  Thereafter, the conveyance belt 76 is rotated by the conveyance motor for a predetermined time, whereby the document D is conveyed onto the document table 10 of the copying apparatus 2. The conveyor belt 76 is stopped after a predetermined time from the trailing edge of the document D passing through the aligning sensor 75a, that is, after a time determined in advance by the interval between the aligning sensor 75a and the document guide 11. Rotation due to inertia is prevented by the brake that does not. On the other hand, when the leading edge of the document D is detected by the aligning sensor 75a, the printer CPU 130 of the basic unit 301 is notified that the document D has been transported to a predetermined position, and then the document size detection circuit 172. Based on the size of the original D detected via the aligning sensor 75a and the copy magnification set from the control panel 200, the printer CPU 130 selects a cassette containing the paper P having the optimum size. Subsequently, the reading start position of image data for inputting image data from the CCD line sensor 24 to the page memory 321 is called from the ROM 102 and stored in the RAM 104 in accordance with the input copy magnification. At this time, if the size of the paper P calculated by the printer CPU 130 based on the size of the original and the input copy magnification does not match the size of the image area defined based on the copy magnification, the size of the paper P The reading start position based on the height, that is, the copyable document area is calculated. Further, the writing start position on the photosensitive drum 30 by the laser exposure device 32 is similarly defined and stored in the RAM 104.

  Since the upper limit of the size of the copyable document area is limited by the maximum paper size that can be fed by the copying apparatus 2, the maximum paper size that can be fed is set to “A3”. Then, for example, even when the size of the document D is “B4” and 141% is input as the copy magnification, the actually copyable size is limited to the size of “A4”. Therefore, in this case, the reading start position is set to a position corresponding to the “A4” size.

  Further, for example, when a copy magnification of 105% is input to the “A4” size document D, a cassette containing the “B4” size paper P is selected and the document D is read. As the starting position, the reading start position of the “B4” size document including the displacement of the reading position corresponding to the copy magnification is called from the ROM 102.

  Separately, when an original D smaller than the “A4” size and larger than the “B5” size is set on the original platen 10 and a copying magnification of 100% is selected, an “A4” size paper P is loaded. While the accommodated cassette is selected, the reading start position of the “A4” size document with a copy magnification of 100% is called from the ROM 162 as the reading start position of the document D.

  Next, the exposure lamp 12 of the first carriage 15 is turned on with a predetermined brightness, and the first carriage 15 is moved at a predetermined speed along the original D on the original table 10 by the rotation of a pulse motor (not shown). .

  Subsequently, the first mirror 14 of the first carriage 15 and the second information are reflected as reflected light generated when the image information of the document D placed on the document table 10 is illuminated by the exposure lamp 12 and the reflection plate 13. The second mirror 21 and the third mirror 22 of the carriage 20 are sequentially reflected, pass through the imaging lens 23, and form an image on the reading surface of the CCD sensor 24.

  The image information of the original D imaged on the CCD sensor 24, that is, the reflected light from the original D is photoelectrically converted by the CCD sensor 24 at a predetermined resolution, and then the CCD sensor 24 corresponding to the reading start position stored in the RAM 104. Are taken in order from a pixel at a predetermined position (not shown), converted into a digital signal by an A / D conversion circuit 181, and an image including a resolution conversion circuit 182, a shading correction circuit 183, an image quality improvement circuit 184, a binarization circuit 185, and the like. A predetermined characteristic is given by the processing unit 313, and transferred to and stored (stored) in a predetermined area of the page memory 321 of the page memory unit 302 via the printer CPU 130.

  In parallel with the start of supply of image information to the CCD sensor 24 or at a predetermined timing, a motor drive voltage is supplied from the motor drive unit 132 to a motor (not shown) by the control of the printer CPU 130, and the motor (not shown) is driven at a predetermined speed. The photosensitive drum 30 is rotated at a desired speed. At the same time, the high voltage output control unit 143 applies a predetermined potential from the charging device 31 to the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. For example, the initial surface potential supplied to the photosensitive drum 30 is set to approximately −650 volts.

  The image data temporarily stored in the page memory 321 is converted from the laser exposure device 32 by the modulation circuit 151 using the PLL signal returned from the polygon motor via the polygon motor control circuit to the printer CPU 130 as an exposure start signal. The intensity of the laser beam emitted from the 32 laser diodes is modulated to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30.

  The electrostatic latent image formed in this way is developed by the high-voltage output control unit 143 with toner supplied from the developing roller 33a of the developing device 33 to which a developing bias voltage of −450 volts, for example, is applied. Further, the toner image is transferred onto the paper P as a toner image by the transfer peeling device 34 to which a predetermined transfer voltage is applied by the high voltage output control unit 143.

  The toner image transferred to the paper P is peeled off from the surface of the photosensitive drum 30 together with the paper P by the peeling output from the transfer peeling device 34 to which a predetermined peeling voltage is applied by the high voltage output control unit 143, and the conveying belt 57. Then, the toner is conveyed to the fixing device 58 and fixed on the paper P via the fixing device 58.

  The sheet P on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to a discharge tray 59a of the finisher 9 disposed outside the copying apparatus 2 via first and second discharge rollers 61 and 62.

  The photoconductive drum 30 having the toner image transferred onto the paper P is continuously rotated, and the photoconductive drum 30 is subjected to a static elimination output from the pre-cleaning static elimination device 35 to which a predetermined pre-cleaning static elimination voltage is applied by the high-voltage output control unit 143. The remaining toner charge remaining on the surface of the toner is discharged, and then the remaining toner is removed by the cleaning device 36. Further, the charge is removed by the discharging device 37, and subsequently used for the next image formation.

  On the other hand, when all the image information of the first document D currently located on the document table 10 is supplied to the CCD sensor 24, the conveyance belt is controlled by the document conveyance control unit 170 in response to the control of the printer CPU 130. 76 is rotated, the front and back of the document D are interchanged, or the next document D is fed. That is, the conveyance motor is rotated by a drive current to a conveyance motor (not shown) under the control of the document conveyance control unit 170, the belt roller 77 is rotated in a predetermined direction, and the conveyance belt 76 is rotated.

  As a result, when the document is a single-sided document, the first document currently set on the document table 10 is conveyed toward the reverse roller 78, and a predetermined position of the cover 71 is set by the flapper 80 and the discharge roller 81. Are discharged to the original receiving area.

  Subsequently, the empty sensor 72a checks the presence or absence of the next document D. If the document D remains, the document feeding operation is repeated, and the document table 10 is subsequently repeated in the same manner as the first document. Then, the second document is set and the image information of the second document is read.

  In this way, a series of image formation is repeated for all the documents D set on the document tray 72 of the automatic document feeder 6.

  By the way, in the laser exposure type digital copying apparatus 2, either the large-capacity cassette 47, the cassettes 41, 42 and 43, or the manual feeder 51 is directed to the apparatus body 4, that is, the photosensitive drum 30, or from the photosensitive drum 30 to the finisher 8. There is a case where a sheet conveyed toward the sheet discharge tray 59a is jammed. Guidance for failure cancellation used in such cases includes, for example, failure indications including jam indications for the photoreceptor, charging, exposure, development, transfer, cleaning, static elimination, and fixing parts arranged around it. In response to a failure notification from the image forming unit including the control unit, the following two typical control sequences described in [A] and [B] are displayed.

[A] When Notifying Only the Type of Failure A-0) Failure information that can be detected by the control unit of the image forming unit is prepared in advance by the display operation unit of the system control unit.
Failure type A,
priority,
Failure display message,
Disability cancellation guidance A1, A2, A3 ...
Failure type B,
priority,
Failure display message,
Disability cancellation guidance B1, B2, B3 ...
Fault type C,
priority,
Failure display message,
Disability cancellation guidance C1, C2, C3 ...

A-1) Fault notification
When a failure occurs in the apparatus main body or in a system including a preset optional device, the occurrence of the failure and the type of the failure are transmitted to the system control unit by message communication within the device.
The system control unit transmits the type of failure that has occurred in the image forming unit to the display operation unit via a management unit that manages the internal state of the apparatus.

A-2) Preparation for determining the location of failure
The display operation unit prepares a failure occurrence message prepared in advance according to the type of failure that has occurred, and also selects the option setting status information of the image forming apparatus and the image forming operation in which the failure has occurred. Information on the paper feeding means that has been used is acquired.

A-3) Defect location determination
In the display operation unit, first, based on the failure information notified from the image forming unit via the management unit, the information on the optional configuration state of the image forming apparatus obtained in A-2) and the image formation in which the failure has occurred The part where the failure has occurred is estimated from the information regarding the paper feed stage selected in the operation.

A-4) Fault indication
In the display / operation unit, the prepared message is displayed first (Example: “Paper jammed inside the device”). Further, based on the result estimated in the above A-2), the symbol of the place where it is estimated that a failure has occurred is blinked.

A-5) Priority control
When there are a plurality of faults, only the fault display message with the highest priority is displayed according to the fault priority determined in A-0). In addition, regarding the display of the failure occurrence site, the symbols of all occurrence sites estimated in A-3) are blinked regardless of the priority.

A-6) Disability cancellation guidance selection
Furthermore, the display operation unit prepares a failure release guide prepared in advance based on the failure occurrence site estimated in A-3) for the failure with the highest priority among the failure groups displayed in A-5). Search for the appropriate one and display it. That is, the contents of the release guide described above are also appropriate. An example is shown below.
Release guidance A1
Start of release guidance
("Open the front cover" display)
Release guidance 1
("Please operate the XX lever" display)
Release guidance 2
(Indication of `` Open XX cover '')
End of release guide
("Please close the front cover" display)
Release guidance A2
Start of release guidance
("Open the front cover" display)
Release guidance 1
("Please operate the XX lever" display)
Release guidance 2
("△△ Open the cover" display)
End of release guide
("Please close the front cover" display).

As described above, the failure display method and the failure release guidance display method estimate the failure location from the sheet feeding unit and the optional configuration state at that time based on the failure type information notified from the image forming unit, and Appropriate release guidance is searched and displayed.
[B] When the location of failure is notified in addition to the type of failure
In addition to the above-mentioned [A], a method for notifying the site of failure from the image forming unit together with the type of failure has also been proposed. In this case, since it is not necessary to perform fault estimation, there is a great advantage that the fault occurrence part displayed on the display / operation unit and the cancellation guidance based thereon are not different from actual ones.

B-0) Prepare fault information that can be detected in the system main unit or in a system including a preset optional device in the display operation unit of the system control unit.
Failure type A
Generation site 1,
priority,
Display message,
Release guidance A1, A2, A3 ...
Occurrence site 2,
priority,
Display message,
Release guidance A11, A12, A13 ...
Generation site 3,
priority,
Display message,
Release guidance A21, A22, A23 ...
Fault type B
Generation site 1,
priority,
Display message,
Release guidance B1, B2, B3 ...
Failure type C
Occurrence site 0,
priority,
Display message,
Disability cancellation guidance C1, C2, C3 ...

B-1) Failure notification
When a failure occurs in the apparatus main body or in a system including a preset optional device, the occurrence of the failure and the type of the failure are transmitted to the system control unit by message communication within the device.
The system control unit transmits the type of failure that has occurred in the image forming unit to the display operation unit via a management unit that manages the internal state of the apparatus.

B-2) Preparation for fault indication
The display operation unit prepares a failure occurrence message prepared in advance based on information on the type of failure that has occurred and the location of the failure.

B-3) Fault occurrence display
First display the prepared message
(Example: “There is a paper jam inside the aircraft”).
Further, the symbol of the location where the failure has occurred is blinked based on the failure location information.

B-4) Priority control
When there are a plurality of failures, only the failure display message with the highest priority is displayed according to the failure priority determined in B-0). In addition, regarding the fault occurrence site, the symbols of all occurrence sites are blinked regardless of the priority.

B-5) Disability cancellation guidance selection
Further, the display / operation unit searches for an appropriate failure cancellation guidance prepared in advance for each failure group displayed in B-4) based on the failure site information for the failure with the highest priority. , Display it.
However, since the release guidance is configured for each occurrence site, one release guidance naturally includes only the occurrence site.
That is, for example, as described below,
Release guidance A1
Start of release guidance
("Open the front cover" display)
Release guidance details
("Please operate the XX lever" display)
End of release guide
("Please close the front cover" display).
Release guidance A2
Start of release guidance
("Open the front cover" display)
Release guidance details
(Indication of `` Open XX cover '')
End of release guide
("Please close the front cover" display).

  For this reason, when a failure has occurred at a plurality of locations, the release guidance must display, for example, each of the release guidances A1 and A2.

However, each release guidance always includes "Beginning of Release Guidance" and "End of Release Guidance".
[Number of errors-1] x 2
Will be displayed.

  To avoid this, a release guide is provided for each occurrence pattern, which is not very efficient. Also, in this case, the release guide becomes enormous and a problem arises that the memory capacity must be increased.

  For this reason, there has been proposed a method of displaying a combination of a plurality of release guidances in accordance with each failure when the failure site is also notified ([B]).

For example, if a failure corresponding to A1 and a failure corresponding to A2 have occurred, the cancellation guidance is displayed in combination with each other as shown below.
Start of release guidance
("Open the front cover" display)
Contents of cancellation guidance A1
("Please operate the XX lever" display)
Contents of cancellation guidance A2
("Please open the XX cover" display)
End of release guide
(Indication of “Please close the front cover”).

  As already described, when paper is jammed in any of the inside of the apparatus main body 4, guidance for removing the paper (failure release guidance) is displayed on the display panel 240 of the control panel, where the pictograph or the fault has occurred. For example, when the optional device, that is, the finisher 8 in the embodiment of the present invention is connected, the sheet discharged from the fixing device 58 is connected to the fixing device 58. In the case of clogging with the finisher 8, the normal failure cancellation guidance is inappropriate.

  In the following, for the fault location, it is possible to display the location that matches the actual fault location, can respond to changes in the fault release procedure due to variations in the option configuration, and provides fault release guidance with a smaller amount of data. The display method for displaying the failure cancellation guidance that can be displayed will be described in detail.

  In addition, as each guidance, an illustration as described later in FIG. 8A or FIG. 8B is displayed on the display panel 240 of the control panel.

For example, when there are three parts that can be detected and identified by detecting the occurrence of a failure and one optional device is set, the failure locations 1, 2 and 3 and the presence or absence of the optional device When combinations are combined, the combinations to be displayed are as shown in Table 1 below (circles indicate failures).

In Table 1,
Release guidance 1
Release guidance →
"Please open the front cover" display,
Cancellation guidance contents →
"Please operate the XX lever" display,
End of release guidance →
"Please close the front cover" display,
Release guidance 2
Release guidance →
"Please open the front cover" display,
Cancellation guidance contents →
"Please open the XX cover" display,
End of release guidance →
"Please close the front cover" display,
Assuming that a failure corresponding to the failure occurrence location 1 and a failure corresponding to the failure occurrence location 2 occur, the release guidance is a combination of the respective guidance as follows.

[Example 2] When option is not installed
Release guidance →
`` Open the front cover '' is displayed,
Release Guidance 1 →
"Please operate the XX lever" is displayed.
Release Guidance 2 →
"Please open the XX cover" is displayed,
End of release guide →
“Please close the front cover” is displayed.

[Example 3] When option is installed
(When the optional device is a finisher)
Release guidance →
`` Open the front cover '' is displayed,
Finisher removal guidance →
"Please pull the finisher away" is displayed,
Release Guidance 1 →
"Please operate the XX lever" is displayed.
Release Guidance 2 →
"Please open the XX cover" is displayed,
Finisher installation guidance →
“Replace finisher” is displayed,
End of release guide →
“Please close the front cover” is displayed.

  Such a combination algorithm of release guidance will be described in detail.

(1) When a failure occurs alone
When a failure has occurred alone, the release guidance corresponding to the error code is displayed according to a predetermined procedure. The release guidance display procedure will be described below by dividing it into various obstacles. In this case, after displaying a message necessary for canceling each failure shown below on the display panel 240 of the control panel 200, each time the operation guide key 226 is turned on, an illustration of the corresponding cancel operation is displayed. Displayed on panel 240.

[A] Toner collection bag replacement
Displayed when the waste toner collection bag is full.
Each time the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on following the message “Replace the toner bag” and the illustration showing the approximate position of the toner bag, the guidance is displayed in the order shown in Table 2 below. Is displayed.

[B] Toner cartridge replacement
Displayed when toner is supplied.
Each time the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on following the message “please replenish toner” and the illustration showing the approximate position of the toner replenishing section, the guidance is displayed in the order shown in Table 3 below. Is displayed.

[C] Document check
Displayed when a document feeding jam occurs in the automatic document feeder 6. This document feed jam is detected by the jam sensor 82, the aligning sensor 75a, and the document detection sensor 72a.

[C-1] When the symbol on the entrance side of the automatic document feeder 6 is blinking (document detection sensor 72a and aligning sensor 75a)
Each time the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on following the message “Re-insert the document” and the illustration showing the approximate position of the automatic document feeder, the guidance is displayed in the order shown in Table 4 below. Is displayed. In the display order “1”, for example, an illustration as shown in FIG. 8A is displayed on the display panel 240. Further, illustrations (not shown) are also displayed on the display panel 240 in each subsequent display order.

[C-2] When the symbol on the exit side of the self-document feeder is flashing
Each time the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on following the message “Reload original” and an illustration showing the approximate position of the automatic document feeder, the guidance is displayed in the order shown in Table 5 below. Is displayed.

[D] Paper jam
Displayed when a paper jam occurs inside the machine.
Following the illustration showing the general position of the area separated from the schematic cross section of the apparatus main body as shown in FIG. 9, the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is displayed in the following order each time the operation guide key 226 is turned on. Each area is divided by a paper empty switch 47a, a paper empty switch 50a, transport sensors 54a, 54b and 54c, an aligning sensor 56a, a discharge sensor 62a, a jam sensor 65a, and a paper stop switch 68a. Further, a paper jam between each of the sets 41, 42 and 43 in the multi-stage paper feeding device 40 and the aligning sensor 56a has passed a predetermined time after the pickup roller provided in each cassette is rotated. Even so, a paper jam is determined when the passage of the paper P is not detected by any of the subsequent transport sensors 54a, 54b and 54c.

[D-1] When there is a paper jam in area 1
Displayed when a paper jam occurs inside the machine (paper empty 50a, transport sensor 54c, aligning sensor 56a).
Each time the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on following the message “Paper jammed in the machine”, guidance is displayed in the display order shown in Table 6 below.

[D-2] When there is a paper jam in area 2
Displayed when a paper jam occurs near the fixing device (aligning sensor 56a, discharge sensor 62a).
Each time the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on following the message “Paper jammed inside the machine”, guidance is displayed in the display order shown in Table 7 below.

[D-3] When there is a paper jam in area 3
This is a case where a paper jam has occurred in the paper reversing section (the jam sensor 65a, the paper stop switch 68a).
Each time the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on following the message “Paper jammed inside the machine”, guidance is displayed in the display order shown in Table 8 below.

[D-4] When there is a paper jam in area 4
This is a case where a paper jam has occurred in the multi-stage paper feeder (conveyance sensors 54a and 54b).
Following the message “Paper jammed inside the machine”, guidance is displayed in the display order shown in Table 9 below each time the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on.

[D-5] When there is a paper jam in area 5
This is a case where a paper jam occurs in the large capacity cassette (conveyance sensor 54c).
Each time the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on following the message “Paper jammed in the machine”, guidance is displayed in the display order shown in Table 10 below. For example, in the display order “4”, an illustration as shown in FIG. 8B, that is, a state in which the large-capacity cassette 47 is opened rearward is displayed on the display panel 240.

[E] Canceling the finisher
When the optional finisher is installed, it is necessary to pull the finisher away from the main body. For this reason, whenever the operation guide key 226 on the control panel is turned on as needed, guidance is displayed in the display order shown in Table 11 below.

(2) When multiple failures occur simultaneously
The display of the cancellation guidance when multiple faults occur shall follow the following principle.
in this case,
(a) Display a cancellation guidance corresponding to the highest priority failure that should be cleared.
(b) When the failure with the highest priority is a jam and occurs at multiple locations, the release guidance display is linked.

Next, the principle when linking release guidance displays will be described.
(A) When a document feeding jam occurs in the automatic document feeder →→→
Simply connect.

(B) When a paper jam occurs inside the machine, and there are two or more jammed locations in Area 1, Area 2, and Area 3 →→→
Standardize the first and last guidance, and simply connect between them.

(C) When a paper jam occurs inside the machine, and the jam occurrence location is area 4 and area 5 →→→
Simply connect.

(D) When a finisher is installed as an optional device
(Note that the finisher 8 is attached to the apparatus main body 4 is notified to the printer CPU 130 of the main controller 311 through the signal line 8a.)
(D-1) When a paper jam occurs inside the machine and the jam occurrence location is Area 1, Area 4 and Area 5 →→→
as usual.
(D-2) When a paper jam occurs inside the machine and the jam occurs in area 2 or area 3 or both →→→
A guidance screen for pulling off the finisher is displayed immediately before the guidance screen display for opening the discharge cover, and a guidance screen for returning the finisher 8 is displayed immediately after the guidance screen display for closing the discharge cover.

(E) When a large-capacity cassette is installed as an optional device and the jam occurrence location is in area 4 (Note that the fact that the large-capacity cassette is installed in the apparatus main body 4 is not shown in the figure. The line is notified to the printer CPU 130 of the main control unit 311.) →→→
The display order 1 and 3 of the release guide described in [D-4] are replaced as shown below using Table 12.

Therefore, when a finisher is installed as an optional device and a paper jam occurs in area 1 and area 2, the cancellation guidance screen is as shown below using Table 13.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a control unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a basic unit (main control unit) of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a reading unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a facsimile unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a control panel incorporated in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. Schematic which shows the example of the illustration of the cancellation | release guidance displayed on the display panel of the control panel shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an outline of a failure area of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Laser exposure type copying apparatus (image forming apparatus), 4 ... Apparatus main body, 6 ... Automatic document feeder, 6a ... Signal line, 8 ... Finisher, 8a ... Signal line, 10 ... Document table, 11 ... Document guide, 12 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Exposure lamp, 23 ... Imaging lens, 24 ... CCD sensor, 30 ... Photosensitive drum (image carrier), 31 ... Charging device, 32 ... Laser exposure device, 33 ... Developing device, 34 ... Transfer peeling device, 35 ... Pre-cleaning static eliminator, 36 ... Cleaning device, 37 ... Static eliminator, 100 ... System CPU, 102 ... ROM, 104 ... RAM, 130 ... Printer CPU, 140 ... Sensor input unit, 146 ... Conveyance control unit, 150 ... Laser drive circuit 151 ... Modulation circuit, 152 ... Polygon motor control circuit, 164 ... Document feed control unit, 166 ... Aligning roller control unit, 170 ... Document conveyance control 172: Document size detection circuit, 174 ... Sensor input unit, 200 ... Control panel, 226 ... Operation guide key, 240 ... Display panel, 301 ... Basic unit, 302 ... Page memory unit, 311 ... Main control unit, 312 ... Facsimile 313: Image processing unit.

Claims (7)

Detecting that a second device associated with the first device is associated with the first device;
When a failure occurs in one or both of the first device and the second device, a predetermined failure cancellation method is extracted in association with the failure that has occurred,
Of the extracted failure cancellation methods, the cancellation methods specified in a specific order are added, replaced, or deleted depending on the failure location and the status of the first device and the second device acquired in advance. Then, a control method for the image forming apparatus, comprising assembling a canceling procedure for canceling the failure that has occurred.   The image forming apparatus control method according to claim 1, wherein the assembled release procedure is displayed on a display device.   3. The control method for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the extracted failure canceling method is stored in a storage area in advance. Detecting that an additional device added to the image forming apparatus that outputs an image is added to the image forming device;
Detect that a failure has occurred in either or both of the image forming device and the additional device,
Read out the failure cancellation method held in the image forming device,
The read failure cancellation method is associated with the positional relationship between the image forming apparatus and the additional apparatus, the state in which the additional apparatus is added, and at least one of the positions of the image carrier that is moved between the image forming apparatus and the additional apparatus. Assemble the obstacle release method,
A control method for an image forming apparatus, comprising: displaying an assembled failure canceling method.   The assembly of the fault clearing method comprises deleting, exchanging, or adding at least one of the read fault clearing methods given a specific order among the read fault clearing methods. 5. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to 4.   6. The image forming apparatus control method according to claim 4, wherein the failure canceling method is graphic data.   When the read failure cancellation method exists in each of the image forming apparatus and the additional device, the first and last guidances of the failure cancellation method guidance are shared, and the connection is simply performed between them. Item 6. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to Item 4 or 5.

Images