CN117544728A

CN117544728A - Paper feeding control method, paper feeding control device and image forming apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN117544728A
Application number: CN202311467536.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陆铃苑; 黄远立
Original assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-11-06
Filing date: 2023-11-06
Publication date: 2024-02-09

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a paper feed control method, a paper feed control device and an image forming device. The method is applied to image forming equipment, the image forming equipment comprises a body, a processor and a virtual paper box, the virtual paper box comprises at least one matching paper box, and virtual paper rubbing points are correspondingly arranged on the virtual paper box; the paper feed control method includes, based on a processor: according to the operation command of the body, the currently designated paper selecting box is controlled to transmit the current medium to the virtual paper rubbing point; detecting whether a current medium of the virtual paper rubbing point leaves the virtual paper rubbing point; and if the current medium is detected to leave the virtual paper rubbing point, controlling the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium to the virtual paper rubbing point. According to the embodiment of the application, the selected paper box and the body can be decoupled, the situation of the body does not need to be considered when the paper feeding control is carried out on the selected paper box, and the influence of the body on the selected paper box is reduced, so that the calculation process is simple.

Description

Paper feeding control method, paper feeding control device and image forming apparatus

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of image forming control, in particular to a paper feeding control method, a paper feeding control device and image forming equipment.

Background

The image forming apparatus may include a body, a body cassette, and a set cassette externally connected to the body of the image forming device, the set cassette being adaptable to the body so that the image forming apparatus may perform a paper feeding process through the set cassette. At an initial stage of image formation, the image forming apparatus needs to convey a medium from a paper feed cassette, which may include a body cassette or a matching cassette, to a correction position corresponding to a correction roller, which is referred to as a paper feed process.

In the prior art, the paper feeding time of the body paper box can be calculated from the starting time of the correction roller of the previous page paper; since the feeding path of the sorting cassette is long, the feeding time of the sorting cassette is calculated from the time when the tail of the preceding medium leaves the sorting sensor. Each paper selecting box is provided with a paper feeding time sequence, and the paper feeding time of the paper selecting box and the coupling of the image forming equipment body are large, so that the situation of the image forming equipment body is often considered when the paper feeding time of the next medium is calculated, and the calculation process is complex.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the embodiments of the present application provide a paper feed control method, apparatus, and image forming apparatus for reducing the influence of a body portion on a matching paper cassette, thereby making a calculation process simple.

A first aspect provides a paper feed control method applied to an image forming apparatus including a main body, a processor, and a virtual paper cassette including at least one option paper cassette correspondingly provided with virtual paper pickup points;

based on the processor, the method comprises:

according to the operation command of the body, controlling the current medium to be transmitted from the current designated optional paper box to the virtual paper rubbing point;

detecting whether the current medium of the virtual paper rubbing point leaves the virtual paper rubbing point or not;

and if the current medium is detected to leave the virtual paper rubbing point, controlling the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium to the virtual paper rubbing point.

A second aspect provides a paper feed control method for use in a continuous printing process, the method being applied to an image forming apparatus including a main body, a processor, a virtual paper cassette including at least one optional paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette being correspondingly provided with a virtual paper pickup point, and a medium conveyance path in a medium conveyance direction of the virtual paper pickup point;

Based on the processor, the method comprises:

detecting whether the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper distance;

and if the distance is detected to reach the set paper distance, controlling the current medium to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and controlling the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium towards the virtual paper rubbing point.

A third aspect provides a paper feed control method for use in a continuous printing process, the method being applied to an image forming apparatus including a main body, a processor, a virtual paper cassette including at least one optional paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette being correspondingly provided with a virtual paper pickup point, and a medium conveyance path in a medium conveyance direction of the virtual paper pickup point;

based on the processor, the method comprises:

confirming a medium supply object according to the operation command of the body;

if the medium supply object is the virtual paper box, controlling to convey the medium from the currently designated selected paper box to a virtual paper rubbing point;

A fourth aspect provides a paper feed control apparatus, the apparatus being applied to an image forming apparatus including a body and a virtual paper cassette including at least one matching paper cassette correspondingly provided with virtual paper pickup points, the apparatus comprising:

the first detection module is used for detecting whether the current medium of the virtual paper rubbing point leaves the virtual paper rubbing point or not;

the control module is used for controlling the media to be conveyed from the currently designated selected paper box to the virtual paper rubbing point according to the operation command of the body; and the device is used for controlling the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium to the virtual paper rubbing point if the current medium of the virtual paper rubbing point is detected to leave the virtual paper rubbing point.

A fifth aspect provides a paper feed control device for use in a continuous printing process, the device being applied to an image forming apparatus including a main body, a virtual paper cassette including at least one optional paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette being correspondingly provided with a virtual paper pickup point, and a medium conveyance path in a medium conveyance direction of the virtual paper pickup point; the device comprises:

A confirmation module for confirming the medium supply object according to the operation command of the body;

the second detection module is used for detecting whether the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper distance or not;

the control module is used for controlling the media to be conveyed from the currently designated selected paper box to the virtual paper rubbing point if the media supply object is the virtual paper box; and if the second detection module detects that the distance reaches the set paper distance, controlling the current medium to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and controlling the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium towards the virtual paper rubbing point.

A sixth aspect provides an image forming apparatus for use in a continuous printing process, comprising:

a body in which an image forming portion for forming an image on a medium is provided;

a medium conveyance path configured to convey a medium onto the image forming section;

the virtual paper box comprises at least one matching paper box, virtual paper rubbing points are correspondingly arranged on the virtual paper box, and the medium conveying path is positioned in the medium conveying direction of the virtual paper rubbing points;

The processor is used for confirming the medium supply object according to the operation command of the body; if the medium supply object is the virtual paper box, controlling to convey the medium from the currently designated selected paper box to a virtual paper rubbing point; detecting whether the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper distance; and if the distance is detected to reach the set paper distance, controlling the current medium to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and controlling the next medium to be conveyed towards the virtual paper rubbing point from the paper selecting box designated by the next medium.

A seventh aspect provides an image forming apparatus comprising: one or more processors; a memory; and one or more computer programs, wherein the one or more computer programs are stored in the memory, the one or more computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed by the image forming apparatus, cause the image forming apparatus to perform the paper feed control method in an implementation of the first, second or third aspect.

An eighth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium including a stored program, wherein the program, when executed, controls an image forming apparatus in which the computer-readable storage medium is located to execute the paper feeding control method in the implementation manner of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect.

In the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the virtual paper box comprises at least one selected paper box, the virtual paper box is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper rubbing point, the processor controls the current medium to be conveyed from the selected paper box appointed at present to the virtual paper rubbing point according to the operation command of the body, and if the processor detects that the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point, the processor controls the selected paper box appointed from the next medium to convey the next medium towards the virtual paper rubbing point.

According to the technical scheme, the virtual paper box comprises at least one selected paper box, the virtual paper box is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper rubbing point, the processor controls the selected paper box to convey current media to the virtual paper rubbing point according to an operation command of the body, if the processor detects that the distance between the previous media in the media conveying path and the current media on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper distance, the processor controls the current media to convey towards the media conveying path, and controls the selected paper box designated by the next media to convey the next media towards the virtual paper rubbing point.

In the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the virtual paper box comprises at least one selected paper box, the virtual paper box is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper rubbing point, if the processor determines that the medium supply object is the virtual paper box, the processor controls the current medium to be conveyed from the selected paper box which is currently appointed to the virtual paper rubbing point, if the processor detects that the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches the set paper interval, the current medium is conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and controls the selected paper box which is appointed from the next medium to convey the next medium towards the virtual paper rubbing point.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it being obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of an image forming apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for controlling paper feeding according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a control method of a dispensing carton according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another paper feed control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another paper feed control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a paper feed control method for single-sided printing in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a paper feed control method of duplex printing in the related art;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a paper feed control method for duplex printing in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural view of a paper feeding control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of another paper feeding control device according to the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of another embodiment of a paper feeding control device;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

For a better understanding of the technical solutions of the present application, embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the described embodiments are merely some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments, based on the embodiments herein, which would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the present application.

The terminology used in the embodiments of the application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used in this application and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein is merely one way of describing an association of associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or b, which may represent: the first and second cases exist separately, and the first and second cases exist separately. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the front and rear associated objects are an "or" relationship.

In the related art, the coupling of the set paper cassette and the body of the image forming apparatus is large. For example, in the single-sided feeding process, for the case where a first sheet of medium is fed from the main body cassette and a second sheet of medium is fed from the matching cassette, the main body cassette starts to calculate the feeding time when the correction roller of the preceding medium is started, and the matching cassette starts to calculate the feeding time when the matching cassette leaves the matching sensor through the tail of the preceding medium. The sensor on which the paper feeding time of the selected paper box is calculated is different from that of the body paper box, when the paper feeding of the body paper box is switched to the paper feeding of the selected paper box in the printing process, if the paper feeding interval is required to be ensured, the paper feeding time of the selected paper box is calculated according to the paper feeding time sequence of the body paper box, the calculating process is complex, the sensor is greatly related to the paper feeding time sequence of the body paper box, the influence of the paper feeding time sequence of the body paper box is easy, and the calculating process is more complex as the number of the selected paper boxes is more; if the paper feeding time is calculated by adopting the same calculation mode as that of the main body paper box, when the distance from the paper feeding box to the correction roller is larger than the sum of the paper length and the paper spacing, the paper feeding spacing between media can be prolonged, so that the printing speed is influenced.

In the related art, when paper is fed from a paper dispensing cassette, the position of the previous medium in the body needs to be estimated, and unnecessary errors are likely to occur. For example, in the case of duplex printing, if the distance from the paper cassette to the main body is long, the paper cassette needs to be fed in advance, and at this time, the paper feeding time of the current medium needs to be calculated in combination with the position of the previous medium in the duplex paper cassette, so that it is necessary to calculate the position of the previous medium in the duplex paper cassette. Factors such as mechanical slip and the like can occur in the paper feeding process, the factors can cause errors between an actual printing medium and an estimated position, and if the errors lead to overlong paper spacing between a current medium and a previous medium, the printing speed can be influenced; if the paper distance between the current medium and the previous medium is too short due to errors, the situation that the front and back two pages of media overlap can occur, paper jam is easy to cause, and therefore user experience is affected.

In order to solve the above technical problems, embodiments of the present application provide an image forming apparatus. Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 1, the image forming apparatus may include a main body, a processor, and a virtual paper box, where the virtual paper box includes at least one optional paper box, and a virtual paper twisting point a is correspondingly provided on the virtual paper box. Wherein, the body is provided with an image forming part, which is used for forming an image on a medium, and the image forming part is not specifically shown in fig. 1.

In an embodiment of the present application, the image forming apparatus further includes a medium conveyance path for conveying the medium onto the image forming portion. The medium conveying path is located in the medium conveying direction of the virtual paper-rubbing point a. In embodiments of the present application, the medium may comprise paper.

As an alternative, the processor is configured to control, according to the job command of the body, the conveyance of the medium from the currently designated optional paper cassette to the virtual paper pickup point a; detecting whether the current medium of the virtual paper rubbing point A leaves the virtual paper rubbing point; and if the current medium is detected to leave the virtual paper rubbing point A, controlling the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium to the virtual paper rubbing point A.

As another alternative, the processor is configured to control, according to the job command of the body, the conveyance of the medium from the currently designated dispensing cassette to the virtual pick-up point a; detecting whether the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point A reaches a set paper interval L or not; and if the detected distance reaches the set paper interval L, controlling the current medium to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and controlling the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium towards the virtual paper rubbing point A.

As another alternative, the processor is configured to confirm the medium supply object according to the job command of the body; if the medium supply object is a virtual paper box, controlling to convey the medium from the currently designated optional paper box to a virtual paper rubbing point A; detecting whether the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper interval L; and if the detected distance reaches the set paper interval L, controlling the current medium to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and controlling the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium towards the virtual paper rubbing point A.

In the embodiment of the application, the image forming apparatus further includes a body paper cassette having a body paper pickup point, and the medium conveying direction is in a common medium conveying direction of the body paper pickup point and the virtual paper pickup point a.

In one possible implementation, an image forming apparatus may include a body portion and a virtual paper cassette. The body portion may include a body and at least one body carton, which is a main carton provided to the body portion, for example, as shown in fig. 1, the body carton may include a standard carton, a multi-functional carton, or a double-sided carton, and then the body carton may include at least one of a standard carton, a multi-functional carton, and a double-sided carton.

The virtual paper box is externally connected with the body, and the virtual paper box can be installed on the body of the image forming equipment. The image forming apparatus may include at least one option cassette, as shown in fig. 1, and the image forming device may include a plurality of option cassettes, for example, the plurality of option cassettes may include option cassettes 1 to 6. In the embodiment of the application, at least one selected paper box is virtualized into one integral paper box, and the virtualized integral paper box is a virtual paper box. For the body of the image forming apparatus, no matter how many option cassettes are mounted, the body treats only the mounted option cassettes as one virtual cassette loaded with media, and in one possible implementation, the control method of the virtual cassette may be the same as that of the body cassette. The purpose of the dummy paper cassette is to rub the media of the selected paper cassette to the dummy paper rub point a, and the dummy paper cassette is equivalent to an additional paper cassette as a whole, that is, the dummy paper cassette is an additional paper cassette mounted on the image forming apparatus body. In this embodiment, a virtual paper rubbing point a may be set for the virtual paper box, where the virtual paper rubbing point a may be set before the junction point of the multiple paper paths, for example, the multiple paper paths may include a standard paper feeding path and a double-sided paper feeding path, and the position point located in front of the correction roller may be set as the virtual paper rubbing point a, for example, the set distance may be 180mm.

In one possible implementation, the image forming apparatus may further include a correction roller that may be used to correct the correct position of the medium on the medium conveyance path, and may also function to control the paper feed on and off.

In this embodiment of the present application, as an alternative, the processor may be a processing device disposed on a main body, and the processor may include a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, abbreviated as CPU), a micro control unit (Microcontroller Unit, MCU), or a System on Chip (SoC), etc. In this case, the control mode of the virtual paper box is realized by the processor of the main body, and the control time sequence in the virtual paper box is independent of the control time sequence in the main body, and the control time sequence in the virtual paper box is simple, so that the operation amount of the processor of the main body can be remarkably reduced.

In this embodiment of the present application, as another alternative, the processor may be a processing device disposed in the optional paper box or other processing device different from the processing device of the main body, for example, the other processing device may be a processing device separately disposed for controlling the virtual paper box, and the processor may include a CPU, an MCU, or an SoC, etc. Under the condition, the control of the virtual paper boxes can be realized by utilizing the mutual matching of the control chips on the original selected paper boxes, and the chip cost is not required to be increased; alternatively, a control chip separately provided and applied to the virtual paper box may be used to control the virtual paper box, which is not limited in comparison in the embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, examples of the image forming apparatus include: inkjet printers, laser printers, light emitting diode (Light Emitting Diode, LED) printers, copiers, scanners or multifunctional all-in-one fax machines, and multifunctional peripherals (MFPs) that perform the above functions in a single device. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming control unit for controlling the whole image forming apparatus, and an image forming portion for forming an image on a medium conveyed from a medium conveyance path under the control of the image forming control unit based on image forming data and a developer such as toner stored in a consumable.

Based on the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1, the embodiment of the present application provides a paper feed control method. Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a paper feeding control method according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 2, where the method includes:

step 102, the processor controls the current medium to be transmitted from the current designated paper selecting box to the virtual paper rubbing point according to the operation command of the body.

In this embodiment, when the job command of the body is used to instruct the designated option cassette to provide the medium, the processor controls the current medium to be transferred from the current designated option cassette to the virtual pick up point a according to the job command. As shown in fig. 1, the virtual paper box may include a plurality of matching paper boxes, and the designated matching paper box may be any one of the plurality of matching paper boxes, for example, the plurality of matching paper boxes may include matching paper boxes 1 to 6, and the currently designated matching paper box may be any one of matching paper boxes 1 to 6, and the current medium transferred to the virtual paper pick up point a may be the medium of any one of matching paper boxes 1 to 6.

Step 104, the processor detects whether the current medium of the virtual paper rubbing point leaves the virtual paper rubbing point, if so, step 106 is executed; if not, then step 104 is performed.

In this embodiment of the present application, if the processor detects that the current medium of the virtual paper-rubbing point a leaves the virtual paper-rubbing point a, it indicates that the processor can control the next medium to reach the virtual paper-rubbing point a; if the processor detects that the current medium of the virtual paper-rubbing point a is still located at the virtual paper-rubbing point a, it indicates that the step 104 needs to be continuously executed to continuously detect whether the current medium of the virtual paper-rubbing point a leaves the virtual paper-rubbing point a.

In one possible implementation manner, the processor may control the current medium of the virtual paper-rubbing point a to leave the virtual paper-rubbing point a according to the job command.

In one possible implementation manner in the embodiment of the present application, step 104 may specifically include: the processor detects whether the tail of the current medium leaves the virtual paper-rubbing point a. If the processor detects that the paper tail of the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point A, the processor is indicated to detect that the current medium of the virtual paper rubbing point A leaves the virtual paper rubbing point A; and if the processor does not detect that the paper tail of the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point A, the processor indicates that the current medium of the virtual paper rubbing point A does not leave the virtual paper rubbing point A. Specifically, the processor may divide the paper length b by the paper feed speed V to generate a departure time T, i.e., t=paper length b/paper feed speed V, where the departure time T is the time from the start of the current media start to the point a at which the tail leaves the virtual paper rub; the processor may determine that the tail of the current medium leaves the virtual rub point a after a departure time T has elapsed since the start of the current medium.

Step 106, the processor controls the next medium to be transported from the selected paper cassette designated by the next medium toward the virtual paper pick-up point.

As shown in fig. 1, the next medium designated matching cassette may be any one of a plurality of matching cassettes, for example, the plurality of matching cassettes may include matching cassettes 1 to 6, and then the next medium designated matching cassette may be any one of matching cassettes 1 to 6, and then the next medium transferred to the virtual paper-rubbing point a may be any one of matching cassettes 1 to 6. The controller can convey the next medium of the selected paper box appointed by the next medium towards the virtual paper rubbing point A, and when the next medium reaches the virtual paper rubbing point A, the next medium can wait at the virtual paper rubbing point A, and the medium at the virtual paper rubbing point A is the next medium.

In this embodiment of the present application, as an alternative, each dispensing cassette is provided with a corresponding dispensing sensor (sensor), and the processor may control the media of the dispensing cassette to be transferred to the virtual pick-up point a through the dispensing sensor. Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a dispensing cassette according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 3, in step 102, the step of controlling a currently designated dispensing cassette to transfer a current medium to a virtual pick-up point and in step 106, the step of controlling a dispensing cassette designated by a next medium to transfer a next medium to the virtual pick-up point may specifically include:

Step S12, the processor detects whether the medium of the designated optional paper box reaches the position of the corresponding optional sensor through the optional sensor corresponding to the designated optional paper box, and if so, step S14 is executed; if not, step S12 is performed.

In the step, when the medium of the designated optional paper box reaches the position of the corresponding optional sensor, the optional sensor can detect the arrival of the medium of the designated optional paper box and send a first induction signal to the processor, and the processor knows that the medium of the designated optional paper box reaches the position of the corresponding optional sensor according to the first induction signal, so that the medium stands by at the position of the optional sensor, and the step S14 can be continuously executed; if the selection sensor does not detect the arrival of the medium in the designated selection cassette, the processor does not receive the first sensing signal, and the processor continues to step S12 to wait for the arrival of the medium at the location of the corresponding selection sensor.

If the scheme in step 102 is aimed, step S12 may specifically include: the processor detects whether the current medium of the current designated matching paper box reaches the position of the corresponding matching sensor through the matching sensor corresponding to the current designated matching paper box.

If the scheme in step 104 is aimed, step S12 may specifically include: the processor detects whether the next medium of the next medium designated optional paper box reaches the position of the corresponding optional sensor through the optional sensor corresponding to the next medium designated optional paper box.

Step S14, the processor calculates the first time, wherein the first time is the time when the medium reaches the virtual paper rubbing point from the designated optional sensor.

In this embodiment of the present application, each of the matching paper boxes is provided with a corresponding matching sensor, as shown in fig. 1, because distances between different matching paper boxes and virtual paper rubbing points a are different, first times corresponding to different matching sensors are different. For example, the distance between the dispensing cassette 1 and the virtual paper pickup point a is different from the distance between the dispensing cassette 6 and the paper pickup point a, and thus the first time corresponding to the dispensing cassette 1 is different from the first time corresponding to the dispensing cassette 6.

If the scheme in step S102 is aimed at, in step S14, the first time is the time when the current medium reaches the virtual paper pick-up point a from the currently designated optional sensor.

If the scheme in step S104 is aimed at, in step S14, the first time is the time when the next medium reaches the virtual paper-rubbing point a from the optional sensor designated by the next medium.

In step S16, the processor controls the medium located in the designated optional sensor to be transported towards the virtual pick-up point, so as to reach the virtual pick-up point after the first time.

The processor controls the virtual paper box to start paper feeding operation, the virtual paper box starts paper rubbing, so that the medium positioned in the designated optional sensor is fed in the virtual paper box, reaches a virtual paper rubbing point A after a first time, and stands by at the virtual paper rubbing point A.

If the scheme in step S102 is aimed at, in step S16, the processor controls the current medium located in the currently designated optional sensor to be transported toward the virtual pick-up point a to reach the virtual pick-up point a after the first time.

If the scheme in step S104 is aimed at, in step S16, the processor controls the next medium located in the optional sensor designated by the next medium to be transported toward the virtual pick up point a to reach the virtual pick up point a after the first time.

Steps 102 to 106 are schemes for dispensing paper processes inside the virtual paper box. The paper feeding device comprises a paper feeding device, a paper feeding device and a processor, wherein the paper feeding device is used for feeding paper to be fed to the paper feeding device, and the paper feeding device is used for feeding paper to be fed to the paper feeding device. For example, when the virtual paper box adopts the medium in the optional paper box 1 as the next medium, the next medium of the optional paper box 1 stands by on the optional sensor corresponding to the optional paper box 1, the processor calculates a first time T1, the first time T1 is the time when the next medium reaches the virtual paper rubbing point a from the optional sensor corresponding to the optional paper box 1, and the processor controls the optional paper box 1 to start paper feeding, rubs the next medium positioned on the optional sensor corresponding to the optional paper box 1 and makes the next medium stay at the virtual paper rubbing point a for paper feeding standby after the first time T1 passes. For another example, when the virtual paper cassette adopts the medium in the optional paper cassette 6 as the next medium, the next medium of the optional paper cassette 6 stands by on the optional sensor corresponding to the optional paper cassette 6, the processor calculates a first time T2, the first time T2 is the time when the next medium reaches the virtual paper rubbing point a from the optional sensor corresponding to the optional paper cassette 6, and the processor controls the optional paper cassette 6 to start paper feeding, rubs the next medium located on the optional sensor corresponding to the optional paper cassette 6 and makes the next medium stay at the virtual paper rubbing point a after the first time T2 is passed for paper feeding standby.

In this embodiment, after step 106 is performed, steps 102 to 106 are repeatedly performed until the last medium continuously printed leaves the virtual paper cassette, and the paper feeding control process of the virtual paper cassette is ended.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the application, the control time sequence of the virtual paper box is relatively independent from the control time sequence of the main body, so that the time sequence control burden of the main body can be reduced, the operation complexity of the processor of the main body is reduced, and the operation amount of the processor of the main body is reduced.

In this embodiment of the present application, as another alternative, the image forming apparatus further includes a control sensor, where the control sensor is located at the virtual paper rubbing point a, and step 104 may specifically include: the processor detects whether the current medium of the virtual paper-rubbing point a leaves the virtual paper-rubbing point a through a control sensor, and step 106 may specifically include: the processor detects that the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point A through the control sensor, and controls the next medium of the selected paper box designated by the next medium to be transmitted to the virtual paper rubbing point A.

And if the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point A, the control sensor can detect that the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point A and send a second induction signal to the processor, the processor knows that the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point A according to the second induction signal, the processor can control the virtual paper box to start paper feeding operation, and the virtual paper box starts paper rubbing so that the next medium of the selected paper box designated by the next medium is fed in the virtual paper box. When the next medium reaches the virtual paper rubbing point A, the control sensor detects that the next medium reaches and sends a third induction signal to the processor, and the processor controls the next medium to stop paper feeding according to the third induction signal so as to stop the next medium through the control sensor, so that the next medium stays at the virtual paper rubbing point A.

In the embodiment of the application, the processor can realize the paper feeding control process inside the virtual paper box only by controlling the sensor, so that the time sequence control amount inside the virtual paper box is further reduced.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of another paper feeding control method according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 4, including:

step 202, the processor controls the current medium to be transmitted from the current designated paper selecting box to the virtual paper rubbing point according to the operation command of the body.

In this embodiment of the present application, when the job command of the body is used to instruct the designated option paper box to provide the medium, the processor may control the currently designated option paper box to transfer the current medium to the virtual paper pick up point a according to the job command. As shown in fig. 1, the virtual paper box may include a plurality of matching paper boxes, and the designated matching paper box may be any one of the plurality of matching paper boxes, for example, the plurality of matching paper boxes may include matching paper boxes 1 to 6, and the currently designated matching paper box may be any one of matching paper boxes 1 to 6, and the current medium transferred to the virtual paper pick up point a may be the medium of any one of matching paper boxes 1 to 6.

Step 204, the processor detects whether the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches the set paper distance, if yes, step 206 is executed; if not, go to step 204.

As shown in fig. 1, when the image forming apparatus performs continuous printing, the current medium waits at the virtual paper-rubbing point a, and the previous medium is conveyed along the medium conveying path to be away from the virtual paper-rubbing point a, so that the previous medium gradually gets away from the waiting current medium during conveyance along the medium conveying path, and the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper-rubbing point a gradually becomes larger. When the processor detects that the distance reaches the set paper distance L, the controller can control the current medium and the next medium to continue conveying; when the processor detects that the distance does not reach the set paper distance L, the processor continues to convey the previous medium along the medium conveying path, and continues to execute step 204 to wait for the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper-rubbing point a to reach the set paper distance L.

Step 206, the processor controls the current medium to be conveyed toward the medium conveying path, and controls the next medium to be conveyed toward the virtual paper-rubbing point from the paper-selecting cassette designated by the next medium.

When the processor detects that the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches the set paper distance L, the current medium waiting at the virtual paper rubbing point A can be controlled to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path so as to enable the current medium to leave the virtual paper rubbing point A, the processor can control the next medium of the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to be conveyed towards the virtual paper rubbing point A, the processor can wait at the virtual paper rubbing point A when the next medium reaches the virtual paper rubbing point A, and the medium at the virtual paper rubbing point A is the next medium.

In the embodiment of the present application, as an alternative, the image forming apparatus further includes a position sensor located at a position in the medium conveyance path at which the paper pitch L is set from the virtual paper-rubbing point a. Step 204 may specifically include: if the processor detects the previous medium through the position sensor, the processor detects that the distance between the current medium and the previous medium reaches the set paper distance L.

The processor controls the previous medium to be conveyed along the medium conveying path, the distance between the waiting current medium and the previous medium in conveying gradually becomes larger, when the previous medium reaches the position of the position sensor, the position sensor detects the previous medium and sends a fourth induction signal to the processor, and the processor knows that the previous medium reaches the position of the position sensor according to the fourth induction signal.

In this embodiment of the present application, a position sensor is disposed at a position, in a medium conveying path, away from a virtual paper rubbing point a by a set paper distance L, and when the processor detects that a distance between a current medium and a previous medium reaches the set paper distance L, the processor controls the current medium to be conveyed toward the medium conveying path and controls a next medium to be conveyed toward the virtual paper rubbing point, thereby ensuring that the distance between the current medium and the previous medium is at the set paper distance L.

In this embodiment, as another alternative, the processor may confirm, by the correction roller, a distance between a previous medium in the medium conveying path and a current medium on the virtual paper-rubbing point, where the confirmation position of the distance may be a position where the correction roller is located, and step 204 may specifically include: when the preceding medium reaches the correction roller, the processor detects that the distance between the preceding medium and the preceding medium reaches the set paper distance L.

When the previous medium is conveyed along the medium conveying path, the previous medium triggers the sensing part of the correction roller when reaching the correction roller, the sensing part generates a fifth sensing signal when sensing the previous medium and sends the fifth sensing signal to the processor, and the processor knows that the previous medium reaches the correction roller according to the fifth sensing signal, so that the processor detects that the distance between the current medium and the previous medium reaches a set paper distance L, for example, the sensing part is a paper feeding sensor. Further, the processor controls the waiting current medium to be conveyed toward the medium conveyance path when the correction roller is started to convey the previous medium, so that the current medium can be synchronously conveyed to the correction roller, thereby realizing the continuous paper feeding process.

In this embodiment of the present application, when the previous medium reaches the correction roller, the distance between the previous medium and the current medium waiting at the virtual paper rubbing point a is the set paper distance L, and when the correction roller is restarted, the current medium at the virtual paper rubbing point a moves synchronously to ensure the distance, and at the same time, the next medium in the virtual paper box is continuously transferred to the virtual paper rubbing point a. In order to ensure the stability of the distance between the previous medium and the current medium, in the internal regulation process of the virtual paper box, the time from the current medium to the set paper interval L from the virtual paper rubbing point A is longer than the time from the next medium to the virtual paper rubbing point A from the selected paper box appointed by the next medium, so that the next medium is waited at the virtual paper rubbing point A in advance, and the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point A under the condition of meeting the set paper interval L, and the medium can be continuously regulated and controlled in the virtual paper box so as to realize the continuous printing process.

In this embodiment of the present application, the determination position of the distance may be other positions than the position of the correction roller, which is not limited herein.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of another paper feeding control method according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, including:

step 302, the processor confirms the medium supply object according to the job command of the main body.

In the embodiment of the present application, the medium supply object may be a paper supply cassette that supplies a medium, and for example, the medium supply object may include a body paper cassette or a virtual paper cassette. When the job command of the body is used to instruct the designated media supply object to supply media, the processor may confirm that the media supply object is the body cassette or the virtual cassette according to the job command.

And 304, if the processor confirms that the medium supply object is a virtual paper box, controlling the medium to be conveyed from the currently designated paper box to the virtual paper rubbing point.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the processor confirms that the medium supply object is a virtual paper cassette, indicating that the medium is required to be supplied from the selected paper cassette specified in the virtual paper cassette, the processor may control the current medium to be transferred from the selected paper cassette specified currently to the virtual paper pick-up point a. As shown in fig. 1, for example, the plurality of dispensing cartons may include dispensing cartons 1 to 6, and the currently designated dispensing carton may be any one of the dispensing cartons 1 to 6, and the current medium transferred to the virtual paper pick up point a may be the medium of any one of the dispensing cartons 1 to 6.

In this embodiment of the present application, if the previous medium is a medium of the main body paper box and the medium supply object is a virtual paper box, the main body paper box needs to be switched to a matching paper box of the virtual paper box in the paper feeding process, and paper is fed by the matching paper box, and the switching condition may include no paper in the main body paper box, a paper feeding error occurs in the main body paper box, a virtual paper box is selected by a user, or a paper feeding box is switched by an internal program of the image forming apparatus, where the paper feeding error may include paper jam, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the switching condition.

Step 306, the processor detects whether the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches the set paper distance, if yes, step 308 is executed; if not, go to step 306.

Step 308, the processor controls the current medium to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and controls the next medium to be conveyed towards the virtual paper rubbing point from the paper selecting box designated by the next medium.

In this embodiment of the present application, a paper output point is provided on a medium conveying path. Since the distance between the virtual paper-rubbing point a and the main body paper-rubbing point does not change on the subsequent merging conveyance path, the paper-discharging point may be any position point on the medium conveyance path, for example, the paper-discharging point may include a position point at which the paper pitch L is set for the distance from the virtual paper-rubbing point a, a position point corresponding to the position sensor, a position point corresponding to the conveyance roller, a position point corresponding to the correction roller, or the like.

As an alternative, the image forming apparatus further includes a body sheet cassette, and a first distance S0 between a body sheet pickup point and a sheet discharge point of the body sheet cassette is the same as a second distance S1 between a virtual sheet pickup point a and the sheet discharge point. In this embodiment of the present application, the second distance S1 between the virtual paper rubbing point a and the paper outlet point of the virtual paper box is equal to the first distance S0 between the body paper rubbing point a and the paper outlet point of the body paper box, so that no matter paper is fed from the body paper box or from the virtual paper box, if the condition of setting the paper interval L satisfies and matches with the operation command of the body control, the paper feeding requirement can be satisfied, the position of the previous medium in the medium conveying path does not need to be calculated any more, the control time sequence of the matching paper box only needs to ensure that the virtual paper rubbing point a of the virtual paper box has a medium standby, thereby further reducing the control burden of the body.

As another alternative, the image forming apparatus further includes a body sheet cassette, a first distance S0 between a body sheet-rubbing point and a sheet-discharging point of the body sheet cassette being different from a second distance S1 between a virtual sheet-rubbing point a and the sheet-discharging point. If the first distance S0 is greater than the second distance S1, and the previous medium is the medium on the body paper box, the step 306 may specifically include: when the processor determines that the paper distance L is set from the paper rubbing point of the body to the previous medium, from the moment that the previous medium reaches the position, judging whether the current medium waits for a second time, wherein the second time is delay time for filling a difference value between the second distance S1 and the first distance S0 to enable the current medium to wait. If the processor starts to calculate the waiting time of the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point when the paper distance L is set from the paper rubbing point of the body to the previous medium, the previous medium continues to be conveyed on the medium conveying path, if the current medium is judged to have been waiting for the second time, the processor indicates that the second time for waiting for the current medium has filled the difference value between the second distance S1 and the first distance S0, the processor determines that the distance between the previous medium and the current medium reaches the set paper distance L, and the step 308 can be continuously executed; if the processor determines that the current medium has not yet waited for the second time after the previous medium has been set to the paper interval L from the body paper rubbing point and the waiting time of the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point is calculated, the processor determines that the distance between the previous medium and the current medium has not reached the set paper interval L, and the processor continues to execute step 306 to wait for the distance between the previous medium and the current medium to reach the set paper interval L.

In this embodiment of the present application, the processor may determine the distance between the previous medium and the body pickup point in a plurality of ways. As an alternative, the processor may calculate the distance between the previous medium and the body rubbing point in a timing manner, specifically, the processor multiplies the paper feeding speed by a timing time to generate the distance between the previous medium and the body rubbing point, where the timing time is obtained by timing from when the previous medium leaves the body rubbing point, and when the distance between the previous medium and the body rubbing point calculated by the processor reaches the set paper distance L, the set paper distance L between the previous medium and the body rubbing point is determined. As another alternative, a position sensor is provided in the medium conveying path at a position set at a paper pitch L from the body paper-pickup point, and if the processor detects the preceding medium through the position sensor, it is determined that the distance between the preceding medium and the body paper-pickup point reaches the set paper pitch L. As another alternative, the processor may confirm the distance between the previous medium and the body pickup point through the correction roller, and when the previous medium reaches the correction roller, the processor detects that the distance between the previous medium and the body pickup point reaches the set paper interval L. In addition, the processor may determine the distance between the previous medium and the body rubbing point in other manners, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In one possible implementation, if the paper distance L is set equal to the first distance S0, namely: when l=s0 > S1, the processor performs control of conveying the current medium toward the medium conveying path in step 308 after the previous medium reaches the set paper interval and waits for the second time. Wherein the second time is equal to the difference between the first distance S0 and the second distance S1 divided by the paper feeding speed V, that is, the processor obtains t1= (S0-S1)/V by the formula s0=s1+v×t1. By adopting the scheme, the distance between the previous medium and the current medium can be always ensured to be in the set paper interval L, so that the consistency of the paper interval between the mediums is ensured.

In another possible implementation, if the set paper distance L is greater than the first distance S0, the set paper distance L is also greater than the second distance S1, that is: l > S0 > S1. The processor performs control of the current medium to be conveyed toward the medium conveyance path in step 308 after the previous medium reaches the set paper interval and waits for the second time. Wherein the second time is equal to the difference between the first distance S0 and the second distance S1 divided by the paper feeding speed V, i.e. the processor may calculate the second time t1 by the formula s0=s1+v×t1. By adopting the scheme, the processor can calculate the second time for delaying waiting and control the paper feeding of the current medium according to the second time, so that the distance between the previous medium and the current medium can be always ensured to be in the set paper interval L, and the consistency of the paper intervals between the mediums is ensured.

In another possible implementation, if the set paper distance L is smaller than the first distance S0, the set paper distance L is also smaller than the second distance S1, that is: s0 > S1 > L. The processor performs control of the current medium to be conveyed toward the medium conveyance path in step 308 after the previous medium reaches the set paper interval and waits for the second time. Wherein the second time is equal to the difference between the first distance S0 and the second distance S1 divided by the paper feeding speed V, i.e., the processor calculates the second time t1 by the formula s0=s1+v×t1. By adopting the scheme, the processor can calculate the second time for delaying waiting and control the paper feeding of the current medium according to the second time, so that the distance between the previous medium and the current medium can be always ensured to be in the set paper interval L, and the consistency of the paper intervals between the mediums is ensured.

In summary, in the above embodiment, regardless of the size relationship between the set paper spacing L and the first and second distances S0 and S1, that is, regardless of whether the paper-out point is located in front of or behind or coincides with the position point corresponding to the set paper spacing, the second time for delay waiting is unchanged, and the compensation distance is the difference between the first and second distances S0 and S1, and can be calculated by the formula s0=s1+v×t1.

As another alternative, the image forming apparatus further includes a body sheet cassette, a first distance S0 between a body sheet-rubbing point and a sheet-discharging point of the body sheet cassette being different from a second distance S1 between a virtual sheet-rubbing point a and the sheet-discharging point. If the first distance S0 is smaller than the second distance S1, and the previous medium is the medium on the body paper box, the step 306 may specifically include: before the paper interval L is set between the previous medium and the paper rubbing point of the body, the processor judges whether the previous medium reaches the advanced paper feeding point, and the advanced paper feeding point is a position point for eliminating the difference between the first distance S0 and the second distance S1 and enabling the current medium to be conveyed in advance. If the processor determines that the previous medium reaches the advanced paper feeding point before the previous medium is located at the set paper distance L from the paper rubbing point of the body, indicating that the difference between the first distance S0 and the second distance S1 has been eliminated, the processor determines that the distance between the previous medium and the current medium reaches the set paper distance L, and then step 308 may be continuously performed; if the processor determines that the previous medium does not reach the advanced paper feeding point before the previous medium is located at the set paper distance L from the paper feeding point of the body, indicating that the difference between the first distance S0 and the second distance S1 is not eliminated, the processor determines that the distance between the previous medium and the current medium does not reach the set paper distance L, and the processor continues to execute step 306 to wait for the distance between the previous medium and the current medium to reach the set paper distance L. By adopting the scheme, the distance between the previous medium and the current medium can be always ensured to be in the set paper interval L, so that the consistency of the paper interval between the mediums is ensured.

In the embodiment of the application, the processor may determine whether the previous medium reaches the advanced paper feeding point in a plurality of ways. As an alternative, the processor may calculate the distance between the previous medium and the body paper-rubbing point in a timing manner, specifically, the processor multiplies the paper-feeding speed by the timing time to generate the distance between the previous medium and the body paper-rubbing point, where the timing time is a time obtained by starting timing from when the previous medium leaves the body paper-rubbing point, and when the distance between the previous medium and the body paper-rubbing point calculated by the processor reaches a set distance, it is determined that the previous medium reaches the advanced paper-feeding point, where the set distance is the distance between the advanced paper-feeding point and the body paper-rubbing point. As another alternative, a position sensor is provided at the advanced feed point, and the processor determines that the previous medium arrives at the advanced feed point when detecting the previous medium by the position sensor. In addition, the processor may determine whether the previous medium reaches the advance feeding point in other manners, which are not limited in this embodiment.

Wherein, since the second distance is greater than the first distance, in order to compensate the difference between the first distance and the second distance, the difference between the position of the advanced paper feeding point and the position of the paper feeding point set at the paper distance L from the body paper rubbing point is the difference between the first distance S0 and the second distance S1, so that the position s2=s1-S0 of the advanced paper feeding point and the paper distance L from the paper feeding point is s3=l- (S1-S0), and if the position of the medium in the image forming apparatus is calculated by the timing mode, the position of the previous medium reaches the advanced paper feeding point after the previous medium starts from the body paper box for a third time t2, t2= (L- (S1-S0))/V, wherein V is the paper feeding speed of the medium.

In this embodiment, if the processor confirms in step 302 that the medium supply object is the body paper cassette, the processor detects whether the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium of the body paper cassette reaches the set paper distance L; and if the processor detects that the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium of the body paper box reaches the set paper distance L, controlling the current medium to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path.

In the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the virtual paper box comprises at least one selected paper box, the virtual paper box is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper rubbing point, the processor controls to convey current media from the selected paper box appointed currently to the virtual paper rubbing point if confirming that the media supply object is the virtual paper box, and the processor controls to convey current media towards the media conveying path and convey next media from the selected paper box appointed by the next media towards the virtual paper rubbing point if detecting that the distance between the previous media in the media conveying path and the current media on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper interval.

The following describes in detail the paper feed control method in the single-sided printing and the double-sided printing, respectively, by fig. 6 and 8.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a paper feeding control method for single-sided printing in the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 6, when a previous medium is conveyed in a conveying path during the single-sided printing, as long as a job command of a body is issued, a paper selecting cassette may rub a current medium to a virtual paper rubbing point a to wait at the virtual paper rubbing point a. When the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point A reaches the set paper distance L, the current medium is controlled to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and the next medium is rubbed to the virtual paper rubbing point A by the selecting paper box. By adopting the scheme, the control time sequence of the paper selecting and matching box only needs to ensure that the position of the virtual paper rubbing point A has the waiting medium, the control time sequence of the body only needs to ensure that the distance between the mediums reaches the set paper interval L, the control time sequence of the paper selecting and matching box and the control time sequence of the body are not influenced mutually, and the codes of the paper selecting and matching box and the codes of the body are designed separately, so that the design codes are simpler, and the calculation process is simpler. By adopting the scheme, the distance between the media can be kept consistent, so that the printing speed is improved.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a paper feeding control method for duplex printing in the related art, as shown in fig. 7, if the distance from the paper feeding cassette to the main body is long, the paper feeding cassette needs to feed paper in advance, and at this time, the paper feeding time of the current medium needs to be calculated in combination with the position of the previous medium in the duplex paper cassette, so that the position of the previous medium in the duplex paper cassette needs to be estimated.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a paper feeding control method for duplex printing in the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 8, when a previous medium arrives at a position where a correction roller is located from duplex paper feeding and the correction roller is started, and when it is detected that a distance between the previous medium in a medium conveying path and a current medium on a virtual paper rubbing point a reaches a set paper distance L, a next medium is rubbed from a designated paper selecting box to the virtual paper rubbing point a. By adopting the scheme, the paper feeding mode of the selected paper box is the same as that of the body paper box, the position of the previous medium in the double-sided paper box does not need to be calculated, the control time sequence of the selected paper box only needs to ensure that the position of the virtual paper rubbing point A has the waiting medium, the control time sequence of the body only needs to ensure that the distance between the mediums reaches the set paper interval L, the error caused by calculating the paper position is reduced, and the occurrence probability of an abnormal scene is reduced. In a double-sided printing scene, compared with a method for directly feeding paper from a paper selecting box in the related art, the scheme of the embodiment of the application can convey the medium to the virtual paper rubbing point in advance, so that the conveying time is more abundant, and the paper feeding success rate is improved. In a double-sided printing scene, the scheme of the embodiment of the application reduces errors caused by estimating the position of the paper, reduces the condition of overlong distance between media caused by the errors, and improves the printing speed; the situation that the distance between media is too short due to errors is reduced, the situation that two media overlap before and after occurrence is reduced, occurrence of paper jam is reduced, and user experience is improved.

In this embodiment of the present application, all the optional paper cassettes are integrated into one virtual paper cassette, and the virtual paper cassette is only provided with one virtual paper rubbing point a, and when the virtual paper cassette feeds paper, the medium is prepared in advance at the position of the virtual paper rubbing point a. In the continuous printing process, the calculation program in the virtual paper box can ensure that the paper distance of the paper output at the virtual paper rubbing point A is kept consistent so as to be matched with the continuous printing process. The paper feeding mode of each selected paper box of the virtual paper box is calculated by an operation program in the virtual paper box, so that the virtual paper box and the body paper box are matched for paper feeding, and the paper feeding process of the body paper box and each selected paper box does not need to be uniformly calculated.

In the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the virtual paper box comprises at least one selected paper box, the virtual paper box corresponds to the virtual paper rubbing point, if the processor detects that the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches the set paper distance, the current medium is controlled to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and the selected paper box appointed by the next medium is controlled to be conveyed towards the virtual paper rubbing point.

In the embodiment of the application, the selected paper boxes and the body are separately designed, so that the design codes are simpler, the number of the supported selected paper boxes needs to be increased during product updating iteration, the codes of the body do not need to be changed, and only the codes of the virtual paper boxes need to be changed.

In the embodiment of the application, the position of the previous medium in the paper feeding path does not need to be calculated, the control time sequence of the paper box is selected only by ensuring that the position of the virtual paper rubbing point A has the waiting medium, the control time sequence of the body only needs to ensure that the distance between the mediums reaches the set paper interval L, and the error caused by calculating the position of the mediums is reduced, so that the occurrence probability of an abnormal scene is reduced.

In the embodiment of the application, the medium is conveyed to the virtual paper rubbing point in advance by the selected paper box, so that the conveying time is more abundant, and the paper feeding success rate is improved.

In this embodiment of the present application, the processor may control the virtual paper box to internally perform the pre-feeding operation of the selection paper box, where the selection paper box may carry the current paper to the virtual paper rubbing point in advance, and when the distance between the current medium and the previous medium reaches the set paper distance, the current medium at the virtual paper rubbing point may be controlled to be transferred toward the medium transfer path, so as to improve the number of Pages Per Minute (PPM), thereby ensuring a faster printing speed.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a paper feeding control device according to an embodiment of the present application, where the device may be applied to the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1, where the image forming apparatus includes a main body and a virtual paper box, the virtual paper box includes at least one optional paper box, and the virtual paper box is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper rubbing point, as shown in fig. 9, and the device includes: a first detection module 11 and a control module 12. The first detection module 11 is configured to detect whether a current medium of the virtual paper pickup point leaves the virtual paper pickup point; the control module 12 is used for controlling the media to be conveyed from the currently designated selected paper box to the virtual paper rubbing point according to the operation command of the body; and the device is used for controlling the selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium to the virtual paper rubbing point if the current medium of the virtual paper rubbing point is detected to leave the virtual paper rubbing point.

In one possible implementation, each of the dispensing cartons is provided with a corresponding dispensing sensor. The control module 12 is specifically configured to detect, through the matching sensor corresponding to the specified matching paper box, whether the medium of the specified matching paper box reaches the position of the corresponding matching sensor; if the position of the medium reaching the corresponding optional sensor is detected, calculating a first time, wherein the first time is the time when the medium reaches the virtual paper rubbing point from the designated optional sensor; and controlling the medium positioned at the designated optional sensor to be conveyed towards the virtual paper rubbing point so as to reach the virtual paper rubbing point after the first time.

In one possible implementation, the first times corresponding to different optional sensors are different.

In one possible implementation, the image forming apparatus further includes a control sensor, the control sensor being located at the virtual paper-rubbing point. The first detection module 11 is specifically configured to detect, by using the control sensor, whether the current medium leaves the virtual paper-rubbing point; the control module 12 is specifically configured to control, if the first detection module 11 detects that the current medium leaves the virtual paper pickup point through the control sensor, the next medium of the selected paper cassette specified by the next medium to be transferred to the virtual paper pickup point.

In one possible implementation, the first detection module 11 is specifically configured to detect whether the tail of the current medium leaves the virtual paper-rubbing point.

In the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the virtual paper box comprises at least one selected paper box, the virtual paper box is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper rubbing point, the control module is used for controlling the selected paper box designated at present to convey current media to the virtual paper rubbing point according to the operation command of the body, the control module is used for controlling the selected paper box designated at the next media to convey the next media towards the virtual paper rubbing point if the first detection module detects that the current media leaves the virtual paper rubbing point, and the selected paper box and the body can be decoupled.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of another paper feeding control device provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the device is used in a continuous printing process, and the device may be applied to the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1, where the image forming apparatus includes a main body, a virtual paper cassette, and a medium conveying path, where the virtual paper cassette includes at least one optional paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper pickup point, and the medium conveying path is located in a medium conveying direction of the virtual paper pickup point, as shown in fig. 10, and the device includes: a second detection module 13 and a control module 12. The second detection module 13 is configured to detect whether a distance between a previous medium in the medium conveying path and a current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper distance; the control module 12 is configured to control, according to a job command of the main body, the transfer of media from a currently designated dispensing cassette to the virtual pick-up point, and if the second detection module 13 detects that the distance reaches the set paper pitch, control the transfer of the current media toward the media transfer path, and control the transfer of the next media from the next-media-designated dispensing cassette toward the virtual pick-up point.

In one possible implementation, the image forming apparatus further includes a position sensor located in the medium conveyance path at a position that sets a paper pitch from the virtual paper-rubbing point. The second detecting module 13 is specifically configured to detect that the distance between the current medium and the previous medium reaches the set paper distance if the previous medium is detected by the position sensor.

In a possible implementation, the second detection module 13 is specifically configured to detect that the distance between the current medium and the previous medium reaches the set paper distance when the previous medium reaches the correction roller.

In one possible implementation, the time taken for the current medium to start from the virtual paper pick up point to set a paper gap from the virtual paper pick up point is greater than the time taken for the next medium to arrive at the virtual paper pick up point from a selected paper cassette designated by the next medium.

According to the technical scheme, the virtual paper box comprises at least one selected paper box, the virtual paper box is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper rubbing point, the control module is used for controlling the selected paper box designated at present to convey current media to the virtual paper rubbing point according to an operation command of the body, and the control module is used for controlling the current media to be conveyed towards the media conveying path and controlling the selected paper box designated from the next media to convey the next media towards the virtual paper rubbing point if the second detection module detects that the distance between the previous media in the media conveying path and the current media on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper distance.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural view of another paper feeding control device provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the device is used in a continuous printing process, and the device may be applied to the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1, where the image forming apparatus includes a main body, a virtual paper cassette, and a medium conveying path, the virtual paper cassette includes at least one optional paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper rubbing point, and the medium conveying path is located in a medium conveying direction of the virtual paper rubbing point, as shown in fig. 11, and the device includes: a confirmation module 14, a second detection module 13 and a control module 12. The confirmation module 14 is used for confirming the medium supply object according to the operation command of the main body; the second detection module 13 is configured to detect whether a distance between a previous medium in the medium conveying path and a current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper distance; the control module 12 is configured to control, if the medium supply object is the virtual paper cassette, the medium to be transferred from the currently designated optional paper cassette to a virtual paper pick-up point; and if the second detecting module 13 detects that the distance reaches the set paper distance, controlling the current medium to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path, and controlling the selected paper cassette designated from the next medium to convey the next medium towards the virtual paper rubbing point.

In one possible implementation manner, the medium conveying path is provided with a paper outlet point, the image forming apparatus further includes a body paper box, and a first distance between a body paper rubbing point of the body paper box and the paper outlet point is the same as a second distance between the virtual paper rubbing point and the paper outlet point.

In one possible implementation, the medium conveying path is provided with a paper outlet point, and the image forming apparatus further includes a body paper cassette, and a first distance between a body paper pickup point of the body paper cassette and the paper outlet point is different from a second distance between the virtual paper pickup point and the paper outlet point.

In one possible implementation manner, if the first distance is greater than the second distance, the second detection module 13 is specifically configured to determine whether the current medium waits for a second time when determining that the previous medium is a medium on the body paper box and the paper rubbing point of the body sets a paper distance, where the second time is a delay time for filling a difference between the second distance and the first distance to wait for the current medium.

In one possible implementation manner, if the first distance is smaller than the second distance, the second detection module 13 is specifically configured to determine, before the previous medium is set at a paper distance from the body paper rubbing point, whether the current medium reaches an advanced paper feeding point, where the advanced paper feeding point is a position point where the current medium is advanced to be conveyed for eliminating a difference between the first distance and the second distance.

In the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the virtual paper box comprises at least one selected paper box, the virtual paper box is correspondingly provided with a virtual paper rubbing point, the control module is used for controlling the current medium to be conveyed from the selected paper box which is currently appointed to the virtual paper rubbing point if the confirmation module confirms that the medium supply object is the virtual paper box, and is also used for controlling the current medium to be conveyed towards the medium conveying path and controlling the selected paper box which is appointed from the next medium to be conveyed towards the virtual paper rubbing point if the second detection module detects that the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches the set paper interval.

The embodiment of the application provides a computer readable storage medium, which comprises a stored program, wherein the program is used for controlling an image forming device where the stored medium is located to execute the embodiment of the paper feeding control method.

An embodiment of the present application provides an image forming apparatus including: one or more processors; a memory; and one or more computer programs, wherein the one or more computer programs are stored in the memory, the one or more computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed by the image forming apparatus, cause the image forming apparatus to perform the above-described paper feed control method.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 12, the image forming apparatus 20 includes: the processor 21, the memory 22, and the computer program 23 stored in the memory 22 and executable on the processor 21, the computer program 23 when executed by the processor 21 implements the paper feeding control method in the embodiment, and is not described in detail herein to avoid repetition. Alternatively, the computer program when executed by the processor 21 implements the functions of the embodiments applied to each model/unit in the image forming apparatus, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not described here.

The image forming apparatus 20 includes, but is not limited to, a processor 21, a memory 22. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that fig. 12 is merely an example of image forming apparatus 20 and is not intended to be limiting of image forming apparatus 20, and may include more or fewer components than shown, or may combine certain components, or different components, e.g., image forming apparatus 20 may also include input and output devices, network access devices, buses, etc.

The processor 21 may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The memory 22 may be an internal storage unit of the image forming apparatus 20, such as a hard disk or a memory of the image forming apparatus 20. The memory 22 may also be an external storage device of the image forming apparatus 20, such as a plug-in hard disk provided on the image forming apparatus 20, a Smart Media Card (SMC), a Secure Digital (SD) Card, a Flash Card (Flash Card), or the like. Further, the memory 22 may also include both an internal storage unit and an external storage device of the image forming apparatus 20. The memory 22 is used to store computer programs and other programs and data required for the image forming apparatus. The memory 22 may also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, which are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the elements is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple elements or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in hardware plus software functional units.

The integrated units implemented in the form of software functional units described above may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The software functional unit is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a Processor (Processor) to perform part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention is not intended to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements and alternatives falling within the spirit and principles of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A paper feed control method, characterized in that the method is applied to an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes a main body, a processor, and a virtual paper cassette including at least one selected paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette being correspondingly provided with a virtual paper pickup point;

based on the processor, the method comprises:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the dispensing cartons has a corresponding dispensing sensor disposed thereon;

the controlling of conveying media from a currently designated pick-and-place tray to the virtual pick-and-place tray and the controlling of conveying a next media from a next media designated pick-and-place tray toward the virtual pick-and-place tray, comprising:

detecting whether media of the designated matching paper box reach the position of the corresponding matching sensor through the matching sensor corresponding to the designated matching paper box;

If the position of the medium reaching the corresponding optional sensor is detected, calculating a first time, wherein the first time is the time when the medium reaches the virtual paper rubbing point from the designated optional sensor;

and controlling the medium positioned at the designated optional sensor to be conveyed towards the virtual paper rubbing point so as to reach the virtual paper rubbing point after the first time.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first times corresponding to different mating sensors are different.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus further comprises a control sensor, the control sensor being located at the virtual pick-up point;

and if the current medium is detected to leave the virtual paper rubbing point, controlling a selected paper box appointed by the next medium to convey the next medium to the virtual paper rubbing point, wherein the method comprises the following steps of:

and detecting that the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point through the control sensor, and controlling the next medium of the selected paper box designated by the next medium to be transmitted to the virtual paper rubbing point.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting whether the current media of the virtual pinch point exits the virtual pinch point comprises: and detecting whether the paper tail of the current medium leaves the virtual paper rubbing point.

6. A paper feed control method for a continuous printing process, characterized in that the method is applied to an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes a main body, a processor, a virtual paper cassette including at least one optional paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette being correspondingly provided with a virtual paper pickup point, and a medium conveyance path located in a medium conveyance direction of the virtual paper pickup point;

based on the processor, the method comprises:

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the image forming apparatus further includes a position sensor located in the medium conveyance path at a position set to a paper pitch from the virtual paper-pickup point;

The detecting whether the distance between the previous medium in the medium conveying path and the current medium on the virtual paper rubbing point reaches a set paper distance comprises the following steps:

and if the position sensor detects the previous medium, detecting that the distance between the current medium and the previous medium reaches the set paper distance.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the detecting whether a distance between a previous medium in the medium transport path and a current medium on the virtual paper-pickup point reaches a set paper pitch comprises:

when the preceding medium reaches the correction roller, it is detected that the distance between the current medium and the preceding medium reaches the set paper interval.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the time taken for the current media to start from the virtual pick up point to set a paper spacing from the virtual pick up point is greater than the time taken for the next media to arrive at the virtual pick up point from a pick up cassette designated by the next media.

10. A paper feed control method for a continuous printing process, characterized in that the method is applied to an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes a main body, a processor, a virtual paper cassette including at least one optional paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette being correspondingly provided with a virtual paper pickup point, and a medium conveyance path located in a medium conveyance direction of the virtual paper pickup point;

Based on the processor, the method comprises:

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein a paper-out point is provided on the medium conveyance path, the image forming apparatus further comprises a body paper cassette, and a first distance between a body paper-pickup point of the body paper cassette and the paper-out point is the same as a second distance between the virtual paper-pickup point and the paper-out point.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the medium conveyance path is provided with a paper exit point, the image forming apparatus further includes a body paper cassette, a first distance between a body paper pickup point of the body paper cassette and the paper exit point is greater than a second distance between the virtual paper pickup point and the paper exit point, and if the preceding medium is the medium on the body paper cassette, the detecting whether a distance between the preceding medium in the medium conveyance path and a current medium on the virtual paper pickup point reaches a set paper pitch includes:

After determining that the paper distance between the previous medium and the body paper rubbing point is set, judging whether the current medium waits for a second time, wherein the second time is delay time for filling a difference value between the second distance and the first distance to enable the current medium to wait.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the medium conveyance path is provided with a paper exit point, the image forming apparatus further includes a body paper cassette, a first distance between a body paper pickup point of the body paper cassette and the paper exit point is smaller than a second distance between the virtual paper pickup point and the paper exit point, and if the preceding medium is the medium on the body paper cassette, the detecting whether a distance between the preceding medium in the medium conveyance path and a current medium on the virtual paper pickup point reaches a set paper pitch includes:

before the paper interval is set between the previous medium and the body paper rubbing point, judging whether the current medium reaches an advanced paper feeding point or not, wherein the advanced paper feeding point is a position point for eliminating the difference value between the first distance and the second distance so as to enable the current medium to be transmitted in advance.

14. A paper feed control device, characterized in that the device is applied to an image forming apparatus including a main body and a virtual paper cassette including at least one optional paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette being correspondingly provided with a virtual paper pickup point, the device comprising:

15. A paper feed control device for use in a continuous printing process, the device being applied to an image forming apparatus including a main body, a virtual paper cassette including at least one optional paper cassette, the virtual paper cassette being provided with a virtual paper pickup point, and a medium conveyance path in a medium conveyance direction of the virtual paper pickup point, the device comprising:

16. An image forming apparatus for use in a continuous printing process, comprising:

17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a body cassette having a body pickup point, wherein the medium conveyance direction is in a common medium conveyance direction of the body pickup point and the virtual pickup point.

18. An image forming apparatus, comprising: one or more processors; a memory; and one or more computer programs, wherein the one or more computer programs are stored in the memory, the one or more computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed by the image forming apparatus, cause the image forming apparatus to perform the paper feed control method of any one of claims 1 to 5, or the paper feed control method of any one of claims 6 to 9, or the paper feed control method of claims 10 to 13.

19. A computer-readable storage sheet, characterized in that the computer-readable storage sheet includes a stored program, wherein the image forming apparatus in which the computer-readable storage sheet is located is controlled to execute the paper feed control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or the paper feed control method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, or the paper feed control method according to claims 10 to 13, when the program is run.