JP2000019900A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To estimate the cause of paper jamming and to take measures for paper or a printing device before trouble develops serious by recording the number of printed sheets and the number of paper jamming occurring times for every size of paper to which printing is performed and calculating the paper jamming occurring frequency of every size of the paper. SOLUTION: A paper size counter 22 counts the number of printed sheets for every kind of used paper size. Output from the counter 22 and output from a jammed paper number counter 23 are inputted in a division machine 25. The output value of the counter 23 is divided by the output value of the counter 22 in the machine 25. By performing such division for every paper size, the output of the machine 25 becomes probability that paper jamming occurs for every paper size. When the number of paper jamming times with respect to the unit number of sheets for every paper size exceeds a specified number, requirement for inspecting the printing device is outputted. The counters 22 and 23 are periodically reset by a timer 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus adapted to paper of a plurality of sizes, and more particularly to a printing apparatus having a paper jam warning means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional electrophotographic printing apparatus. In the conventional example of FIG. 4, reference numeral 40 denotes a printing apparatus main body, and reference numeral 44 denotes a photosensitive (body) drum.
The printing paper 41 is mounted in a paper cassette 42. The paper cassette 42 has a notch indicating the paper size of the loaded printing paper 41. When the paper cassette 42 is mounted on the printing device main body 40, the printing device main body 40
3, the paper size of the printing paper 41 can be identified.

The printing apparatus main body 40 is provided with two paper sensors for identifying that the printing paper 41 has been conveyed. One is provided before the photosensitive drum 44 for actually performing the printing operation, and the other is a paper confirmation sensor 45. is there. The other is a discharge confirmation sensor 46 before the printed paper is discharged outside the printing apparatus.
It is. 47 is a display panel.

In the above-mentioned conventional example, the printing operation is performed as follows: the paper size of the printing paper 41 prepared in a paper cassette 42 previously mounted on the printing device 40 is determined by a host (not shown). Have been identified by the computer. In this host computer, a print command is sent so as to perform printing on paper of a size prepared by the printing device 40.

When the printing device 40 receives the printing command, it takes out one printing paper 41 from the paper cassette 42 and conveys it to the photosensitive drum 44. At this time, if the paper confirmation sensor 45 does not respond at all, the printing device 40 determines that the printing paper 41 has been used up, and displays on the display panel 47 that there is no paper. Since the speed at which the printing paper 41 is conveyed is fixed, the paper confirmation sensor 45 detects the printing paper 41.
Takes a value determined by the paper size.

Here, if the recognition time is too short, it is considered that the printing paper 41 prepared in the paper cassette 42 is smaller than the original paper size, and an image cannot be completely printed on the printing paper 41. Conceivable. Therefore, the printing device 4
0 indicates to the display panel that the image may not be completely printed.

Next, the paper confirmation sensor 45 detects the printing paper 41.
If the time for recognizing is too long, the paper cassette 42
If the paper size of the printing paper 41 attached to the printer is too large, it is conceivable that the printing paper 41 slips inside the printing apparatus main body 40 and is not normally conveyed.

In this case, since the slip of the printing paper 41 is a serious problem, the printing device 40 displays an indication of a paper jam on the display device. The printing operation is performed on the printing paper 41 by the photosensitive drum 44,
And is discharged outside the printing device 40.

Here, since the speed at which the printing paper 41 is conveyed is determined, the time at which the ejection confirmation sensor 46 starts to recognize the printing paper 41 is fixed after the paper confirmation sensor 45 recognizes the printing paper 41. Take the time.

Further, the discharge confirmation sensor 45 detects the printing paper 41.
Is the same as the time when the print paper 41 is recognized by the paper confirmation sensor 45. For this reason,
The time when the discharge confirmation sensor 46 recognizes the printing paper 41 is
If the time differs from the predetermined time, and if the recognized time is different from the time recognized by the paper confirmation sensor 45, it is determined that a paper jam has occurred. Display a paper jam.

In the case of a paper jam, the service case of the printing device 40 is opened and the jammed printing paper 41 is removed.
It is released by closing the service case.

The causes of paper jam (jam) in this type of printing apparatus 40 include the following factors: Causes of the paper itself Warpage of the paper, sticking due to electrification, and surface smoothness due to differences in the finish of the paper surface Degree, paper thickness, etc.

Causes of the printing device Slip due to abrasion of the transport roller, catching due to contamination of the transport system, wear of gears such as the photosensitive roller, etc.

Environmental causes Temperature, humidity, etc.

[0015]

Normally, when the same paper size is used, there is little variation in the paper quality. However, when the paper size is different, a correlation may occur with the paper quality (for example, ordinary copy). In the case of paper and postcards, or use recycled paper or backing paper for frequently used A4 size paper,
Use normal copy paper for B5 size that is not used very often.)

Further, when a paper jam is caused by a paper jam, the frequency of occurrence varies greatly depending on the paper quality. Therefore, the frequency of paper jams in the printing apparatus depends on the paper quality of the paper on which printing has been performed, rather than the simple number of printed sheets.However, when a paper jam occurs, the paper Just eliminate the need to actively prevent paper jams. A printing device that has a counter for the number of printed sheets can take measures such as cleaning the inside for each specific number of printed sheets.However, as mentioned above, the frequency of paper jams varies greatly depending on the paper quality. It is difficult to do.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a means for estimating the cause of a paper jam so that measures can be taken before a serious problem occurs in a paper or a printing apparatus. It is an object.

[0018]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, in the present invention, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus according to any one of the following items (1) and (2) to achieve the above object.

(1) In a printing apparatus capable of selecting a plurality of printing paper sizes, the total number of printed sheets for each paper size is recorded, and when the recorded number of printed sheets exceeds a predetermined number, inspection of the printing apparatus is performed. A printing device for outputting a request.

(2) In a printing apparatus capable of selecting a plurality of printing paper sizes, the total number of printed sheets for each paper size and the total number of paper jams for each paper size are recorded. The number of paper jams per unit of
A printing device, which outputs a request for inspection of the printing device when a predetermined number is exceeded.

[0021]

According to the configuration of the present invention described above, the frequency of paper jams for each paper size is calculated by recording the number of prints and the number of paper jams for each paper size of the printed paper. I do. Here, since the frequency of occurrence of paper jams differs for each paper size, when the number of prints for each paper size exceeds a predetermined value, cleaning of the printing device is requested to prevent paper jams. Further, when the occurrence of the paper jam is extremely extreme, the maintenance frequency of the printing device can be requested, and the failure of the printing device can be detected and checked as early as possible.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail based on a plurality of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0023]

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a first embodiment according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a warning circuit for a paper jam added to the control device of the printing apparatus. Here, the printing apparatus itself is the same as the printing apparatus 40 shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 is added to the control circuit of the conventional printing device 40.

The paper jam warning circuit 11 includes a paper size counter 12. The paper size counter 12 is shown in FIG.
The identification result signal 13 of the paper size detection switch 43 and the print start signal 14 are input. The paper size counter 12 counts the number of printed sheets for each type of paper size to be used.
For example, the total number of printed sheets is calculated for each sheet size such as 1000 sheets for 4 sheets, 700 sheets for paper size B5, and 800 sheets for postcard size.

The counting result of the paper size counter 12 is input to a warning number table 15 included in the paper jam warning circuit 11. The warning number table 15 records in advance the number of warnings for each printing paper quality. Where "Warning number"
Is the number of sheets required for cleaning for each paper quality determined as a design value of the printing device 40.

If the value of the sheet size counter 12 reaches the number of sheets recorded in the warning sheet number table 15,
The warning number table 15 outputs a message urging the cleaning of the printing apparatus to the display panel 47 in FIG. 4 (FIG. 1). The warning sheet number table 15 resets a corresponding counter of the sheet size counter 14.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a second embodiment according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a paper jam warning circuit to be added to the control device of the printing device 40, similarly to the paper jam warning circuit 11 of the first embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 22 denotes a paper size counter similar to the paper size counter 12 of the second embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 23 denotes a sheet jam counter for each sheet size. The reset input of the paper size counter 22 and the paper jam counter 23 is connected to a timer 24 for resetting for a fixed period. It is assumed that the timer 24 is set to output a reset once every seven days.

The output of the paper size counter 22 and the output of the paper jam counter 23 are divided by a divider 25.
To enter. The divider 25 divides the output value of the paper jam counter 23 by the output value of the paper size counter 22.

Here, when the division is performed for each sheet size,
The output of the divider 25 is the probability that a paper jam will occur for each paper size. Further, since the paper size counter 22 and the paper jam counter 23 are periodically reset by the timer 24, the paper jam occurrence probability is a seven-day unit probability in the second embodiment.

The output of the divider 25 is input to a paper jam rate table 26. In the paper jam rate table 26, a paper jam rate to be noted in advance is recorded for each paper size.
The output of the divider 25 is compared with the output of the divider 25, and if the output of the divider 25 becomes larger than the recorded paper jam rate, a warning is output to the display panel 47.

In the paper jam rate table 26, the number of prints for each paper size is input from the paper size counter 22. This is to prevent an increase in error when calculating the frequency of occurrence of paper jam when the number of printed sheets is small.

The paper jam rate table 26 indicates that if the number of printed sheets for each sheet size received from the sheet size counter 22 is small, the display panel is displayed even if the output of the divider 25 becomes larger than the value recorded in the table. No warning is output to 47.

When there is an output from the paper jam rate table 26, the printing device 40 outputs a message urging the check of the printing device 40 to the display panel 47 because there is a high possibility that the printing device 40 has some problem. The message prompting the inspection is reset by scanning the switch on the display panel 47. At this time, the paper size counter 22, the paper jam counter 23, and the timer 24 are also reset.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation sequence of the paper jam warning process according to the present embodiment. When printing is executed in the printing apparatus main body 40, first, step S in FIG.
At 1, the paper size is checked. Next, step S2
In, a counter corresponding to the paper size confirmed in step S1 is selected from the paper size counter 22.
At this time, the paper jam counter 23 also selects the corresponding paper. In the next step S3, the counter selected in step S2 is increased by one page.

In the next step S4, a paper jam is determined. If a paper jam has occurred, the process branches to step S5, and if no paper jam has occurred, the process proceeds to step S5.
The process branches to 6. In step S5, step S2
The paper jam counter selected in step is incremented by one page. After step S5, the process proceeds to step S6, where a paper jam rate for each paper size is calculated.

In the next step S7, the paper jam rate table 26 is compared. If the paper jam rate is lower than the specified value, there is no problem, and this processing operation ends.

If it is higher than the specified value, the next step S
The process proceeds to step S8, and the value of the paper size counter is checked again. If the number of times of printing of a paper size having a paper jam rate that is too high is less than a specified value, the credibility of the paper jam rate is low, and it is determined that there is no problem in the printing device 40, and this processing operation ends.

If the number of times of printing is large, it is determined that there is a serious problem with the printing device 40 or the paper 41, and the process proceeds to the next step S9, where an output is outputted to the error display panel 47, and this warning processing operation is terminated.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the frequency of occurrence of paper jams can be checked for each dimension of each printing paper related to the paper quality of the printing paper, the printing device can indirectly diagnose the occurrence of paper jam due to the paper quality. Therefore, when a problem occurs in the printing apparatus or when a printing paper having a problem is used, it is possible to take measures before a serious problem occurs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a paper jam warning processing operation sequence according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example of a conventional electrophotographic printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Paper Jam Warning Circuit 12 Paper Size Counter 13 Identification Result Signal 14 Print Start Signal 15 Warning Sheet Table 21 Paper Jam Warning Circuit 22 Paper Size Counter 23 Paper Jam Counter 24 Timer 25 Divider 26 Paper Jam Rate Table 40 Printer Main Unit 41 Printing paper 42 Paper cassette 43 Paper size detection switch 44 Photosensitive drum 45 Paper confirmation sensor 46 Discharge confirmation sensor 47 Display panel

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C061 AQ06 HH06 HH08 HK07 HK15 HV32 HV60 2H027 DA45 DA48 DC14 DC19 DE07 EC10 EH08 FA05 FA25 GA22 GA30 GA41 GB05 GB19 HB02 HB05 HB06 HB19 3F048 BA07 BA14 BB05 CB05 BC08 BC08

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a printing apparatus capable of selecting a plurality of printing paper dimensions, a total of the number of printed sheets for each of the paper dimensions is recorded, and when the recorded number of printing sheets exceeds a predetermined number, an inspection of the printing apparatus is performed. A printing device for outputting a request. 2. A printing apparatus capable of selecting a plurality of printing paper sizes, wherein a total number of printed sheets for each paper size and a total number of paper jams for each paper size are recorded. A printing device for outputting a check request for the printing device when the number of paper jams per unit number exceeds a predetermined number.