JP2000094801A - Paper output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To utilize bins effectively in a paper output device that has a plurality of bins and alters the output destination of paper every job. SOLUTION: If the sheets of paper outputted at one job are less than N (NO at #203), the output destination of paper is made into a specific bin (an output bin of predetermined sheets or less) in the job. Also, if the output sheets of job exceed N, the output destination of paper is altered every job (#205-217). In this manner, a job having small sheets of output never occupies one bin, so that bins are prevented from being filled up with paper soon.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper output device, and more particularly to a paper output device capable of sorting and outputting sheets for each received job.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, digital copiers and network printers equipped with a sorter having a plurality of bins are known. In addition, those devices having a multi-job function are also known. Here, the multi-job function is a function for performing printing (paper output) and image data input independently. The user can store a plurality of jobs (document image, number of copies, copy mode, etc.) in the apparatus, and a copying machine or the like executes the jobs in the order of registration.

[0003] There is known a technique for switching the bin for outputting the sheet for each job so that the sheets output here are not mixed.

[0004]

However, when the bin for outputting the paper is switched for each job, there is a problem that there is no bin that can be used immediately.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a paper output device capable of effectively utilizing bins.

[0006]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper output apparatus, comprising: a determination unit configured to determine the number of sheets to be output in one job; If the number of sheets to be output is equal to or less than a predetermined number, first setting means for setting the output destination of the sheets of the job to a specific bin, and if the number of sheets to be output in one job exceeds the predetermined number, Second setting means for setting the output destination of the sheet of the job to a bin other than the specific bin.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a paper output device determines a number of sheets to be output in one job, and determines whether the number of sheets to be output in one job is less than a predetermined number. A first setting unit that sets the output destination of the paper of the job to the same bin as the output destination of the paper of the previous job; and, if the number of sheets output in one job exceeds a predetermined number, And a second setting unit that sets the output destination of the sheet of the first job to a bin different from the output destination of the sheet of the previous job.

[0008] Preferably, the second setting means sets the output destination of the sheet of the job to a bin to which no sheet is output.

[0009] More preferably, the paper output device sets a mode in which the second setting means is operated and the first setting means is not operated irrespective of the number of sheets output in one job. It is characterized by being able to.

According to these inventions, the output destination of the sheet of the job is determined by the number of sheets output in one job, so that a sheet output apparatus capable of effectively utilizing bins can be provided.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a digital copying machine 1 to which a sorter 700 according to the embodiment is connected.

Referring to FIG. 1, a digital copying machine 1 uses an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) 500 to convey documents one by one onto a platen glass 18, reads an image of the document, and reads the read image data. , The laser beam scanning optical system 60 is driven to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 71, and the electrostatic latent image is developed.

More specifically, the digital copying machine 1 includes a reading system 10 for reading a document image and converting it into image data;
An image data processing unit 20 for processing image data transmitted from the reading system 10, a memory unit 30, a print processing unit 40 for driving an optical system 60 based on print data transmitted from the memory unit 30, and a semiconductor laser The laser beam emitted from the photosensitive drum 61 is
1 and an image forming system 70 for developing and transferring the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 71.
A sheet transport system 70B, and an ADF 500 having a function of transporting a document and inverting the front and back of a double-sided document;
The copied paper is output to the sorter 700 as it is or the paper is turned over and the digital copier 1
Reversing unit 6 that performs any of the operations
00.

The reading system 10 and the image data processing unit 2
0 and the memory unit 30 constitute a reading device IR, and the print processing unit 40, the optical system 60, the image forming system 70, and the sheet conveying system 70B constitute a printer device PRT.

The reading system 10 includes an exposure lamp 11 mounted on a scanner 19 that moves below a platen glass 18.
, A first mirror 12, a second mirror 13a, a third mirror 13b, a condensing lens 14, a photoelectric conversion element 16 using a CCD array or the like, a scan motor M2, and the like. .

An external interface 31 is connected to the memory unit 30, and the digital copying machine 1 can input image data from another device such as a personal computer connected to an external network via the external interface 31. .

The print processing unit 40 drives the optical system 60 line by line in the main scanning direction based on the print data output from the memory unit 30.

The optical system 60 includes a semiconductor laser 61 modulated (on / off) controlled by the print processing unit 40.
A polygon mirror 65 that deflects and scans a laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser 61, an fθ lens 69 that corrects distortion and the like of the deflected laser beam,
A mirror 67a for guiding the laser beam to the photosensitive drum 71,
68, 67c.

The image forming system 70 includes a charging charger 72a, a developing device 73a, and a transfer charger 75 around a photosensitive drum 71 rotated in the direction of the arrow along the rotating direction.
And a cleaner 76 for residual toner. Note that the image forming process by the image forming system 70 is a well-known technique, and a description thereof will be omitted.

The sheet conveying system 70B includes automatic sheet feeding cassettes 80a and 80b in which sheets are stacked and stored, rollers for feeding sheets one by one, a sheet conveying path 81,
It comprises a timing roller 82, a transport belt 83, a toner fixing device 84, and a discharge roller 85. The sheet conveying system 70B and the photosensitive drum 71 are driven by the main motor M1. Further, a sheet detection sensor is provided at a key point in the sheet conveyance path.

The ADF 500 includes a document tray 510, a pickup roller 501, a separating roller 502, a separating pad 503, a register roller 504, a transport belt 506, a reversing roller 507, and a sheet discharge tray 511. I have. Documents placed on the document tray 510 are placed one by one from the bottom layer on the platen glass 1.
8 is conveyed. The conveyed document temporarily stops on the platen glass 19. Then, the image of the original is read by the reading system 10. In the double-sided reading mode, after the reading of one side of the document is completed, the document is
Is rotated once, and returned on the platen glass 18. Therefore, the transport belt 506 can be rotated forward and backward. The size of the document is detected by the sensor SE51 immediately before being sent onto the platen glass 18.

In the digital copying machine 1 having the above-described configuration, an image of one document is usually read, and necessary correction is applied to the image data to generate print data. The print data is output by the optical system 60, and an image is formed on one sheet.

The reversing unit 600 performs either an operation of sending the sheet output via the discharge roller 85 as it is to the sorter 700 or an operation of reversing the sheet and sending it to the digital copying machine 1 again. Original manuscript sorter 700
, The claw 601 is set at the angle shown in FIG. Thus, the sheet output via the discharge roller 85 is sent to the sorter 700 as it is.

On the other hand, when reversing the original and feeding it back to the digital copier 1, the pawl 601 rotates clockwise from the state shown in FIG. In this case, the sheet output via the discharge roller 85 is sent via the rollers 602 and 603. After the sensor SE61 detects the passage of the trailing edge of the sheet, the roller 603 is inverted, and then the sheet is sent to the photosensitive drum 71 via the rollers 86a to 86c and the timing roller 82.

Sorter 700 has a total of 21 bins. The top bin is, in the first embodiment,
When the number of sheets to be output in one job is equal to or less than a predetermined number, the bin is used as a bin for outputting sheets (hereinafter referred to as an output bin or a specific bin). It is used as a bin 701 for sorting.

All the bins 701 and 702 have a spiral shaft 70
3, the bins 701 and 702 move up and down as the spiral shaft 703 rotates. With this, it is possible to set to which bin the paper sent via the rollers 706, 707, 709, 712, 714 is output. Further, all bins are provided with sensors for detecting whether or not paper is output to the bins.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing a control unit of the digital copying machine shown in FIG. Referring to the figure, the control unit is mainly configured with eight CPUs. Each CPU is provided with ROMs 111 to 118 for storing necessary programs and RAMs 121 to 128 which operate as work areas when the programs are executed.

The CPU 101 controls input of signals from various operation keys on the operation panel of the digital copying machine 1 and display on the operation panel. The CPU 102 controls each part of the image data processing unit 20. CPU
103 controls the driving of the reading system 10. CPU10
Reference numeral 4 denotes a print processing unit 40, an optical system 60, and an image forming system 7.
0 and the sheet transport system 70B.

The CPU 105 controls the overall timing of the control unit 100 and controls the operation mode. The CPU 106 is included in the memory unit 30, controls the memory unit 30, performs necessary processing on the image data D2 transferred from the image data processing unit 20, generates print data, and generates the print data. Output to the unit 40. CPU 107
Is a CPU that controls the ADF 500, and is connected to the CPUs 101, 102, and 105 via serial I / O. Instructions for feeding, transporting, and discharging a document are performed by the CPU 105. The CPU 108 controls the re-feed unit 600 and the sorter 700.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the job management table stored in the RAM 125. Referring to the figure, a job No. is assigned to each job registered in digital copying machine 1.
Is assigned, and the job No. The jobs are executed in ascending order. For each job, the number of sheets output in the job is registered as the output number (or the number of prints). Also, whether the data of each job is received from the image data processing unit 20 or from the external interface 31 is recorded.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the bin management table stored in the RAM 125. As described with reference to FIG. 1, the copying machine according to the present embodiment has 21 bins, and each bin has a bin No. in the bin management table. And the state of each bin is managed. Whether or not there is paper in each bin (empty) is recorded in the bin management table based on the output of the sensor connected to each bin.

The bin No. Numeral 1 functions as an output bin (specific bin) of a predetermined number or less, and the other bins function as bins for sorting for each job.

Further, the RAM 125 stores a pointer (an output bin position pointer) indicating a bin for outputting a sheet and a switching output bin position pointer for determining a bin for outputting a sheet next. In addition, bin No. Is set to the maximum bin number.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control routine of the digital copying machine 1 performed by the CPU 105. Referring to the figure, initialization is performed in step # 51. In this initial setting, the bin saving mode is set to "1". Here, the bin saving mode is a mode in which bins are not assigned to all jobs. By selecting this mode, if the number of sheets to be output in one job is small, the number of sheets of the job is a predetermined number. Hereafter, it is output to the output bin. As a result, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the usable bottles quickly run out.

At step # 52, time counting by an internal timer for controlling the timing of the entire apparatus starts. In step # 53, the data input through the image data processing unit 20 or the external interface 31 and the data input through the operation panel are analyzed.

At step # 54, a mode (bin saving mode or the like) or a command from the user is set.

At step # 55, data output from digital copying machine 1 is set. At step # 56, other processing is performed. At step # 57, it is determined whether or not the counting of the internal timer has ended, and the process waits until YES is reached. If YES at step # 57, step #
Return to 52.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a specific process in the mode / command setting process (# 54) of FIG. Referring to the figure, a job output process is executed in step # 101. At step # 102, other mode / command processing is performed. Specifically, there is a process of switching the bin saving mode to “0” or “1” according to an input from the user through the operation panel.

FIG. 8 shows the job output process (# 10
It is a flowchart which shows the specific process in 1). Referring to the figure, in step # 201, it is determined whether the bin saving mode is "1". If YES, it is determined in step # 203 whether or not the number of sheets output in the job exceeds N. Here, N is the minimum sheet output number of the job in which the sheet is not sorted.
Is set to "1", if the number of sheets output in one job is one, the sheets are not sorted. Increasing the number of N can reduce the use of bins.

If YES in step # 203, 1 is added to the pointer of the switching output bin position in step # 205. Note that the initial value of the pointer of the switching output bin position is “1”.

At step # 207, it is determined whether or not the value of the pointer at the switching output bin position has exceeded the Max bin number. Y
If it is ES, the value of the pointer of the switching output bin position is set to "1" in step # 209. On the other hand, step # 207
If NO is determined, the process proceeds directly to step # 211.

In step # 211, it is determined whether the bin at the switching output bin position is empty according to the bin management table. If YES, step # 21
At 3, it is determined whether or not the bin at the switching output bin position is a predetermined number or less of output bins. If YES, step # 2
05, if NO, proceed to step # 215.

At step # 215, the pointer of the output bin position is set to the numerical value recorded in the pointer of the switching output bin position. Next, "0" is set to the Max bin arrival flag in step # 217. Next, step # 219
To start feeding the job. The paper fed here is output to the bin indicated by the output bin position.

If NO in step # 201,
Proceed directly to step # 205. If “NO” in the step # 203, the output bin position is set to the output bin (bin No. 1) equal to or less than a predetermined number in a step # 221. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step # 219.

If NO in step # 211, it is determined in step # 223 whether the pointer of the switching output bin position is equal to the number of Max bins. If YES, the Max bin arrival flag is set to "1" in step # 225. Is determined. If YES, in step # 227, since all bins are used, a message indicating that the capacity of the sorter is over is displayed on the operation panel. Next, step # 229
Sets the Max bin arrival flag to "0".

If NO in step # 223, the process returns to step # 205. If NO in step # 225,
At step # 231, "1" is set to the Max bin arrival flag, and the routine proceeds to step # 209.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the number of sheets to be output in one job is N or less, sheet sorting for each job using bins is not performed. This makes it possible to provide a digital copying machine that can effectively use bins. In addition, when the number of sheets output in one job is small, the user can easily identify the sheets of the job output by himself without having to use the bin to sort.

By setting the bin saving mode to "0", the user can sort all jobs using bins, so that the user selects a paper output method according to his or her preference. be able to.

[Second Embodiment] The hardware configuration of a digital copying machine and a sorter according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore description thereof will not be repeated. In the second embodiment, a flowchart shown in FIG. 9 is executed instead of the flowchart shown in FIG. The flowchart shown in FIG. 9 corresponds to steps # 213 and # 221 of the flowchart shown in FIG.
Is excluded. According to this flowchart, when it is determined in step # 203 that the number of output jobs is N or less, the process directly proceeds to step # 219. Thus, the output destination of the sheet of the job is set to the same bin as the output destination of the sheet of the previous job. When the number of sheets to be output is small, the user can easily identify his or her own sheet. Thus, even if the sheet is output to the same bin as the output destination of the sheet in the previous job, No problem.

If the number of output sheets of the job exceeds N (YES in # 203), the output destination of the sheet of the job is changed to the output destination of the sheet of the previous job as in the first embodiment. Set to a different bin. As a result, the sheets are sorted for each job.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a digital copying machine 1 and a sorter 700 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit 100 of the digital copying machine.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram following FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a job management table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a bin management table.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process performed by a CPU 105;

FIG. 7 shows a mode / command setting process of FIG. 6 (# 54).
6 is a flowchart showing the process in step S1.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing in job output processing (# 101) in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating job output processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Copier 700 Sorter 701 Sorting bin for each job 702 Output bin (specific bin) not more than a predetermined number

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C061 AP04 AS02 HH07 HJ04 HK11 HK15 HN04 HX10 2H072 AA18 AA25 AA26 AB02 AB12 FC13 3F050 CA05 CA06 LA02 LA07 LB03 3F054 BF22 CA06 CA12 DA01

Claims (4)

[Claims] A determination unit configured to determine the number of sheets to be output in one job; and, when the number of sheets to be output in the one job is equal to or less than a predetermined number, specify an output destination of the sheet in the job. First setting means for setting the number of sheets to be output to the bin, and when the number of sheets to be output in the one job exceeds the predetermined number, the output destination of the sheet of the job is set to a bin other than the specific bin A paper output device comprising: a second setting unit. A determining means for determining the number of sheets to be output in one job; and, if the number of sheets to be output in the one job is equal to or less than a predetermined number, the output destination of the sheet of the job is First setting means for setting the same bin as the output destination of the sheet of the job, and when the number of sheets to be output in the one job exceeds the predetermined number, the output destination of the sheet of the job A sheet setting device for setting a bin different from the output destination of the sheet of the job. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second setting unit sets an output destination of the sheet of the job to a bin to which no sheet is output.
The paper output device according to claim 1. 4. A mode can be set in which the second setting means is operated and the first setting means is not operated irrespective of the number of sheets output in the one job. Claims 1 to 3
Paper output device according to any one of the above.