JP2001302065A - Image forming device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device enabling a user to know completion of a designated printing output at a distance with an inexpensive structure even if plural printing jobs are overlapped. SOLUTION: Information for a vacant tray 104 is notified to a PC 110 serving as a client in accordance with the detected result of a loading detecting sensor 105. A printing medium printed based on a printing job is discharged to a designated tray in accordance with discharge tray information selected by a sorting device 103. If the printing medium is discharged, an indicating lamp 106 corresponding to the tray flickers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a printer or a copying machine, having a different sort such as a sorter, and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional sorting apparatus, for example, a finisher equipped with a "finisher incoming lamp" is commercially available, and is configured to notify the discharge of print output.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-247048
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-216555 discloses a display of a user of a discharged print job (hereinafter also referred to as a print job) or an application of a print function, a facsimile function, and a copy function in association with each tray of a sorter.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned "Finisher incoming lamp", the means for notifying the discharge of the print is a simple structure using only the lamp.
Or, there was a problem that it was impossible to know where the output came from.

[0005] On the other hand, the configuration described in the above-mentioned patent publication requires a high-definition display means for displaying information corresponding to each tray without exception, so that the configuration becomes complicated and expensive. There was a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is intended to solve the problem that even if a plurality of print jobs overlap, the user leaves a desired print output in an inexpensive configuration. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus and a control method for the image forming apparatus, which can be easily known.

[0007]

The image forming apparatus and the control method thereof according to the present invention are configured as follows.

(1) In an image forming apparatus, a sorter for sorting discharged print media into a plurality of trays, a display lamp for displaying that the print medium has been discharged, and a control for controlling lighting of the display lamp. Means for controlling the flashing of the indicator lamp in accordance with the tray on which the print medium has been sorted and discharged by the sorting means.

(2) The image forming apparatus according to (1) above, further comprising detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a print medium in each tray, and the control means detecting that the print medium is present in any one of the trays by the detecting means. When detected, the blinking corresponding to the tray is performed, and when the print medium on the tray is removed, the blinking is stopped.

(3) In the image forming apparatus of (2), when the detecting means detects that the print medium is present in a plurality of trays, the control means causes the respective trays to blink with a time difference. In addition, when the print medium on any of the trays is removed, the blinking corresponding to the tray is stopped.

(4) In the image forming apparatus of (2) or (3), a display means for displaying a vacant tray based on the detection result of the detecting means, and a selection for selecting a desired tray from the vacant tray Means for sorting and discharging the print medium to the selected tray.

(5) In an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a print medium in accordance with a print job from a data processing apparatus on a network, a sorter for sorting the print medium into a plurality of trays for each print job, and the print job is terminated. A display light for indicating that the print medium has been discharged, and control means for controlling the lighting of the display light, wherein the control means responds to the tray on which the print medium is sorted by the sorting means and discharged. In addition, control is performed so that the indicator lamp blinks.

(6) In the image forming apparatus of the above (5), the sorting means divides the plurality of trays for each application or data processing device.

(7) The image forming apparatus according to (5) or (6) above, further comprising detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a print medium in each tray, and the control means controlling the print medium to be transmitted to one of the trays by the detecting means. Is detected, the blinking corresponding to the tray is performed, and when the print medium on the tray is removed, the blinking is stopped.

(8) In the image forming apparatus of the above (7), when the detecting means detects that the print medium is present in a plurality of trays, the control means causes the respective trays to blink with a time difference. In addition, when the print medium on any of the trays is removed, the blinking corresponding to the tray is stopped.

(9) In the image forming apparatus of (7) or (8), a notifying means for notifying the data processing apparatus of a vacant tray based on the detection result of the detecting means, and a tray selected by the data processing apparatus The printing medium is sorted and discharged.

(10) In any one of the above-mentioned image forming apparatuses (1) to (9), the indicator lamp is located above or above the image forming apparatus main body.

(11) In the control method of the image forming apparatus, the print medium to be ejected is sorted into a plurality of trays, the fact that the print medium has been ejected is indicated by an indicator lamp, and the print medium is sorted and ejected. The indicator lamp is controlled to blink according to the tray.

(12) In the method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to the above (11), the presence or absence of a print medium in each tray is detected by a detection unit, and the detection unit detects that a print medium is present in any one of the trays. In this case, the blinking corresponding to the tray is performed, and when the print medium on the tray is removed, the blinking is stopped.

(13) In the control method of the image forming apparatus described in (12), when the detecting means detects that there is a print medium in a plurality of trays, the blinking corresponding to the trays is performed with a time difference. When the print medium on one of the trays is removed, the blinking corresponding to that tray is stopped.

(14) In the method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to the above (12) or (13), a vacant tray is displayed based on a detection result of the detecting means, and a print medium is stored in a tray selected from the vacant tray. Are sorted and discharged.

(15) In a control method of an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a print medium in accordance with a print job from a data processing apparatus on a network, the print medium is sorted into a plurality of trays for each print job, and the print job ends. Then, the fact that the print medium has been ejected is displayed on the indicator light, and control is performed so that the indicator light blinks according to the tray from which the print medium has been sorted and ejected.

(16) In the method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to the above (15), a plurality of trays are divided for each application or data processing apparatus.

(17) In the control method of the image forming apparatus described in (16), the presence or absence of a print medium in each tray is detected by a detection unit, and the control unit detects the presence of a print medium in one of the trays by the detection unit. When this is detected, the blinking corresponding to the tray is performed, and when the print medium on the tray is removed, the blinking is stopped.

(18) In the method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to the above (17), when the detecting means detects that there is a print medium in a plurality of trays, the blinking corresponding to each of the trays is performed with a time difference. When the print medium on one of the trays is removed, the blinking corresponding to that tray is stopped.

(19) In the method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to the above (17) or (18), a vacant tray is notified to the data processing apparatus based on the detection result of the detecting means, and the tray selected by the data processing apparatus is notified. The printing medium is sorted and discharged.

[0027]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall system configuration of an embodiment. The respective devices and the outline of the operation will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes an image forming apparatus, which is connected by a network cable 107 to a network server 109 and a plurality of PCs (data processing apparatuses) 110 as clients. Note that 108
Is a terminating resistor of the network cable 107. The image forming apparatus of the above system constitutes a so-called network printer.

The image forming apparatus 101 has an operation panel 102 for operating the image forming apparatus 101, and a printing medium (recording medium) sorting device (sorting means) 103. In the sorting device 103, reference numeral 104 denotes a tray (bin) for holding print media discharged after sorting;
Each tray 104 is provided with a load detection sensor (load detection means) 105 for detecting that the print medium has been discharged.

Reference numeral 106 denotes an indicator light such as an LED or a light bulb which indicates when the loading medium detecting means 105 detects that the print medium has been discharged, and is attached to the tip of the support rod. Is mounted at a position where the indicator lamp 106 can be easily seen from a position separated from the back and upper part of the image forming apparatus main body.

Consider a case where a document is to be printed from one of the PCs 110 serving as clients by the image forming apparatus having the above configuration. First, the PC 110 creates a document, inputs a location of a tray to be discharged, and gives a print command. The location of the tray to be discharged is displayed in advance on the user's PC 110 based on the detection result of the stacking detection sensor 105 of each tray 104 in the sorting device 103, and the user is instructed to select a desired tray from them. By doing.

This document describes the network cable 10
7. The data is sent to the image forming apparatus 101 via the server 109. Since this document is created in the computer code by the PC 110, the computer code is interpreted in the image forming apparatus 101, first expanded into bitmap data, and then visualized on a print medium. Printed.

The printed printing medium is discharged to, for example, the uppermost tray 104 of the sorting device 103. Also, a loading detection sensor 105 provided on the uppermost tray 104
When the control unit detects the presence of the print medium, the control unit (not shown) in the image forming apparatus 101 turns on the indicator lamp 106 to indicate that the sheet has been discharged onto the tray.

At this time, the indicator light 106 is made to blink, for example, as shown in FIG. 2 in correspondence with the tray from which the print medium has been discharged.

In FIG. 2, the number of trays is decomposed into a combination of numbers 1 and 5, and "1" is turned on for a short time,
"5" is displayed by being lit for a long time. For example, when the tray at the “7” level is indicated, it is indicated by lighting twice for a long time indicating “5” and for a short time indicating “1”.

When a plurality of columns are displayed, a difference is displayed between the display of one column and the display of the next column by leaving a slight blank space.

The above operation will be described with reference to a flowchart in FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a print medium discharge processing operation according to the embodiment. This operation is executed in accordance with an instruction from a CPU (not shown) based on a program stored in a ROM (not shown).

In FIG. 3, when the power is turned on, the image forming apparatus 101 is initialized in step S101,
For example, setting of network connection is performed. Next, in step S102, it is checked whether there is a print request from any client on the network. Here, this step is looped until there is a print request.

If there is a print request, step S1
At 03, the presence or absence of a print medium on all the trays 104 is checked by checking all the stack detection sensors 105, and an empty tray is searched. Next, in step S104, the information of the empty tray is notified to the client that has requested the print. This information notification is performed by an existing protocol (MIB) on the network by a not-shown notifying unit, or is notified by a print driver.
Also, this information may be displayed on a display unit (display means) on the operation panel 102.

The print requester selects a tray to be discharged from the presented empty tray, and sends print data to the image forming apparatus 101 (via the server PC 109).

The image forming apparatus 101 proceeds to step S106.
First, the discharge tray information is removed from the print data, and an image is formed from the remaining print data. In step S107, the discharge tray position is selected (set) by a selection unit (not shown) from the discharge tray information extracted in step S106, and the print medium is discharged to the specified discharge tray.

Next, the operation of the indicator lamp for indicating that the print medium has been discharged will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a display control operation according to one embodiment. This operation is executed in accordance with an instruction from a CPU (not shown) based on a program stored in a ROM (not shown).

In FIG. 4, after the power is turned on in step S201, the connection with the sorting device 103, the number of trays, and the like are confirmed.

Next, in step S202, each tray 10
It is confirmed by the loading detection sensor 105 of No. 4 whether the print medium has been discharged. Here, if there is no discharge, this confirmation loop (step S202) is repeated.

If discharge is detected, step S203 is executed.
Then, the position of the detected tray is specified. When the position of the tray is confirmed, a code (FIG. 2) corresponding to the number of steps is set in step S204.

Next, in step S205, step S205
So that the timing of the code determined in 204
The indicator light 106 flashes.

Then, the process returns to step S202 again.
Check the ejection of print media.

By repeating this operation, even if the number of trays from which the print medium has been discharged increases or, conversely, even if the print medium is removed, the change is immediately detected and the discharge status on the tray is displayed in real time. can do.

When there are print media in a plurality of trays, the codes shown in FIG. 2 corresponding to the trays to be discharged are displayed by blinking sequentially with a slight idle time. It should be noted that the indicator lamp 10 is again set in step S205.
By setting a time interval longer than the idle time, the time until the blinking of the number 6 is prevented from being erroneously recognized.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the sorting is performed by using the sorting device for each print medium group, that is, for each print job, and the print end is individually performed for each of the JOBs. Thus, it is possible to easily display from a remote position.

In the present embodiment, the indicator lamp 106 is provided so as to be located at the tip of the support rod, that is, above the image forming apparatus main body. However, it may be provided above the image forming apparatus main body.

Further, in this embodiment, the configuration in which selection is made from all the empty trays has been described. However, the tray for discharging the print medium may be divided according to each user or each PC.

When the present invention is embodied as a multifunction machine having a facsimile function, a copy function, and a printer function, a tray for discharging a print medium is divided according to an application (a facsimile function, a copy function, and a printer function). Is also good.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even if a plurality of print jobs are overlapped, there is an effect that the completion of the print output desired by the user can be easily known even from a remote place with an inexpensive configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a blinking state of an indicator light corresponding to a tray according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a print medium discharge processing operation according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a display control operation according to an embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image forming apparatus 102 Operation panel 103 Sorting device (sorting means) 104 Tray 105 Loading detection sensor (loading detecting means) 106 Indicator light 107 Network cable 109 Server 110 PC

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page F term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP03 AP04 AP07 CQ22 CQ28 CQ34 HJ04 HJ07 HN18 HQ06 3F050 AA04 BB02 CA07 CB05 CE03 CE06 LA02 LA05 LA07 LB03 3F054 AA01 AC02 AC03 AC05 BA04 BF03 BF07 BF07 CA23

Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. A printer comprising: a sorter for sorting discharged print media into a plurality of trays; an indicator light for displaying that the print medium has been ejected; and a controller for controlling lighting of the indicator light. An image forming apparatus, wherein the control unit controls the display lamp to blink on and off in accordance with a tray on which a print medium is sorted by the sorting unit and discharged. 2. A printing apparatus, comprising: detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a print medium in each tray; and controlling means for flashing when the detecting means detects the presence of a print medium in one of the trays. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blinking is stopped when the print medium on the tray is removed. 3. The control means, when the detection means detects that a print medium is present in a plurality of trays, blinks the print mediums corresponding to the trays with a time difference between each of the trays. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the blinking corresponding to the tray is stopped when the tray is removed. 4. A display means for displaying a vacant tray based on a detection result of the detecting means, and a selecting means for selecting a desired tray from the vacant trays, wherein a print medium is stored in the selected tray. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image is sorted and discharged. 5. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a print medium in accordance with a print job from a data processing apparatus on a network, wherein the sort means sorts the print medium into a plurality of trays for each print job; An indicator light for indicating that the printing medium has been ejected after completion, and control means for controlling lighting of the indicator light, wherein the control means includes a tray on which the print medium is sorted by the sorting means and discharged. An image forming apparatus, wherein control is performed such that the indicator lamp is turned on and off in response to the request. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the sorting unit divides the plurality of trays for each application or data processing device. 7. A detecting means for detecting presence or absence of a print medium in each tray, and when the detecting means detects that a print medium is present in any one of the trays, the control means flashes a blink corresponding to the tray. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the print medium on the tray is removed, the blinking is stopped. 8. The control means, when the detection means detects that the print medium is present in a plurality of trays, the control means causes the respective trays to blink with a time difference, and the print medium on one of the trays is changed. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the blinking corresponding to the tray is stopped when the tray is removed. 9. A notifying means for notifying a data processing apparatus of an empty tray based on a detection result of the detecting means, and a printing medium is sorted and discharged to a tray selected by the data processing apparatus. Item 7. The image forming apparatus according to Item 7 or 8. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the indicator light is located above or above the image forming apparatus main body. 11. A print medium to be discharged is sorted into a plurality of trays, a display lamp indicates that the print medium has been discharged, and the indicator light blinks according to the tray from which the print medium has been sorted and discharged. Controlling the image forming apparatus. 12. A tray for detecting the presence or absence of a printing medium in each tray. When the detecting unit detects that a printing medium is present in any one of the trays, the tray flashes corresponding to the tray. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the blinking is stopped when the print medium on the tray is removed. 13. When the detecting means detects that there is a print medium in a plurality of trays, a blink corresponding to each of the trays is performed with a time difference, and when a print medium on any of the trays is removed. 13. The control method according to claim 12, wherein the blinking corresponding to the tray is stopped. 14. The printing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein a vacant tray is displayed based on a detection result of the detecting means, and the printing medium is sorted from the vacant tray to a selected tray and discharged. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus. 15. A method of controlling an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a print medium in accordance with a print job from a data processing apparatus on a network, wherein the print medium is sorted into a plurality of trays for each print job, and The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the end of the print medium is displayed on an indicator light, and control is performed so that the indicator light blinks according to a tray from which the print medium is sorted and discharged. Control method. 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of trays are divided for each application or data processing device. 17. A printing apparatus, comprising: a detecting unit that detects presence or absence of a print medium in each tray; and when the detecting unit detects that a print medium is present in any one of the trays, the control unit performs blinking corresponding to the tray. 17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the blinking is stopped when the print medium on the tray is removed. 18. When the detecting means detects that there is a print medium in a plurality of trays, a blink corresponding to each of the trays is performed with a time difference, and when a print medium on any of the trays is removed. The method according to claim 17, wherein the blinking corresponding to the tray is stopped. 19. The printing apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising: notifying a vacant tray to the data processing device based on a detection result of the detection unit, and sorting and discharging the print medium to the tray selected by the data processing device. 19. The method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to claim 18.