JP2002244498A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device which can quickly recover the state before an abnormal state when the abnormal state of the device is detected. SOLUTION: The device is provided with an image reading means B, an image data storage means G, an image recording means C and a control means E. The means E is provided with a power supply means E1, a storage job control means E2, a transfer job control means E3, a state display means E4 which indicates the information of the states of the above job control means and a job monitoring means E5 which monitors the means B and C within a certain time interval. When the means E5 detects no state change for the jobs within a certain time interval, it is judged to be in an abnormal state and controls are stopped by transmitting a stop instruction from the means E2 or the means E3 to the means B or the means C being used.

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, and more particularly, to reading an original image by image reading means, temporarily storing the image in an image data storage means, and reading out image data from the image data storage means in a predetermined order. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which an image is recorded and formed by an image recording means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus in which an original image is read by photoelectric conversion into image data, the image data is temporarily stored in a storage unit, and the stored image data is read to perform image recording. Usually, by turning on the power supply to the apparatus, an initialization operation is started according to a predetermined sequence, and after it is confirmed that each operating device of the apparatus is in a normal state, reading of a document image or the like is performed. Work can be started.

In such an image forming apparatus, for example, an operation of reading a document image, an operation of storing read image data in a storage unit, and an operation of transferring image data from the storage unit to an image recording unit include, for example, a reading error and a storage error. If an abnormal condition such as a transfer error occurs, the work is interrupted by turning off the power supply to each operating device, and then restarting the work by turning on the power supply again to reduce damage. I try to plan.

[0004] However, once the power is turned off, if the power is turned on again to recover, the work must be started from a series of initialization processing, and there is a problem that it takes time until the work is restarted. . If the image forming apparatus is a multifunction machine with a copier, a printer, a facsimile, etc. integrated, turning off the power supply will initialize the processing operation of other devices without any abnormality. There is also a problem of executing.

On the other hand, when such an abnormal state occurs, the operating condition of the apparatus at that time is accurately grasped, the cause of the occurrence of the abnormality is investigated, and the result is fed back to the improvement of software and the like, so that the image forming apparatus is operated. Performance can be improved.

However, it is almost impossible to find out at a later time the abnormal state of the apparatus that has occurred in the market, and there is a demand for an image forming apparatus that can easily grasp the cause of the occurrence of the abnormality even later. I have.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of quickly recovering from an abnormal state when the apparatus detects an abnormal state. .

A second object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily determining an abnormal state of the apparatus even after the abnormal state.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading means for reading an original image by photoelectric conversion to obtain image data, and an image read by the image reading means. Image data storage means for storing data, image recording means for recording an image based on the image data stored in the image data storage means, and control means, the control means, the image reading means, Power supply control means for controlling on / off of power supply to each of the image recording means, storage job control means for controlling a job for storing the image data read by the image reading means in the image data storage means, Transfer job control means for controlling a job for reading image data from the data storage means and transferring the read image data to the image recording means; Comprising the a status display means for indicating the status information of the job control unit, the job monitoring means for monitoring the image reading unit and the image recording unit at regular intervals,
If the job monitoring unit does not detect a change in the job status for a certain period of time, it is determined to be abnormal, and the stored job control unit or the transfer job control unit stops the image reading unit or image recording unit used at that time. An image forming apparatus characterized in that control is stopped by giving an instruction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the job monitoring means does not receive a response from the image reading means or the image recording means to the stop instruction, the job control means controls the image reading means or the image recording means. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power supply to the image forming apparatus is cut off.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading means for reading an original image by photoelectric conversion to obtain image data, and an image data storing the image data read by the image reading means. Storage means, image recording means for recording an image based on image data selectively read from the image data storage means, storage means for storing a history (log) of operation and status of the apparatus, An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image data storage unit; an image forming unit; and a control unit for controlling the storage unit. The control unit is capable of printing out data stored in the storage unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, further comprising a first selection button for printing out the stored data.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the storage means comprises a non-volatile RAM, and a start address and an end address of a history (log) to be stored are set to be changeable in the non-volatile RAM. An image forming apparatus according to claim 3 or 4.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the third, fourth, or fifth aspect, wherein when an abnormality occurs in the operation of the apparatus, the data stored in the storage means is saved in another area. Device.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image according to the sixth aspect, wherein the save area is an area having a larger capacity than the stored data and capable of storing a plurality of stored data. It is a forming device.

The invention according to claim 8 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising a second selection button for printing out the saved data saved.

[0017]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. Here, a case where the image forming apparatus is a copying machine will be described.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an image forming apparatus;
A is a setting unit that is an input unit, B is an image reading unit that is an image reading unit that reads an original image and outputs image data, and C is an image recording unit that forms an image on recording paper by an electrophotographic method. An image recording unit D is a post-processing unit for performing various post-processing such as sorting, stapling, punching, and offset on the recording paper on which the image is discharged from the image recording unit C.

The setting unit A is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body as an operation panel 10 as shown in FIG. 2, and is operated by an operator (user) to copy (start), stop, clear, enlarge, reduce, Various setting operations such as setting of the number of copies are performed by inputting by pressing various buttons such as numeric keys, input by touch operation of a touch panel, and the like.

The image reading section B includes a document feed table 21 on which a document is placed, a platen roller 22 for conveying the document to form a reading position, and a document discharge table 23 on which a read document is placed. An automatic document feeder 20 is provided at an upper portion of the apparatus main body 1. The automatic document feeder 20 reads a document fed to a reading position by the automatic document feeder 20 as an optical image, and photoelectrically converts the image into an electric signal (image signal).
It has a line sensor 24 and is driven in accordance with an instruction from the setting unit A.

The image data read from the original by the image reading unit B is sent to the image processing unit, where the density conversion,
After being subjected to various image processing such as filter processing, scaling processing, and γ correction, the image data is output to an image storage unit serving as image data storage means. The image storage unit performs an error diffusion process and a compression process on the image signal after the image processing, and stores the image signal in a memory. The stored image data is decompressed at a predetermined timing, read out in an arbitrary order according to an instruction from the setting unit A, and output to the image recording unit C.

The image recording section C is a laser optical system 32 for scanning the photosensitive member 31 with a laser beam from a semiconductor laser, which is modulated and driven based on the image signal read by the CCD line sensor 24 in the image reading section B. And a photoconductor 31 by the laser optical system 32
An image forming unit 33 that forms a toner image according to image data by charging, exposing, and developing on the recording medium, transfers the toner image to recording paper, and a fixing device 34 that fixes the toner image on the recording paper. , Is driven based on an instruction from the setting unit A.

The recording paper is stored in a cassette 41 for each size.
a, 41b, 41c, 41d, and corresponding cassettes 41a, 41
b, 41c and 41d, the recording paper is taken out, and is fed toward the image recording section C by a transport mechanism including a plurality of transport rollers and a transport belt.
Is discharged to the post-processing section D.

The post-processing unit D performs various post-processing operations, such as sorting, stapling, punching, and offset, on the image-recorded recording paper discharged from the image recording unit C in accordance with an instruction set in advance by the setting unit A. Perform processing.

Next, the first invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first invention, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a control system of the control means.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus reads image data from a document image by an image reading unit B and stores the read image data in an image storage unit G under the control of a control unit E. The stored image data is further transferred to the image recording unit C under the control of the control unit E.
, The image is recorded in the image recording unit C.

In the present invention, the control unit E includes a power supply 100
The image reading unit B and the image recording unit C are configured to receive the power supply from the power supply 200 controlled by the control unit E, respectively, while receiving the power supply from the (main power supply).

As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit E includes a power control unit E1 for controlling on / off of the power supplied from the power supply 200 to the image reading unit B and the image recording unit C. A storage job control unit E2 for controlling a job for storing image data read by the reading unit B in the image storage unit G, and a transfer job control for controlling a job for reading image data from the image storage unit G and transferring it to the image recording unit C Means E3 and said storage job control means E2
Status display means E4a and E4b respectively indicating status information of the transfer job control means E3;
Job monitoring means E5 for respectively monitoring 4a and E4b
It is comprised including.

The control unit E has a timer E6, and the job monitoring means E5 wakes up at a constant interval at every time determined by the timer E6.
4a and E4b.

Next, operation control in the present invention will be described.

First, in performing a copy operation, when power is supplied from the power supply 100 to the control unit E by turning on a power switch, the control unit E starts an initialization process shown in FIG. In this initialization process, the job monitoring means E
5 is set to the monitorable state, and the storage job control means E2 is set.
And the transfer job control unit E3 is set to the standby state, and the status display units E4a and E4b set the respective control units E2 and E3.
Is stored as non-existent and warning enabled is set.

After a series of initialization processing, the storage job control means E2 and the transfer job control means E3 are in an operable state, read image data from a document image according to an instruction of an operator, and stand by to start recording and forming an image. .

When the operator instructs the start of the copying operation, the image reading unit B reads the image data from the document image set in the automatic document feeding unit 20 and stores the image data in the image storage unit G. On the other hand, a read control command is output from the storage job control means E2 of the control unit E.

The image reading section B receives the reading control command, performs a reading operation (scan) of the original image, and stores the read image data in the image storage section G. When the reading operation of all the original images has been performed and the image data has been stored in the image storage unit G, the storage job ends.

At this time, information indicating the status of the storage job control means E2 for controlling a series of sequences is stored in the memory of the status display means E4a. This information is updated by some events to the storage job control means E2, for example, a document reading start instruction from the user.

On the other hand, the transfer job control means E3 of the control section E performs image recording based on the image data stored in the image storage section G. A transfer control command to be transferred to C is output.

Upon receiving the transfer control command, the image storage unit G reads out the image data in a predetermined order,
Transfer to

At this time, similarly, information indicating the state of the transfer job control means E3 for controlling a series of sequences is stored in the memory of the state display means E4b. This information also
It is updated by a part of the event for the transfer job control unit E3, for example, when the reading of the document is completed.

Then, the image recording unit C that has received the image data transfers performs image recording on recording paper based on the image data. FIG. 7 shows an example of a control sequence in the image forming apparatus.

On the other hand, the job monitoring means E5 includes a timer E6
Wakes up at regular intervals in response to an event from the server, and at this time, the status display means E4a storing the status information of the storage job control means E2 and the status display means E4b storing the status information of the transfer job control means E3. By monitoring, the state of each control means E2 and E3 is monitored.

FIG. 8 shows the flow of the monitoring timer process. Here, it is determined whether each of the control means E2 and E3 is operating and can be monitored (S1), and the determination result is Yes.
If so, the state of each control means E2, E3 is set to 0 (S
2) Compare the state stored in the memory of each state display means E4a, E4b with the current state (S3), and store the state of each control means E2, E3 (S4).

Next, it is determined whether or not the states are the same (S5). If the states are not the same, it is determined that the state is normal and the state of each of the control means E2 and E3 is set to 0 and the monitoring is terminated (S6).

In S5, if there is no change in the job status of the storage job control means E2 or the transfer job control means E3 for a certain period of time, it is determined that the statuses are not the same, and The state is advanced by 1 (S7).

Thereafter, the job monitoring means E5 sets the timer E6.
When the state of the storage job control unit E2 or the transfer job control unit E3 becomes a predetermined amount, for example, 8 (S8), the job monitoring unit E5 It is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the operation of the storage job control means E2 or the transfer job control means E3, and the storage job control means E2 or the transfer job control means E3 is notified of the abnormal state (S9). The monitoring stop state is set (S10). Such an abnormal state mainly occurs due to a communication abnormality or the like between modules in the image reading unit B and the image storage unit G (for example, between the CPU of the image reading unit B and the CPU of the DF).

Next, FIG. 9 shows a control flow of the storage job control means E2 or the transfer job control means E3 which has received the notification from the job monitoring means E5. Job monitoring means E5
(S11), the storage job control means E2 or the transfer job control means E3
Alternatively, a forcible termination request is issued to the image storage unit G to issue a stop instruction (S12), and a response waiting timer is set (S13). This waits for a job end response within a fixed time (before the response wait timer expires) (S14).

If there is a job end response within a certain period of time (before the response wait timer expires), the job monitoring means E5 resumes monitoring the job (S15).
Next, a message indicating that an abnormality has occurred is displayed on the LCD display screen of the operation panel 10 (S16).

FIG. 10 shows an example of a screen display on which this message is displayed. If a job end response is received in response to the stop instruction output due to the occurrence of this error, the error is a recoverable error, so after this message is displayed, the display will be displayed by pressing a button such as stop. The copy operation can be restarted by turning off the original and setting the document again.

As described above, when an abnormal state is detected, a power-off instruction is output and a forced termination notification is performed without immediately turning off the power. When a termination response is received within a predetermined time, It is possible to return without performing a measure such as turning off the power switch assuming that the state is a recoverable state, and starts from the initialization process one by one as in the case of performing a conventional power switch off / on operation. Since such a situation is eliminated, no time is required to start from the initialization processing, and the copy operation can be restarted promptly.

If there is no response within a certain period of time even after waiting for a response to end the job, and the response waiting timer has expired (S17), the generated abnormality is an abnormality that cannot be recovered as it is. E5 controls the power supply control unit E1 to turn off the power supply 200 supplied to the image reading unit B and the image recording unit C (S18),
A message is displayed on the operation panel 10 to instruct to turn off the main power because the communication with the image reading unit B or the image storage unit G has been interrupted (S19).

FIG. 11 shows an example of a screen display on which this message is displayed. After this message is displayed, once the power switch is turned off, the operation panel 1
The LCD display of 0 is temporarily turned off. Then, by turning on the power switch again, the initialization process is started, and the power control unit E1 is supplied to the image reading unit B and the image recording unit C.
Is supplied, and when the initialization processing is completed, a normal copy standby screen is displayed, and the copy operation can be restarted.

Next, the second invention will be described.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the second invention.

In the present invention, there is provided a storage unit I which is a storage unit for storing the history (log) of the operation and the state of the apparatus, and is controlled by the control unit E.

The storage section I is composed of a nonvolatile RAM, and constitutes the image forming apparatus 1 such as the setting section A, the image reading section B, the image recording section C, the control section E, the image storage section G, and the sheet feeding section H. The history (log) of the operation and the state output from each operation device is input and stored as history data (logging data) on a predetermined area. Therefore, when an abnormality occurs in the operation and state of each operation device during the operation of the image forming apparatus 1,
The history of the operation and the state in which the abnormality has occurred is recorded in the history data.

In the present invention, the operation and the state of the operation device include various key press events in the setting section A, a sensor state change event in the image reading section B, a reading completion event, and a sensor due to paper movement in the image recording section C. Change events, various events such as the state of the fixing heater, internal events that occur when the soft state transitions in the control unit E, etc.
An event that occurs at the time of all state changes related to the operation of the image forming apparatus 1.

Such abnormalities in the operation and state include, for example, sequential operation in forming an image, fetching of data by reading an image, compression into a memory, paper feed control by recording an image, During the expansion of the memory, the formation of the image, the discharge of the paper feed, etc., a sequence such as that the compression to the memory is not completed after a predetermined time or the expansion of the memory is not completed after the image formation starts. Out of order is an example.

The non-volatile RAM is usually equipped with a battery used for storing various counter data, storing process control parameters relating to image formation, storing optional mounting data and ROM version, shortening facsimile data and registering one-touch programs. RAM. Further, it may be an EEP-ROM.

In order to print out the history (log) data of the operation and status of each operation device stored in the storage unit I, it is preferable to provide a selection button (list print button) on the image forming apparatus. By arbitrarily operating the selection button, the control unit E controls the image recording unit C to output the history data stored in the storage unit I. FIG. 13 shows an example of the log output display screen.

In the nonvolatile RAM, the start address and the end address of an area for storing history data including the history (log) of operation and state input from each operating device are set to be changeable in the nonvolatile RAM. Is preferably performed. As a result, the start address and end address of the storage area can be easily changed, so that unnecessary log data is not printed, and time and paper can be used efficiently.

Next, such an operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In the image forming apparatus in which the operation and the state have a defect, first, when the selection button is pressed by an operator (a service person or the like) (S20), the controller E is controlled.
Acquires the start address and the end address where the history data of the operation and state of each operation device in the storage unit I is stored (S21). Thus, the area on the storage unit I where the history data is stored is specified.

Next, the control unit E stores the history data in the storage unit I
A drawing process is performed to read from the above area and output to the image recording unit C to perform recording (S22). Thereby, the image recording unit C prints out the history data (S
23). It is determined whether or not the last page of the history data has been recorded (S24). If the last page has not been recorded, the above-described drawing process is repeated. If it is determined that the last page has been recorded, recording by the image recording unit C is performed. The operation ends (S25).

As described above, the history (log) of the operation and status of each operation device of the apparatus can be stored, and the stored history data can be printed out later.
In the market, if any abnormality occurs during the operation of the image forming apparatus, a service person or the like can later acquire history data in which the flow of the operation and the state at that time is recorded, and based on this history data, The cause of the abnormality can be easily determined and resolved. As a result, for example, the cause of the abnormality in the software can be investigated, and it is easy to take a post measure such as the improvement of the software, which contributes to the improvement of the software performance.

When an abnormality occurs in the image forming apparatus in the market, the operation cannot be performed until a service person arrives. If the power is turned off / on to return to the normal state in order to use the apparatus again after the occurrence of the abnormality, the history data may not be able to be extracted. For this reason, the history data of the operation and the state stored in the storage unit I may cause an F / E error or an abnormal state equivalent thereto, for example, a sequence abnormality which is an error caused by a software defect in the operation of the image forming apparatus. At that time, as shown in FIG. 15, it is preferable to retreat to another area. Here, another area indicates an area other than the area used for the normal counter and various settings. This area preferably holds multiple times the capacity of the backup data area. By rotating this area, it is possible to save multiple abnormal states and print out It is.

By saving the history data in another area in this way, when an abnormality occurs once in the market, the power can be turned off / on to return to the normal state, or the storage unit can be used at a later date. Since the history data stored in I can be printed out, necessary information can be obtained without inconvenience to the user.

If a separate selection button (second selection button) for printing out the saved history data in this separate area is provided, the history data can be obtained simply by operating the selection button as needed. This is preferable because the data can be printed out.

[0069]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of quickly recovering from an abnormal state when the apparatus detects an abnormal state.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus in which an abnormal state of the apparatus can be easily investigated even afterwards.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an outline of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a setting unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a control system of the image forming apparatus according to the first invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a control unit according to the first invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating initialization processing.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a control sequence of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a monitoring timer process.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a job control unit.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a message screen display.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a message screen display.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a second invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a screen display example of log output.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control means according to the second invention;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating another aspect of the operation of the control means according to the second invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: setting section B: image reading section C: image recording section D: post-processing section E: control section E1: power supply control section E2: storage job control section E3: transfer job control section E4a, E4b: status display section E5: job Monitoring means E6: timer F: image processing unit G: storage unit H: feeding unit I: storage unit

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04N 1/00 H04N 1/00 E 106 106C F-term (reference) 2C061 AP03 AP04 AP07 AQ06 CQ04 CQ34 CQ42 2H027 DA38 EE07 EE08 EJ18 EK01 EK03 EK04 EK05 EK06 EK07 EK17 FD08 GA20 GA23 GA35 GA45 GA47 GA56 GB07 GB14 ZA07 5C062 AA05 AB17 AB20 AB22 AB23 AB41 AB42 AB51 AC55 AF00 AF15 BA04

Claims (8)

[Claims] An image reading unit that reads an original image by photoelectric conversion to obtain image data; an image data storage unit that stores the image data read by the image reading unit; and image data that is stored in the image data storage unit. An image recording unit that records an image based on the image data, and a control unit. The control unit controls on / off of power supplied to the image reading unit and the image recording unit. Storage job control means for controlling a job for storing image data read by the image reading means in the image data storage means; transfer for controlling a job for reading image data from the image data storage means and transferring the image data to the image recording means Job control means, status display means for indicating information on the status of each job control means, A job monitoring unit that monitors the image reading unit and the image recording unit at regular intervals, and when the job monitoring unit does not detect a change in the state of the job for a certain period of time, determines that the job is in an abnormal state, and uses the image used at that time. An image forming apparatus, wherein the control is stopped by giving a stop instruction to the reading means or the image recording means by the storage job control means or the transfer job control means. 2. The job monitoring means according to claim 1, wherein said power supply control means cuts off the power supplied to said image reading means or image recording means when there is no response from said image reading means or image recording means to said stop instruction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. An image reading means for reading an original image by photoelectric conversion to obtain image data, an image data storage means for storing image data read by the image reading means, and selectively reading from the image data storage means. Image recording means for recording an image based on the output image data; storage means for storing a history (log) of the operation and state of the apparatus; and control of the image data storage means, image forming means and storage means, respectively. An image forming apparatus, wherein the control unit is capable of printing out data stored in the storage unit. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a first selection button for printing out the stored data.
The image forming apparatus as described in the above. 5. The storage means comprises a non-volatile RAM, wherein a start address and an end address of a history (log) to be stored are set to be changeable in the non-volatile RAM. Image forming apparatus. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when an abnormality occurs in the operation of the apparatus, the storage data stored in the storage unit is saved in another area. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the save area is an area having a larger capacity than the stored data and capable of storing a plurality of stored data. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a second selection button for printing out the saved data saved.