JP2005302013A - Image reading device and system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance operability in the case of deleting display of a pop-up picture. <P>SOLUTION: The pop-up picture is displayed (S31). Next, when an interruption mode is not selected (S32), normal copy is performed in S38. When the interruption mode is selected (S32), processing proceed to S33 and display of the pop-up picture is hidden in a back picture of a display picture for displaying a plurality of its alternatives (fig(S33)). However, an area which displays the pop-up picture is indicated by lines, specifically dash lines different from lines indicating a display picture for displaying the plurality of alternatives. Thus, a fact that the pop-up picture is displayed and the area where the pop-up picture is displayed are visually grasped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  _{The present invention has a display screen for displaying a plurality of options, and by selecting at least one of the plurality of options, a display for a user interface that displays a pop-up screen for expanding detailed items of the selected option Relates to the device.}

  _{In recent years, recording devices such as copiers have made full use of advanced control technology and data processing technology due to the introduction of computers, so the functions that can be used are diversified, and many functions can be selected for function selection and function execution. In addition, various operations are required. For the operator, there are many types of operation to learn, and the operation becomes complicated, so that an error in the operation procedure and an erroneous operation are likely to occur. Therefore, a console panel is employed to make the operation of the operator as easy as possible. In addition, with the diversification of console panels, liquid crystal panels using pop-up screens are often used.}

_{The console panel is provided with various key switches for operation selection, operation means such as a numeric keypad, and further provided with a display lamp and a display for displaying a selection, setting state, and operation guidance message by key operation. A conventional user interface is mainly a console panel in which keys, LEDs, and a liquid crystal display are arranged. The backlit console panel can be read by selectively illuminating a display board with a fixed message in place at a predetermined position with a lamp or the like from the back. The console panel is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display element, and displays various messages at any time without increasing the display area. Which of these console panels is adopted is determined for each copying machine in consideration of the complexity of the system configuration of the copying machine, operability, and the like.}

_{FIG. 48 shows an example of a console panel employed in the copying machine. The console panel 701 is provided with a new display board 702 at the top thereof, and the contents of the respective panel portions (703 to 708) are displayed in characters. Of these, the sorter panel 703 is provided with one switch 709 and two display lamps 710 so that the sorting mode (stack mode and collation mode) when the sorter is connected can be selected. It has become. On the function selection panel 704, there are a switch 711 for editing, correcting and confirming an image, a switch 712 for storing in a job memory, a page continuous shooting function, a frame erase function, a margin function, and various other copying forms. A switch 713 for taking a picture, a switch 714 for taking a screen copy, and a display lamp 715 for displaying whether or not these switches are selected are arranged.}

_{The monochrome color enhancement panel 705 is provided with four display lamps 715 indicating the type (color) of the color developer at the top thereof, and in the remaining part, four switches 716 to 719 and these switches 716 are arranged. A display lamp 710 for displaying which of ˜719 is set is arranged. These are a marking color switch 716, a partial color conversion switch 717, a continuous color combination switch 718, and a single color switch 719. The copy density panel 706 is provided with a display lamp 710 indicating which of the five levels of copy density has been selected, and shift keys 720 and 721 for selecting one of these copy densities. Density is set in such a direction that the copy density decreases when the upper shift key 720 is pressed, and in the direction where the copy density increases when the lower shift key 721 is pressed. For example, the density can be adjusted in 16 steps. An automatic density adjustment switch 723 is disposed under the copy density panel 706, and the automatic density display lamp 722 is turned on by the operation thereof to enter the automatic density adjustment mode. The magnification / paper selection panel 707 has a portion for setting and displaying the magnification on the left side, and a portion for selecting the paper on the right side. In the part for setting and displaying the magnification, shift keys 724 and 725 for setting an arbitrary magnification and a magnification display section 723 are arranged, and a fixed magnification key 726 for selecting a predetermined fixed magnification and its A magnification display plate 727 and a display lamp 710 are arranged. In the portion for selecting the copy paper, eight kinds of display boards 728 displaying the paper size or paper type and shift keys 729 and 730 for selecting one of them are arranged.}

_{Further, on the left side of the eight types of display boards 728, a display lamp 710 indicating which paper size or paper has been selected is arranged. Further, below the magnification / paper selection panel 707, an automatic paper / magnification selection switch 731 for selecting a preset combination of magnification and paper size is arranged. A display panel 708 located on the right side of the magnification / paper selection panel 707 is provided with a pattern 732 and a liquid crystal display unit 733 of the copying machine. The handle 732 displays the supply tray selection status, paper jam location, etc. by lighting the lamp, and the liquid crystal display 733 displays various messages with sentences containing kanji, and selects function and execution conditions. Set up.}

_{Further, various keys or buttons are also arranged below the display panel 708. These are an all clear button 734 for returning the copier to the basic state, that is, the priority mode, a numeric keypad 735 used for setting the number of copies and specifying the diagnosis contents when performing copier diagnosis. , Interrupt button 736 used when continuous copying is in progress and another emergency copy needs to be taken, when copying is stopped halfway, when setting the number of copies, or setting the sorter bin When used as a clear button, a stop clear button 737, a start button 738 for starting a copy operation, a selection key 739 for moving the cursor with respect to a message displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 733, and a location specified by the cursor A setting key 740 or the like for setting. The console panel described above has an arrangement in which basic operation areas such as paper selection and copy density setting are separated from application operation areas such as function selection and monochrome color enhancement. In addition to this, it is devised to reduce the occurrence of errors in panel operation as much as possible by displaying kanji-kana mixed sentences on the liquid crystal display unit 733 and assisting applied operations.}

_{In the case of a copying machine, the combination of a machine having various functions in the main body machine and a machine equipped with a sorter, an automatic document feeder, a paper tray, an IC card device, etc. as an additional device is extremely large. Naturally, the functions that can be used differ depending on the combination of these, so the number of switches for function selection arranged on the console panel and the processing in the device that accompanies the operation are also different. And the arrangement and number of indicators will be different. For this reason, the console panel needs to change the configuration of the console panel by determining the arrangement and size of switches and displays according to the scale of the copying machine.
Recording devices such as copiers occupy a large proportion in offices, but the cost of office space is soaring, and recording devices such as copiers are also compact in order to efficiently use office space There is a strong demand to reduce the area occupied. However, as described above, in the console panel, as the number of functions increases, the number of switches and indicators to be installed increases for selection and execution condition setting. There is a problem that it cannot be secured. Accordingly, when the copying machine or the like is to be multi-functional and further compact, there is a problem that the miniaturization is limited because the multi-functionality and compactness of the console panel are in conflict.}

_{Further, if the device is made compact and has multiple functions to improve operability, the mounting position is limited to the front of the device from the viewpoint of operability of the console panel. Therefore, conversely, if the space is limited, the number of switches and indicators must be reduced, but if that is the case, the number of switches and indicators must be used in combination, and the operation and display are complicated. turn into. Further, if the number of switches, indicators, etc. is not reduced as much as possible in a limited space, the switches, indicators, etc., must be arranged densely or a small size must be used. As a result, there is a problem that the density of display characters on the display device increases and the display on the console panel becomes complicated.}

_{Therefore, instead of adopting this kind of console panel as a user interface, adopt a CRT display and set the selection area of the CRT screen by key operation to select the function and set the execution condition. A recording device that minimizes the number is proposed separately. However, even when a CRT display is used, the amount of information increases in order to provide information that supports multi-functions, so a simple display requires a large display area, making it difficult to cope with downsizing. . When a compact size CRT display is adopted, it is difficult not only to provide all necessary information on one screen, but also to provide a screen that is easy to see and understand for the user. The above proposal solves such a problem by adopting a split screen display method. However, if each screen is divided and displayed as appropriate by switching each screen, each screen is set. Therefore, it is important to perform switching quickly.}

_{On the other hand, when the number of functions is increased as described above, the number of options is naturally increased accordingly, and the number of divided screens is further increased, and there is a certain limit to promptly displaying a necessary screen when necessary.}

_{The present invention solves the above-described problems, and effectively uses a display screen that displays a pop-up screen that expands a plurality of options and detailed items of options, and further deletes the display of the pop-up screen. The purpose is to improve operability.}

_{In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a recording apparatus having an interrupt mode for stopping the recording operation during continuous recording and executing another recording operation according to the invention of claim 1. A display screen used to display a plurality of choices, and by selecting at least one of the plurality of choices, an area including at least a part of the plurality of choices is displayed. In a display device for a user interface having display control means for displaying a pop-up screen that expands the detailed items of the selected option,
Displays a pop-up screen that expands the details of the option, and when the recording device enters interrupt mode, displays a display screen that displays the original multiple options in the area where the pop-up screen was displayed. In addition, the present invention provides a display device for a user interface characterized in that an area displaying a pop-up screen is indicated by a line different from a line indicating a display screen for displaying a plurality of options.}

 _{According to the first aspect of the present invention, by selecting at least one option from among a plurality of options, the detailed items of the selected option in an area including an area where at least a part of the plurality of options is displayed. Since the pop-up screen that expands is displayed, the display screen can be used effectively.
In addition, when the pop-up screen is displayed, the recording operation that has been stopped during continuous recording is stopped and the interrupt mode for executing another recording operation is entered. Since the display screen that displays multiple options is displayed and the area that displayed the pop-up screen is indicated by a line that is different from the line that displays the multiple options, the display area of the pop-up screen is displayed even in interrupt mode. And can visually recognize that the pop-up screen was displayed before entering the interrupt mode. Therefore, the operability can be improved.}

 _{Next, according to the invention described in claim 2, the display device for user interface according to claim 1, wherein the line different from the line indicating the display screen for displaying the plurality of options is a broken line. Is to provide.}

_{According to the second aspect of the present invention, the display screen displaying the plurality of original options is indicated by a solid line, and the area where the pop-up screen is displayed is indicated by a broken line, and therefore the pop-up screen is displayed. The display area can be visually grasped.}

 _{Next, according to the invention described in claim 3, the pop-up screen is automatically displayed when the interruption mode ends, and the user interface display device according to claim 1 or 2 is provided. is there.}

 _{According to the third aspect of the present invention, the pop-up screen is automatically redisplayed when the job in the interrupt mode of the recording apparatus is completed, so that it is possible to prevent a user's operation error and perform a quick operation. .}

 <sub>Next, according to the invention of claim 4, after the pop-up screen is displayed, when the interrupt mode is entered without any input on the pop-up screen,
4. The user interface display device according to claim 1, wherein the pop-up screen is erased after the interrupt mode is started.</sub>

 _{According to the invention described in claim 4, the area where the pop-up screen is displayed only when there is some input on the pop-up screen is indicated by a line different from the line indicating the display screen displaying the plurality of options, and the input If there is no screen, it is erased, so it is possible to visually grasp the presence or absence of the pop-up screen, so that the operability can be improved.}

 _{Next, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the apparatus has a display screen for displaying a plurality of options, and by selecting at least one option among the plurality of options, at least one of the plurality of options is selected. In a display device for a user interface having a display control means for displaying a pop-up screen for expanding a detailed item of the selected option in an area including a region where a section is displayed, a pop-up screen for expanding the detailed item of the option is provided. When another interrupt process is entered or an operation other than the pop-up screen is performed during display, the pop-up screen display is reduced to a display character such as an icon or message on the display screen, and the pop-up screen is displayed. Display a display screen that displays the original multiple choices in the area where the screen was displayed There is provided a for user interface display comprising.}

_{According to the invention described in claim 5, when another interrupt operation is entered while the pop-up screen is displayed, or when another operation is performed during the operation of the pop-up screen, the pop-up screen is automatically displayed. Since the display is made into display characters such as icons and messages at the edge of the display screen, other interrupt processing is entered while the pop-up screen is displayed, or when the pop-up screen is displayed or during operation, the pop-up screen When an operation other than the above is performed, the display of the pop-up screen once expanded is characterized, so that the operability can be improved.}

 _{As is clear from the above explanation, when the pop-up screen is displayed, the pop-up screen is displayed on the condition that the recording operation during continuous recording is stopped and the interrupt mode for executing another recording operation is entered. In addition to displaying a display screen that displays the original multiple choices in the area that was displayed, the area that was displaying the pop-up screen is indicated by a line that is different from the line that indicates the display screen that displays the multiple choices. The display area of the pop-up screen can be grasped even in the mode, and it can be visually recognized that the pop-up screen was displayed before entering the interrupt mode. Therefore, the operability can be improved.}

  _{Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings for understanding of the present invention. The following embodiments are examples embodying the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
[Embodiment] Contents In this embodiment, a copying machine will be described as an example of a recording apparatus. Prior to the description, a table of contents for explaining the present embodiment will be shown. In the following description, (I) to (II) are items for explaining the outline of the overall configuration of the copying machine to which the present invention is applied, and an embodiment of the present invention will be described in the configuration. The term is (III).
(I) Outline of device (I-1) Device configuration (I-2) System functions and features (I-3) System configuration (I-4) Serial communication system (I-5) State division
(II) Specific configuration of each part (II-1) Optical system (II-2) Belt circumference (II-3) Paper transport system (II-4) Automatic document feeder (II-5) Sorter (III) User Interface (U / I) (III-1) User interface configuration overview (III-2) Control system configuration (III-3) Pop-up screen display (III-4) Display screen configuration (III-5) Key / LED Board and display display circuit (III-6) Pop-up screen display at interrupt}

 _{(I) Outline of Apparatus (I-1) Apparatus Configuration FIG. 2 shows an example of the overall configuration of a copying machine to which the present invention is applied. The copying machine to which the present invention is applied can be equipped with several additional devices with respect to the base machine 1, and the base machine 1 as a basic configuration has a platen glass 2 on which an original is placed. The optical system 3 and the marking system 5 are arranged below. On the other hand, the upper tray 6-1, the middle tray 6-2, and the lower tray 6-3 are attached to the base machine 1, and all of these paper feed trays can be pulled out to the front, improving operability. A copier having a neat design that does not protrude from the base machine 1 is realized while saving the arrangement space of the copier.}

_{In addition, inverters 9 and 10 and a duplex tray 11 are arranged in a paper transport system 7 for transporting paper in the paper feed tray. Further, a user interface 12 comprising a CRT display is attached on the base machine 1, and a DADF (duplex auto document feeder: automatic duplex document feeder) 13 is attached on the platen glass 2. The user interface 12 is a stand type, and a card device can be attached to the lower side thereof.}

 _{Next, additional devices of the base machine 1 will be listed. Instead of DADF13, RDH (recycled document handler: a device that returns the original to its original feed state and automatically repeats the document feeding) 15 or normal ADF (auto document feeder: automatic document feeder), editor pad (coordinate input device) Either an attached platen or a platen cover can be attached. In addition, MSI (multi-sheet inserter: manual feed tray) 16 and HCF (high capacity feeder: large capacity tray) 17 can be mounted on the supply side of the paper transport system 7, and on the discharge side of the paper transport system 7. One or a plurality of sorters 19 can be arranged. When the DADF 13 is arranged, the simple catch tray 20 or the sorter 19 can be attached, and when the RDH 15 is attached, the offset catch tray 21 in which the copied one set is alternately stacked. A finisher 22 that staples one set of copied one set can be attached, and a folder 23 having a paper folding function can be attached.}

 _{(I-2) System Functions and Features (A) Function The present invention fully automates the copying operation from the entrance to the exit while providing various functions corresponding to the needs of the user. The main feature is that the CRT display allows functions to be selected, execution conditions to be selected, and other menus to be displayed on the CRT display. As its main function, by switching the display screen on the CRT display, it is classified into basic copy mode, application copy mode and specialized copy mode, and menus such as function selection and execution condition setting are displayed in each mode. At the same time, it is possible to select and specify a function by moving a cascade of screens by key input and to input execution condition data. The functions of the copying machine to which the present invention is applied include main functions, automatic functions, additional functions, display functions, diagnostic functions, and the like. In the main function, the paper size can be used outside the standard form as well as the standard sizes of A6 to A2 and B6 to B3, and has the three-stage built-in tray as described above. In addition, 7 levels of fixed magnification and arbitrary magnification adjustment in 1% increments and fine adjustment in increments of 0.15% between 99% and 101% are possible. In addition, there are a fixed 7-step and photo mode density selection function, a double-sided function, a left and right single stitch margin setting function in the range of 1 mm to 16 mm, a billing function, and the like.}

 _{The automatic function automatically selects paper according to the original size, selects magnification in the specified state, density control, starts with fuser ready after power-on, clears and power saves after a certain time after copying is completed There are functions such as. Additional functions include composite copy, interrupt, preheat mode, clear set number of sheets, all clear to auto mode, information explaining the function, P key for using IC card, Maxim Lock original return to limit set number of sheets, Full job recovery using DADF, purging to eject paper other than jammed parts, full-face copy without edging, editor for partial copy or deletion of originals, job program for calling and processing jobs one by one, copying blank paper There are slip sheets to be inserted one by one between the sheets, half-cut / frame erase to be used for books. The display function uses a CRT display, etc., to provide the operator with information on jam display, paper remaining amount display, toner remaining amount display, collected toner full display, fuser warming wait time display, function selection contradiction and machine status There are functions such as message display. In addition, as a diagnosis function, initialization of NVRAM, input check, output check, history file such as jam count and paper feed count, alignment of initial values used for marking and process code around photosensitive belt, register gate on timing There are functions such as adjustment and configuration setting. In addition, MSI, HCF, second-developed colors (red, blue, green, brown), editors, etc. as described above can be installed as appropriate.}

 _{(B) Features The overall system of the present invention having the above functions has the following features. (A) Achievement of power saving A high-speed, high-performance copier is realized at 1.5 kVA. Therefore, a control method for realizing 1.5 kVA in each operation mode is determined, and a function-specific power distribution for setting a target value is determined. In addition, the creation of an energy system table for determining the energy transmission path, management by the energy system, and verification are performed. (B) Lower costs In-house production of high-priced parts is being carried out to improve and standardize, as well as to reduce art material costs by improving the art material life from the hardware side and reducing toner consumption. (C) Improved reliability Reduces component failures and prolongs service life, clarifies in / out conditions for each parameter, reduces design defects, and achieves 100kCV nomenclature.}

 _{(D) Achievement of high image quality This apparatus employs a system in which toner particles are made fine by using microcarriers made of ferrite and developed by a repulsive magnetic field. In addition, a high-sensitivity panchromatic organic photosensitive belt formed by coating multiple layers of organic photosensitive material is used as the photosensitive member, and a halftone can be expressed in a Victorian mode that makes full use of set points. As a result, we have improved generation copy and reduced sunspots, achieving unprecedented high image quality. (E) Improved operability A screen that is divided into basic copy, application copy, and specialized copy as well as a fully automatic mode in which a copy can be executed in the specified mode by operating the start key by simply setting the original and entering the number of copies. Various mode settings can be selected according to the user's request, including the copy mode setting by. These user interfaces are made up of a CRT display and a small number of keys and LEDs arranged around the CRT display corresponding to the screen, and enable mode setting with an easy-to-see display menu and simple operation. In addition, by storing the copy mode and its execution conditions in advance in a non-volatile memory or IC card, it is possible to automate predetermined operations.}

 _{(C) Example of differentiation A copying machine to which the present invention is applied can affect the function of the copying machine by a program stored in an IC card. Therefore, by changing the program stored in the IC card for each card, it is possible to differentiate the use of the copying machine. This will be described with some easy-to-understand examples. As an example in FIG. 1, a copier that is used jointly by a plurality of companies is provided in a multi-use building, or a copier that is used jointly between different departments even within one company or factory. Explain the case. The latter joint use is necessary for budget management, and conventionally, the use management of each department was performed using a device such as a copy riser. This copying machine is a relatively advanced machine equipped with an IC card device, DADF 13, sorter 19, user interface 12, supply tray (6-1 to 6-3), and duplex tray 11 in the base machine 1 shown in FIG. It is assumed that the copying machine has a system configuration. Some co-users may require a DADF 13 or sorter 19, or some may not require any additional equipment. If multiple people or departments with different usage modes decide the cost burden of the copying machine from their own copy volumes, those persons or departments who can only make low-volume copies will be able to copy with various additional devices. This makes it difficult to coordinate with a person or department who intends to use the copying machine highly.}

 _{In such cases, prepare an IC card for each person or department, and pay more basic costs to those who want advanced functions or departments, and use many functions. You should be able to do it. For example, the owner of the most advanced IC card operates the copying machine with the IC card set in the IC card device, so that the DADF 13, the sorter 19, the supply tray (6-1 to 6-3) and the duplex tray are operated. 11 can be used freely and office efficiency can be improved. On the other hand, those who do not require sorting of copy paper can save expenses by setting an IC card that lacks a sorting program and using only the catch tray 20. As an example of FIG. 2, a case where a copy company operates a self-copy service shop with an IC card will be described. A plurality of copiers are arranged in the store, and an IC card device 22 is attached to each. The customer requests an IC card according to the service mode, sets it in the desired copier, and makes a copy by self-service. Customers who are unfamiliar with copiers can request an IC card equipped with a function to display operation instructions as a program, and by setting it, it is possible to display various operation information on UI12 and to execute copy work without fail it can. Whether or not DADF13 can be used and whether or not multi-color recording can be performed can be determined by the lending IC card, and the number of models used can be restricted, allowing customers to be managed according to the fee. In addition, since the actual copy work such as the number of copies and the size of the copy paper used can be written on the IC card, it is easy to charge a fee, and detailed services such as discounts on copy charges for regular customers are also possible. .}

 _{As an example of FIG. 3, a service using an IC card storing a program for a specific user will be described. For example, a patent office has a job of making a copy at a relatively large enlargement rate of 200% because it is necessary to make a copy identical to the original size when examining patent gazettes reduced by photoengraving. Also, when creating a surface to be submitted to the government office, the original surface is reduced or expanded in small increments to meet the request. In addition, in departments that copy resident's cards such as city halls or ward offices, it is recommended to delete the image information of places that should be kept secret in order to protect the privacy of individuals who are not subject to claims and personal privacy. And make abstracts. Thus, some users (users) have a request to use the copying machine in a special usage mode. If the functions of the copying machine are set so as to satisfy all the requirements in this way, the console panel becomes complicated and the ROM inside the copying machine becomes large. Therefore, by preparing an IC card for each specific user and setting it, a copier having a function most suitable for that user can be realized. For example, in the case of a patent office, by purchasing a dedicated IC card, it becomes possible to easily select a reduction ratio of 200% as a fixed magnification in addition to the usual several kinds of reduction ratios. In addition, the reduction ratio can be set in increments of 1%, for example, within a range that requires fine adjustment. Furthermore, in the resident card issuing department, the type of resident card and the fields and items to be deleted can be indicated on the display such as the liquid crystal display by operating the keys such as the numeric keypad. By pressing, only the desired original range is copied, or only necessary portions are edited and recorded.}

 _{(I-3) Configuration of Electric System Control System of Copying Machine FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a subsystem of the copying machine to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 4 shows a hardware configuration by a CPU. The copier system to which the present invention is applied includes four subsystems comprising an SQMGR subsystem 32, a CHM subsystem 33, an IMM subsystem 34, and a marking subsystem 35 on the main board 31, as shown in FIG. It is composed of nine subsystems including five subsystems including a U / I subsystem 36, an INPUT subsystem 37, an OUTPUT subsystem 38, an OPT subsystem 39, and an IEL subsystem 40. For the SQMGR subsystem 32, the CHM subsystem 33 and the IMM subsystem 34 are executed by the software under the main CPU 41 shown in FIG. 4 together with the SQMGR subsystem 32. Are connected by the interface (shown with solid line). However, since the other subsystems are executed by software under a CPU separate from the main CPU 41, they are connected by a serial communication interface (dotted line display). These subsystems will now be briefly described. The SQMGR subsystem 32 receives the copy mode setting information from the U / I subsystem 36 and issues a work instruction to each subsystem while synchronizing the subsystems so that the copy operation can be performed efficiently. At the same time, it is a sequence manager that constantly monitors the status of each subsystem and performs quick status judgment processing when an abnormality occurs. The CHM subsystem 33 is a subsystem that performs control of the paper storage tray, duplex tray, and manual feed tray, copy paper feed control, and copy paper purge operation. The IMM subsystem 34 is a subsystem that performs panel division on the photosensitive belt, control of running / stop of the photosensitive belt, control of the main motor, and other controls around the photosensitive belt.}

 _{The marking subsystem 35 is a subsystem that controls the potential of the corotron, the exposure lamp, the developing machine, the photosensitive belt, and the toner density. The U / I subsystem 36 is a subsystem that performs all control of the user interface, job status display, job management such as copy mode determination, and job recovery. The INPUT subsystem 37 includes automatic document feeding (DADF), semi-automatic document feeding (SADF), large-size (A2) document feeding (LDC), computer form document feeding (CFF), and two document feeding automatically ( This is a subsystem that performs 2-UP) control, repetitive automatic document feed (RDH) control, and document size detection. The OUTPUT subsystem 37 is a subsystem that controls the sorter and the finisher, outputs a copy in each of the stacking and non-sorting modes, and outputs the binding. The OPT subsystem 39 is a subsystem that performs scanning, lens movement, shutter, and PIS / NON-PIS control during document exposure, and carriage movement in the LDC mode. The IEL subsystem 40 is a subsystem that erases unnecessary images on the photosensitive material belt, erases leading and trailing edges of the image, and erases the image according to the editing mode. The system is configured with seven CPUs shown in FIG. 4 as the core, and can flexibly cope with a combination of the base machine 1 and additional devices surrounding it. Here, the main CPU 41 is on the main board of the bait machine 1 and includes software of the SQMGR subsystem 32, the CHM subsystem 31, and the IMM subsystem 34, and is connected to the CPUs 42 to 47 via the serial bus 53. . These CPUs 42 to 47 have a one-to-one correspondence with each subsystem connected by the serial communication interface shown in FIG. Serial communication is performed between the main CPU 41 and the other CPUs 42 to 47 in accordance with a predetermined timing with 100 msec as one communication cycle.}

 _{Therefore, for signals that require strict timing mechanically and cannot be synchronized with the timing of serial communication, an interrupt port (INT pin signal) is provided for each CPU and interrupted by a hot line separate from the serial bus 53 It is processed. That is, for example, if the copy operation is performed at a process speed of 64 cpm (A4LEF) and 309 mm / sec and the control accuracy of the register is set to 1 mm, a job that cannot be processed in the communication cycle of 100 msec as described above occurs. A hotline is required to guarantee the execution of such a job. Accordingly, in this copying machine, various types of additional devices can be mounted, and the system configuration corresponding to each of these additional devices can be adopted for software. One of the reasons for adopting such a configuration is that (i) if the operation control program for all of these additional devices is prepared in the base machine 1, the memory capacity required for this will become enormous. Because it ends up. In addition, (ii) when new additional devices are developed in the future or when the current additional devices are improved, these are not replaced or expanded without changing ROM (read-only memory) in the base machine 1 This is so that the additional device can be utilized.}

 _{For this reason, the base machine 1 has a basic storage area for controlling the basic part of the copying machine and an additional storage area for storing a program fetched from the IC card together with the function information of the present invention. Various programs such as a control program for the DADF 13 and a control program for the user interface 12 are stored in the additional storage area. Then, when an IC card is set in the IC card device 22 with a predetermined additional device attached to the base machine 1, a program required for the copy operation is read out through the user interface 12 and loaded into the additional storage device. It has become. The loaded program controls the copy operation in cooperation with the program written in the basic storage area or with a priority position with respect to this program. The memory used here is a non-volatile memory composed of a random access memory backed up by a battery. Of course, other storage media such as an IC card, a magnetic card, and a floppy (registered trademark) disk can also be used as the nonvolatile memory. In this copying machine, in order to reduce the burden of operation by the operator, it is possible to preset image density, magnification setting, etc., and this preset value is stored in a non-volatile memory. ing.}

 _{(I-4) Serial Communication System FIG. 5 shows the transfer data configuration and transmission timing of serial communication, and FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the mutual communication interval in one communication cycle. In serial communication performed between the main CPU 41 and each of the CPUs (42 to 47), a data amount as shown in FIG. In (a), for example, in the case of a user interface, the transmission data TX from the main CPU 41 is 7 bytes, the reception data RX is 15 bytes, and the transmission timing Ti for the next slave, that is, the optical CPU 45 ((c) ) Is 26 mS. According to this example, the total communication amount is 86 bytes, and at a communication speed of 9600 BPS, the cycle is about 100 mS. The data length is composed of a header, a command, and data as shown in FIG. When transmission / reception with the maximum data length according to (a) is targeted, the entire communication cycle is as shown in FIG. Here, from the communication speed of 9600 BPS, the time required to transmit one byte is 1.2 mS, the time from the end of reception to the start of transmission is 1 mS, and as a result, 100 mS is one communication cycle.}

 _{(I-5) State Division FIG. 7 shows state division of the main system. State partitioning is divided into several parts from the power-on to the copy operation and the state after the copy operation is completed. In order to ensure the efficiency and accuracy of the control, a flag is determined corresponding to each state, and each subsystem refers to this flag to determine which state the main system has. Know what to do and decide what to do. Each subsystem is also divided into states, and flags are similarly determined corresponding to the respective states. The main system refers to these flags to grasp and manage the states of each subsystem. First, when the power is turned on, the processor is initialized, and it is determined whether the diagnosis mode or the user mode (copy mode). The diagnosis mode is a mode used by service personnel for correction, and various tests are performed based on the conditions set in NVM. In the initialized state in the user mode, the initial setting is made according to the contents of the NVM. For example, the carriage is set to the home position, the lens is set to the position of 100% magnification, and an initialization command is issued to each subsystem. When initialization is completed, transition to standby.}

 _{Standby is the state until all subsystems finish initial settings and the start button is pressed, and the message “Please wait” is displayed on the fully automatic screen. Then, the Colts lamp is turned on and the fuser idles for a predetermined time. When the fuser reaches the predetermined control temperature, the U / I displays a message “Ready to copy”. This standby state is about several tens of seconds at the first power-on. The setup is a pre-preparation state of the copy that is activated by pressing the start button. The main motor and the sorter motor are driven, and constants such as VDDP of the photosensitive belt are adjusted. Also, the ADF motor is turned on, the first document feed starts, the first document reaches the register, the document size is detected, the APMS mode determines the tray and magnification, and the ADF document is placed on the platen. Laid. Then, the second ADF original is sent to the register, and the cycle transitions. The cycle up is a state in which the belt is divided into several pitches and panel management is performed until the first panel reaches the get park point. That is, the pitch is determined according to the copy mode, and the magnification is notified to the optical subsystem to move the lens. Then, the copy mode is notified to the CHM subsystem and the IMM subsystem, and when the magnification set is recognized, the scan length is determined based on the magnification and the paper size and is notified to the optical subsystem. After notifying the marking subsystem of the copy mode and completing the startup of the marking subsystem, the IMM subsystem checks the panel L / E determined by the pitch, and finds the first copy panel. When it reaches, it becomes a get park ready and enters the cycle.}

 _{The cycle is in a copying operation state, and the copying operation is repeated while performing ADC (Automatic Density Control), AE (Automatic Exposure), DDP control, and the like. Then, when R / L = count sheets, the originals are exchanged, and when this is performed for a predetermined number of originals, a coincidence signal is output and the cycle goes down. Cycle down is a state in which carriage scanning, paper feed, etc. are completed, and after the copying operation is completed, each corotron, developing machine, etc. are turned off, and the panel next to the last used panel stops at the stop park position. The panel is managed so that only a specific panel is used and fatigue is not caused. From this cycle down, the unit normally returns to standby, but when copying in the platen mode, the start key is pressed again. In addition, even when a cycle down factor such as the occurrence of a jam occurs even after setup and cycle up, a transition is made to cycle down. Purge is a state where a jam occurs, and when the cause jammed paper is removed, other paper is automatically ejected. Normally, when a jam occurs, a transition is made to cycle-down standby purge from any state. Then, transition to standby or setup by purge end, but transition to cycle down when a jam occurs again. The belt down occurs when a jam occurs on the tray side from the tacking point, and the paper ahead of the belt can be discharged in a state where the belt driving is stopped by disengaging the belt clutch. Hard-down is a dangerous situation due to the interlock being opened, or when the machine clock fails and the control is disabled, the 24V power supply is cut off. When these belt-down and hard-down factors are removed, a transition is made to standby.}

 _{(II-1) Optical System FIG. 8A is a schematic side view of the optical system, FIG. 8B is a plane, and FIG. 8C is a side surface in the XX direction of FIG. The scanning exposure apparatus 3 of the present embodiment employs a PIS (Precession Imaging System) system that exposes an image onto the photosensitive material at a speed faster than the moving speed of the photosensitive belt 4, and the scanning system B shown in FIG. 1 is employed, and the scanning system A in FIG. 1 is movable independently. That is, the scanning system A in FIG. 1 includes the carriage 1 in FIG. 1 having the exposure lamp 102 and the mirror 103 in FIG. 1, and the carriage 105 in FIG. 2 having the mirror 106 in FIG. 2 and the mirror 107 in FIG. Scan the placed document. On the other hand, the scanning system B in FIG. 2 includes the FIG. 3 carriage 109 having the FIG. 4 mirror 110 and the FIG. 5 mirror 111 and the FIG. 4 carriage 112 having the FIG. A lens 108 is disposed on the optical axis of the mirror 107 in FIG. 3 and the mirror 110 in FIG. 4 and is moved by a lens motor according to the magnification, but is fixed during scanning exposure.}

 _{These scanning system A and FIG. 2 scanning system B are driven by a carriage motor 114 which is a DC servo motor. Transmission shafts 116 and 117 are disposed on both sides of the output shaft 115 of the carriage motor 114, and a timing belt 119a is provided between the timing pulley 115a fixed to the output shaft 115 and the timing pulleys 116a and 117a fixed to the transmission shaft 116 and 117. , 119b is stretched. A capstan pulley 116b is fixed to the transmission shaft 116, and a wire cable 121a shown in FIG. 1 is stretched between the driven rollers 120a and 120b arranged to face the capstan pulley 116b. In FIG. 1, the carriage 101 is fixed, and the wire cable 121a is wound around a speed reduction pulley 122a provided on the carriage 105 in FIG. 2. When the carriage motor 114 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, The carriage 101 in FIG. 1 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow at the speed V1, and the carriage 105 in FIG. 2 moves in the same direction at the speed V1 / 2. In addition, a timing belt 119c is stretched between the timing pulley 117b fixed to the transmission shaft 117 and the timing pulley 123a of the transmission shaft 123 disposed opposite thereto, and the capstan pulley 123b of the transmission shaft 123 is connected to this. A wire cable 121b shown in FIG. 2 is stretched between driven rollers 120c arranged opposite to each other. The carriage 112 shown in FIG. 4 is fixed to the wire cable 121b, and the wire cable 121b is wound around a reduction pulley 122b provided in the carriage 109 shown in FIG. 3, and rotates the carriage motor 114 in the direction indicated by the arrow. In such a case, the carriage 112 in FIG. 4 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow at the speed V2, and the carriage 109 in FIG. 3 moves in the same direction at the speed V2 / 2.}

 _{Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, the transmission shaft 117 is provided with a PIS clutch 125 (electromagnetic clutch) for transmitting the rotation of the timing pulley 117a to the timing pulley 117b. When energization is turned off, they are engaged, and the rotation of the rotating shaft 115 is transmitted to the transmission shafts 117 and 123. Further, when the PIS clutch 125 is energized and released, the rotation of the rotation shaft 115 is not transmitted to the transmission shafts 117 and 123. Further, as shown in FIG. 8C, an engagement protrusion 126a is provided on the side surface of the timing pulley 116a. When the LDC lock solenoid 127 is turned on, the engagement piece 126b is engaged with the engagement protrusion 126a. The transmission shaft 116 is fixed, that is, the scanning system A in FIG. 1 is fixed, and the LDC lock switch 129 is turned on. Further, an engagement protrusion 130a is provided on the side surface of the timing pulley 123a. When the PIS lock solenoid 131 is turned on, the engagement piece 130b is engaged with the engagement protrusion 130a to fix the transmission shaft 123, that is, in FIG. The system B is fixed and the PIS lock switch 132 is turned on.}

 _{In the scanning exposure apparatus configured as described above, the PIS (precession imaging system) mode and the NON-PIS mode exposure method are selected by disengaging the PIS clutch 125. In the PIS mode, for example, when the magnification is 65% or more, the PIS clutch 125 is engaged and the scanning system B in FIG. 2 is moved at the speed V2, thereby moving the exposure point of the photosensitive belt 4 in the opposite direction to the photosensitive material. The scanning speed V1 of the optical system is made relatively faster than the process speed VP to increase the number of copies per unit time. At this time, if the magnification is M, V1 = VP La 3.5 / (3.5M−1), and if M = 1 and VP = 308.9 mm / s, V1 = 432.5 mm / s. V2 is determined by the diameters of the timing pulleys 117b and 123a, and is V2 = (1/3 to 1/4) V1. On the other hand, in the NON-PIS mode, in order to prevent an increase in scanning system speed and an increase in illumination power at the time of reduction and suppress power consumption, for example, in the case of 64% or less, the PIS clutch 125 is released. By turning on the PIS lock solenoid, scanning is performed with the scanning system B fixed and the exposure point fixed, thereby avoiding an increase in driving system load and document illumination power and contributing to the realization of 1.5 KVA. . As shown in FIG. 9A, the lens 108 is slidably attached to a support shaft 136 fixed to a lens carriage 135 disposed below the platen glass 2. The lens 108 is connected to a lens motor Z137 by a wire (not shown), and the lens mode is moved in the Z direction (in the vertical direction) along the support shaft 136 by the rotation of the lens mode Z137 to change the magnification. The lens carriage 135 is slidably attached to the support shaft 139 on the base side and is connected to the lens motor X140 by a wire (not shown). The lens carriage 135 is supported by the rotation of the lens motor X140. , And move in the X direction (in the horizontal direction) to change the magnification. These lens motors 137 and 140 are four-phase stepping motors. When the lens carriage 135 moves, the small gear 142 provided on the lens carriage 135 rotates along the cloud-shaped surface of the lens cam 143, thereby rotating the large gear 144 and via the wire cable 145 in the scanning system of FIG. The mounting base 146 is moved. Therefore, the distance between the lens 108 and the scanning system B in FIG. 2 can be set for a predetermined magnification by the rotation of the lens motor X140.}

 _{Further, as shown in FIG. 9B, a lens shutter 147 is provided on one side surface of the lens 108 so as to be opened and closed by a link mechanism 148, and the lens shutter 147 is opened during an image scan by turning on and off the shutter solenoid 149. When the image scan is finished, it is closed. The purpose of light shielding by the lens shutter 147 is to form a DDP patch and an ADC patch on the belt sensitive material, and to prevent an image from disappearing when the scanning system B in FIG. 2 returns in the PIS mode. FIG. 10 shows a block configuration showing an outline of a subsystem of the optical system. The optical CPU 45 is connected to the main CPU 41 by serial communication and a hot line, and controls each carriage, lens, and the like in order to form a latent image on the photosensitive material by a copy mode transmitted from the main CPU 41. The control power source 152 is composed of logic (5V), analog (15V), solenoid, and clutch (24V), and the motor power 153 is composed of 38V. The carriage sensor 155 is disposed so as to correspond to the registration position of the mirror 101 in FIG. 1, and outputs a signal when the actuator attached to the scanning system A in FIG. This signal is sent to the optical CPU 45 to determine the position or timing for performing registration, or to determine the home position P when the scanning system A in FIG. Further, FIG. 1 home sensor 156a and FIG. 2 home sensor 156b are provided to detect the position of the carriage, and FIG. The position of the scanning system A in FIG. 1 is detected and a signal is output. The home sensor 156b in FIG. 2 detects the position of the scanning system in FIG. 2 and outputs a signal.}

 _{The rotary encoder 157 is of a type that outputs A-phase and B-phase pulse signals that are 90 ° out of phase according to the rotation angle of the carriage motor 114. For example, the timing of the scanning system in FIG. The pulley shaft pitch is designed to be 0.1571mm / pulse. The magnification solenoid 159 moves the magnification lens (not shown) in the vertical direction under the control of the CPU 45, and confirms the movement of the magnification lens by the on / off operation of the magnification switch 161. The lens home sensors 161 and 162 are sensors that detect the home positions of the lens X motor 140 and the lens Z motor 137. The LDC lock solenoid 127 fixes the scanning system A in FIG. 1 at a predetermined position under the control of the CPU 45, and confirms that the LDC lock solenoid 127 is locked by the LDC lock switch 129. The PIS lock solenoid 131 fixes the scanning system B in FIG. 2 when the PIS clutch 125 is released in the NON-PIS mode, and the PIS lock switch 132 confirms that it is locked. The PIS clutch 125 is a type that releases the clutch when energized and engages the clutch when de-energized, and contributes to the realization of 1.5 KVA by reducing the power consumption in the PIS mode.}

 _{FIGS. 11A and 11B show the control of the scan cycle of the optical system. This control scans the scan system A with the specified magnification and scan length, and receives the scan start signal from the hot line. Then it starts. From the scan length data received from the main, an image scan count that is the count number of the encoder clock from the interruption of the registration sensor to the end of scanning is calculated. First, after setting the reference clock data corresponding to the magnification, the carriage motor is rotated in the scanning direction (CW) in step to perform acceleration control during scanning (step). Next, in step (PLL) mode is set, and if there is an interrupt signal indicating that the registration sensor is off in step, image scanning is started and the encoder clock count reaches or exceeds a value corresponding to the scan length (step). Release PLL mode, set to speed mode, and rotate the carriage motor in the return direction (CCW). Next, in step, it is determined whether or not there is an interrupt from CW to CCW (reverse rotation signal). If there is an acceleration control at the time of return (step), the encoder count reaches the preset brake start point. If it is (step), deceleration control at the time of return is performed (step), and if there is a reverse rotation signal again, the carriage motor is stopped (step). Also, as shown in (b), set the count number to turn on (open) the shutter, open the shutter if the encoder clock number becomes more than the shutter on count, and the encoder clock number can be more than the shutter off count. If so, the shutter is closed and the image scan is finished.}

 _{(II-2) Belt circumference The belt circumference consists of an imaging system and a marking system. The imaging system is managed by the IMM subsystem 34, and the latent image is written and erased. The marking system is managed by the marking subsystem 35, and performs charging, exposure, surface potential detection, development, transfer, and the like. In the present invention, as described below, the IMM subsystem 34 and the marking subsystem 35 cooperate with each other in order to achieve high-speed copying and high image quality by performing panel management on the belt, patch formation, and the like. doing. FIG. 12 shows an outline of the belt area. An organic photosensitive belt 4 is disposed in the base machine 1. The organic photosensitive belt is applied to any number of layers such as the charge generation layer and transfer layer to form the photosensitive material, so it has a greater degree of freedom than a photoconductive drum that forms a photosensitive material by vapor deposition of Se. This makes it easy to reduce the cost, and the space around the belt can be increased, so that layout is easy. On the other hand, the belt has expansion and contraction, and the diameter of the roll also changes depending on the temperature difference, so a belt hole is provided at a certain distance from the belt seam to detect this, and a pulse corresponding to the rotation speed of the main motor Is generated by an encoder to form a machine clock, and the machine clock of one round is always counted, thereby correcting the pitch signal and the timing of the registration gate as a carriage start reference in accordance with the expansion and contraction of the belt. The organic photosensitive material belt 4 in this apparatus has a length of 1 m or more, and four A4 sizes and three A3 sizes are placed on it. (Formation area) If you do not manage, you can not copy the panel. Therefore, the position of the panel is determined based on the belt hole provided at a certain distance from the seam, the number of panels (pitch number) placed on the belt is determined according to the copy mode and paper size specified by the user, and the start A signal is issued when the panel that makes the first copy by pressing the button reaches the position of the get park in the vicinity of the roll 201, so that the copy can be taken from here.}

 _{The organic photosensitive belt 4 is uniformly charged by a charge corotron (charger) 211 and is driven at a constant speed in the clockwise direction. When the first panel comes a predetermined time before the registration (exposure location) 231, a pitch signal is output, and carriage scan and paper feed timing are taken based on this pitch signal. The belt surface charged by the charge corotron 211 is exposed at the exposure point 231. An optical image of a document placed on the platen glass 2 disposed on the upper surface of the base machine 1 is incident on the exposure location 231. For this purpose, an exposure lamp 102 and a plurality of mirrors 101 to 113 and an optical lens 108 that transmit reflected light of the original surface irradiated by the exposure lamp 102 are arranged. Among these, the mirror 101 is used for reading an original. Scanned. The mirrors 110, 111, and 113 constitute the scanning optical system shown in FIG. 2, which is called PIS (Precession Image Scan). Since there is a limit to increasing the process speed, copying without increasing the process speed is required. In order to increase the speed, the scanning optical system in FIG. 2 is scanned in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the belt to increase the relative speed and achieve a maximum of 64 sheets / min (CPM).}

 _{An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the original is formed on the organic photosensitive belt 4 by the image information exposed in a slit shape at the exposure location 231. Then, after unnecessary images, erasing between images and side erasing are performed by an IEL (interimage lamp) 215, the electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device 216 for normal black toner or a developing device 217 for color toner. Thus, a toner image is created. The toner image moves with the rotation of the organic photosensitive belt 4 and passes near the pre-transfer corotron (transfer device) 218 and the transfer corotron 220. The pre-transfer corotron 218 is generally for facilitating the movement of the toner by weakening the electric adhesion of the toner by applying an alternating current. In addition, since the belt is formed of a transparent body, before transfer, the pre-transfer lamp 225 (also used for erasing) irradiates the belt with light from the back to further weaken the electrical adhesion of the toner and transfer is performed. Make it easier.}

 _{On the other hand, the copy paper accommodated in the supply tray of the base machine 1 or the copy paper manually fed along the manual feed tray 16 is sent out by a feed roll, guided to the transport path 501, and the organic photosensitive belt 4 and Pass between transfer corotrons 220. In principle, the sheet is fed by LEF (Long Edge Feed), and the registration gate is controlled to be opened and closed so that the leading edge of the sheet coincides with the exposure start position at the tacking point, and the toner image is transferred onto the copy sheet. Then, the sheet and the photosensitive belt 4 are peeled off by the detack corotron 221 and the strip finger 222, and the copy sheet after transfer passes between the heat roll 232 and the pressure roll 233 and is thermally fixed, and the transport rolls 234, 235 Is discharged on a discharge tray not shown.}

 _{The photosensitive material belt 4 from which the copy paper has been peeled off is easily cleaned by the pre-clean corotron 224, unnecessary charges are erased by light irradiation from the back side by the lamp 225, and unnecessary toner, dust, etc. are scraped off by the blade 226. It is. Note that patches are formed between the images on the belt 4 by the patch generator 212, and the electrostatic potential of the patch portion is detected by the ESV sensor 214 for density adjustment. Further, as described above, a hole is opened in the belt 4, and this is detected by the belt hole sensor 213 to detect the belt speed and control the process speed. The ADC (Auto Density Control) sensor 219 compares the amount of reflected light from the toner on the patch with the amount of reflected light in the absence of toner, and detects the degree of toner adhesion, and the pop sensor 223 removes the paper. A case where the belt has been wound around without being detected is detected. FIG. 13 shows a state of panel division on the photosensitive material belt 4. Since the belt 4 has a seam portion 251, an image is prevented from appearing here, and a belt hole 252 is provided at a position of a certain distance l from the seam portion. For example, in the case where the circumference is 1158 mm, l is 70 mm. . Nos. 253 and 254 are the first and last panels when the photosensitive belt surface is divided into N pitches, B is the panel interval, C is the panel length, D is the panel pitch length, and in the case of 4-pitch division. Is 289.5 mm for a 3-pitch division and 579 mm for a 2-pitch division.}

 _{The seam 251 is set to A = B / 2 so that the center of the LE (Lead Edge) of the panel 253 and the TE (Tail Edge) of the panel 254 is located. Note that the LE of the panel needs to match the LE of the paper, but the TE does not necessarily match, and matches the maximum paper TE applicable to the panel. FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an outline of the functions of the IMM subsystem. The outline of the functions of the IMM subsystem 34 is as follows: Serial communication is performed with the IEL subsystem 40 via the bus line, and an interrupt signal is sent via the hot line to perform high-precision control, and the image formation is managed. 35, send control signal to CHM subsystem 33 to control around belt.}

 _{Further, a hole opened in the organic photosensitive material belt 4 is detected to control the main motor, and a panel forming position is determined to perform panel management. Further, in a low temperature environment, the fuser is idled to maintain the fixing roll at a predetermined temperature so that quick copying can be performed. Then, when the start key is pressed, the setup state is entered. Before copying, constants such as VDDP are adjusted, and when the copy cycle starts, the leading and trailing edges of the image are erased based on the document size. An image area is formed. In addition, a patch for toner density adjustment is formed by forming a patch in the image area. Further, when a hard down factor such as a jam factor or a belt failure is detected, the belt is stopped or the machine is stopped by communicating with the sequence manager. Next, input / output signals and operations of the IMM subsystem will be described. Toner detection signals in the black toner bottle 261 and the color toner bottle 262 are input to detect the remaining amount of toner. From the optical registration sensor 155, an optical registration signal serving as a reference for a PG request signal, a bias request signal, and an ADC request signal output from the IMM subsystem to the marking subsystem is input.}

 _{The original size is input from the platen original size sensors S6 to S10, and the erase area by the IEL 215 is determined from this and the paper size. A belt hole signal is input from the belt hole sensor 213, and the process speed is controlled by the main motors 264 and 265 to correct for variations in the time for which the belt makes one round. Two main motors are provided so that they can be operated at an efficient operating point so that the motor power can be output efficiently according to the load state, and the power can be used effectively and the stop position accuracy can be improved. In addition, regenerative braking is performed by a motor. The motor can be driven in reverse rotation. This is because, when cleaning is performed with the blade in close contact with the photosensitive material belt, paper dust and toner wrinkles accumulate on the front side of the blade and are removed. Further, the belt drive by the motor is performed via the belt clutch 267, and only the belt can be selectively stopped. A pulse is generated from an encoder in synchronization with the rotation of the motor, and this is used as a machine clock to obtain a machine clock corresponding to the belt speed.}

 _{If the belt hole sensor 213 cannot detect a hole for a certain period of time or if the size of the hole has changed, this is transmitted from the IMM to the sequence manager and the machine is stopped. The IMM subsystem performs serial communication with the IEL subsystem 40 and transmits an interrupt signal through a hot line, and transmits an IEL enable signal, an IEL image signal, an ADC patch signal, and an IEL black band signal. Unnecessary images are erased with the IEL image signal, and the shape and area of the patch area formed by the patch generator 212 are defined by the IEL subsystem 40 with the ADC patch signal, and the electrostatic potential is adjusted by adjusting the charge amount. Is adjusted to a constant potential of 500 to 600V. The IEL black band signal forms a black band between the images at predetermined intervals so as not to damage the belt 4 by the blade 226, and causes the toner to adhere to act as a kind of lubricant, particularly close to white paper. When the amount of toner is extremely small, such as in a bad state, the belt 4 is not damaged even in the case of copying.}

 _{Further, the IMM communicates with the marking subsystem 35 by a hot line, and sends a patch formation request signal, a bias request signal, and an ADC request signal with reference to the optical registration signal. In response to this, the marking subsystem 35 drives the patch generator 212 to form a patch, and also drives the ESV sensor 214 to detect the electrostatic potential, and also drives the developing machines 216 and 217 to form a toner image. doing. In addition, drive control of the pre-transfer corotron 218, the transfer corotron 220, and the detac corotron 221 is performed. A pitch reset signal is sent from the IMM, and the carriage start timing is taken based on this signal. In addition, a detection signal indicating whether or not the color developing unit is installed is input to detect whether the toner of the developing unit is black or color. A registration trigger signal is sent from the IMM to the CHM subsystem 33 to control the paper and the leading edge of the image to coincide with each other at the tacking point. Calculated and sent. The toner scraped off by the blade 226 is collected in a collected toner bottle 268, and a detection signal for the amount of toner in the bottle is input to the IMM, and an alarm is issued when a predetermined amount is exceeded.}

 _{The IMM also drives the fan motor 263 to prevent an abnormal temperature rise so that a stable image quality copy can be obtained when the ambient temperature is within the allowable temperature range. FIG. 15 shows a timing chart. The reference time for control is the position of the optical registration sensor. The IEL is turned off after a predetermined time (T1) of the optical registration sensor on / off signal. That is, the leading edge is erased until T1, and the trailing edge is erased after T2. In this way, an image is formed by the IEL image signal, and the leading edge of the paper at the tacking point is made coincident with the leading edge of the image by controlling the timing of the registration gate. After the image formation is completed, an ADC patch signal is generated by a patch generator request signal (T5 after the reference time), and a patch is formed on the inter image. Further, after the patch formation, a bias request signal is issued (after T6) and development is performed, and then an ADC request signal is issued (after T7) and toner density is detected. A black band is formed in the inter image by the black band signal. Note that the IEL image signal is not turned ON / OFF during AE (Auto Exposure) scanning.}

 _{(II-3) Paper Conveying System In FIG. 16, an upper tray 6-1, a middle tray 6-2, a lower tray 6-3, and a duplex tray 11 are installed in the base machine as paper trays. A tray (HCF) 17 and a manual feed tray (MSI) 16 are provided, and each tray is appropriately provided with a no paper sensor, a size sensor, a clutch, and the like. Here, the no-paper sensor is a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of copy paper in the supply tray, and the size sensor is a sensor for determining the size of the copy paper accommodated in the tray. The clutch is a part for controlling on / off of driving of each paper feed roll. In this way, by making it possible to set copy paper of the same size in a plurality of supply trays, when there is no more copy paper in one supply tray, copy paper of the same size is automatically fed from the other supply tray. .}

 _{The copy paper is fed by a dedicated feed motor, and a step motor is used as the feed motor. It is detected by a feed sensor whether or not the copy paper is normally fed. Then, a gate solenoid is used for registration for aligning the leading ends of the copy sheets once sent out. Unlike a normal solenoid of this type, this gate solenoid performs control such that the gate is opened when energized and the copy paper is allowed to pass. Therefore, in a standby state where copy paper does not arrive, power is not supplied to the gate solenoid, and the gate remains open to reduce power consumption. Then, the gate solenoid is energized just before the copy paper arrives, and the gate closes to prevent passage. After that, when the copy paper conveyance is resumed at a predetermined timing, the energization is stopped and the gate is opened. Such control reduces the fluctuation of the gate position when the leading edge of the copy paper is blocked from passing, and even when the copy paper is pressed against the gate with a relatively strong force Can be done accurately.}

 _{When copying again in the duplex mode in which copying is performed on both sides of the sheet or in the synthesis mode in which copying is performed multiple times on the same side, the sheet is guided to the conveyance path stacked on the duplex tray 11. In the duplex mode, the stack is directly stacked on the duplex tray 11 from the transport path. In the synthesis mode, the stack is temporarily transported from the transport path to the composite mode inverter 10 and then reversed to the duplex tray 11. Led. A gate 503 is provided at the branch point between the paper discharge outlet 502 from the transport path 501 to the sorter and the duplex tray 11 side, and the transport path is provided at the branch point leading to the composite mode inverter 10 on the duplex tray 11 side. Gates 505 and 506 for switching are provided, and a discharge outlet 502 is provided with a gate 507 and is reversed by the tri-roll inverter 9 so that the copied surface can be discharged as a front surface.}

 _{The upper tray and the middle tray are trays that can accommodate about 500 sheets, A3 to B5, Legal, Letter, Special B4, 11 and 17 paper sizes. Then, as shown in FIG. 17, a tray motor 551 is provided, and the tray 552 is inclined when the number of sheets decreases. As sensors, there are provided three paper size sensors 553 to 555 for detecting the paper size, a no paper sensor 556 for detecting the out of paper, and a surface control sensor 557 used for adjusting the tray height. Further, there is an emergency switch 558 for preventing the tray from being raised too much. The lower tray is a tray that can store about 1100 sheets and can store the same paper size as the upper tray and the middle tray.}

 _{In FIG. 16, the duplex tray is a tray that can accommodate about 50 sheets of paper and can accommodate the same paper size as each of the trays, and can make multiple copies on one side of the paper or alternately on two sides. This is a tray for temporarily storing copied paper when copying. A feed roll 507 and a gate 505 are disposed on the entrance-side conveyance path of the duplex tray 11, and the gate 505 controls switching of sheet conveyance according to the synthesis mode and the duplex mode. For example, in the duplex mode, the sheet conveyed from above is guided to the feed roll 509 side by the gate 505, and in the combination mode, the sheet conveyed from the upper side is temporarily combined by the gates 505 and 506. When it is led to the inverter 10 and then reversed, it is led by the gate 506 to the feed roll 510 and duplex tray 11 side. In order to store paper in the duplex tray 11 and allow it to fall freely to a predetermined edge position, a tray inclination angle of about 17 ° to 20 ° is generally required. However, in the present invention, since the apparatus is made compact and the duplex tray 11 is accommodated in a narrow space, only an inclination angle of 8 ° at the maximum can be obtained. In view of this, the duplex tray 11 is provided with a side guide 561 and an end guide 562 as shown in FIG. In the control of these side guides and end guides, when the paper size is determined, it is stopped at a position corresponding to the paper size.}

 _{A large capacity tray (HCF) is a supply tray that can hold thousands of copy sheets. For example, a customer who does not need to make a copy by enlarging or reducing a manuscript or a customer who has a small amount of copy are often appropriate to purchase a base machine alone. On the other hand, a duplex tray or a large capacity tray is often required for a customer who takes a large amount of copies or a customer who requires a complicated copy operation. As a means to realize such various requirements, this copier system has a structure in which each additional device can be easily attached and removed, and an independent CPU (central processing unit) is prepared for some of the additional devices. Thus, distributed control by multiple CPUs is performed. This not only has the advantage that the customer's desired product can be easily obtained, but the possibility of installing a new additional device teaches the customer the possibility of a new copying operation. The purchase of this copier system will be more attractive in promoting the evolution of office paperwork.}

 _{The manual feed tray (MSI) 16 is a tray that can accommodate about 50 sheets of paper and can accommodate paper sizes A2F to A6F. In particular, a large-size paper that cannot be accommodated in other trays can be used. Since this type of conventional manual feed tray is manually fed one by one, it is only necessary to preferentially feed the copy paper from the manual feed tray when the manual feed is performed, and there is no need for the operator to select the manual feed tray itself. On the other hand, the manual feed tray 16 of the present invention can simultaneously set a plurality of copy sheets. Therefore, if feeding is performed from the manual feed tray 16 with a set of copy sheets, there is a possibility that the feed may be started when a plurality of copy sheets are set. In order to prevent such a situation, the manual feed tray 16 is selected.}

 _{In the present invention, the size is reduced by adopting a configuration in which the nudger roll 513, the feed roll 512, and the takeaway roll 511 are integrally attached to the tray. After the leading edge of the paper is nipped by the takeaway roll 511, the leading edge is detected by the feed-out sensor and temporarily stopped to perform pre-registration to adjust the transfer position and absorb the paper feeding variation in the feeder section. doing. The fed sheet is fed to the transfer position of the photosensitive belt 4 through the aligner 515.}

 _{(II-4) Automatic Document Feeder (DADF) In FIG. 19, the DADF 13 is mounted on the platen glass 2 of the base machine 1. The DADF 13 includes a document tray 602 on which the document 601 is placed. A delivery paddle 603 is disposed on the document delivery side of the document tray 602, whereby the documents 601 are delivered one by one. The fed original 601 is conveyed to the arcuate conveying path 609 by the driving roller 605 and its driven roller 606 in FIG. 1 and the driving roller 607 and its driven roller 608 in FIG. Further, the arcuate conveyance path 609 joins the manual conveyance path 610 and is connected to the horizontal conveyance path 611. At the outlet of the arcuate conveyance path 609, the driving roller 612 and its driven roller 613 are connected. Is provided. The drive roller 612 shown in FIG. 3 can be moved up and down by a solenoid (not shown), and is configured to be able to contact and separate from the driven roller 613. The horizontal conveyance path 611 is provided with a stop gate 615 that is rotated by a drive motor (not shown), and a reverse conveyance path 616 is connected from the horizontal conveyance path 611 toward the arcuate conveyance path 609. The reverse conveyance path 616 is provided with the driving roller 617 shown in FIG. Further, a belt driving roller 619 is provided on the platen glass 2 so as to face the outlet of the horizontal conveyance path 611, and the belt 621 stretched between the driven rollers 620 can be rotated forward and backward. A driving roller 622 shown in FIG. 5 is provided at the exit of the belt conveying unit, and a driving roller 623 shown in FIG.}

 _{Two drive rollers 623 are provided in the front-rear direction of the base machine 1 (in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface), and are configured to be able to simultaneously feed two documents of the same size. Reference numeral 625 denotes a cleaning tape for cleaning the surface of the delivery paddle 603 by the driving roller 626 shown in FIG. Next, the photosensors S1 to S12 will be described with reference to FIG. S1 is a no-paper sensor that detects the presence of the document 601 on the document tray 602, S2 is a takeaway sensor that detects the passage of the document, S3 and S4 are feed sensors provided before and after the manual feed path 610, and S5 is a skew. A registration sensor for detecting whether or not the document is obliquely fed by the roller 627 and detecting whether or not the document is in a predetermined position at the stop gate 615, S6 to S10 are paper size sensors for detecting the size of the document, and S11 is whether or not the document is discharged. A discharge sensor S12 is an end sensor that detects the end of the cleaning tape 625. Next, the operation of the DADF 13 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. (A) is a platen mode in which an original 601 is placed on the platen 2 and exposed.}

 _{(B) is the simplex mode, and the original 601 is stacked on the original tray 602 so that the surface of FIG. When the start button is pressed, first, the driving roller 605 in FIG. 1 and the driving roller 607 in FIG. 2 rotate, but the driving roller 612 in FIG. 3 moves upward to leave the driven roller 613 and the stop gate 615 descends. To block the horizontal conveyance path 611. As a result, the document 601 passes through the arcuate conveyance path 609 and is pressed against the stop gate 615 (˜). At the position of the stop gate 615, the skew roller 627 corrects the document so that the end of the document is perpendicular to the horizontal conveyance path 611, and the document size is detected by the sensors S6 to S10. Next, the driving roller 612 in FIG. 3 moves downward to come into contact with the driven roller 613, and the stop gate 615 rises to open the horizontal conveyance path 611, and the driving roller 612, belt driving roller 619 and FIG. The driving roller 622 rotates, the surface of the original to be copied is faced down, sent to a predetermined position on the platen 2, exposed, and then discharged. The same operation is performed when a single original is sent from the manual feed path 610. In addition to the function of sending originals one by one, a function of simultaneously sending two originals of the same size (2-UP), a large original (LDC) function and computer form feeder (CCF) function to send continuous paper for computers.}

 _{(C) is the duplex mode, and the process for exposing one side of the document is the same as the processes (1) to (B) above. However, when the one-sided exposure is completed, the belt driving roller 619 is reversed and the driving shown in FIG. The roller 612 moves upward to leave the driven roller 613, and the stop gate 615 descends to block the horizontal conveyance path 611. Accordingly, the document is conveyed to the reversing conveyance path 616 and further pressed by the driving roller 617 in FIG. 4 and the driving roller 607 in FIG. Next, the driving roller 612 in FIG. 3 moves downward to come into contact with the driven roller 613, and the stop gate 615 rises to open the horizontal conveyance path 611, and the driving roller 612, belt driving roller 619 and FIG. The driving roller 622 rotates, and the back side of the document is directed downward to be sent to a predetermined position on the platen 2 for exposure. When the double-sided exposure is completed, the belt driving roller 619 is reversed again, conveyed again to the reversing conveyance path 616, and similarly discharged on the platen 2 by the driving roller 622 shown in FIG. Accordingly, the discharged originals are stacked in the order in which they are first stacked on the original tray 602 with the side of FIG.}

 _{(II-5) Sorter In FIG. 22, the sorter 19 has a sorter body 652 and 20 bins 653 on a movable carriage 651. In the sorter body 652, a belt driving roller 656 and a driven roller 657 for driving the conveying belt 655 are provided, and a chain driving sprocket 660 and a driven sprocket 661 for driving the chain 659 are provided. These belt drive roller 656 and chain drive sprocket 660 are driven by one sorter motor 658. A switching gate 665 driven by a paper inlet 662, a paper outlet 663, and a solenoid (not shown) is provided on the upper portion of the conveying belt 655. Further, an indexer 666 for switching and supplying copy paper to each bin is attached to the chain 659. As shown in FIG. 23, the rotation of the drive shaft 671 of the sorter motor 658 is transmitted to the pulley 673 via the timing belt 672. The rotation of the pulley 673 is transmitted to the belt drive roller 656 and also to the chain drive sprocket 660 via the gear device 674.}

 _{Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. (A) shows the non-sort mode, and the switching gate 665 is in the non-sort position and feeds copy paper to the uppermost discharge tray. (B) indicates the sort mode, the switching gate 665 is switched to the sort position, the odd-numbered sheets are transported from the top to the lower bin, and the even-numbered sheets are transported from the bottom. It is transported toward the upper bins to even-numbered bins. This reduces the sorting time. (C) and (D) show the stack mode, (C) shows an example where four copies of four originals are copied for each original, and (D) shows a case where the maximum number of sheets stored per bin is exceeded. For example, when 50 sheets are obtained, they are stored in the next bin.}

 _{(III) User Interface (U / I) (III-1) Outline of User Interface Configuration FIG. 25 shows a user interface mounting state using a display, and FIG. 26 shows an external appearance of the user interface using a display. . (A) Features of the mounting position The present invention is characterized in that a stand-type display is used instead of the conventional console panel as described above as a user interface. If a display is used, it can be mounted three-dimensionally above the copying machine main body (base machine) 1 as shown in FIG. 25 (a), so that the user interface 12 is copied particularly as shown in FIG. By arranging it at the right back corner of the machine main body 1, the size of the copying machine can be designed without considering the user interface 12, and the apparatus can be made compact. In the copying machine, the height of the platen, that is, the height of the apparatus is designed to be a waist level suitable for setting a document, and this height regulates the height of the apparatus.}

 _{As described above, the conventional console panel is attached to the same upper surface as this height, and an operation unit and a display unit for function selection and execution condition setting are arranged at a distance far from the eyes. In that respect, in the user interface 12 of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 25 (c), the position is higher than the platen, that is, close to the height of the eyes. It will be on the right side and easy to operate. In addition, by bringing the display mounting height close to the eye height, the lower side can be effectively used as a control space for the user interface and a mounting space for the card device 24. Accordingly, a structural change for attaching the card device 24 is not required, and the card device 24 can be additionally provided without changing the appearance at the same time, and at the same time, the display attachment position and height can be easily seen. Further, the display may be fixed at a predetermined angle, but of course, the angle may be changed.}

 _{In this way, when the display is used for the user interface, unlike the conventional console panel that is mounted on the front side of the platen, the direction of the front can be easily changed. As shown in Fig. 25, the display screen is slightly upward according to the operator's line of vision and leftward as shown in Fig. 25 (b), that is, upward in the center (in the direction of the operator's eyes). A user interface 12 can be provided. By adopting such a configuration, particularly in a compact apparatus, the operator is at the center of the apparatus and can operate the document setting and the user interface without moving.}

 _{(B) Features on the screen On the other hand, even when a display is used, the amount of information increases to provide information that supports multi-functions. It has the side that it becomes difficult to cope with. If a compact size display is adopted, it is difficult not only to provide all necessary information on one screen, but also to provide a screen that is easy to see and understand for the operator. Therefore, when adopting a display as a user interface for the purpose of downsizing, it is necessary to adopt a display with a compact size in view of the balance, and to devise display control in that. In the present invention, it is easy to understand even if it is a compact size, taking advantage of the fact that the display can adopt a variety of display modes and display controls compared to the LED and liquid crystal display used in the console panel. Various ideas have been made for display.}

 _{For example, in the user interface of the present invention, the display screen is switched in accordance with each copy mode of basic copy, application copy, and professional copy, and menus such as function selection and execution condition setting are displayed in each mode. The screen cascade (cursor) can be moved by key input to specify options and input execution condition data. Depending on the choices of the menu, the detailed items are displayed in a pop-up (overlapping display or window display) to expand the display contents. As a result, even if there are many selectable functions and setting conditions, the display screen can be refreshed and operability can be improved.}

 _{As described above, in the present invention, the screen division configuration, area division on each screen, brightness adjustment, gray display, and other display methods are devised, and further, the operation unit is configured by combining the operation keys and LEDs well. It has a simple configuration, diversifies and simplifies display control, display contents, and operation input of the display, and solves the problem of realizing both compactness and multi-function of the apparatus. FIG. 26 shows the appearance of a user interface configured using a CRT display based on this idea. In this example, key / LED boards are arranged on the lower and right fronts of the CRT display 301. As a screen configuration, the selection mode screen can be divided into a plurality of areas, a selection area is provided as one of them, and the selection area is divided vertically, and each function can be selected and set individually as a cascade area. I have to. Therefore, on the key / LED board, cascade keys 319-1 to 319-5 for cascade selection setting are arranged below the selection area of the vertically divided screen, and a mode selection key for switching the selection mode screen. 308 to 310, other keys (302 to 304, 306, 307, 315 to 318) and LEDs (305 and 311 to 314) are arranged on the right side. In this way, the number of keys and LEDs is reduced, and these are arranged on the side and bottom of the CRT display 301. Therefore, it is only necessary to make the size slightly larger than the CRT display 301, thereby providing a compact user interface. .}

 _{(III-2) Control System Configuration FIG. 27 shows the relationship between the U / I CPU and the main CPU connected by serial communication, FIG. 28 shows the hardware configuration of the user interface, and FIG. 29 shows the user interface. It is a software configuration.}

 _{(A) Hardware configuration As shown in FIG. 27, the main CPU 41 exchanges data with a ROM 323, NVRAM (nonvolatile memory) 324, an interface 321 that exchanges data with the base machine, and an additional device (OPTION). It has an interface 322, and the bus is connected to the communication control circuit 327 via the bus arbiter 326 and is configured to communicate with the CPU 46 and other CPUs on the serial communication line through the communication control circuit 327. ing. The ROM 323 stores a program including each subsystem such as the sequence manager, imaging module, and copy handling module described above. The bus arbiter 326 has a system RAM 325, holds data sent from the main CPU 41 to other CPUs and data received from other CPUs, and allows the main CPU 41 to exchange data asynchronously with the timing of serial communication. The ROM 328 stores a communication program for transmitting and receiving data on the serial communication line by the communication control circuit 327. The main CPU 41 may be configured to perform all functions related to the bus arbiter 326 and the communication control circuit 327 related to communication. The subsystem of the sequence manager in the main CPU 41 monitors the status of each subsystem through serial communication, and when receiving a copy mode signal from the user interface, allows each subsystem to perform copy work efficiently at a predetermined timing. Provide work instructions.}

 _{As shown in FIG. 28, the user interface system including the U / I CPU 46 basically includes a CRT board 331, a CRT display 301, and a key / LED board 333. The CRT board 331 includes a U / I CPU 46 for overall control, a CRT controller 335 for controlling the CRT display 301, and a keyboard / display controller 336 for controlling the key / LED board 333. A program memory (ROM) 337 for storing each program, a frame memory (ROM) 338 for storing frame data, a part of which is configured as a non-volatile memory, and stores each table, display control data, etc. and is used as a work area 339, two sets of V-RAM (video RAM) 340, and character generator 342RAM.}

 _{Data transmission / reception is performed between the main CPU 41 and the U / I CPU 46 of the CRT board 331 through a serial communication line via a driver 344 and a receiver 343. TXD is a transmission signal from the CRT board 331, and RXD is a reception signal to the CRT board 331. As the clock generator 346, for example, a 11.0592 MHz crystal oscillator is used, and a fundamental frequency of 0.9216 MHz is generated by dividing this by 1/12 inside the U / I CPU 46. In the communication of the U / I CPU 46, the transfer clock is set by frequency (programmable) the internal timer for 1 to 256 minutes. Therefore, when the basic frequency of 0.9216 MHz is determined to be 1/3 by the program and further divided to 1/32, the transfer clock becomes 9600 Hz (the transmission bit rate is 9600 BPS).}

 _{The U / I CPU 46 receives the machine status signal from the main CPU 41, and also inputs the operation signal of the key / LED board 333 from the keyboard / display controller 336 to switch the screen displayed on the CRT display 301, copy mode And generating a memory to be displayed on the CRT display 301. When the start key 318 is operated in the input process of the operation signal of the key / LED board 333, the copy mode at that time is checked, and if there is no contradiction, the copy mode is transmitted to the main CPU 41, and the copy mode is inconsistent. If there is, a process for generating a J code message and displaying it on the CRT display 301 is performed. In the display process of the CRT display 301, a character generator code is set corresponding to the display screen, and the code is written in the V-RAM 340. A frame memory 338 stores information for setting the code of the character generator. When the code is written in the V-RAM 340, the dot data of the character generator 342 is read out in synchronization with the raster address under the control of the CRT controller 335, converted into serial data by the parallel / serial conversion circuit 355, and then transferred to the CRT display 301. Is displayed.}

 _{This is to check for runaway, and is reset when the U / I CPU 46 reads a specific address, for example, any one of the data areas 7000 to 77FF. Therefore, by creating a program to read this specific address within 150mS, if the U / I CPU 46 runs out of control, the specific address will not be read even if 150mS or more has elapsed, and the watchdog timer (WDT) 345 Is not reset, processing for U / I CPU46 runaway is performed.}

 _{The keyboard / display controller 336 inputs a clock generated by dividing the output of the clock generator 346 input to the U / I CPU 46 by 1/4 by the counter 347 to 2.7648 MHz, and further, 1/27 by the prescaler. The key / LED scan time of 4.98mS is created by dividing the frequency to 102kHz. If this scan time is too long, it will take a long time to detect the input, so there will be a problem that the input data will not be captured when the key operation time by the operator is short. Increases and drops the slayput. Therefore, it is necessary to select an optimal scan time in consideration of these situations.}

 _{(B) Software configuration As shown in FIG. 29, the software configuration of the user interface includes a monitor having functions of I / O management, task management and communication protocol, and a video controller having functions of key input management and screen output management. And a job controller having functions such as job management and control, determination of selection, and mode determination. Here, when a predetermined number of copies are taken, one job is from the start of the copying operation until the completion of the predetermined number of copies.}

 _{By dividing and configuring the software in this way and performing screen editing control and key input conversion processing with a video controller, the job controller can design software regardless of the display device or keyboard. . Therefore, for example, even when the display is replaced with a console panel, the job controller is not changed at all, and the design of the video controller only needs to be changed in accordance with the console panel. In other words, the video controller may be between the display device or keyboard and the job controller, pass a logical key to the job controller, and reflect the interface command received from the job controller on the display device or keyboard. Although such software division is possible, logical keys and interface commands are used, and by controlling the video controller with interface commands from the job controller, the job controller can manage jobs without being aware of the screen at all. , Making software construction easy. Therefore, with respect to key input, the physical information of the key is processed by the video controller, the mode is recognized by the job controller, the key acceptance condition is checked, and the job is controlled.}

 _{In the screen display, the job controller performs screen control based on the machine state information and selection mode information and issues an interface command to the video controller, and the video controller executes the command to edit and draw the screen. Note that the key change detection unit 362 and other data processing, generation, and control blocks described below are shown in fixed program units (modules), and these structural units are summarized for convenience of description. Of course, some of them may be composed of a plurality of modules, or a plurality of modules may be configured together.}

 _{The “video controller” key change detection unit 362 performs double press check and continuous key press state detection on the physical key information passed from the monitor by the physical key table 361. The key conversion unit 363 converts the currently pressed physical key detected in this way into a logical key (logical information), and checks the key acceptance condition of the logical key (current key). Ask the controller. The conversion table 364 is referred to by the key conversion unit 363 when converting the physical key to the logical key. For example, even if the cascade key is the same physical key, the logical information differs depending on the screen. The conversion from the physical key to the logical key is controlled by the display screen information of the data 367.}

 _{The screen switching unit 368 receives a key reception signal and a logical key from the job controller, or directly receives a logical key from the key conversion unit 363 in the video controller, and the logical key is called a basic copy screen or an application copy screen, or cascaded. In the case of a key with no mode update or state update, the display control data 367 is updated with the display screen number corresponding to the screen number. Therefore, the screen switching unit 368 stores a logical key for expanding the pop-up screen as a table, and displays that the pop-up screen is expanded when the logical key is operated and no other key is input within 750 msec. The control data 367 is updated. In this process, an option for expanding a pop-up screen may be selected temporarily by operating a cascade key in the selection process of a certain option. In this case, the pop-up screen is prevented from being expanded one by one. To do.}

 _{Therefore, even if a logical key for expanding a pop-up screen is input within 750 msec, it is ignored as a temporary key input. In the case of state updates such as the occurrence of jams, cascade movements and other copy mode updates, and message and count value updates, the display control unit 369 receives interface commands from the job controller, analyzes them, and performs display control. Data 367 is updated. The display control data 367 has data for controlling the display of each screen such as a screen number to be displayed and display variable information in the screen, and the dialog data 370 is a basic frame of each screen, display data of each frame, display data This is a hierarchical database having reference addresses of variable data (addresses of display control data 367 storing display variable information). The dialog editing unit 366 reads the basic frame of the screen to be displayed based on the screen number to be displayed in the display control data 367, the display data from the dialog data 370, and displays the variable data according to the display variable information in the display control data 367. The data is determined, the screen is edited, and the display screen is drawn and developed in the V-RAM 365.}

 _{The “job controller” key management unit 14 refers to the state table 371 to check whether the logical key is acceptable, and if it is acceptable, other key information is input until 750 msec thereafter. The key information is determined and sent to the key control unit 375 on the condition that it is not executed. The key control unit 375 performs key acceptance processing to update the copy mode 378, issue a mode check and issue a copy execution command, grasp the machine status, and pass display control information to the display management unit 377 to control display. Is to do. In the copy mode 378, copy setting information for basic copy, application copy, and professional copy is set. The display management unit 377 issues an interface command to the video controller based on the processing result by the key management unit 14 or the key control unit 375, and starts the interface routine (display control unit 369). The state management unit 372 updates the state table 371 for key reception by determining the state change from the state information of the machine such as the key reception state, the occurrence of a jam or failure, and the interlock open state.}

 _{Then, the key acceptance condition is checked based on the state information. The job control unit 376 receives the operation information of the machine after the operation of the start key, issues a command for machine control, and performs management for executing a copying operation for one original. The command control unit 373 notifies the state management unit 372 and the job control unit 376 of the state of the received command transmitted from the main body, and receives a command for execution from the job control unit 376 during job execution. To send to.}

 _{Therefore, when the start key is operated and the key control 375 sets a command corresponding to the copy mode in the transmission buffer 380 and the copy operation is executed, the machine operation state command is sequentially received by the reception buffer 379. . When the command control unit 373 notifies the job control unit 376 of this command, the next copy execution command is executed every time one copy is completed until a predetermined number of copies are completed and a machine stop command is issued. Is issued. When a jam occurrence command is received during the copy operation, the state management unit 372 recognizes the jam state through the command control unit 373, updates the state table 371, and simultaneously jams from the display management unit 377 to the video controller through the key control unit 375. Issue screen control interface commands.}

 _{“Interface command” Job controller and video controller can be designed independently by issuing an interface command from the job controller, and the display can be easily changed to the console panel by changing the video controller. Or other input / output means. Interface commands include registration commands such as No. for tray, paper size, orientation, device name, presence / absence for additional devices, presence / absence for second device, color, etc. Cascade, cascade, set number of sheets, binding, etc. as normal setting commands. There is a margin.}

 _{Also, edit setting commands include box display, coordinate display, etc. Job setting commands such as call numerical value, registered numerical value, etc. Display commands include normal message, state display, maid display, toner remaining display, recovered toner display, no paper Mode commands such as display include jam, jam clear, information change, preheat, interrupt, return, change, etc. Further, there are a display control command, a machine operation state command, an initialization command, a diagnosis command, and the like. The display controller 369 of the video controller analyzes these cammonds and updates the display controller data 367. For example, the registration command initializes each screen, and the normal setting command displays the cascade setting status, deletes unnecessary cascades, displays the set number (set count), and the margin value on the normal setting screen. In the conversion command, each displays the mode screen and turns on / off the LED (not shown).}

 _{When the cascade key is operated as described above, the corresponding key is accepted when the cascade key is switched from on to off, continuously pressed for 750 msec, and then continuously pressed for 125 msec. If possible, move 1 rank. Also, if the destination is not mode acceptable, one rank is skipped and the next key is selected. In this operation, when the cascade is up, the corresponding logical code is passed to the job controller as a key reception, and is fed back as display data from the job controller to the video controller.}

 _{“Table” FIG. 30 shows an example of a table prepared in the job controller. The present invention has various tables for key management and copy mode generation in the user interface as described above. In particular, when the present invention is applied to a high-speed copying machine that operates copying at a process speed of 64 cpm and 309 mm / sec, the user interface is connected to a sequence manager (SQMGR subsystem) that manages and controls the machine. Are connected by serial communication, and the machine state information is not passed unless the predetermined communication timing is reached, it is not possible to directly connect the key operation of the user interface and the operation of the machine. Therefore, it is necessary to generate various states and perform key reception management, and a table is used.}

 _{In the job controller, as described above, the user's request is processed by the logical key, and various types of tables are prepared and processed in order to provide input setting information and machine information to the user. The state table 371 is one of them, and is used for managing the reception of keys as described above. FIG. 30A shows the table configuration. The state information includes job state, machine state, run case, con state, state case, and mode information.}

 _{The job state indicates the state of the job controller. As shown in (b), the job state is a normal job (1st job) or an interrupt job (2nd job), and whether the job is in a completed state (COMPLETE) or being executed. (INCOMPLETE) or duplex mode status (S / S, D / S, S / D, D / D) is distinguished by information, and the mode of using the duplex tray (S / D, D / D) In such a case, information about whether the job is in a completed state or being executed is managed. For example, when a document is set on a platen and a set number of 5 copies are executed, INCOMPLETE is executed while the five copies are being executed, that is, until the execution of the five copies is completed. COMPLETE.}

 _{The machine state is information to be remembered when the machine state is received from the main body as shown in FIG. 30C. The main body is in an initial state (INITIARIZE), a so-called operation state (PROGRESS) that has entered a copy cycle, A state where the copy cycle is about to stop (SOFTDOWN COIN), an abnormal stop state such as jam or belt cut (SOFTDOWNPAUSE), a state where paper is automatically ejected after a jam (PURGE), or a machine stop state (STAND-BY) There is information on whether the purge is executed by the start command (PURGE STAND-BY) and the state where the machine is stopped due to a jam (JAM). Therefore, the relationship with the machine operation becomes progress when the start key is operated from standby, and becomes standby again when the normal operation ends through the soft down coin. However, if a jam occurs on the way, it will be a soft down pause, and if it stops, it will jam. Then, if it is necessary to discharge the paper, it becomes a purge standby. When the paper is discharged, it is purged, and when copying is continued again, the process proceeds to progress.}

 _{A run case is one of the key management-specific states created by the state management unit. It is machine state information, and whether or not the stop key was pressed or not in progress or purge, or the platen mode for soft-down coins Whether the start key is not pressed or not, and purge standby has job complete or incomplete information. In the present invention, since there is communication with the main body, the reception of the key changes depending on the communication with the communication. Then, a table corresponding to the key is held in each state such as job state, run case, and state case, and it is searched from the table whether or not it can be accepted.}

 _{A constate is a state created by state management, and has information on ready (RDY), wait (WAIT), J code, caution, U code, and jam. In the state case, it has a J code number. Messages and priorities to be displayed differ depending on the state. The mode information includes information such as auto start, power save, and edit input. Key management is performed based on the above state information.}

 _{FIG. 30 (d) shows the configuration of the copy mode table 378, which consists of main body transmission information from bytes 0 to 12, FEATURE RECOVERY information from bytes 13 to 24, and job statuses from bytes 25 and 26. In addition to the above, the command control unit 373 has a U code table, jam status information, a caution table, and the like. Among these, the U code table is generated from information sent from the main body when an abnormality occurs in the machine, and by creating a constate according to the state case based on this information, the key management unit It is determined whether or not the U code is acceptable. The caution table has information such as interlock opening, tray missing, no paper condition, and the like.}

 _{(C) Flow of processing Next, an example of processing corresponding to the operation by the operator and the state of the machine will be described. First, when the power is turned on and initialized, the key management unit 374 issues an initial screen instruction to the screen switching unit 368 on condition that the state table 371 is in the initial state and there is no key input. In the video controller, in response to this instruction, the screen switching unit 368 sets the display screen of the display control data 367 to the initial screen. When the initial screen is the basic copy screen in the display control data 367, the dialog editing unit 366 reads the basic copy frame from the dialog data 370. Since this frame shows the address of the display control data 367 for each area, the dialog editing unit 366 reads out and edits the display control data 367 based on this address and draws the basic copy screen in the V-RAM 365. . At the same time, the basic copy LED is lit. Here, when the mode selection key for the application copy of the keyboard and the specialized copy is operated, the key management unit 374 checks the key reception condition and similarly issues a screen instruction corresponding to the screen switching unit 368. If the initial screen is a fully automatic screen in the display control data 367, the fully automatic screen is drawn. This setting is performed in the diagnosis mode.}

 _{When the cascade key is operated by the operator and the physical key table 361 is updated in the display state of these screens, the key change detecting unit 361 detects this, and the key converting unit 363 converts it into a logical key. Since the conversion of the cascade key into the logical key differs depending on the screen, the reference position of the conversion table 364 is controlled based on the screen information of the display control data 367 and converted into the logical key. For example, when cascade key 19-3 is operated in FIG. 26, if the screen is a basic copy screen, it is converted to a double-sided copy cascade logical key, but if it is an application copy screen, it is converted to a color cascade logical key. The}

 _{In the key management unit 374, it is determined whether or not the current state is accepted from the state table 371. In this case, acceptance is permitted under the condition of a cascade key on the selection mode screen, and this key is accepted from the key control unit 375 and further from here. Send to state management unit 372. The key control unit 375 updates the copy mode 378 from this key, passes the cascade display information to the display management unit 377, generates an interface command by the display management unit 377, and issues it to the display control unit 369. The display control unit 369 receives the interface command and updates the cascade setting information of the display control data 367. Thereafter, this content is reflected on the screen by the dialog editing unit 366 as described above. When each selection mode screen is switched in this way and each cascade is set, the setting state is displayed on the display, and the copy mode 378 and the state table 371 of the job controller are updated.}

 _{When the start key is operated, the key control unit 375 checks the copy mode 378 and issues a copy execution command. This copy execution command is issued by setting it in the transmission buffer 380, and is transmitted to the main CPU through the serial communication line by the monitor. If the mode setting is inconsistent, a display control interface command is generated from the display management unit 377 and issued to control the message.}

 _{When the copy execution command is issued, the job control unit 376 manages the copy operation for each copy. For example, when the machine starts a copy operation and a machine state command is received by the reception buffer 379 every time, the command control unit 373 analyzes this and notifies the state management unit 372 and the job control unit 376. In response to the machine status command, the job control unit 376 issues commands necessary for machine operation up to the set number for each copy. This is set in the transmission buffer 380 through the command control unit 373. On the other hand, the state management unit 372 updates the state table 371 according to the machine state command. Accordingly, in this state, the key management unit 374 is not permitted to accept mode selection keys, cascade keys, and the like.}

 _{When a jam occurs during copy execution and a jam occurrence command is received from the machine, the information is passed to the job control unit 376 and the state management unit 372 through the command control unit 373. As a result, the state table 371 is updated when a jam occurs, and the job is interrupted. Then, the key control unit 375 recognizes the occurrence position of the jam and passes the information to the display management unit 377, so that the jam management parameter is added to the interface by the jam management parameter added from the display management unit 377. Generate and issue a command. Therefore, the display control unit 369 processes this command and updates the display control data 367 to the contents of the jam screen display, thereby lowering the screen brightness by one rank and overwriting the screen representing the jam zone. The jam screen appears on the display.}

 _{Also, in the machine status command, the remaining amount of toner, the state of the collected bottle, the paper out, the interlock open, etc. are recognized by the key control unit 375, and the message area, maintenance information area, count part, etc. Take control. For example, when the power is turned on, the diagnosis mode is changed by a special operation of simultaneously operating the all clear key. This mode is also recognized by the key control unit 375 through the key management unit 374. Then, a diagnosis command is issued through the display management unit 377 to control the diagnosis screen. In this mode, a specific area of the display control data 367 can be registered and set, and cannot be set in a normal mode other than the diagnosis mode. For example, the setting of whether to display the fully automatic screen but not to display the fully automatic screen is one of them.}

 _{(III-3) Pop-up screen display Pop-up display consists of a number of choices and sentences, and when those displays do not fit within the screen, the selected mode is expanded and expanded as an extension of the currently displayed screen. In the display, a part of the screen being displayed is overwritten with a close-up window in a specific mode. The pop-up open is canceled when there is another key input, such as when the cascade key is further operated before 750 msec elapses after selecting a pop-up target mode and 750 msec elapses. This is to eliminate wasteful response processing for transient mode selection as in other mode determinations. Such a pop-up open makes it possible to select a mode on the pop-up window with the cascade key corresponding to the part, while preventing the mode of the part hidden by the pop-up window from being changed with the cascade key.}

 _{For pop-up close, when “Close” (close key) on the pop-up window is selected and a certain time elapses, for example after 500 msec, the screen change key, auto-clear key, or other keys outside the pop-up window (including cascake) are operated This is performed when the preheating mode is entered or when the interruption mode is entered. Therefore, when the screen is changed once and the original screen is restored, the previous pop-up is closed. When the close key is operated to close the pop-up, it is displayed that the pop-up is closed in a cascade and no other key input is accepted.}

 _{(A) Screen Data In the present invention, a screen database is basically stored in the ROM as dialog data 370 as shown in FIG. As a result, it is possible to edit with one screen data by changing a specific display block. FIG. 31 (a) shows the configuration of the dialog data memory space, which uses eight 32 kbyte chips and is accessed by a page (Page Number) and an absolute address (AbsoluteAdtdess). Then, as shown in the figure, a part of page 0 is used as a jump table, and the data storage address of each screen (frame) is pointed to allow access by the screen number (frame number and pop-up number). As shown in (b), the basic data structure consists of an ID, page, absolute address, and a display position (Screen Position) with and without a display position. For example, message data (Message Variable), numerical data such as set count (Numeric Variable), shape data with fixed display contents (Figure Variable), variable data (Elementary Variable) whose contents change depending on the mounting status of the device, removal It is used for blink data (Blink Variable) for blinking the displayed tray, etc., cascade data (Presettable Variable) that can be set in advance, basic frame data, pop-up frame data, and the like.}

 _{As shown in (c), the entire data structure of the dialog data is as follows: jump table JT, frames F1, F2,... Constituting frames such as basic frame BF and popup frame PF constituting each frame, object reference OR, The object data OD stores the specific display data. The object data OD has actual display information, and the others are pointers of a hierarchical structure (tree structure) as indicated by arrows. Then, full screen data is prepared in the configuration frame, and all display data corresponding to each screen is prepared as a pair of object reference OR and object data OD, and reference information of object reference OR (Test Variable) is used. For example, in the case of data in the setting state display area displayed on / off, on data and off data are prepared in the object reference OR and the object data OD, and which is used depends on the display control data at the address indicated by the reference information. It depends on the setting of 367. That is, the reference information (Test Variable) indicates the reference address of the display control data 367, and the display control unit 369 (FIG. 29) may set data at the address according to the copy mode and the mounting state of the additional device. Therefore, display control according to whether or not a sorter is mounted is the same.}

 _{Next, each data structure will be described in detail. The jump table JT includes a page and an absolute address corresponding to each frame, and points to the start address of the corresponding frame F1, F2,. Frames F1, F2,... Are a basic copy screen, an application copy screen, a specialized copy screen, a review screen, an information screen, a jam screen, and the like. Each frame has “Possibilities” information indicating the number of data at the head, and thereafter points to the head address of each constituent frame consisting of a basic frame and a pop-up frame by “ID” and a data address. For example, in the case of a basic copy screen, the constituent frames include a basic frame BF without pop-up, a pop-up frame with magnification, and a pop-up frame PF with copy density. Similarly, the constituent frames such as basic frame BF and pop-up frame PF have “Possibilities” information at the head, and then point to the head addresses of all object references OR that make up the frame by “ID” and data address. In addition, it has a leading display device (Screen Position). The object reference OR has reference information (Test Variable) including the address of the display control data 367 after the “Posibilities” information, maximum display area information (Max Height & Width), and each object data OD. Correspondingly, “ID”, data address, reverse and gray display mode data (Rev / Gray), and constant data (Constant) follow. For example, in the case of message data, if there are k message data, the object reference OR has data from constants “0” to “k”, each pointing to the object data OD of the corresponding message data. . So, if the character string of the object data of the constant “0” pointed to by the object reference OR is “Can be copied” and that of the constant “1” is “Copying”, this object reference OR By writing “0” from the display control unit 369 to the display control data 367 at the address indicated by the reference information, “Can be copied” can be displayed, and “1” is “Copying”. "Can be displayed. In this way, in the object reference OR, for example, in the case of message data, all data is prepared for each of the upper message and the lower message. In the dialog editing unit 366, the object data OD is selected based on the reference information in the object reference OR, and the object data OD that is pointed to is processed to read, for example, the character “Can be copied.” Write to V-RAM.}

_{If the object data OD is numerical data, only one line is used, so there is no height information (Height), and the data width (number of tiles, width), Gothic font, Mincho font, etc. are specified. Data, display attribute data such as reverse, and reference information (Test Var.) Follow. Numerical values to be displayed such as a count value and a magnification value are written in the display control data 367 of the address designated by the reference information. Similarly the size of the area in the case of gray scale (Height, Width) and level (off "00", the level 1 "01", level 2 "10",} ...) _{is followed. In this way, the dialog data includes data of various personalities, and the same (d) shows the data classified on the basic copy screen.}

 _{In the basic copy screen shown in (a), as described above, the setting state display area and the sorter cascade name data EV (Elementary Variable) are displayed on / off. Therefore, in the case of such data, as shown in (e), the reference data is a pair of ON and OFF (blank) by constants “1” and “0”. Accordingly, “1” or “0” is written in the display control data at the address specified by the reference information (Test Variable). In the case of “1”, for example, “sorter” is displayed, and in the case of “0”. It will be blank.}

 _{(F) shows an example of a data structure applied to a fixed cascade without change. In the basic copy screen shown in (d), it is applied to each cascade of reduction / enlargement, double-sided copying, and copy density. Data is CV (Cascade Variable). In this data, the object reference OR has a framed (ON) and frameless (OFF) reference for each cascade as a series of data. A cascade number indicating a frame is written in the display control data at the address specified by the reference information (Test Variable). Accordingly, in the case of this data, only the cascade with frame specified in the display control data is selected as data with frame (ON), and the other cascade is selected with no frame (OFF). As described above, when there is a frame, a frame (shadow) that gives a stereoscopic effect is displayed on the right side and the lower side, and the back is displayed with high luminance, and when there is no frame, the back is displayed in gray gradation. (G) shows an example of a data structure applied to a blink such as a tray. In the basic copy screen shown in (d), data BL (Blink applied to the display area of the tray excluding manual feed is displayed. Variable). In this data, when the blink specification data is set in the display control data at the address specified by the reference information (TestVariable), the area specified by the top display position (Screen Position) and size (Height, Width) is blinked. Set to. In other words, this data is set for all the areas to be subjected to blink display. (H) shows an example of a data structure applied to cascades whose settings can be changed in advance. In the basic copy screen shown in (d), data PCs applied to each cascade of paper trays and sorters. (Presettable Cascade Variable). This data has the reference information for controlling the cascade with a frame, the address of the group (Group of Figures) having “ID” and the reference information of each cascade, and then the reference information corresponding to each cascade position ( Tech Rep Variable) and top display position (Screen Position). Then, options are set in the display control data indicated by the reference information (Tech Rep Variable) corresponding to each cascade.}

 _{(I) to (m) show examples of specifications of display control data. The display control unit 369 sets display control data in accordance with the usage shown here. For example, when the job memory cascade is set to a value other than the default on the specialized copy screen, the display control unit 369 writes “1” to the address AOC of the display control data 367. Therefore, when the basic copy screen is displayed, the cascade name of “job memory” is displayed in the setting state display area. FIG. 32 is a diagram for explaining the screen editing process. FIG. 32A shows the flow of the process, and FIG. 32B shows an example of the module configuration.}

 _{As described above, in the present invention, the V-RAM is duplicated, and when a part of the screen is changed, only the part is rewritten. Flickering when changing the display screen is eliminated by switching the V-RAM after expanding the data in the RAM. Therefore, in the screen editing process, it is necessary to first determine whether or not the rewriting process is for one screen as shown in FIG. The screen is edited and expanded in accordance with the frame No., pop-up No., and display control data settings as described above. Therefore, when the frame number or pop-up number is changed, the screen is naturally rewritten and the back V-RAM is used, but all cascades are reset to default even when the all clear key is operated. Therefore, since each cascade moves, the content of change increases and the back V-RAM is used. Therefore, it is first determined whether the process uses the back V-RAM or rewrites a part of the front V-RAM (step).}

 _{In the case of screen rewriting processing, dialog initialization is performed. In this process, the top address of dialog data is obtained from the frame number and pop-up number, and the dialog read pointer is set (step). Then, a check process is performed for each block by the number of “Possibility” from the configuration information group to check whether it is a fixed item or a variable item (step). In the case of YES (in the case of a fixed item), after the screen gray check is performed, the read process is started and output to the back V-RAM to expand the display data (steps ~). If NO (variable item), register the address of configuration information and reference information (Test Variable) in the update table, and when all variable items are registered, set the EOF (end of file) code in the update table (Step ~).}

 _{When the above processes are performed by the number of “Possiblity”, the update table is checked one block at a time until the EOF code, and the same processes as the above are performed (steps). The screen rewriting process is performed as described above. When the determination process is NO, the next partial rewriting process is performed. In the partial rewriting process, the update data table is checked and the changed item dialog data is read, the display block data is created, and the table V-RAM is output.}

 _{(III-4) Configuration of Display Screen In the user interface of the present invention, the CRT display is effectively used to the maximum and the configuration of the key / LED board is simplified. Among them, the screen is simple and easy to see, and the screen is divided in order to effectively perform selection setting, confirmation, and message transmission functions. The screen includes a selection mode screen for selecting the copy mode, a review screen for checking the copy mode setting status, a fully automatic screen for executing copying in the standard mode, and a multifunctional copy mode. The screen includes an information screen that provides a screen, a jam screen that appropriately displays the position when a jam occurs. In addition, the selection mode screen has many functions and is complicated on one screen, and some functions are not only commonly used but also specialized functions. Is divided into three. The divided screens can be selected and switched by appropriate mode selection keys 308 to 310, and desired functions can be selected and set on the respective screens. Furthermore, the screen is divided into a selection area, a setting state display area for other modes, a message area, and the like, so that information can be accurately transmitted to the user according to the operation state.}

 _{In the present invention, among these various screens, for example, in the selection mode screen and the information screen, for items where all information cannot be displayed at once, a pop-up screen for expanding the detailed items is provided, and an option having the screen is selected. If the key code is entered or the key code is entered, the pop-up screen is overwritten to simplify the original screen and make the screen structure easy to understand. In addition, for example, by adding identification information using an icon (pictogram) to an option having a pop-up screen, the operator is informed that there is a pop-up screen on the screen. A recognition algorithm can be added to make it possible to easily determine whether there is a pop-up screen. Similarly to the pop-up screen, the jam screen is overwritten on the current screen when a jam occurs.}

 _{Fig. 33 shows an example of a basic copy screen and its pop-up screen, Fig. 34 shows an example of a pop-up screen with an application copy screen, Fig. 35 shows an example of a specialized copy screen and its pop-up screen, and Fig. 36 shows an information screen. FIG. 3 shows an example of a jam screen. As the selection mode screen, three screens of basic copy, application copy, and professional copy shown in FIGS. 33 to 35 are selected, and are switched and displayed on the CRT display by operating the mode selection keys 308 to 310. Of these screens, the most commonly used functions are classified and grouped into the basic copy screen, and the next most frequently used function is identified and grouped into the application copy screen. The specialized copy screen categorizes and classifies the special technical functions. Each selection mode screen is basically divided into a message area A consisting of two lines from the top, a setting state display area B consisting of three lines, and a selection area C consisting of nine lines.}

 _{The message area A displays a J code message when there is a contradiction in the copy execution conditions, a U code message when a hardware failure needs to be contacted by a service person, a C code message that prompts the operator to pay various attentions, etc. Is done. Among these, the J code message is provided with a copy execution condition combination check table according to the setting contents of each cascade. When the start key 318 is operated, a check is performed with reference to the table and a copy mode is inconsistent. It is. In the setting state display area B, the selection state of the other mode, for example, the selection state of the application copy and the professional copy is displayed on the basic copy screen. In the display of this selection state, this cascade is displayed when the cascade state of the selection area C is other than the default (re-lower stage). In the selection area C, the cascade name is displayed at the top, the bottom of each cascade area is the default area, and the area above it is a non-default area. Can be selected.}

 _{Therefore, when no selection operation is performed, a default area is selected, and the default state is the fully automatic copy mode. The selection area is selected and set by the lower cascade keys 319-1 to 319-5 corresponding to the cascade area divided into five vertically. The right side of the message area A is used as a count section for displaying a set count and a maid count, and the lower one line of the setting state display area B is used as a maintenance information section for toner bottle full, toner replenishment, and the like. The contents of the cascade area of each selection mode screen will be described below.}

 _{(A) Basic Copy Screen The basic copy screen is composed of a cascade of “paper tray”, “reduction / enlargement”, “double-sided copy”, “copy density”, and “sorter” as shown in FIG. In the “paper tray”, automatic is the default, and in this case, a tray containing the same paper as the document size is automatically selected. A manual feed tray, a large capacity tray, an upper tray, a middle tray, or a lower tray can be selected using an area other than the default by operating the cascade key. Each tray column displays the paper size, type, and icon (pictogram) so that the paper stored can be easily identified. There are a setting for feeding the paper in the longitudinal direction and a setting for feeding the paper in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.}

 _{“Reduce / Enlarge” defaults to the same size, and can be selected automatically, fixed / arbitrary by operating the cascade key. In the automatic mode, the magnification is automatically set according to the selected paper size and copied. The magnification (line magnification) can be arbitrarily set in increments of 1% from 50% to 200%. When fixed / arbitrary is selected by the operation of the cascade key, the specific contents to be set are shown in FIG. It is displayed by the pop-up screen shown in (b), and can select a fixed magnification consisting of 7 levels of 50.7%, 70%, 81%, 100%, 121%, 141%, and 200%, and 1% each An arbitrary magnification that continuously changes can be selected and set. In this pop-up screen, numerical value selection information is expanded as a detailed item of a fixed magnification option, and numerical value input information is expanded as a detailed item of an arbitrary magnification option.}

 _{“Double-sided copy” is defaulted to one side, and other than the default, double-sided single-sided, double-sided double-sided, and single-sided double-sided can be selected in relation to document copying. For example, double-sided / single-sided is for performing single-sided copying on a double-sided original, and single-sided / double-sided is for making a single-sided original to be duplexed. In the case of making a double-sided copy, a copy sheet that has been copied on the first side is first accommodated in a duplex tray. Next, the copy sheet is sent out again from the duplex tray, and copying is performed on the reverse side.}

 _{“Copy Density” defaults to “Auto”, and can be set in seven levels other than the default, and can also be set in seven levels in the photo mode. This content is set by a pop-up screen shown in FIG. This pop-up screen not only develops density level selection information as a detailed item of copy density options, but also develops the presence or absence of a related photo copy. As for “sorter”, copy acceptance is the default, and collation and stack can be selected as other than the default. Collating is a mode in which copy sheets are sorted into each bin of the sorter, and stack mode is a mode in which copy sheets are stacked in order. As shown in the figure, an icon that is filled in an option having a pop-up screen is additionally displayed as identification information.}

 _{(B) Application Copy Screen The application copy screen is composed of a cascade of “special document”, “binding margin”, “color”, “interleaf”, and “discharge surface” as shown in FIG. "Special manuscript" is a two-catch function (2-UP) that copies two originals of the same size to one sheet in a cascade other than the default, and counts the holes in the computer's continuous book output one page at a time The function to copy (CFF; computer form feeder) and the function to copy large originals such as A2 / B3 (LDC) can be selected. The latter two functions are expanded in the pop-up screen shown in Fig. 34 (b) and (c). The}

 _{Since these pop-up screens are functions closely related to the paper tray, the detailed items of this option are also expanded. Thus, not only the functions related to the options but also the detailed items of the related functions are displayed. By deploying together, it is possible to select and set related functions on a single screen while maintaining consistency with related options, improving operability and reducing inconsistent selection settings and errors. Has improved.}

 _{"Binding margin" sets "binding margin" in the range of 1mm to 16mm at the right or left edge of the copy, and the right binding, left binding, and binding margin length can be set other than the default The detailed items can be developed on the pop-up screen shown in FIGS. 34 (d) and 34 (e). In this pop-up screen, icons are added in consideration of reducing errors in recognizing detail items, and numerical input information is developed by a frame display. “Color” defaults to black, and red can be selected other than the default. “Interleaf” is a function for inserting a blank sheet in the middle of OHP copying, and can be selected other than the default. The “discharge surface” can be selected other than the default so that either the front surface or the back surface is forcibly designated and discharged.}

 _{(C) Special copy screen The special copy screen is composed of a cascade of “job memory”, “edit / combine”, “same fine adjustment”, and “blank” as shown in FIG. “Job memory” is a page program that uses a card. It registers multiple jobs, and automatically copies them by calling them and pressing the start key. Registration and call can be selected other than the default, and detailed items are expanded on the pop-up screens shown in FIGS. 35 (b) and 35 (c).}

 _{“Edit / Combine” can select an edit function and a composite function other than the default. The editing function is a function for inputting data for editing using an editor or the like. The editing function is expanded on the pop-up screen shown in FIG. 35 (d) and further shown in FIGS. 35 (e) to (j). The details of each function of area specification, marking color, extraction / deletion, partial photo, and partial color can be expanded and selected on the pop-up screen. For the partial color, only the specified area is copied with one color, and the remaining part is copied with black. The partial photo copies the photo to the designated area, and the partial deletion does not copy the designated area. For example, when an area to be marked is designated, the marking color is recorded by superimposing a pale color on the portion, and the effect is as if the marking was performed.}

 _{The composition function is a function that uses a duplex tray to copy one sheet from two documents, and is expanded by a pop-up screen shown in FIG. 35 (k). The composition function includes sheet composition and parallel composition. is there. The sheet composition is a function for recording both the original document of FIG. 1 and the original document of FIG. 2 on a single sheet, and copying the original document of FIG. 1 and the original document of FIG. 2 with different colors. Is possible. On the other hand, the parallel composition is a function for creating a composite copy on one sheet in a form in which the entire original of FIG. 2 is attached to the entire original of FIG. “Same size fine adjustment” is set in increments of 0.15% at a magnification of 99% to 101%. This function can be selected in other than the default, and the details are expanded by the pop-up screen shown in Fig. 35 (1). Is done.}

 _{“Blank erase” does not copy the image information in the peripheral part of the document, but sets a “frame” around the image information. A full-size copy mode in which arbitrary dimensions are set on the pop-up screen shown in FIG. As shown in the pop-up screen developed on the specialized copy screen, the function selection settings are specialized and complicated, so icons are added and details of related functions are also expanded, etc. Make full use of display techniques.}

 _{(D) Information screen The information screen is a screen for providing an explanation screen for how to make a copy for each of the copy modes as shown in FIG. 36 (a), and is displayed by operating the information key 302. By inputting the information code displayed on the screen from the numeric keypad, an explanation screen is displayed by a pop-up screen as shown in (b) and (c). This pop-up screen is different from the development of the detailed items of the choices adopted in the setting mode screen, and the so-called index is used as a choice, and the detailed contents are developed by text.}

 _{(E) Jam screen As shown in FIGS. 37 (a) and 37 (b), the jam screen is displayed so as to overlap the screen displayed during the copy execution, and the brightness of the original screen is lowered by one rank. This makes the contents of the jam display clearer. The feature of this jam screen is that the inside is expressed in black according to the image of the main body, a picture of the door handle is added, and a message of door open is added.}

 _{(F) Other Configuration Screen FIG. 38 shows an example of a review screen and a fully automatic screen. The review screen displays the state of the Coby mode selected on each of the above selection mode screens divided into three, and as shown in FIG. 38 (a), the cascade setting of each selection mode screen is set. The status is displayed on one screen. In this review screen, the selection item, that is, the cascade name and the mode that is currently selected, that is, the option, is displayed. When the selected mode is the default, for example, gray background is displayed. A background display is used. In this way, by distinguishing between the default state and the non-default state, the cascade (option) other than the default changed from the fully automatic mode is displayed prominently. The screen configuration is divided into basic copy, application copy, and professional copy modes, and is displayed in three levels. The display position is made to correspond to the position of the mode selection key, and the screen selection key is indicated by a white arrow. This makes it easy to understand the switching from the review screen to each mode screen. This display allows the operator to check the setting state of each cascade, improving operability and reducing copy mistakes.}

 _{The fully automatic screen shown in FIG. 38 (b) is displayed when the power is turned on, when the preheat key 306 is operated (released) in the preheat mode, or when the all clear key 316 is operated. This is a screen in a state where all the cascades of the selection mode screens are selected as defaults. On this screen, when a document is set on the platen as instructed, the number of copies is set with the numeric keypad, and the start key 318 is pressed, the same size paper as the document is selected and the set number of copies is executed.}

 _{(G) Screen change The screen is changed on the basis of the conditions shown in FIG. First, when the power is turned on and initialization (initialization) is completed, the basic copy screen is displayed when there is no instruction to shift to the diagnosis mode. This basic copy screen is further displayed by operating the all clear key, the basic copy mode selection key, and the preheat key at the preheat screen, and the application copy screen, specialized copy screen, and review screen are the mode select keys. The display is switched by operation. The start key is accepted only on these screens, and the copy operation can be executed. On the specialized copy screen, when editing or a job program is selected, the screen changes to the input screen. When the input is completed, the original specialized copy screen is restored. In addition, when the information key is operated from these screens, and further when the code is input, the information screen is displayed, and the preheating key (power save key) is operated to shift to the preheating screen. When a jam occurs, the jam screen is displayed in an overlapping manner on the selection mode screen when the copy is executed. The seizure prevention screen is shifted to the original screen by the operation of the timer when there is no key input even if a predetermined time elapses with any of the above screens, and returns to the original screen by the key operation.}

 _{(H) Display Mode FIG. 40 shows examples of screen layout types. According to the present invention, as described above, the information is divided into a plurality of screens and switched and displayed, thereby reducing unnecessary information and simplifying information on one screen. These are shown, for example, in FIG. Classified into screen layout. That is, (a) is the layout of the selection mode screen, (b) is the layout of the review screen, fully automatic image screen, editing input screen, job program screen, etc., (c) is the preheating screen, anti-seize screen, and information. This is the layout of the screen, diagnostic screen, etc.}

 _{In the present invention, an accented and easy-to-understand screen is configured by changing the display mode according to the display area of these layouts and the input setting state thereof. For example, the layout selection mode screen shown in FIG. 40A is divided into a message area (including a count area), a setting state display area (including a maintenance information area), and a selection area as described above. The display mode of each area is changed. For example, in the message area including the count portion, the back is black and only the character string of the message is displayed with high brightness, and the same expression as the back lid type console panel is adopted. In the setting state display area, the background is displayed in a mesh pattern, that is, dots are displayed brightly and darkly at a predetermined uniform density, and the display part of the cascade name is displayed in reverse (characters are dark and the background is brightly displayed). In other words, this display is a representation of each cascade name in a card image. Furthermore, the lower one line of the setting status display area is used as a maintenance information area for toner bottle fullness, toner replenishment, etc. This information is different from the setting status display information, so the difference is clear. In order to be able to confirm, the same display mode as the message area is adopted. In the selection area, the surroundings are displayed in a mesh pattern, and the entire cascade display area is displayed in gray with low brightness, and the choices and cascade names are displayed in reverse video. In addition to this display, the back of the set option area is displayed in high brightness (inverted display). For example, the back of a tray that has run out of paper in the basic copy screen due to paper tray cascading has a black back. The characters are displayed with high brightness.}

 _{The fully automatic screen shown in FIG. 38 (b) has the screen layout shown in FIG. 40 (b). On this screen, the background of the display area is displayed in a dark mesh, and each operation instruction such as “original setting” is displayed. The area has a bright mesh display and the border is trimmed to improve the clarity of the display and make it easy to see. Of course, the display mode of the background can be freely changed and combined as appropriate. In particular, borders of areas such as high brightness (normal brightness with paper white) display, gray gradation display with reduced brightness, display with a predetermined brightness / dark dot density, etc. are visually displayed by bordering as shown. Gives the image of the card. Thus, by performing the border display while changing the display mode of the background of each area, the display contents of each area can be clearly distinguished for the operator, and an easy-to-see screen is provided. Moreover, also in the display of characters, by displaying in reverse or blinking, it is possible to call the user a characteristic attention for each display information.}

 _{In addition to devising the back of the character string and the change in brightness of the character as described above, the present invention is intended to add icons (pictograms) to other character strings of choices and cascade names. There is also a feature in that the characterized display mode is adopted. For example, on the basic copy screen, the cascade names “reduction / enlargement”, “double-sided copy”, “copy density”, “sorter” are added to the head, and “paper tray” can be selected in the lower, middle, and upper stages. This is what is added after the paper size. This icon visually conveys information to the user from another aspect, that is, the information accent is faded only by the character string, and depending on the content of the information, it is necessary more accurately and intuitively than the character string There is a great merit in that it is possible to transmit simple information to the user.}

 _{(III-5) Key / LED board and display display circuit (A) The key / LED board user interface is composed of a CRT display and a key / LED board as shown in FIG. Since the screen is configured to display and set options, the device is designed to minimize the number of keys and LEDs on the key / LED board. In other words, as described above, in order to effectively use the CRT display, the screen displayed on the CRT display is divided, and the area is divided into each screen to organize the display contents and configure an easy-to-view screen. It is devised as follows. For example, the selection mode screen is divided and displayed in three divisions: basic copy, application copy, and specialized copy, and the selection area of each screen is divided into five cascade areas, and function selection settings are made in each cascade area. I am doing so.}

 _{Functions can be selected and set by eight keys, ie, mode selection keys 308 to 310 for switching screens and cascade keys 319-1 to 319-5 for selecting each cascade area. Therefore, if any of the basic copy screen, application copy screen, and specialized copy screen is selected by operating the mode selection keys 308 to 310, numerical values can be input using the numeric keypad 307 except for the operation of the cascade keys 319-1 to 319-5. Only all functions can be selected and copying by a desired function can be executed. Cascade keys 319-1 to 319-5 are a pair of an upward movement key and a downward movement key in order to select and set a function by moving the setting cursor up and down in each cascade area.}

 _{As described above, since both sides of the selection mode are selected by the mode selection keys 308 to 310 from the three and only one of them is displayed, it is possible to determine which mode selection key 308 to 310 the screen is selected. LEDs 311 to 313 are used for display. That is, when the mode selection keys 308 to 310 are operated to display the selection mode screen, the LEDs 311 to 313 corresponding to the mode selection keys 308 to 310 are turned on. When many functions are provided, it is not easy for the user to learn and use all the functions. Therefore, the information key 302 is used to provide an explanation screen for how to make a copy for each copy mode. This information function is executed as follows. First, when the information key 302 is operated, a list of information codes is displayed on an information index screen as shown in FIG. When the information code specified on this screen is selected and input with the numeric keypad 307, the screen shifts to an information pop-up screen corresponding to the code, and an explanation screen for the copy mode is displayed there.}

 _{In addition, the selection mode screen is divided into three as described above, and various functions defined by the three screens are selected and set, so that the entire setting state including other screens can be confirmed. It is also required to do. Therefore, the review key 303 is used to confirm the setting state of such a full screen. This review key 303 is a key for displaying a review screen. When this key is operated, a review screen as shown in FIG. 33 (b) showing the setting states for all screens of basic copy, application copy, and professional copy is displayed. Is displayed.}

 _{The dual language key 304 is a key for switching the language of the display screen. In many cases, users who use various different languages share an apparatus with internationalization. Even in such an environment, display data and font memory are prepared in, for example, two languages, Japanese and English, in order to eliminate language problems. By switching the display data and font memory by operating the dual language key 304, Japan The display screen can be output by freely switching between Japanese and English. It should be noted that not only two languages but also a plurality of languages may be facilitated, and the language may be switched in a predetermined order by operating the dual language key 304, or a Japanese dialect may be added.}

 _{The preheating key 306 sets a preheating mode in order to save power consumption in a non-use state and to enable a quick transition from the non-use state to a copy operation. Switch to fully automatic mode. Therefore, the LED 305 is used to indicate which state it is in. The all clear key 316 is used to clear the copying machine, that is, to set the fully automatic mode set as the default of each selection mode screen, and displays the fully automatic screen. This is the content of a screen that informs the operator that the current copy mode is a fully automatic mode, as shown in FIG.}

 _{The interrupt key 315 is used when continuous copying is being performed and another urgent copy needs to be taken. When the interrupt processing is completed, the interrupt key 315 is used to return to the original copy work. Is also released. The LED 314 displays whether the interrupt key 315 is in an interrupt state or in a released state. A stop key 317 is used when the copy operation is stopped halfway, when setting the number of copies, or when setting a sorter bin. The start key 318 is operated when the function selection and its execution conditions are completed and the copy operation is started.}

 _{FIG. 41A shows an example of a keyboard scan setting map, and FIG. 41B shows an example of an LED scan setting map. As described above, the key / LED is processed by the keyboard / display controller 336 by generating a scan time of 4.98 msec from the 102 kHz clock. In the scan, as shown in FIG. 8 scans from “7” to “7” are defined as one cycle, each scan is composed of 1-byte data from “0” to “7”, and the physical table described above is generated. Similarly, the LEDs are also on / off controlled by a scan map as shown in FIG.}

 _{(B) Display FIG. 42 shows the display timing, FIG. 43 shows an example of V-RAM address correspondence, FIG. 44 shows the correspondence between the V-RAM address of FIG. 1 and the CRT display position, and FIG. FIG. 46 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondence between a dot pattern, data, and a scan address, for explaining the readout circuit of the generator. As the CRT display 301, for example, a 9-inch display is used, and a paper white display color and a non-glare surface treatment are used. Using this size screen, if the total number of dots is 480, 240, the dot pitch is 0.33 mm, 0.46 mm, and the tile (character) dot configuration is 8 (16), the display area is 160 mm (H), 110 mm (V). The number of tiles is 60 ra15. So, if Kanji characters are displayed in 16 dots and 16 dots and alphanumeric characters and symbols are displayed in 8 dots and 16 dots, 30 characters in 15 characters can be displayed using two tiles.}

_{In addition, normal brightness, gray 1, gray 2, and black levels are designated for each tile, and display such as reverse and blink is also performed. As shown in FIG. 42, the input signal timing of such display is as follows. When the dot frequency fd is 10 MHz and 480 × 240, the video data is processed for 64} μS _{for 48} μS with _{the period of the horizontal synchronizing signal as shown in FIG. The video data is processed for 15.36 mS with the period of the vertical synchronization signal of mS.}

 _{The clock generation circuit 353 generates a clock having the dot frequency output from the parallel / serial conversion circuit 355, and divides the frequency into the read cycle of parallel dot data read from the character generator 342 by the counter 354. Accordingly, dot data of a plurality of bits is input from the character generator 342 to the parallel / serial conversion circuit 355 by the output clock of the counter 354, and is sent to the attribute addition circuit 356 as serial data. The attribute addition circuit 356 receives a blanking signal from the CRT controller 335 and controls the video signal according to the attribute data only during the display period. The one-shot circuit 348 generates an interrupt signal for the U / I CPU 46 using a vertical synchronization blanking signal among the blanking signals output from the CRT controller 335.}

 _{Video data written in the V-RAM 340 is composed of 16 bits per tile, 12 bits of which represent the character generator code, and the remaining 4 bits represent the attributes. Therefore, the V-RAM 340 is configured to write the code of the character generator in the RAM-L corresponding to the address of the CRT screen, and the upper 4 bits and the attribute 4 bits in the RAM-H. Holds 2 screens.}

 _{As shown in FIG. 43, the V-RAM 340 address is independently managed by the U / I CPU 46 and the CRT controller 335, and video data is written to the V-RAM 340 by the U / I CPU 46. The display to 301 is performed by the CRT controller 335. For example, when viewing the address of the V-RAM 340 from the CRT controller 335, it becomes as shown in FIG. 44, and the code and attribute of the character generator are written in the addresses “0”, “1”,.}

 _{Therefore, the CRT controller 335 reads the corresponding address data “D0” (L side) and “D0” (H side) in synchronization with the display timing by the circuit shown in FIG. 45, and generates the raster address “RA”. By accessing the character generator, the scan line data “D0” of each tile is output to the parallel / serial conversion circuit 355. For example, the dot pattern of the Chinese character “Wealth” can be expressed as shown in FIG. 46, but since the Chinese character is composed of two tiles as described above, the left side first corresponds to the scan address “A0”. The output “D0” with the half as a tile and the output “D0” with the right half as a tile are the outputs of the character generator 341.}

 _{Note that a 4-bit attribute is also read in correspondence with the output of the tile. FIG. 47 shows a configuration example of a video signal control circuit according to the attribute data. As shown in this figure, video data and reverse signal attribute data are logically processed by an EXOR circuit when the reverse signal is on (high level), and the video data is inverted, and the output is output by an AND circuit. If the blink signal is turned on by processing, the signal level may be changed by a gray signal by turning on / off with a clock.}

 _{As described above in the selection mode screen, the background is changed so that the divided areas are clearly displayed or the attention area such as the position of the cascade is clearly displayed. Display and reverse display are used. Furthermore, for example, as shown in FIG. 38B, the control of the background display mode by dots is generated by the dot pattern of the tile. That is, the background of the “original set”, “number of copies”, and “start” display areas in FIG. 38B and the background outside thereof change the display mode by changing the dot density of the tiles.}

 _{As described above, the video signal displayed on the CRT screen is selected by switching the V-RAM in FIG. 1 and the V-RAM in FIG. 2 by dynamically changing the start address of the CRT controller 335. Read out and displayed. For this purpose, the U / I CPU 46 is provided with a port for inputting a blanking start signal and a display period signal and a port for outputting a display permission signal. Then, the U / I CPU 46 is interrupted at the falling edge at the start of the CRT blanking period by the blanking start signal, and recognizes the CRT display state by the display period signal. In addition, display permission and prohibition are instructed by a display permission signal.}

 _{In addition, this invention is not limited to said Example, A various deformation | transformation is possible. For example, in the above embodiment, a pop-up screen that overwrites some of the options on the copy mode setting screen, the explanation of the information screen, and the display of the jam screen is used. However, the pop-up screen may be applied to the expansion of other items. May be switched to the original screen instead of being overwritten, or may be displayed in a multi-window type. Also, the pop-up screen was closed when a special key input or transition to a specific mode was triggered, but when the pop-up screen is expanded, the operator may be confused and the next operation will be delayed. It may be automatically closed when no key is input even after a certain period of time has elapsed after the pop-up screen is expanded.}

 _{(III-6) Pop-up Screen Display at Interruption The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the planes. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings for understanding of the present invention. The following embodiments are examples embodying the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.}

 _{(A) First Embodiment The first embodiment describes a display device that converts a pop-up screen display to each display character such as an icon and a message at the end of the display screen when the interrupt mode is entered. The processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.}

 _{First, a copying operation is performed, and the enlargement / reduction key (FIG. 54) is pressed (S20). A pop-up screen (FIG. 55) is displayed (S21). Next, when the interrupt mode is not selected (S22), normal copying is performed in S28. When the interrupt mode is selected (S22), the process proceeds to S23, and the pop-up screen is converted into display characters such as icons and messages at the left end (FIG. 56) (S23). The display state returns to the initial screen state. Then, an interrupt job is performed (S24). The interrupt job ends (S25). The user selects a characterized pop-up screen (left end in FIG. 56) (S26). The pop-up screen is redisplayed (FIG. 55). Return to the first job. Then, the job ends.}

 _{(B) Second Embodiment The second embodiment explains that when entering the interrupt mode, the pop-up screen display is hidden behind the back screen of the display screen displaying the multiple options. The processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, a copying operation is performed, and the enlargement / reduction key (FIG. 54) is pressed (S30).}

 _{A pop-up screen (FIG. 55) is displayed (S31). Next, when the interrupt mode is not selected (S32), normal copying is performed in S38. When the interrupt mode is selected (S32), the process proceeds to S33, and the pop-up screen display is hidden behind the display screen displaying the plurality of options (FIG. 57) (S33). However, the area displaying the pop-up screen is indicated by a line different from the line indicating the display screen for displaying the plurality of options, specifically, a broken line. Thereby, it is possible to visually grasp that the pop-up screen is displayed and the area where the pop-up screen is displayed. Then, the display state returns to the initial screen state. Then, an interrupt job is performed (S34). The interrupt job ends (S35). The user selects a pop-up screen hidden behind the back screen (FIG. 57) (S36). The pop-up screen is redisplayed (FIG. 55). Return to the first job. Then, the job ends.}

 _{(C) Third Embodiment The third embodiment describes a display device that automatically registers as a shortcut key when entering an interrupt mode. The processing procedure is described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. explain.}

 _{First, a copying operation is performed, and the enlargement / reduction key (FIG. 54) is pressed (S40). A pop-up screen (FIG. 55) is displayed (S41). Next, when the interrupt mode is not selected (S42), normal copying is performed in S48. When the interrupt mode is selected (S42), the process proceeds to S43, and the display of the pop-up screen is automatically registered in the shortcut key (FIG. 58) (S43). The display state returns to the initial screen state. Then, an interrupt job is performed (S44). The interrupt job ends (S45). The user selects a screen registered in the shortcut key (FIG. 58) (S46). The pop-up screen is redisplayed (FIG. 55). Return to the first job. Then, the job ends.}

 _{(D) Fourth Embodiment The fourth embodiment describes a display device that displays a shortcut time, a copy condition, etc. on shortcut keys when the interrupt mode is entered or when the interrupt mode is entered. This will be described with reference to FIG. For example, even when the same magnification change function is registered as a shot cut, the shortcut 1'00.07.27 and the shortcut 1'00.07.30 are displayed. Is possible. Furthermore, in the case of the same date (Shortcut 1 '00 .07.30 and Shortcut 2 '00 .07.30), the shortcut 3 '00 .07.30 is positively displayed with a copy condition of 222% magnification change. By doing so, it becomes possible to specify a shortcut key according to the copy condition (222%). Also, the copying conditions may always be displayed.}

 _{(E) Fifth Embodiment In the fifth embodiment, when the interrupt mode is entered, the display state in which the pop-up screen display is changed to each display character such as an icon and a message at the end of the display screen is automatically restored. The display device to be displayed will be described, and the processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, a copying operation is performed, and the enlargement / reduction key (FIG. 54) is pressed (S50). A pop-up screen (FIG. 55) is displayed (S51). Next, when the interrupt mode is not selected (S52), normal copying is performed in S58. When the interrupt mode is selected (S52), the process proceeds to S53, and the pop-up screen is converted into display characters such as icons and messages at the right end (FIG. 56) (S53). The display state returns to the initial screen state. Then, an interrupt job is performed (S54). The interrupt job ends (S55). A pop-up screen is automatically displayed (S56). The pop-up screen is redisplayed (FIG. 55). Return to the first job. Then, the job ends.}

 _{(D) Sixth Embodiment In the sixth embodiment, when the recording device enters the interrupt mode, if there is any input on the pop-up screen, the screen is changed. A display device characterized by erasing the screen will be described, and the processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.}

 _{First, a copying operation is performed, and the enlargement / reduction key (FIG. 54) is pressed (S60). A pop-up screen (FIG. 55) is displayed (S61). If there is an input on the pop-up screen, the process proceeds to S63, and it is further determined whether or not it is an interrupt mode. If the interrupt mode is not selected, normal copying is performed in S69. The job ends. When the interrupt mode is selected, the process proceeds to S64, and the pop-up screen is converted into display characters such as icons and messages at the right end (FIG. 56) (S64). The display state returns to the initial screen state. Then, an interrupt job is performed (S65). The interrupt job ends (S66). The pop-up screen is automatically redisplayed (FIG. 55) (S67). Return to the first job (S68). The job ends.}

 _{If there is no input on the pop-up screen, the process proceeds to S70, and it is further determined whether or not the mode is an interrupt mode. If the interrupt mode is not selected, normal copying is performed in S75. The job ends. If the interrupt mode is selected, the process proceeds to S71, and, for example, the pop-up screen is deleted (S71). The display state returns to the initial screen state. Then, an interrupt job is performed (S72). The interrupt job ends (S73). Return to the first job (S74). The job ends. Furthermore, when there is any input on the pop-up screen, it is possible to display the shortcut time, copy conditions, etc. on the shortcut key.}

_{The display apparatus for user interfaces which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the whole schematic structure. The figure which shows the system configuration | structure of a control system. The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of CPU. The figure which shows the transfer data structure and transmission timing of serial communication. The time chart which shows the mutual communication interval in 1 communication cycle. The state transition diagram of a processor. The figure which shows the structure of a scanning exposure apparatus. The figure which shows the structure of a lens drive system. The figure which shows the control system structure of an optical system. The figure for demonstrating operation | movement of an optical system. The schematic block diagram for demonstrating a marking type | system | group. The figure for demonstrating the panel division | segmentation on a photosensitive material belt. The block block diagram which shows the outline of the function of a marking type | system | group. The figure which shows the timing chart of a marking type | system | group control sequence. The side view for demonstrating a paper conveyance system. The side view of a paper tray. The top view of a duplex tray. The side view of an automatic document feeder. The top view which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of a sensor. The figure for demonstrating the effect | action of an original document automatic feed. The side view which shows the structure of a sorter. The figure for demonstrating the drive system of a sorter. The figure for demonstrating the effect | action of a sorter. The figure which shows the attachment state of the user interface using a display. The figure which shows the external appearance of the user interface using a display. The figure which shows the relationship between CPU for U / I and the main CPU connected by serial communication. The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a user interface. The figure which shows the software structure of a user interface. The figure which shows the example of the table prepared for a job controller. The figure which shows the structural example of screen data. The figure for demonstrating a screen edit process. The figure which shows the example of a basic copy screen and its pop-up screen. The figure which shows the example of an application copy screen and its pop-up screen. The figure which shows the example of a specialized copy screen and its pop-up screen. The figure which shows the example of an information screen and its pop-up screen. The figure which shows the example of a jam screen. The figure which shows the example of a review screen and a fully automatic screen. The figure for demonstrating the switching control of a screen. The figure which shows the example of a classification of a screen layout. (A) The figure which shows the example of the setting map of a keyboard scan. (B) The figure which shows the example of the setting map of LED scanning. The figure which shows a display timing. The figure which shows the address corresponding | compatible example of V-RAM. The figure which shows a response | compatibility with the address of V-RAM of FIG. 1, and a CRT display position. The figure for demonstrating the read-out circuit of a character generator. The figure which shows the example of a correspondence of a dot pattern, data, and a scan address. The figure which shows the structural example of the control circuit of the video signal according to attribute data. The figure which shows the example of the conventional user interface using a console panel. The flowchart of invention of FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the invention of FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the invention of FIG. The flowchart of invention of FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the invention of FIG. The initial screen of the display part of this invention. The pop-up screen of the display part of this invention. The iconified screen of the display unit of the present invention (invention of FIG. 1). The rear screen of the pop-up screen of the display unit of the present invention (invention of FIG. 2). Shortcut of the pop-up screen of the present invention (invention of FIG. 3). Short cut of the pop-up screen of the present invention (invention of FIG. 4).}

Explanation of symbols

_{1 User interface
2 display
3 screens
4 Key input means
5 choices
6 Pop-up screen}

Claims (5)

<sub>Used in a recording apparatus having an interrupt mode for stopping the recording operation during continuous recording and executing another recording operation, having a display screen for displaying a plurality of options, and at least one of the plurality of options A user interface display having display control means for displaying a pop-up screen that expands the detailed items of the selected option in an area including an area where at least a part of the plurality of options is displayed. In the device
Displays a pop-up screen that expands the details of the option, and when the recording device enters interrupt mode, displays a display screen that displays the original multiple options in the area where the pop-up screen was displayed. In addition, a display device for a user interface, characterized in that an area displaying a pop-up screen is indicated by a line different from a line indicating a display screen for displaying the plurality of options.   The display device for a user interface according to claim 1, wherein a line different from a line indicating a display screen for displaying the plurality of options is a broken line. 3. The user interface display device according to claim 1, wherein a pop-up screen is automatically displayed when the interruption mode ends. If the pop-up screen is displayed and you enter interrupt mode without any input on the pop-up screen,
4. The display device for a user interface according to claim 1, wherein the pop-up screen is deleted after the interruption mode is started. Having a display screen for displaying a plurality of options, by selecting at least one of the plurality of options, the area is selected to include an area where at least a part of the plurality of options is displayed. In a display device for a user interface that has a display control means for displaying a pop-up screen that expands the detailed item of the selected option, another interrupt processing has been entered when the pop-up screen that expands the detailed item of the selected option is displayed. When an operation other than the pop-up screen is performed, the pop-up screen display is reduced to a display character such as an icon and a message on the display screen, and the original multiple options are displayed in the area where the pop-up screen was displayed. For a user interface characterized by displaying a display screen Display devices.</sub>

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