JP2006159561A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the availability factor of an apparatus and to make office work efficient by switching and carrying out a recording method/recording form by time schedule/calendar and time. <P>SOLUTION: The recorder has the time schedule function, the calendar function, the clock function, the FAX function, and the function of a plurality of recording methods or recording forms. In the recorder, one recording method or recording form is selected and used from the function of the plurality of recording methods or recording forms by the time schedule, calendar or time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus having a time schedule function, a calendar function, a clock function, and a FAX function.

  Conventionally, in a recording apparatus having a FAX function, if consumables for recording (toner for recording paper, electrophotographic method, ink for inkjet method, staple of stapler with finisher function) are lost, the FAX received image Therefore, so-called proxy reception is performed in which the received image is stored in the memory and received.

At the same time, a message prompting the operator to replenish consumables is displayed. The operator sees the message and supplies the necessary consumables. If the operator is also near the device, this message is immediately transmitted to the operator and replenishment is performed. However, if the operator is absent at night or on holidays, the consumables are not replenished and received by FAX. It is possible that the image remains in proxy reception, and the FAX reception is interrupted due to memory over. In the prior art, there is a message that prompts the user to replenish consumables, but it cannot cope with the absence of the operator (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 09-265223 A

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of solving the consumable run-out when the operator is absent such as at night or on holidays.

The first invention for solving the problem is:
In a recording apparatus having a time schedule function, a calendar function, a clock function, a FAX function, and a plurality of recording methods or recording form functions,
A recording apparatus, wherein one recording method or recording form is selected from the plurality of recording methods or recording form functions according to a time schedule, calendar, or time.

The second invention is
In the recording apparatus of the first invention,
A recording apparatus for selecting a recording method or a recording form for collectively recording a plurality of FAX communication communications as the selected recording method or recording form.

The third invention is
In the recording apparatus of the first invention,
A recording apparatus, wherein a double-sided recording function is selected as the selected recording method or recording form.

The fourth invention is
In the recording apparatus of the first invention,
A recording apparatus that selects a recording method or a recording form in which only a FAX transmission source ID is recorded collectively for a plurality of communications as a selected recording method or recording form.

The fifth invention is
In the recording apparatus of the first invention,
A recording apparatus, wherein a recording method or a recording form for recording with a reduced recording density is selected as the selected recording method or recording form.

The sixth invention is
In the recording apparatus of the first invention,
A recording apparatus that selects a recording method or a recording form that increases the number of staples at one time as the selected recording method or recording form.

The seventh invention
In the recording apparatus of the first invention,
A recording apparatus that selects, as a selected recording method or recording form, a recording method or a recording form that performs a large number of paper feeding operations until the recording paper feeding operation is normally completed.

The eighth invention is
In the recording apparatus of the first invention,
A recording apparatus or a recording form for selecting a recording method or a recording form for decreasing a conveyance speed of a recording sheet as the selected recording method or recording form.

The ninth invention
In the recording apparatus of the first invention,
A recording apparatus or a recording form, wherein a recording method or a recording form for lowering a fixing temperature for fixing an image on a recording sheet is selected as the selected recording method or recording form.

The tenth invention is
In the recording apparatus of the first invention,
A recording apparatus having a setting function as to whether or not to execute a selected recording method or recording form.

  According to the present invention, the recording method / recording form is made variable according to the time schedule / calendar or time, more specifically, a recording method / consumption that consumes less consumables on holidays than on weekdays and at night than during daytime. By selecting and executing the recording mode, there is an effect of preventing the consumables from running out when the operator is absent, improving the operating rate of the apparatus, and improving the efficiency of office work.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be sequentially described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the recording apparatus of the present invention. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment common to all of the following embodiments. Since this is a recording device with a FAX function, an external telephone line (1-1) is connected to an NCU (network control unit) (1-2) and further connected to a modem (1-3). It is connected to the main controller (1-4). The image received by FAX communication is sent to the recording means (1-5) via the main controller and recorded on the recording paper. If the recording means becomes unavailable for some reason, the received image is not sent to the recording means but stored in the proxy reception memory (1-6). Factors that cause the recording means to be unable to record are, for example, the absence of recording paper, the absence of toner when the recording method is electrophotography, the absence of ink when the inkjet method is used, and the stapler function for stapling the discharged recording paper. In some cases, there may be no so-called consumables such as the staple of the stapler being lost. The image stored in the proxy reception memory is read out to the main controller when the recording device is ready for use (when the consumables are replenished), sent to the recording device, and recorded. In addition to the above, the recording apparatus of the present invention has a time scheduler or calendar (1-7). It also has a clock function (1-8). The former calendar of these two functions has a function of representing a date or a day of the week, and the latter clock function has a function of representing a time. The scheduler also has a function of representing various events and an operator's action schedule.

  These two functions are connected to the main controller. The main controller reads the date and day of the week from the calendar function, reads various events and action schedules from the scheduler function, and reads the time of the day from the clock function. Shall be able to. In addition, an operation panel for setting various data from an operator or displaying an apparatus state to the operator is connected to the main controller of the recording apparatus. The data setting from the operator is a telephone number setting for FAX transmission, and the display of the device status is an instruction to supply consumables. It is also assumed that settings relating to the present invention can be input using this operation panel.

  Now, in the recording apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 1-1 is a control flowchart of the first embodiment.

  In a control step S1101 (hereinafter simply referred to as S ***), a preset setting state is read from the time scheduler / calendar function. In this embodiment, the date / day of the week is read from the calendar.

  It is determined whether the date / day of the week read in S1102 is [holiday]. If it is a holiday, a recording method / recording format for holiday / night is selected in S1103. If it is not [holiday] in S1102, the time is read from the clock function in S1104. It is determined whether or not the time read in S1105 is [Night]. For example, if the time is from 7:00 pm to 8:00 am, it is determined that it is [night], and if it is other than that, it is determined that it is not night. Setting of the time for determination criteria is arbitrary. If it is determined that [Night] is determined in S1105, the process proceeds to S1103 in the same manner as in S1103 when [Holiday] is determined in S1102, and a recording method / recording format for holiday / night is selected. If it is determined in S1105 that it is not [nighttime], a recording method / recording format for weekdays / daytime is selected in S1106.

  In this embodiment, the same recording method / recording format is used for holidays and nights, but it is of course possible to set these separately in other embodiments.

  2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 10 show the recording method / recording form of the second embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a recording method / recording form for daytime. In other words, this represents a recording method / recording form when there are three FAX communications and each page is received one by one. The image received in communication 1 has a message (in this example, AIUEO) at the top and a blank at the bottom. This one page is immediately recorded on the recording sheet. Next, the image received in communication 2 also has a message at the top (in this example, kakikakeko) and a blank at the bottom. This is immediately recorded on the recording paper as it is in the communication 1. The same applies to communication 3. In other words, since it is a recording method / recording form in which the received image is immediately recorded on the recording paper for each communication, even if the majority of the received image is a blank, it is recorded on the recording paper as it is. This is a conventional received image recording method / recording form. Since FAX is an important element in information transmission, such a recording method / recording form is suitable for a time zone in which a weekday / daytime operator is present. On the other hand, FIG. 3 shows a recording method / recording form for holidays / nighttime.

  Similar to FIG. 2, there are three communications, each page is received one by one, and similarly, there is a message only at the top.

  First, the image of communication 1 is stored in the memory. Do not record immediately. Next, the image of communication 2 is stored in the memory, but the image is packed into the margin of the image of communication 1 and stored. Similarly, the communication 3 image is packed into the communication 2 message and stored in the memory, and is recorded on the recording sheet for the first time. Only one sheet of recording paper is used. Since it is a time zone when there is no operator on holiday / night, it is not necessary to immediately record on the recording paper for each communication, so it is possible to make the recording wait, and as a result, less recording paper is consumed. It is.

  FIG. 10 is a control flowchart. Waiting for the end of receiving one page in S1001 from the start of communication. While one page is being received, it is determined in S1002 whether one line of the received image is an all white line. If it is not an all white line, the image (line) is stored in the memory in S1003. In step S1004, the number of lines of the received image is counted, and in step S1005, it is determined whether the number of lines exceeds the length of the A4 recording sheet. In this case, the recording paper is A4 size. If it does not exceed the A4 size, the process returns to S1001. If it exceeds A4, the data is output to the recording paper in S1006. When reception of one page is completed in S1001, it is determined in S1007 whether there is a next page to be received. Judged by MPS or EOP of the FAX procedure signal. If it is MPS, the next page exists, and all white lines are stored in the memory in S1008. This is to make it easier to see the boundary between pages. The process returns to S1001 and repeats until there are no more pages.

  4 and 11 show the recording method / recording form of the third embodiment. In this case, it is assumed that the recording apparatus has a double-sided recording function. Similar to Example 2 and the recording method / recording format for holidays / nights, recording is not performed for each communication. When a page of communication 2 is received, the image of communication 1 is recorded on the front surface, and the image of communication 2 is recorded on the back surface. To do. Only one sheet of recording paper is required. This is also a recording method / recording format that is possible in a time zone where there is no operator. Note that this embodiment is not a recording method in which images are packed as in the second embodiment, but a recording method in which images are packed and recorded on both sides is also possible.

  FIG. 11 is a control flowchart. When the head is different from FIG. 10 when recording is started from S1105, it is determined in S1106 whether the front is the front or the back. If the front is the front, this is output on the back (S1107). ) Control is added.

  5 and 12 show the recording method / recording form of the fourth embodiment.

  Conventionally, in FAX reception, there is a technique in which an ID for identifying a transmission side (for example, a telephone number on the transmission side) is transmitted from the transmission side to the reception side. In the ITU-T recommendation, the telephone number on the transmission side is sent using a TIS signal.

  Assume that there are three communications as in the previous embodiment. In communication 1, a transmission source ID-1 and text 1 are sent as shown in FIG.

  Of these, only the transmission source ID-1 is stored in the memory. In communication 2, the transmission source ID-2 and the text 2 are sent, but only the transmission source ID-2 is stored in the memory in the transmission source ID-1. The same applies to communication 3. At the stage of communication 3, only the transmission source ID-1, the transmission source ID-2, and the transmission source ID-3 are stored in the memory as shown in FIG. This is the first time recording on recording paper. Of course, it is not always necessary to record on the recording paper in the three communications. For example, when the recording paper size is A4, recording may be performed on the recording paper when the transmission source ID corresponding to the length of A4 is accumulated.

  Furthermore, not only the transmission source ID but only the first few lines of the text may be stored and recorded in the memory. In any case, the number of recording sheets consumed is drastically reduced.

  FIG. 12 is a control flowchart. After the communication is started, a transmission source ID (for example, a TSI telephone number) sent from the transmission side is acquired in S1201. In step S1202, the transmission source ID is stored in the memory. In step S1203, the number of transmission source ID lines is counted. If the number of lines exceeds the length of the A4 recording paper size in S1204, it is output to the recording paper in S1208. The recording paper size is A4. If the A4 size is not yet exceeded in S1204, the process waits until the communication is completed in S1205. When the communication is completed, the process waits until the next communication starts in S1206. When communication starts (for example, when a call is made from the transmission side), all white lines are stored in the memory in S1207. This is the same as in the previous embodiment, in order to make it easier to understand the breaks between communications when output on recording paper. In step S1201, the transmission side ID is acquired. The same applies hereinafter.

  Normally, the telephone number in the TSI signal is not stored in the memory as in the received image, but in the present invention, it is expanded into pixels and stored in the memory. Therefore, in S1203, the number of lines after pixel expansion of the transmission source ID is counted.

  6, 13, and 13-1 show a recording method / recording form and control flowchart according to the fifth embodiment.

  In this embodiment, the density of the received image is reduced and recorded. The toner consumption when the recording system is an electrophotography and the ink consumption when the recording system is an inkjet system can be suppressed.

  13 and 13-1 are control flowcharts. In S1301 of FIG. 13, it is determined whether the engine controller has received a command (CMD) for changing the recording density from the main controller (see FIG. 8). When received, in step S1302, an ON signal is transmitted to the high voltage controller. If not, an OFF signal is transmitted in S1303.

  In FIG. 13A, in S13101, the high voltage control unit determines whether an ON signal has been received. If received, in S13102, the primary charge is output high and the development high voltage is output low. If ON is not received in S13101, the primary charge is lowered and the development high voltage is outputted in S13103. Generally, when it is desired to reduce the image density, the primary charge is increased, and the development high voltage is decreased, and when the image density is desired to be increased, the opposite pattern is output. This embodiment shows a case where a recording method / recording form for printing an image darkly and a recording method / recording form for printing an image lightly are divided into a holiday / night time zone and a weekday / daytime zone.

  7, 7-1, 14, and 15 show a recording method / recording form and a control flowchart according to the sixth embodiment. In a recording apparatus having a stapler function that holds a bundle of ejected recording sheets, it is common to staple the recording sheets for each preset number or each communication. For example, in FIG. 7, it is assumed that stapling is set every three sheets in the time zone in which the operator is on weekdays / daytime. In this recording method / recording format for holidays / night, stapling is performed every five sheets as shown in FIG. The consumption of staples in the stapler can be reduced.

  14 and 15 are control flowcharts. As in the previous embodiment, in S1401, it is determined whether the engine controller has received a staple number command from the main controller. If so, the stapler controller ON is output in S1402, and if not, OFF is output in S1403. In FIG. 15, the stapler control unit determines whether or not ON is received in S1501, and if received, controls to staple 5 sheets in S1502, and controls to staple in 3 sheets in S1503 if OFF is received.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the connection of the main controller for controlling the entire apparatus of the present invention, the engine controller for controlling the recording means (1-5) in FIG. 1, and each element control unit controlled by the engine controller. The main controller (8-1) and the engine controller (8-2) are connected by a command line (CMD) and a status line (STS), and give various instructions relating to recording to the engine controller from the main controller using the CMD line. On the other hand, the engine controller notifies the main controller of the state of each control unit relating to recording using the STS line. It is assumed that the engine controller gives a different recording method / recording form to each recording unit by giving an ON signal or an OFF signal. In this embodiment, the recording signal / recording format for holiday / night is instructed with the ON signal, and the recording method / recording format for weekday / daytime is instructed with the OFF signal. In actual control, there are further individual signal lines, but they are omitted in the description of the present invention because they are not directly related.

  In the seventh embodiment, the engine controller switches the paper feeding operation by giving an ON / OFF signal to the paper feeding control unit (8-8) that controls the paper feeding operation of the recording paper. In the paper feeding operation, there is control for repeating the paper feeding operation several times when the recording paper does not reach the transport path within a predetermined time. This is called a retry paper feeding operation. The number of retry sheet feeding operations is set to be small in a time zone where there is an operator during weekdays / daytime, and a large number of retry sheet feeding operations is set in a time zone where there is no operator on holidays / night. If the number of times is small, a paper feed failure can be detected as soon as possible, and the operator can be alerted early. On the other hand, a large number of times means that the apparatus does not readily detect a paper feeding operation failure, so if there is a small number of paper feeding failures, the paper feeding operation is carried out tenaciously, so the frequency of operator warnings decreases accordingly. . Since there is no operator on holiday / night, the reduction in the operator warning frequency leads to an improvement in the operating rate of the apparatus.

  16 and 17 are control flowcharts. In FIG. 16, in S1601, the engine controller determines whether a command for the number of paper feeds has been received from the main controller. If received, the engine controller outputs ON to the paper feed control unit in S1602, and otherwise outputs OFF in S1603. In FIG. 17, in S1701, the paper feed control unit determines whether or not ON has been received. If it has been received, control is performed so that the maximum number of paper feeds is 4 in S1702, and if ON is not received, the maximum paper feed count is obtained in S1703. Is controlled twice.

  Example 8 will also be described with reference to FIG. In the eighth embodiment, when the engine controller gives an instruction to the main motor controller (8-4) in FIG. 8 using an ON / OFF signal, the conveyance speed of the motor for conveying the recording paper is changed. In this embodiment, an ON signal gives an instruction for a recording method / recording format for holiday / night, and an OFF signal gives an instruction for a high conveying speed, a recording method / recording format for weekdays / daytime. And If the motor speed is low, the time until the recording paper is discharged becomes long, so the productivity of the recording operation (the amount of paper discharged per minute) is reduced, but the power consumption is reduced, so the energy saving effect is improved. Similarly, an ON / OFF signal is given to the scanner motor control unit of FIG. This is because the rotational speed of the scanner motor needs to be reduced in the same way in order to maintain the same resolution even when the recording paper conveyance speed is reduced. Note: In the eighth embodiment, an electrophotographic system is taken as an example, so that a laser scan motor for image formation is required. Detailed description of electrophotography is omitted.

  Example 9 also uses FIG. In the same manner as in the previous embodiment, the heater control unit (8-3) in FIG. This example is also an electrophotography, and heater heat and pressure are applied to fix the image on the recording paper. The heater controller (8-3) is a controller that controls the heater heat. If the conveyance speed of the recording paper is decreased in the eighth embodiment, the temperature of the fixing device for fixing the toner can be lowered, that is, the amount of heat generated by the heater that is the heat generation source of the fixing device can be reduced. Specifically, the heater temperature is detected, and the amount of power supplied to the heater is adjusted so as to maintain a predetermined temperature. The predetermined temperature is a fixing temperature at which the toner can be fixed on the recording paper. When the signal from the engine controller is ON, the fixing temperature is lowered, and when the signal is OFF, the fixing temperature is increased. During a holiday / night time when there is no operator, the control signal is turned on to set the fixing temperature low (at the same time, the recording paper conveyance speed is also slowed down), and an energy saving effect is achieved. Further, in the time zone where the operator is on weekdays / daytime, the control signal is turned OFF to set the fixing temperature high (at the same time, the recording paper conveyance speed is increased), thereby increasing the recording productivity. The ninth embodiment is used in combination with the eighth embodiment.

  18, 19, 20, and 21 are the control flowcharts described above. In FIG. 18, in step S1801, it is determined whether the engine controller has received a conveyance speed half speed command for halving the recording sheet conveyance speed from the main controller. If so, an ON signal is output to the main motor control unit, the scan motor control unit, and the heater control unit in S1802, S1803, and S1804, respectively. On the other hand, if no command is received in S1801, OFF is output to each control unit in S1805, S1806, and S1807.

  FIG. 19 shows the state of the main motor control unit. In S1901, it is determined whether or not ON is received. If received, control is performed to reduce the speed of the main motor to 1/2 in S1902, and if ON is not received. In step S1903, the main motor speed is controlled to 1/1.

  In FIG. 20, similarly to the control by the scanner motor control unit, ON reception is determined in S2001, and if it is ON reception, S2002 scan motor 1/2 speed control is performed, and if it is not ON reception, 1/1 speed control is performed in S2003.

  FIG. 21 shows the control of the heater control unit. Similarly, if ON is received in S2101, the fixing temperature is controlled to 140 ° C. in S2102, and if not ON, the fixing temperature is controlled to 180 ° C. in S2103.

  In addition, since the specific numerical value quoted in the above Example is a numerical value of 1 Example to the last, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to these numerical values.

  FIG. 9 is used. In FIG. 9, the switch setting realized by software is set to "0" to "1" from the soft switch input means (9-1), and the set value is set to the soft switch (9-2). The soft switch is specifically one bit of an address in the memory, but detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The operator sets “1” or “0” to the soft switch in advance. Depending on the value of this switch, whether or not to perform the operation in all of the embodiments of the present invention described above is switched.

  FIG. 22 is a control flowchart. In S2201, the main controller reads data from the time scheduler / calendar. In this embodiment, the date is read as data. It is determined whether the date read in S2202 is [holiday]. If it is a holiday, it is determined in S2203 whether the setting of the soft switch is “1”. If “1”, the recording method / recording format for holidays is selected. If the soft switch is “0” in S2203, the recording method / recording format for weekdays is selected in S2207. If it is not a holiday in S2203, the time is read from the clock in S2205. In S2206, it is determined whether the time is [night]. If it is night, the soft switch is determined in S2203. If it is not night, a recording method / recording format for daytime is selected in S2207. In this embodiment, the same recording method / recording format is used for holidays and nights, but it is naturally possible to make them different.

Configuration diagram of recording apparatus of the present invention Control flow chart of embodiment 1 The figure which shows the recording method / recording form of Example 2. The figure which shows the recording method / recording form of Example 2. The figure which shows the recording method / recording form of Example 3. The figure which shows the recording system / recording form of Example 4. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a recording method / recording form of Example 5. The figure which shows the recording system / recording form of Example 6. The figure which shows the recording system / recording form of Example 6. Block diagram showing connection of each element control unit Block diagram of the tenth embodiment Control flowchart of embodiment 2 Control flow chart of embodiment 3 Control flowchart of embodiment 4 Control flow chart of embodiment 5 Control flow chart of embodiment 5 Control flowchart of embodiment 6 Control flowchart of embodiment 6 Control flow chart of embodiment 7 Control flow chart of embodiment 7 Control flow chart of embodiment 9 Control flow chart of embodiment 9 Control flow chart of embodiment 9 Control flow chart of embodiment 9 Control flow chart of embodiment 10

Explanation of symbols

1-1 Telephone line 1-2 NCU (network control unit)
1-3 Modem 1-4 Main controller 1-5 Recording means 1-6 Interception reception memory 1-7 Time scheduler or calendar 1-8 Clock function 1-9 Operation panel

Claims (10)

In a recording apparatus having a time schedule function, a calendar function, a clock function, a FAX function, and a plurality of recording methods or recording form functions,
A recording apparatus, wherein one recording method or recording form is selected from the plurality of recording methods or recording form functions according to a time schedule, calendar, or time. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus that selects a recording method or a recording form for collectively recording a plurality of FAX communication communications as the selected recording method or recording form. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus, wherein a double-sided recording function is selected as the selected recording method or recording form. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus that selects a recording method or a recording form in which only a FAX transmission source ID is recorded collectively for a plurality of communications as a selected recording method or recording form. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus, wherein a recording method or a recording form for recording with a reduced recording density is selected as the selected recording method or recording form. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus that selects a recording method or a recording form that increases the number of staples at one time as the selected recording method or recording form. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus that selects, as a selected recording method or recording form, a recording method or a recording form that performs a large number of paper feeding operations until the recording paper feeding operation is normally completed. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus or a recording form for selecting a recording method or a recording form for decreasing a conveyance speed of a recording sheet as the selected recording method or recording form. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus, wherein a recording method or a recording form in which a fixing temperature for fixing an image on a recording paper is set low is selected as the selected recording method or recording form. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus having a setting function as to whether or not to execute a selected recording method or recording form.