JP2007276315A - Printer, control method thereof, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer in which users come to perform a jam processing after checking sufficient information about the jam. <P>SOLUTION: The printer for performing printing to media comprises a display means 102 for providing users with information, an operating means 103 for inputting indications from the users, a jam location detection means 104 for detecting the presence or absence of a form in a form path, and a lock means 105 for locking the opening or removal of an openable or removal unit of the printer. The lock means 105 locks the opening or removal of an openable or removal unit of the printer when a jam occurrs. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus such as a laser beam printer having an interface such as a liquid crystal display apparatus, a control method thereof, and a computer program.

  In a printing apparatus such as a laser beam printer, a paper jam (jam) may occur in various parts such as a delivery unit from a paper feed tray, a double-sided paper feed mechanism unit, an image transfer unit, and a fixing unit.

  Therefore, recent printing apparatuses have been devised so that jam processing can be easily performed by providing a user interface such as a liquid crystal display device and notifying the user of the position where the jam has occurred and the method for clearing the jam. Yes.

  For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a printing apparatus characterized by displaying a jam occurrence position in a paper path so that a user can easily understand, and notifying levers, knobs, and the like necessary for jam processing. ing.

  For example, in Patent Document 2, a sub-display is provided at a position that enters the field of view simultaneously with a part that needs to be operated in jam processing, and the convenience of jam processing is improved by displaying the jam processing procedure on the sub-display. A printing device is disclosed.

JP-A-4-322265 Japanese Patent No. 3146237

  However, on the other hand, when a user recognizes a jam by an abnormal paper feed sound or the like, there is a phenomenon that the user performs jam processing without checking the information even though the information is given by the user interface. Many have been observed. This tendency is particularly noticeable in printing apparatuses having a relatively simple structure such as a laser beam printer.

  This is not a problem if the jam factor is easy to understand, but if the paper that caused the jam stops at a difficult-to-find part such as the paper feed unit or double-sided paper feed unit, or if two or more sheets are In the case where it exists on the paper feed path, the user may not be able to completely handle the jam. Therefore, even if the user tries to resume printing with the intention of handling a jam, the jam still occurs.

  In such a case, there arises a problem that the customer satisfaction with the printing apparatus is reduced as a result.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that allows a user to perform jam processing after confirming sufficient information regarding a jam. is there.

A printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus that performs printing on a medium, and includes a display unit for providing information to a user, an operation unit for inputting an instruction from the user, and the presence / absence of a sheet in a sheet path. Jam position detecting means for detecting, and locking means for locking the opening / removal of the opening / closing or detachable unit of the printing apparatus, and the locking means locks the opening / closing or detachable unit of the printing apparatus when a jam occurs. It is characterized by doing.
The printing apparatus control method according to the present invention includes a display unit for providing information to a user, an operation unit for inputting an instruction from the user, and a jam position detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in a sheet path. And a locking means for locking the opening or removal of the printing device, or the removable unit, and a printing device control method for printing on a medium, wherein the printing device can be opened, closed or detached when a jam occurs. And a control step of locking a simple unit to the locking means.
The computer program of the present invention is characterized by causing a computer to execute each step of the method described above.

  According to the present invention, the front door can be opened and the paper feed tray and the fixing unit can be removed after the user confirms the message indicating the jam position, so that the user can confirm the jam position without checking the jam position. It is possible to prevent the door from being opened and the jam cannot be removed or misunderstood if the jam does not occur.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a printing apparatus (laser beam printer) according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Reference numeral 201 denotes a paper feed tray, which holds paper used for printing. A paper feed roller 202 pulls up the paper from the paper feed tray 201 in accordance with the start of printing.

  Reference numeral 203 denotes a paper transport belt that moves the paper pulled up by the paper feed roller 201. Toner on a photosensitive drum, which will be described later, is transferred onto a sheet on the sheet conveying belt 203, and an image is formed on the sheet.

  Reference numeral 204 denotes a photosensitive drum, and an image to be transferred onto a sheet is formed on the photosensitive drum 204 by an unillustrated laser beam and toner (electrophotographic process). The laser beam printer of this embodiment is a tandem system in which CMYK photosensitive drums are arranged in series.

  A fixing unit 205 is a device for applying heat and pressure to the toner transferred onto the paper.

  Reference numeral 206 denotes a paper discharge tray, and a sheet on which an image is formed through each of the devices 201 to 205 is output. Therefore, the arrow indicated by 207 is the paper path of the present embodiment.

  On the paper path 207, the paper may not move as expected due to the influence of static electricity, distortion, mechanical accuracy, etc., which is a phenomenon called jam. If a paper jam cannot be ejected mechanically, it is necessary to remove the paper causing the jam by the user's hand.

  Reference numeral 208 denotes a front door. By opening the front door 208, the user can handle a jam occurring near the paper transport belt 203. If a jam occurs during paper feeding, it is necessary to remove the paper feed tray 201 and perform jam processing. If a jam occurs during paper ejection, it is necessary to perform jam processing by removing the fixing unit 205.

  A control unit 100 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like for supervising the operation of the printing apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As described above, the control unit 100 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, receives information from a sensor group 104 and a UI unit 101, which will be described later, and operates the lock mechanism group 105 and the UI unit 101.

  Reference numeral 101 denotes a user interface (referred to as a UI unit), which includes a display unit 102 for giving information to the user and an operation unit 103 for inputting a request from the user (FIG. 3).

  The display unit 102 includes a liquid crystal display for displaying characters and picture information, an LED for displaying the status of the printing apparatus, and the like (102 in FIG. 3).

  The operation unit 103 includes a push button or the like (103 in FIG. 3).

  A sensor group 104 exists along the paper path 207 and determines whether or not there is a paper on the paper path 207. By acquiring the presence / absence of paper from the sensor group 104, the control unit 100 can know where the paper is stopped when a jam occurs.

  Reference numeral 105 denotes a lock mechanism group, which is present in a portion (paper feed tray 201, front door 208, fixing unit 205) that can be opened and closed or removed in the printing apparatus shown in FIG. Upon receiving an instruction from the control unit 100, the lock mechanism can lock the front door 208 so that it cannot be opened and the paper feed tray 201 and the fixing unit 205 cannot be removed. Similarly, the lock can be released by an instruction from the control unit 100.

  The operation of the printing apparatus of the present invention will be described based on a flowchart. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the control unit when a jam occurs in the printing apparatus of the present invention.

  In the printing apparatus of the present invention, when a jam occurs, the control unit 100 issues a lock instruction to the lock mechanism group 105, and the user cannot open the front door 208 or remove the paper feed tray 201 or the fixing unit 205. (Step S401).

  Next, in step S <b> 402, the control unit 100 reads information from the sensor group 104 and detects where a jam has occurred in the paper path 207. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that a jam has occurred during paper feeding.

  In step S403, according to the information collected in step S402, the control unit 100 displays a message indicating the occurrence of a jam and the jam position on the liquid crystal display of the display unit 102 (FIG. 5).

  In step S404, a message for confirming whether the user has confirmed the jam position information is output (FIG. 6). In the present embodiment, the message of FIG. 6 is displayed by pressing the down key 103 of FIG. 3 while the message of FIG. 5 is displayed (scroll display).

  In step S405, the key input from the user is waited, and it is determined whether or not the user has confirmed the jam position. In the present embodiment, when the message of FIG. 6 is displayed, pressing the left / right key 13 in FIG. 3 highlights “Yes” or “No”, and pressing the execute key The user can select “Yes” (confirmed jam position) or “No” (not confirmed jam position).

  If “No” is selected in step S405, the process returns to step S403, and the jam position is displayed again to the user.

  On the other hand, when “Yes” is selected in step S 405, the control unit 100 issues a lock release instruction to the lock mechanism group 105. As a result, the user can remove the paper feed tray 201 and can perform jam processing.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, after the user confirms the message indicating the jam position, the front door can be opened and the paper feed tray and the fixing unit can be removed. It is possible to prevent the front door 208 from being opened without confirmation, and the jam cannot be canceled or misunderstood if the jam does not occur.

  In this embodiment, the printing apparatus is a laser beam printer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is also applicable to other types of printers such as inkjet printers and printing apparatuses such as copiers and multifunction machines. be able to.

  An object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code itself and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (basic system or operating system) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, a case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which represented typically the printing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the user interface of the printing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing of a control unit when a jam occurs in the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the message which shows the jam position in the display part of the printing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the message which confirms the jam position in the display part of the printing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Control part 101 User interface 102 Display part (display means)
103 Operation part (operation means)
104 Sensor group (jam position detection means)
105 Locking mechanism group (locking means)
201 paper feed tray 202 paper feed roller 203 paper transport belt 204 photosensitive drum 205 fixing unit 206 paper discharge tray 207 paper path 208 front door

Claims (5)

A printing device for printing on media,
Display means for providing information to the user;
Operation means for inputting instructions from the user;
Jam position detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of paper in the paper path;
Locking means for locking the opening or removal of the opening / closing or detachable unit of the printing apparatus,
The printing device according to claim 1, wherein the locking unit locks a unit that can be opened / closed or attached / detached when the jam occurs.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a message indicating a jam position detected by the jam position detection unit when a jam occurs.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lock unit releases the lock when a user confirms a jam position by the operation unit. Display means for providing information to the user, operation means for inputting instructions from the user, jam position detection means for detecting the presence or absence of paper in the paper path, and a unit that can be opened / closed or detachable from the printing apparatus And a locking means for locking the opening or removal of the printer, and a control method for a printing apparatus for printing on a medium,
A control method for a printing apparatus, comprising: a control step of locking a unit that can be opened / closed or attached / detached by the locking means when a jam occurs.   A computer program that causes a computer to execute each step of the method according to claim 4.

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