JP2008083275A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of predicting the exchange time of an interchangeable unit as date information and informing of it even if the image forming apparatus itself does not have a means for generating time information. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus 1 is equipped with: a residual amount detection means 150 detecting the residual amount of consumable material in the interchangeable unit 120e in which the predetermined consumable material is stored; and an exchange time informing means 151 informing of the exchange time XT of the interchangeable unit 120e when the residual amount becomes the predetermined one. The apparatus 1 is equipped with: a time information input means 152 inputting time information TI from an external device 2; a consumption calculation means 153 calculating the average consumption Ta of the consumable material in a predetermined period based on the time information TI; and an exchange time prediction means 154 predicting the exchange time XT of the interchangeable unit 120e based on the average consumption Ta. The exchange time informing means 151 informs of the exchange time XT predicted by the exchange time prediction means 154 as the date information DI. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides a remaining amount detecting means for detecting a remaining amount of consumable goods with respect to an exchange unit containing a predetermined consumable goods, and when the remaining amount reaches a predetermined remaining amount by the remaining amount detecting means. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a replacement time notification unit that notifies a replacement time.

  Many image forming apparatuses are configured as replacement units so that a user can easily replace consumables such as toner.

  In recent years, these image forming apparatuses are configured to notify the user that it is almost time to replace the replacement unit when the remaining amount of consumables such as toner is low. By the notification, the user does not cause an unusable state due to running out of toner. As such, replacement units can be arranged in advance.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a remaining amount warning acquisition unit for acquiring remaining amount warning information indicating that the remaining amount of the consumable item has reached a predetermined amount from a device that uses the consumable item, and based on the remaining amount warning information. A consumable management comprising: predicting means for predicting a date when the consumable is exhausted; and output means for outputting a warning prompting replacement of the consumable by the date predicted by the predicting means A system has been proposed that eliminates the need for permanent supplies.

  In the consumable item management system described in Patent Document 1, the toner out date is predicted by the analysis system of the center that has received via the communication network that the remaining amount of toner as a consumable item has reached a predetermined amount. A delivery date for the replacement unit is determined. Here, the analysis system is a prediction means, and the device using the replacement unit is configured to write the use start date and the use end date of the replacement unit in a memory provided in the replacement unit. The analysis system predicts a toner out date based on an average printing rate for each replacement unit, an average period until the toner runs out, etc., which are stored in a database and acquired from a previously collected replacement unit.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-228761

  The device using the replacement unit in Patent Document 1 needs time information in order to write the use start date and use end date of the replacement unit.

  Intermediate printers used for office use in recent years can obtain the time information using an internal calendar (RTC: Real Time Clock) provided for job management, etc. There are many products that do not have an RTC installed in these machines, and these low-level machines do not have the time information, so the use start date and use end date of the replacement unit cannot be written in the memory.

  Therefore, it is possible to prompt replacement of the replacement unit by predicting how many sheets can be printed with the remaining toner amount from the average printing rate or the like by the printing performed so far and notifying the printable number of sheets. However, in this case, unless the user knows how many sheets of printing are performed per day, the current replacement unit can be used and cannot be determined until when a replacement unit should be arranged. However, it is difficult to accurately determine the replacement time because it is impossible to grasp the usage status of the device up to 3 days before and the usage status of the device up to 1 week ago.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of predicting and notifying the replacement time of a replacement unit as date information without having a means for generating time information. is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first characteristic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is a consumable item for an exchange unit in which a predetermined consumable item is accommodated, as described in claim 1 of the claims. An image forming apparatus comprising: a remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of the battery; and an exchange time notifying means for notifying the replacement time of the replacement unit when the remaining amount reaches a predetermined remaining amount by the remaining amount detecting means. A time information input means for inputting time information from an external device, and a consumption amount calculation means for calculating an average consumption amount of the consumable goods within a predetermined period based on the time information input by the time information input means. And replacement time prediction means for predicting the replacement time of the replacement unit based on the average consumption calculated by the consumption amount calculation means, and the replacement time notification means is provided by the replacement time prediction means. There is time for replacement, which is measured to the point of informing as a date information.

  According to the above-described configuration, time information is acquired from an external device, and the average consumption amount of the consumption material within a predetermined period can be calculated based on the time information. The replacement time of the replacement unit can be predicted according to the current use conditions, such as the replacement time can be predicted based on the usage status within one week, and the replacement time is guided as date information. Therefore, the user can accurately know the date on which the replacement unit should be arranged.

  In the second characteristic configuration, as described in claim 2, in addition to the first characteristic configuration described above, the time information input means inputs time information added to print data transmitted from an external device. There is in point to do.

  According to the above-described configuration, because the image formation request is made, the predicted replacement time of the replacement unit can be notified as date information based on the time information added to the print data transmitted from the external device. There is no need to exchange information just to get information.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of predicting and notifying the replacement time of a replacement unit as date / time information without having a means for generating date / time information. It became so.

  A printer as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 1 is connected to a PC 2 which is an external device of the present invention by a local cable 3 such as a parallel cable.

  The PC 2 includes a main body 20, a display unit 21 including a monitor, and an input unit 22 including a mouse and a keyboard. A general OS (Operation System) operates and various applications are executed on the OS. Is done.

  When printing is performed by the application 200 operating on the OS, the PC 2 prints the print job corresponding to the printer 1 via the printer driver 201 corresponding to the printer 1 as shown in FIG. Send as data. Here, when transmitting the print data, the printer driver 201 acquires time information TI at the time of requesting the print job from the OS, and adds the time information TI to the print data to the printer 1. Configured to send. Here, the time information TI is date and time information when a print job is requested.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the printer 1 includes a data receiving unit that receives print data, such as bitmap data or page description language (PDL), from the PC 2 via the local cable 3. 10, an image forming unit 12 that performs printing on the paper D as a recording medium based on the print data and discharges the paper D to the paper discharge tray 11, and the paper D stored in the paper storage tray 13 is conveyed to the image forming unit 12. A transport unit 14 including a transport roller, a liquid crystal screen, and the like, and a status display unit 16 that displays an operation status and the like of the printer 1, a system control unit 15 that performs overall control of each unit, and the like. ing.

  The data receiving unit 10 receives print data from the PC 2 and outputs the received print data to the system control unit 15.

  The image forming unit 12 discharges the paper, a toner image forming unit 120 that forms a toner image on the photoconductor 120a based on the print data, a fixing unit 121 that heats and fixes the toner image on the paper. It comprises a discharge unit 122 and the like.

  The toner image forming unit 120 is arranged in order around the photoreceptor 120a, the periphery of the photoreceptor 120a, and electrostatically exposes the charged photoreceptor 120a by exposing the charged photoreceptor 120a to a corona charging surface uniformly. A print head 120c that forms a latent image, a developing unit 120d that visualizes a toner image by electrostatically attaching toner to the formed electrostatic latent image, and an exchange unit according to the present invention. A toner cartridge 120e for supplying toner to the developing unit 120d, a transfer unit 120f for transferring the toner image onto the paper D, a cleaning unit 120g for removing toner remaining on the photoconductor 120a after transfer, and the photoconductor The static elimination lamp 120h which makes the residual potential of the surface 120a uniform and makes it uniform is comprised.

  The system control unit 15 includes a CPU that controls each unit based on a predetermined control program, a ROM that stores the control program, a RAM that is used as a work area, and the like. The function of the system control unit 15 is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the system control unit 15 includes a remaining amount detecting unit 150 for detecting the remaining amount of toner for a toner cartridge 120e containing predetermined toner, and the remaining amount as functional blocks according to the present invention. The replacement time notification control means 151 for notifying the status display section 16 of the replacement timing XT of the toner cartridge 120e when the remaining amount reaches the predetermined remaining amount by the detection means 150, and time information for inputting the time information TI from the PC 2 Calculated by the input means 152, the consumption calculation means 153 for calculating the average consumption amount of the toner within a predetermined period based on the time information TI input by the time information input means 152, and the consumption calculation means 153. The replacement timing predicting means 154 for predicting the replacement timing XT of the toner cartridge 120e based on the average consumption. Equipped with a. As described above, the status display unit 16 is a replacement time notification unit in the present invention.

  The remaining amount detecting unit 150 stores the total amount of toner Ts filled in the toner cartridge 120e when the toner image forming unit 120 is provided. Further, by multiplying the density data of the print data received from the PC 2 by a predetermined correlation coefficient, the used toner amount Tc in the printed matter based on the print data is estimated and outputted to the consumption calculating means 153. Further, a total used toner amount that is a total of the used toner amount Tc is calculated, and a difference in the total used toner amount is calculated from the total toner amount Ts, and the calculated toner remaining amount Tr of the toner cartridge 120e is calculated as the replacement time predicting unit 154. Output to.

  Here, the total toner amount Ts stored in the remaining amount detection unit 150 may be manually input by a user when the toner cartridge 120e is installed in the toner image forming unit 120. The toner cartridge 120e includes a memory or the like, The total toner amount Ts stored in a memory or the like may be read. The correlation coefficient is obtained by experiments or the like.

  The time information input unit 152 extracts time information TI added to the print data transmitted from the PC 2 and inputs the time information TI to the replacement time notification control unit 151 and the consumption amount calculation unit 153.

  The consumption amount calculation unit 153 stores the used toner amount Tc output from the remaining amount detection unit 150 and the time information TI input from the time information input unit 152 in association with each other, and a predetermined amount based on the time information TI. An average toner consumption amount Ta during the period is calculated and output to the replacement time prediction means 154. Here, the predetermined period is set in advance by a user or a manufacturer.

  The replacement time predicting unit 154 is configured to output the toner remaining amount Tr and the average consumption output from the consumption amount calculating unit 153 when the toner remaining amount Tr output from the remaining amount detecting unit 150 reaches a predetermined remaining amount. The replacement timing XT of the toner cartridge 120e is predicted from the amount Ta. Specifically, a quotient of the remaining toner amount Tr by the average consumption amount Ta is calculated, and the quotient is set as a replacement time XT. Here, the predetermined remaining amount is set in advance by a user or a manufacturer, and the replacement time XT is expressed in days.

  The replacement time notification control unit 151 notifies the status display unit 16 of the replacement time XT predicted by the replacement time prediction unit 154 as date information DI. Specifically, the exchange time XT expressed in days is set as date information DI based on the time information TI input from the time information input means 152, and the exchange time notification control means 151 displays the status display. The date information DI is notified to the unit 16.

  Hereinafter, the operation in which the printer 1 notifies the replacement timing of the toner cartridge 120e will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the print data is output from the PC 2 (S1), the time information input unit 152 extracts the time information TI from the print data (S2), and the remaining amount detection unit 150 estimates the used toner amount Tc based on the print data. A calculation is made (S3), and a toner remaining amount Tr is calculated from the total toner amount Ts filled when the toner cartridge is installed and the used toner amount Tc (S4).

  Based on the used toner amount Tc and the time information TI, the consumption amount calculating unit 153 calculates an average toner consumption amount Ta within a predetermined period (S5). When the predetermined remaining amount is reached (S6), the replacement time XT is calculated based on the remaining toner amount Tr and the average consumption amount Ta (S7).

  The replacement time leaving control unit 151 displays the replacement time XT as date information DI on the status display unit 16 based on the replacement time XT and the time information TI (S8).

  Hereinafter, another embodiment will be described.

  In the above-described embodiment, the printer 1 as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a case where a multifunction machine having a printer function operates as a printer.

  In the above-described embodiment, the printer 1 as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied is configured to be connected to the external device PC 2 by the local cable 3. However, each is configured to be connected via a network such as a LAN. It may be.

  In the above-described embodiment, the printer 1 as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied is configured to include a toner cartridge as an exchange unit. However, when the printer 1 is an ink jet printer, the ink cartridge is an impact printer. In some cases, the configuration may include a ribbon.

  In the above-described embodiment, the printer 1 as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied is configured to input time information added to print data transmitted from the PC 2 that is an external device. The printer 1 may be connected to a network such as a LAN, and time information may be input from the time server.

  The replacement time predicting unit 154 determines the remaining toner amount Tr and the average consumption amount Ta output from the consumption amount calculating unit 153 when the remaining toner amount Tr output from the remaining amount detection unit 150 reaches a predetermined remaining amount. The toner cartridge 120e replacement time XT is predicted from the above. However, the predetermined remaining amount can be configured to be appropriately set by the user in accordance with the usage status of the printer 1. That is, when there is no spare toner cartridge 120e and it is desired to reliably prevent the unusable state of the printer 1 due to running out of toner, the predetermined remaining amount may be set larger, and the printer 1 is used less frequently. When the reserve of the toner cartridge 120e is held, the predetermined remaining amount may be set small.

  The plurality of embodiments described above are not limited to being configured alone, but may be combined as appropriate within the scope of the effects of the present invention.

  Each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited by the description. The specific configuration of each part is appropriately changed within the scope of the effects of the present invention. It goes without saying that it can be done.

Functional block diagram of a printer in the present invention Illustration of printer and external devices Illustration of print data sent from an external device Explanatory drawing of the printer in the present invention Flowchart used for explaining the operation for notifying the replacement time of the printer replacement unit in the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

2: External device (PC)
15: System control unit 16: Replacement time notification means (status display unit)
150: Remaining amount detection means 151: Replacement time leaving control means 152: Time information input means 153: Consumption calculation means 154: Replacement time prediction means

Claims (2)

Remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of consumable goods with respect to the replacement unit containing the predetermined consumable goods, and notification of the replacement time of the replacement unit when the remaining amount reaches a predetermined remaining amount by the remaining amount detecting means An image forming apparatus comprising a replacement time notification means for
Time information input means for inputting time information from an external device; consumption amount calculating means for calculating an average consumption amount of the consumable goods within a predetermined period based on the time information input by the time information input means; and the consumption Replacement time prediction means for predicting the replacement time of the replacement unit based on the average consumption calculated by the amount calculation means, and the replacement time notification means indicates the replacement time predicted by the replacement time prediction means as date information. As an image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time information input unit inputs time information added to print data transmitted from an external apparatus.

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