JP2009086602A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that a conventional drum sensor or toner sensor is connected to an engine controller, and in a sleep mode, a power supply of the engine controller is turned off, and if a drum or a toner is substituted in the sleep mode, calibration is not executed after rebooting, so that a connection target of the sensor should be switched from the engine controller to a formatter in the sleep mode. <P>SOLUTION: In order to solve the problem, the connection target of the sensor is switched from the engine controller to the formatter in the sleep mode. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a detection circuit that electrically detects that a consumable has been replaced, and a printing apparatus that can turn the power on / off as an energy saving mode for the detection circuit.

  A printer using electrophotographic technology such as LBP is provided with a sensor for confirming whether consumables such as a drum and a toner cartridge are mounted on the printer. Consumables include a method in which the drum unit is independent of the toner unit and a method in which the drum unit is integrated with the toner unit. In the LBP, the drum unit is a consumable part and can be removed and replaced by the user. The drum unit is an important part in the quality of printing in which the printing position is displaced due to the delicate movement of the mounting position. In the case of the color LBP, four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow are overlapped to express a full color. However, color development and color shift greatly change depending on the overlapping state of the respective toners. For this reason, in the case of color LBP, a calibration operation is performed as necessary in order to maintain print quality. In the calibration operation, a calibration patch is printed on the intermediate transfer belt of the printer, the print position and density are read by a sensor, and the print position and halftone are corrected. The calibration operation is automatically performed when the printer is turned on, the number of printed sheets, the passage of time, and the like. However, as described above, the calibration operation is also performed to correct the slight deviation of the drum unit mounting position.

  The installation and removal of the drum unit always involves opening and closing the service cover. For this reason, there is a configuration in which it is determined that the drum unit has been attached / detached when the cover is opened / closed using the cover open / close sensor, and the calibration is executed.

The drum unit mounting sensor and the cover opening / closing sensor are connected to an engine control unit that controls the printing unit of the printer. The engine control unit judges whether the drum is attached / detached based on the electrical signal sent from the drum unit attachment sensor or the cover opening / closing sensor and information from other sensors if necessary, and executes calibration if it is judged that the drum has been attached / detached To the controller.
As an example of the above, Patent Document 1 below can be cited.
JP 2004-341274 A

  In recent years, energy saving is also important for LBP. In the sleep mode with low power consumption, the entire engine control unit of the LBP is turned off. The drum unit mounting sensor and the cover opening / closing sensor are connected to the engine control unit. In the sleep mode, the engine control unit is turned off in order to reduce power consumption. For this reason, when the engine enters the sleep mode, there is a problem that it is impossible to determine whether the drum has been changed.

  As a simple countermeasure, it is conceivable to supply power even in the sleep mode for the drum unit mounting sensor, the cover opening / closing sensor and the engine control unit. However, in this case, there is an insufficient point where the power consumption of the engine control unit is added even during the sleep mode. If the controller checks the various sensors directly without going through the engine control unit, the problem of drum replacement during sleep and power consumption can be solved. Since the sensor information related to drum replacement is frequently used in the engine control unit, the information must be frequently transmitted from the controller to the engine control unit.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention adopts a structure in which the output of a sensor used for determining the mounting of a drum is switched during normal time and during sleep. In other words, the sensor used for judgment is normally connected to the engine control unit, and is connected to the controller during sleep.

  In the present application, since the printer controller can grasp the drum exchange even during the sleep operation, when the drum exchange is performed during the sleep operation, the printer can be temporarily shifted from the sleep state to the standby state to execute calibration. Note that power supply to the engine controller during the sleep operation can be cut off in the same manner as in the prior art, and this does not increase the power consumption during the sleep operation.

  Next, details of the present invention will be described in accordance with the description of the embodiments.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the first embodiment. The presence or absence of the Y drum 101a is performed by the adjacent Y drum sensor 102a. The output is taken out as an electrical signal and input to the switch 103a. The Y switch 103a has a function of distributing the signal sent from the Y drum 101a into two. Two outputs of the Y switch 103 a are input to the engine control unit 104 and the controller 105. The engine control unit 104 controls the switching of the Y switch 103a, and sets the output of the Y drum sensor 102a to be input to the engine control unit 104 during normal operation. In addition, the output of the Y drum sensor 102a is set to be input to the controller 105 during the sleep operation. The engine control unit 104 and the controller 105 are connected by a video I / F 106. Image information and engine control commands are sent from the controller 105 to the engine control unit 104 via the video I / F 106. Conversely, status information such as engine operating conditions is sent from the engine control unit 104 to the controller 105 via the video I / F 106.

  In the figure, reference numeral 101b denotes an M drum. Similarly, 101c represents a C drum and 101d represents a K drum. 102b is an M drum sensor, 102c is a C drum sensor, and 102d is a K drum sensor. Similarly, 103b is an M switch, 103c is a C switch, and 103d is a K switch. The M system, C system, and K system are independent, but the configuration is the same as the Y system.

  FIG. 2 shows a sequence for entering calibration in the first embodiment. In S101, the LBP is turned on. After the power is turned on, calibration effective S102 is usually performed. After the S102 calibration after the power is turned on, the LBP performs a normal operation such as standby or printing in S103. The transition to the sleep state is performed when the operation for the set time LBP is not performed or when the transition to the sleep state is instructed by the host PC or the panel operation. S104 is a branch indicating whether or not a transition has been made to the sleep state. When the sleep state is entered, the drum sensor output switch is switched to the controller side in S105. If the switch is originally switched to the engine control side but the LBP does not shift to the sleep state, in S106, the switch is set again to the engine control side. After the drum change is detected by the sleeping controller in S105, the process branch is shown in S107 depending on whether the drum is changed or not. If the drum is changed in S107, the process proceeds to S108. In S108, the controller issues an instruction to cancel the sleep operation via the video I / F to the engine control unit. Since the sleep of the LBP is canceled in S108, the switch is returned to the engine control unit side in S109. In step S110, the controller executes calibration. If the drum is not changed in S107, or if there is a printer activation request by an external print command or the like, the sleep operation is canceled in S111. Next, in step S112, the selector switch is returned to the engine control side and the normal printing operation is started.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the second embodiment. In the configuration of the second embodiment, the switches 103a, 103b, 103c, and 103d are deleted from the configuration of the first embodiment, and the output of each sensor of the drum sensors 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d is not switched by the switch, but the engine control unit 104. Are always input to the controller 105. In the second embodiment, the detection signal of the drum switch is not input during normal / sleep mode but is always input to the controller 105. The controller 105 detects the presence or absence of a drum from the signal of the drum sensor only during sleep, and executes a calibration operation in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the third embodiment. Reference numeral 401 denotes a door cover which is opened when the LBP drum is replaced. The opening / closing switch 402 is turned on / off by opening / closing the door cover 401. The open / close switch 402 transmits a signal to the changeover switch 403. The changeover switch 402 is connected to the engine control unit 104 and the controller 105 in the same manner as the switch of the first embodiment. In the case of the third embodiment, it is defined that the drum is changed when the door cover 401 is opened and closed. In order to replace the drum, the door cover 401 must be opened. Therefore, if the door cover 401 is checked without checking the individual drum sensors, the attachment / detachment of the drum can be monitored. In the case of the third embodiment, there is a merit that the number of changeover switches and wirings can be reduced, but there is a demerit that calibration is always generated only by opening and closing the door cover 401. However, in recent LBP, there is an example in which a mechanism of an intermediate transfer band or a paper transport system is provided on the door cover 401, and a calibration shift due to opening / closing of the door cover also occurs. is there.

1 is a configuration diagram of Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a chart of Example 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of Example 3.

Explanation of symbols

101a, 101b, 101c, 101d Y / M / C / K drums 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d Each drum sensor 103a, 103b, 103c, 103d Each sensor output changeover switch 104 Engine control unit 105 Controller 106 Video interface 401 Door cover 402 Door cover opening / closing switch 403 selector switch

Claims (4)

  In a printing apparatus having a detection unit that detects that a consumable has been replaced and transmits the information to the control unit by an electrical signal, the detection unit of the detection unit is directly connected to the control unit when the detection unit is powered off. A printing apparatus that detects replacement of consumables in a state where a power source of a detection unit is cut off by control and identification.   In a printing apparatus having first detection means for detecting that a consumable has been replaced and transmitting the information to the control unit by an electrical signal, the power is directly supplied to the control unit when the power of the first detection unit is cut off. A printing apparatus, wherein consumables replacement is detected by a connected second detection unit.   A printing apparatus that detects that a drum unit has been replaced by a drum sensor, and has a sensor output switching device that transmits the output of the drum sensor to the print engine control unit during normal times and to the printer control unit during sleep. A printing device.   A printing apparatus having a cover sensor for detecting opening and closing of a service cover, characterized by having a sensor output switching device that transmits the output of the cover sensor to the print engine control unit during normal times and to the printer control unit during sleep. Printing device.

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