JP2017208689A - Sheet conveying device and image forming apparatus including sheet conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent resumption of a sheet conveying operation although there remains a position in a sheet conveyance path to be checked as to whether paper jam is occurring.SOLUTION: In a sheet conveying device, when a first detection part detects the opening of a cover after a display part displays a wizard screen, and the first detection part subsequently detects the closing of the cover, a third detection part determines whether there is a page subsequent to the page on the wizard screen being displayed by the display part at that time. When there is no subsequent page, the third detection part causes the display part to stop displaying the wizard screen and causes a control part to resume a conveying operation performed by a conveying part. Meanwhile, when there is a subsequent page, the third detection part causes the display part to continue displaying the wizard screen and causes the control part to continue stopping the sheet conveying operation performed by the conveying part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet conveying device and an image forming apparatus including the sheet conveying device.

  An apparatus for handling paper, such as an image forming apparatus, includes a paper transport device including a paper transport path and a plurality of rollers, and transports the paper to a predetermined position.

  Here, a paper jam may occur in the paper conveyance path during the conveyance of the paper. In this case, the sheet conveying device displays a screen showing a work procedure to be performed by the user in order to clear the paper jam on the display unit (for example, see Patent Document 1 below). The user can eliminate the paper jam by removing the paper according to the operation procedure shown on this screen.

  Further, the operation procedure that the user should perform in order to clear the paper jam generally includes a plurality of steps. For this reason, the paper transport device displays a screen consisting of multiple pages for sequentially indicating the operation procedure necessary to clear the paper jam, and switches the page display according to the page transition instruction input by the user. ing.

JP, 2014-116760, A

  In general, in the paper transport device, when the operation of closing the cover of the paper transport device is performed, it is determined that the operation procedure performed by the user to eliminate the paper jam is completed, and the paper transport operation is resumed. .

  However, when there are multiple positions in the paper transport path where it is necessary to check whether a paper jam has occurred, the user should look at only some of the pages on the multi-page screen and check After confirming only the position, the cover of the sheet conveying device may be closed. In this case, the sheet conveying operation is resumed even though the position in the sheet conveying path where it should be confirmed whether or not a sheet jam has occurred remains. If the paper is jammed at a position where the user has not confirmed and the paper has not been removed, the paper jam is detected again and the paper transport operation is stopped.

  In this way, despite the resumption of the paper transport operation, the paper transport operation is again stopped immediately after that, and the user has to perform an operation procedure for clearing the paper jam again. Will be delayed further.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and does not resume the paper transport operation even though there is still a position in the paper transport path where it should be checked whether a paper jam has occurred. The purpose is to do so.

  A paper transport device according to one aspect of the present invention is a casing that forms a transport path and an outer shell of the paper transport apparatus and accommodates the transport path therein, and is provided with an openable / closable cover. In a state in which the cover is opened, a housing that exposes a part of the transport path, a first detection unit that detects an open / closed state of the cover, a transport unit that transports paper in the transport path, and the transport A control unit that controls the sheet conveyance operation by the unit, a second detection unit that detects the presence / absence of the sheet at a plurality of predetermined positions in the conveyance path, and a detection result of the presence / absence of the sheet by the second detection unit A third detection unit that detects whether or not a paper jam has occurred in the transport path, and identifies a position in the transport path where the paper jam has occurred when a paper jam has occurred; Display unit and display unit A receiving unit that accepts a user operation on the screen, and when the third detection unit detects that a paper jam has occurred, the third detection unit performs an operation procedure required to clear the paper jam. A wizard screen composed of a plurality of pages for sequentially displaying in a wizard format is displayed on the display unit, and (ii) a page of the wizard screen displayed by the display unit in response to a page transition instruction received by the reception unit. (Iii) after the display unit displays the wizard screen, the first detection unit detects that the cover is opened, and then the first detection unit closes the cover. When it is detected that there is a page after the page of the wizard screen displayed on the display unit at that time, (iii-i) When there is no subsequent page, the display of the wizard screen is stopped on the display unit, the paper transport operation by the transport unit is restarted on the control unit, and (iii-ii) there is the subsequent page Is a paper transport device that causes the display of the wizard screen to remain on the display unit and causes the control unit to stop the paper transport operation by the transport unit.

  An image forming apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, and the above-described sheet conveying apparatus, which conveys the sheet to the image forming unit, and the image An image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet conveying device that conveys an image-formed sheet on which an image is formed by a forming unit to a sheet discharge port of the image forming apparatus.

  According to the present invention described above, it is possible to prevent the sheet conveying operation from being resumed even though the position in the sheet conveying path where it should be confirmed whether or not a sheet jam has occurred remains.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a figure which shows the 1st page of the wizard screen which the display part of the image forming apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention displays, (B) is a figure which shows the 1st page of a wizard screen. . (A) is a figure which shows the 3rd page of the wizard screen which the display part of the image forming apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention displays, (B) is a figure which shows the 4th page of a wizard screen. . FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a fifth page of a wizard screen displayed by the display unit of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of information added to a wizard screen displayed by a display unit of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of an image forming apparatus according to a modification of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus including a sheet conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus.

  The image forming apparatus 1 is a multifunction device having a plurality of functions such as a facsimile communication function, a copy function, a printer function, and a scanner function. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 2, an image reading unit 10 disposed above the apparatus main body 2, and a connecting unit provided between the image reading unit 10 and the apparatus main body 2. 3.

  The image reading unit 10 is an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) having a document transport unit 11 and a scanner that optically reads a document transported by the document transport unit 11 or a document placed on a contact glass (not shown). is there. The image reading unit 10 acquires image data as an image formation target by reading a document one by one.

  The apparatus main body 2 is a casing that constitutes an outline of the image forming apparatus 1 and the sheet conveying apparatus. Inside the apparatus main body 2, an image forming unit 20, a paper feeding unit 30, an image memory 40, a storage unit 50, a communication unit 60, a paper conveying unit 90, and the like are accommodated.

  The image memory 40 is an area for temporarily storing image data read by the image reading unit 10.

  The image forming unit 20 reads image data stored in the image memory 40 and forms (prints) an image on a sheet supplied from the sheet feeding unit 30 using the data. The printed paper is discharged to the discharge tray 4.

  The storage unit 50 is a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

  The communication unit 60 is a communication interface including a communication module such as a LAN chip (not shown). The image forming apparatus 1 is connected to another PC (Personal Computer) or the like via a network, and transmits / receives data to / from the PC connected by the communication unit 60.

  The sheet conveyance unit 90 includes a sheet conveyance path (not illustrated) formed in the apparatus main body 2, a conveyance roller (not illustrated) provided in the sheet conveyance path, a motor (not illustrated) that drives the conveyance roller, and a driver. Composed.

  Here, the apparatus body 2 is provided with a cover 5 that can be freely opened and closed. In a state where the cover 5 is opened by the user, a part of the sheet conveyance path is exposed.

  The open / close detection sensor 92 is an optical sensor using, for example, infrared rays, and outputs a high signal when the cover 5 is open, and outputs a low signal when the cover 5 is closed.

  The paper detection sensor 91 (second detection unit) is an optical sensor using, for example, infrared rays, and is provided at a plurality of predetermined positions in the paper conveyance path. The sheet detection sensor 91 outputs a high signal when there is a sheet at the plurality of positions, and outputs a low signal when there is no sheet at the plurality of positions.

  A display unit 70 and an operation unit 80 are disposed on the front side of the apparatus main body 2. The display unit 70 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic EL (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display.

  The operation unit 80 is, for example, a start key for instructing execution of a print job or the like, and a determination key (enter key) for performing a confirmation operation on a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that configures a screen displayed on the display unit 70 A numeric input key for performing numeric input is provided, and an operation on a screen displayed on the display unit 70 is input by the user.

  The image forming apparatus 1 further includes a control unit 100. The control unit 100 includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and a memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory). The control unit 100 executes an operation control unit 101, an open / close detection unit 102, a paper jam detection unit 103, and a reception unit 104 when a control program stored in the memory or the storage unit 50 is executed by the processor. Function as. In addition, each said structure of the control unit 100 may be each comprised by the hard circuit irrespective of the operation | movement based on the above-mentioned control program.

  The operation control unit 101 controls overall operation of the image forming apparatus 1. The operation control unit 101 is connected to the image reading unit 10, the image forming unit 20, the paper feeding unit 30, the image memory 40, the storage unit 50, the communication unit 60, the display unit 70, the operation unit 80, the paper conveyance unit 90, and the like. It controls the operation of each connected mechanism and transmits / receives signals or data to / from each mechanism. In particular, the operation control unit 101 has a function of controlling an image forming operation and a sheet conveying operation.

  The open / close detection unit 102 (first detection unit) has a function of detecting the open / closed state of the cover 5 based on a signal output from the open / close detection sensor 92.

  The paper jam detection unit 103 (third detection unit) has a function of detecting whether or not a paper jam has occurred in the paper transport path based on the detection result of the presence of paper by the paper detection sensor 91. Specifically, the paper jam detection unit 103 detects that the paper is continuously detected by a paper detection sensor 91 at a predetermined position in the paper conveyance path for a predetermined time or more, and the paper conveyance path. Based on the fact that the paper has not reached a predetermined position, it is detected that a paper jam has occurred in the paper transport path. When a paper jam occurs, the paper jam detection unit 103 identifies the position in the paper transport path where the paper jam has occurred.

  The receiving unit 104 has a function of interpreting a user operation on the screen displayed on the display unit 70 and receiving an instruction based on the user operation.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a specific operation flow of the image forming apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration.

  When a paper jam is detected by the paper jam detection unit 103 (YES in step S10), the operation control unit 101 stops the paper conveyance operation by the paper conveyance unit 90 and the image formation operation by the image forming unit 20 (step S11). .

  After the process of step S11, the paper jam detection unit 103 generates a wizard screen composed of a plurality of pages for sequentially indicating the operation procedure necessary for clearing the paper jam in the wizard format (step S12), and the generated wizard. A screen is displayed on the display unit 70 (step S13).

  Here, when the paper is continuously detected at a predetermined position in the paper conveyance path by the paper detection sensor 91 for a predetermined time or longer, the position where the paper detection sensor 91 is provided is the position where the paper jam occurs. It is the position where it occurred. Therefore, in this case, in order to clear the paper jam, the user should confirm the position. On the other hand, if the paper does not reach a predetermined position in the paper conveyance path, it is considered that a paper jam has occurred at a position between the paper detection sensors 91. Therefore, in this case, there may be a plurality of positions to be checked by the user in order to clear the paper jam.

  Based on the signal output from the paper detection sensor 91, the paper jam detection unit 103 specifies a position (position where there is a possibility that paper jam has occurred) to be confirmed by the user in order to eliminate the paper jam. A wizard screen including a page for notifying the position is generated. 4A to 6 are diagrams illustrating an example of a wizard screen. In the example shown in these drawings, the wizard screen is composed of five pages D1 to D5.

  Returning to FIG. 3, when the accepting unit 104 accepts a wizard screen page transition instruction (YES in step S <b> 14), the paper jam detection unit 103 changes the page of the wizard screen displayed on the display unit 70 to the next page. Switching is performed (step S15). In the example illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 6, the receiving unit 104 receives a pressing operation of the button d1 provided on the pages D1 to D5 of the wizard screen as a page transition instruction of the wizard screen.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the first page D1 of the wizard screen shows an operation procedure for opening the cover 5 of the apparatus main body 2 as the first operation procedure for clearing the paper jam. . When the cover 5 is opened by this operation procedure, the open / close detection unit 102 thereafter determines whether or not the cover 5 has transitioned from the opened state to the closed state, that is, whether or not the cover 5 has been closed. Is monitored (step S16).

  Here, in a general apparatus, it is determined that a series of operation procedures for clearing a paper jam has been completed, triggered by the cover closing operation being performed, and the paper transport operation and the image forming operation are resumed. I am letting.

  However, when there are multiple positions in the paper transport path where it is necessary to check whether a paper jam has occurred, the user should look at only some of the pages on the multi-page screen and check After confirming only the position, the cover of the apparatus may be closed. In this case, the sheet conveying operation is resumed even though the position in the sheet conveying path where it should be confirmed whether or not a sheet jam has occurred remains. If the paper is jammed at a position where the user has not confirmed and the paper has not been removed, the paper jam is detected again and the paper transport operation is stopped.

  In this way, despite the resumption of the paper transport operation, the paper transport operation is again stopped immediately after that, and the user has to perform an operation procedure for clearing the paper jam again. Will be delayed further.

  In order to avoid the above situation, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, a series of operation procedures for clearing a paper jam is completed only by closing the cover 5. The process after step S17 is performed without determining.

  After the display unit 70 displays the wizard screen, the paper jam detection unit 103 detects that the cover 5 is opened, and then the open / close detection unit 102 closes the cover 5. Is detected (YES in step S16), it is determined whether there is a page after the page of the wizard screen currently displayed on the display unit 70 (step S17).

  If there is no subsequent page (NO in step S17), the paper jam detection unit 103 determines that a series of operation procedures for eliminating the paper jam has been completed, and causes the display unit 70 to stop displaying the wizard screen. At the same time (step S20), the operation control unit 101 restarts the paper transport operation by the paper transport unit 90, and the operation control unit 101 restarts the image forming operation by the image forming unit 20 (step S21). In the example shown in FIGS. 4A to 6, when the cover 5 is closed while the fifth page D5 of the wizard screen is displayed on the display unit 70, the paper jam detection unit 103 performs steps S20 and S21. Perform the process.

  On the other hand, if there is a subsequent page (YES in step S17), the paper jam detection unit 103 may not have confirmed the position where there is a possibility of paper jam, and a series of steps for eliminating the paper jam. It is determined that the operation procedure has not been completed. In this case, the paper jam detection unit 103 causes the display unit 70 to display the wizard screen as it is (step S18), causes the operation control unit 101 to stop the paper conveyance operation by the paper conveyance unit 90, and the image forming unit. The image forming operation by 20 is kept stopped.

  The paper jam detection unit 103 then displays information indicating that the position in the paper transport path where the user should check whether the paper is jammed remains on the page of the wizard screen displayed by the display unit 70. And the page with the information added is displayed on the display unit 70 (step S19). As a result, it is possible to notify the user that a series of operation procedures for eliminating the paper jam has not been completed.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 4A to 6, a series of operation procedures for clearing a paper jam by checking the position of the transport roller (A1) by the user viewing the second page D2 of the wizard screen is shown. It can be assumed that the cover 5 is closed with the second page D2 of the wizard screen displayed on the display unit 70. In this case, since there are the third page D3 and the fourth page D4 as the subsequent pages, the paper jam detection unit 103 performs the processes of step S18 and step S19. As a result of the process of step S19, information as shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus 1, the sheet conveying operation is not resumed even though the position in the sheet conveying path where it should be checked whether or not a sheet jam has occurred remains. can do.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation flow of the image forming apparatus according to the modification. In addition, about the process similar to the process shown in FIG. 3, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the modification, a position where there is a possibility of paper jam based only on the presence of a page after the page of the wizard screen displayed on the display unit 70 when the cover 5 is closed. Is not confirmed by the user, and it is not determined that a series of operation procedures for eliminating a paper jam has been completed, but the process of step S30 is further performed.

  In the process of step S30, the paper jam detection unit 103 further determines the page of the subsequent page when there is a page after the page of the wizard screen displayed on the display unit 70 when the cover 5 is closed. Among these, it is determined whether or not a page indicating a position in the sheet conveyance path where the user should check whether or not the sheet is jammed is included.

  Here, the page indicating the position in the paper transport path where it should be checked whether the paper is jammed is a page preset by the paper jam detector 103 when the wizard screen is generated. In the example shown in FIGS. 4A to 6, the second page D2 and the fourth page D4 correspond to the above-described pages.

  If the subsequent page does not include a page indicating the position in the paper transport path on which the user should check whether the paper is jammed (NO in step S30), the paper jam detection unit 103 It is determined that a series of operation procedures for eliminating the clogging has been completed, and the processes of step S20 and step S21 are performed.

  On the other hand, when the page indicating the position in the paper conveyance path where the user should check whether the paper is jammed is included in the subsequent pages (YES in step S30), the paper jam detection unit 103 There is a possibility that the position where there is a possibility of paper jam has not been confirmed by the user, and it is determined that a series of operation procedures for eliminating the paper jam has not been completed, and the processing of step S18 and step S19 is performed.

  The operation procedure shown on the fifth page D5 in the example shown in FIGS. 4A to 6 is an operation procedure that is not directly related to clearing a paper jam. If the user has not seen the last page of the wizard screen, but the only page that has not been seen is a page that shows an operation procedure that is not directly related to resolving such a paper jam, control the operation. There is no problem if the sheet conveying operation by the sheet conveying unit 90 is restarted by the unit 101 and the image forming operation by the image forming unit 20 is restarted by the operation control unit 101. For this reason, in the image forming apparatus according to the modified example, the time required to restart the sheet transport operation and the image forming operation is shortened by performing the above-described processing.

  In the above embodiment, an image forming apparatus is shown as an example of an apparatus provided with a sheet conveying device, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to this case. The sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention can be applied to any apparatus that needs to convey sheets such as an image reading apparatus and a post-processing apparatus in addition to the image forming apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Apparatus main body 5 Cover 10 Image reading part 20 Image forming part 30 Paper feed part 40 Image memory 50 Storage part 60 Communication part 70 Display part 80 Operation part 90 Paper conveyance part 91 Paper detection sensor 92 Opening / closing detection sensor 100 Control Unit 101 Operation control unit 102 Open / close detection unit 103 Paper jam detection unit 104 Reception unit

Claims (5)

A transport path;
A casing that constitutes an outline of the paper conveying apparatus and accommodates the conveying path therein, and is provided with an openable / closable cover, and a part of the conveying path is exposed when the cover is opened. A housing to be
A first detector for detecting an open / closed state of the cover;
A paper transport unit for transporting paper in the transport path;
A control unit for controlling a sheet conveying operation by the sheet conveying unit;
A second detector for detecting the presence or absence of paper at a plurality of predetermined positions in the transport path;
Based on the detection result of the presence or absence of paper by the second detection unit, it is detected whether or not a paper jam has occurred in the transport path, and when the paper jam has occurred, the transport in which the paper jam has occurred is detected. A third detector for identifying a position in the road;
A display unit;
A reception unit that receives a user operation on a screen displayed by the display unit,
The third detector is
(I) When it is detected that a paper jam has occurred, a wizard screen consisting of a plurality of pages is displayed on the display unit in order to sequentially show the operation procedure necessary for clearing the paper jam in the wizard format;
(Ii) In response to a page transition instruction received by the reception unit, the page of the wizard screen displayed by the display unit is switched,
(Iii) After the display unit displays the wizard screen, the first detection unit detects that the cover is opened, and then the first detection unit detects that the cover is closed. If detected, it is determined whether there is a page after the page of the wizard screen displayed on the display unit at that time, and (iii-i) The display of the wizard screen is stopped on the display unit, the paper transport operation by the paper transport unit is restarted on the control unit, and (iii-iii) if there is a subsequent page, the wizard screen is displayed on the display unit. Is left as it is, and the control unit causes the sheet conveying unit to stop the sheet conveying operation. The third detector is
In the case where there is a page after the page of the wizard screen displayed by the display unit, the user should check whether the paper is jammed in the subsequent page. Determine whether a page with a location is included,
If the page is included, leave the display of the wizard screen on the display unit, and let the control unit stop the paper transport operation by the paper transport unit,
The paper transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the page is not included, the display of the wizard screen is stopped on the display unit, and the paper transport operation by the paper transport unit is restarted on the control unit.   In the case where the third detection unit causes the control unit to stop the paper transport operation by the paper transport unit, the user can read the page on the page of the wizard screen displayed on the display unit at that time. The information which shows that the position in the said conveyance path which should confirm whether it is clogged remains is added, The page which added the said information is displayed on the said display part. Paper transport device.   The third detection unit detects that a sheet has been continuously detected by the second detection unit at a predetermined position in the conveyance path for a predetermined time or more and a predetermined value in the conveyance path. 4. The paper transport device according to claim 1, wherein the paper transport device detects that a paper jam has occurred in the transport path based on the fact that the paper has not reached the specified position. 5. An image forming unit for forming an image on paper;
5. The paper transport device according to claim 1, wherein the paper transport device transports the paper to the image forming unit, and the image-formed paper on which an image is formed by the image forming unit is booked. An image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet conveying device that conveys the sheet to a sheet discharge port of the image forming apparatus.