JP2510554B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electrophotographic recording apparatus capable of feeding a manual sheet inserted to the position of a sheet feeding means.

[Prior art]

In a recording apparatus capable of manual paper feeding, an external device such as a controller or a host computer is connected, and when a manual paper feeding instruction is received, manual paper feeding is detected by a manual feeding port, and a printing operation is performed according to a print instruction.
The recording device that detects the paper at the manual feed port carries the paper to the paper feed roller position by the paper feed means. However, there is also a recording apparatus that allows the operator to directly insert the paper to the position of the paper feed roller. When printable conditions other than manual paper detection are satisfied, the former recording device is ready to print at the same time as manual paper detection, but in the latter recording device, the manual paper detection device is placed in front of the paper feed roller. Because it has been
After the manual feed paper is detected, printing is ready after a certain time in anticipation of the time when the leading edge of the paper is inserted into the paper feed roller. However, with this method, the operator often feels uneasy because the print ready status is not displayed immediately after inserting the paper from the manual insertion slot. In addition, it may be pulled out, which may cause a paper feed failure.

A method is also conceivable in which the detection state of the manual feed paper by the manual feed paper detection device is displayed, and after the manual feed paper is detected, the recording operation is started after a certain time delay.

However, in such a method, if the user inserts the manual feed sheet properly, the certain period becomes the waiting time of the user.

In the case of an electrophotographic recording apparatus that requires a preparatory operation such as uniformizing the surface of the photosensitive drum as a recording operation, further time for the preparatory operation is required after the elapse of the above-mentioned certain time.
In particular, when continuous recording is performed by manual paper feeding, it is necessary to wait for the fixed time and the time required for the preparatory operation each time a sheet is manually fed, which causes a problem that throughput is significantly deteriorated.

〔Purpose〕

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, prevent an increase in user waiting time without impairing operability when inserting a manual feed sheet, and perform continuous recording by manual paper feed. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording device capable of suppressing a decrease in throughput.

In order to achieve such an object, a recording apparatus according to the present invention is an electrophotographic recording apparatus capable of feeding a manual feed sheet inserted to a position of a paper feeding means, the recording apparatus being provided upstream of the paper feeding means. When continuous recording is performed by a sheet detecting unit and manual sheet feeding, in response to the first sheet manually detected by the detecting unit, the photosensitive member is provided before the sheet feeding unit starts the sheet feeding operation. For the first manual sheet that is continuously recorded by the manual paper feed and the drive control means that drives the sheet until the time t ₁ elapses from the detection of the first manual sheet by the detection means. Prohibits the sheet feeding operation of the sheet feeding means, and for the second manually fed sheet, until a time T ₁₀ shorter than the time t ₁ has elapsed from the detection of the second manually fed sheet by the detection means. Is before And having a feed control means for prohibiting the feeding operation of the sheet feeding means.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

1. Circuit Configuration FIG. 1 is a control circuit diagram of the laser beam printer according to the present embodiment. In the figure, 201 is a ROM-built-in one-chip microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as CPU 201), and AN
0 to AN7 are analog input ports, PA3 to PA7, PB0 to PB7, PC3
Is an input port, PA0, PA2, PC0 to PC2, PC4 to PC7, PD0 to PD7, P
F0 to PF7 are output ports. 202 is the host computer
A controller that receives a signal from 213 and controls the printer to form an image. Reference numeral 204 is a pre-exposure lamp that uniformly erases the potential on the photosensitive drum 1008, 205 is a high-voltage unit that receives a high-voltage drive signal from the CPU 201, and generates a high voltage, 206
Reference numeral 207 denotes an EP cartridge which has toner and which receives a laser from the semiconductor laser LS201 to form an image, and 207 denotes a fixing heater drive circuit which receives a fixing heater drive signal from the CPU 201 and turns on / off the gate of the triac Tr ₁ . 208
Is a one-chip microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as CPU 208) having a built-in ROM like 201, and receives a control signal from the CPU 201 to control the laser light amount and pulse motor (M1) drive. 209 is a polygon motor drive circuit that receives a polygon motor drive signal from the CPU 201 to rotate the polygon motor M3 at a constant speed, 210 is a laser drive signal from the CPU 208 and a laser control signal from the gate array 212, and emits laser light. The laser circuit that receives the light and causes the CPU 208 to check the amount of laser light and feedback, 211 is the optical fiber 1009 shown in FIG.
This is a beam detect circuit for inputting the light received at (3) to the gate array 212. 212, based on the image width information sent from the CPU208 and the image signal from the controller 202, controls the on / off of the laser according to the image signal during image formation,
It is a gate array that receives a beam detect signal and a signal from the polygon motor drive circuit to monitor the polygon motor and beam detect signals. Although the gate array 212 is shown separately from 212a and 212b in FIG. 1 in FIG. 1, it is actually composed of the same chip. The portion surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 1 corresponds to the control unit (print controller) excluding the sensor and drive system.

2. Operation when power is turned on FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a connection state between the low voltage source and the print controller.

In Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, when the power switch of SW181 is turned on, + 5V is first output from the low voltage power supply of 101, and at the same time, the CPU on the controller of the printer of 102 that controls the main body.
Reset signal RESET for 201 (hereinafter referred to as RESET signal)
Is output. The RESET signal causes the CPU 201 to start control, and after initializing each unit of the main body, the printer power ready signal PPRDY is sent to notify the external device such as the controller of 202 that the power of the main body is turned on.
(Hereinafter referred to as PPRDY signal) is output. This PPRDY signal is simultaneously output to the low voltage power supply 101 as a + 24VA, + 24VB and -5V output control signal REMOTE (hereinafter referred to as REMOTE signal). The low-voltage power supply 101 outputs + 24V and -5V when this REMOTE signal becomes true.

The CPU 201 that has output the PPRDY signal next outputs the motor drive signal DRM.
D is output to the CPU 208 for a certain period of time, during which the CPU 208 outputs a pulse motor excitation signal. Upon receiving this, the low-voltage power supply 101 initially rotates the pulse motor M1 which is a drive motor of the paper transport system. This is the photosensitive drum 100 in the EP Cartridge 206.
This is to improve the engagement between the 8th gear and the paper transport system gear. At this time, the CPU 201 sends the registration solenoid drive signal REGD
To output the clutch 405 shown in FIG.
And the registration roller 404 is rotated by driving the motor. If there is residual paper in the paper transport unit and the residual paper can be transported to the position of the paper ejection sensor PS201 by the initial rotation of the motor, the CPU201 detects that there is residual paper in the machine and automatically ejects the residual paper. , Or paper jam to indicate to the operator that there is residual paper in the machine.
Also, the motor drive signal DRMD is the polygon motor drive signal SC
Since it is used together with NON and the pre-exposure lamp drive signal PEXP, the polygon motor M3 and the pre-exposure lamp 204 are also driven at the same time as the initial rotation of the motor. However, in this initial rotation of the motor, since the laser is not output even when the polygon motor M3 rises, the beam detect signal BD (hereinafter referred to as BD signal) indicating the scanning position of the beam is not monitored.

When the initial rotation of the motor is completed, the CPU 201 detects the amount of toner remaining in the EP cartridge 206. First, the high voltage unit 205 receives a development bias AC component drive signal DBAC (hereinafter referred to as DBAC) and a transfer high voltage drive signal HVTON (hereinafter referred to as HVTON signal) from the CPU 201, and supplies the development bias into the development cylinder. At this time, the remaining toner amount detection sensor 220 mounted in the cartridge 206 detects the remaining amount of toner, and the high voltage unit 205 is supplied to the analog input port of the CPU 201 as a toner sense signal TSENS.

The control program of the CPU 201 does not detect the remaining toner amount at the same time as outputting the high voltage drive signal, but performs control so that the high voltage output is sufficiently risen for a certain period of time to perform detection. Also, the remaining toner amount is detected during printing operation, and the print signal PRNT from the controller 202 (hereinafter P
After receiving the RNT signal), the primary high voltage P, the DC component of the developing bias DB, and the transfer high voltage T are output in this order from the high voltage unit 205, and the toner residual amount remains for a certain time after the AC component of the developing bias DB rises. The amount detection is started, and the DBAC signal from the CPU 201 is cut off, and at the same time, it ends. Toner level detection signal TS
Since ENS changes with each rotation cycle of the photosensitive drum 1008, C
The control program of PU201 performs the detection method as shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, it is determined in step 300 whether the remaining amount of toner can be detected, and if it is possible, the process proceeds to step 301. In step 301, if the LED 200 indicates that the remaining toner amount is insufficient, a new toner amount is not detected. If NO in step 301, step 302 resets the counter 1 for determining the remaining amount of toner. Next, in steps 303 and 304, the counter 2 for the average value of the remaining toner amount detection signal and the buffer are cleared. Next, if the continuous reading of N times is not completed in step 305, step 3
At 06, read the toner remaining amount detection signal TSENS, and press 307
Save the accumulated value in the buffer with and press step 30
At 8, the counter 2 is counted up and the process returns to step 305. If the data has been read N times at step 305, the average value is obtained at step 309. The result is compared with the reference value of the remaining amount of toner, and if it is determined in step 310 that the remaining amount of toner is insufficient, the counter 1 for determination is counted up in step 311. If the toner remaining amount is not insufficient, the process returns to step 302 and the toner remaining amount is detected again. When the counter 1 counted up in step 311 reaches M times in succession, the LED 200 is used in step 313 to display the insufficient toner amount.
If it is not M times consecutively, the counter is left as it is, and the remaining toner amount is read from step 303 again. As described above, by taking the average value of the toner remaining amount detection signal TSENS and further determining whether the toner remaining amount is insufficient M times, it is possible to cope with the fluctuation of the toner remaining amount detection signal TSENS every 1008 cycles of the photosensitive drum, and moreover A judgment result with no taste is obtained. Further, once the toner residual amount is displayed once, it is held until the CPU 201 determines that the cartridge 206 is replaced.
The determination that the cart ridge 206 will be replaced is made as follows. FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the laser beam printer of this embodiment. In FIG. 11, the micro switch SW100 in the low-voltage power supply 101, which interlocks with the lever 1103 attached to the upper door 1101 of the printer 401, turns off simultaneously with the opening of the upper door 1101 and shuts off 24VB and 24V power for driving the motor. CPU201 is a signal 24VB divided by 24V DC 24V
(Hereinafter referred to as DC24V signal) is input, it is detected that the DC24V signal has become low level, and it is determined that the upper door 1101 is opened. In order to replace Cartridge 206, upper door 1101 must be opened, so CPU2
01 can predict that the cartridge rod 206 will be replaced when the upper door 1101 is opened. When the upper door 1101 is opened, the CPU 201 jumps to the beginning of the program in order to reset its own processing and secures the reliability of the safety and control of the printer 401, except under the conditions described later, and resets the initial settings. At this time, the display of insufficient toner remaining amount by the LED 200 is also reset and after the upper door 1101 is closed,
After the initial rotation of the motor, the first remaining toner amount is detected.

When the upper door 110 is closed, the micro switch SW100 in the low voltage power supply 101 is pushed by the lever 1103 attached to the upper door 1101, and 24V is output from the low voltage power supply 101 which has already received the REMOTE signal from the CPU 201. Incomplete upper door due to chattering caused by turning on / off the micro switch SW100, and operator error.
Considering that 1101 is closed, the CPU 201 does not immediately start up the printer 401 even if the 24V DC signal becomes high level, puts a blank for a certain period of time and completely opens the upper door 11.
Start printer 401 in anticipation of 01 being closed.

The control program resets when the upper door 110 is opened, so the PPRDY signal becomes false, but + V5 from the low-voltage power supply 101 is rising, so after the control program reset,
The PPRDY signal returns even if the upper door 1101 is open. Therefore, if the controller power ready CPRDY signal (hereinafter referred to as the CPRDY signal) output from the controller 202 is true, communication with the controller 202 is possible. At this time, if there is a status request from the controller 202, the printer 401 responds to the controller 202 with a status indicating that the upper door 1101 is open.

When the initial rotation of the motor M1 and the detection of the remaining toner amount are completed, the printer 401 enters the warming up state. At this time, if the controller 202 is connected, the printer 401 responds to the status request of the controller 202 with a status of waiting. During the warm-up, the fixing device 413 controls the temperature of the fixing heater H1, and the fixing roller 411 is heated to the standby temperature T ₁ . A pulse signal of a fixing heater drive signal FSRD (hereinafter referred to as FSRD signal) is output from the CPU 201 to the power input unit 207, and the power input unit 207 drives the triac Tr ₁ to heat the fixing heater H1. When the fixing roller 411 reaches the standby temperature T ₁ , the main body enters the stop state and returns to the controller 202, the waiting status is released, and the CPU 201 keeps the standby temperature T ₁ until the printing operation starts. Control H1. The printer 401 can perform cassette paper feeding or manual paper feeding by a paper feeding mode designation command from the controller 202. If the paper feed mode designation command is not sent,
The printer considers the cassette paper feed mode.

3. Conditions for enabling the printable state In the cassette sheet feeding mode, the printable state is set when the following conditions are met and the printing operation is started or continued when the PRNT signal from the controller 202 becomes true.

(1) EP Cartridge 206 is set.

(2) Controller power ready CPRDY signal is true.

(3) Paper jam does not occur.

(4) The fixing device, polygon motor M3, and beam detect signal BD are not broken or misprinted.

(5) The cassette 408 is installed, and the paper is set inside.

The presence or absence of the EP cartridge 206 is determined by another control CPU 208 in the printer by turning on the micro switches SW210 and SW211 for the drum sensitivity sensing frame 1102 of the EP cartridge 206. Signal NOCRT without EP cartridge to CPU201
(Hereinafter referred to as NOCRT signal) is output. If the NOCRT signal is false, EP cartridge 206 is present.

The controller power ready signal CPRDY is a signal input from the controller 202, and is the only signal that can detect the rising state of the controller 202.

Printers other than the fixing device failure in (3) and (4) above
This is a condition that can be detected only when the printing operation is performed at least once after the 401 starts up, and the polygon motor failure is detected even if a certain time has elapsed after the polygon motor drive signal SCNON becomes true. Does not rotate at a constant speed and the polygon motor ready signal SCNRDY (hereinafter referred to as the SCNRDY signal) from the polygon motor drive circuit 209 does not become true, or after the SCNRDY signal once becomes true, it remains false for a certain period of time. If there was. The misprint is a signal BDERR (abbreviated as BDERR signal) indicating that the BD signal obtained by the rotation of the polygon motor M3 is abnormal and the CPU 201 has an abnormality in the BD signal. It is judged when true is input. Furthermore, if the BDERR signal continues for a certain period of time, it is determined that the BD has failed. Fixer failure is thermistor TH1
Signal FSRTH of the temperature T _x of the fixing roller 411 detected by
The FSRTH signal is input to the CPU 201 and the FSRTH signal is out of the control temperature range, or it is determined that the thermistor TH1 is open or the fixing heater H1 is open. When a fuser failure occurs, the signal indicating that a fuser failure has occurred from the CPU 201 FSERER signal (hereinafter referred to as FSERER
(Referred to as signal) is output and is charged to the capacitor C211. The charge charged in the capacitor C211 is gradually discharged after the power is turned off, but if the power is turned on before reaching a certain level, it is determined that the fuser has failed again and is charged to the capacitor C211 by the FSERER signal. The paper jam state is determined when a paper jam occurs based on a jam detection timing described later.

As shown in FIG. 4, the paper cassette 408 has a frame 412 mounted on the front end of the paper cassette and a micro switch SW2.
By turning on any of 01 to SW203, P
It is input as a signal of SIZE1 to PSIZE3, and it is judged that there is a paper cassette. Since the position of the paper cassette top 412 differs depending on the paper size to be handled, the micro switches SW201 to SW2
It is possible to detect up to 7 different paper sizes by checking whether 03 is on or off. The presence or absence of paper in the paper cassette 408 can be detected by determining the signal PEMP from the paper sensor PS202.

When all the above conditions are satisfied and the printer is ready for printing, a print enable signal RDY (hereinafter referred to as RDY signal) is sent from the printer 401 to the controller 202. Also,
If the above conditions are not met, the controller 20
If there is a status request from 2, the printer 401 can return the status of the above-mentioned conditions to the controller 202 as a status.

When the manual paper feed command is sent from the controller 202, the printer 401 enters the manual paper feed mode from the printing of the next page, and becomes the printable state when the following conditions are satisfied. This means that the printable conditions (1) to (4) in the cassette sheet feeding mode described above are satisfied, the paper cassette 408 is installed, and the paper 407 is set in the manual feed slot.

In FIG. 4, in the manual paper feeding, the paper 407 has to be inserted up to the paper feeding roller 402 along the manual feeding guide 406 on the paper cassette 408. Has become. Therefore, the CPU 201 first detects the paper cassette size detection signal.
After detecting that the paper cassette 408 is installed by PSIZE1 to PSIZE3, input the signal MPFS (hereinafter referred to as MPFS signal) of the manual paper detection sensor PS203 at the manual feed port to determine the presence or absence of manual paper. are doing. In the manual paper feed mode as well as in the cassette paper feed mode, the controller print enable signal RDY or its status can be returned if printing is not possible.

4. Judgment of Paper Existence in Each Paper Feeding Mode FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing judgment of paper existence depending on the difference of the above-mentioned paper feeding modes. In step 1401, regardless of the paper feed mode, first, the presence or absence of the paper feed cassette is determined by the paper feed cassette size signals PSIZE1 to PSIZE3. If the paper feed cassette is present, step 1402 determines whether the paper feed mode is the manual feed mode. To judge. In the manual paper feed mode, in step 1403, the presence or absence of manual paper is determined by the MPFS signal which is a manual paper detection signal. If there is paper, step 14
At 04, the status paperless bit transmitted to the controller 202 is reset, and if there is no paper, at step 1408 the status paperless bit is set. Step 1405
Check other printable conditions with. If printable, turn on the ready display at step 1406. If not printable, turn off the ready display at step 1409. In the cassette sheet feeding mode, in step 1407, the presence / absence of a sheet in the cassette is determined by the cassette sheet detection signal PEMP signal. The subsequent procedure is the same as in the manual paper feed mode.

However, switch the analog input port RDYINH signal of CPU201
By setting the low level by 212, among the above printable conditions, the presence or absence of the EP cartridge 206, the presence or absence of paper jam, the polygon motor, the failure of the beam detect signal, the misprint, the presence or absence of the paper cassette 408,
It is possible to set the printable state by ignoring the presence or absence of the paper in the paper cassette. However, in the manual feed mode, printing is possible, even if the print signal PRNT from the controller 202 is received, there is paper in the manual feed port, and MPFS
Do not start the print operation unless the signal becomes true. Further, even if the signal RDYINH signal for ignoring the printable condition is set to the low level and the printable state is created, the above condition is continuously detected.If the controller 202 requests the printer status, the detected result is set as the status. return. This is before printing, during printing,
It is the same after the operation.

5. Printing operation When the print signal PRNT is sent from the controller 202 after the printer 401 is ready to print, the CPU20
In response to this, 1 controls the printing operation in the sequence shown in FIG. First, the motor drive signal DRMD is set to true to drive the paper carrying motor M1. At the same time, the polygon motor drive signal SCNON and the pre-exposure lamp drive signal PEXP are set to true. After that, primary high voltage HVION, development bias DC DCD
C, each high voltage drive signal of transfer high voltage HVTON is turned on sequentially. Paper feeding solenoid SL20 ₁ second after the motor is driven
The paper feed drive signal CPUD (hereinafter referred to as CPUD signal) is set to true in order to drive 1. Although the true period t _CPU of the CPUD signal is shorter than the time t _c required for the half-moon-shaped sheet feeding roller 402 to make one rotation, when the sheet feeding solenoid SL201 is driven and the sheet feeding clutch 410 is connected, the half-moon shaped sheet feeding roller 402 is turned to one. It is rotated by the driving force of the paper transport system until it rotates and the paper feed clutch 410 comes off. CPU201
Outputs the laser power control start signal APCST (hereinafter referred to as the APCST signal) toward the CPU 208 in order to perform laser power control after confirming that the polygon motor has become ready after turning on the CPUD signal.
The CPU 208 receives the APCST signal and controls the laser power by inputting / outputting to / from the laser drive circuit 210 so as to maintain a constant level. At this point, the printer is ready for image formation. Next, the CPU 201 requests the vertical synchronization signal VSRE to the controller 202 after the time t ₀ (variable depending on the rising condition of the polygon motor) from the CPUD signal being turned on.
Outputs Q (hereinafter referred to as VSREQ signal). Controller 20
The image output preparation is returned from 2 and the vertical synchronization signal VSYNC (hereinafter referred to as VSYNC signal) is returned.
Is in a waiting state. If the print signal becomes false during this time, the CPU 201 determines that the print has been canceled,
In order to output a blank sheet, the post-processing of the printing operation starts. When the vertical sync signal VSYNC is sent from the controller 202,
The CPU 201 sets the drive signal REGD signal to be true for the registration solenoid SL202 in order to drive the solenoid SL202 for driving the registration roller at time t ₂ after the fixed time with reference to the leading edge of the VSYNC ON signal. Also, after t ₃ from the leading edge of VSYNC signal ON,
DBAC signal is set to true for developing bias AC drive.

Further, the image mask signal TOPERS in the sub-scanning direction is turned off after t ₄ x seconds from the leading edge of the VSYNC signal, and t ₄ depending on the paper size.
Turn on after seconds. Image mask signal TOPERS in the sub-scanning direction
While is on, no image is formed because the laser is not output even if the image signal VDO is input from the controller 202.

The paper conveyed by the registration roller drive reaches the paper discharge sensor PS201 installed near the fixing device. Therefore C
PU201 discharge sensor PS after time t ₅ from the leading edge of VSYNC signal ON
Detects that the signal PDP from 201 (hereinafter referred to as PDP signal) is true, and confirms that the paper was fed and conveyed correctly. If the PDP from the front edge of the VSYNC signal on the time t after ₅
If the signal is false, it is judged as a delay jam. When the image signal transmission from the controller ends and time t ₆ has elapsed from the leading edge of the VSYNC signal being turned on and printing is possible, the next
The status of the print request is set to confirm that the PRNT signal can be accepted. controller
202 sends this status request after sending the image signal and sends PRNT
The signal may be true. If the next PRNT signal is not sent from the controller 202 by the time t ₇ after the leading edge of the VSYNC signal is turned on or the printable state is not established, the CPU 201 starts the post-processing of the print operation. If PRNT signal before if the time t ₇ is true, take the printing sequence from CPUD signals on the above-described again. After the time t ₈ from the leading edge of the VSYNC signal on, the paper on which the image is formed is the paper output sensor PS.
Since it should have passed 201, the CPU 20 is false because the PDP signal is false after time t ₇ from the leading edge of the VSYNC signal ON.
Make sure that the paper has passed the paper ejection sensor PS201 correctly. If the PDP signal is true at this time, the CPU 201 determines that the retention jam has occurred. Normally, when the paper is jammed, the paper conveyance drive is immediately stopped, and the jam status is set so that the controller 202 recognizes that the jam has occurred. However, when performing continuous printing, depending on the printing interval, the paper feed roller 402 may detect paper jam during rotation. At this time, CPU 201 monitors the paper feed solenoid drive signal CPUD simultaneously turning on the feed roller 402 one revolution time t _c, the time t _c from CPUD signal on
For the paper jam that has occurred up to, the paper conveyance drive is stopped after the time t _c . The same applies to the paper jam status set. Therefore, the paper feed roller 402 is always in the regular rotation position regardless of the occurrence of paper jam.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing the above-mentioned paper feed control and jam control.

If the print timer is on at step 1201, the print sequence has already been entered, and the process proceeds to step 1205. If the print timer is off in step 1201, proceed to step 1202, and press P in steps 1202 and 1203.
If the RNT signal is true and printing is possible, the print timer is turned on at step 1204. If not, reset the timer with 12. In step 1205, if the paper feed timing, the paper feed timer is started in step 1206. If a jam occurs during the subsequent control,
Jam processing is not performed on the spot, and only the jam flag is turned on in step 1208. After performing another control check, if the jam flag indicating the occurrence of a jam is on in step 1209, it is determined in step 1210 whether the paper feed timer is running. This paper feeding timer is a timer started at the time of paper feeding in steps 1205 and 1206, and counts the time t _c during which the paper feeding roller 402 is rotating, and then it is cleared. If the paper feed timer is turned on in step 1210, the paper feed roller 402 is rotating, and therefore the step 1211 jam processing is not performed, and the jam processing of step 1211 is performed after the time t _c when the paper feed roller 402 is stopped. In the jam processing, the reset of the timer, the stop of the transportation system, the set of the jam status, etc. are performed.

If you are using the cassette feed mode,
Even if the paper sensor PS202 in the 408 runs out of paper, or if the microswitches SW201 to SW203 run out of cassettes, the paper currently undergoing image formation is already being transported, and the controller 202 The image being formed must be guaranteed. Thus from the front edge of the vertical synchronizing signal VSYNC signal on of the image forming, the presence or absence of time until the end of image formation on the paper rear end t ₉ -t until _y paper cassette 408 or the presence or absence of paper in the paper cassette, the sense do not do.
The time t ₉ -t _y from to time t ₉ is RDY signal indicates a printable be detected None None paper or paper cassette: maintaining true and false RDY signal after a time t _9. The printable display is the same. In the manual feed mode, the RDY signal: true is maintained until the end of image formation even if there is no paper cassette or if there is no manual feed paper.

Similarly paper cassette 408 in the image formation is unplugged from the leading edge of VSYNC signals on even if the other paper cassette of the paper size is loaded until the time t ₉ to maintain the paper size before replaces paper size selector The controller 202 also sets the paper size status to ensure the front paper size.

Similar to the processing at the time of switching the paper cassette during image formation, even when the paper feed mode is switched during image formation, the paper feed mode and paper size before switching are guaranteed until the image formation is completed.

6. Operation Characteristic in Manual Paper Feed Mode When the controller 202 outputs a manual paper feed command, the printer 401 enters the manual paper feed mode. In the manual feed mode, if the above-mentioned printable state is reached, the print operation is started by the print signal PRNT from the controller 202. If the print signal PRNT signal is true as shown in Fig. 6 and the printable condition other than the manual feed paper detection is satisfied, and the paper is inserted into the manual feed slot, the printable condition will be immediately and the print operation will start immediately. However, the sheet feeding operation of the printer, that is, the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 402 by the sheet feeding solenoid drive signal CPUD, is performed after time t ₁₀ from the completion of the manual sheet detection. As shown in FIG. 6, for the first sheet of continuous printing by manual paper feeding, after the timing t _{1 at} which the high-voltage drive signals HVTON, DBDC, HVION become true, the CPUD signal becomes true. Paper roller
Rotate 402. For second and subsequent continuous printing by manual feeding, the sheet feeding operation of the printer is performed from the manual sheet detecting complete after t _10. Time t from the completion of manual paper detection
Vertical sync signal on the previous page is at a certain timing in the course of ₁₀
If it coincides with the time t ₇ from the leading edge of VSYNC ON, the post-processing of the printing operation is not performed, the CPUD signal is turned ON after the time t ₁₀ , and the printing operation of the next page is performed as it is.

In the case of cassette feeding, there is a universal cassette in which the paper size to be set in the paper cassette 408 can be freely set, and envelopes and other thick paper can also be fed. Also in the manual paper feeding, the paper width of the manual paper feeding guide 406 of the paper cassette 408 can be varied, and an envelope or other thick paper can be fed. In this universal cassette paper feed or manual paper feed mode, CPU201 in the following cases, when printing the next page, feed solenoid drive signal CPUD: true to vertical sync signal request signal VSREQ: time from normal cassette to normal cassette Control is performed so that the time t _w is further extended from the time t ₀ at the time of feeding. The first case is the printable state as shown in FIG. 6, and is the case where the first sheet is printed by receiving the print signal PRNT from the controller 202 in the paper feed mode of universal cassette paper feed or manual paper feed. . The second and subsequent sheets are similar to the normal cassette sheet feeding mode. The second case is when the paper cassette 408 is switched to the universal cassette or the controller 202 sends a command to switch the paper feed mode to the manual paper feed mode during printing in the normal cassette paper feed mode. At this time, CPU201 is VS of the page before switching as shown in FIG.
Until the time t ₇ from the leading edge of the YNC signal ON, neither the next print signal request nor the paper feed operation is performed, and after the time t _{7 when the} paper feed mode is switched, the print operation from the first sheet is controlled again. .

In the third case, as shown in FIG. 8, printing is possible by universal cassette paper feeding or manual paper feeding during post-printing processing, and when the print signal PRNT from the controller is received. By time t _w from the time of the time required for one print normal cassette feeding becomes longer in the above three cases. This time t _w is the time for storing additional heat in the fixing device.

7. Controls related to opening and closing the upper door When the printer indicates that the toner level is insufficient, or when a paper jam occurs, the operator can operate the upper door 1101.
As described above, the control program of the CPU 201 once resets by opening the upper door 1101 at this time. Also, when the controller power ready signal CPRDY is false for a certain period of time, it is determined that the controller is down, and the control program of the CPU 201 is reset once. However, if a serious failure such as a fuser failure, a polygon motor failure, or a beam detect signal detection failure has already occurred in the printer when the upper door 1101 is opened, the control program does not reset and Maintain failure mode. Also CPRD
When the Y signal becomes false for a certain period of time and the above-described delay jam has already occurred in the printer, the control program maintains the paper jam mode without resetting. The above control sequence is as shown in FIG. If it is detected in step 901 that the upper door 1101 is open, it is determined in step 902 whether a failure has occurred. The failure determination is made by referring to the status because failure information is set in the status so that the controller 202 recognizes the failure at the same time that the printable status signal RDY becomes false when the failure occurs. If there is a failure, control is performed when the upper door is opened at step 911, and the next control is performed. If there is no failure, the reset pretreatment of step 905 is performed. If the upper door is not opened at step 901, it is determined at step 903 whether the CPRDY signal has been false for a certain period of time. If the controller is not down, the next control is performed. If the controller is down, it is determined in step 904 whether a delay jam has occurred. If no delay jam has occurred, the process proceeds to step 905. There are two types of paper jam, the delay jam and the retention jam described above. Which jam can be determined by setting a flag according to the detection timing of each. If it is a delay jam at step 904,
Move on to the next control. In step 907, the failure judgment is performed again, and if there is a failure, the failure status is set again and other processing is performed in step 908. In step 909, the paper jam judgment is performed again, and if it is paper jam, the jam status setting and other processing are performed again. In the reset pre-processing of step 905, if there is necessary information after reset, that information is set in the RAM area of the CPU 201, jumped to the beginning of the control program in step 906, and initialized by setting the control program. . Further, during the process of opening the upper door of step 911, the fixing heater drive signal FSRD (hereinafter referred to as FSRD signal) is turned off so that the fixing heater H1 is not driven.
Further, in the fixing heater control process of step 912, the control maximum value T _max of the fixing roller 411 temperature T _x by the input of the thermistor TH1 is monitored even when the FSRD signal is off. Therefore, the temperature T _x of the fixing roller 411 is continuously monitored even while the upper door 1101 is open.

8. Control Related to Polygon Motor FIG. 12 is a time chart showing the judgment of the start and the failure of the polygon motor M3.

SCNO to start polygon motor M3 in response to PRNT signal
When the N signal becomes true, the rotation speed of the polygon motor M3 increases. When the rotation speed approaches the specified rotation speed, the SCNRDY signal appears.

When the polygon motor M3 locks in, hunting occurs and the rotation speed fluctuates in the vicinity of the specified rotation speed, so the SCNRDY signal is intermittent. _Let this hunting period be ta. CPU201 monitors long t _b Time SCNRDY signal from t _a from the time the SCNRDY signal goes once true.

The t _b during time SCNRDY signal completely outputs the determination to VSREQ signal the polygon motor M3 is turned operating speed as it becomes to keep the true.

When the polygon motor in t _b time has not caused the hunting, it is determined that the t _b during the time still polygon motor M3 is not in the prescribed rotational speed, to start the monitoring of the next t _b time. If the CPU201 does not judge that the specified speed has been reached within t _c time after the SCNON signal becomes true, the polygon motor
Judge as M3 failure. When it is determined that the polygon motor M3 is out of order, the paper previously fed by the paper feed roller is ejected out of the machine.

As described above, according to the present invention, in an electrophotographic recording apparatus capable of feeding a manual feed sheet inserted to the position of the paper feed means, without impairing the operability when inserting the manual feed sheet, It is possible to prevent an increase in the waiting time of the user, and it is possible to suppress a decrease in throughput when performing continuous recording by manual paper feeding.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control circuit diagram of a laser beam printer according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a relationship diagram of a low voltage power supply and a printer controller, FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a toner remaining amount detecting system, and FIG. 4 is a paper cassette and a paper supply. Structure diagram of paper rollers, FIG. 5 is a timing chart for normal cassette feeding, FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 are timing charts for universal cassette feeding or manual feeding, and FIG. 9 is an upper door. Partial flow chart of the control method when the controller is opened or down, Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of the laser scanning system, Fig. 11 is a diagram of the main body when the upper door is opened, and Fig. 12 is the activation of the polygon motor M3. 13 is a timing chart showing the judgment of the judgment and the failure judgment. FIG. 13 shows the flow chart showing the paper feed control and the jam control of this embodiment, and FIG. 14 shows the cassette mode and the manual feed mode of this embodiment. It is to flow chart. 202: controller or host computer, 204: pre-exposure lamp, 205: high-voltage unit, 206: EP cartridge, 20
7: Fixing heater drive circuit, 209: Polygon motor control, drive circuit, 210: Laser drive circuit, 211: BD circuit, 212: Gate array, 213: Reset circuit, R100 to R999: Resistor C100 to C99
9: Capacitor, SW100 to SW399: Switch, IC100 to IC999:
IC, PS200 to PS299: Photo sensor, H1: Fixing heater, TH1:
Thermistor, SL201 to SL202: Solenoid, TP200: Thermo switch, Tr1: Triac, Q100 to Q999: Transistor, M1, M3: Motor, LS201: Semiconductor laser, 401: Printer body, 402: Paper feed roller, 406: Manual feed guide, 404: Registration roller, 405: Registration roller clutch, 407: Paper, 408: Paper feeding cassette, 409: Paper sensing lever, 410: Paper feeding roller clutch, 411: Fixing roller, 1001: Polygon mirror, 1003: Collimator Lens, 1004: Cylindrical lens, 1005: Imaging lens, 1006: Beam detect mirror, 1007: Reflecting mirror, 1008: Photosensitive drum, 1009: Optical fiber, 1101: Upper door, 1102: Frame for detecting sensitivity of photosensitive drum , 1103: SW100 on / off lever.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical indication location G03G 15/00 518 G03G 15/00 518 21/14 21/00 372 (72) Inventor Takashi Seiya Tokyo Canon Inc., 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Junichi Kimizuka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) Reference JP-A-57-192967 ( JP, A) JP 62-36241 (JP, A) Actually developed 57-170139 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electrophotographic recording apparatus capable of feeding a manual feed sheet inserted to the position of the paper feed means, the detection means being provided upstream of the paper feed means, for detecting the manual feed sheet, and the manual feed sheet. When performing continuous recording on paper, in response to the detection of the first manually-fed sheet by the detection unit, a drive control unit that brings the photosensitive member into a driving state before the paper feeding normally starts the paper feeding operation, For the first manually-fed sheet that is continuously recorded by manual sheet feeding, the sheet feeding operation of the sheet feeding unit is performed until time t ₁ has elapsed from the detection of the first manually-fed sheet by the detection unit. Forbidden, for the second bypass sheet,
A sheet feeding control unit that prohibits the sheet feeding operation of the sheet feeding unit until a time T ₁₀ shorter than the time t ₁ elapses after the detection unit detects the second manually fed sheet. Recording device.