JP4127547B2 - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper feeding device used in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral or a bank ATM, and more particularly to a paper feeding device for feeding a plurality of types of printing media.

In general, when print data is sent from a host PC to an image forming apparatus such as a printing system, a printing machine, a printer, or a multifunction machine, the print data attributes (hereinafter referred to as a media type), a paper feed stage, duplex printing, and the like Designated other information is added.
Then, the image forming apparatus that receives the additional information together with the print data interprets the additional information, finally determines a paper feed stage and a discharge destination for printing, and performs actual printing. ing.

By the way, regarding the above-mentioned designation of the paper feed stage, the conventional printer generally has a plurality of paper feed stages. When handling a larger number of print media than the number of paper feed stages, two methods are known. It has been.
In the first method, a user using a host PC often visits the host PC to the printer installation location before starting printing, sets a print medium to be printed in one paper feed stage, and then returns to the host. Return to the PC and start printing to the printer. As a result, the printer feeds a desired print medium from the designated paper feed tray and prints on the print medium.

On the other hand, as shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, for example, after the user outputs a print request from the host PC, the second method goes to the printer installation location and uses the display panel of the printer. After confirming the print media mismatch error display, replace the print media in the paper feed stage according to the display on the display panel, and then operate the display panel (or automatically) to replace the print media. Set. As a result, the printer feeds a desired print medium from the designated paper feed tray and prints on the print medium.
JP 2001-331296 A JP-A-10-254302

However, in each of the two methods described above, both the user needs to go to the printer installation location to replace the print medium in the paper feed stage, and after the completion of printing, the user goes to the printer installation location again. Then, the exchanged print medium of the paper feed stage must be returned to the original, and the original setting must be returned on the display panel as necessary. For this reason, a complicated operation is involved and unnecessary time is generated.
Such a complicated operation is unavoidable when using a larger number of print media than the number of paper feed stages.

On the other hand, a printer has been developed in which the type and number of print media stored in each paper feed stage are managed and the print medium is moved between the paper feed stages by a moving mechanism.
However, in a printer having such a moving mechanism, it is necessary that the exact number of print media accommodated in each paper feed stage is always stored in the storage device. For this reason, when a new print medium is set in the paper feed stage, it is necessary to manually input the exact number of print media from the operation panel, and a jam occurs during the movement of the print medium between the paper feed stages by the moving mechanism. If this occurs, it is necessary to recognize how many print media have been removed after avoiding jamming and re-input the correct number of print media from the operation panel, which complicates the operation.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and even when using a larger number of print media than the number of paper feed stages, the user goes to the printer installation location or changes the setting on the display panel. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device that does not need to be performed and that does not require re-input of the number of print media after jamming avoidance.

  In order to achieve this object, a paper feeding device according to claim 1 of the present invention is designated by at least two paper feeding stages, a moving mechanism for moving a print medium between the paper feeding stages, and each paper feeding stage. In the sheet feeding device having a sheet feeding mechanism for feeding the printed medium and a control unit for controlling the moving mechanism and the sheet feeding mechanism, each of the sheet feeding stages can accommodate a plurality of types of printing media. The control means includes storage means for storing the number and the storage position of each type of print medium accommodated in each paper feed stage, and the control means receives the print medium from one paper feed stage. When a jam occurs while the paper is being moved to another paper feed stage by the moving mechanism, after avoiding the jam, all the print media stored in the paper feed stage is moved to another paper feed stage by the moving mechanism, Count the number of movements, and the type of printing medium that was moving when the jam occurred It is constituted to correct the number of the accommodation.

When the sheet feeding device has such a configuration, it is possible to accommodate a larger number of types of print media than the number of sheet feed stages, and the storage unit stores the number of print media of each type. Can grasp at which position of which paper feed stage the print medium designated at the time of paper feed is stored.
Therefore, the control means can acquire the paper feed stage and position in which the designated print medium is accommodated based on the number of print media of each type stored in the storage means.

Further, the control means controls the moving mechanism to move the print medium positioned on the designated print medium to another paper feed stage, thereby moving the designated print medium to the paper feed stage. It can be located on the top layer of.
Accordingly, the control unit can control the paper feed mechanism to feed the designated print medium from the paper feed stage.

Here, when a jam occurs during the movement of the print medium between the paper feed stages, after avoiding the jam, all the print media in the paper feed stage as the movement source are moved to another paper feed stage by the movement mechanism. It is moved and the number of moves is counted. As a result, the remaining number of print media of the type that was moved when the jam occurred can be calculated, so that it is added to the number of print media of that type that have already been moved into the other paper feed stage of the transfer destination. Thus, the total number of print media of that type can be accurately counted.
This eliminates the need for the user to manually input the number of print media removed to avoid jamming or the number of print media of the type remaining in the paper feed tray from the operation panel, etc. Therefore, the exact number of print media of that type is counted, and the number of print media of that type stored in the storage device can be corrected.
As a result, even if a jam occurs during the movement of the print medium between the paper feed stages, the user does not need to manually input the number of remaining print media, and the operability is improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the control unit moves the print medium from one paper feed stage to another paper feed stage by the movement mechanism, the number of movements in the destination paper feed stage. Is configured to count.
When the sheet feeding device has such a configuration, when the printing medium is moved into the sheet feeding stage as the movement destination, the number of movements of the printing medium is counted. The print medium is not counted as the number of movements, and the number of print media accommodated in the destination paper feed stage can always be accurately counted.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the control unit moves the print medium from one paper feed stage to another paper feed stage by the movement mechanism, the number of movements in the source paper feed stage. Is configured to count.
With such a configuration of the paper feeder, when the print medium is moved from the paper feed stage that is the movement source to the movement path, the number of movements of the print medium is counted. Is counted as the number of movements, the number of print media accommodated in the movement source sheet can always be accurately counted.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet feeding device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit uses a moving mechanism to change the number of accommodations in the sheet feeding stage of the movement destination of the type of print medium that has been moved during the jam generation after the jam avoidance. The number of movements is counted.
With such a configuration of the paper feeding device, when the number of print media in the source paper feed stage is always accurate, the number of print media contained in the destination paper feed stage is accurately counted. Will be able to.

As described above, according to the paper feeding device according to the present invention, even if a larger number of print media than the number of paper feeding stages are accommodated in the paper feeding apparatus having a plurality of paper feeding stages, the user can install the paper feeding apparatus. Even if a jam occurs during the movement of the print media between the paper feed stages, without having to change the print media stored in each paper feed stage or changing the settings of the paper feed device. The number of print media accommodated in each paper feed stage is automatically counted, and the number of print media contained in each type of print medium can be corrected. The specified print medium can be fed from the paper feed tray, and after printing is completed, the user goes back to the installation location of the paper feed device to print each paper feed tray. It is necessary to return the media or return the paper source settings. Ku, it is possible to easily perform the feeding of various print media.
Therefore, for example, by incorporating the paper feeding device according to the present invention into an image forming apparatus such as a printer or various apparatuses such as a bank ATM that require feeding of various types of printing media, a larger number of types than the number of paper feed stages can be obtained. It is possible to easily feed paper using a print medium.

Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus to which an embodiment of a paper feeding device of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus incorporating a paper feeding device according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 includes an image forming unit 100, a paper feeding device 200, and an operation panel 300.

The image forming means 100 is an image forming means such as a known printer or multifunction machine, and is fed by the paper feeding device 200 based on print data and print medium information transmitted from the host PC 400 (see FIG. 2). Printing is output on a printed printing medium.
That is, the image forming unit 100 includes an original placement contact glass 102 and an automatic document feeder 103 provided on the upper surface of the main body 101, and an exposure mechanism 110 and a print mechanism 120 provided immediately below the upper surface of the main body 101. ing.

The exposure mechanism 110 includes an exposure lamp 111a that exposes and scans a document (not shown) placed on the contact glass 102 from below and a first mirror 111b that reflects reflected light from the document. The first optical system 111, the second optical system 113 including two mirrors 113a and 113b for guiding the light reflected by the first mirror 111b to the condenser lens 112, and the light focused by the condenser lens 112 A solid-state imaging device 114 such as a CCD for detecting the image signal, and an image signal from the solid-state imaging device 114 is input to a control unit 115 described later.
The first optical system 111 and the second optical system 113 described above are reciprocated in the left-right direction by a scan motor (not shown).

The control unit 115 drives the laser unit 116 based on the image signal, and irradiates the photosensitive drum 121 of the print mechanism 120 described later with laser light.
Here, the control unit 115 controls the image forming unit 100 and the paper feeding device 200 when a signal from the operation panel 300 is input, and based on the image signal from the solid-state image sensor 114. A signal for image formation is generated to drive and control the laser unit 116.
Further, the control unit 115 includes a storage device 115 a that stores various settings and the type, the number of sheets, and the position of the print medium of each paper feed stage 210 in the paper feed device 200.

The printing mechanism 120 includes a cylindrical photosensitive drum 121 that is rotationally driven, a charger 122 that charges a photosensitive layer on the surface of the photosensitive drum 121 that is sequentially arranged in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 121, A developing device 123 that visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive layer as a toner visible image, a transfer discharger 124 that transfers the toner visible image formed on the photosensitive layer to a printing medium, and a photosensitive drum 121. A discharger 125 for separating the print medium from the printer, a cleaning device 126 for removing toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 121 after the transfer, and a static remover 127 for removing charges on the surface of the photosensitive drum 121.
As a result, a print medium (not shown) fed from the paper feeding device 200 is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 121 between the developing device 13 and the transfer discharger 14 in the drawing. The toner image is transferred to the surface of the print medium by being conveyed toward the surface, and after the toner image is fixed on the surface of the print medium by the fixing roller pair 128, the toner image is transferred onto the discharge tray 130 via the discharge roller 129. The paper is discharged.

The paper feeding device 200 feeds a designated print medium to the image forming unit 100 based on print data and print medium information transmitted from the host PC 400.
Here, the sheet feeding device 200 includes a plurality of (three in the illustrated example) sheet feeding stages 210, a sheet feeding mechanism 220, and a moving mechanism 230, and these sheet feeding mechanisms 220. The moving mechanism 230 is controlled by the control unit 115 as control means.
Each of the paper feed stages 210 can accommodate a plurality of types of print media at the same time.
Examples of the print medium include plain paper, glossy paper (glossy film), photo paper, cardboard, OHP sheet, preprint paper, prepunch, thin paper, and rough paper.

The paper feed mechanism 220 includes a paper feed roller 221 provided at the upper front end of each paper feed stage 210, a separating roller pair 222 provided in front thereof, a registration roller pair 223, and a print medium for each paper feed stage. A sheet feeding path 224 that leads from the separating roller pair 222 to the registration roller pair 223 corresponding to 210 is provided.
As a result, the paper feed roller 221 corresponding to the paper feed stage 210 designated by the control unit 115 moves downward, and the print medium positioned at the top of the print media stored in the paper feed stage 210 is moved. The medium is moved forward (rightward in the drawing), sandwiched by the separating roller pair 222, conveyed from the sheet feeding path 224 to the registration roller pair 223, and delivered to the printing mechanism 120.

The moving mechanism 230 branches from the paper feed path 224 halfway and extends to the rear of each paper feed stage 210, and branches from the movement path 231 to each paper feed stage 210. And a counter 233 provided in each of the branch paths 232 is provided.
Note that a guide member (not shown) is provided at a branch point from the moving path 231 to each branch path 232, and a printing medium conveyed through the moving path 231 by switching and moving these guide members. Are fed into a predetermined paper feed stage 210.
Here, the control unit 115 functioning as a control unit of the sheet feeding device 200 controls the switching movement of each guide member described above, obtains a count value from each counter 233, and stores it in the storage device 115a. The number of print media accommodated in each paper feed stage 210 is updated, that is, the count value is subtracted from the number of print medium accommodated in the paper feed stage 210 before movement, and the paper feed stage after movement At 210, the count value is added to the number of print media accommodated.

The operation panel 300 is provided on the upper surface of the main body 101 and includes input means for performing various input operations and setting operations, and display means for performing input contents, setting contents, error display, and the like of the input means. .
A signal or the like input from the operation panel 300 is input to the control unit 115 described above, and various settings are performed.

When the image forming apparatus 10 is used for the first time, as an initial setting, the type and position of the print medium stored in each paper feed stage 210 are input from the operation input unit of the operation panel 300, and the control unit 115 It is stored in the storage device 115a.
Here, when the print medium accommodated in the paper feed stage 210 is moved to another paper feed stage by the moving mechanism 230, the number of movements of this print medium is counted by the counter 233, and this count number is the control unit. By being input to 115, the control unit 115 is configured to update the print medium storage number and storage position in each paper feed stage 210 stored in the storage device 115a based on the count number. .

  Further, when the designated print medium is arranged in the uppermost layer of one of the paper feed stages 210 based on the print data and print medium information transmitted from the host PC 400, the control unit 115 A print medium is fed from the paper feed stage 210 to the print mechanism 120 via the paper feed path 224 by the paper feed mechanism 220.

Further, the control unit 115 moves based on the print data and print medium information transmitted from the host PC 400 when the designated print medium is arranged in the lower layer of any one of the paper feed stages 210. The mechanism 230 moves the upper print medium of the paper feed stage 210 to another paper feed stage 210 via the movement path 231.
Then, when the designated print medium is positioned at the uppermost layer of the paper feed stage 210, the control unit 115 causes the paper feed mechanism 220 to transfer the print medium from the paper feed stage 210 via the paper feed path 224. The paper is fed to the print mechanism 120.

  Further, the control unit 115, when a designated print medium is arranged in a plurality of paper feed stages 210 based on print data and print medium information transmitted from the host PC 400, The number of movements of the print medium necessary until the print medium designated in 210 is positioned on the uppermost layer is compared, the paper feed stage 210 with the smallest number of movements is selected, and the paper feed stage 210 is selected by the movement mechanism 230. The upper layer print medium is moved to another paper feed stage 210 via the movement path 231.

The control unit 115 also feeds the designated print medium from the paper feed stage 210 based on the print data and print medium information transmitted from the host PC 400. When the designated print medium is no longer stored, the designated print medium is searched for whether it is contained in another paper feed stage 210, and the print medium designated in the other paper feed stage 210 is contained. If it is, the designated printing medium is fed by switching to the paper feed stage 210 in the same manner. At this time, if the designated print medium is not located in the uppermost layer of the paper feed stage 210, as described above, the print medium above the designated print medium is placed until the designated print medium is located in the uppermost layer. The sheet is moved to another sheet feeding stage 210 by the moving mechanism 230.
By the way, when the designated print medium is not accommodated in the other paper feed tray 210, the control unit 115 performs an out-of-paper error process in the same manner as the normal out-of-paper state.

Here, as described above, when a jam (paper jam) occurs in the movement path 231 while the print medium is being moved from one paper feed stage to another paper feed stage by the movement mechanism 230, the above control is performed. The unit 115 displays an error message “Paper jam occurred during paper feed stage movement” on the display means of the operation panel 300, for example.
When the user removes the jammed print medium, the control unit 115 detects jam avoidance and moves all the print media in the source paper feed stage to another paper feed stage by the moving mechanism 230. The counter 233 counts the number of movements.

As a result, the control unit 115 acquires the number of print media of the same type as the type of print medium that was moved when the jam occurred, and the type of print medium that has already been moved to the destination paper feed stage. In addition, the accurate number of print media of that type can be obtained.
The control unit 115 corrects the number of print media of the type stored in the storage device 115a based on the obtained accurate number of print media.
Thereafter, the control unit 115 can return to the interrupted movement operation of the print medium.

Here, the print medium to be moved is counted by the counter 233 arranged in the paper feed stage that is the destination of movement. It may be counted when exiting the paper feed stage.
In this case, the type and number of print media in the source paper feed stage are always counted accurately, but the type and number of print media in the destination paper feed stage are not always accurate due to the occurrence of a jam. It will disappear. For this reason, after avoiding a jam, the type and number of print media in the destination paper feed stage are acquired by moving all print media from the destination paper feed stage to another paper feed stage. Will get.

Next, the paper feed processing operation of the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the count management processing operation during paper feeding in the image forming apparatus 10.
In FIG. 3, first, when print data and print medium information are transmitted from the host PC 400 in step A1, the control unit 115 as a control means starts paper feed medium determination, and in step A2, the print medium information. It is determined whether or not the type of print medium designated in (1), that is, the media type, is in the uppermost layer of any one of the paper feed stages 210.

  If the designated media type is not in the uppermost layer of any paper feed stage 210, the control unit 115 determines that the designated media type is in any paper feed stage 210 in step A3. Determine if it exists.

Here, if the designated media type is present in any one of the paper feed stages 210, the control unit 115 performs the media designated in the paper feed stage 210 by the moving mechanism 230 in step A4. The media type located above the type is moved to another paper feed stage 210, and the process returns to step A2.
When there is a designated media type in a plurality of paper feed stages 210 when moving the media type, the control unit 115 is necessary until the designated media type is positioned at the uppermost layer. The paper feed stage 210 that requires the smallest number of movements of other media types is selected, and the movement mechanism 230 moves the media types.

  At this time, the counter 233 counts the number of media types that have been moved, and the control unit 115 controls each paper feed stage 210 stored in the storage device 115a based on the type of media type and the number of moves. The type of media type and the number of accommodations are updated, i.e., the number of accommodations of the media type is subtracted in the paper feed stage 210 at the movement source, and the number of accommodations of the media type in the paper feed stage 210 of the movement destination In addition to the addition, the position of the print medium in the destination paper feed stage 210 is set as the uppermost layer.

If the designated media type is not in any of the paper feed stages 210 in step A3, the control unit 115 determines that paper feed is impossible in step A5 and performs error processing. At the same time, an error is displayed on the display means of the operation panel 300.
Then, when the error is canceled in step A6, the control unit 115 returns to step A2.

On the other hand, if the designated media type is in the uppermost layer of any one of the paper feed stages 210 in step A2, the control unit 115 sends the paper feed stage 210 in step A7. Is selected, the paper feed mechanism 210 feeds the print mechanism 120, and the printing operation is started.
At this time, the control unit 115 subtracts the number of print media accommodated in each paper feed stage 210 stored in the storage device 115a according to the number of printed sheets.

If the media type is exhausted in the paper feed stage 210 in step A9 before the printing is completed in step A8, the control unit 115 returns to step A2 to return to another paper feed stage. It is determined whether or not the media type specified in 210 exists.
As a result, even when the media type designated in the middle is lost, if there is a media type designated in another paper feed stage 210, the printing operation can be automatically continued.

Next, count management when a jam occurs while the printing medium is moving between paper feed stages will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In FIG. 4, when a paper jam occurs in the movement path 231 in step B2 while the print medium is moving from one paper feed stage to another paper feed stage (eg, step A4 in FIG. 3) in step B1. In step B3, the control unit 115 interrupts the printing medium moving operation and causes the display means of the operation panel 300 to display an error message “Paper jam occurred during paper feed stage movement”.

In response to this, the user confirms the jam occurrence position on the display means of the display panel 300 in step B4, removes the jammed paper from the moving path 231 of the image forming apparatus 10, and avoids the jam. .
Accordingly, the control unit 115 detects this jam avoidance in step B5. At this point, the control unit 115 has an unknown number of print media in the source paper feed stage.

In step B 6, the control unit 115 moves all the printing media in the movement source paper feed stage to the movement destination paper feed stage by the movement mechanism 230, and counts the number of movements by the counter 233.
At this time, the control unit 115 holds the type and the number of the print media of the layers excluding the uppermost layer remaining in the source paper feed stage among the moved print media in the storage unit 115a. Therefore, in step B7, by subtracting these accommodation numbers from the count value of the number of movements, it is possible to calculate the remaining number of print media of the type that were moved when the jam occurred.

Therefore, in step B8, the control unit 115 stores the calculated number of print media of the type in the storage device 115a. As a result, the control unit 115 can correct the number of print media of that type that has become unknown due to the occurrence of a jam and re-register it.
Thereafter, in step B9, the control unit 115 resumes the interrupted print medium moving operation, and the type of print medium designated for printing from the transfer destination paper feed stage to the transfer source paper feed stage. After the print medium is moved until all the items are returned, the process returns to step A4 in the flowchart of FIG.
This completes the count management when a jam occurs during printing medium movement between the paper feed stages.

[Concrete example]
Hereinafter, a specific example of the paper feeding medium determination will be described.
In the following description, in order to simplify the description, a case where the paper feed stage 210 has two stages will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, the upper paper feed stage 210a contains 20 media type A print media in the upper layer and 20 media type B print media in the lower layer. Assume that the paper tray 210b contains 20 media type C print media in the upper layer and 20 media type D print media in the lower layer.

Note that the media type of the print medium accommodated in each of the paper feed stages 210a and 210b can be displayed on the display means of the operation panel 300 as shown in FIG. 6 (however, the media type shown in FIG. 6). In the setting content display screen, 20 sheets of media type A, 20 sheets of media type B, and 100 sheets of media type X are stored in the sheet feed stage 210a, and media type C is stored in the sheet feed stage 210b. 20 sheets, 20 media types D are accommodated).
When the user sets a print medium in the paper feed tray 210, the user can input (set) the paper feed tray 210, the media type of each print medium, and the number of each of those media from the operation panel 300. A plurality of media types and the number of media types that can be set in one paper feed stage 210 can be set, and the storage means (storage device) stores the contents of these settings. The setting input of the media type and the number of sheets can be performed from the operation panel 300, but is not limited to this. For example, the setting can be performed using an image forming apparatus management utility via SNMP or other information transmission. Similarly, a plurality of media types and the number of sheets can be set for each paper feed stage as each paper feed stage information.

  If the print medium type designated by the print medium information from the host PC 400 is the media type B, the control unit 115 causes the moving mechanism 230 to move the upper paper feed stage 210a as shown in FIG. All upper-layer media types A (20 sheets in this case) are moved to the lower paper feed stage 210b.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, the upper paper feed stage 210a contains 20 media type B print media in the upper layer, and the lower paper feed stage 210b contains media type A in order from the top. 20 print media, 20 media type C print media, and 20 media type D print media.

In this way, according to the print medium type specified by the print medium information from the host PC 400, each media type accommodated in each paper feed stage 210a, 210b is appropriately moved to another paper feed stage 210b, 210a. As a result, the desired media type is positioned at the uppermost layer of one of the paper feed stages 210a or 210b. From this state, the desired media type is fed to the print mechanism 120 by the paper feed mechanism 220, Printing can be performed.
At this time, for example, when the media type D of the paper feed stage 210b is designated from the state shown in FIG. 8, the media types A and C located above the media type D move to the other paper feed stage 210a. Will be.

  Therefore, the user does not need to go to the installation location of the image forming apparatus 10 to switch the print medium or change the setting only by transmitting print data and print medium information from the host PC 400 to the image forming apparatus 10. It is possible to perform printing by a media type that is not in the uppermost layer of the paper feed stages 210a and 210b, and it is not necessary to go to the installation location of the image forming apparatus 10 after printing and return the print medium and settings.

Hereinafter, an example of processing when a jam occurs while the printing medium is moving between the paper feed stages will be described.
First, when a paper jam occurs in the movement path 231 during the movement of the printing medium from FIG. 5 to FIG. 8 in the specific example described above, as shown in FIG. An error message “Paper jam occurred during movement” is displayed, the upper paper feed stage 210a (paper feed stage 1) as the jam occurrence position, the media type A as the type of print medium, and the number of print media moved (count) Value) 11 is displayed.

Then, when the user removes the print medium jammed in the movement path 231 from the paper feed stage 210a and avoids the jam, the control unit 115 detects the jam avoidance and also detects the upper paper feed stage 210a. Let X (unknown number) be the type of print medium that is moving in FIG.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 10, the upper paper feed stage 210a has, in order from the top, X media type A print media, 20 media type B print media, and lower paper feed stage 210b. In this order, from the top, 10 media type A print media, 20 media type C print media, and 20 media type D print media are accommodated.

Subsequently, the control unit 115 causes the moving mechanism 230 to move all print media in the upper paper feed stage 210a to the lower paper feed stage 210b, and the counter 233 counts the number of movements.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the upper paper feed stage 210a is empty, and the lower paper feed stage 210b has 20 media type B print media and media type A prints in order from the top. Thus, (10 + X) media, 20 media type C print media, and 20 media type D print media are accommodated.

The number of movements at this time is counted by the counter 233, and this number of movements counts X sheets of media type A print media and 20 sheets of media type B print media. By subtracting 20 sheets of media type B print media from the number of movements, the above X and (10 + X) are calculated and can be automatically acquired.
In this way, when a jam occurs, even if the number of print media removed to avoid the jam is not known, the number of remaining print media is counted, or the number is manually input from the input means of the operation panel 300. Without this, the number of accommodated print media (media type A) is automatically acquired, and the number of accommodated print media stored in the storage unit 115a can be corrected.

Thereafter, the control unit 115 restarts the movement operation of the print medium. As shown in FIG. 12, the control unit 115 moves the uppermost media type B print medium of the lower paper feed stage 210b to the upper paper feed stage as shown in FIG. Move to 210a.
As a result, the control unit 115 can select the upper paper feed stage 210a, feed paper to the print mechanism 120 by the paper feed mechanism 210, and start the printing operation.

In this way, when a jam occurs during the movement of the print medium between the paper feed stages 210, all the print media in the paper feed stage 210a at the movement source are moved to the lower paper feed stage 210b by the moving mechanism 230. By counting, based on this count value, referring to the type, number and position of print media in each paper feed stage stored in the storage device 115a, The exact number can be counted and corrected.
Therefore, when a jam occurs during the movement of the print medium between the paper feed stages 210, the user can accurately determine the remaining number of print media without knowing the number of print media removed to avoid the jam. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually count the number of print media or the number of print media using the input means of the operation panel 300, and the number of print media can be grasped quickly and accurately.

The preferred embodiment of the paper feeding device of the present invention has been described above. However, the paper feeding device according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. Needless to say.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus 10 is directly connected to the host PC 400, but it is obvious that the image forming apparatus 10 may be connected to a network.
In the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus 10 includes the image forming unit 100 such as a printer or a copying machine. However, the image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to this and may be another image forming apparatus.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, various settings, a paper feed stage when setting a new print medium, and the type of print medium are input by the input means of the operation panel 300. It is obvious that the information may be input by using, for example, SNMP using a printer interface or a printer management utility operating on the host PC 400.

  The paper feeding device 200 of the present invention is incorporated in the image forming apparatus 10, but is not limited to this, and various devices that execute various jobs such as printing that include other types of paper feeding devices, such as bank ATMs. It can also be used for a paper feeding device for the above.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus incorporating an embodiment of a paper feeding device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the image forming apparatus and a host PC in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a paper feed processing operation in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a jam occurs during movement of a print medium between paper feed stages in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state before the printing medium is moved in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a storage state of print media in each paper feed stage on the display unit of the operation panel in the state of FIG. 5. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state during movement of a print medium in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state after the printing medium is moved in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display on a display unit of an operation panel when a jam occurs in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state when a jam occurs in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state after moving a printing medium from the state of FIG. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the movement of the print medium between the paper feed stages is continued from the state of FIG. 11.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 100 Image forming means 110 Exposure mechanism 115 Control unit (control means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 120 Print mechanism 200 Paper feed apparatus 210 Paper feed stage 220 Paper feed mechanism 230 Movement mechanism

Claims (4)

At least two paper feed stages, a moving mechanism for moving a print medium between the paper feed stages, a paper feed mechanism for feeding a print medium designated from each paper feed stage, and the moving mechanism and the paper feed mechanism. A control unit for controlling the sheet feeding device,
Each of the paper feed stages can accommodate a plurality of types of print media,
The control means includes storage means for storing the number of accommodations and accommodation positions for each type of print medium accommodated in each paper feed stage,
When a jam occurs while the control unit moves a print medium from one paper feed stage to another paper feed stage, all print media stored in the paper feed stage is moved after the jam is avoided. A sheet feeding device that is moved to another sheet feeding stage by a mechanism, counts the number of movements, and corrects the number of print media of the type that was moved when the jam occurred. 2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the printing medium is moved from one paper feed stage to another paper feed stage by the movement mechanism, the number of movements is counted at the destination paper feed stage. The paper feeder described. 2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the print medium is moved from one paper feed stage to another paper feed stage by the movement mechanism, the number of movements is counted at the paper feed stage of the movement source. The paper feeder described. The control means, after avoiding the jam, moves the number of accommodations in the destination paper feed stage of the type of print medium that was moved during the jam occurrence to another paper feed stage by the movement mechanism, and the number of movements The sheet feeding device according to claim 3, wherein the sheet feeding device is counted.

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