JP4217424B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a plurality of printing process conditions.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus develops image code data sent from an external device such as a host computer into bit data necessary for printer printing, reads a printer internal information, displays it, and a printer controller The printer engine control unit controls the operation according to the instruction and notifies the printer controller of internal printer information.
[0003]
When printing from an external device, the printer controller that develops image data issues a print instruction to the engine control unit, and the engine control unit that receives the print instruction feeds paper from a predetermined paper feed port, When the process is initialized and printing is possible, image data transmitted from an external device is printed while synchronizing with the printer controller in the vertical direction.
[0004]
This type of image forming apparatus can specify a plurality of process conditions in order to cope with various paper types and environments, for example, a fixing high temperature mode for fixing thick paper and a fixing low temperature for fixing thin paper. It is possible to make settings corresponding to the paper type such as the mode. This is set by issuing a mode change instruction from the printer controller to the printer engine controller.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, unless the printer engine is in a standby state, the printer controller does not accept a mode change instruction from the printer controller. It was necessary to check the condition, and the process was complicated. In addition, when jobs having different process conditions continue, there is a problem that it takes time to print out the printer engine once in a standby state for each job.
[0006]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides an image forming apparatus that can simplify the processing of the printer controller and improve job efficiency while providing high-quality images. The purpose is to do.
[0007]
[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems]
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a latent image is formed on the photosensitive member, the formed latent image is developed with a developer and visualized, and the visualized image is transported at a set transport speed. An engine control unit that controls an image forming unit that transfers the recording material transferred to the recording paper and fixes the developer transferred to the recording paper, and receives the image code data sent from an external device, and the engine control unit And a printer controller for instructing the engine control unit to perform an operation, and when the image formation is performed, the engine control unit corresponds to a plurality of pages according to an instruction from the printer controller. A registration memory that collectively stores recording paper conveyance speeds as forming process conditions, and the image formation corresponding to each page stored in the registration memory Process condition setting means for setting the conveyance speed of the recording paper for each page based on the conveyance speed of the recording paper as the process condition, and the process condition setting means applies the first recording paper fed in advance. Corresponding to the first transport speed, which is the transport speed of the recording paper as the image forming process condition set correspondingly, and the second recording paper transported following the previously fed recording paper Comparing means for comparing the second conveying speed, which is the recording paper conveying speed as the set image forming process condition, is provided, and further, based on the comparison result of the comparing means, the first conveying speed and the second conveying speed. When the transport speeds are equal, the transport speed as the image forming process condition for the second recording paper is not changed from the first transport speed without waiting for the image forming unit to be on standby. To continue the operation of the image forming,
Based on the comparison result of the comparison means, if the first conveyance speed is faster, the conveyance speed of the recording paper as the image forming process condition of the second recording paper when the image forming means is on standby. The second transport speed is set to
Based on the comparison result of the comparison means, if the first conveyance speed is slower, the conveyance speed as the image forming process condition of the second recording paper without waiting for the image forming means to be on standby. The second transport speed is set to the above.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(First embodiment)
Of the image forming apparatuses, a printer will be described as an example. The printer has a mechanism as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, 101 is a photosensitive drum as an electrostatic carrier, 102 is a semiconductor laser as a light source, 103 is a rotating polygon mirror that is rotated by a scanner motor 104, and 105 is emitted from the semiconductor laser 102. It is a laser beam that scans the top.
[0011]
Reference numeral 106 denotes a charging roller for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 101, and reference numeral 107 denotes a developing unit for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 101 with toner. Reference numeral 108 denotes a transfer roller for transferring the toner image developed by the developing unit 107 to a predetermined recording sheet, and reference numeral 109 denotes a fixing unit for fusing the toner transferred to the recording sheet by heat.
[0014]
A cassette paper feed roller 110 feeds paper from a cassette having a function of identifying the size of the recording paper by one rotation, and feeds it to the conveyance path. 111 is a manual feed without a function of identifying the size of the recording paper This is a manual paper feed roller that feeds paper from the paper mouth (MP tray) to the transport path. Reference numeral 113 denotes a feed roller of an envelope feeder that feeds recording sheets one by one from an envelope feeder that is detachable and can only stack envelopes. Reference numerals 114 and 115 denote conveyance rollers for conveying the recording paper fed from the cassette.
[0015]
116 is a pre-feed sensor for detecting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the fed paper, 117 is a pre-transfer roller for feeding the conveyed paper to the photosensitive drum 101, and 118 is a photosensitive member for the fed paper. This is a top sensor for synchronizing image writing (recording / printing) on the drum 101 and paper conveyance and measuring the length of the fed paper in the conveyance direction. Reference numeral 119 denotes a paper discharge sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the paper after fixing, and 120 denotes a discharge roller for discharging the paper after fixing to the face-down (FD) tray 127.
[0016]
121 is a flapper that switches the transport destination of the printed paper (a duplex unit that can be discharged to or removed from the tray), 122 is a transport roller that transports the paper transported to the detachable duplex unit by switching the flapper to the reversing unit, A reversing sensor 123 detects the leading edge / rear edge of the sheet conveyed to the reversing unit. A reversing sensor 124 reverses the sheet by sequentially operating normal rotation / reverse rotation and feeds the sheet to the refeeding unit. It is a paper roller.
[0017]
A block diagram of a control system for controlling such a mechanism is shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 denotes a printer controller for expanding image code data sent from an external device such as a host computer (not shown) into bit data necessary for printer printing, and reading and displaying printer internal information. .
[0018]
A printer engine control unit 202 controls the operation of each unit of the printer engine in accordance with an instruction from the printer controller 201 and notifies the printer controller 201 of printer internal information. A sheet conveyance control unit 203 drives / stops a motor / roller or the like for conveying a recording sheet in accordance with an instruction from the printer engine control unit 202, and 204 controls each high voltage output control in each process such as charging, development, and transfer. This is a high-pressure control unit that is performed in accordance with instructions from the engine control unit 202. An optical system control unit 205 controls driving / stopping of the scanner motor 104 and lighting of the laser beam in accordance with instructions from the engine control unit 202. A fixing device control unit 207 drives / stops energization of the fixing heater in accordance with an instruction from the printer engine control unit.
[0019]
208 is a detachable option cassette control unit that drives / stops the drive system in accordance with an instruction from the printer engine control unit 202, and notifies the printer engine control unit 202 of the paper presence / absence status and paper size information.
[0020]
A control unit 209 of the detachable duplex unit notifies the engine control unit 202 of the state at the same time as performing the paper reversal and re-feeding operations according to the instruction of the printer engine control unit 202.
[0021]
Reference numeral 210 denotes a controller for the removable envelope feeder, which drives / stops the drive system according to an instruction from the printer engine controller 202 and notifies the printer engine controller 202 of the paper presence / absence state. A communication control unit 212 performs 16-bit serial communication with the printer controller 201. With respect to 16-bit command data transmitted from the printer controller 201, the communication control unit 212 determines information in the engine according to the command content. Returns 16-bit status data. The engine control unit 202 performs a process of performing an operation in accordance with the content of the command received from the printer controller 212 by the communication control unit 212.
[0022]
When printing, the printer controller 201 issues a print reservation command and a print command to the engine control unit 202 for each print page. The print reservation command is a command that the printer controller 201 transmits to the engine control unit 202 in the order of pages to be printed. Upon receiving this command, the ID registration control unit 210 registers each printing process condition at that time in an ID registration area assigned to each ID. FIG. 3 shows a memory arrangement of a CPU (not shown) that stores registration contents and an ID registration area in this embodiment. In this embodiment, ID registration is possible for 6 pages.
[0023]
The paper transport control unit performs the paper transport operation from the designated designated paper feed slot in the order of ID reservation. For example, when a print reservation command is received in a state where a cassette having a function of identifying the size of the recording paper is designated by the paper feed slot, the following paper feed operation is started at the process speed in the designated state. The sheet feeding roller 110 is rotated once to pick up one sheet of paper loaded in the cassette, and the picked paper is conveyed by driving the conveying rollers 114 and 115. When the pre-feed sensor 116 detects the leading edge of the transported paper, the driving of the transport rollers 114 and 115 is stopped and the transport of the paper is stopped. As a result, the leading edge of the paper fed from the cassette is fed to a predetermined position between the pre-feed sensor 116 and the pre-transfer roller 117.
[0024]
The print command is a command transmitted to the engine control unit 202 by the printer controller 201 that has finished developing print data received from an external device such as a host computer (not shown) into bitmap data. Upon receiving the print command, the engine control unit 202 starts the scanner motor, starts the fixing device, and initializes the electrophotographic process. When the initialization of the electrophotographic process is completed, the driving of the transport rollers 114 and 115 is resumed. When the print reservation command is received, the conveyance of the sheet fed and conveyed to a predetermined position is resumed. Thereafter, when the top sensor 118 detects the leading edge of the sheet, the printing operation is started while synchronizing with the printer controller 201 in the vertical direction. Each control unit performs control under the process conditions registered in the ID registration area such as image formation and fixing, and discharges the paper to the designated paper discharge port. When printing a plurality of pages continuously, the printer controller 201 transmits the print command for the subsequent paper to the engine control unit 202 after performing vertical synchronization of the preceding paper. Although the print command for the succeeding paper cannot be transmitted before the vertical synchronization signal, the print reservation command can transmit a plurality of pages asynchronously with the vertical synchronization.
[0025]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the control sequence of the ID registration control unit 212.
[0026]
The power-on ID registration control unit 212 sets 0 to the ID registration counter PC and the ID number No in S401. The ID registration counter PC is decremented when printing of one page is completed in the paper conveyance control unit 203. The ID number No indicates the holding area of the registration memory. If No = 1 when the reservation command is received, the process condition is held in the ID1 registration area. A reservation command is accepted at any time in S402, and if a reservation command is received, it is confirmed whether or not the ID registration counter PC is 5 in S403. If it is 5, it means that there are 6 pages of unprinted data, so in S405, the printer controller 201 is notified that reservation is impossible. If it is not 5, whether or not the ID number is 6 is confirmed in S404. If it is 6, the number overflows, so 0 is set in S406. If it is not 6, the process condition instructed from the current printer controller 201 is held in the ID No registration memory in S407, and the ID number No is incremented. S402 to S407 are repeated during continuous printing.
[0027]
The printer controller 201 issues a command indicating a process mode before issuing a reservation command for each page.
[0028]
As described above, in this embodiment, since each control unit of the printer engine performs control under the process conditions held in the ID registration memory, the printer controller 201 issues a process mode command regardless of the state of the printer engine. It is possible to easily specify the process mode for each page.
[0029]
(Second embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the printer control unit in this embodiment. Since the schematic configuration diagram is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description is omitted.
[0030]
Reference numeral 501 denotes a process condition comparison unit that compares the process conditions of previous and subsequent pages of the ID registration memory registered by the ID registration control unit, and reference numeral 502 denotes an inter-page process determination unit that determines switching between page controls based on the process condition comparison result. .
[0031]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a control sequence of the inter-page process determination unit 502 in a state where ID0 and ID1 print reservation commands are received from the printer controller 201.
[0032]
The ID registration memory stores and holds the process mode when each print reservation command is issued, and the data contents are the three modes of paper feed port, process speed, and paper discharge port shown in FIG.
[0033]
After the printer controller 201 receives the print command for ID0, it waits for the ID0 sheet to reach the top sensor 118 in S601. When the paper reaches the top sensor 118, data is read from the ID1 registration memory (S602), and the conveyance speed is compared in S603. If ID0 and ID1 do not match, ID0 paper is ejected to the FD tray 127 in S611, the printing operation is completed, and the printer engine is in a standby state (S612), and each process mode is set in S613. The contents stored in the ID1 registration memory are set. After the setting is completed, in step S614, the sheet conveyance control unit is allowed to perform the ID1 sheet feeding operation, and the engine control unit 202 performs the printing operation as set in the ID registration 1 memory.
[0034]
If the transport speeds match, the paper feed port is changed to the ID1 paper feed port without entering the standby state (S604), and the paper feed control unit 203 is permitted to feed ID1 (S605).
[0035]
Thereafter, after the trailing edge of the ID0 paper passes through the paper discharge sensor 119 (S606), the predetermined time elapses in S607 and is set as the ID1 paper discharge outlet (S608).
[0036]
When a plurality of pages are printed, the same steps are repeated for each successive ID.
[0037]
As described above, when printing a plurality of pages, the engine control unit 202 can determine whether or not to temporarily put the printer engine in the standby state by comparing the process mode stored in the ID registration memory with the front and rear IDs at the time of reservation. This makes it possible to continue feeding and transporting subsequent sheets when the process conditions match or for items that do not need to enter standby.
[0038]
(Third embodiment)
In the present embodiment, the schematic configuration diagram and the control block diagram are the same as those in the second embodiment, and are omitted.
[0039]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a control sequence of the inter-page process determination unit 502 in a state where print reservation commands of ID0 and ID1 are received from the printer controller 201 in this embodiment.
[0040]
The ID registration memory stores and holds the process mode when each print reservation command is issued, and the data contents are the same as in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. There are 3 modes.
[0041]
After the printer controller 201 receives the print command for ID0, it waits for the ID0 paper to reach the top sensor 118 in S801. When the paper reaches the top sensor, data is read from the ID1 registration memory (S802), and the conveyance speed is compared in S803. If the ID0 transport speed Vid0 and the ID1 transport speed Vid1 coincide with each other, the process of S604 and the subsequent steps for performing the ID1 printing operation is performed in S811. Next, in step S804, if the ID0 transport speed Vid0 is faster than the ID1 transport speed Vid1, the processing in step S611 and subsequent steps for temporarily setting the printer engine to the standby state is performed in step S812. If the ID0 transport speed Vid0 is slower than the ID1 transport speed Vid1, the paper feed port is changed to the ID1 paper feed port without entering the standby state (S805). Thereafter, the trailing edge of the ID0 paper sheet passes through the paper discharge sensor 119 (S806), changes the setting of the ID1 conveyance speed (S807), and permits the sheet conveyance control unit 203 to feed the ID1. (S808).
[0042]
In step S809, the predetermined time elapses and the ID1 discharge port is set (S810).
[0043]
In this way, when printing a plurality of pages, the process mode stored in the ID registration memory at the time of reservation is compared with the preceding and following IDs, so that the feeding timing of the succeeding page is adjusted between the pages and the succeeding page is set at a predetermined timing. By changing to an appropriate process condition, it is possible to continue the subsequent sheet printing process without entering standby. As a result, the start-up time of the scanner motor and the drive system motor can be shortened, and printing can be efficiently performed even when different process conditions continue.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
In the present invention, since the printer engine control unit automatically controls the process mode based on the memory contents registered at the time of reservation, the processing of the printer controller can be simplified.
[0045]
Also, when printing multiple pages, the printer engine control unit compares the process mode stored in the ID registration memory at the time of reservation with the previous and subsequent IDs, and the engine control unit determines whether to temporarily put the printer engine into standby. This makes it possible to continue feeding and conveying subsequent sheets when the process conditions match or for items that do not need to enter standby.
[0046]
Even if the process conditions are different, it is possible to continue printing on subsequent sheets without going into standby by changing the process conditions suitable for the succeeding page at a predetermined timing while adjusting the paper conveyance such as the feeding timing of the succeeding sheet between pages. It becomes possible to process.
[0047]
As a result, the start-up time of the scanner motor and the drive system motor can be shortened, and printing can be efficiently performed even when different process conditions continue.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a configuration of an ID registration memory and a memory layout of a CPU according to a first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control system of the image forming apparatus in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a page process in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an ID registration memory according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a page processing determination section according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
101 Photosensitive drum 102 Semiconductor laser 107 Developer 108 Transfer roller 109 Fixing roller

Claims (1)

A latent image is formed on the photoconductor, the formed latent image is developed with a developer and visualized, and the visualized image is transferred to a recording sheet conveyed at a set conveyance speed, An engine control unit that controls an image forming unit that fixes the developer transferred onto the recording paper, and receives image code data sent from an external device, and is connected to the engine control unit and instructs the engine control unit to operate. a printer controller for, an image forming apparatus Ru provided with,
The engine control unit
When the image is formed, a registration memory which collectively remembers the conveying speed of the recording paper as the image forming process conditions corresponding to each of a plurality of pages in accordance with an instruction from the printer controller,
Process condition setting means for setting the recording paper conveyance speed of each page based on the recording paper conveyance speed as the image forming process condition corresponding to each page stored in the registration memory ,
The process condition setting means includes:
The first conveyance speed, which is the conveyance speed of the recording paper as the image forming process condition set corresponding to the first recording paper fed in advance, and the recording paper fed in advance are succeeded. A comparison means for comparing a second conveyance speed that is a conveyance speed of the recording paper as an image forming process condition set corresponding to the second recording paper conveyed
Furthermore,
Based on the comparison result of the comparison means, when the first conveyance speed and the second conveyance speed are equal, the image of the second recording paper is not waited for the image forming means to be on standby. Continue the image forming operation without changing the conveyance speed as the formation process condition from the first conveyance speed,
Based on the comparison result of the comparison means, if the first conveyance speed is faster, the conveyance speed of the recording paper as the image forming process condition of the second recording paper when the image forming means is on standby. The second transport speed is set to
Based on the comparison result of the comparison means, if the first conveyance speed is slower, the conveyance speed as the image forming process condition of the second recording paper without waiting for the image forming means to be on standby. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the second transport speed is set .

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