JP5131583B2 - Image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming unit, and a program.

  In Patent Document 1, a memory storing an ID number for identifying a solid is attached to a photosensitive drum or a printer head, and when it is detected that the photosensitive drum or the printer head has been replaced, the sensitivity of the photosensitive drum is detected. An image forming apparatus is disclosed in which various settings such as a level and a light amount level of a printer head are reset.

JP 2004-325891 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, an image forming unit, and a program capable of detecting occurrence of a positional deviation of a photoconductor and appropriately performing a printing position adjustment process (registration control setup process). Is to provide.

[Image forming equipment]
The present invention according to claim 1 includes an image forming apparatus main body,
An image forming unit including a photoconductor and a non-contact integrated circuit and configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus main body;
A communication unit that performs wireless communication with the non-contact integrated circuit provided in the image forming unit;
A movement amount detection means for detecting a movement amount from a reference position of the image forming unit based on a reception level of radio waves from the communication unit received in the non-contact integrated circuit;
The image forming apparatus includes: an execution unit that executes a print position adjustment process for correcting a print position deviation when the movement amount detected by the movement amount detection unit is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the threshold value is set based on a permissible attachment amount of the photosensitive member to the main body of the image forming apparatus.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus main body;
An image forming unit including a photoconductor and a non-contact integrated circuit and configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus main body;
A communication unit that performs wireless communication with the non-contact integrated circuit provided in the image forming unit;
A movement amount detection means for detecting a movement amount from a reference position of the image forming unit based on a reception level of radio waves from the communication unit received in the non-contact integrated circuit;
An image forming apparatus comprising: an execution unit that executes a print position adjustment process for correcting a print position deviation when an integral value of the movement amount detected by the movement amount detection unit is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value. is there.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided monitoring means for monitoring a communication state between the communication unit and the non-contact integrated circuit;
When communication is started in a state where communication between the communication unit and the non-contact integrated circuit is detected by the monitoring unit, it is determined that the image forming unit is attached to the image forming apparatus main body. A desorption determination means;
4. The print position adjustment processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the print position adjustment processing unit executes a print position adjustment process when it is determined by the attachment / detachment determination unit that the image forming unit is attached to the image forming apparatus main body. An image forming apparatus.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the image forming unit further includes an exposure device for exposing the photoreceptor.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure device is positioned with respect to the photoconductor.

[program]
The present invention according to claim 6 inquires of the non-contact integrated circuit provided in the image forming unit about the reception level of the radio wave received from the communication unit that communicates with the non-contact integrated circuit;
Detecting a movement amount of the image forming unit from a reference position based on a reception level returned from the non-contact integrated circuit;
A program for causing a computer to execute a print position adjustment process for correcting a print position deviation when a detected movement amount is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value.

The present invention according to claim 7 inquires of the non-contact integrated circuit provided in the image forming unit about the reception level of the radio wave received from the communication unit that communicates with the non-contact integrated circuit;
Detecting a movement amount of the image forming unit from a reference position based on a reception level returned from the non-contact integrated circuit;
A program for causing a computer to execute a print position adjustment process for correcting a print position deviation when an integral value of a detected movement amount is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to detect the occurrence of misalignment of the image forming unit and to appropriately perform the printing position adjustment process as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. Can be provided.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of appropriately setting the movement amount threshold value for performing the printing position adjustment process.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing the printing position adjustment process when the frequency of the position variation of the image forming unit is high.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is detected that the image forming unit is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, and the printing position adjustment process is appropriately performed as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to detect the occurrence of misregistration of the image forming unit including the exposure apparatus and appropriately perform the printing position adjustment process as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. An image forming apparatus that can be used can be provided.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program capable of detecting the occurrence of misalignment of the image forming unit and appropriately performing the printing position adjustment process as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. can do.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a program capable of performing the printing position adjustment process when the position variation frequency of the image forming unit is high.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an image forming apparatus main body 20, and an intermediate transfer belt 41 is disposed in the image forming apparatus main body 20. For example, four image forming units (image forming units) 40 are arranged in parallel to the intermediate transfer belt 41, and the image forming unit 40 respectively transfers toner images of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black colors to the intermediate transfer belt. 41 is formed.

  A sheet feeding device is provided at the lower part of the image forming apparatus main body 20. The sheet supply apparatus includes a sheet supply cassette 42 on which sheets are stacked, a pickup roll 43 that picks up the sheets stacked on the sheet supply cassette 42, and a feed roll 44 that sends out the sheets while rolling them. The sheet supply cassette 42 is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus main body 20 so that the sheet supply cassette 42 can be pulled out in the front direction in the drawing, and sheets as transfer objects such as plain paper and OHP sheets are stacked and stored. ing.

  Near one end of the image forming apparatus main body 20 (near the left end in the figure), a sheet supply path is provided along a substantially vertical direction. In the sheet supply path, a transport roll 45, a resist roll 46, a secondary transfer roll 47, a fixing device 48, and a discharge roll 49 are provided. The registration roll 46 temporarily stops the sheet sent to the sheet supply path, and sends it to the secondary transfer roll 47 at a timing. The fixing device 48 includes a heating roll and a pressure roll, and fixes the toner image on the sheet by applying heat and pressure to the sheet passing between the heating roll and the pressure roll.

  A discharge tray section 50 is provided on the upper part of the image forming apparatus main body 20. The sheet on which the toner image is fixed is discharged onto the discharge tray unit 50 by the discharge roll 49 described above, and is stacked on the discharge tray unit 50.

  For example, four toner bottles 51 are provided on the other end side (right end side in the figure) of the image forming apparatus main body 20. The toner bottle 51 contains yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners, and supplies the toner to the image forming unit 40 via a toner supply path (not shown).

  The image forming unit 40 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the image forming apparatus main body 20. The image forming unit 40 can be pulled out in the front direction in FIG. The image forming unit 40 includes a photosensitive drum 55, a charging device 54 for charging the photosensitive drum 55, an exposure device 53 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 55, and the exposure device 53. And a developing device 52 for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 55.

  Next, the configuration of the image forming unit 40 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the image forming unit 40 includes a photosensitive drum 55, an exposure device 53 for exposing the photosensitive drum 55, and the non-contact IC tag 10. In FIG. 2, illustration of the charging device 54 and the developing device 52 is omitted for the sake of simplicity.

  The exposure device 53 is composed of, for example, a plurality of LEDs (light emitting diodes) arranged in one direction, and is provided so as to abut against the photosensitive drum 55. For this reason, the exposure device 53 is positioned with respect to the photosensitive drum 55.

  The non-contact IC tag 10 is provided at the end of the photosensitive drum 55 and is a so-called RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) type wireless communication tag in which various information such as characteristic data of the photosensitive drum 55 is stored. is there.

  Next, the configuration of the non-contact IC (integrated circuit) tag 10 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the non-contact IC tag 10 includes an IC chip 11 and an antenna 12 made of a coiled conductive member.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the IC chip 11 includes a modulation unit 14, a power generation unit 15, a demodulation unit 16, a control unit 17, and a memory 18.

  The demodulator 16 demodulates the signal received by the antenna 12. The modulation unit 14 modulates information to be transmitted and outputs the modulated information to the antenna 12. The power generation unit 15 rectifies the current flowing through the antenna 12 to generate power, and supplies the power to the modulation unit 14, the demodulation unit 16, and the control unit 17.

  The control unit 17 performs processing such as writing the signal demodulated by the demodulation unit 16 into the memory 18, reading out information stored in the memory 18, and transferring the information to the modulation unit 14.

  Since the non-contact IC tag 10 has such a configuration, information is read from the memory 18 in the IC chip 11 and information is written to the memory 18 in a non-contact state.

Next, the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus main body 20 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the image forming apparatus main body 20 communicates with a CPU 21, a memory 22, a storage device 23 such as a hard disk drive (HDD), and an external computer via an external network to transmit and receive data. It has an interface (IF) 24, a user interface (UI) device 25 including a touch panel or a liquid crystal display and a keyboard, and a print engine 26. These components are connected to each other via a control bus 27.

  The CPU 21 executes predetermined processing based on a control program stored in the memory 22 or the storage device 23 to control the operation of the image forming apparatus main body 20.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus main body 20 realized by executing the control program.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the image forming apparatus body 20 includes a communication unit 31, a communication monitoring unit 32, a detachment determination unit 33, a movement amount detection unit 34, a regicon execution unit 35, and an image output unit 36. And have.

  The communication unit 31 performs wireless communication with the non-contact IC tag 10 provided in the image forming unit 40. The communication monitoring unit 32 monitors the communication state between the communication unit 31 and the non-contact IC tag 10.

  The desorption determination unit 33 determines that the image forming unit 40 has been removed from the image forming apparatus main body 20 when the communication monitoring unit 32 detects that communication with the non-contact IC tag 10 has been interrupted. When the communication monitoring unit 32 detects that the communication with the non-contact IC tag 10 is interrupted, the attachment / detachment determination unit 33 causes the image forming unit 40 to display the image forming apparatus main body 20. It is determined that it is attached to.

  The movement amount detection unit 34 detects the movement amount from the reference position of the image forming unit 40 based on the reception level of the radio wave from the communication unit 31 received by the non-contact IC tag 10.

  When the desorption determination unit 33 determines that the image forming unit 40 is attached to the image forming apparatus main body 20, the regicon executing unit 35 executes a register control setup (printing position adjustment) process for correcting the printing position deviation.

  In addition, the regicon execution unit 35 executes the print position adjustment process when the movement amount detected by the movement amount detection unit 34 is equal to or larger than a preset threshold value.

  This threshold value is set based on the allowable amount of attachment of the image forming unit 40 to the image forming apparatus main body 20. For example, when the image forming unit 40 is provided for each color of CMYK and the allowable mounting amount of the K-color image forming unit 40 is larger than the allowable mounting amount of the image forming unit 40 of each CMY color, The threshold value set for the image forming unit 40 is made larger than the threshold value set for the CMY color image forming units 40.

  The register control execution unit 35 not only performs the printing position adjustment process when the movement amount is not less than the threshold value, but also when the integral value of the movement amount detected by the movement amount detection unit 34 is not less than a preset threshold value. May be executed.

  The image output unit 36 outputs an image formed based on an image signal transmitted from an external terminal device or the like to a printing paper or the like. The image output unit 36 executes various operations for adjusting the printing position based on the control of the registration control execution unit 35 when the registration control execution unit 35 executes the registration control setup process. This register control setup process will be described in detail below.

  Next, a communication procedure performed between the communication unit 31 and the non-contact IC tag 10 will be described with reference to the sequence chart of FIG.

  First, the communication unit 31 makes a connection request (step S101), and communication is started when the non-contact IC tag 10 responds to the connection request (step S102).

  First, the communication unit 31 inquires the reception level to the non-contact IC tag 10 (step S103). Then, the non-contact IC tag 10 returns the reception level when receiving the radio wave from the communication unit 31 to the communication unit 31 (step S104).

  Thereafter, various data communications are performed between the communication unit 31 and the non-contact IC tag 10 (step S105).

  Then, the movement amount detection unit 34 detects the movement amount of the image forming unit 40 from the reference position based on the reception level information acquired by the communication unit 31.

  FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the reception level obtained by wireless communication between the communication unit 31 and the non-contact IC tag 10 and the amount of movement of the image forming unit 40 from the reference position. As can be seen from FIG. 8, when the position of the image forming unit 40 is deviated from the reference position, the distance between the communication unit 31 and the non-contact IC tag 10 becomes long. The level decreases as the travel distance increases.

  Therefore, when the reception level when the movement amount of the image forming unit 40 from the reference position exceeds the allowable value is set in advance as the threshold value Th1, when the reception level becomes equal to or less than the threshold value Th1, the regicon execution unit 35 Can determine that the amount of movement of the image forming unit 40 has exceeded the allowable value and execute the registration control setup process.

  Next, the registration control setup process executed by the registration control execution unit 35 will be described.

  For example, the regicon executing unit 35 causes the image output unit 36 to output an image having a pattern as shown in FIG. Then, by detecting this image with a sensor set in advance at a predetermined position, the inclination of the printing position can be detected based on the interval at which the image is detected.

  For example, when the output position of the image is tilted to the left as shown in FIG. 10A and when the output position of the image is tilted to the right as shown in FIG. Since the interval at which is detected changes, the inclination of the output position of the image can be detected by detecting this interval.

  Then, by adjusting the image output position so as to compensate the detected inclination in the image processing, the image output position is adjusted.

  Further, by detecting the interval from the edge of the print paper 60 to the position where the image is first detected, it is possible to detect the deviation of the print start position. If the print start position is deviated, printing is performed. By adjusting the start position, the output position of the image is adjusted.

  Here, the case where the registration control setup process is performed by forming a specific print pattern on the printing paper 60 is described. However, this print pattern is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 41 and then on the intermediate transfer belt 41. If the formed printing pattern is read by a sensor, the registration control setup process can be executed without using printing paper.

  Next, the communication interval between the non-contact IC tag 10 and the communication unit 31 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the communication unit 31 receives an open / close signal indicating the open / closed state of the cover for attaching / detaching the image forming unit 40.

  The communication unit 31 performs communication with the non-contact IC tag 10 at intervals of, for example, about 500 ms even when the cover is closed and the image forming unit 40 cannot be removed from the image forming apparatus main body 20. When the cover is opened and the image forming unit 40 is removable from the image forming apparatus main body 20, the communication unit 31 shortens the communication interval with the non-contact IC tag 10 to, for example, about 250 ms. To do.

  If the image forming unit 40 is removed from the image forming apparatus main body 20 while data is being written to the non-contact IC tag 10, the data stored in the non-contact IC tag 10 may be destroyed. Therefore, when the cover is opened and the image forming unit 40 becomes removable from the image forming apparatus main body 20, the communication unit 31 does not write data to the non-contact IC tag 10, and the non-contact IC tag 10. Only the data stored in is read out.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment when detecting and removing the image forming unit 40 and executing the registration control setup process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The communication monitoring unit 32 monitors that regular wireless communication between the non-contact IC tag 10 and the communication unit 31 is normally performed (step S201). When the communication monitoring unit 32 detects that the communication between the non-contact IC tag 10 and the communication unit 31 is interrupted, the attachment / detachment determination unit 33 determines that the image forming unit 40 has been removed from the image forming apparatus main body 20. judge.
Even after the communication is interrupted, the communication unit 31 continues to transmit the connection request to establish communication with the non-contact IC tag 10. When the image forming unit 40 is attached to the image forming apparatus main body 20 and communication between the communication unit 31 and the non-contact IC tag 10 is established, the communication monitoring unit 32 detects that communication is resumed ( Step S202). Then, the attachment / detachment determination unit 33 determines that the image forming unit 40 is attached to the image forming apparatus main body 20, and the regicon execution unit 35 executes regicon setup processing (step S203).

  Next, in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, an operation when the registration control is executed when the movement amount is larger than a predetermined range will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG.

  The movement amount detection unit 34 detects the movement amount M of the image forming unit 40 every time communication is performed between the non-contact IC tag 10 and the communication unit 31 (step S301). In the cash register execution unit 35, the movement amount M detected by the movement amount detection unit 34 is compared with a preset threshold value Th1 (step S302).

  If it is determined in step S302 that the movement amount M is not equal to or greater than the threshold value Th1, the regicon execution unit 35 does not execute the regicon, so the movement amount detection unit 34 periodically detects the movement amount M (step S301).

  If it is determined in step S302 that the movement amount M is greater than or equal to the threshold Th1, the regicon execution unit 35 causes the image output unit 36 to execute regicon (step S303).

  Next, in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, an operation when the registration control is executed when the integral value (cumulative value) of the movement amount is larger than a predetermined range will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. .

  First, the integral value R of the movement amount is initialized (step S401). Even in this case, the movement amount detection unit 34 detects the movement amount M of the image forming unit 40 every time communication is performed between the non-contact IC tag 10 and the communication unit 31 (step S402). Then, the movement amount M detected by the movement amount detector 34 is sequentially added to the integral value R (step S403).

  The regicon execution unit 35 compares the integrated value R with a preset threshold value Th2 (step S404).

  If it is determined in step S404 that the integral value R is not equal to or greater than the threshold value Th2, the registration control execution unit 35 does not execute the registration control, so the movement amount detection unit 34 periodically detects the movement amount M and the integral value of the movement amount M. Integration to R is performed (steps S402 and S403).

  If it is determined in step S404 that the integral R is greater than or equal to the threshold Th2, the registration control execution unit 35 causes the image output unit 36 to execute registration control (step S405).

  In the above embodiment, an LPH (LED Print Head) type image forming apparatus using LEDs as an exposure apparatus will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a ROS (Raster Output Scanner) unit is used as the exposure apparatus. The present invention can be applied in the same manner even when using. In this case, the exposure apparatus is not provided in the image forming unit but is configured independently of the image forming unit.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the image forming unit 40 in FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a non-contact IC tag 10. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an IC chip 11. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus main body 20. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus main body 20. FIG. It is a sequence chart which shows the communication procedure performed between the communication part 31 and the non-contact IC tag. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a reception level and a moving amount of an image forming unit 40. It is a figure which shows an example of the printing pattern used when performing a register control setup process. It is a figure which shows an example of the printing pattern in case the output position of an image inclines. It is a figure for demonstrating the communication space | interval between the non-contact IC tag 10 and the communication part 31. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when detecting and removing the image forming unit 40 and executing a registration control setup process in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a registration control is executed when the movement amount is larger than a predetermined range in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a registration control is executed when an integral value (cumulative value) of a movement amount is larger than a predetermined range in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Non-contact IC tag 11 IC chip 12 Antenna 14 Modulation part 15 Power generation part 16 Demodulation part 17 Control part 18 Memory 21 CPU
22 memory 23 storage device 24 communication interface (IF)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 25 User interface (UI) apparatus 26 Print engine 27 Control bus 31 Communication part 32 Communication monitoring part 33 Desorption determination part 34 Movement amount detection part 35 Regicon execution part 36 Image output part 40 Image formation unit 41 Intermediate transfer belt 42 Sheet supply cassette 43 Pickup roll 44 Feed roll 45 Transport roll 46 Registration roll 47 Secondary transfer roll 48 Fixing device 49 Discharge roll 50 Discharge tray section 51 Toner bottle 52 Developing device 53 Exposure device 54 Charging device 55 Photosensitive drum 60 Printing paper S101 to S105 Step S201 To S203 Steps S301 to S303 Steps S401 to S405 Steps

Claims (7)

An image forming apparatus main body;
An image forming unit including a photoconductor and a non-contact integrated circuit and configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus main body;
A communication unit that performs wireless communication with the non-contact integrated circuit provided in the image forming unit;
A movement amount detection means for detecting a movement amount from a reference position of the image forming unit based on a reception level of radio waves from the communication unit received in the non-contact integrated circuit;
Execution means for executing a print position adjustment process for correcting a print position deviation when the movement amount detected by the movement amount detection means is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value;
An image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value is set based on an allowable attachment amount of the photosensitive member to the image forming apparatus main body. An image forming apparatus main body;
An image forming unit including a photoconductor and a non-contact integrated circuit and configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus main body;
A communication unit that performs wireless communication with the non-contact integrated circuit provided in the image forming unit;
A movement amount detection means for detecting a movement amount from a reference position of the image forming unit based on a reception level of radio waves from the communication unit received in the non-contact integrated circuit;
Execution means for executing a print position adjustment process for correcting a print position deviation when an integral value of the movement amount detected by the movement amount detection means is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value;
An image forming apparatus. Monitoring means for monitoring a communication state between the communication unit and the non-contact integrated circuit;
When communication is started in a state where communication between the communication unit and the non-contact integrated circuit is detected by the monitoring unit, it is determined that the image forming unit is attached to the image forming apparatus main body. A desorption determination means;
4. The print position adjustment processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the print position adjustment processing unit executes a print position adjustment process when it is determined by the attachment / detachment determination unit that the image forming unit is attached to the image forming apparatus main body. Image forming apparatus. The image forming unit further includes an exposure device for exposing the photoconductor,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure device is positioned with respect to the photoconductor. Inquiring of the contact level of the radio wave received from the communication unit that communicates with the non-contact integrated circuit with respect to the non-contact integrated circuit provided in the image forming unit;
Detecting a movement amount of the image forming unit from a reference position based on a reception level returned from the non-contact integrated circuit;
A program for causing a computer to execute a printing position adjustment process for correcting a printing position deviation when a detected movement amount is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value. Inquiring of the contact level of the radio wave received from the communication unit that communicates with the non-contact integrated circuit with respect to the non-contact integrated circuit provided in the image forming unit;
Detecting a movement amount of the image forming unit from a reference position based on a reception level returned from the non-contact integrated circuit;
A program for causing a computer to execute a printing position adjustment process for correcting a printing position deviation when an integral value of a detected movement amount is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value.

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