JPH01271768A - Controlling device for copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily obtain the tendency of a copying machine by providing a non-volatile RAM and storing the types and the number of failures which occurred in the copying machine concerned in a specified period, the number of copies and the hysteresis of using time, etc., in the RAM as maintenance information. CONSTITUTION:The non-volatile RAM 27 is provided with a claim information RAM area 35 storing the contents of the failures. Claim information given from failure content and failure plate detecting means that are differently provided is made into a code and stored in the claim information RAM area 35 from the newest one, thereby helping service crews with maintenance. The contents of the claim information RAM area 35, that is, the claim information, is displayed on a state displaying means from the newest one by inputting the number key of a number key switch so that the maintenance crews can discriminate the contents of the failures of the copying machine at a glance. Thus, the types and the number of the failures which occurred in the copying machine in the specified period, the number of the copies and the hysteresis of the using time, etc., can be easily found, thereby easily obtaining the tendency of the copying machine.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a control device for a copying machine that includes a nonvolatile random access memory and controls the operation of the copying machine.

Conventionally, for example, in maintenance work for electronic copying machines, service personnel have created a maintenance check list and the like and performed inspections, adjustments, etc. while confirming the condition of the copying machine. In other words, since service personnel inspected and adjusted the copying machine according to its condition at that time, the service personnel were able to check the type and number of failures that occurred between the previous inspection and the current inspection, the number of copies made, and the length of time they were used. It was not possible to easily know the history of the machine, etc., and it was not possible to know the trends specific to that copying machine. therefore,
Inspection and adjustment work was carried out uniformly without specifying the parts to be inspected and adjusted with particular emphasis, so inspection and adjustment work took a long time and maintenance work was inefficient. The probability of recurrence of the disorder was high, and improvements were desired.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to easily know the history of the types and number of failures that have occurred in the copying machine over a certain period of time, the number of copies, the usage time, etc. By printing out the history of failures such as the type and number of failures that have occurred, the number of copies made, the usage time, etc. as maintenance information and making it visible, it is possible to easily understand the trends of the copier and improve the efficiency of maintenance work. An object of the present invention is to provide a control device for a copying machine that can improve the performance of a copying machine.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a control device for an electronic copying machine according to the present invention, where ① is a power switch, 2 is a control power supply circuit that supplies control voltage to each part of the copying machine when the power switch 1 is turned on, and 3 is a control power supply circuit for this. an initial reset circuit 4 which is operated by the control voltage from the control power supply circuit 2 and puts each circuit into an initial state;
5 is a clock oscillator that generates a clock signal that determines the operation timing of the control device; 5 is a microprocessor that executes instructions determined by the timing of the clock signal from the clock oscillator 4; 6 is a component from each part of the copier or each switch; This is an input interface circuit that inputs the information and outputs it to the microprocessor 5 as predetermined digital information.

This human interface circuit 6 includes a numeric key switch 7 in which numeric keys from 0 to 9 are arranged, a copying switch 8, a fixing device temperature detecting device 9 for controlling the temperature of the fixing device, and a toner of the developing device. Toner concentration detection device IO1 for detecting the density; photoconductor drum surface potential detection device 11 for detecting the surface potential of the photoconductor drum surface; maintenance switch 12 used during maintenance; document table position detection device for detecting the document table position. A switch 13, a paper detection switch 14 for detecting the paper position, a clear key switch 15, a key counter mode switch 16 for setting the mode of the key counter, etc. are connected respectively. Reference numeral 17 denotes an output interface circuit that receives the output from the microprocessor 5 and outputs a predetermined signal to each circuit. This output interface circuit 17 includes paper, a manuscript table,
A drive device 18 that drives a photoreceptor drum, etc., a document table moving device I9, and a fixing device 20 that performs temperature control by on/off control of a heater and fixes the image transferred to paper.
．． An exposure device 2I for creating a latent image from a document on the surface of a photoconductor drum, an auto-toner device 22 for controlling the toner density of a developing device, and a charge control device 23 for placing a surface potential corresponding to the document on the surface of the photoconductor drum. , a status display 24 that displays the copy operation status or maintenance status, a copy number display 25 that displays the number of copies or displays corresponding to the manual input of the numeric switch 7, and displays the number of copies and maintenance information to the printer during maintenance. A maintenance printer output terminal 26 for printing is connected.

Furthermore, the microprocessor 5 includes a non-volatile random access memory (hereinafter simply referred to as RAM) that stores maintenance contents.
) 27 is connected. Further, a battery backup device 28 is connected to the nonvolatile RAM 27 for battery backup when the power switch 1 is turned off. Note that this battery backup device 28 is a non-volatile R
Depending on the type of AM27, it may not be necessary.

FIG. 2 shows the area allocation of maintenance adjustment contents to be stored in the non-volatile RAM 27.

This nonvolatile RAM 27 prevents fatigue deterioration of the fixing temperature setting RAM area 29, toner density setting RAM area 30, charging voltage setting RAM area 31, copy number counter RAM area 32, photoreceptor drum, cleaning brush, and developer. Maintenance counter RAM area 3 for confirmation
3. A key counter information RAM area 34 for determining which user's device belongs, a complaint information RAM area 35 for indicating the location of paper jams, etc., and an inspection 1 for storing 11 marks during maintenance and inspection. ” information RAM area 36 is allocated.

Next, a normal copying operation in the copying machine control device configured as described above will be explained. Now, when the power switch 1 is turned on, a predetermined control voltage is supplied from the control power supply circuit 2 to each part. As a result, the initial reset circuit 3 sets the microprocessor 5 to the initial state, while
Instructions stored in the microprocessor 5 are sequentially executed by the clock signal from the clock oscillator 4.

First, the microprocessor 5 operates the heater of the fixing device 20 through the output interface circuit 17 to raise the temperature. The fixing device temperature detection device 9 detects the temperature of the fixing device 20 and outputs the temperature to the input interface circuit 6.
The detected information is transferred to the microprocessor 5 through the microprocessor 5. When the temperature of the fixing device 20 reaches a temperature that can be fixed, the microprocessor 5 displays a copy ready indication on the status display 24 through the output interface circuit J7, and also displays copy number setting information using the numeric key switch 7. And the on information of the copy switch 8 is accepted.

When the copy switch 8 is turned on in this state, the microprocessor 5 operates the drive device 18.

This operation of the drive device I8 transports the paper from the paper cassette to the transport path. When the paper detection switch 14 is actuated by this conveyance of the paper, the microprocessor 5
While operating the document table moving device 19 and the exposure device 2J, the charging control device 23 is operated in order to place a constant potential on the surface of the photosensitive drum.

When the document table is moved by the document table moving device 19 and the document table position detection switch 13 is activated by the movement of the document table, the leading edge of the document on the document table, the leading edge of the photosensitive drum, and the leading edge of the paper are aligned. Then, the microprocessor 5 operates the paper transport section of the drive device 18. In this state, the microprocessor 5 performs the following operations. That is, the surface of the photosensitive drum (2) is kept at a constant potential by the charging control device 23, and the exposure device 21 guides the reflected light from the j-weight table to this charged surface. As a result, a latent image of the exposed document is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum. This latent image attracts toner and is transferred onto the conveyed paper by the action of a charger to form a visible image. The transfer paper that has undergone this transfer is conveyed to a device 20 determined by a drive device 18, where it is fixed and then discharged.

Next, the related operation control between the nonvolatile RAM 27 and each part of the copying machine, which is a feature of the present invention, will be explained.

First, in the fixing temperature setting control, as shown in FIG.・Converted into a digital signal by a digital converter (A/D converter) 37, and converted to a digital signal by a microprocessor 5
transferred as detected temperature data. The microprocessor 5 addresses the fixing temperature setting RAM area 29 of the non-volatile RAM 27, reads out the fixed temperature setting data stored in this area 29, and stores this and the detected temperature data in the processor. The arithmetic logic circuit performs a comparison, and as a result of the comparison, a control signal for setting the optimum temperature is output. In response to this control signal, the output interface circuit 17 performs on/off control of the solid state relay circuit 38, thereby turning on/off the heater of the fixing device 20 and controlling its temperature to an optimum temperature. By varying the amount of power supplied to the fixing device 20 based on the difference between the detected temperature information and the set temperature information, ideal temperature control without overshoot or undershoot can be performed. The fixing temperature setting data stored in the fixing temperature setting RAM area 29 can be programmed in advance by turning on the maintenance switch 12 shown in FIG. 29 through the human power interface circuit 6 and the microprocessor 5. In this way, the temperature of the fixing device 20 can be finely adjusted very easily by resetting the temperature setting data in the RAM area 29 using the numerical key switch 7 during maintenance and inspection. In addition, if the power supply amount corresponding to each predetermined detected temperature is programmed in advance in the data stored in the fixing temperature setting RAM area 29, temperature control can be performed using any power supply amount, and overshoot or Temperature characteristic control without undershoot becomes possible. Further, since the detected analog signal from the fixing device temperature detection device 9 is converted into a digital signal by the A/D converter 37, it is possible to easily display the temperature state of the fixing device.

Next, a toner density control operation for detecting the toner density of the developing device and replenishing toner will be described. First, a potential signal corresponding to the toner concentration of the developing device is output from the toner a degree detection device IO to the input interface circuit 6. Inside the human interface circuit 6, this analog toner concentration detection signal is converted from analog to digital and transferred to the microprocessor 5 as digital parallel data.

The microprocessor 5 sets the 1.ner density setting RA? of the non-volatile RAM 27. The J area 30 is addressed, the toner density setting data stored in this area 30 is read out, this data and the above toner density detection data are compared and calculated by an arithmetic logic circuit, and the resulting toner control signal is output to the interface. It is applied to the autotoner device 22 through circuit 17. The auto toner device 22 replenishes toner to the developing device in response to this toner control signal, and maintains the toner density at a constant level.

The toner density setting RAM area 30 also has a maintenance switch 12, similar to the fixing temperature setting RAM area 29 described above.
The predetermined toner density setting data can be arbitrarily set by turning on the numeric key switch 7.

Further, it is possible to control the set value of the toner density to be changed according to the number of copies of the developer used. This is done by providing a counter in the maintenance counter RAM area 33 of the non-volatile RAM 27 for storing the number of copies made since the developer was replaced with a new one, and setting the optimum density according to the count number N of this counter.

That is, based on the relationship between the detected density, the set value, and the count number, the microprocessor 5 calculates the optimum density set value from the detected toner density and the count number N, and displays this on the display through the output interface circuit 17. Then,
As mentioned above, the maintenance switch 12 and the numeric key switch 7
This optimum density setting value is set in the toner density setting RAM area 30 using . In this way, the toner concentration can be controlled by setting the toner concentration according to the deterioration of the developer.

Furthermore, by setting overtoner density and undertoner density settings in the toner density setting RAM area 30, which are more than or less than this optimum density setting value, by comparing these values with the detected toner density data, Indications such as toner empty and toner replenishment abnormality can be displayed on the display. To set the proper toner concentration of the developing device, put in the developer with the specified toner concentration, turn on the maintenance switch 12 in this state, and then input the proper density setting value as programmed in advance using the numerical key switch 7. Acing is performed by doing this. By performing this aging and writing the data from the detection device 10 into the toner concentration setting RAM area 30 of the non-volatile RAM 27 at a time when the toner concentration detection device 10 is in a stable state, the toner concentration can be adjusted. Automatic adjustment becomes possible.

Next, the charging voltage control operation in this control device will be explained with reference to FIG. 4. A detection analog signal from the photoconductor drum surface potential detection device 11 that detects the potential of the photoconductor drum surface is converted into a digital parallel data signal by the A/D converter 39 inside the input interface circuit 6, and the signal is converted to a digital parallel data signal by the microprocessor 5. Enter. The input detection data and the setting value read from the charging voltage setting RAM area 31 of the nonvolatile RAM 27 are compared and calculated by the arithmetic logic circuit inside the microprocessor 5, and a charging voltage control signal is output to the output interface circuit 17. This output interface circuit 17 includes a D/A converter 4 that converts digital signals into analog signals.
0, an analog control signal is supplied to the charging control device 23. The charging control device 23 receives this analog control signal, causes the charging device to generate a charging voltage according to the control signal, and uses this voltage to maintain the potential on the surface of the photoreceptor drum at a predetermined potential. The charging voltage setting value in the charging voltage setting RAM area 31 can be set in the same manner as the above-mentioned fixing temperature setting RAM area 29, but by setting the maximum and minimum values of the allowable range of surface potential, it is possible to set the charging voltage setting value in the charging voltage setting RAM area 31. If the above allowable range is exceeded, an alarm display or alarm signal will be generated.
An abnormality may be notified. Further, in general, the photosensitive drum becomes less likely to be charged when a large number of copies are made. In order to eliminate this drawback, a counter is provided in the maintenance counter RAM area 33 of the non-volatile RAM 27 to count the number of copies made after the photoconductor drum is replaced with a new one. From the relationship, if the arithmetic logic circuit of the microprocessor 5 performs a predetermined calculation and writes this calculation result as an optimal setting value to the RAM area 31 in the same manner as described above, the surface potential of the photoreceptor drum can be set to an optimal value according to the deterioration of the photoreceptor drum. It can be a potential. Also,
As mentioned above, depending on the detected value of the surface potential of the photoreceptor drum, it is possible to display on the display that the drum has reached the end of its life.Furthermore, it is possible to perform automatic charge adjustment by following the above-mentioned procedure for automatic toner density adjustment. It is also possible to do so. That is, by aging a photoreceptor drum having a surface potential of a standard photoreceptor drum, the contents of the RAM area 31 can be automatically written to the surface potential setting value of the standard photoreceptor drum.

In addition, in the copy number counter control operation of this apparatus, unlike the conventional copy number display performed by a counting counter, the number of copies is stored in the copy number counter RAM area 32 of the nonvolatile RAM 27, and this is displayed using an LED or Control is performed to display the number on the liquid crystal number display 25. In this case, the RAM area 32 is configured to count the number of sheets according to various paper sizes, and as described above, when the maintenance switch 12 is turned on and the numbers on the numeric key switch 7 are input as programmed in advance, , the number of copies of each size can be displayed on the display.

In addition, if input is made from the numeric key switch 7 according to a predetermined program, the microb = 15- processor 5 can arbitrarily select the total or part of the data in the area 32 of the non-volatile RAM 27 through the output interface circuit 17. The information is output to the maintenance printer output terminal 26, and the number of copies for each size is printed on the printer.

Further, the nonvolatile RAM 27 is provided with a maintenance counter RAM area 33 for checking the usage status of consumables of the electronic copying machine. In this RAM area 33,
A counter is provided to count and store the number of copies or usage time depending on the consumables such as the photoconductor drum, cleaning brush, developer, fixing roller, etc. When the value exceeds the set value set for the address, a warning is displayed on the status display 24 or an alarm signal is generated, and if necessary, the microprocessor 5 can prohibit the copy operation. can. Furthermore, the setting values can be stored in the RAM area 33 arbitrarily as described above.

In addition, this device uses a non-volatile RA to store the number of copies corresponding to the user so that the user can calculate the copying fee.
A key counter information RAM area 34 is allocated in M27. In this RAM area 34, the number of copies in the user mode input by the key counter mode switch 16 is stored in a RAM area 34 corresponding to the mode.
It is counted by the counter. This RAM area 34
The number of counts on the counter in the sheet counter can be determined by turning on the maintenance switch I2 and specifying the user mode using the numeric key switch 7 in accordance with predetermined programming in the same way as described above. The number of copies corresponding to the mode is displayed. Note that this key counter mode switch 16 may be used in common with the numeric key switch 7, or may be configured to prohibit the copy operation when there is no user mode input.

Furthermore, in this device, a complaint information RAM area 35 is provided in the non-volatile RAM 27 to store failure details such as paper jams, and the complaint information provided from a separately provided failure detail and failure location detection means is stored in the complaint information RAM area 35. The codes are sequentially coded and stored in the area 35 starting from the latest one, so that it is useful for maintenance by service personnel.

The contents of this complaint information RAM area 35 can be changed by turning on the maintenance switch 12 and inputting the numerical keys of the numerical key switch 7 as previously programmed. will be displayed. This allows the service person to determine the nature of the failure of the copying machine at a glance. In addition, when the maintenance switch 12 is turned on and the numeric keys of the numeric key switch 7 are pressed manually according to a predetermined program, coded information is stored in the inspection 171 information RAM area 36 of the non-volatile RAM 27. be done. Furthermore, this R
The AM area 35 can store arbitrary information such as coded inspection personnel and coded inspection time.

As explained above, according to the present control device, various control operations and adjustment operations can be performed without using all regulators, and in addition, J and SO can be easily adjusted as data instead of analog signals. . Furthermore, it has the advantage that it can be controlled according to the deterioration of consumables.

As explained above, according to the present invention, a nonvolatile RAM is provided, and a history such as the type and number of failures that have occurred in the copying machine over a certain period of time, the number of copies, and the usage time is stored as maintenance information. During maintenance work, the trends of the copying machine can be easily grasped by printing out maintenance information such as the type and number of failures that have occurred, the number of copies made, and the usage time, so that they can be seen visually. It is possible to provide a control device for a copying machine that can improve the efficiency of maintenance work.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration, and FIG. 2 is a nonvolatile R
Detailed area allocation of AM (=I diagram, Figure 3 is a detailed block diagram of the fixing device control section, and Figure 4 is a detailed block diagram of the photosensitive drum surface potential control section. 5... Micro Processor, 6... Human power interface = 19- Face circuit, 7... Numerical key switch, 12 Maintenance switch, 17... Output interface circuit, 24
・Status display, 25...Number of sheets display, 27...Non-volatile RAM0 Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A control device for a copying machine that obtains copies by sequentially performing charging, exposure, development, etc. on a photoreceptor, comprising: a storage means for storing the number of copies and other maintenance information in the copying machine; A control device for a copying machine, comprising output control means for outputting the number of copies and other maintenance information stored in the storage means to a printer.