JPH01271769A - Controlling device for copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform an appropriate copying action according to the contents by storing the maintenance adjustment contents of a copying machine in a non-volatile RAM. CONSTITUTION:The non-volatile RAM 27 is provided with a maintenance counter RAM area 33 ascertaining the way the consumable goods of an electrocopying machine are used, counting and storing the number of copies and using time in response to the consumable goods of a photosensitive drum, cleaning brush, developer, fixing roller, etc. In a state where a maintenance switch is turned on, when the number key of a number key switch is inputted according to a program which is set beforehand, a date made into a code is stored in the inspection date information RAM area 36 of the non-volatile RAM 27. Thus, the degree of changes in characteristics of the consumable goods in response to the number of the copies and the using time is calculated, thereby achieving the appropriate copying action.

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.

2. Description of the Related Art Copying machines have been known that perform copying by sequentially performing charging, exposure, development, etc. on a photoreceptor. The photosensitive drum, cleaning brush, developer, fixing roller, etc. used in such a copying machine are so-called consumables that undergo changes over time such as wear as the number of copies and the time of energization increases.

Therefore, the characteristics of these consumables change as the number of copies and the time they are energized increase, and eventually their lifespans are exhausted and they become unusable. The consumables that are no longer usable are replaced with new ones.

On the other hand, even before the life of the above-mentioned consumables ends, it is common that good copies cannot be obtained due to the above-mentioned changes in characteristics. Therefore, maintenance work has been carried out by, for example, having a service person perform inspections, adjustments, etc. while checking the condition of the copying machine so that it can operate in the best condition depending on the degree of deterioration of the above-mentioned consumables. however,
Such maintenance work involves adjusting the analog signal using an adjustment volume or the like using a measuring instrument, which is disadvantageous in that the adjustment work is complicated and the maintenance cost is high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to store maintenance and adjustment details of a copying machine in a non-volatile random access memory, and to perform an optimal copying operation according to the content. It is an object of the present invention to provide a control device for a copying machine that can easily perform various adjustments using digital input and improve the efficiency of maintenance work.

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 I 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.

The input 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 detection device 9 for controlling the temperature of the fixing device, and a toner in the developing device. A toner density detection device 10 for detecting the density, a photoconductor drum surface potential detection device 11 for detecting the surface potential of the photoconductor drum surface, a maintenance switch 12 used during maintenance, and a document table position for detecting the document table position. A detection 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 to each of them. 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 19, 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 21 for creating a latent image from the original on the surface of the photoreceptor drum, an auto-toner device 22 for controlling the toner density of the developing device, and a charge control device 23 for placing a surface potential corresponding to the original on the surface of the photoreceptor drum. , a status display 24 that displays the status of the copy operation or maintenance status, a number display 25 that displays the number of copies or displays corresponding to the manual input of the keys of the numeric key 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 also 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 includes a fixing temperature setting RAM area 29, a toner density setting RAM area 30, a charging voltage setting RAM area 31, and a copy number counter RAM area 3.
2. Maintenance counter RAM area 33 for checking fatigue deterioration of the photoreceptor drum, cleaning brush, and developer;
Key counter information RAM area 34 for determining which user's device belongs, complaint information RAM area 35 for indicating the location of paper jams, etc., and inspection date information RAM area for storing the date of maintenance inspection. 36 is assigned.

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 transfers the detected information to the microprocessor 5 through the input interface circuit 6. When the temperature of the fixing device 20 reaches a temperature that allows fixing, the microprocessor 5 displays a copy ready indication on the status display 24 through the output interface circuit 7, and displays copy number setting information 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.

The operation of this drive device 18 transports the paper from the paper cassette to the transport path. When the paper detection switch I4 is actuated by this conveyance of paper, the microprocessor 5
While the document table moving device 19 and the exposure device 21 are operated, 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 photoreceptor drum, and the leading edge of the paper are aligned. In this position, the microprocessor 5 activates the paper transport section of the drive 18. In this state, the microprocessor 5 executes the following operations. That is, the surface of the photoreceptor drum is connected to the charge control device 2.
3, the exposure device 21 directs light reflected from the document 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,
This image is transferred onto the transported paper by the action of a charger and made into a visible image. The transfer paper that has undergone this transfer is conveyed by the drive device 18 to the fixing device 20, 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 specifies the fixing temperature setting RAM area 29 of the non-volatile RAM 27, reads out the foot lead temperature setting data stored in this area 29, and stores this and the self-detected temperature data in the processor. As a result of the comparison, the optimum temperature is determined and five control signals are 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 fixed 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 input 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. Furthermore, 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 becomes 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 concentration detection device 10 to the input interface circuit 6 . Inside the input 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 specifies the address of the toner density setting RAM area 30 of the nonvolatile RAM 27, reads out the toner density setting data stored in this area 30, and compares this data with the above-mentioned toner density detection data using an arithmetic logic circuit. Calculate the = 11- output the resulting toner control signal to the interface circuit 17
The toner is added to the auto toner device 22 through the toner. 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 humidity setting RAM area 29 described above.
is turned on and the numeric key switch 7 is used to arbitrarily set predetermined toner density setting data.

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 described above, this optimum density setting value is set in the toner density setting RAM area 30 using the maintenance switch 12 and the numeric key switch 7. 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 density of the developing device, put in developer with standard toner density, 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. Aging is performed by 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 human interface circuit 6, and the signal is sent to the microprocessor 5. Enter. This manually entered detection data and the setting value read from the charging voltage setting RAM area 31 of the non-volatile 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 way as the above-mentioned fixing temperature setting RAM area 29, but the maximum and minimum values of the allowable range of surface potential are set, and the detected potential is 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 photoreceptor drum surface potential, it is possible to display on the display that the drum has reached the end of its life, and furthermore, automatic charge adjustment is performed according to the procedure for automatic toner density adjustment described above. It is also possible. That is, if aging is performed with a photoconductor drum having a surface potential of a standard photoconductor drum, the contents of the RAM area 3I can be automatically written to the surface potential setting value of the standard photoconductor 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, by manually inputting the numerical key switch 7 according to a predetermined program, the microprocessor 5 arbitrarily selects the total or part of the data in the area 32 of the nonvolatile RAM 27 through the output interface circuit 17 and outputs it to the maintenance printer. The information is output to the 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 arbitrarily in the RAM area '33 as described above.

In addition, this device uses non-volatile RAM to store the number of copies corresponding to the user in order to calculate the copying fee for the user.
A key counter information RAM area 34 is allocated within 27. In this RAM area 34, the number of copies in the user mode input by the key counter mode switch 16 is counted by a counter in the RAM area 34 corresponding to the mode. The count number of the counter in the RAM area 34 can be determined by turning on the maintenance switch 12 in the same manner as described above and specifying the user mode with the numeric key switch 7 according to predetermined programming. The number of copies corresponding to the user mode is displayed at 25. 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 F-12 and manually pressing the numerical keys of the numerical key switch 7 as previously programmed. It is displayed on the display 24. This allows the service person to determine the nature of the failure of the copying machine at a glance. Also,
When the maintenance switch 12 is turned on and the numeric keys of the numeric key switch 7 are input according to a predetermined program, the coded date is stored in the inspection date information RAM area 36 of the nonvolatile RAM 27. Furthermore, this RA
The M area 35 can store arbitrary information such as coded inspection sound names and coded inspection times.

As explained above, according to the present control device, various control operations and adjustment operations can be performed without using a measuring device, and moreover, adjustment can be easily performed using digital signals 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 non-volatile RAM is provided, in which the number of copies or usage time after replacing consumables is counted and stored, and the number of copies or usage time is counted and stored in the non-volatile RAM. The degree of change in the characteristics of the consumable is calculated, and an optimal value is set to control the consumable with the calculated characteristics in an optimal state.The copying operation is performed based on this optimal value and the state of wear detected by the detection means. The consumables mentioned above are controlled at the optimum value by comparing the values indicated by Accordingly, it is possible to provide a control device for a copying machine that allows various adjustments to be made and improves 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
The detailed area allocation of the AM is shown in the figure, FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of the stone setting device control section, and FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of the photosensitive drum surface potential control section. 5...Microprocessor, 6...Input interface circuit, 7...Numeric key switch, 12...Maintenance switch, 17...Output interface circuit, 24
...Status display, 25...Number of sheets display, 27...
Non-volatile RAM0 applicant patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a control device for a copying machine that has a plurality of consumables and controls each consumable to maintain it in an optimal state, the number of copies or usage time after the consumable is replaced is counted. a counting means; a first storage means for storing the number of copies or usage time counted by the counting means; a setting means for setting an optimum value for controlling each of the consumables; a second storage means for storing the optimum value for controlling each of the consumables set by the setting means; A detection means for detecting a state of wear and tear, and a value indicating the state of wear of each of the consumables detected by the detection means is compared with an optimal value for controlling each of the consumables stored in the second storage means. A control device for a copying machine, comprising: a control means for controlling each of the consumables at optimum values.