JPH0225179B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a control device for a copying machine, and more particularly, to a copying machine control device that also serves as key input means inherent in the copying machine to issue certain instructions.

Recently, by using highly integrated parts such as digital ICs and microcomputers to control copying machines, it has become easier to increase the number of functions in terms of control.

However, as copying machines become more multi-functional, the operation sections also become more complex.
There was a tendency for the number of operating knobs to increase, making it difficult to use until one got used to the operations.

In addition, if a service person sets a mode to check the operation of the device and forgets to release it, the user may operate the device without realizing that it is in check mode, causing the device to malfunction. There are inconveniences such as copying mistakes.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and it is possible to set a check on the device without complicating the operation section, and furthermore, it prevents the inconvenience caused by forgetting to cancel the check mode. It was designed to do so.

That is, the present invention includes a key input means 65 for setting image forming conditions, a control means 66 for controlling the image forming apparatus to perform an image forming operation based on the image forming conditions set by the key input means, Means 72, 77, 7 for setting a special operation mode for diagnosing the image forming apparatus, which differs from the normal image forming operation by also using key input from the key input means.
8, 80, 81, 83, 84, 86, 87, and a timer means 74 for timing a predetermined time when the special operation mode is set by the setting means, and the setting means A first storage means 77 stores and holds that the mode can be set, and an AND condition between the output of the first storage means and the key input from the key input means causes the image forming apparatus to operate in the special mode. and a second storage means 78 for storing information that the operation mode has been set, and when the special operation mode is set by the setting means, the control means
The image forming apparatus is operated in the special operation mode different from the normal image forming operation mode by the setting signal output from the storage means, and further,
The control means resets the memory retention of the second storage means when the image forming apparatus does not operate before the timer means measures a predetermined time while the special operation mode is set; The present invention provides an image forming control device that cancels the setting of the special operation mode.

This eliminates the need for an increase in the number of operation keys.
It becomes possible to set a special operation mode, and furthermore, it is possible to prevent the user from causing a malfunction of the device or causing a mistake in copying in the special operation mode.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an operation panel 11 of a copying machine to which the present invention is applied. Reference numeral 12 indicates a power switch for turning on and off the power of the copying machine, and turning it on turns on a lamp 13. It lights up to notify you that the power is on. 14
The symbol indicated by is a switch for instructing the start of copying, and when the switch is pressed, the copying process is started.

15 is a copy number setting keyboard, and multi-copy key 1 is used to instruct multiple copies.
After pressing 6, press numeric key 17 (17-0 to 17-
The number of copies to be made can be set by pressing 9) to set the number of copies, and the set number of copies is displayed on the two-digit set number display 18. Therefore, after setting the number of copies in this manner, by pressing the copy switch 14, the copying machine starts copying, and the number of copies currently copied is displayed on the two-digit copy number display 19.
Note that the set number of sheets is cleared by pressing the clear key 26.

Reference numeral 20 indicates a stop switch, which, when pressed during copying, stops subsequent copying.

Reference numeral 21 indicates a size indicator that indicates the size of copy paper stored in a cassette, which will be described later, and reference numeral 22 indicates a jam indicator that indicates that copy paper has been abnormally transported on the copy paper transport path. Reference numeral 23 is a paper indicator that indicates that copy paper is running out, 24 is a developer indicator that indicates that developer is running out, and 25 is a developer indicator that indicates that copy paper is running out. is a toner indicator that indicates that the concentrated toner is running out.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a copying machine having such an operation panel in more detail. When the power switch 12 is turned on, since a digital circuit is used, the controller is reset and other electrical systems are reset. After a very short period of time (approximately 1 second in this case) due to the rise of , the photosensitive drum 27, which will be described later, begins to rotate. The photosensitive drum 27 is provided with a clock pulse generating mechanism as a part of the drive system so that about 16 clock pulses are generated for each cycle of the photosensitive drum 27. When this photosensitive drum 27 starts rotating, it first generates 16 clock pulses (after 16 CP).
), the drum rotates. This approximately corresponds to one revolution of the photosensitive drum. This rotation may be considered as a step before entering the copying process, and may be omitted in order to obtain a high-quality copy when the copying process begins. Now if you press copy switch 14
If the copy switch 14 is not turned on, the photosensitive drum will rotate once and then stop, but if the copy switch 14 is turned on, the copying process will begin. First, when you turn on copy switch 14, add 4 CP to the previous 16 CP.
The photosensitive drum 27 rotates for the first time, and only then the document table 29 having the document table glass 28 on which the document is placed starts to be transported in the direction of arrow F.
The document is illuminated by an illumination lamp 30, and its image is formed on the photosensitive drum 27 by a reflecting mirror 31 and an in-mirror lens 32 at an exposure section 33.

On the surface of the photosensitive drum 27, that is, on the photosensitive layer,
The photoreceptor covered with a transparent insulating layer is first connected to a high voltage power source 34.
It is charged to + by corona discharge from the positive charger 35 which supplies a high voltage of + from . Subsequently, when the exposure section 33 is reached, the image of the subject illuminated by the illumination lamp 30 is exposed to the photosensitive drum 2 as described above.
7 is slit exposed. At the same time, it is AC charged by an AC charger 36 to which AC high voltage is supplied from a high voltage power supply 34. Then, a high-contrast electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum surface by full-face exposure using the full-face exposure lamp 37, and then a developing step is started. The developing device 38 includes a container 40 in which a developing solution 39 is placed, a pump 41 that stirs the developing solution and pushes it up to the developing electrode section, a developing electrode 42, and, if there is a fog on the image developed on the drum, the fog is removed. Therefore, it consists of an electrode roller 43 that rotates very close to the drum and one end of which is grounded. The developing electrode 42 is always kept at a constant distance from the photosensitive drum 27, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 27 is absorbed by the developer 39 pushed up onto the developing electrode 42 by the pump 41. It is developed with toner and visualized.

Next, the photosensitive drum 27 is charged with a high voltage from the high voltage power source 34 by the post charger 44, and the excess developer on the photosensitive drum 27 is squeezed out without disturbing the image. Next, the transfer paper 45 fed from the paper feed section is transferred to the photosensitive drum 2.
7, the image on the photosensitive drum 27 is transferred onto the transfer paper 45 by an electric field generated by a + high voltage from the high voltage power source 34 by the transfer charger 47. After the transfer, the transfer paper 45 is separated by a separation belt 46 and sent to the dry fixing section 4.
8. The remaining toner developer on the photosensitive drum 27 is wiped off by the edge portion 50 of the blade cleaner 49 that is pressed against it, and the next cycle is repeated again. The developer wiped by the blade cleaner 49 is guided to the developing device 38 by grooves (not shown) provided at both ends of the photosensitive drum 27, and is used again for development.

Here, the power switch 12 mentioned earlier is turned on, and the drum rotates for an amount equivalent to 16 CP.
To explain why the document table 29 starts to move only after the drum has rotated by 4CP, this machine uses an endless type photosensitive drum, so every surface of the photosensitive drum contributes to image formation. I'm starting to be able to do it. Therefore, when it comes to increasing the number of copies per unit time by eliminating unnecessary rotations as much as possible, the blade cleaner edge section 50 is used for the first rotation of the drum.
In the worst case scenario, if any toner remaining on the machine dries and sticks to the drum when the machine is not used for a week or 10 days, then This is because the photosensitive drum 27 needs to be cleaned.

Next is 4CP, which is because in the copying process mentioned earlier, there is a + charging process etc. before the slit exposure, and in addition, the cleaner edge part is added to the first sheet. This process is based on the idea that avoiding this when copying will make the machine more reliable.

On the other hand, the transfer paper 45 is stored in a cassette 51, and by fitting the cassette 51 into the paper feed section at the bottom left of the machine, the removably attached cassette can be prepared in various ways according to the sizes of several types of transfer paper. It can be easily replaced if necessary.

The transfer paper 45 is placed on the middle plate 52 in the cassette 51, and as the spring 53 pushes up the middle plate 52, the transfer paper 45 is always pressed against the separation claws 54 provided on both sides of the tip of the cassette 51. It is being At this time, by appropriately selecting the spring constant of the spring 54, the force with which the transfer paper 45 is pressed against the paper feed roller 55 during paper feeding is made almost constant regardless of the amount of the transfer paper 45 in the cassette 51.

When the document table 29 reaches a predetermined position, an operating piece fixed to the document table activates the detection means on the main body side, a paper feed timing signal is output, and the constantly rotating paper feed roller 55 descends. The transfer paper 45 comes into contact with the topmost transfer paper in the cassette 51, and moves with the separating claw 54 to separate one copy of the transfer paper 45 and remove it from the cassette 51.
send it out from However, the register nearby
Since the rollers 56 and 57 stop at the same time as the paper feed roller 55 descends, the transfer paper 45 sent out from the cassette 51 has its leading edge connected to the register roller 56,
A slack is created between the guides 58 and 59 while the guides 58 and 59 are in contact with the contact portion of the guide 57. Then, when the paper feeding roller is about to rise, the register rollers 56 and 57 rotate again in time with the tip of the photosensitive drum, and the transfer paper 45 is fed at a speed that matches the circumferential speed of the photosensitive drum 27.

As described above, the transfer paper 45 is brought into close contact with the photosensitive drum 27, and the image on the drum 27 is transferred onto the transfer paper 45 by the transfer charger 44. After the transfer, the transfer paper 45 is separated from the drum 27 by the separation belt 46. The toner passes through the drying and fixing section 48, is fixed on the transfer paper 45, and is discharged onto the discharge tray 62 by discharge rollers 60 and 61.

A paper detector 6 is further provided near the discharge roller 61.
3 is provided, and this paper detector 6 is detected during a certain period of time T after the paper feed timing signal is derived.
3 does not detect the transfer paper 45, the jam detector detects the presence of a jam and removes the transfer paper 45.
The jam indicator 22 on the operation panel 11 indicates that the copying machine 5 is being transferred abnormally along the transfer path, and all drives of the copying machine are stopped.

In the above-mentioned copying machine, when the functions of the copying machine are increased, the number of operation command switches increases as the functions increase. As the number of command switches increases in this manner, the number of switches on the operation panel also increases, which is often inconvenient for first-time users to use. For example, in a copying machine configured as described above, when a copying machine service person checks the operating status of the machine in the market, or when checking the operating status of the machine during the manufacturing and assembly process of the copying machine, the transfer paper It becomes necessary to operate the copying machine without loading the copying machine.

For this purpose, it is necessary to stop the operation of the jam detector, but if independent switches are provided for this purpose, the number of switches will increase and the operation will become complicated. .

Therefore, in this embodiment, an attempt is made to prevent an increase in the number of instruction means by configuring at least a part of the first instruction means, which originally instructs one control by itself, to be used also when instructing the second function. It is something.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a device for stopping the jam detection function based on the present invention as described above. Here, reference numeral 65 denotes the operation section, which is the part through which the user transmits his/her intentions regarding the operation of the copying machine, and includes the power switch 2, copy switch 14, stop switch 20, numerical key 17, and multi-copy button shown in FIG. 16, a clear key 26, a density adjustment device (not shown in FIG. 1), and depending on the machine, a cassette selection button, etc. (these may be referred to as instruction means);
This is a part that outputs a signal to the control unit 66 as a control condition including the user's intention. The detection section 67 is a section that generates control condition signals that do not include the user's intention, and is a section that detects the machine status, the position of movable parts, etc. and outputs the detection signal to the control section. , developer material amount detection section, copying material remaining amount detection section,
It includes a paper detector 63, a paper feed timing pulse generator, a cassette size detector, an internal temperature detector, a developer concentration detector, an optical system/document table relative position detector, a photosensitive drum position detector, and the like. Further, the control section 66 is a section that outputs a control signal for executing a predetermined copying process based on the input signals from the operation section 65 and the detection section 67. It includes a jam detector 66-1 that detects a jam.
Further, the terminal section 68 is a terminal section for receiving signals from the control section 66 and actually executing the copying process, and includes transformers such as a high voltage transformer, motors, lamps, heaters, plungers, clutch counters, etc. It will be done. The display section 69 is a section that displays to the user information such as liquid replenishment, paper replenishment, condenser replenishment jam, set number of copies to be made, number of copies to be executed, and cassette size. The power supply section 70 is a section that supplies alternating current and direct current power to each section mentioned above.

The operation section 65 includes a clear key 26, a multi-copy key 16, a numerical value "0" key, 17-0, a numerical value "1" key, 17-1, a numerical value "2" key, 17-
2. It has a numerical value "3" key, 17-3, etc., and each of the above keys is always OFF and derives a low level signal of logic "0", and turns ON only when an external force is applied, and the logic This is to derive a high level signal of "1".

Therefore, when the clear key 26 is pressed, a high level signal is derived on the signal line 71 and applied to the control unit 66, which clears the set number of copies, which is the original purpose, and also sets a logic "1" at one end of the AND gate 72. is input.

When the multi-copy key 16 is further pressed while the clear key 26 is being pressed in this manner, a logic "1" is input to the other end of the AND gate 72, and a logic "1" signal is derived from the AND gate 72. be done.

This output is sent to the timer 7 via the OR gate 73.
4, the timer 74 is set, and an output of logic "0" is derived from the output terminal 76. Since the output terminal 76 is connected to the reset terminals of flip-flops 77 and 78, which will be described later, the reset of the flip-flops 77 and 78 is released.

The output of the AND gate 72 is input to the set terminal of a flip-flop 77. In flip-flops 77, 78, and 79, when "1" is input to the set terminal S, "1" is output from the output terminal Q and held, and "1" is input to the reset terminal R.
When "0" is input, "0" is output from the output terminal Q and held.

Therefore, "1" is output from the output terminal Q of the flip-flop 77 and applied to one input terminal of the AND gate 80. This and gate 8
The output of the AND gate 72 is input as "0" to the other input terminal of "0" via the inverter 81. Multi-copy key 1 that was pressed here
6 is released, the signal on the signal line 82 becomes "0" and the output of the AND gate 72 also becomes "0". This output is inverted by the inverter 81 to become "1" and is input to one input terminal of the AND gate 80. Therefore, "1" is derived from the AND gate 80 and inputted to one end of the AND gate 83.

Furthermore, if the numeric key 17-3 of "3" is pressed while the clear key 26 is held down, the output of the AND gate 84 to which the outputs of both keys are input becomes "1", and this output becomes the same as the above. Since the input is input to the other input terminal of the AND gate 83, the output of the AND gate 83 becomes "1", and the output of the flip-flop 7 input to the S terminal of the flip-flop 78 becomes "1".
8 is set and "1" is output from output terminal Q. The output of the flip-flop 78 is applied to an inverter 86 via a signal line and then input to one end of an AND gate 87. This and gate 87
The signal line 88 connected to the other input end of
A jam detection signal from a jam detector 66-1 included in the control section 66 is applied.

Therefore, there is a jam detector 66-1 on the signal line 88.
When a jam is detected, a "1" signal is derived, and when no jam is detected, a "0" signal is derived. Since this jam detector 66-1 is widely used in copying machines, a detailed explanation thereof will be omitted here.

The output of the AND gate 87 is input to the set terminal S of the flip-flop 79, and the set output Q is applied to the display section 69 and the control section 66 through signal lines 89 and 90. When a "1" output is derived from the output terminal 90, the jam indicator 22 of the display section displays a jam, and the control section 66 stops all operations of the copying machine.

The flip-flop 79 is reset by turning on the power switch 12.

The output of the inverter 86 is applied to one end of the AND gate 87 as described above, and the clear key 26 and the multi-copy key 1 are applied as described above.
6. When the numerical key 17 is operated, the output of the inverter 86 is "0", so the flip-flop 79 is not set whether the signal on the signal line 88 is "1" or "0".

In other words, by performing a different operation than the normal operation of pressing the multi-copy key 16 and numeric key 17-3 while holding down the clear key, the jam detection function is stopped (a completely new function (second function)). ) can be executed.

Further, in the above embodiment, the second function is executed by pressing the multi-copy key and the numerical key while pressing the clear button.
It is also possible to execute a second function by driving two keys. In order to perform the second function by driving two keys in this way, AND gates 84 and 83 in FIG. 3 can be removed and the output of AND gate 80 can be applied directly to the set input of flip-flop 78. In addition, in Figure 3,
The timer 74 is for automatically canceling this jam detection function, and when 60 seconds have elapsed since the level of the signal applied to the trigger terminal 75 became "0", the signal level of the output terminal 76 becomes "0". When the output of the inverter 86 becomes "1", the jam detection function starts normal operation again.

However, in this embodiment, the output of the paper feed timing pulse generator 91 is
3 to the trigger terminal 75 of the timer 74, the jam detection function will stop as long as the paper feed timing pulse (logic "1") is derived at intervals of 60 seconds or less. It is something that

This paper feed timing pulse is derived at a predetermined time when the copying machine is operated, so after the jam detection function is stopped by operating a key, the paper feed timing pulse is generated while the copying operation is being performed within a certain interval. This means that the jam detection function continues to be stopped.

Note that the signal applied to the OR gate 73 is not limited to the paper feed timing pulse as described above, but may also be a pulse signal generated by the rotation of the photosensitive drum, or a signal that notifies the copying status of the copying machine. Anything is good.

Such automatic release is an effective means for preventing confusion caused by forgetting to release a special function, such as stopping the jam detection function.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and in addition to the first operating device provided for the first function in the operating section, a second operating device An operating device is provided, and this second
The configuration may be such that the second function is executed by combining the operating device and the first operating device.

Further, in the above embodiment, the second function is to stop the jam detection function, but the present invention is not limited to such a function, and the present invention is not limited to such a function, but also includes developer material shortage detection and transfer which stop the operation of the copying machine. It can also be applied to functions that stop functions such as detecting the presence of paper or detecting the arrival of a fixing heater control area, and can also be applied to functions that achieve special sequences in the copying process, as well as adjustment points that need to be adjusted individually for each copying machine. can also be adjusted based on operating instructions from an existing operating device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of the operation panel of a copying machine to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the copying machine to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a circuit showing a control circuit of the copying machine to which the present invention is applied. It is a diagram. Here, 16 is a multi-copy key, 17 is a numerical key, 26 is a clear key, 63 is a paper detector, 66
-1 is a jam detector, 77, 78, 79 are flip-flops, and 72, 80, 83, 84, 87 are AND gates.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A key input means for setting image forming conditions, a control means for controlling an image forming apparatus to perform an image forming operation based on the image forming conditions set by the key input means, means for setting a special operation mode for diagnosing the image forming apparatus that is different from a normal image forming operation by using a key input from the key input means; and the special operation mode is set by the setting means. and timer means for counting a predetermined time; the setting means includes a first storage means for storing a state in which the special operation mode can be set; and an output of the first storage means. and a second storage means for storing and holding that the image forming apparatus is set to the special operation mode by an AND condition of the key input from the key input means; When the operation mode is set, the control means operates the image forming apparatus in the special operation mode, which is different from the normal image forming operation mode, according to a setting signal output from the second storage means, and further, The control means resets the memory retention of the second storage means when the image forming apparatus does not operate before the timer means measures a predetermined time while the special operation mode is set; An image forming control device characterized in that the setting of the special operation mode is canceled.