JPH03218878A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To release the interruption of the operation of processing means without turning OFF a power source by releasing the interruption of the operation by a command from instructing means when a malfunction occurs in processing means for processing to process to form an image to interrupt the operation. CONSTITUTION:If a host apparatus 409 receives erroneous data to continue erroneous printing or generates a malfunction state in which no operating state is continued, a reset signal is output as an interruption release command to a CPU 401 from an operation panel controller 407 by simultaneously pressing a menu next item key 100c, value next item 1003 and an on-line key 100g on an operation panel 100 by an operator. Thus, the CPU 401 restarts processing from an initial routine. In this case, since no reset signal is output to an engine controller 400 side, the operation of a mechanism remains a ready state. Thus, since the release is conducted by outputting the release command of a malfunction state only to a print controller side by simultaneously pressing a plurality of keys on the panel, the malfunction state can be released without turning OFF a power source.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, image formation in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer is performed through various steps such as charging, exposure, development, transfer, peeling, cleaning, and fixing. In such an image forming apparatus, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, a peeling device, a cleaning device, etc. are sequentially arranged around the photosensitive drum, and a fixing device is further provided to receive paper from the peeling device. Each of the image forming steps described above is executed by driving each of the above devices according to the rotational movement of the body drum, and an image is formed on the paper (image forming medium) fed and conveyed from the paper feed cassette. , the paper is ejected onto the eject tray.

Such a laser printer is comprised of a print control section that receives data from a host device and develops it into video data, and an engine control section that controls the operation of the mechanical section of the printer itself. It is also equipped with an operation panel through which the operator can issue operational instructions, and is equipped with multiple key lamps.

By the way, in such a laser printer, if incorrect data is received from the host device, the printer may continue to print incorrectly or remain in a state of no operation, which is an abnormal situation. A condition occurs. In order to end (cancel) such an abnormal state, the power must be turned off once. Therefore, once the power is turned off, an initial operation such as setting the temperature of the fixing device to a predetermined temperature is performed, and there is a drawback that it cannot be started immediately.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the present invention solves the problem when an abnormal operating state occurs in a processing means that performs predetermined processing for image formation processing on data supplied from an external device. This was done in order to eliminate the drawback that when the operation of the processing means is interrupted, the only way to release the abnormal state is to turn off the power once, and it is not possible to start the operation immediately after the initial operation. When an abnormal operating state occurs in a processing means that performs predetermined processing for image formation processing on data supplied from a device and the operation of this processing means is interrupted, the operation is performed according to instructions from the instruction means. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can cancel the interruption of the operation of the processing means without turning off the power, and can eliminate problems caused by turning off the power. shall be.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for resolving divisional notifications) The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a processing means for performing predetermined processing for image formation processing on data supplied from an external device, and this processing means. detection means for detecting the operating state of the
Interrupting means for interrupting the operation of the processing means when the detection means detects that the processing means is in an abnormal operating state; instruction means for instructing the interruption of the operation of the processing means by the interrupting means; The apparatus is comprised of a canceling means for canceling the interruption of the operation of the processing means in response to an instruction from the instruction means.

(Function) In the present invention, a processing means performs predetermined processing for image formation processing on data supplied from an external device, detects the operating state of this processing means, and upon this detection, the processing means is activated. When an abnormal operating state is detected, the operation of the processing means is interrupted, and when the instruction means instructs to cancel the interruption of the operation of the processing means, the interruption of the operation of the processing means is canceled. This is what I did.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, for example, an image forming unit apparatus including a laser printer with optional equipment.

That is, the image forming unit device includes a multi-cassette feeder 2 that feeds paper (plain paper) P of a predetermined thickness such as cut paper as an image forming medium into a printer 1, and a multi-cassette feeder 2 that feeds paper (plain paper) P of a predetermined thickness such as cut paper as an image forming medium into the printer 1; The laser printer 1 includes optional equipment such as an envelope feeder 3 that feeds paper (cardboard) A that is thicker than paper into the printer 1, and a jogger 4 that serves as a sorting device that sorts the paper P or paper A after image formation into predetermined numbers. connected to and configured. The multi-cassette feeder 2, envelope feeder 3, and jogger 4 are connected online to a control section (not shown) in the main body of the laser printer 1. An operation panel 1oo is provided on the upper surface of the laser printer 1.

Further, inside the laser printer 1, a laser optical system 12, a photosensitive drum 17, a charging device 18, a developing device 19, a transfer device 20, a static eliminator 21, a peeling device 35, a fixing device 37,
In addition to process systems such as the cleaning device 45, there is also a paper feed cassette 22, a feed port roller 23, and an aligning roller pair 25.
, conveyor belt 36, gate 38, paper ejection roller pair 89, 4
2 etc. are provided. The laser optical system 12 includes a semiconductor laser oscillator (not shown) that generates laser light;
A collimator lens (not shown) corrects the laser beam from this oscillator to a parallel destination, and a polygon mirror (as a rotating body) having a part of an octahedral mirror that reflects the laser beam from this lens for each scanning line. rotating mirror) 13
, f/θ lens 14, mirrors 15 and 1B, and a mirror motor 60 that rotates (drives) the polygon mirror tS.
It is composed of etc.

During the image forming operation, the laser beam from the laser optical system 12 corresponding to an image signal from an external device (not shown) or the operation panel 100 is transmitted to the photoreceptor drum 10.
imaged on the surface of The photosensitive drum 17 rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and the surface thereof is first charged by the charging device 18, and then exposed by the laser optical system 12 in accordance with an image signal. That is, the laser beam generated from the semiconductor laser oscillator is scanned at a constant speed from the left to the right of the photoreceptor drum 17 as the polygon mirror 13 is rotated by the mirror motor 60, so that the laser beam remains static on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 17. A latent image is formed. This electrostatic latent image is made visible by applying toner by the developing device 19.

On the other hand, the sheets P as the image forming medium of the sheet feed cassette 22 are taken out one by one at the delivery port-ra 23, and are taken out from the sheet guide path 2.
4, and is guided to a pair of aligning rollers 25, and sent to a transfer section by this pair of rollers 25.

Also, the paper P that is taken out one by one from the paper feed cassette 30 in the multi-cassette feeder 2 at the delivery port roller 32 and guided to the aligning roller pair 25 through the paper guide paths 34 and 29 is delivered to the transfer section. Or paper cassette 3
Paper P is taken out one by one from the paper feeder 33 at the feeder port 33 and guided to the pair of aligning rollers 25 through the paper guide paths 34 and 29, or from inside the stacker 26 in the envelope feeder 3 at the feeder port 27. The sheets are taken out one by one and passed through the paper guide paths 28 and 29 to the aligning roller pair 2.
Further, the paper A1 guided to the aligning roller pair 25 through the paper guide path 29 after being fed from the manual paper feed section 44 is fed to the aligning roller pair 25 according to the specification from the external device or the operation panel. It is ready to be sent.

Then, the paper P or paper A sent to the transfer section is brought into close contact with the surface of the photoreceptor drum l7 at the transfer device 20, and the toner image on the photoreceptor drum l7 is transferred by the action of the transfer device 20. . This transferred paper P or paper A is peeled off from the photosensitive drum 17 by the action of a peeling device 35, and is sent to a fixing device 37 by a conveyor belt 36, where it passes through a heat roller that generates heat for fixing. 371, the transferred image is thermally fixed. This heat roller 371 has a built-in heater lamp 37a for heating. After fixing, the paper P or paper A passes through a gate 38 and is delivered to the paper ejection tray 4 by a pair of paper ejection rollers 39.
0 or the upper conveying path 4 by the gate 38
1, and is sent to the jogger 4 by a pair of discharge rollers 42.
The paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 43 which is movably supported by the paper.

Further, the photosensitive drum l7 after the transfer is cleaned by a cleaning device 4.
After the residual toner is removed in step 5, the residual image is erased by the static eliminator 2l, thereby making it possible to perform the next image forming operation.

The fixing device 37 is formed into a unit (a fuser unit), and is configured to be able to be attached to and detached from the printer 1 independently. Further, in front of the pair of aligning rollers 25, there is an aligning switch 48 for detecting a paper feeding error to the transfer section by the pair of aligning rollers 25, etc., and in front of the pair of paper ejecting rollers 39, 42, , paper ejection switches 49 and 49 are provided for detecting paper ejection errors by the paper ejection roller pairs 39 and 42, respectively.

Further, paper detectors 50, 51, 52 for detecting paper P are arranged in the paper feed cassettes 22, 30, 81, and paper detectors 50, 51, 52 for detecting paper P in the paper feed cassettes 22, 30, 31 are arranged.
The presence or absence of each is detected.

Further, a paper detector 53 is disposed within the envelope folder 3 for optically detecting the removal of the paper A from the stacker 2B.

Further, above the laser optical system l2, there is an engine control board equipped with an engine control circuit 70 that controls each electrical device provided in the apparatus main body 1 to control operations for completing the electrophotographic process. A board mounted with a printer control circuit 7l that controls the operation of the engine control circuit 7o is arranged.

Up to three boards for the printer control circuit 71 can be installed depending on the degree of function addition (for example, adding more types of fonts, kanji, etc.). Further functions can be added by inserting a function-adding IC card 517 into three IC card connectors 72 arranged on the front edge of the board 71. Furthermore, a connector (not shown) for connecting to a host device 409 (described later), which is an external output device such as a computer or word processor, is provided on the left end surface of the board of the printer control circuit 71 located at the bottom. There is.

As shown in FIG. 4, the operation panel 100 has a number of panels,
Liquid crystal display 10 that displays the mode, guidance messages, etc.
0 a s LED display 100 b that lights up and displays various statuses with LEDs, ... Menu previous item key 1 that instructs various operations 0 0 c s Menu next item key 100
d, value previous item key 1ooe, menu next item key 100f', and host device 40 which is an external output device
9 and an online key long that switches between online and offline. Above LED indicator 1
00b,... indicates whether it is connected to an external device or not.
In other words, "online" indicates online/offline mode, and "online" indicates that the device body 1 is ready for operation.
It consists of the following indicators: Ready, ``Data'' indicating that image is being transferred, ``Operator'' requesting an operator call, ``Service'' requesting a service call, and ``Mode'' indicating auto/manual. .

A plurality of menu information displayed on the left half of the liquid crystal display iota is incremented each time the previous menu item key 1000 is pressed,
Each time od is pressed, the values are decremented and displayed, and these display operations are repeated cyclically. Further, a plurality of pieces of value information corresponding to the menu information displayed on the left half of the liquid crystal display 100a are incremented each time the value previous item key 1008 is pressed, and decremented each time the value next item key 100f is pressed. Each is displayed on the right half of the liquid crystal display 100a, and these display operations are cyclically repeated. In addition, when an abnormal state occurs, by pressing the three keys simultaneously, the menu next item key 100c, the value next item key 100es, and the online key 100g, an instruction to cancel the interruption is issued and a reset signal is issued. It is now output. The operator presses the menu next item key l00c,
Menu previous item key 100d, value next item key lo
By operating ne and the value pre-item key ioOf, a desired action is selected and instructed.

Next, the configuration of the engine control section will be explained.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of main parts of the engine control section 300. In the figure, 302 is a power supply device;
By turning on the main switch 301, +5V and +24V power supply voltages are output. The power supply voltage of +5V is supplied to the engine control circuit 70, and further supplied to the printer control circuit 7l via this engine control circuit 70.

On the other hand, the +24v power supply voltage is the cover switch 303, 3
04 and is sequentially supplied to the engine control circuit 70.

The power is then supplied to the scanner control circuit 101, the high voltage power supply 305, and the mechanism drive circuit 30B via the engine control circuit 70, respectively. The scanner control circuit 101 supplies the semiconductor laser 90 and the mirror motor 92, and the mechanism drive circuit 306 supplies the pre-exposure device 21.
, main motor 307, manual paper feed solenoid 308,
The power is supplied to the cassette paper feed solenoid 309, aligning solenoid 3lO, toner replenishment solenoid 311, cooling fan 500, etc., and is used as a power source for driving these.

Further, the power supply device 302 is provided with a zero-cross switch type heater lamp drive circuit (not shown) consisting of, for example, a phototriac coupler and a bidirectional thyristor, which drives the heater lamp 501 inside the fixing device 33. Kabra's light-emitting side LED
The above +24V is used as a driving power source. In the heater lamp drive circuit with this configuration, as is well known, when the light-emitting side LED is turned on/off, the light-emitting side photothyristor is turned on/off at the zero cross point of the AC power supply, and the light-emitting side photothyristor becomes the main switch element of the next stage. The thyristor is turned on/off to energize or cut off the AC power source S1 to the heater lamp 37a. And the light emitting side LED
A heater control signal S2 for turning on/off is supplied from the engine control circuit 70 to the power supply device 302, and a temperature signal detected by the thermistor 37b provided in the fixing device 37 is supplied to the engine control circuit 70. It is now possible to do so.

Further, the cover switch 303 is turned off when the 1) toggle force bar (not shown) is rotated upward, and the cover switch 304 (not shown) is turned off when it is opened. Therefore, when the top cover or rear force bar is open, the switch 303,
304 cuts off the +24V, the semiconductor laser 90, mirror motor 60, high voltage power supply 305, main motor 307, each solenoid 308 to 31l1 cooling fan 500, heater lamp 37a, etc. stop operating, and the operator 1. Even if you touch the inside, there will be no problem.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the engine control circuit 70. In the figure, the CPU 850 is the engine control unit 3
It controls the entire 00, and operates according to a control program stored in the ROM 351. RAM 352 is used as a working buffer for CPU 350. E2FRO
M353 includes the total number of prints, photoreceptor drum
7. The usage status of the developing device 19 and the fixing device 37, such as the number of prints since the time of replacement, is stored. For example, the total number of prints, that is, the total number of prints since the device was installed, is stored in the storage area 353a;
The storage area 353b stores the number of prints since replacement as the usage status of the photosensitive drum 17, and the storage area 358c stores the number of prints since replacement as the usage status of the developing device I9.
The number of prints since the time of replacement is stored in 53d as the usage status of the fixing device 37. Above storage area 35
The number of printed sheets respectively stored in 3a and 353d is counted up according to a detection signal from the paper ejection switch 49a or 49b, and a detector detects whether the photosensitive drum 17, the developing device 19, and the fixing device 37 are new or old. It is cleared in response to a detection signal from (not shown). This detector is, for example, the target photoconductor drum l7, the developing device 19, or the fixing device 37.
Whether the fuse is new or old is determined based on whether the fuse provided in the fuse is unblown or blown, and the ID number.

The printer interface circuit 354 mediates the exchange of the interface signal S3 with the printer control circuit 71. The laser modulation control circuit 355 is
In order to generate a laser light detection signal S4, which will be described later, the semiconductor laser 90 is controlled to be forced to turn on periodically, and the semiconductor laser 90 is controlled to be turned on according to image data sent from the printer control circuit 71 using the interface signal S3. It performs modulation control, and outputs a laser modulation signal S5 to the scanner control circuit lot. The output register 356 is the mechanical part drive circuit 3
08, the high-voltage power supply 305, the scanner control circuit 101, and the control signals S6, S7, S8, and S2 that control the heater lamp drive circuit, respectively, are output. The A/D converter 357 includes the thermistor 87b.
and voltage signals S9, S1 generated at toner sensor 324
0 is input, and this voltage value is converted to a digital value. The input register 358 includes the paper entry switch 320 and the manual switch 32.
1, paper ejection switches 49, 49, mounting switch 823, aligning switch 48, and paper detectors 50, 51
, 52, 53, the status signals S11, SL2, S13,
SL4, S15, S17 and the +24V on/off status signal SlB are input. In addition, internal bus 3
59 is the above CPU'150, ROM351, RAM
352, E2PROM 353, printer interface circuit 354, laser modulation control circuit 355, output register 35B, A/D converter 357, and input register 358.

The mechanism drive circuit 306 is provided with a drive circuit for driving various motors, solenoids, etc.
On/off is controlled by a binary control signal S6 output from the output register 356. That is, for example, each drive circuit is turned on when it is "1" and turned off when it is "0", and the pre-exposure device 21, main motor 307, solenoids 308 to all, and cooling fan 500 are
It is designed to energize or cut off 4V. The scanner control circuit 101 is provided with a drive circuit for a semiconductor laser 90 and a mirror motor 60. semiconductor laser 90
The on/off state of the mirror motor 60 is controlled by the laser modulation signal S5 output from the laser modulation control circuit 355, and the on/off state of the mirror motor 60 is controlled by the control signal S8 output from the output register 356. It has become. Further, a PIN diode is used in the laser light detection sensor 312, and when the laser light a passes through the laser light detection sensor 312, a current proportional to the light energy flows.

This current signal is sent to the laser modulation control circuit 355 as a laser light detection signal S4. Further, from the high voltage power supply 305, a developing bias power supply section (not shown), a charging device l8, and a wire high voltage power supply section (not shown) of the transfer device 20 are supplied with a developing bias S20, respectively.
High voltage signals for charging S22 and transfer S24 are output.

These ON and OFF states are controlled by 1 and 0 of the control signal S7 output from the output register 356.

As described above, within the engine control section 300, power is supplied to each electric circuit via the engine control circuit 70, and each section is controlled by a binary control signal output from the engine control circuit 70. It has become. This engine control section 300 and a printer control section 400, which will be described later, are connected by an interface signal S3.

Next, the configuration of printer control section 400 will be explained.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of the printer control section 400. In the figure, a CPU 401 controls the entire printer control unit 400.

The ROM 402 stores a control program, and the CPU 401 operates according to this program. The ROM 402 also stores a password to be checked when data is changed, data regarding the paper P such as a top margin, a left margin, and a pager tab, message information to notify the operator, and the like. The RAM 403 is used as a page buffer for temporarily storing image data sent from the host device 409. When the image data sent from the host device 409 is a large amount of data such as bitmap data, the extended memory 404 is used to store the above-mentioned RAM.
403TE is a large-capacity memory used when one page's worth of data cannot be stored. Video RAM 4
05 stores image data developed into a bit image, and this output is sent to the serial-parallel conversion circuit 4.
06. The serial-to-parallel conversion circuit 406 converts the image data developed into a bit image in the video RAM 405 and sent as parallel data into serial data, and sends the serial data to the engine control circuit 70.

The host interface 408 exchanges data between the printer control unit 400 and a host device 409, which is composed of, for example, a computer or an image reading device, and has two types: a serial transfer line 410a and a parallel transfer line 410b. We are prepared. Then, it can be used appropriately depending on the type of data transferred to and from the host device 409. The engine interface 411 mediates the exchange of an interface signal S3 between the printer control circuit 7l and the engine control circuit 70. The connection circuit 413 connects the IC card 517 when the IC card 517 is inserted into or removed from the connector l6.
This is to prevent the data stored in the IC card 517 from being destroyed due to noise generated during insertion/removal by cutting off the power supply and signal line supplied to the IC card 517.

The operation panel control circuit 407 controls displaying a guidance message on the liquid crystal display 100a of the operation panel 100;
Control of lighting, turning off, and blinking of the LED display 100b, menu next item key 100c, previous menu item key 1roOd
, Online key 100g, Value previous item key 100
Control to send the data input from f to the CPU 401, or reset as an interrupt cancellation instruction by pressing the three keys simultaneously: menu next item key 100c, value next item key 100e, % value previous item key 10 inches It performs control such as sending signals to the CPU 401. Further, the internal bus 412 is connected to the C P
This is a bus that exchanges data among U401, ROM402, RAM403, expansion memory 404, video RAM405, operation panel control circuit 407, host interface 408, engine interface 41l1, and connection circuit 413.

Further, the IC card 517 is a non-volatile memory, for example, a static RAMSE2F with battery backup.
It is composed of a ROM SEPROM, a mask ROM, or the like. These IC cards 517 store, for example, character fonts, emulation programs, and the like.

Next, the configuration of the interface signal S3 will be explained.

FIG. 7 shows each signal of the interface signal S3. In the figure, DO-D7 is an engine control circuit 70
This is a bidirectional data path that transmits status from the printer control circuit 71 to the printer control circuit 71 and commands from the printer control circuit 71 to the engine control circuit 70, and the status and commands are switched and used at the timing shown in FIG. It looks like this. That is, the engine control circuit 70
When the bus direction signal DIR is set to a low level when the busy signal BSYO output from the DO-D7 is at a high level (not busy), the DO-D7 is switched in the direction of transmitting a signal from the engine control circuit 70 to the printer control circuit 7l. The status is output on Do-D7. This allows the printer control circuit 7l to read the status.

On the other hand, when the printer control circuit 7l sends a command, when the bus direction signal DIR is set to a high level when the busy signal BSYO is at a high level (not busy), the DO-D7 sends a signal from the printer control circuit 71 to the engine control circuit 70. The direction is switched to transmit the command, and the command is output on the DO-D7. When the strobe signal STBO is set to a low level in this state, the engine control circuit 70 reads the command on the DCI-D7 while the strobe signal STBO is at a low level, and the busy signal BSYO is set to a low level (busy state). . In this busy state,
The engine control circuit 70 performs processing such as command analysis. When the gee signal BSYO is set to a low level, the printer control circuit 71 returns the strobe signal STBO to a high level and ends the command transmission. Then, when the command processing by the engine control circuit 70 is completed, the busy signal BSYO is returned to the high level again.

Note that commands sent while the busy signal BSYO is at a low level are not received by the engine control circuit 70. Furthermore, the status on the data path DO-D7 does not change immediately when there is a change in status in the engine control unit 300, but is updated only when the status is returned in response to a command received after the status change. There is.

The attention signal ATN1 is output when the basic status on the print sequence between the engine control circuit 70 and the printer control circuit 71 changes, and the attention signal ATN1 is output when the basic status on the print sequence between the engine control circuit 70 and the printer control circuit 71 changes.
It is set to a high level when it becomes possible to receive a SYNC command and when reception of one page of image data is completed.
It is reset to a low level when an attention reset command is received. Therefore, when the attention signal ATN1 changes from a low level to a high level, the printer control circuit 71 activates the data path DO-D7.
sends an attention reset command to reset the attention signal ATN1, and then sends an attention reset command to the data path DO
-You can read the status on D7 and know the changed basic status. In addition, the above basic status is also output on the data path by the basic status request command that requests the basic status, so the content of the changed basic status can be known by the basic status request command prior to the above attention reset command. is now possible.

The ready signal PRDYO indicates that the engine control unit 300 is in a ready state when it is at a low level, and indicates that the engine control unit 300 is in a ready state when it is at a high level. When this signal is at a low level, a print operation by the engine control unit 300 is possible. It is.

The system clear signal SCLRI is the printer control circuit 7l.
200~ after +5V rises with the reset signal of
The level remains high for 500 msec, during which the printer control circuit 71 enters the reset state.

The prime signal PRIMEO is a reset signal to the engine control circuit 70. While this signal is at a low level, the busy signal SYO is at a low level, the ready signal PRDYO is at a high level, and the engine control circuit 70 is set to a predetermined initial state. return.

The horizontal synchronization signal HSYNCO is a signal generated every time one line is scanned by the laser exposure unit 22.
The number of lines corresponding to the effective print length in the transport direction of the paper P after receiving the NC command is output in synchronization with the laser light detection signal S4.

The video clock VCLKO is the horizontal synchronizing signal HSY
This is a synchronous clock for inputting one line of video data (image data) VDO to the engine control circuit 70 following the NCO, and is output in a number corresponding to the effective print width of the paper P in the horizontal scanning direction. Then, the video data VDO is taken into the engine control circuit 70 in synchronization with the falling edge of the video clock VCLKO.

In accordance with the video data VDO, the laser exposure unit 22 performs exposure scanning on the photoreceptor drum 17 to form a latent image on the photoreceptor drum 17. In addition,
When the video data VDO is at a low level, it is visualized on the paper P as a dot image.

Next, a process for canceling an abnormal state in the above configuration will be described.

For example, if an abnormal condition occurs in which incorrect data is received from the host device 409 and incorrect printing continues, or no operation continues, the operator can manually update the channel 100. Menu next item key 100c, value next item key 1 0 0 e
By pressing the three keys s and online key 100g at the same time, C is activated from the operation panel control circuit 407.
A reset signal is output to the P U 401 as an instruction to cancel the interruption. Thereby, the CPU 401 resumes processing from the initial routine. In this case, the engine control section 40
Since no reset/sort signal is output to the 0 side, the operation of the mechanism remains in the ready state.

As mentioned above, by pressing multiple keys on the operation panel at the same time, an instruction to cancel the abnormal condition is output only to the print control unit and the cancellation is performed, so the abnormal condition can be canceled without turning off the power. The state can be canceled, and the waiting time caused by the initial operation of the engine when the power is turned off can be eliminated. In this case, the reset signal as an instruction to cancel the interruption from the operation panel was generated when multiple keys were pressed in a predetermined combination, so it would not be generated easily and could be generated by mistake during normal operation. This ensures that the operation is not interrupted.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, an abnormal operating state occurs in the processing means that performs predetermined processing for image forming processing on data supplied from an external device, and this processing When the operation of the processing means is interrupted, the interruption of the operation is canceled by an instruction from the instruction means, so that the interruption of the operation of the processing means can be canceled without turning off the power, and it is possible to cancel the interruption of the operation of the processing means without turning off the power. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can eliminate the problems associated with this.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figures show an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of the printer control section, Figure 3 is a configuration diagram showing the internal structure of the laser printer. 4 is a plan view showing the structure of the operation panel, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the structure of the main parts of the engine control section, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the structure of the engine control circuit, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing each signal constituting the interface signal, and FIG. 8 is a timing chart for explaining data path switching timing. 17... Photosensitive drum, 21... Charging device, 12...
...Laser exposure unit, 19...Developing device, 20.
...Transfer device, 37...Fixing device, 70...Engine control circuit, 7l...Printer control circuit, 100...
・Operation panel, 100a...LCD display, l00c・
... Menu next item key, l00d... Menu previous item key, 100e Value next item key... 100r.
...Value previous item key, 100g...Online key, 3DO...Engine control unit, 353...E2PR
OM, 400...Printer control unit, 401...CP
U, 402...ROM, 405...Video RAM, P...Paper (image forming medium)

Claims (1)

[Claims] Processing means for performing predetermined processing for image formation processing on data supplied from an external device, detection means for detecting the operating state of the processing means, and processing means for performing the above-mentioned processing by the detection means. Interrupting means for interrupting the operation of the processing means when the means is detected to be in an abnormal operating state; instruction means for instructing the interruption of the operation of the processing means by the interruption means; and instructions for the instruction means. An image forming apparatus comprising: a canceling unit for canceling the interruption of the operation of the processing unit in accordance with the above.