JPH03292175A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To request an operator to conduct printing again by a method wherein the size of recording paper is obtained from a recording paper size setting means, the matching of the size with printing format data is managed, and if an inconsistency occurs between the both, an alarm is issued. CONSTITUTION:When the position of a side plate 5 of a recording paper supply device 1 is adjusted in accordance with the width of recording paper, a contact piece 16 comes into contact with a projection 17, and the width of the recording paper can be detected. When the length of the set recording paper is set by a dial 20, a brush 22 actuated in conjunction with the dial 20 comes into contact with a contact point 23, and the length of the recording paper can be detected. A microcomputer 41 compares the size of the recording paper accompanying format data inputted from a host device H with the data from a setting device 25 and a recording paper width detector 19. When the data from the recording paper length setting device 25 and the recording paper width detector 19 is incoincident with the recording paper size of the format data, an alarm is issued to request the check of the size of the set recording paper.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a printing apparatus equipped with an electrophotographic process, and more particularly to a technique for monitoring recording paper.

(Prior Art) Printing apparatuses using an electrophotographic process, like copying machines, are not very selective about the types of printing media and are used for printing on various types of recording paper.

That is, a plurality of recording paper supply bags M are provided, the first one containing envelopes, the second one containing letterhead recording paper, and the third containing letter recording paper. It is also used in such a way that envelopes, letterheads, and letter recording papers are drawn out in order from different recording paper supply devices depending on the program and printed.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) As a result, the size of the recording paper to be printed varies, and there is a risk of printing errors due to mismatch between the print data transferred from the host device and the size of the recording paper. There's a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and its purpose is to immediately issue a tS when a recording medium that does not support print data is supplied, to alert the operator and restart the process. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing device that can encourage printing.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve such problems, the present invention provides a recording paper supply means that pulls out the stored recording media and feeds it into the printing path, and a recording paper supply means that converts the print data into a toner image. An electrophotographic mechanism that fixes the recording paper, a recording paper size setting unit that inputs the size of the recording paper, and compares the size from the unit with the size specified by the print format data, and issues an alarm if the sizes do not match. A means to emit the message was provided.

(Function) Obtains the size of the stocked recording paper from the recording paper size setting means, manages consistency with the print format data, and issues an alarm to call the operator's attention if a discrepancy occurs between the two. be able to.

(Example) The details of the present invention will be described below based on illustrated examples.

Figure 1.2.3 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and the symbols in the figure are:
Reference numeral 1.2 in the figure is a paper feeding device provided at the top of the mount M3, and a side plate 4 that can be adjusted according to the size of the recording paper.
．． 5.6.7, and a support plate 8 that supports the back side of the recording paper.
9 and a pickup roller 10.1 that ejects the recording paper]
It is configured to feed recording sheets one by one from a paper discharge port 12 to a paper feed port 13 of the main body.

These side plates 5.7 are horizontally slidably mounted by guide members 14.15, which also have contacts 16 of the side plates 5.7 as shown in FIG. Protrusions 17,17,17, .

On the other hand, in the vicinity of the paper feeder 1.2, the size of the recording paper, especially the length of the recording paper '2! Dial 20.21 to set
is provided, and dials 20 and 21 are provided as shown in FIG.
Contacts 23.23. selected by brush 22 interlocked with 23.23.
Switches 23, . . . are provided to constitute recording paper length setting devices 25, 26.

A recording paper detector 27 is provided below the paper feed port 13 to detect when the recording paper is set at a predetermined position. A gate roller 29.29 is provided to send out the paper.

A second recording paper detector 30 is disposed below the gate rollers 29, 29 to face the recording paper transport path and detect the presence of recording paper.

Around the photosensitive drum 28, there are a window 32 that receives a light beam from an optical signal generator 31, a developing unit 33, a transfer unit 34, an erase unit 35, and a charging unit 36.
is installed. A fixing unit 37 is arranged below the photosensitive drum 28 and is configured to be transported to a discharge port 39 by a fixing paper discharge guide mechanism 38 .

Note that the reference numeral 40 in the figure indicates an exhaust fan.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of controlled snowmaking, in which reference numeral 41 denotes a microcomputer consisting of a CPU 42 and a RAM 43.80M44, and an interface 45.
8, the print data from the host device is stored in the buffer memory 46 and then output to the optical signal generator 31, while the recording paper width detector 19, the recording paper length setting device 25,
It is configured to determine whether or not the recording paper size is appropriate based on a signal from the recording paper detector 27. Note that reference numerals 48 and 49 in the figure indicate converters that convert signals from the recording paper width detector 19 and the recording paper length setter 25, respectively, into a format suitable for data processing.

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, when the side plate 5 of the recording paper supply bag N1 is adjusted Nli in accordance with the width of the recording paper to be printed, the contact 16 of the side plate 5 comes into contact with the protrusion 17. As a result, the recording paper width detector] 9 can already detect the width of the completely set recording paper. Further, when the length of the recording paper that has just been set is set using the dial 20, the brush 22 that is linked to this comes into contact with the contact point 23, making it possible to detect the length of the recording paper.

When the preparation is completed in this way and a print command is issued (step 70), the microcomputer 4]
Step 71) requests the host device to transfer the print data and stores one page of the print data in the buffer memory 46.
(step 72). At this stage, the microcomputer 41
compares the recording paper size accompanying the format data input from the host device 1H with the data from the setting device 25 and the recording paper width detector 19 (step
73).

If the data from the recording paper length setter 25 or the recording paper width detector 19 does not match the recording paper size of the format data accompanying the print data, the microcomputer 41 issues an alarm. Prompt to check the size of the set recording paper (step 74)
.

On the other hand, if the setting data regarding the size of the recording paper and the size data of the format data match, or if the recording paper is reset, the microcomputer 41 converts the print data in the buffer memory 45 into an optical signal. generator 3] to form a latent image on the photoreceptor drum 28, and the developing unit 33 converts the toner image into a form IIi.
let

Along with the formation of this toner image, the registration roller 29.2
9 feeds the recording paper, the transfer unit 34 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 28 onto the recording paper, and after fixing it by the fixing unit 37, the fixing paper discharge guide mechanism 3
8 to the discharge port (step 75).

In the process of transporting the recording paper to the photosensitive drum 28, the recording paper passes through the recording paper detector 30, which causes the recording paper detector 30 to output a signal (step 76). When the signal from the recording paper detector 30 is input, the microcomputer 41 operates a counter to count the clock signal (step 77).

When the trailing edge of the recording paper passes the recording paper detector 30 and the signal from the recording paper detector 30 stops (step 78
), the microcomputer 4] stops the counting operation of the counter, and calculates the length of the recording paper based on the counted contents (step 79).

If the result of calculating the recording paper length matches the length of the recording paper set by the recording paper length setter 25 (step 80), the microcomputer 41 causes the microcomputer 41 to send out the print data for the next page. A request is made to the host device (step 81.71).

On the other hand, if the length of the recording paper set in the recording paper setting device does not match the calculation result, the microcomputer 41 issues an alarm (step 82).
, and waits while holding the data in the buffer memory 46.

When the operator replaces the recording paper and presses the start button again (step 83), the microcomputer 41 activates the host device! Printing is performed from the first page using the data held in the buffer memory 45 without requesting the user to transfer the print data (step 83), thereby eliminating the waiting time due to data transfer. This makes it possible to shorten the time it takes to start reprinting.

In addition, in this embodiment, the recording paper width detection and length setting are detected as discrete values using contacts, but as shown in FIG. The resistor 51 and the variable resistor 52 linked to the dial 20 detect the recording paper width and set the recording paper length, and the signals from these variable resistors 51 and 52 are sent to analog-digital devices 53 and 54, respectively. It is clear that the same effect can be achieved even if the input data is inputted to the microcomputer via the microcomputer.

In addition, in this embodiment, the recording paper supply device is equipped with an Il.
Although a recording paper length setting device is provided adjacent to the recording paper length setting device, it is clear that the same effect can be achieved even if input is made from a keyboard on the panel surface.

Roughly speaking, in the above embodiment, the recording paper width and the recording paper length are each input as separate data, but as shown in FIG. Each contact 56.56.5 of one setter 55
For 6..., letter size, legal size, A4 size,
A barb specifying the size of the recording paper, such as 85 size, etc., is assigned, and the position of this contact point is determined according to the width and length of the recording paper using the dictionary 58 having comparison data as shown in FIG. By converting, data on the width and length of the recording paper can be input at the same time using one setting mechanism.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, in the present invention, there is provided a recording paper supply means that pulls out a stocked recording medium and feeds it into a printing path, and an electrophotographic mechanism that converts print data into a toner image and fixes it on the recording paper. and recording paper size setting means for inputting the size of the recording paper, and means for comparing the size from the means with the size specified by the print format data and issuing an alarm if the sizes do not match. Therefore, the size of the stocked recording paper is obtained from the recording paper size setting means, the consistency with the print format data is managed, and if a discrepancy occurs between the two, an alarm is issued to call the operator's attention. This allows printing to be performed on paper that matches the recording paper size that matches the print format.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are a front view and a side view of an apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of the same apparatus, and FIG. 4 is an implementation of a recording paper width detector. 5 is a front view showing an embodiment of the recording paper length setting device; FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the control device; FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the same device as above, FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of the device showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 9 and 10 are configurations of the device showing other embodiments of the present invention, respectively. 1 and a schematic diagram showing the structure of a recording paper size data conversion dictionary. 1.2...Paper feeder N 3...Device main body 4
．． 5.6.7...Side plate 8.9...Support plate 1
4.15... Guide member 19... Recording paper width detector 20.21... Recording paper size setting dial 25
．． 26... Setting switch 28... Photoconductor tram 30... Recording paper detector 31... Optical signal generator 37... Fixing unit 41... Microcomputer eye... ...host device

Claims (1)

[Claims] A recording paper supply means for pulling out the stored recording media and sending it into a printing path, an electrophotographic mechanism for converting print data into a toner image and fixing it on the recording paper, and a recording paper size setting means for inputting the size of the recording paper. , a printing device comprising means for comparing the size from the means and the size specified by print format data and issuing an alarm if the sizes do not match.