JPH043269A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically restore the mode setting state and to immediately restart the operation before a power source is cut off without causing an error by reinstructing an operation mode before the power source is cut off to a device which is turned on again, in the case the power source of an image forming device or each additional device is cut off, and thereafter, turned on again. CONSTITUTION:A controller A is provided with an operation mode instructing means B, an operation mode storage means C, a power source monitoring means D, and an operation mode reinstructing means E. In such a state, when it is detected by the power source monitoring means D that a power source to one of an image forming device or each additional device is cut off temporarily, and thereafter, turned on again, the operation mode reinstructing means E reinstructs an operation mode before the power source is cut off, corresponding to the device in which it is detected that the power source is turned on again, in each operation mode stored in the operation mode storage means C to its device. In such a way, the mode setting state is restored automatically, and the operation before the power source is cut off can be restarted immediately without causing an error.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention is a laser printer and an LED printer.

The present invention relates to various printer systems such as liquid crystal shutter printers and inkjet printers, and image forming systems such as high-performance copying machines and high-performance fax machines.

[Conventional technology]

In an image forming system such as a laser printer system, there is an image forming device that can be turned on and off independently, a recording medium feeding device (such as a mass feeding device),
It consists of additional devices such as a recording medium conveyance device (such as a double-sided conveyance device), a recording medium discharge device (such as a large quantity wandering paper device 1 reversing paper discharge device, a multi-stage wandering paper device, etc.), and a control device that centrally controls these devices. , a system in which the control device receives character information or image information from a host system, sends it to the image forming device, and controls the image forming device and the additional device to form an image on a recording medium. There is.

By the way, in such an image forming system, generally, when a predetermined instruction signal is sent from the host system, each image forming apparatus and each additional device determines the required operation mode, for example, the paper size.

After setting each operation mode by instructing the paper feed and ejection conditions such as the type of paper feed tray according to the paper type and the paper ejection position including paper reversal, double-sided printing, and 2-fold printing, instruct the paper feed operation. That's what I do.

In this type of image forming system, if a problem occurs with the image forming device or any of the additional devices after setting the operating mode, the power switch of only that device is turned off to shut off the power. Inspections may be carried out. At this time, the control device detects this and notifies the host system as an image forming system error.

Thereafter, when the power is turned on again to the apparatus, the control apparatus determines the status of the image forming apparatus and each additional apparatus, and if there is no abnormality, the system becomes ready and the system can be operated.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the past, when the power was cut off, the set state of the device's operating mode was reset, and when the power was turned on again, the operating mode would be in the initial state. If the user is again instructed to perform the same action as before, the user may no longer be able to perform the action as instructed, resulting in an error such as a jam.

This invention has been made in view of the above points, and even if the power of either the image forming apparatus or each additional device is turned off and then turned on again, the device that was turned on again will have a The purpose of this invention is to automatically restore the mode setting state by re-instructing the operating mode of the device, and to immediately restart the operation of the power-off plane without error.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming system as described above, the present invention has a control device iA control the image forming device and each additional device according to instructions from the host system, as shown in the functional blocks in FIG. An operation mode instructing means B for instructing each necessary operation mode, an operation mode storage means C for storing each operation mode, and a power supply monitor for constantly monitoring the on/off status of each power source of the image forming apparatus and each additional device. each operation stored in the operation mode storage means C when it is detected by means that the power to either the image forming apparatus or each additional device has been temporarily cut off and then turned on again. The apparatus is provided with an operation mode re-instruction means E for re-instructing the apparatus to the operation mode corresponding to the apparatus in which the power supply has been detected to be turned on again.

[For production]

According to the image forming system equipped with the control device HA of FIG. 1 according to the present invention, the power monitoring means detects whether the power to either the image forming apparatus or each additional device is temporarily cut off and then turned on again. When this is detected, the operation mode re-instruction means E instructs the device to change the operation mode that existed before the power was cut off, which corresponds to the device for which the power re-indication is detected, from among the operation modes stored in the operation mode storage means C. Since the instruction is given again, the 5-mode setting state is automatically restored, and the operation before the power was shut off can be immediately resumed without error.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to FIG. 2 and subsequent figures.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the paper conveyance path is shown by a solid line with an arrow.

This image forming system (printer system) includes a system table 20 and an image forming device (print engine).
3, and five additional devices, each of which is a unitized additional device, namely, a bulk paper feed bag M4, a reversing bag W5.7 a combination device 6. It is composed of a large-volume paper ejection device 7 and a duplex device 8.

A control device 1, which will be described later, is housed within the system table 20.

The image forming bag W3 is a print engine and can store paper (sheet paper) of different sizes.A two-stage paper feed cassette 15 and a lower paper feed cassette 16 are removably installed, and an image forming unit is installed inside. Constituent laser writing unit 30
．． Photosensitive drum 31. Electrostatic charger 32. Developing unit 33. Transfer charger 34. Cleaning unit 3
5. and a fixing device 36, and an upper paper feed cassette 15. A large number of paper conveyance rollers including paper feed rollers 37, 37 and registration rollers 38 for feeding paper from the lower paper feed cassette 16, their drive motors, drive mechanisms, etc. are provided.

In addition to the upper paper feed cassette 15 and the lower paper feed cassette 16 of the image forming apparatus 3, paper supply sources include a large quantity paper feeder 4 and a duplexer 8 (which are additional devices connected to the image forming apparatus 3). (only when refeeding paper), and when one of them is selected and paper is fed by the paper feed roller 37,
It waits at a position where it is held by the registration rollers 38.

Meanwhile, the photosensitive drum 31 rotates in the direction of the arrow.

The surface charged by the f-electric charger 32 is exposed by being irradiated with a laser beam modulated according to a video signal by the laser writing unit 30 while main scanning in the direction of the drum axis, thereby forming a latent image.

The latent image is developed with toner from the developing unit 33, and transferred by the action of the transfer charger 34 onto a sheet of paper fed to the image transfer section at a predetermined timing by the registration rollers 38. After the paper is conveyed to the fixing device 36 and heated and fixed, it is sent to the reversing device 5Δ.

The paper feed paths from the three paper supply sources are provided separately up to the registration rollers 38 immediately before transfer.
3 is provided with an entrance on the bottom of the duplex device 8.
(re-feed) so that it matches the paper opening.

The mass paper feeder 4 has a tray 40 that can store up to 2,000 sheets of B4 size paper and that moves up and down with the paper placed thereon.
It is equipped with

The paper discharged from the image forming apparatus 3 and sent to the reversing device 5 is selectively switched in its transport direction by a transport switching means 51 composed of three uneven rollers, etc. Three outlets A, B at the bottom,
Sent from either C.

The reversing device 5 has a reversing stack function for storing single-sided printed paper up to A3 size, and a function for switching paper to the paper output tray 521 collating device 69 duplex device 8 and bulk paper output device 7. .

Then, the printed paper conveyed to the upper outlet A is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 52 provided at the top of the image forming apparatus 3.

The collating device 6 includes a large number of bins 61, and has a function of collating the printed sheets sent out from the outlet B on the side of the reversing device 5 and discharging them to the corresponding bins.

The large-volume paper ejecting device 17 transports the printed paper sent out from the delivery port C below the reversing device 5 into a double-sided bag W8 in this example.
It has a function to accept paper through the internal transport path, sort and stack it by job, and can store up to 2,000 sheets of paper of up to three sizes.

The double-sided bag H8 transfers paper printed on one side to the reversing device 5.
It has a function of receiving paper from the lower delivery port C and supplying it to the image forming apparatus 3 again through the paper refeeding path 81, making double-sided printing possible.

Note that this embodiment has a full system configuration.

Three types of paper feed units (upper paper feed cassette 15, lower paper feed cassette 16, and large-volume paper feeder 4), three types of paper output units (paper output tray 522, collation device 6., and large-volume paper output device 7) ) can be selected in any combination.

Figure 3 shows the control device 1 and the image forming bag! 3 and each additional device 4 to 8. FIG.

The control device 1 has a built-in 16 or 32-bit microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as rcPUJ) consisting of a CPU, ROM, RAM, Ilo, etc., and the image forming device 1
! 3 and each additional device 4 to 8 and interface cable 3
a to 8a, and exchanges information with the host system 2 to send out commands to control one image forming apparatus 3 and each of the additional devices M4 to 8 connected thereto, thereby controlling the entire system.

It also has a function of receiving character information, image information, etc. from the host system 2 and sending it to the image forming apparatus 3.

Furthermore, - this control device 1 is also equipped with an AC distribution unit, which distributes and supplies AC power to the image forming device 3 and each of the additional devices 4 to 8 via power cables 3b to 8b.

On the other hand, the image forming apparatus 3 and each of the additional devices i4 to i8 are provided with power switches so that the AC power supplied from the control device 1 through the power cables 3b to 8b can be turned on and off independently.

As a result, if a trouble occurs in any of the devices, inspection work can be performed by cutting off only the Actfi of that device.

Furthermore, each of the image forming apparatus 3 and each of the additional devices M4 to M8 has a built-in microcomputer, and if there is no abnormality inside when the AC power is turned on, a report to that effect is sent to the control device W1. .

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be specifically explained with reference to FIG. 4 and subsequent figures.

First, to simplify the explanation, an example of a series of printing operations performed by this image forming system will be described.

1 image forming apparatus t! according to an instruction from the host system 2!
3 feeds paper from the paper feed cassette 15 and temporarily stops it when the leading edge of the paper reaches the registration roller 38.

Thereafter, the registration roller 38 is activated by an image formation synchronization signal from the host system 2 to feed the waiting paper to the image transfer section, where image formation processing is performed on one side of the paper, and the paper is transferred to the post-reversing device 5. Send.

Reverse outfit! ! 5 receives the single-sided printed paper from the image forming apparatus 3 and sends it to the duplex apparatus 8, and the duplex apparatus 8 supplies it to the image forming apparatus 3 again through the paper refeed path 81.

The image forming apparatus 3 temporarily stops when the paper sent from the duplex device Ii8 reaches the registration rollers 38 again, and then moves the registration rollers 38 again in response to the image formation synchronization signal from the host system 2 and waits. The paper inside is fed to the image transfer section, where the other side of the paper is then subjected to image forming processing and sent to the post-reversing device 5.

The reversing device 5 picks up the double-sided printed paper and sends it to the collating device 6, which collates the paper and sends it to the bin 61 in the designated order.

When performing one or more printing operations here, the control device 1
first receives the above-mentioned operation instructions from the host system 2, interprets the instructions, instructs the image forming device 3 and each of the additional devices 4 to 8 to appropriate operation modes, and stores each operation mode in the internal RAM. to be memorized.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 3 is instructed to select the paper feed cassette 15 and use of the duplex device, and the reversing device 5 is instructed to perform a paper reversing operation. It is assumed that the two-sided operation mode is instructed to the collating device 6, and the collating and discharging mode is instructed to the collating device 6.

Thereafter, when receiving an instruction to start printing from the host system 2, it first instructs the image forming apparatus 3 to feed paper, and then instructs the reversing device 51, duplex device 81, and collating device 6 to start their motors in sequence.

Thereby, the image forming device 32 reversing device 1i5° double-sided device 8. And the collating unit w6 performs the above-mentioned operation, and the paper 1
A series of printing steps are performed on the sheet.

Thereafter, simply by receiving a print request instruction from the host system 2, each device can be made to perform a print operation in the same operating mode.

By the way, when the operating mode is set like this.

For example, when the AC power of the image forming apparatus 3 is cut off by turning off the power switch and then turned on again.

The control device 1 executes the process shown in FIG.

That is, when the AC power of one image forming apparatus 3 is cut off,
Communication with the image forming apparatus 3 via the interface cable 3a becomes impossible, an abnormality in the image forming apparatus 3 is detected, and the image forming system error is notified to the host system 2.

In this error situation, when the AC power is turned on again to the image forming apparatus 3 by turning on the power switch, this is detected when communication with the image forming apparatus 3 is restored;
Inform host system 2 that there is no abnormality in the image forming system (
system ready).

Furthermore, among the operation motes stored in the internal RAM, the operation mote corresponding to the image forming apparatus 3 whose power has been turned off again is instructed to operate the image forming bag W3. Restore the mode setting state.

Thereafter, when the host system 2 issues a paper feed instruction (print start instruction) again, the control device 1 instructs the image forming device 3 to feed paper in the same manner as described above in response to the instruction, and then inverts the reversing device 59 The above-described printing operation can be performed by sequentially instructing the device 8 and the collating device 6 to start their motors.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the control device 1 controls A to either the image forming device i3 or each of the additional devices 4 to 8.
C: When it is detected that the power supply has been temporarily shut off and then turned on again, the operating mode before the power supply shut off that corresponds to the device for which the power supply was detected to have been turned on again is stored in the internal RAM. The mode setting state is automatically restored and the operation before the power was shut off can be immediately resumed without error.

In this embodiment, an AC power source is used as a power source for the image forming apparatus 3 and each of the additional devices 4 to 8, but the present invention can be similarly applied to a case where a DC power source is used.

Furthermore, although the above-described embodiments have been described with respect to a laser printer system in which the image forming apparatus is a print engine, the present invention is not limited to laser printer systems, but is applicable to image forming systems for various printers such as LED printers, liquid crystal shutter printers, and inkjet printers. It is also applicable to image forming systems such as high-performance copying machines and high-performance fax machines.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the image forming system according to the present invention, even if the power of either the image forming device or each additional device is turned off and then turned on again, the device that was turned on again has the same state as before the power was cut off. Since the mode setting state can be automatically restored by re-instructing the operating mode, the operation that was in place before the power was cut off can be immediately resumed without error.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of an image forming system that is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the connection relationship between the control device, the image forming device, and each additional device, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the timing of instructions given to the image forming device and each additional device by the control device. be.・Control bag W 2・Host system 3...
Image forming bag W 4...Mass paper feed device 5...Reversing device 6...Collation device 7...Mass paper discharge bag W
8...Double-sided device 38-8a...Power cable

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Additional devices such as an image forming apparatus, a recording medium feeding device, a recording medium transporting device, and a recording medium ejecting device, each of which can be powered on and off independently, and which are collectively controlled. The control device receives character information or image information from the host system and sends it to the image forming device, and also controls the image forming device and the additional device to form an image on the recording medium. In the image forming system, the control device includes an operation mode instruction unit for instructing the image forming device and each additional device to operate in a necessary operation mode based on an instruction from the host system, and each operation mode is stored in the control device. an operation mode storage means for constantly monitoring the power on/off status of the image forming apparatus and each additional device; When it is detected that the power has been turned on again after being temporarily cut off, the operation mode corresponding to the device for which the power was detected to be turned on again is selected from among the operation modes stored in the operation mode storage means. An image forming system comprising: an operation mode re-instruction means for re-instructing the apparatus.