JPH05270622A - Jamming control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate investigation of a possible cause for jamming by storing image forming conditions in a battery-backup jamming history memory at the time of the occurrence of jamming. CONSTITUTION:When jamming occurs in a copying process, jamming count C is incremented, and a jamming position and copying conditions during jamming are stored in a jamming history memory (n3 (Q) n5 (Q) n6). When an information key or a scroll key is operated, the details of the jamming history memory are displayed in a CCD display part (n7 (Q) na8). The frequency of jamming is first displayed, and copying conditions during jamming, for example, a cassette position, paper sheet size, a copying mode and so on are displayed. Since copying conditions during jamming are displayed like this, it is possible to facilitate investigation of a possible cause for jamming.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a management device for managing the occurrence status of jams that occur in the main body of an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electrostatic copying machine, for example, a sheet stored in a sheet cassette or a manual feed tray is passed through a sheet conveying section including an image forming process section, a fixing section, etc. in the electrostatic copying machine body, and then the sheet is kept quiet. Eject it outside the main body of the copying machine. A copy image is formed on the paper while passing through the paper transport unit. The paper transport unit is provided with paper detection sensors at a plurality of locations, and these sensors (jam sensors) perform jam detection. When a jam is detected, the copying operation is stopped, and the location of the jam (for example, the paper feed unit, the transfer unit, etc.) is displayed on the operation panel on the main body of the copying machine.

When a paper jam occurs in the paper transport unit of an electrostatic copying machine, it is often caused by a malfunction of the operating unit for transporting the paper, wear of rollers for transporting the paper, and peeling claws. In such a case, a jam frequently occurs at the same place. Therefore, conventionally, the number of jam occurrences is stored for each jam occurrence location, or the location is sequentially stored for each jam occurrence, and maintenance is performed when jam frequently occurs at the same location. It was

[0004]

However, with the conventional structure, it is only known that a jam frequently occurs at a certain place for some reason. For this reason, at the time of maintenance, the service person had to inspect all the patterns causing the jam at the location and investigate the cause.

An object of the present invention is to provide a jam management device which can be used for investigating the cause of a jam.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a jam management device for managing a jam occurrence condition in a sheet conveying section formed in an image forming apparatus main body, which includes a battery-backed jam history memory and an image. A unit for storing image forming conditions such as a sheet size and an image forming mode in the jam history memory when a jam in the main body of the forming apparatus is detected; and an image stored in the jam history memory. And a means for displaying the formation conditions.

[0007]

According to the present invention, when a paper jam occurs in the paper conveying section in the main body of the image forming apparatus, the image forming conditions such as the paper size and the image forming mode at that time are stored in the jam history memory. The jam history memory is a battery-backed memory, and when a jam occurs, image forming conditions such as a paper size and an image forming mode are stored in the jam history memory together with the jam occurrence location. When the image forming conditions such as the sheet size and the image forming mode change, the state in which the sheet passes through the same jam occurrence location also changes. For example, in an apparatus having a plurality of peeling claws along the axial direction of the photoconductor drum, the length of the conveyance roller in the width direction (axial direction of the photoconductor drum) changes when the paper size changes. Jam is easy to occur, or almost no jam occurs. In such a case, if it is known that a jam frequently occurs at a certain size, it is easy to infer that there is a problem with a part of the peeling claws in the width direction.

[0008]

FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of a copying machine.

In the main body of the copying machine, the photosensitive drum 1a and a charging device 1b, a developing device 1c, and a transfer device 1 provided around the photosensitive drum 1a.
d, an image forming process unit 1 including a peeling claw 1e, a fixing unit 2 including a fixing roller 2a, reflected light of a document set on a circulating automatic document feeder 3a or a document table 3b provided on the main body of the copying machine. Is provided to the photoconductor drum 1a. Further, the right side surface of the copying machine body is a paper feed section 5 including a manual feed tray 5a and paper cassettes 5b and 5c, and the left side surface of the copying machine body is a plurality of paper discharge trays 6.
A paper discharge unit 6 including a, 6b, ..., And an intermediate tray unit 7 is provided at the bottom of the copying machine body. Bypass tray 5
a, paper feed rollers are arranged in front of the paper cassettes 5b and 5c, respectively, and a plurality of conveyance rollers are arranged between the paper feed unit 5 and the image forming process 1. A suction belt 15 is provided between the image forming process unit 1 and the fixing unit 2.
Are arranged. The paper output unit 6 includes the paper output trays 6a, 6a.
Flaps are provided according to b ..., and the fixed sheets are discharged to one of the discharge trays 6a, 6b ... By the operation of each flap. The intermediate tray portion 7 is a portion for temporarily stocking paper during double-sided copying or composite copying. Double-sided copying is a mode in which a copy image is formed on the front and back surfaces of a sheet, and composite copying is a mode in which a plurality of images are combined and formed on the front side of a sheet. The intermediate tray unit 7 is provided with a sheet reversing unit 7a, an intermediate tray 7b, a paper feed roller 7c, a plurality of conveyance rollers, and flaps. The sheet reversing unit 7a reverses the front and back sides of the sheet by a switchback method when double-sided copying is performed. The intermediate tray 7b is a tray for temporarily stocking paper until the timing of copying on the back side or copying to be combined.

In such a copying machine, a sheet conveying section (sheet feeding section, transfer section of image forming process section, position of peeling claw,
An operation in which a sheet is conveyed through a fixing roller and the like) will be described. During the copying process, the manual feed tray 5a and the paper cassette 5
Sheets are fed from the sheet b, the sheet cassette 5c, or the intermediate tray unit 7 and sent to the image forming process unit 1. In the image forming process section, a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1a by the operation of the optical section 4, the charger 1b, the developing unit 1c, etc., and the toner image is formed on the fed paper by the transfer unit 1d. Transcribed. After that, the sheet is peeled from the photosensitive drum 1a by the peeling claw 1e, and the suction belt 1
5 is sent to the fixing unit 2. In the fixing unit 2, the toner on the paper is fixed. After this, the paper is sent to the paper discharge unit 6 or the intermediate tray unit 7. When it is not necessary to form an image on the same sheet, the fixed sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge unit 6, and when the image is further overlapped on the same sheet, the fixed sheet is sent to the intermediate tray unit 7. Be done. When the paper is conveyed to the paper discharge unit 6, it is discharged to one of the paper discharge trays 6a, 6b ... By the flap. Also,
When the sheet is conveyed to the intermediate tray section 7, the sheet conveying section 7a reverses the front and back sides of the sheet as necessary, and then the intermediate tray 7
Stocked in b. After that, the paper is fed by the paper feed roller 7c at the timing when the composite copy is made on the back side or the front side, and is sent to the image forming process section.

In this way, a jam may occur when the paper is conveyed.

In particular, if the members such as the conveying roller and the peeling claw that are related to the sheet conveying are worn, the jam easily occurs. Therefore, the jam sensors S1 to S6 are arranged at important points in order to detect a location where a jam has occurred in the paper transport unit. The jam sensors S1 to S6 are arranged along the sheet conveying section in the main body of the copying machine before and after the position where the jam is likely to occur.
The detection state of the jam sensor and a timer are used to determine the presence or absence of a jam. For example, when one jam sensor (for example, S1) detects a sheet, a timer is started to measure a predetermined time. On the other hand, the time from when the jam sensor S1 detects the sheet to when the next jam sensor (for example, S2) detects the sheet is fixed. This is because the conveyance speed of the paper is constant, and if the jam sensor S2 does not detect the paper within a predetermined time after the jam sensor S1 detects the paper, a jam occurs between the jam sensors S1 and S2. It has been done.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the essential parts of the copying machine.

The CPU 8 controls the entire copying machine. The CPU 8 controls each operation unit according to the program stored in the ROM 9. The RAM 10 is backed up by a battery and is provided with a jam history memory M1 and a jam counter C. In the jam history memory M1,
A history of jams that have occurred in the paper transport unit inside the copying machine body is stored. The number of jam occurrences is stored in the jam counter C. The jam sensor S is provided in the sensor control circuit 12.
Various sensors such as 1 to S6 and a paper size sensor are connected. The sensor control circuit 12 converts the detection state of each sensor into a digital value and inputs it to the CPU 8. The paper size sensor is used for the manual feed tray 5a and the paper cassettes 5b and 5c.
The size of the paper stored in is detected. The operation panel 13 is provided on the upper surface of the main body of the copying machine. The operation panel has a print switch 13a, a numeric keypad 13b,
Information key 13c, scroll key 13
d, an LCD display portion 13e, various mode setting keys not shown, etc. are provided. Information key 13c,
When the scroll key 13d is operated, the LCD display section 13e
The contents of the jam history memory (copy condition = image forming condition) are sequentially displayed. Further, the copy condition of the copying machine is set by operating the ten keys or the mode setting keys. Reference numeral 11 is a control circuit of the operation panel.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a storage state of copy conditions to the jam history memory.

Each time a jam occurs, the data and copy conditions at the jam occurrence location at that time are stored in the jam history memory. The data related to one jam is represented by m bytes. Jam occurrence location data, paper cassette position when jam occurs, paper size when jam occurs, copy mode, and other copy conditions are stored in m bytes. The jam occurrence location data is data indicating where a jam has occurred.

The positions of the paper cassettes when a jam occurs are the manual feed tray 5a, the paper cassette 5b, the paper cassette 5c,
It is data indicating from which position of the intermediate tray unit 7 the paper is fed. The paper cassettes 5b and 5c are detachable and can be replaced with other types of paper cassettes. However, the paper feed roller is provided in the main body of the copying machine, and the data of the position of the paper cassette indicates which paper feed roller was used to feed the paper. The paper size is detected by a known paper size detection method. For example, a mark on the paper cassette is read by a sensor on the main body of the copying machine, or the position of the paper in the manual feed tray or paper cassette or the position of the partition plate is detected. It is detected by detecting. The copy mode stores the states of various copy modes such as a single-sided copy mode, a double-sided copy mode, and a sorter mode.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure of the copy operation according to the present invention.

When the print switch 13a is operated, copy processing is performed (n1 → n2, n4). When a jam occurs during the copy process, the jam count C is incremented, and the location of the jam and the copy condition when the jam occurs are stored in the jam history memory M1 (n
3 → n5 → n6). In this way, each time a jam occurs, the location of the jam and the copy condition at the time of the jam are stored in order.

On the other hand, when the information key 13c or the scroll key 13d is operated, the LCD display section 13
The content of the jam history memory is displayed in e (n7 → n
8).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example of jam history memory contents. When the information key 13c is operated, the screen shown in FIG. 2 (A) is displayed. First, the number of jam occurrences, which is the content of the jam count C. Next, when the scroll key 13d is operated, FIG.
(B) → The screen changes as shown in Fig. 2 (C),
Displays the copy conditions when a jam occurs. In this example, three types of copy conditions are shown: the cassette position, the paper size, and the copy mode, but other copy conditions may be added. If the copy condition when the jam occurs is displayed in this way, the situation at that time can be known, so that the cause of the jam can be easily determined.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the image forming condition when the jam occurs is displayed, so that the cause of the jam can be considered based on the image forming condition. Become. This jam history memory is backed up by battery, so data will not be erased even when the power of the copying machine is turned off.
You can save some long-term data.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a main processing procedure of a copying machine.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example of a jam history.

FIG. 3 is a memory map of a jam history memory.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a main part of a copying machine.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A jam management device that manages a jam occurrence status in a paper transport unit configured inside an image forming apparatus body, wherein a jam history memory backed up by a battery and a jam occurrence in the paper transport unit are detected. And a means for storing the image forming conditions such as the paper size and the image forming mode in the jam history memory together with the jam occurrence location, and means for displaying the image forming conditions stored in the jam history memory. A jam management device characterized in that