JPH08317124A - Original carry controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simplify a procedure when reading is restarted after the occurrence of a fault. CONSTITUTION: A state change detection section 37 senses a change in on/off of a register sensor 28. An on-timer 33 and an off-timer 35 measure an original carrying time between the register sensor 28 and a read section and expires when the time elapses. When the output of the register sensor 28 changes from an OFF to an ON state, the on-timer 33 is started and when an output of the register sensor 28 changes from an ON to an OFF state, the off-timer 35 is started. When the on-timer 33 is expired, a flag is set and when the off-timer 35 is expired, the flag is reset. The set flag indicates it that an original is at a read position and the reset flag indicates it that the original is not at the read position. A discrimination section 36 decides the state of the flag at the recovery from a fault to start the original discharge processing or the original read operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document conveyance control device, and more particularly to a document conveyance control device capable of performing appropriate conveyance control when an abnormality occurs in a system other than the conveyance system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a facsimile machine or a compound machine having the functions of a facsimile machine and a copying machine, a system is constructed by integrally combining a document feeder, a printer and a communication device. In this system, if an error occurs in the printer device or an error in the transmission system, or if the memory full of the read image information storage device etc. occurs, there is no abnormality in itself. It is common to stop the operation including the device.

In this case, since the operation may be stopped when there is a document on the conveyance path (path), the document remaining on the path is removed when restarting, and this document is placed on the document tray again. It is normal to reset. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-373354 discloses a device in which an operator operates a cancel key to eject a document in a path.

[0004]

As described above, when there is no abnormality in the document conveying device itself when the document conveyance is stopped, it is not necessary to discharge the document remaining in the path, and the printer does not need to be ejected. If the abnormality of other system such as
There is no problem even if the original reading is resumed.

In some cases, the operator recognizes that the document is skewed (skewed) at the document inlet and stops reading. This is the case when the document was stopped due to an abnormality related to the document feeder, but in many cases, at least part of the skewed document is exposed to the outside of the document feeder. Operation can be restored. Therefore, also in this case, the restart can be performed without removing the original in the path, as in the case where the original conveying apparatus itself has no abnormality.

However, there is a problem as to whether the original reading may be resumed without changing the original feeding device itself. That is, when the reading unit is arranged in the middle of the pass and the reading is stopped in the state where the document is located in the reading unit, the image information read halfway is lost due to the system stop. . Even if the reading is restarted in such a state, there is a problem that the original cannot be read correctly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a document conveyance control device capable of easily restarting the reading operation after the occurrence of an abnormality.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To solve the above problems and to achieve the object, the present invention judges whether or not a document is over a reading position of a reading unit and stores the judgment result. Means for holding the stored contents of the storing means when the conveyance of the original is stopped due to an abnormality other than the original conveying system, and judging the stored contents of the storing means when the abnormality returns to normal, It is characterized in that it has a determination means for performing a document removal process when the document is over the reading position and for giving an instruction to start the reading operation when the document is not over the reading position.

[0009]

According to the above feature, when the conveyance of the document is stopped due to an abnormality, the information about whether the document exceeds the planned reading position is held. Then, depending on the position of the original at the time of returning to the normal state, either the processing for eliminating the original remaining in the path or the instruction to start the reading operation can be selected and executed.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present embodiment is a case where the document conveyance control device of the present invention is applied to a so-called multifunctional facsimile machine having a copying function. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a main part of a facsimile machine including a document conveyance control device according to the present invention. In the figure, a scanner 1 is a device for reading image information of a transmission original, and includes an original conveying means, a reading means and the like which will be described later with reference to FIG. The buffer 2 temporarily stores a predetermined amount of image information of the document read by the scanner 1. The encoder 3 reads the image information from the buffer 2 and compresses and encodes it. The storage device 4 is a large-capacity image information storage device such as a DRAM or a hard disk, and the image information compressed and encoded by the encoder 3 is sequentially stored in the storage device 4. The image information stored in the storage device 4 is stored in the modem (MO
After being modulated by the DEM) 5, it is sent to the public line through the line control unit 6.

On the other hand, the image information taken from the public line via the line control unit 6 is also stored in the storage device 4. The decoder 7 is for decoding the image information stored in the storage device 4, and the image information decoded by the decoder 7 is temporarily stored in the buffer 8. Then, the printer 9 uses the buffer 8
The image information is read from and the printing operation is performed. If you want the facsimile machine to function as a copier,
The image information read by the scanner 1 is stored in the storage device 4 and then output to the printer 9.

The operation of each component described above is processed by the CPU 11 according to a program stored in advance in the ROM 10. The RAM 12 is used as a work area for storing control data for control by the CPU 11. The panel control unit 13 transmits an instruction such as a start instruction input by the operator from the key input unit 14 to the CPU 11, and conversely outputs the processing result obtained from the CPU 11 to the display unit 15 as display data. The display unit 15 is a well-known display unit such as a liquid crystal panel, and displays according to the display data input from the panel control unit 13. Each data such as image information is transmitted to each unit via the data bus 16.

Next, the structure of the scanner 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, a document 18 to be transmitted or copied is placed on a document tray 17. A document sensor 19 for detecting the presence or absence of a document is provided on the downstream side of the document tray 17 in the document transport direction, and a document length detection sensor 20 is provided on the upstream side. Further, a stopper 21 that moves up and down by an actuator such as a solenoid (not shown) is provided on the most downstream side of the document tray 17, and a drawing roller 22 is provided on the rear side, that is, the upstream side.

A first transport roller 24, a second transport roller 25 and a discharge roller 26 are provided on the transport path inside the case 23, and a pickup sensor 27, and a pickup sensor 27 are provided along the transport path.
A registration sensor 28 and a discharge sensor 29 are provided. Each of the rollers 22 to 26 is preferably driven by a stepping motor, and each of the rollers 24 to 26 can be connected by a chain, a gear, a belt or the like to rotate in synchronization. A CCD image sensor 30 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “image sensor”) and a fluorescent lamp 31 for illuminating an original with light are provided on the downstream side of the registration sensor 28. A paper discharge tray 32 is fixed to the case 23 on the side opposite to the document tray 17.

A document reading operation by the scanner configured as described above will be described. First, the document 18 is placed in the document tray 17
When the reading instruction is input from the key input unit 14, the actuator (not shown) of the stopper 21 operates to retract the stopper 21 upward. Then, the pull-in roller 22, the first transport roller 24, and the second transport roller 25 are driven, and the document 18 is sequentially pulled into the case 23 from the uppermost one. Manuscript 18 is first
When it reaches the pickup sensor 27 after passing through the transport roller 24, the pull-in roller 22 stops. When the document 18 is further conveyed to the registration sensor 28, the image sensor 30 prepares for reading. When the document 18 reaches the reading position,
The reflected light of the fluorescent lamp 31 from the document 18 is detected by the image sensor 30 line by line and accumulated in the storage device 4 as image information. The document that has been read is discharged to the paper discharge tray 32 by the discharge roller 26.

In order to pull in the next original by the time the previous original is ejected and improve the reading efficiency, when the rear end of the original 18 passes the pickup sensor 27, the pull-in roller 22 is rotated again to move the next original. It is better to pull in the original.
When the trailing edge of the original document 18 passes through the discharge sensor 29, it is detected that one original document has been read, and the value of the read number counter in the CPU 11 is incremented by this detection signal.

Next, the processing by the CPU 11 when restarted after the interruption of the reading operation will be described. If the leading edge of the document has exceeded the image sensor 30 at the time of the interruption, the read image information of the exceeded portion has been lost due to the interruption.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the image sensor 3
A flag is provided which is managed by turning on / off the registration sensor 28 arranged on the upstream side of 0 and time T during which a document passes between the image sensor 30 and the registration sensor 28. Then, the position of the document with respect to the image sensor 30 is determined based on the state of the flag, and when the reading is restarted, the document is discharged and set again or the reading is started as it is.

Main functions of the CPU 11 for this operation will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. In the figure,
The on / off signal of the registration sensor 28 is a state change detection unit 37.
Is input to The state change detection unit 37 inputs an ON signal to the ON timer 33 when the registration sensor 28 changes from the OFF state to the ON state. When the ON signal is input, the ON timer 33 times up after the elapse of the time T and outputs the flag ON signal to the flag 34. The flag 34 is set (= 1) by this flag-on signal, and it is stored that the original has reached the image sensor 31, that is, the reading state.

On the other hand, the state change detection unit 37 is the registration sensor 2
OFF timer 35 when 8 changes from ON state to OFF
Input the off signal to. When the off signal is input, the off timer 35 times up after a lapse of time T and outputs a flag off signal to the flag 34. The flag 34 is reset (= 0) by this flag-off signal, and it is stored that the original has passed through the image sensor 31, that is, in the non-read state.

The state of the flag 34 is held by the supply of the abnormality detection signal. The abnormality detection signal is supplied by an abnormality detection means other than the document feeder, such as a recording paper jam detection means or a communication error detection means of the printer 9.
The state of the flag 34 is read by the determination unit 36 in response to the abnormality cancellation signal. The abnormality clearing signal also includes a reading restart instruction input by the operator from the key input unit 14. When the determination unit 36 recognizes that the flag 34 is set, it determines that there is a document at the position in the middle of reading and outputs an instruction to start the process for document removal.

When the determination unit 36 recognizes that the flag 34 is reset, it determines that there is no document in the reading state and gives an instruction to start a normal reading operation for reading the document. In accordance with the reading start instruction, the document conveying device causes the rollers 24 and 25 and the discharge roller 29 to
Etc. are rotated and the image scanner 31 is made ready for reading. Note that the document is not always discharged automatically, and a message such as "Please discharge the document" is displayed on the display unit 12 to prompt the operator to discharge the document and set it on the document tray 17. You may do it.

The relationship between the operations of the registration sensor 28 and the flag 34 is shown in the timing chart of FIG. As shown in the figure, the flag 34 is set when the time T elapses after the registration sensor 28 changes from off to on. When the registration sensor 28 changes from on to off,
When the time T has elapsed, the flag 34 is reset to "0". The time T is determined by the document conveyance speed and the distance between the registration sensor 28 and the image sensor 31, but an appropriate margin may be added in consideration of the rise time of the image sensor 31.

Next, the main part of the document feeding process of the CPU 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, in step S1, it is determined whether or not there is an abnormality. If no abnormality is detected, the process proceeds to step S2. Step S
At 2, it is determined whether or not the registration sensor 28 is turned on. If the registration sensor 28 is turned on, step S
3, the timer processing routine is registered so that the interrupt routine (1) is started after the lapse of time T. By executing this timer processing routine, the interrupt routine (1) is executed after the lapse of time T, and the flag 34 is set to "1".

If there is no change in the registration sensor 28 to ON, the process proceeds to step S4, and it is determined whether the registration sensor 28 has changed from ON to OFF. If it is determined that the registration sensor 28 has changed from on to off, the process proceeds to step S5,
The timer processing routine is registered so that the interrupt routine (2) is started after the lapse of time T. By executing this timer processing routine, the interrupt routine (2) is executed after the lapse of time T, and the flag 34 is set to "0". If an abnormal signal is detected, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S6, and an abnormal process is performed.

Next, the abnormality processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, step S1
At 0, a message indicating the occurrence of an abnormality is displayed on the display unit 12. This allows the operator to perform an operation for canceling the abnormality, such as removing the recording paper. Step S11
Then, it is determined whether the interrupt routine (1) and the interrupt routine (2) by the timer registration are waiting for activation. When the abnormal signal is detected, the process proceeds to step S12, and the interrupt routine in the waiting state is deleted from the queue in order to maintain the state of the flag 34 at that time.

In step S13, it is determined whether or not the abnormality has been resolved. For example, the recording sheet jammed in the path of the printer 9 is removed and the planned abnormality detection sensor returns to a normal state, or the memory capacity of the image information storage device 4 is restored, and the abnormality is canceled. Further, a reading restart instruction or the like input by the operator from the key input unit 14 can also be handled as information indicating abnormality cancellation.

If it is determined that the abnormality is cleared, step S1
In step 4, it is determined whether the original is at the reading position, that is, the position of the image sensor 30 depending on whether the flag 34 is "1". If the flag 34 is "1", it is determined that there is a document at the reading position, and the process proceeds to step S15 to perform the process for eliminating the document in the path. If the flag 34 is "0", it is determined that there is no document at the reading position, and the process proceeds to step S16 to instruct to start the reading operation.

The original document elimination process may be an instruction to display a message on the display unit 12 for prompting the elimination of the original document, or the conveyance rollers 24 and 25 and the discharge roller 26 are driven automatically. It may be a process of ejecting the document. These follow a preset program. In the case of message display, it is preferable to use message data registered in the ROM 10 in advance. Further, in the case of automatically excluding the originals, the stopper 21 may be operated to eject only the originals remaining in the path, or the originals may be set on the original tray 17 to facilitate the resetting of the originals. Output tray 3 including all originals
2 may be discharged.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the original document remaining in the path is removed according to the position of the original document with respect to the reading unit when returning from the abnormal state to the normal state. It is possible to select and execute either the processing for reading or the start instruction. Therefore,
It is possible to omit an extra key operation by the operator in the situation where the reading can be immediately restarted, and it is possible to simplify the operation of returning from the abnormal state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a main part of a document conveyance control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multi-function facsimile apparatus to which the document feeding control apparatus of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a document feeder.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing operations of a registration sensor and a flag.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the document conveyance control device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of abnormality processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Scanner, 4 ... Storage Device, 9 ... Printer, 1
5 ... Display unit, 28 ... Registration sensor, 30 ... Image sensor, 34 ... Flag reading number counter, 35 ... Off timer, 36 ... Judgment unit, 37 ... State change detection unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A document transport control device for discharging a document pulled out from a document tray to a discharge tray through a transport path provided with a document reading unit, wherein the document is read by the reading unit. Means for judging whether or not it exceeds the limit and storing the judgment result; a means for holding the stored contents of the storage means when the conveyance of the document is stopped due to an abnormality other than the document conveyance system; At the time of returning to the normal state, the stored contents of the storage means are judged, and when the original document is over the reading position, the original document exclusion process is performed, and when the original document is not over the reading position, an instruction to start the reading operation is issued. An original document conveyance control device comprising: a determination unit that performs the determination.