JPH10129889A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the reuse of paper at the time of the next printing operation so that paper can be used without causing waste by examining a paper conveyance situation of paper other than the paper which causes jam and judging whether the paper can be used again or not. SOLUTION: Paper S1 in front of a fixation paper discharge sensor 10 is the paper which causes jam, and jam factor is fixation paper discharge delay jam. A conveyance situation is during conveyance. Paper S2 in front of a resist roller sensor 9 is the paper which is being supplied. When jam occurs, processing for confirming the conveyance situation is done, and it is judged that the paper S2 is between a resist roller 4 and a conveyance roller 8, that is, the paper S2 is handled as the paper which can be reused because the formation of a picture image for the paper S2 is not started. As a matter of course, an operator removes the paper S1 which causes jam to convey it again from the position where the paper S2 stops after a recorder itself is in a condition in which printing is possible after that for reuse.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to handling of paper in a recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, high-performance, high-definition recording apparatuses having a plurality of paper feeding and discharging devices connected thereto have been commercialized. On the other hand, recording apparatuses have been developed and commercialized to meet various demands such as easy maintenance for minimizing intervention of an operator and a service person such as a failure or a jam, and energy saving in consideration of environmental problems. In such an environment, despite the problem of paper resources being highlighted, in the conventional recording device, the paper remaining in the device due to the occurrence of paper jam etc. was treated as unusable paper. .

[0003]

However, the developer such as toner is not transferred on the paper remaining in the apparatus.
Moreover, even paper that does not hinder paper transport is treated as unprintable paper, which is very uneconomical. It is a problem that needs to be improved from the viewpoint of resource shortages in recent years.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, when paper conveyance is interrupted due to paper jam or the like, a paper conveyance status other than the paper that caused the paper jam is examined to determine whether the paper can be reused. If the result of this determination is that it can be reused, it will be reused when the next print command is received, thus solving this problem.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment) FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. Reference numeral 1 denotes a recording apparatus main body, and 2 denotes a large-capacity paper feeding deck. Reference numeral 3 denotes a paper feed roller, which conveys the paper conveyed from the upper cassette 16, the lower cassette 17, the deck 18, or the double-side refeed unit to the registration roller 4. A paper feed sensor 8 is provided at a position where each paper feed conveyance path joins the paper feed roller 3, and detects the paper being conveyed. Reference numeral 9 denotes a registration roller sensor which similarly detects a sheet. Reference numeral 5 denotes a photosensitive drum, which develops a latent image formed by a semiconductor laser (not shown) with a developer,
A transfer mechanism (not shown) transfers toner as a developer to the sheet. Reference numeral 6 denotes a fixing roller that fixes toner on paper. Reference numeral 10 denotes a fixing paper discharge sensor, which detects paper. Reference numeral 11 denotes a face-down (hereinafter, FD) sensor, which is a lowermost sheet sensor for discharging sheets to the FD tray 20. FD tray, face up (F
U) The discharge to the tray 21 and the duplex unit 23 is performed by a transport path switching flapper (not shown). Reference numeral 7 denotes a reversing roller. After the reversing sensor 12 detects the sheet and further detects the trailing edge of the sheet and conveys the sheet by a predetermined amount, the reversing roller 7 is reversed and the sheet is fed to the reversing sensor 12. 19
Is a transport roller, which is located at the most downstream of the large capacity deck 2. Reference numeral 14 denotes a conveyance sensor, and the conveyance roller 19 is temporarily stopped a predetermined time after the leading edge of the sheet has passed this sensor.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an electric circuit of the recording apparatus. Reference numeral 801 denotes a microcomputer (hereinafter, CPU 801) mounted in a recording control device that controls the recording device
The information is exchanged with the main body of the recording apparatus through a video interface (hereinafter, Video I / F) including a timing signal line and a serial communication line. CPU8
No. 01 further exchanges information with all optional devices connected to the recording device 1 by an optional controller interface (hereinafter referred to as OC I / F) comprising a serial communication line. Reference numeral 803 denotes a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a CPU 803) mounted on an option controller for controlling all optional devices, and an optional interface (hereinafter referred to as O, I) comprising a serial communication line.
/ F) exchanges information with each optional device. In the present embodiment, the only optional device is the large-capacity deck 2. Reference numeral 806 denotes a microcomputer (hereinafter, CPU 806) mounted on the large-capacity deck 2. CPU8
Reference numeral 06 outputs a paper transport motor drive signal (hereinafter referred to as a DMD signal) to various drive circuits 807 to drive the paper transport motor. Further, a transport roller clutch drive signal (hereinafter DCL)
D signal), and drives a transport roller clutch that transmits the rotation of the paper transport motor to the transport roller 19. Also,
The CPU 806 detects the presence or absence of a sheet based on a signal from the conveyance sensor 14 (hereinafter, DLVS) via the sensor input circuit 808. Reference numeral 802 denotes a microcomputer (CPU 802) mounted on the recording apparatus main body. The CPU 802 sends a main motor drive signal (hereinafter, MMD) to various drive circuits 804.
Signal) to drive the main motor for carrying the sheet. The feed motor is controlled by a feed motor drive signal (hereinafter referred to as FMD signal), the double-sided reverse motor is controlled by a reverse motor drive signal (hereinafter referred to as DMD signal), and the feed roller clutch is controlled by a feed roller clutch drive signal (hereinafter referred to as FCLD signal). , Registration roller clutch drive signal (hereinafter RCLD)
Signal) to drive the registration roller clutch. The double-sided conveyance flapper is driven by a double-sided conveyance flapper drive signal (hereinafter, DSLD signal), and the double-sided roller clutch is driven by a double-sided roller clutch drive signal (DCLD signal). The CPU 802 receives a sheet feed sensor signal (hereinafter, FDS signal), a registration roller sensor signal (hereinafter, REGS signal), a fixing sheet discharge sensor signal (hereinafter, FPS signal), and a FD sheet discharge sensor signal (hereinafter, FDS) via a sensor input circuit 805.
Signal, a reverse sensor signal (hereinafter, SBS signal), and a double-sided sensor signal (hereinafter, DUPS) are input to detect the presence or absence of paper.
Similarly, a door sensor signal (hereinafter referred to as a DORS signal) detects opening and closing of a door at a connection portion between the recording apparatus main body 1 and the large-capacity deck 2.

FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIGS. 5 and 6 show a CPU 80.
3 is a flowchart of a program incorporated in the second embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing print management processing. In step 201, it is determined whether the printer is in a printable state.
2 waits for a print instruction from the CPU 801. If a print instruction is received, the paper transport information is saved in the paper transport management data section in step 203. In step 204, a paper transport task for controlling actual paper transport is started. The paper transport task is started each time paper is fed upon receiving a print instruction. That is, if the recording apparatus 1 is transporting N sheets, N sheet transport tasks have been activated. In step 205, it is determined whether or not printing (feeding) of the next sheet is possible, and the process waits until it becomes possible.

FIG. 4 shows the data structure of the sheet transport information management data section. The pointer to the paper transport information is-
When the paper transport task is activated, one piece of paper transport information management data is generated, and an address to the data area is set. The sheet transport information management data is composed of 5 bytes. The first byte indicates the sheet transport status, the lower 4 bits of 1 byte indicate the transport status, and the upper 4 bits indicate the jam cause when a jam occurs. The second byte indicates a sheet size code to be conveyed, the third byte indicates a sheet feeding port code, and the fourth byte indicates a sheet discharging port code, which are respectively referred to during sheet conveyance. The fifth byte is a pointer to the next sheet conveyance information management data. If there is no other sheet being conveyed, -1 is set. FIG. 4 shows a state in which two sheets are being conveyed. The sheet transport information management data is deleted when the sheet is ejected, the pointer to the sheet transport information management data is reconnected, and when all the sheets are ejected, the first pointer is set to −1, and the initial pointer is set to −1. Return to the state.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a control in a subroutine for checking a printable state, particularly during an emergency stop. In step 301, all the sheet transport information management data is checked to determine whether the sheet is being transported. In step 302, it is checked whether there is any paper that has caused a paper jam in the paper transport information management data. If there is a jammed sheet, the jam factor is checked and saved in step 303. In step 304, the transport status of paper other than the jammed paper is checked. If there is no jammed sheet in step 302, it is checked whether an emergency stop instruction has been sent from the CPU 801. If there is an emergency stop instruction, the sheet conveyance status is checked in step 306.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the process of checking the paper transport status shown in steps 304 and 306. Actually, the processing is the same. In step 101, the pointer to the sheet transport information management data is checked.
If so, the process ends. If it is not -1, the cause of the jam in the sheet transport information management data is checked in step 102, and it is determined whether or not a jam has occurred. If the jam has not occurred, in step 103, VSYNC which is a synchronization signal for image formation is used. It is determined whether a signal has been received, that is, whether the image forming process has already started. If image formation has not started, the sheet is determined to be reusable, and in step 104, a reusable bit of the sheet transport status data, which is the first byte of the sheet transport information management data, is set. In step 105, bits other than the reusable bit of the paper transport status data are cleared and saved as paper transport information management data. In FIG. 7 as an example, the sheet S1 in front of the fixing and discharging sensor 10 is a jammed sheet, and the cause of the jam is a fixing and discharging delay jam.
The transport status is “transporting”. The transport status data code is 0
0100011 (binary number). The sheet S2 before the registration roller sensor 9 is a sheet being fed, and the code of the conveyance status data is 00000001 (binary number). When a jam occurs, a conveyance status confirmation process is performed, and it is determined that the sheet S2 is between the registration roller 4 and the conveyance roller 8. That is, since image formation has not started on the sheet S2, the sheet S2 is Treated as reusable paper. Naturally, the jammed paper S1 is removed by the operator, and thereafter, after the recording apparatus main body is in a printable state, the paper S2 is re-conveyed from the stopped position and reused.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing the processing of the paper transport task. In step 501, a timer for checking the transport sequence is started.
In step 502, the sheet feeding code is set in the sheet transport management data. In step 503, the sheet feeding motor is driven. In step 504, it is determined whether there is a reusable sheet based on the sheet transport management data. If there is no reusable paper, the paper is picked up from the deck or cassette in step 505. If there is a reusable sheet, there is a sheet that has already started to be fed, and the pickup operation from the deck or the cassette is not performed. In step 506, the process waits until the leading edge of the sheet is detected by the sheet feed sensor. At this time, if the timer times out in step 538, the jam processing of step 544 and subsequent steps is performed. In steps 507 and 539, the registration roller sensor 9 detects the leading edge of the sheet as in steps 506 and 538. At this point, the sheet feeding operation is completed. In step 508, a VSREQ signal, which is an image formation synchronization signal request signal, is output to the CPU 801. In step 509, a VSYNC signal wait code is set in the sheet transport information management area, and in step 510, the VSSYNC signal is waited. In step 520, the timer is restarted to check the sheet transport sequence. In step 530, the registration roller 4 is rotated to start the conveyance, and the code during conveyance is set in the sheet conveyance information management data. Step 53
In steps 1 and 540, the fixing paper discharge sensor 10 executes step 506,
As in 538, the leading edge of the sheet is detected. In step 532, the process waits until image formation is completed based on the sheet size of the sheet transport information management data and the value of the timer. In steps 534 and 541, the trailing end of the sheet is detected by the fixing sheet ejection sensor 10. If the timer is over, jam processing is performed. Step 5
In 35, 542, 536, and 543, the FD sheet discharge sensor 12
As in steps 531, 540, 534, and 541, the leading edge and trailing edge of the sheet are detected. In step 537, since the sheet has been discharged, the sheet transport information management data of the sheet is cleared, and the pointer to the sheet transport information is rewritten. Step 544 is a jam processing, in which the cause of the jam is determined from the sensor that has detected the jam and the sheet conveyance status data, and is set in the sheet conveyance information management data. In step 545, the sheet conveyance is stopped.

By performing the above-described control, a reusable sheet can be determined from a plurality of sheets stopped and conveyed due to the occurrence of a jam or the like, and the sheet can be reused at the next printing.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a recording apparatus showing a second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the recording control device controls the
2 shows sheet reuse control when controlling the large-capacity deck 2 connected to the recording apparatus main body 1. In this figure, the sheet S2 that is being fed from the large capacity deck 2 is reused for the sheet S1 that has been jammed before the fixing sheet ejection sensor 10. The paper S2 is located upstream of the paper feed sensor 8 which is the confluence of the paper feed paths of the recording apparatus body 1, and
The door at the connection between the recording apparatus body 1 and the large capacity deck 2 is not opened or closed, that is, the operator has never
Is not a condition for reusing the sheet S2.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the control of sheet reuse according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the paper transport information check process shown in FIG. 9, in the first embodiment, immediately after a paper jam occurs, the paper management information is referred to only once in the print management process. However, in the second embodiment, until the start of printing after the jam is cleared. It is regularly referenced during.
Steps 101 to 103 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. In step 901, the paper sensor 8 detects the presence or absence of a sheet. In step 902, it is determined whether or not the paper feed port used last before the occurrence of the jam is the large capacity deck 2.
In steps 04, 105 and 106, a reuse bit of the sheet transport information management data is set as in the first embodiment, and the information is saved. If the sheet is fed from the large-capacity deck 2, the connection unit door sensor 15 is detected in step 903 to determine whether the door of the deck 2 is opened or closed. If there is at least one connection door access, the reuse bit is reset in step 904.

FIG. 10 shows the CPU 806 of the large capacity deck 2.
2 shows the paper feed control in FIG. The command to large capacity deck 2 is:
This is performed by serial communication from the CPU 803 on the option controller, and the CPU 803 receives a command from the CPU 801 on the recording control device by serial communication. First, in step 1001, it is checked whether a paper feed command has been issued from the CPU 803, and if it has been issued, the transport motor is driven in step 1002.
In step 1003, the presence / absence of paper is checked by the transport sensor 14. If there is no paper, a normal paper feeding operation is performed, so that the paper is picked up from the deck in step 1004, and the transport is continued until the transport sensor 14 detects the paper in step 1011. If the paper has already been detected in step 1003, it means that the paper is being reused, so that the process proceeds to step 1005 without performing the pickup operation. Whether the paper can be reused is determined by the CU 80 of the recording apparatus main body 1.
2 notifies the CPU 801 on the recording control device of the paper reuse status by serial communication. The CPU 806 notifies the CPU 801 via the CPU 803 of the presence of the sheet in the transport unit of the large capacity deck 2 by serial communication. C
The PU 801 determines from this information that the paper can be reused. In step 1005, it is determined whether or not a temporary stop command has been issued from the CPU 803 in order to obtain a sheet interval with another sheet.
In step 1006, the conveyance motor is stopped to temporarily stop the sheet feeding. In step 1007, it is determined whether or not a paper feed restart command has been issued from the CPU 803. If so, in step 1008, the conveyance motor is driven to restart paper feed. In step 1009, the sheet is conveyed to the registration roller, and it is determined whether or not the CPU 803 has issued a conveyance stop command for completion of sheet feeding. If so, the conveyance motor is stopped in step 1009, and the next The process returns to step 1001 in preparation for the paper feed command.

By performing the above-described control, paper can be reused not only when the recording apparatus itself but also an optional apparatus is connected, and the operator's intervention (door opening / closing) is checked. Is possible.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a recording apparatus showing a third embodiment. In the second embodiment, as in the second embodiment, paper reuse control in the case where the recording control device controls the large-capacity deck 2 connected to the recording device main body 1 via the option controller will be described.
In the third embodiment, when a paper jam occurs while the large capacity deck 2 is being fed, the paper being fed by the recording apparatus main body 1 is reused. In FIG. 13, paper that has already passed the paper feed sensor 8, that is, paper that has passed the confluence position of the paper feed path is targeted. In this case, if the paper feed port and the paper size of the jammed paper are the same as the paper conveyance information immediately before the paper jam of each paper, the paper can be reused.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing control of sheet reuse in the third embodiment of the present invention. As in the second embodiment, the paper transport information check processing is periodically referred to immediately after the occurrence of a paper jam and before printing starts after the paper jam is cleared. Steps 101 to 106 and steps 902 to 904 are the same as in the second embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. Step 9
If there is no paper in the paper feed sensor 8 at 01, the process proceeds to step 1202. When paper is present in the paper feed sensor 8,
In step 1201, it is checked whether the paper feed port has been changed. The change is specified by a command from the CPU 801 on the recording control device. If there is a switch, step 9
04: Stop paper reuse. In step 1202, it is checked whether or not the paper size set in the paper feed port has been changed, or whether or not the paper size specified by the CPU 801 has been changed. Stop.

By performing such control, even if a sheet is present at the merging position of the sheet feeding path, the sheet can be reused depending on conditions. Also, even if there is paper before the merging position, even if the paper size is not changed, even if the paper feed port can be switched, the next time a paper feed port using the paper feed path is specified, Paper can be reused.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even when the paper conveyance is interrupted due to paper jam or the like, the state of the paper remaining in the apparatus can be determined and reused at the next printing operation, so that the paper can be used without waste.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process of checking sheet conveyance information according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating print management processing according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a printable state check process according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of sheet transport information management data.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a sheet conveyance process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a sheet conveyance process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the recording apparatus in a sheet conveyance state according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a control block diagram of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of checking sheet transport information according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a sheet feeding process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the recording apparatus in a sheet conveyance state according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of checking sheet transport information according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the recording apparatus when a sheet is conveyed in a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording device main body 2 Large capacity deck 3 Paper feed roller 4 Registration roller 5 Photosensitive drum 6 Fixing roller 8 Paper feed sensor 9 Registration roller sensor 20 Fixing discharge sensor 11 FD discharge sensor 14 Transport sensor 15 Connection door sensor 801, 802, 803,806 1-chip microcomputer with built-in ROM and RAM 804,807 Drive circuit 805,808 Sensor input circuit

Claims (7)

[Claims] A sheet feeding unit for feeding a sheet from a sheet storage unit; a conveying unit for conveying the sheet fed by the sheet feeding unit along a conveying path; Checking means for checking the conveyance state including the position of the sheet, and when the conveyance of the sheet is interrupted, based on the conveyance state at the time of interruption of conveyance checked by the checking means,
A determination unit configured to determine whether a sheet remaining in the conveyance path can be reused. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a notifying unit for notifying a paper jam when the reusing is judged to be impossible by the judging unit. 3. A recording apparatus, comprising: a conveyance control unit that conveys a sheet determined to be reusable at the time of next recording when the reusability is determined by the determination unit. 4. The paper storage section has a plurality of storage sections,
2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit sets a condition that a sheet remaining before the junction of the plurality of transport paths from the plurality of storage units can be reused. 5. The paper storage section has a plurality of storage sections,
The determination unit is capable of reusing a sheet remaining after the confluence of the plurality of transport paths from the plurality of storage units and conveyed from the same storage unit as the sheet that caused the conveyance interruption. 2. The condition of the first condition.
The recording device according to any one of the preceding claims. 6. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said determination means sets a condition that a sheet not accessed by an operator remaining in the transport path can be reused. 7. A transporting step of transporting the paper from the paper storage unit along the transporting path, a checking step of checking a transporting state including a position of the plurality of papers being transported in the transporting path, and interrupting the transporting of the paper. A determination step of determining whether the paper remaining in the transport path is reusable based on the transport state at the time of transport interruption checked in the check step. A method for controlling a recording apparatus, comprising: