JPH11105383A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To resolve the problem of generating disorder of aligned state of print sheets of the other job at the time of discharging the other job at the time of intending to take out the print sheet of certain job, or jamming. SOLUTION: An interruption switch 30 is provided near a discharge tray in an output unit 22. At the time of operating the switch 30, a controller 28 inhibits a discharging operation of the other job. At the time of again operating the switch 30, the controller 28 eliminates an interrupting state. If the interrupting state is not eliminated even if a predetermined time is elapsed, a process for forcibly eliminating the interrupting state is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to interruption control of a printing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a printing apparatus, there are various apparatuses such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile apparatus. recent years,
MFPs that integrate them are also used. In addition, devices such as digital copying machines that take in images as digital information and perform image processing are becoming widespread. In recent years, a printing apparatus that processes a print job via a network has been used.

[0003]

In the above-described network-compatible printing apparatus, print jobs from each client are accepted, and the print jobs are sequentially processed.
For this reason, print papers for a plurality of users are discharged to the discharge tray. In this case, if one user is taking out his or her own printing paper and another user's printing paper has been ejected, the alignment of the printing paper may be disturbed or the printing paper may jam. There is a problem of getting lost.

[0004] In particular, in a printing apparatus provided with an intermediate tray in such a positional relationship that the printing paper accommodated in the intermediate tray used in the finishing process partially protrudes onto the discharge tray, the printing paper is placed on the intermediate tray. If the printing paper on the discharge tray is pulled out while the paper is being discharged, there is a problem that the alignment of the printing paper on the intermediate tray cannot be guaranteed.

[0005] The above problem may occur in a printing apparatus that is not of a network type.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to solve a problem in removing printing paper from a discharge tray.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printing unit for executing a print job and discharging printing paper to a discharge tray, and a discharge interruption instruction for inputting a discharge interruption instruction. An input unit, and an interruption control unit for temporarily stopping an operation of ejecting the printing paper to the ejection tray when the ejection interruption command is input are included.

According to the above configuration, when the discharge interruption command input unit is operated, the discharge operation of the printing paper is stopped at a predetermined timing, so that other jobs are not hindered in the discharge stop state. The printing paper can be taken out from the discharge tray.

With the stop of the discharge operation, not only the discharge operation but also the job processing itself may be stopped, or control may be performed to prohibit the reception of a new job. The discharge operation is stopped at least for the discharge tray to be accessed, and of course, all the discharge operations may be stopped. Alternatively, another job may be bypassed and discharged using a discharge tray other than the discharge tray to be accessed.

[0010] In a preferred aspect of the present invention, when the discharge interruption command is input while the printing paper is being discharged, the suspension control unit waits for the completion of discharge of all the printing papers of the print job and then performs the next printing. The discharge operation for the job is prohibited, and if the discharge interruption command is input during the discharge standby, the discharge operation for the next print job is immediately prohibited. That is, the discharge operation is stopped at the break of the job.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further includes a discharge restart command input unit configured to be integrated with or separate from the discharge suspension command input unit, and for inputting a discharge restart command, wherein the interruption control unit is configured to control the discharge restart command. The discharge operation is restarted when the input unit is operated.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the interruption command input unit is provided near the discharge tray separately from the operation panel. If an interruption command input unit is provided near the discharge tray, the switch operation can be performed while checking the discharge state.

[0013] In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the interruption command input section is a detector for detecting removal of a sheet by a user. For example, a sensor may be detected when a hand reaches the discharge tray, and the discharge operation may be automatically stopped based on the detection.

[0014] In a preferred aspect of the present invention, there is provided means for executing an interruption release process when the discharge operation is not restarted even after a predetermined time has elapsed. In this way, it is possible to cope with a case where the user has forgotten the interruption.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a printing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment. The printing apparatus 10 is connected to the network 14 in the present embodiment, receives print jobs from one or more clients (not shown), and sequentially processes the print jobs.

In FIG. 1, a communication unit 12 is connected to a network 14. The communication unit 12 receives a print job, sends a message, and the like. The job processing unit 20 is a unit that processes a print job input via the communication unit 12. The job processing unit 20 is, for example, a PDL
It has functions such as an interpretation unit and an imager, and an image processing function. The image scanner 16 is connected to the job processing unit 20. This image scanner 16
Is a device for reading an image locally and executing printing.

The output unit 22 includes a printing unit 24 and a finisher 26. The printing unit 24 is a device corresponding to, for example, a laser printer, and records image data output from the job processing unit 20 on printing paper.
The finisher 26 is a mechanism that performs stapling processing, punch hole formation, and the like, and is incorporated in the printing unit 24 or externally. The output unit 22 has an intermediate tray corresponding to the finisher 26 and a plurality of discharge trays (top tray, stacker tray), but is not shown.

The control section 28 controls the overall control of the printing apparatus 10, and in particular, an interruption switch (resume switch) 3
The operation of the printing unit 24 and the job processing unit 20 is controlled by the operation of “0”. In the present embodiment, when the suspend switch 30 is operated, the control unit 28 sets the printing unit 2 at the stage where all the printing papers are not output for the print job currently being processed.
4 is instructed to prohibit the discharging operation. by this,
Since the discharge operation of the subsequent print job is stopped, the user can take out the print sheet of the own print job from the discharge tray without affecting other print jobs. As will be described later, the suspend switch 30 also has a function as a resume switch.
Is operated again after the discharge operation is interrupted, the control unit 28
Issues a command to release the prohibition state of the discharging operation.

Of course, control for interrupting not only the discharging operation but also the job processing itself may be performed, and control for rejecting reception of another print job may be performed during such interruption. Further, the discharge operation may be interrupted only to the discharge tray to be accessed, and the other discharge trays may be controlled to continue the discharge operation.

The timer 32 is controlled by the control unit 28, and measures the elapsed time from the start of the interruption. As will be described later, the control unit 28 uses the alarm generator 36 to generate an alarm when the operation for canceling the interruption is not performed even after a certain period of time from the start of the interruption, and then cancels the interruption of the discharging operation. I do. The operation panel 34
Is composed of an input unit and a display unit.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the interruption control of the printing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. S10
1, the interruption switch 30 is always set during the execution of the printing operation.
Is monitored, and when the interruption switch 30 is operated, S1
02 and subsequent steps are executed. In S102, the timer 32 shown in FIG. 1 is set. In S103, discharge of another job to the discharge tray accessed by the user is prohibited. If the suspend switch is operated before completing the discharge of all the print sheets, the discharge operation is stopped after the completion of discharge of all the print sheets for the print job. On the other hand, if the ejection of all the printing papers for the print job has already been completed, the ejection of another job is immediately prohibited. In S103 shown in FIG. 2, the discharge operation is interrupted only for the discharge tray to be accessed, but the discharge operation may be stopped for all the discharge trays.

In S104, it is determined whether or not the suspend switch 30 has been operated again. If the operation is detected here, the prohibition state of the discharging operation on the discharge tray is released in S107. That is, the operation returns to the normal printing operation. On the other hand, if the operation of the interruption switch 30 is not detected in S104, it is determined in S105 whether or not the measurement has been performed for a certain time by the timer 32. If it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed, an alarm is generated by light or sound by the alarm generator 36 in S106, and then S107 is forcibly executed. That is, the discharge operation prohibition state is released.

According to the above-described prohibition control of the discharge operation, the discharge of another print job can be forcibly stopped when the print paper is taken out, so that the alignment state of the other print paper is disturbed. Alternatively, problems such as jamming of printing paper can be solved beforehand. Also,
Even if the restart operation is forgotten, the prohibition state of the discharge operation is forcibly released when a predetermined time has elapsed from the interruption, so that a problem due to the continuation of the interruption can be prevented.

FIG. 3 illustrates the configuration of the output unit. The printing paper is the top tray 38 or the stacker tray 4.
Discharged to zero. Incidentally, one or a plurality of stacker trays 40 are provided.

A finisher 26 is provided near the stacker tray 40. The finisher 26 performs stapling, forming punch holes, and the like, and has an intermediate tray 26A. This intermediate tray 26A
When the printing paper 104 is ejected, a part of the printing paper 104 protrudes onto the stacker tray 40. At this time, if the print paper 102 has already been discharged onto the stacker tray 40, the print paper 102
The printing paper 104 partially overlaps the upper part. Conventionally, the printing paper 1 located on the lower side in such a state
Attempting to remove the print paper 02 may disturb the alignment of the printing paper 104 that has been discharged or is in the discharged state. However, according to the printing apparatus of the present embodiment,
Interruption switch 30 prior to removal of printing paper 102
Can be operated to stop the discharge operation for another print job, so that the conventional problem can be solved.

The same is true for the top tray 38. When the print paper 100 already discharged is to be taken out, if the print paper for another print job is suddenly discharged, jamming may occur. There is. However, according to the operation of the interruption switch 30,
Since the discharge of the succeeding job can be temporarily stopped, the printing paper 100 can be smoothly removed without such a problem.

After the interruption is performed, when the user operates the interruption switch 30 again, the interruption state is released as described above, and the printing paper is discharged again.

Numeral 42 shown in FIG. 3 denotes a light-emitting device indicating a suspended state. By turning on such a light-emitting device 42 during the interruption, it is possible to clearly indicate to the user that the light-emitting device is in the suspended state.

Below the top tray 38, an object detection sensor 30A such as an ultrasonic sensor is provided.
The hand of the user accessing the stacker tray 40 is detected by the sensor 30A. At the time of the detection, the same as when the suspend switch is operated,
The discharging operation is temporarily stopped. Such a sensor 30
By arranging A in a necessary place, there is an advantage that the interruption switch can be automatically activated. If the interruption switch is operated while the printing paper for a certain job is being discharged, a take-out permission lamp or the like may be provided in order to clearly indicate the discharge of the last printing paper. That is, the lamp is turned on when it becomes possible to take out the paper, and the user is prompted to take out the printing paper.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Problems when taking out the printing paper from the discharge tray can be prevented beforehand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of an output unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 printing device, 12 communication unit, 14 network,
16 image scanner, 20 job processing unit, 22
Output unit, 28 control unit, 30 interrupt switch (resume switch), 32 timer, 36 alarm generator.

Claims (6)

[Claims] A print unit configured to execute a print job and discharge printing paper to a discharge tray; a discharge interruption instruction input unit for inputting a discharge interruption instruction; and a discharge unit when the discharge interruption instruction is input. And a suspending control unit for temporarily stopping the operation of discharging the printing paper to the tray. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the interruption control unit waits for completion of ejection of all the printing sheets of the print job when the ejection interruption command is input during ejection of the printing sheets. A printing apparatus for prohibiting a discharge operation for a next print job and immediately prohibiting a discharge operation when the discharge interruption command is input during a discharge standby. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a discharge restart command input unit configured to be integrated with or separate from the discharge stop command input unit for inputting a discharge restart command. A printing apparatus for restarting a discharge operation when a discharge restart command is input. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge interruption command input unit is provided near the discharge tray separately from an operation panel. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge interruption command input unit is a detector that detects removal of a sheet by a user. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for executing an interruption release process when the discharging operation is not restarted even after a lapse of a predetermined time after the discharging operation is interrupted. Printing device.