JPH11282689A - Image forming device and program storing medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily execute the rewriting of a program. SOLUTION: In a laser printer to be an image forming device, absolute minimum initialization such as memory check is executed after turning on a power supply (S1), and when a memory card storing a program is inserted into a card slot (S3: YES), whether the version of the program is different from the version of a program stored in a flash ROM (S5: NO) or not is judged. Only when these versions are mutually different, the program stored in the flash ROM is rewritten by the program stored in the memory card (S7). Consequently the program stored in the flash ROM can easily be rewritten only by turning on the power supply after inserting the memory card storing a required program into the card slot.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus capable of rewriting a software program for controlling the image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image forming means such as a printer engine, and control means such as a microcomputer for controlling the image forming means based on a software program (hereinafter simply referred to as a program) stored in a storage means such as a ROM. Are known. In such an image forming apparatus, an image can be formed on a recording medium such as a sheet by controlling the driving of the image forming unit based on the program. In recent years,
It is also possible to use a flash ROM or the like that becomes rewritable when a special operation is performed as the storage means, and rewrite the program stored in the storage means when correcting a bug or adding a new function. Have been. In this case, a bug can be corrected or a new function can be added by using the mechanical configuration of the image forming apparatus that is already available.

[0003]

However, in such a program rewriting, the rewriting of the storage means is instructed by performing an operation according to a predetermined procedure, and subsequently, new program data is transferred through an interface or the like. This is done by typing. For this reason, the rewriting operation of the program is very troublesome and requires skill. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can easily rewrite a program, and a program storage medium for realizing the image forming apparatus.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium, and rewritably stores a software program. An image forming apparatus comprising: a storage unit; and a control unit that controls the image forming unit based on a software program stored in the storage unit, wherein a storage medium storing the software program is detachably mounted. Storage medium mounting means, and program rewriting means for rewriting a software program stored in the storage means with a software program stored in the storage medium when the storage medium is mounted on the storage medium mounting means. It is characterized by having.

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, a storage medium mounting means for detachably mounting a storage medium storing a program is provided. When the storage medium is mounted thereon, the program rewriting means is provided. Rewrites the program stored in the storage means with the program stored in the storage medium. Therefore, in the present invention, the program stored in the storage unit can be easily rewritten only by mounting the storage medium storing the desired program in the storage medium mounting unit.

The program rewriting means is a CPU,
It is composed of a microcomputer whose main part is ROM, RAM, etc., and the above storage medium is PCMCIA standard or JEDA.
When the memory card is configured by a so-called memory card defined by a standard or the like, the following effects occur. That is, in this case, the data stored in the storage medium can be directly read by the program rewriting means without using an interface or the like. Therefore, it is not necessary to start up a DOS or the like, and the program can be rewritten more quickly, and the configuration of the apparatus can be further simplified.

Further, when the storage medium is mounted on the storage medium mounting means, there is further provided a second determination means for determining whether or not the data stored in the storage medium is a software program. If the program rewriting means executes the rewriting of the program when the means makes an affirmative decision, the following effects are produced. That is, when a storage medium storing only data other than a program, such as font data, is mounted on the storage medium mounting means, it is possible to more reliably avoid a situation in which the program is rewritten by the font data or the like. it can. It should be noted that avoiding such a situation can also be executed by the attention of the administrator, and can also be executed by changing the shape of the connector or the like between the storage medium storing the program and the other storage medium. Can be. However, when the above configuration is employed, a general storage medium mounting means can be used, and the above situation can be reliably avoided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the program rewriting means automatically rewrites the software program when power is turned on. In the present invention, the program rewriting means automatically executes the rewriting of the program when the power is turned on. Therefore, the program can be easily rewritten only by turning on the power of the image forming apparatus after the storage medium is mounted on the storage medium mounting means. Also,
Since the rewriting of the program is executed when the power is turned on, the timing of executing the rewriting is very well understood by the administrator. Therefore, in the present invention, claim 1
In addition to the effects of the described invention, there is an effect that the program can be more easily rewritten and the management thereof can be more easily performed.

The invention described in claim 3 is the first or second invention.
In addition to the configuration described above, the program rewriting means automatically rewrites the software program when the storage medium is newly mounted on the storage medium mounting means. In the present invention, the program rewriting means automatically rewrites the program when the storage medium is newly mounted on the storage medium mounting means. Therefore, the program can be easily rewritten only by newly mounting the storage medium on the storage medium mounting means. In addition, since the rewriting of the program is executed when the storage medium is mounted, the timing of executing the rewriting is very well understood by the administrator. Therefore, according to the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that the program can be more easily rewritten and the management thereof can be further facilitated.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the program rewriting means executes the rewriting of the software program without referring to the state of the image forming means. It is characterized by doing. In the present invention, the program rewriting means rewrites the program without referring to the state of the image forming means. Therefore, the program can be rewritten regardless of whether the image forming unit can be driven sufficiently. If an abnormality or the like occurs in the image forming means and it cannot be driven sufficiently, it is not possible to form an image on the recording medium satisfactorily, but there is no problem when rewriting the program. Therefore, if an error message is generated when the image forming unit cannot be driven and the processing of the program rewriting unit is prohibited, the rewriting of the program is unnecessarily delayed.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the program can be rewritten without referring to the state of the image forming means. Therefore, in the present invention, claims 1 to
In addition to the effect of the invention described in any one of the third aspect, there is an effect that the program can be rewritten more quickly and rationally.

When the present invention is applied to the invention described in claim 2 or the cited invention, the rewriting of the program is directly executed without omitting the check of the image forming means which is generally performed when the power is turned on. be able to. For this reason, the effect of the present invention appears more remarkably. Further, in this case, the program can be easily rewritten even on a production line where no recording medium such as paper or recording material such as toner or ink is mounted.

Further, in this case, the above-mentioned rewriting may be executed directly without activating each part of the image forming means (for example, energizing the fixing heater or the like). At this point, the above-described rewriting may be executed omitting. In the former case, the program can be rewritten more quickly by omitting unnecessary start-up processing, and in the latter case, the transition to image formation after rewriting the program can be performed more smoothly. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the software program stored in the storage means is the same as the software program stored in the storage medium. Determining means for determining whether or not each of the software programs is the same, wherein the program rewriting means does not execute the rewriting of the software program when the determining means determines that the respective software programs are the same.

According to the present invention, the judging means judges whether or not the program stored in the storage means is the same as the program stored in the storage medium. Then, the program rewriting means does not execute the rewriting of the program when the judgment means judges that the respective programs are the same. For this reason, useless processing such as rewriting the program stored in the storage unit with the same program can be omitted. Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to the effect of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 4, an effect is obtained that the program can be rewritten more quickly and rationally.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium, a storage means for storing a software program in a rewritable manner, and the image processing means based on the software program stored in the storage means. A program for storing a software program readable by a computer, which is used in an image forming apparatus including a control unit for controlling a forming unit and a storage medium mounting unit on which a storage medium storing a software program is detachably mounted. A program rewriting process for rewriting a software program stored in the storage means with a software program stored in the storage medium when the storage medium is mounted in the storage medium mounting means. Memorizing software programs And it features.

Therefore, if the software program stored in the present invention is read by a computer, the computer can execute a program rewriting process corresponding to the program rewriting means of the first aspect. Therefore, according to the present invention, an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium, a storage unit that rewritably stores a software program, and the image forming unit are controlled based on the software program stored in the storage unit. Control means, storage medium mounting means on which a storage medium storing the software program is removably mounted,
When the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus provided with the above, the same effects as those of the first aspect of the invention can be obtained. In addition, if the program rewriting process according to the present invention is subjected to the same limitation as performed in claim 2, 3, 4, or 5, the same effect as in the corresponding claim 2, 3, 4, or 5 is obtained. The effect occurs.

[0018]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a laser printer 1 as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a laser printer 1 includes a printer engine 3 as an image forming means for forming a toner image on a sheet (not shown) as a recording medium.
And a control unit 5 for driving and controlling the printer engine 3
And an operation panel 7 having a liquid crystal display 7a for displaying various states of the laser printer 1 and inputting various commands to the control unit 5.
And

The printer engine 3 has a scanner unit 31 for irradiating a laser beam in accordance with print data and a photosensitive drum (not shown) on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by the laser beam. , A paper transport mechanism 35 including various rollers and motors for transporting the paper through the process unit 33, and various sensors 3 for detecting the state of each part of the printer engine 3.
7 is provided.

The control unit 5 includes a CPU 51 and a ROM 5
2. A microcomputer having a RAM 53 as a main part. The control unit 5 includes an input / output interface (input / output I / F) 54 for transmitting / receiving signals to / from the scanner unit 31, the process unit 33, the paper transport mechanism 35, various sensors 37, and the operation panel 7. The input / output interface 54 and the CPU 5
1, a ROM 52 and a RAM 53 are connected to a bus line 55.
Connected through. Further, the bus line 55 includes
An external interface (external I / O) for exchanging various data such as print data with an external computer or the like.
F) 56, flash ROM 57 for rewritably storing programs and the like, NV for holding data even after power is turned off
A RAM 58 and a card slot 59 into which a memory card 90 can be inserted are connected.

Here, the memory card 90 is a PCMCI
A well-known type defined by the A standard or the JEDA standard, which usually stores font data and form data (a so-called macro) is mounted. In addition, print data and the like corresponding to an image to be formed by the printer engine 3 are input to the input / output interface 54 from another personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer) or the like (not shown).

In the laser printer 1 configured as described above, the control unit 5 includes the ROM 52 and the flash ROM 57.
And controls the driving of the printer engine 3 in accordance with the print data based on the program stored in the printer engine 3. Then, an image corresponding to the print data can be formed on a sheet by the printer engine 3. Also, Flash RO
Since the M57 is configured to be rewritable as described above, the program stored here is rewritten to correct a bug in an existing program or to add a new function (hereinafter, collectively referred to as version upgrade). be able to.

Next, a process executed by the control unit 5 (to be precise, the CPU 51) in connection with the version upgrade will be described. When performing the version upgrade, the administrator inserts the memory card 90 storing the program data to be rewritten in the flash ROM 57 into the card slot 59, and then turns on the power of the laser printer 1. The memory card 90 storing the program data
As shown in FIG. 2, "FLASHDATA"
A character string "ROG" is provided as an identifier, followed by the program data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the control unit 5 when the power is turned on. When the power is turned on and the processing is started, the control unit 5 first executes initialization such as a memory check in S1 (S represents a step: the same applies hereinafter). Here, a minimum check process necessary for rewriting a program described later, such as checking the free space of the RAM 53, is performed, and no check regarding the printer engine 3 (for example, check for the presence or absence of paper) is not performed at all. .

In S3, it is determined whether the data in the memory card 90 inserted in the card slot 59 is a program. That is, the memory card 90 is inserted in the card slot 59, and "FL"
It is determined whether a character string "ASHDATPROG" is provided. If the character string is provided, it is determined that the data in the memory card 90 is a program (S3: YES), and the process proceeds to S5. In S5, the version of the program is read from the attached information of the program data stored in the memory card 90, and it is determined whether the version is the same as that of the program stored in the flash ROM 57. If the versions are different, ( (S5: NO), and proceeds to S7 to rewrite the program stored in the flash ROM 57 with the program stored in the memory card 90. This rewriting is executed based on, for example, a well-known rewriting program stored in the ROM 52 in advance. You.

When the rewriting of the program in S7 is completed, the process proceeds to S9. In S9, "Complete" is displayed on the liquid crystal display 7a, and the fact that the rewriting has been completed is notified, and the process proceeds to S11. Also, card slot 5
9, a memory card 90 is not loaded, a program is not stored even if it is loaded (both S3: NO), and a flash ROM 57 is loaded even though the memory card 90 storing the program is loaded.
If the version is the same as the version of the program stored in
5: YES), the process directly proceeds to S11 following S1. In S11, initialization such as an engine check for the printer engine 3 is executed. This processing includes all engine checks in a broad sense, such as activation of each unit of the printer engine 3 and a response check.

When the process proceeds to S13 after S11, the control unit 5 executes a normal process as the laser printer 1.
That is, the input / output interface 54
The printer engine 3 is driven in accordance with the print data and the like input to the printer to execute processing such as forming an image on a sheet.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the memory card 90 storing the program is inserted in the card slot 59 (S3: YES), and the version of the program is stored in the flash ROM 57. If different from the version (S5: NO),
The program stored in the flash ROM 57 is rewritten by the program stored in the memory card 90 (S7). Therefore, in the laser printer 1, the program stored in the flash ROM 57 can be easily rewritten only by turning on the power after inserting the memory card 90 storing the desired program into the card slot 59. Further, when the power is turned on, the program is rewritten, and after the rewriting is completed, a corresponding display is displayed (S9). Therefore, the timing of executing the rewriting is very well understood by the administrator, and the management of the laser printer 1 is controlled. It becomes even easier.

Further, in the above embodiment, it is determined whether or not the data stored in the memory card 90 is a program (S3), and the program is rewritten (S7) only when a positive determination is made here. doing. For this reason,
For example, a memory card 90 storing only font data
When the is inserted into the card slot 59, the situation in which the program is rewritten by the font data can be more reliably avoided. It should be noted that such a situation can be avoided even with the attention of the administrator, and the memory card 9 storing the program can be used.
This can also be performed by making the shape of the connector or the like different between the memory card 90 and the other memory card 90. In these cases, in S3, it is only necessary to determine the presence or absence of the memory card 90. However, when the configuration of the above-described embodiment is adopted, a general card slot 59 can be used, and the above situation can be reliably avoided.

In the above embodiment, the program is rewritten (S7) before the execution of the initialization (S11) such as the engine check. For this reason,
Regardless of whether or not the printer engine 3 can be driven sufficiently, the above program can be rewritten. If an abnormality or the like occurs in the printer engine 3 and it cannot be driven sufficiently, an image cannot be formed satisfactorily on a sheet. However, there is no problem when rewriting the program. For this reason, if the error message is generated and the process of S7 is prohibited when the printer engine 3 cannot be driven, such as when the temperature of a fixing unit (not shown) is low or when there is no paper, the program is rewritten without notice. Will be delayed.

On the other hand, in the above embodiment, the rewriting of the program (S7) can be executed without performing the engine check, so that the rewriting of the program can be executed more quickly and rationally. In this case, the program can be easily rewritten even on a production line where no paper or toner is mounted. In the above-described embodiment, the rewriting (S7) is directly executed without starting the respective parts of the printer engine 3, but the printer engine 3 is started but the engine check is omitted at this time, and Rewriting (S7) may be executed. In the former case, the program can be rewritten more quickly by omitting unnecessary start-up processing, and in the latter case, the transition to image formation after rewriting the program can be performed more smoothly. .

Further, in the above embodiment, when it is determined that the version of the program stored in the memory card 90 is the same as the version of the program stored in the flash ROM 57 (S5: YES), the program is rewritten (S5: YES). Do not execute S7). Therefore, useless processing such as rewriting the program stored in the flash ROM 57 with the same program is omitted, and the rewriting of the program can be executed more quickly and rationally. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, since the program data to be rewritten in the flash ROM 57 is stored in the memory card 90, the program data can be read directly by the CPU 51 without going through an interface or the like. Therefore, it is not necessary to start up a DOS or the like, and the program can be rewritten more quickly, and the configuration of the apparatus can be further simplified.

In the above embodiment, the flash ROM 5 is rewritten by the rewriting program stored in the ROM 52.
7 is rewritten, but the rewriting program is flash R
It may be stored in the OM 57. In this case, after the rewriting program is copied to the RAM 53 or the NVRAM 58, the above rewriting is executed by the copied program. Further, in this case, the cost can be further reduced by omitting the ROM 52. However, in this case, since the program is almost completely rewritten,
The processing after 11 may be difficult. Therefore, FIG.
It is also conceivable to modify the processing as described below as necessary.

As one modified example, a mode is considered in which, after the end of S9, the operation is stopped in that state by an infinite loop. In this case, the memory card 90 is inserted into the card slot 59.
Then, if the administrator turns on the power of the laser printer 1 again, a new program is started from the beginning. Alternatively, when a switch on the predetermined operation panel 7 is pressed in the stop state, the process may shift to the process of S11. Such a configuration is advantageous when the rewriting and checking of the program are separate processes in the assembly process of the laser printer 1 or the like. Further, a mode in which the process shifts to S1 again after the end of S9 may be considered. in this case,
By shifting to S1 following S9, a new program is immediately started. In this case, the memory card 90
Remains in the card slot 59, but S5
By determining that the versions are the same (YES), the process does not shift to S7 and S9. That is, the effect of providing the processing of S5 is more remarkably exhibited.

In the above embodiment, the program is rewritten when the power of the laser printer 1 is turned on. However, the program may be rewritten when the memory card 90 is inserted into the card slot 59. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of such a processing mode.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, when the power is turned on,
The control unit 5 executes the process of S31, and
Performs a comprehensive initialization including startup and engine check. In subsequent S33, it is determined whether or not print data has been input to the input / output interface 54. When print data is input (S33: YE
S) After the printer engine 3 is driven to execute a printing operation (S35) for forming an image corresponding to the print data, the process returns to S33.

If print data has not been input (S
33: NO), and proceeds to S43 to determine whether the memory card 90 is inserted into the card slot 59 and whether the data in the memory card 90 is a program, as in S3 described above. During normal use of the laser printer 1, such a memory card 90 is not mounted. Therefore, normally, a negative determination is made in S43, and the process proceeds to S33. That is, normally, after power-on, S
The process stands by while repeating the processes of S33 and S43, and when the print data is input (S33: YES), the printing operation is executed (S35).

When performing the version upgrade, the administrator inserts the memory card 90 storing the program into the card slot 59. This attachment may be performed before the power is turned on or after the power is turned on. Then, the control unit 5 sets S4
3 is affirmatively determined, and the same S5 as S5, S7, and S9 is performed.
The program is rewritten through the processing of steps S45, S47 and S49. Then, when the processing of S45 to S49 is completed, the processing shifts to the loop processing of S33 and S43 described above. If it is determined in S45 that the version of the program in the flash ROM 57 and the version of the program in the memory card 90 are the same (S45: YES), the above-described S33 and S33 are executed without rewriting the program.
The process proceeds to a loop process in S43.

Here, in S43, the fact that the memory card 90 is inserted is detected by a change in a predetermined signal line of the card slot 59 or the like, and the subsequent processing may be automatically performed. After mounting, a subsequent process may be performed by detecting that the administrator presses a predetermined switch on the operation panel 7.

In this embodiment, the program stored in the flash ROM 57 can be easily rewritten only by inserting the memory card 90 storing the desired program into the card slot 59. The rewriting of the program is executed when the memory card 90 is inserted, and a corresponding display is displayed after the rewriting is completed (S49). Therefore, the timing of executing the rewriting is very well understood by the administrator, and the laser printer 1 Management becomes easier. Further, after the rewriting is completed, an affirmative determination is made in S45 even if the memory card 90 is still inserted. Therefore, even if the memory card 90 is not immediately removed after the rewriting is completed, the rewriting of the program (S47) is not repeated.

Furthermore, when this processing is executed as the processing in S13 of FIG. 3, if the memory card 90 is inserted and the power is turned on, the engine check can be omitted and the above program can be quickly and rationally rewritten. (S7), the program can be easily rewritten even if the memory card 90 is inserted after the power is turned on (S4).
Very excellent effects such as 7) are produced.

In the above embodiment, the flash ROM 57 is used as the storage means, and the control unit 5 is used as the control means, the program rewriting means, the judgment means, and the second judgment means.
M52 is a program storage medium, a memory card 90 is a storage medium, a card slot 59 is a recording medium mounting means,
Each corresponds. In particular, S3 and S43 correspond to the second determination processing, S5 and S45 correspond to the determination processing, S7 and S47 correspond to the program rewriting processing, and S13 and S35 correspond to the control processing, respectively. The storage area and the CPU 51 that executes the processing correspond to a second determination unit, a determination unit, a program rewriting unit, and a control unit.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, S
Steps S5 and S45 may be omitted. Further, the present invention can be applied to various image forming apparatuses such as an ink jet printer that forms an image by ejecting ink as a recording material stored in an ink tank or the like to a recording medium such as a film or paper. it can. Further, as the program storage medium of the present invention, various forms can be considered in addition to elements such as ROM and RAM. For example, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, or the like, a memory card that can be inserted into a card slot, or a file server on the Internet may be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a laser printer to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a data array of a memory card mounted on the printer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process when turning on power in the laser printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a modification of the process.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Laser printer 3. Printer engine
5 ... Control unit 51 ... CPU 52 ... ROM
53 ... RAM 57 ... Flash ROM 59 ... Card slot
90… Memory card

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium, a storage means for rewritably storing a software program, and a control for controlling the image forming means based on the software program stored in the storage means And an image forming apparatus comprising: a storage medium mounting means on which a storage medium storing a software program is removably mounted; and when the storage medium is mounted on the storage medium mounting means, An image forming apparatus, comprising: program rewriting means for rewriting a software program stored in a storage means with a software program stored in the storage medium. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said program rewriting means automatically rewrites said software program when power is turned on. 3. The software program rewriting means according to claim 1, wherein said program rewriting means automatically executes rewriting of said software program when said storage medium is newly mounted on said storage medium mounting means. Image forming apparatus. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program rewriting means rewrites the software program without referring to a state of the image forming means.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. A determination means for determining whether a software program stored in the storage means is the same as a software program stored in the storage medium,
The image according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the program rewriting means does not execute rewriting of the software program when the judgment means judges that the respective software programs are the same. Forming equipment. 6. An image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium, a storage means for rewritably storing a software program, and a control for controlling the image forming means based on the software program stored in the storage means. Means, and a storage medium mounting means on which a storage medium storing the software program is detachably mounted. A program storage medium storing a software program readable by a computer, which is used in an image forming apparatus including: When the storage medium is mounted on the storage medium mounting means, a software program for executing a program rewriting process of rewriting a software program stored in the storage means with a software program stored in the storage medium is stored. A program characterized by Beam storage medium.