JPS5831858A - Paper processor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily perform operation for an optional stage of storage, in a picture recorder and plural paper storage devices respectively provided with controllers, by supervising the self status and the status of the following paper storage devices through the controllers. CONSTITUTION:Each controller 11-14 for a picture recorder 1 and paper storage devices 2-4 performs a self check, if normal, the status (1) is set to normal, if the following device is normal, the status (2) is set. Then the controller 11, if receiving storage place information, decides the information whether for itself or not, and decides a content of the following status (2), if OK, transmits the information to the controller 12. Though the information is transmitted to the controller 13 further to 14 in a similar manner, if the status (2) of the controller 13 is NG, for instance, an assigned storage stage of the following storage device is assumed full, and paper is stored in a self assigned storage stage by the control information. In this way, the paper can be supplied by an easy process to decrease a load of control for the picture recorder.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper processing apparatus, and more specifically relates to a paper processing apparatus having two configurations.

Conventional paper storage devices such as sorters attached to image recording devices have multiple storage tiers, and paper is stored in each storage tier sequentially starting from the first tier, and the storage tiers are sequentially switched to store up to the required number of copies. When the paper is loaded, the first storage stage (1) is used to start storing new paper.

However, if it is desired to store paper ejected from an image recording device or the like in an arbitrary stage, the image recording device must be equipped with a function to process information regarding the storage stage in which the paper is stored when the paper is ejected. . In particular, when multiple paper storage devices are connected to one image recording device, all processing functions such as commands from the image recording device and responses from the storage device must be provided on the image recording device side. As a result, the processing becomes complicated (the burden on the two-sided image recording apparatus increases), which is disadvantageous.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a paper processing device configured to be able to store paper ejected from an image recording device in any storage stage of any storage device without performing complicated processing. It is an object.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a control device for each of the image recording device and the plurality of paper storage devices, and controls the control device of each of the plurality of processing devices to determine the current state of the own paper and the subsequent paper storage device. We adopted a structure that has a function to monitor the current status of the storage device. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 explains one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an image recording device 1 is provided with a paper storage device 2 to
An example in which three units of 4 are connected is adopted.

Each of the paper storage devices 2 to 4 is provided with a plurality of storage stages of 5 to 7, respectively, and a paper transport path 8 is provided between the image recording device 1 and the paper storage device 2 and between each of the paper storage devices. It is connected.

The paper ejected from the image recording device 1 passes through a conveyance path 8 to each storage stage 5 to 1 of the paper storage devices 2 to 4. FIG. This is a block diagram showing the flow of electrical signals between control circuits 11 to 14 using a computer. Reference numerals 15 to 17 refer to a control device that transmits information regarding the paper storage device and storage stage in which the paper ejected from the image recording device 1 is to be stored. 11-12.12-1
3 or 13 to 14. Further, 18 to 20 are signal lines for transmitting information regarding the status of each paper storage device and paper storage stage from the control device 14 to 13, 13 to 12, or 12 to 11.

3 to 6 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the control device based on the above-described structure. ″-The case where paper is stored is shown as an example.

When the apparatus is started for the first time, initial setup of each control device is performed in step 21, and initial setup is performed in step 22. Step 23 (= Set the device number etc. of each storage device side 1 preset by a switch etc. in the control device 0) This is Step I.

Next, each control device checks the current operating state of each storage device in i-step 24. If the self-check state is not normal, abnormality information is created in step 25 (2), and abnormality information is displayed in step 26. The status is set. If the device is not operating normally, the device stops operating and the program ends. In step 27, the self-check is determined to be OK and the status is set. .This is step ■.

If the self-check is passed, it is detected in step 28 whether or not there is a succeeding device, and if there is a succeeding device, the status 2 of the succeeding paper storage device is detected in step 29. When the status ■ of the succeeding device is detected and it is found that it is operating normally, that information is set as the content of the status ■, and each device sets that it is in the ready state in step 30, and the next device Enter the stage.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 28 that there is no subsequent device, information indicating that the device is the last device is set in step 31, and this information is sent to step 32, where it is set as the contents of the status ■. Further, if it is determined in step 29 that the contents of the status ■ of the subsequent device are not in a normal state, abnormality information is created in step 33 (2), and in step 32 the abnormal state is set in the status This is the step lid stage, and if everything is determined to be normal in step 30, the main routine step 3 shown in Figure 4 (-)
Move on to 4.

When the pre-processing stage is completed and the control device 11 receives the storage location information, it is checked in step 35 against the unique device number read in step 1, and in step 36 it is determined whether the information is for itself or not. Make a judgment. This is step ■.

In this example, paper storage device 3 is specified, so
The control device 11 determines that it is not the designated one, and jumps to step 37 of step (2), where the content of the status (2) of the subsequent device is determined.

If the contents of the status (2) are OK, the process branches to step (1), and in step (2) shown in FIG. 6 (2), information is transmitted to the control device 12.

If the status of the subsequent device is not OK in step 37, step 38 (step 2) stores the paper in the sample tray provided in the own device. This state is step .

On the other hand, the paper storage device 2 performs the same processing as described for the control device 11, and in step (3), the control device 12 transmits information to the control device 13 of the paper storage device 3. At this time, when the designated storage stage of the subsequent device is full, the paper is stored in the sample tray of the own device, that is, the paper storage device 2, as in the case where the status ① of the subsequent device is NG.

On the other hand, the control device 13 determines in step (2) that the storage device 3 is designated, and moves to step (2). In step (2), it is determined in step 39 whether the storage stage in which the paper is to be stored is full or not, based on the transmitted information, and if there is room, the paper is stored in the designated storage stage in step 40, and the process returns to the main routine 34.

If the designated storage stage is full (second step 41, the information is set in the status ■ and the paper is stored. Then, the process returns to step ■ and waits for new paper and its storage information. .

In the above description, it is assumed that each paper processing device can store at least one more sheet of paper in each storage stage after the control device detects that each storage stage is full. It is also assumed that each paper processing device is equipped with a knee tray in addition to a paper storage stage, or a specific storage stage is used as a sample tray.

FIG. 6 explains step (2) and shows the stage after it is determined in step 37 that the status (2) of the subsequent device is OK. That is, in step 42, the status (2) of the subsequent paper storage device is detected, and if it is determined that the storage stage is full, the process moves to step (38) of step (2), and if it is determined that there is room, the storage information is transferred to the subsequent device in step 43. and return to step ■.

FIG. 5 shows the abnormality processing flow from step 25 shown in FIG. Step 45 (2) transmits the contents of the abnormal status status (2) to the previous and subsequent control devices (2), stops the operation of the device in step 46, and terminates the program in step 47. This stage is step (2). be.

Through the steps described above, it is possible to supply paper to a predetermined storage stage of one of the plurality of paper processing apparatuses through an extremely simple process (2). The load on the device is small, and all control devices can be of the same type.

In the above description, the number of paper storage devices is three, but it may be only two, or four or more.

Further, although the image recording apparatus 1 is configured to receive information regarding the paper storage device and the storage stage in which the paper is to be stored from the outside, this information may be generated within the image recording apparatus 1.

In addition, the control device 11 (=step ■ and step ■
If the paper storage device is not connected at all (
Second, the image recording apparatus may be constructed so that the paper can be stored in a paper storage space provided within the image recording apparatus. Of course, it is necessary to provide such a storage space on the image recording apparatus side in anticipation of such a case.

By the way, the status ■, ■, ■ of each paper storage device is monitored by the control device of the storage device connected immediately before, but this information is further transmitted to the previous stage suppressor, and monitored by this control device. You may also have them do this.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a control device is provided for each of the image recording device and the plurality of paper storage devices attached thereto, and each control device receives information from the subsequent paper storage device. Since it is configured to only monitor and process, it is possible to extremely easily process the paper storage operation for any storage stage of any paper storage device, and the burden on the control device belonging to the image recording device is extremely small. , all the control devices can be the same, and it has excellent effects such as being economically advantageous.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures explain one embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a schematic configuration diagram, Figure 2 is a block diagram of a control circuit, and Figures 3 to 6.
The figure is a brooch yard diagram explaining the control method. 1... Image processing device 2-4... Paper storage device 5-7... Storage stage 8... Paper transport device 11-14... Control device 15-20... Signal line Fig. 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A paper processing device comprising an image recording device that sequentially discharges sheets of paper, and at least two or more paper storage devices that store the discharged sheets of paper and are connected to the image recording device. The storage device includes means for setting its own device number, means for comparing the storage location information sent from the image recording device with the own device number, and means for detecting the status of subsequent devices, A paper processing apparatus characterized in that when the storage location information does not match its own apparatus number, the apparatus determines whether to send the information to a subsequent apparatus or to return a status signal of the subsequent apparatus to the image recording apparatus.