JPS637598A - Non-volatile memory controller for business machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To require no special initializing operation by providing a first non- volatile reading and writing memory means for storing an adjusting value and a second non-volatile reading and writing memory means for storing the necessity or lack of it of an adjustment. CONSTITUTION:At the time of adjusting the control timing of a resist clutch, a mode switch SW is switched to ON to be set in an adjusting mode and the contents of a register RK are set to a desired value. Then, the mode switch SW is turned off and the adjusting value is set to the register RI is stored in a register RA0, the control timing of the resist clutch is updated and a flag F0 is changed from '0' to '1'. Only when the contents of an initializing register are not a preset initializing code, the contents of all the addresses of a memory 160 are cleared to '0' and the initializing code is stored in the initializing register. In such a way, since the memory contents of a non-volatile memory are automatically set, the previously writing non-volatile memory is not required to be used nor the setting operation of the memory contents is required when a special adjustment is not required.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a nonvolatile memory control device used in office equipment such as a copying machine, and more particularly to setting initial values of nonvolatile memory.

[Prior Art] For example, in a copying machine, the alignment between an image formed on a photoreceptor and a transfer sheet is adjusted by the time from the start of the copy process until the registration roller is driven. However, the optimum value of this time varies depending on various factors, and therefore needs to be adjusted for each device.

Therefore, conventional devices use digital switches etc.
The above time can be adjusted. but.

When a large number of parameters need to be adjusted, replacing the digit switch with a writable nonvolatile memory is advantageous in terms of size, cost, etc.

However, since the above-mentioned time adjustment etc. are not always performed, if the non-volatile memory is not adjusted, a predetermined initial value, that is, an average value designed for that type of device, is set. There is a need to. Therefore, since a non-volatile memory with pre-designated data (initial value) written therein is purchased, the cost of purchasing the non-volatile memory is higher than when no data is written.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention aims to utilize a non-volatile memory for setting various adjustment values, reduce the cost thereof, and eliminate the need for special manual initial setting operations of the non-volatile memory. [Structure of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the initial value of the nonvolatile memory is automatically set by the device itself, such as a copying machine, in which the nonvolatile memory is incorporated. Therefore, in addition to the first non-volatile read/write memory means for storing adjustment values, a second non-volatile read/write memory means for storing the presence or absence of adjustment is provided.

When setting the adjustment value to a value other than the initial value, the electronic control means for controlling the non-volatile memory writes the designated value into the first non-volatile read/write memory means, and also writes the adjustment value into the second non-volatile memory means. remember what you have done.

Then, when the power is turned on, the electronic control means transfers a predetermined initial value to the first nonvolatile read/write memory means if the contents of the second nonvolatile read/write memory means are initial values, that is, if no adjustment has been made. Write and initialize it. When adjustments are made, initialization is omitted so as not to erase the data set by the adjustments. All contents of the non-volatile memory used for this are cleared to 0 in advance, for example.

[Example code] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2a shows a schematic configuration of one type of copying machine embodying the present invention.

The schematic structure of the apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. 2a.

1 is the contact glass on which the original is placed. An optical scanning system 2 is provided below the contact glass 1, and an image of light reflected from the original is formed on the photosensitive drum 3 via the optical scanning system 2.

'The photosensitive drum 3 rotates clockwise in FIG. 2a.

On the other hand, the paper feed system has two stages, with 4.5 paper cassettes.
The recording paper is fed by the paper feed roller 6 or 7 from the selected one. The fed paper passes between a registration roller 8 and a leading end bending roller 9 and is guided to the photosensitive drum 3.

A main charger 10, an eraser 11 . Developing device 12. Pre-transfer static elimination lamp & P sensor 13. Transfer charger 142 Separation charger 152 Separation claw 16. Fur brush 17. A static elimination lamp 18 and the like are arranged.

To explain the general copying process, the photosensitive drum 3 is charged to a uniform potential by the main charger 10, and when it is irradiated with reflected light from the original, the surface potential changes depending on the light intensity. An electrostatic latent image is formed.

This electrostatic latent image is made visible by toner when it passes through the developer 12. The fed recording paper is sent by registration rollers 8 at a predetermined timing according to the rotation of the photoreceptor drum 3, and overlaps the surface of the photoreceptor drum 3 on which the toner image is formed. Thereafter, a predetermined voltage is applied to the transfer charger 14, whereby the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 3 to the recording paper side. Furthermore, the recording paper onto which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 3 by the separation charger 15 and directed toward the conveyor belt 19 . Then, the recording paper passes through a fixing roller 20 having a built-in heater to fix the toner image thereon, and then heads to a copy tray 22 via a paper ejection roller 21.

Fig. 2b shows an operation board 2 provided in the copying machine shown in Fig. 2a.
The appearance of 01 is shown. Referring to FIG. 2b, this operation board 45 includes a number of key switches Kl, 2. 3.
4a, 4b, 5°K6 a, 6 b, 7. 8. 9 a, 9 b.

K9c, KIO, Kl 1. 12a, 12b.

Kl 3. KC, #, KS, KI and KT and a number of indicators DI, D2. D3. D4. It is equipped with D5 etc.

Typical of these key switches will be briefly explained. 10 is 0,1,2,3,4°5.6,7
．． This is a numeric keypad consisting of 10 numeric keys 8 and 9. This key KIO is normally used to set the number of copies as in a general copying machine, but is also used to set various adjustment values as described later.

KC is the clear/stop key, and the numeric keypad KIO
This is used to clear input values and interrupt continuous copying operations.

KS is a print start key and is used to start a copy operation. Further, in an adjustment mode to be described later, it is used to switch the adjustment target.

K8 is the original key to switch the specification of the original size, K9
a, 9 b and 9c are the magnification adjustment keys to specify the copy magnification, Kll is the paper key to switch the paper feed system, K12a
and Kl 2b is a density adjustment key for adjusting the copy density;
KI is an interrupt key.

FIG. 3 schematically shows the electric circuit of the copying machine shown in FIG. 2a.

Referring to FIG. 3, the main control unit 100 includes:

Microprocessor 11O2 Read Only Memory (RO
M) l20, read/write memory (RAM) l3
0.

I10 port 140. An A/D converter 150 and a nonvolatile memory 180 are provided. Non-volatile memory 1
In this example, 80 is composed of a semiconductor memory 160 having a CMO3 structure with low power consumption and a battery backup circuit 170. That is, when the power is on, power is supplied to the memory 160 from a power circuit (not shown), but when the power is off! When the output voltage of the 'g circuit falls below a predetermined value, the battery backup circuit 17
Power is supplied to the memory 160 from a battery inside the 0. Therefore, even if the power is turned off, the contents of the memory 160 will not be erased.

Each input port and output port of the main control unit 100 has an operation board 201. Optical system control unit 202. High voltage power supply unit 203. Heater control unit 204. Signal processing circuit 300. Drivers 400 and 500 are connected. The optical system control unit 202 controls the optical scanning system 2
Controls the electric motor for scanning drive, the electric motor for adjusting the copy magnification, and the exposure lamp. High voltage power supply unit 20
3 is the main charger 10. Predetermined electric power is supplied to each of the developing bias electrode (located in the developing device 12), the transfer charger 14, and the separation charger 15. Heater control unit 204 controls the temperature of the heater within fixing roller 20 .

The signal processing circuit 300 includes a mode switch SW.

Timing pulse generator 302. Registration sensor 303
, a paper discharge sensor 3049, a separation sensor 305, a paper end sensor 306, and a paper size sensor 307 are connected.

The timing pulse generator 302 outputs one pulse every minute rotation of the photoreceptor drum 3. The copying process is performed by timing pulse generator 302 as shown in FIG.
progresses in synchronization with the timing pulse output by

The registration sensor 303 detects whether there is a fed paper at the position of the registration roller 8, and the paper ejection sensor 304
detects whether the paper that has been copied has been ejected, the separation sensor 305 detects whether the paper has separated from the photoreceptor drum 3, and the paper end sensor 306 detects whether the paper has been separated from the photosensitive drum 3. The paper size sensor 307 detects the size of the paper loaded in each cassette.

The driver 400 includes a paper feed motor 401. Bending solenoid 402. Resist clutch 403° Separation pawl solenoid 404. )-ner replenishment clutch 405 and eraser 406 (same as 11 described above) are connected.

The driver 500 includes a main motor sot, an m-feeding fan 502. Cooling fan 5o3. Vfi electric lamp 504
and a blade solenoid 505 are connected.

FIG. 1 shows allocation of some memory inside the read/write memory 160. Please refer to FIG. Each register RAO, RA1, RA2 . RA3.
RA4. RA5. RA6°RA7. RBO and RBI each consist of 8 bits.

A value corresponding to the timing for controlling the registration clutch 403 in the copy process is set in the register RAO. By adjusting this value, the transfer position of the reproduced image on the copy paper can be changed. Register R
AI is set to a value corresponding to the timing at which the eraser 406 is controlled in the copy process. By adjusting this value, the erased area of the reproduced image can be changed.

A control target value for the voltage applied to the exposure lamp (corresponding to the amount of light) is set in the register RA2. Similarly, register RA3. RA4. RA5 and RA6 are set with a developing bias voltage, a main charger current, a transfer charger current, and a fixing heater temperature, respectively.

In modern copying machines, if the copying machine is left in that state for a predetermined period of time after copying is completed, the operating mode automatically returns to the initial state. This is an auto-reset operation.

The time from the end of copying to the start of auto-reset operation is set in register RA7.

Each bit of register RBO 0, 1, 2, 3, 4゜5.6
and 7 are flags FO, F4°F2. F3.
F4. F5. F6 and F7 are assigned. Further, in register RBI, bits 0 to 3 are assigned to counter CNT, and bits 4 and 5 are assigned to flags FK and FSW, respectively.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic operation of the main control unit 100. Please refer to FIG. When the power is turned on, the entire device is first initialized, and then a memory clear subroutine is executed.

Next, standby processing is performed. The standby process includes an adjustment value registration subroutine, a key manual subroutine, a sensor output reading process, a heater control process 7 display process, and the like. When the copying becomes possible in the standby process, the print start key KS is checked.

If it is on, the copy operation starts and the number of copies (Nset
) is completed, the process returns to the standby process.

In the copy process, the control timing of each process element is mostly predetermined according to the size of the original and recording paper and the copy magnification, and the process progresses at the timing shown in Figure 6. .

After the fed paper reaches the registration rollers 8.

The timing to turn on the registration clutch (drive the registration roller) (time elapsed from the start of the copy process) is
It is controlled by comparing the contents of register RAO shown in FIG. 1 with the number of timing pulses. Similarly, the timing for controlling eraser 406 is controlled according to the contents of register RAI.

The contents of register RA2 are sent to optical system control unit 202. The unit 202 sets a control target value for the exposure lamp voltage based on data sent from the main control unit 100. Similarly, register RA3. RA4 and RA
The contents of 5 are sent to the high voltage power supply unit 203 as target values for each internal control system. The contents of register RAS are also sent to heater control unit 204.

In the standby process, the main control unit 100 counts time when there is no key human power. When the time exceeds the contents of register RA7, an auto-reset operation is performed.

Details of the memory clear subroutine of FIG. 4 are shown in FIG. 5a. See Figure 5a. In this routine, initial values are stored in registers RAO to RA7.

However, by referring to the flag provided in association with each register, if the contents of that register have been adjusted in the past, the contents are not updated.

The contents of memory 160 are all cleared to 0 when power is first applied to it, so at that time,
Flags FO, FL, F2. F3. F4°F5. F6 and F7 are all "o".

If flag FO is “o”, RTO is sent to register RAO.
and if flag F1 is 1'On, register RA
If ETO is stored in 1 and flag F2 is re On,
Store LVO in register RA2 and set flag F3 to rr
If Orr, store BVO in register RA3; if flag F4 is '0'', store register RAl:MCO; if flag F5 is rr, register RAS
If flag F6 is "o", TPO is stored in register RAS and flag F7 is "o".
”, store ARO in register RA7.

In addition, RT O, E T O, L V O, B V O
, M C○.

TCO, TPO, and ARO are predetermined initial values to be stored in each register, and are stored in the read-only memory 120.
It is stored inside the computer along with the program data.

That is, while the flag FO-F7 is "o".

By executing the ``memory glia'' subroutine,
Immediately after the power is turned on, predetermined initial values are set in registers RAO to RA7.

The details of the “adjustment value registration” subroutine in Figure 4 are shown in Section 5b.
The details of the ``Pakī manual labor'' subroutine are shown in FIG.

When any key switch on the operation board 201 is turned on, the flag FK is set to '1''. When the key switch that was turned on is turned off, the flag FK is reset to 'o'. Also, when the mode switch SW is turned on Then, the flag Fsν is set to "1", and when it is turned off, the flag Fsw is reset to "0". Note that the mode switch SW is arranged inside the copying machine.

When the key switch is turned on, the state of the flag Fsν is checked. If Fsw is IIO11, it is the normal mode, and key manual processing similar to that of a general copying machine is performed. For example, when the numeric keypad KIO is turned on, the number of copies associated with the turned-on key is stored in the register Nsehi, and the number is displayed on the display D1. Also, when clear key KC is turned on, register N5e
The contents of t are cleared to 1 and the value is displayed on the display DI.

When the key switch is turned on with the mode switch SW turned on, the flag Fsw is II L gg, so the next process is performed. The key turned on is the number 0 on the numeric keypad KIO. L, 2, 3, 4, 5.6, and 7, invert the focus state of register RK associated with the turned-on key and display the contents of register RK in D4. . That is, in this example, O, l of the numeric keypad KIO
, 2, 3, 4° 5.6 and 7 keys respectively correspond to each bit O, l, 2, 3, 4, 5 .
6 and 7.

Therefore, for example, when you turn on the 5 key on the numeric keypad KIO, the state of bit 5 of register RK changes from "o" to ''
1'' or rr 1 u to '0''. In other words,
By operating keys 0 to 7 of the numeric keypad KIO, the contents of the register RK can be changed arbitrarily.

Further, when the key switch KS is turned on with the mode switch SW turned on, the contents of the counter CNT provided in the register RBI are incremented. However, if the result exceeds 8, O is set in CNT. and C.N.
The contents of T are displayed on the display D1.

When the mode switch SW is turned off from on, that is, when the switch sw is turned off with the flag Fsw being "1", the following processing is performed according to the contents of the counter CNT.

That is, if CNT is 1, the contents of register RK are stored in register RAO and the flag FO is set to II I IT, and if CNT is 2, the contents of register RK are stored in register RAI and flag Fl is set to "1". and if CNT is 3, the contents of register RK are transferred to register RA.
2 and set flag F2 to rr 1 u,
If CNT is 4, the contents of register RK are transferred to register RA3.
and set flag F3 to 111 IP, C
If NT is 5, the contents of register RK are stored in register RA4, flag F4 is set to n 1, H, and CN
If T is 6, store the contents of register RK to register RAS and set flag F5 to HI II; if CNT is 7, store the contents of register RK to register RAS and set flag F6 to HI II. However, if CNT is 8, the contents of register RK are stored in register RA7 and flag F7 is set to ``1''.

In other words, the contents of registers RAO to RA7 can be adjusted. For example, when adjusting the control timing of the registration clutch, the mode switch SW is switched from OFF to ON to set the adjustment mode, and the key switch KS is first pressed once to set the contents of the counter CNT to 1. Next, by operating keys 0 to 7 on the numeric keypad KIO, the contents of register RK are set to a desired value.

Then, when the mode switch SW is turned off, the adjustment value set in the register RK is stored in the register RAO, and the control timing of the resist clutch is thereby updated. Also.

As a result, the flag FO changes from "o" to 111 rr, so that the contents of the register RAO will no longer be initialized by the "memory glia" subroutine. The same applies when adjusting the contents of other registers.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the contents of the nonvolatile memory 180 are all cleared to 0 in the initial state, but this clearing process can also be performed by the main control unit 100 itself. For example, an initialization register indicating whether clearing has been performed is assigned to a specific address of the memory 160, and only when the contents of the initialization register are not a predetermined initialization code, all addresses of the memory 160 are All you have to do is clear the contents to 0 and store the initialization code in the initialization register. In that case, the initial contents of the initialization register are undefined and there is a possibility that it coincides with the initialization code by chance, so to reduce this possibility, compare the initialization code of, for example, 3 bytes. It is preferable to make the code as complex as possible.

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, the storage contents of the nonvolatile memory are automatically set, so there is no need to use a nonvolatile memory that has undergone writing processing in advance. If no special adjustment is required, there is no need to set the stored content.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a memory map showing allocation of a portion of memory 160 of FIG. FIG. 2a is a front view showing the internal structure of one type of copying machine embodying the present invention. FIG. 2b is a plan view showing the appearance of the operation board of the copying machine shown in FIG. 2a. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical circuit configuration of the copying machine shown in FIG. 2a. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the general operation of the main control unit 100 of FIG. 5a, 5b, and 5c are flowcharts showing details of each subroutine of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing an example of the copying process of the copying machine of FIG. 2a. RAO-RA7: Register (first nonvolatile read/write memory means) FO-F7: Flag (second nonvolatile read/write memory means) SW: Mode switch 10: Numeric keypad (input means) KS niblint start key 110: Micro Processor (electronic control means) 160:
Read/write memory 170: Bathoterial backup circuit 180: Non-volatile memory ￥4 prongs 5a wa

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) a first non-volatile read/write memory means; a second non-volatile read/write memory means; an input means including a plurality of switch means; At the same time, a predetermined value is set in the second non-volatile read/write memory means, and when the power is turned on, the contents of the second non-volatile read/write memory means are referred to and the contents are set to the initial state. A nonvolatile memory control device for office equipment, comprising: electronic control means for writing a predetermined initial value into the first nonvolatile read/write memory means. (2) The input means has a first switch means for specifying a mode and a second switch means for specifying a numerical value, and the electronic control means is configured such that the specified mode of the first switch means is an adjustment mode. A non-volatile memory control device for office equipment according to claim 1, wherein a value corresponding to an input of said second switch means is written into said first non-volatile read/write memory means only at certain times. (3) the first non-volatile read/write memory means and the second non-volatile read/write memory means;
The nonvolatile memory control device for office equipment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the nonvolatile read/write memory means is a semiconductor memory means equipped with a battery backup circuit.