KR0164366B1 - Jam eliminating method of image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

[Technical field to which the invention described in the claims belong]

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a jam removing method for removing a jam in a paper being conveyed.

[Technical Problem to Solve]

The present invention provides a jam removing method capable of removing jam paper generated on a paper transfer path of an image forming apparatus.

[Summary of the solution of the invention]

In the jam removing method of the image forming apparatus having an automatic paper feeder, the first step of determining whether the jam is generated by the jam detection means when printing the image according to the predetermined video data, and the determination result jam A second process of searching for the jam occurrence position in response to the occurrence of the jam; and a third process of discharging the paper cassette to the outside of the apparatus in response to the search result if the jam occurrence position is the paper feed area; and the search result. The fourth step of checking whether the jam generating paper is within the allowable range when the jam generating position is the transfer area or the fixing area; and the result of the inspection of the fourth step determines that the jam generating paper is wrinkled. When the paper is within the allowable range, the main motor is rotated to eject the paper, while the amount of wrinkles of the jam generating paper is greater than the allowable range. And a fifth process of opening and closing the cover of the apparatus, and a sixth process of rotating the main motor to eject paper when the jam occurrence position is the discharge area as a result of the inspection of the fourth process. .

[Important Uses of the Invention]

It can be used for jam removal of an image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer, a copier, a facsimile, which prints a predetermined image on a sheet of paper.

Description

How to remove jam in image forming apparatus

1 is a block diagram of a laser beam printer using an electrophotographic development method.

2 is a schematic engine mechanism diagram of a laser beam printer according to the present invention.

3A and 3B are operation state diagrams of the automatic paper feeder for explaining the operation of the automatic paper feeder 56 in FIG.

4 is a control flowchart for jam removing the video controller 14 according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a jam removing method for removing a jam in a paper being conveyed.

There is a laser beam printer as a representative image forming apparatus for printing an image according to video data received from an external device such as a host computer on a sheet of paper. Usually laser beam printers are charged Exposure phenomenon Warrior Settlement A series of electrophotographic processes called badges print a predetermined image on a sheet of paper. 1 is a block diagram of a general laser beam printer, and is largely comprised of a video controller 10, an OPE 18, and a print engine unit 20. The video controller 10 includes a computer interface 12, a video control unit 14, and an engine interface 16. The computer interface 12 is connected between the host computer and the video control unit 14 to interface the input and output signals. The video controller 14 includes a ROM having a control program and a RAM for temporarily storing various data input from the OPE 18 and a host computer. In addition, the video controller 14 converts the data received from the computer interface 12 into video data that can be processed by the printer engine, and transmits the data to the print engine 20. The engine interface 16 interfaces the input / output signal with the print engine 20 under the control of the video controller 14. The OPE 18 is controlled by the video controller 14 and includes a plurality of keys for inputting various commands and a display device for displaying information according to the operation of the printer. The print engine unit 20 includes a video interface 22, an engine control unit 24, an I / O (Input / Output) interface 26, a sensor circuit 28, an instrument driving unit 30, and an electrophotographic developing unit 32. The video interface 22 provides an interface for transmitting and receiving signals between the video controller 10 and the engine control unit 24. The engine controller 24 controls the mechanical drive unit 30 and the electrophotographic developing unit 32 under the control of the video controller 10, and prints an image according to the video data received from the video controller 10 on paper. . In addition, the engine control unit 24 detects the operation state of each part of the print engine unit 20 (for example, the presence / absence of jam occurrence and developer amount, etc.) of the print engine unit 20 through the sensor circuit 28. The I / O interface 26 is connected between the engine control unit 24, the sensor circuit 28, the mechanical drive unit 30, and the electrophotographic developing unit 32 to interface the input / output signals of the engine control unit 24. The sensor circuit 28 drives various sensors for monitoring the operation state of each part of the print engine unit 20, the presence or absence of jams, and the amount of the developer, and provides a detection signal of each sensor to the engine controller 24. The mechanism driving unit 30 drives various mechanisms including a motor which is a main power source of the print engine unit 20 under the control of the engine control unit 24. On the other hand, the electrophotographic developing unit 32 prints an image according to the video data received under the control of the engine control unit 24 by an electrophotographic developing method. Paper jams generated in the laser beam printer having the above-described configuration are largely generated in the paper feeding area, the transfer area, the fixing area and the discharge area. At this time, the video control unit 14 of the conventional laser beam printer detects jams generated during paper transfer through the sensor circuit 28 of the print engine unit 20. The video control unit 14 then displays the jam occurrence message on the display device provided on the OPE 18 so that the user takes a series of measures to remove the jammed paper. In this case, the conventional laser beam printer has an inconvenience of opening and closing the cover of the printer to remove the jammed paper. In other words, when a jam occurs in a conventional laser beam printer, firstly, the drawer of opening the cover of the printer or removing the cassette, which is a paper feed means, has a disadvantage, and secondly, the user must remove the jam-generating paper. Third, there is a disadvantage that it is difficult for the user to easily identify the location of the jam only by the message of the display device. Fourth, when the printer cover is opened to remove the jam occurrence paper, the next print operation (ie warm-up) is performed. There are various disadvantages such as time delay).

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a jam removing method capable of removing jam paper generated on a paper feed path of an image forming apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a jam removing method that can quickly notify a user when a jam occurs on the paper transfer path of the image forming apparatus to remove the jam paper.

In the present invention for achieving the above object, in the jam removing method of the image forming apparatus having an automatic paper feeder,

A first process of determining whether a jam has occurred through a jam detecting means when printing an image according to predetermined video data;

A second process of searching for the jam occurrence position in response to the jam as a result of the determination;

A third step of discharging the paper cassette to the outside of the apparatus in response to the search result jam occurrence position being a paper feeding area;

A fourth step of checking whether the jam occurrence paper is within an allowable range when the jam occurrence position is a transfer region or a fixing region;

If the result of the inspection of the fourth process is the degree of wrinkling of the jam-generating paper is within the allowable range, the main motor is rotated to discharge the paper. The fifth process of opening and closing,

In response to the inspection result of the fourth process, when the jam occurrence position is the discharge area, a sixth process of discharging paper by rotating the main motor is correspondingly performed.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, like elements have been given the same reference numerals, and many specific details such as specific processing flows are shown to provide a more general understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. And a detailed description of known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention will be omitted.

2 is a side view for showing the configuration of the schematic engine mechanism of the laser beam printer according to the present invention, and FIGS. 3a and 3b show an operating state of the automatic sheet feeder 56 according to the present invention. The figure for showing. The laser beam printer shown in FIG. 2 has a housing 1 divided into a main body E and a cover D, and the cover D can be opened and closed from the main body E. FIG. In FIG. 2, the charging unit 36 forms a uniform charge in the photosensitive drum 34. The laser scanner unit 38 forms the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 34 by generating the laser beam L according to the image data and exposing the photosensitive drum 34 via the laser reflector 40. The developing unit 42 transfers the developer to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 34. The pickup roller 46 picks up and transports the paper P loaded in the paper cassette 44. The conveyance roller 48 conveys the paper P conveyed by the pickup roller 46 to the register roller 50. The register roller 50 aligns the paper P conveyed by the pickup roller 46 and the transfer roller 48. The transfer unit 52 transfers the developer formed on the photosensitive drum 34 to the paper P. FIG. The fixing roller 54 fixes the developer transferred to the paper P on the paper. The discharge rollers 56, 58 discharge the paper P on which the fixing is completed, out of the laser beam printer. Also, in general, a laser beam printer is provided with a sensor for detecting an operating state of each part of the printer or a paper conveying state. Accordingly, FIG. 2 shows that the first and second sensors S1 and S2 for detecting the operating state of each part of the printer or the conveying state of the paper are installed. The sensors S1 and S2 detect the transfer state of the paper P and the open / close state of the discharge state cover. On the other hand, the laser beam printer according to the present invention automatically displays when there is no paper in the paper cassette 44 or the automatic paper feed device 56 is installed on the back of the housing (1) for paper feeding. The automatic paper feeder 56 includes a feeder 58 for pushing the paper cassette 44, a solenoid SW (switch) 5 for adjusting the feeder 58, and a plunger (as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B). 7) consists of. The conveying device 58 forms a cylindrical housing immediately after the paper cassette 44 is closed, and installs a compression coil spring 4 to one side inside the housing 1 and pushes to one side thereof. Built-in rods (3). In addition, one side of the push rod (3) forms a large diameter portion (3a) is supported by the compression coil spring (4), the other side is formed by the engaging portion (1a) in the housing (1) push rod (3) When the force is restrained by the restoring force of the compression coil spring 4, the movement is restricted. In addition, a solenoid SW 5 and a plunger 7 are provided below the transfer device 58 to restrain the movement of the push rod 3. The solenoid SW (5) is composed of a coil and a metal (6) wound a plurality of times, and when the current flows in the coil, the magnet 6 becomes magnetic. Furthermore, on one side of the solenoid SW 5, a plunger 7 and a tension spring 9 of a certain shape are provided to allow limited rotation by the hinge 8a of the support 8.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the operation of the automatic sheet feeder 56 having the above-described configuration will be described. First, the solenoid SW 5 becomes magnetic on the metal 6 under the control of the video control unit 14. Therefore, the plunger 7 held on one side by the tension spring 9 is rotated so that its surface comes into contact with the metal 6. When a current is continuously applied to the solenoid SW 5, the plunger 7 tries to maintain the state, and is in a state of receiving the elastic force of the tension spring 9. Simultaneously with the start of operation of the solenoid SW 5, when the plunger 7 rotates in the clockwise direction, the push rod 3, which is subjected to the elastic force of the compression coil spring 4, opens the cassette 2. The paper feed cassette 2 is automatically ejected by pushing it out and moving the large diameter portion 3a until it reaches the locking portion 1a.

On the contrary, FIG. 3B is for showing the operation of the automatic paper feeder 56 after the paper is loaded in the cassette 2. As shown in FIG. First, when the paper cassette 44 is pushed into the housing 1, the operation of the solenoid SW 5 is stopped and the current is interrupted. The magnetic metal loses its magnetism and is in surface contact with the plunger 7 ) Rotates counterclockwise by the elastic force of the tension spring 9 to restrain the movement of the push rod 3 again.

4 is a control flowchart for jam removal of the video controller 14 according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the jam removing process according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

First, in the printing standby mode for printing a predetermined image, the video control unit 14 controls each unit of the print engine unit 20 in response to a printing command received from the host computer to print the predetermined image. In this case, the video controller 14 checks whether a jam has occurred through the sensor circuit 28 in step 70. At this time, the jam detection method recognizes whether or not a jam occurs by checking whether the paper detection sensors S1-S2 operate within a prescribed time. When the jam is generated in step 70, the video controller 14 proceeds to step 72 and determines whether the jam generating area is the paper feeding area A. FIG. When the jam occurs in the paper feeding area A in step 72, the video controller 14 proceeds to step 74 in order to notify the user that the jam has occurred in the paper feeding area A and to take prompt action. Operate (5). As a result, the paper cassette 44 is discharged to the outside by the push rod 3 as in FIG. 3A. On the other hand, if the jam generating area is not the paper feeding area A in step 72, the video controller 14 proceeds to step 76 to check whether jams have occurred in the transfer area or the fixing area B. FIG. When the jam occurs in the transfer area or the fixing area B in step 76, the video control unit 14 proceeds to step 78 to check whether the degree of wrinkle of the jam generating paper is within the allowable range, and the test result in step 76 If no jam occurs in the transfer area or fixation area B, the video controller 14 proceeds to step 84. In step 78, the method for checking whether the jam occurrence paper is within the allowable range is checked by installing a photo sensor on the paper transport path on the area B. That is, when the degree of wrinkling of the jam-generating paper exceeds the allowable value, the light emitted from the photosensor is blocked by the paper and thus is not transmitted to the light receiving portion of the photosensor. In this case, the video controller 14 considers that the degree of wrinkle of the paper jammed in the area B is out of the allowable range and proceeds to step 82. On the other hand, the installation height of the photosensor should be installed in consideration of the thickness of the paper, the characteristics of the mechanism. In operation 82, since the paper jammed in the transfer area or fixing area B is wrinkled beyond the allowable range, the video controller 14 operates the cover SW of the printer to allow the user to remove the jam generating paper. On the other hand, when the test result of step 78 indicates that the degree of wrinkle of the jam generating paper is within the allowable range, the video control unit 14 proceeds to step 80 to control the rotation of the main motor to discharge the jam generating paper to the outside. If the jam generating region is not the transfer region or the fixing region B, the video controller 14 regards the jam generating region as the discharge region C, and the discharge roller 56 through steps 84 and 86. ) By discharging the jam-generating paper and terminating the above-described jam removing process.

As described above, the present invention can reduce the time delay caused by warm-up by removing the jam generating paper without opening and closing the cover of the laser beam printer, and also through the method of discharging the paper cassette or opening or closing the printer cover. By directly telling the location of the jam, you can take a series of steps to quickly remove the jam, and you can provide the user's convenience by automatically removing the jam generation paper according to the location of the jam. .

Meanwhile, although one embodiment of the present invention has been described as a laser beam printer as an example, it can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, a facsimile machine, a multifunction machine, etc., which includes an automatic paper feeder without any modification.

Claims (3)

In the jam removing method of the image forming apparatus having an automatic paper feeder, the first step of determining whether the jam is generated by the jam detection means when printing the image according to the predetermined video data, and the determination result jam A second process of searching for the jam occurrence position in response to the occurrence of the jam; and a third process of discharging the paper cassette to the outside of the apparatus in response to the search result if the jam occurrence position is the paper feed area; and the search result. The fourth step of checking whether the jam generating paper is within the allowable range when the jam generating position is the transfer area or the fixing area; and the result of the inspection of the fourth step determines that the jam generating paper is wrinkled. When the paper is within the allowable range, the main motor is rotated to eject the paper, while the amount of wrinkles of the jam generating paper is greater than the allowable range. And a fifth process of opening and closing the cover of the apparatus, and a sixth process of discharging the paper by rotating the main motor correspondingly when the jam occurrence position is the discharge area as a result of the inspection of the fourth process. Jam removal method of the image forming apparatus. The jam removing method of claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a laser beam printer. The method of claim 2, wherein the inspection method of the fourth process is identified as turn-on and turn-off of the photosensor.