KR100648667B1 - Image forming apparatus having function of automatic recovery from paper jam and method therof - Google Patents

Abstract

An image forming apparatus having a paper jam automatic recovery function and a method thereof are disclosed. An image forming apparatus having an automatic paper jam recovery function according to the present invention includes an interface for receiving print data according to a print command from a connected host, a printing unit for transferring print paper along a transfer path, and printing the print data; And a paper jam detection unit for detecting a paper jam occurrence during transfer, and a controller for switching the printing unit to an initial state, performing a preheating operation, and forcibly transporting and discharging the print paper when a paper jam occurs. Accordingly, when a paper jam occurs, user intervention can be minimized and printing can be continued for user convenience.

Paper Jams, Automatic Recovery, Preheating, Feed Path

Description

Image forming apparatus having function of automatic recovery from paper jam and method therof}

1 is a block diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a view provided to explain the operation of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1; and

3 is a flowchart provided to explain an operation of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

100: host device 110: network interface

130: control unit 150: display

200: image forming apparatus 210: interface

220: paper detection unit 230: control unit

240 printing unit 250 panel operation unit

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a paper jam automatic recovery function and a method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus and a method having an automatic paper jam recovery function for forcibly feeding and discharging printing paper when a paper jam occurs. It is about.

In general, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a laser beam printer, or the like is a device that receives print data from a host device and prints on print paper.

A general image forming apparatus generates an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photoconductor, develops by attaching toner to the surface of the photoconductor on which the electrostatic latent image is formed, using a developing roller that receives the toner from a toner supply roller, and then transfers the roller. Is driven to transfer printing paper between the transfer roller and the photosensitive member, and transfers the image formed with the toner to the printing paper.

The printing paper conveyed by the conveying roller and transferred to the image passes through a fixing unit provided with a heating roller and a pressure roller and receives heat. As a result, the toner transferred to the sheet is temporarily melted, pressure is applied to the sheet, and the transferred toner is fixed.

To this end, the image forming apparatus generates heat from a heat source in a step of preparing to perform a printing operation in an initial state, heats a heating roller to a predetermined temperature, drives a driving motor to rotate a developing roller, a heating roller, and the like, and remains after the printing operation. Perform preheating process, such as removing toner.

That is, the image forming apparatus drives the transfer roller to transfer the print paper through the transfer path passing through the developing roller, the transfer roller, the heating roller, and the pressure roller, and prints the print data through a process of developing, transferring, and fixing.

Therefore, the feed roller, the developing roller, the transfer roller, the heating roller, the pressure roller, and the like of the image forming apparatus are adjusted and installed so as to be smoothly conveyed without applying excessive pressure to the printing paper.

However, the printing paper is caught at a specific position of the transfer path according to various variables such as the thickness of various printing paper and the input time interval of the printing paper, and the feeding stops. This phenomenon is called a paper jam.

In general, when a paper jam occurs, the image forming apparatus can no longer perform printing, so the printing operation is stopped and a paper jam occurrence is displayed through a panel operation unit (OPE) provided in the image forming apparatus.

Therefore, the user has to go to the place where the image forming apparatus is installed to check the fact that a paper jam has occurred, open the main body cap of the image forming apparatus, remove the printing paper, and close the lid again so that the printing can be continued. Has a problem.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a method having an automatic paper jam recovery function for forcibly conveying and discharging printing paper by performing a preheating process by initializing the system when a paper jam occurs in the image forming apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus having an automatic paper jam recovery function according to the present invention includes an interface for receiving print data according to a print command from a connected host, transferring print paper along a transfer path, and transferring the print data. A printing unit for printing, a paper jam detection unit for detecting a paper jam occurrence during transfer of the printing paper, and a controller for switching the printing unit to an initial state, performing a preheating operation, and forcibly feeding and discharging the printing paper when the paper jam occurs It includes.

Preferably, the control unit controls the printing unit to repeat the forced feeding operation for the printing paper a predetermined number of times when the paper jam occurs.

The control unit preferably notifies the host of the paper jam through the interface when the printing paper is not discharged according to the forced conveyance operation for the printing paper.

The control unit may further determine whether to perform the forced transfer operation of the printing unit according to the position of the paper jam in the transfer path of the printing paper.

On the other hand, the automatic jam recovery method of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the step of receiving the print data according to the print command from the connected host, the step of transferring the print paper along the transfer path and printing the print data, the printing If a paper jam occurs during the transfer of paper, performing a forced feeding on the printing paper, and notifying the host of the paper jam when the printing paper is not discharged according to the forced feeding. .

Accordingly, when a paper jam occurs during the printing operation, printing may be continuously performed when the paper is automatically forcibly transported and discharged.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated, the image forming apparatus 200 is connected to the host apparatus 100 through a network to perform mutual data communication. In the drawings, only the blocks related to the automatic paper jam recovery function according to the present invention are shown among the host apparatus 100 and the image forming apparatus 200, and other blocks are omitted for convenience of description.

The host device 100 performs a network interface 110 for interfacing between the image forming apparatus 200 and the host device 100, various control programs for performing operations of the host device 100, and operation of the host device 100. Memory 120 for storing the data and detailed information on the data, the controller 130 for controlling the host device 100 according to the driving program embedded in the memory 120, a plurality of numeric keys and functions A display having a key to display a pop-up window for displaying an operation state such as a paper jam of the input unit 140 and the image forming apparatus 200 which transmits a key signal corresponding to a key selected by the user to the controller 130 ( 150).

In addition, the image forming apparatus 200 includes an interface 210, a paper jam detection unit 220, a control unit 230, a printing unit 240, and a panel operation unit (OPE) 250.

The interface 210 interfaces between the controller 230 and the host device 100 to transmit various data such as a print command and print data applied from the host device 100 to the controller 230, and in the controller 230 The processed data is transmitted to the network image forming apparatus 200.

The paper jam detection unit 220 includes a plurality of sensors according to a transfer path of printing paper, and detects a paper jam occurrence and generation position during transfer of printing paper, and detects a paper jam occurrence and generation position when paper jam occurrence is detected. The signal is transmitted to the controller 230.

The controller 230 generally controls the image forming apparatus 200 according to a driving program embedded in the image forming apparatus 200, processes the data applied through the network interface 210, and transmits the data to the host apparatus 100. The data to be transmitted is processed and transmitted to the network image forming apparatus 100 through the network interface 210.

In addition, when receiving a paper jam detection signal from the paper jam detection unit 220, the controller 230 controls the printing unit 240 in accordance with the automatic paper jam recovery function according to the present invention to perform a forced feed to the print paper. .

When the print command and the print data are input from the control unit 230, the print unit 240 transfers the print paper along the transfer path, transfers the image corresponding to the print data onto the print paper using a developer, and prints on the print paper. The image corresponding to the print data transferred to the image, i.e., the developer, is pressurized at high temperature to be fixed on the printing paper to perform printing.

To this end, the printing unit 240 performs preheating in advance in the initial state where the operation is started before a print command is input. The controller 230 switches the printing unit 240 to an initial state, if necessary, such as when the image forming apparatus 200 is turned on, when the cartridge of the image forming apparatus 200 is opened or closed, and when the opening / closing operation of the main body lid is checked. Control to perform preheating.

The printing unit 240 performs a preheating operation when it is switched to the initial state by the control unit 230, operates a heat source (not shown) of the fixing unit (not shown), and heats the heating roller to a predetermined temperature necessary for the printing operation. A heating roller drives a feeding roller for conveying paper by heating and driving a driving motor (not shown). The developing roller is rotated to perform a cleaning operation and the like and to prepare a printing operation.

The panel operation unit (OPE) 250 includes an input unit (not shown) including a plurality of numeric keys and function keys, and applies a control signal generated by a user's key operation to the controller 230. In addition, the panel operation unit (OPE) 250 includes an LCD (not shown) for displaying an operation state of the image forming apparatus, and displays a paper jam state when a paper jam occurs.

2 is a view provided to explain the automatic paper jam recovery operation of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a flow chart provided to explain the automatic paper jam recovery method of the image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, a paper jam automatic recovery operation of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, print data is received from the host apparatus 100 to the image forming apparatus 200 according to a printing command (S310).

The control unit 230 of the image forming apparatus 200 processes the print data according to the received print command, controls the print unit 240 to transfer the print paper, and performs printing (S320).

The controller 230 determines whether a paper jam occurs during printing of the printing unit 240 according to the detection signal received from the paper jam detection unit 220 (S330).

When a paper jam is detected by the paper jam detection unit 220 and a detection signal indicating a paper jam occurrence and its location is input to the controller 230, the controller 230 determines whether to perform an automatic recovery operation according to the paper jam. Determine (S340).

Here, it is preferable that the controller 230 determines whether to perform the automatic recovery operation according to the position where the paper jam occurs. That is, referring to FIG. 2, it is preferable to perform an automatic recovery operation when a paper jam occurs in the paper insertion hole ① and the transfer path ② inside the main body of the image forming apparatus. However, when a paper jam occurs in the paper outlet (③) of the transfer path, it is preferable that the user directly discharge the printed paper. In this case, the automatic recovery operation is not performed.

 On the other hand, when performing the automatic recovery operation, the control unit 230 switches the printing unit 240 to the initial state to perform a preheating operation by rotating the feed roller to forcibly transport the print paper (S350). As described above, the printing unit 240 performs a preheating operation when switched to the initial state, and not only heats the heating lamp by the preheating operation, but also drives the feed roller which transfers the print paper by operating the driving motor. Therefore, in the case where the print paper is located in the transfer path, the print paper is forcibly transferred according to the driving of the feed roller and discharged through the paper discharge port.

However, when printing paper is not discharged through the paper outlet despite the drive of the feed roller, the control unit 230 switches the printing unit 240 to an initial state for a predetermined number of times and repeats the preheating operation. Force the transfer of the printing paper located.

However, in spite of the repeated preheating operation and the forced paper feeding operation, the printing paper is not discharged to the paper outlet and the paper jam is detected by the paper jam detection unit 220. In addition, the controller 230 causes the panel operation unit 250 to display a paper jam occurrence, generates a message indicating the paper jam occurrence, and transmits the message to the host device 100 through the interface 210 to notify the paper jam occurrence ( S370).

When receiving a message indicating the occurrence of a paper jam, the host device 100 preferably displays a paper jam on the display 150 through a pop-up window to notify the user of the paper jam.

On the other hand, when the printing paper is transported and discharged to the paper outlet according to the preheating operation for automatic paper jam recovery and the forced paper transfer operation, the control unit 240 next prints the corresponding page to be printed on the discharged printing paper. The printing unit 240 is controlled to print again on the printing paper and the printing operation is continued (S380).

According to the image forming apparatus having the automatic paper jam recovery function according to the present invention, it is possible to continue printing by automatically forcibly transporting and discharging printing paper without notifying the user immediately when a paper jam occurs.

In addition, in the case of a relatively simple paper jam that can be recovered without a separate user's work, the user may not perform a cumbersome work by forcibly transporting and discharging the print paper without the user's intervention, thereby improving user convenience.

As described above, according to the present invention, when a jam of the printing paper occurs during the printing operation, the printing paper is automatically forcibly transported and discharged so that the printing can be continued and the user's convenience can be achieved.

In addition, when a paper jam occurs, it automatically determines whether a paper jam recovery operation is performed according to the paper jam state of the printing paper, and no user intervention is required.In case of a paper jam recovery failure, the user is notified of the paper jam to take the necessary action. To be able.

In the above described and illustrated with respect to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, it is usually in the art to which the subject innovation belongs without departing from the spirit of the subject innovation claimed in the claims. Anyone of ordinary skill in the art can make various modifications, as well as such changes are within the scope of the claims.

Claims (5)

An interface for receiving print data according to a print command from a connected host; A printing unit which transfers print paper along a transfer path and prints the print data; A paper jam detection unit for detecting a paper jam occurrence during the transfer of the printing paper; And When the paper jam occurs, the printing unit is switched to an initial state, a preheating operation is performed, and the printing paper is controlled to be discharged by forcing, and when the printing paper is not discharged according to the forced feeding, And a control unit for notifying a paper jam. The image forming apparatus having a paper jam auto recovery function. The method of claim 1, And the control unit controls the printing unit to repeat the forced feeding operation for the printing sheet a predetermined number of times when the paper jam occurs. delete The method of claim 1, And the control unit determines whether or not the forced feeding operation of the printing unit is performed according to a paper jam position of the printing paper in the conveying path. Receiving print data according to a print command from a connected host; Transferring the print paper along a transfer path and printing the print data; If a paper jam occurs during the transfer of the printing paper, performing a forced feeding on the printing paper; And And notifying the host of the paper jam when the printing paper is not discharged according to the forced conveyance.

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