JPH089169A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Correction) [Purpose] To avoid the situation where printing is interrupted as much as possible, and to be able to quickly recover even if a situation occurs where printing is interrupted. [Structure] Host computer and laser printer 1
And at least one of the bins in the image forming system including a mailbox 9 having a plurality of bins # 1 to # 10 controlled by a command from a host computer via serial communication with the printer. (# 10) is set as a common storage bin used by unspecified users, and paper is output to all the bins, and when there is no available storage bin, paper is output to the shared bin # 10. In addition, the information indicating that there is no bin that can be output is temporarily stored in the controller or the host computer, and when the paper output to one of the bins is removed and it becomes possible to output to that bin, it is output to that bin. Then, the user is notified of the output bin.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming system including various networks using a plurality of host computers, a workstation, and a personal computer system, and a sheet discharge means for personal management, that is, a mail box as an addition device of the image forming system. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus connected as above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming system constructed to connect an individual management discharge device, a so-called mail box, to an image forming device and to send and receive various kinds of information separately from an individual discharge device. It is becoming used. As examples of this, for example, the techniques described in JP-A Nos. 2-186429 and 4-48323 are known.

The former known technique is a network type printing system in which a plurality of hosts are used, and in order to maintain confidentiality of printed documents, the network type is shared by a plurality of hosts and has a plurality of discharge trays. In the printing system, some of the discharge trays are key-locked and unlocked by the ID code sent by the host.

The latter known technique is for a specific person whose print data is predetermined in order to prevent the print data printed out by the printing apparatus from being seen by anyone other than a specific user. A means for determining whether or not, and a sheet discharging means for sorting the printed sheets according to the determination result of this determining means into those of a specific person and those not, and discharging the sheets.
It has a stacker that can take out the paper only when the paper on which the print data of a specific person is printed is stored, the password is entered, and this password is determined to belong to the specific person. is there.

In any case, in these conventional examples, consideration was given so that confidentiality could be sufficiently maintained.

[0006]

By the way, even if it is intended that the confidentiality can be sufficiently guaranteed as described above,
The mailbox in this type of image forming system is
Since the network printer is frequently used as a paper discharge place for personal management, if there is some inconvenience in the processing for one user, there is a problem that other users cannot start printing.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances of the prior art as described above, and a first object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of avoiding a situation in which printing is interrupted as much as possible. To do. Also, the second
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can quickly recover even if the printing is interrupted.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of host computers, a printer, and a plurality of commands controlled by commands from the host computer via serial communication between the printer. In an image forming system provided with a mail box having a storage stage, when the power is turned off, the setting of a specific user of the storage stage is canceled, the power is turned on, and the storage stage is handled when the storage stage is used. A control means capable of setting a specific user is provided, and at least one of the storage stages is set as a common storage stage used by an unspecified user.

In this case, when the sheets are discharged to all the storage stages and there is no usable storage stage, it is preferable to output the paper to the shared storage stage, and there is no outputable storage stage. The information may be temporarily stored in the controller or the host computer, and when the paper output to any one of the storage stages is removed and output to the storage stage becomes possible, the information may be output to the storage stage.
Then, the output information about the storage stage may be transmitted to the controller side.

Alternatively, when the sheets are discharged to all the storage trays and there is no storage tray that can be used, a mode in which the paper is output to the shared storage tray and information indicating that there is no storage tray that can be output at the same time are displayed. The controller or the host computer is provided with two modes, that is, a mode in which the sheets are temporarily stored and output to the storage stage are removed, and when the sheets can be output to the storage stage, the mode is output to the storage stage. A mode may be set and the set mode may be executed.

[0011]

In the above structure, one of the storage stages of the mail box is set as a common storage stage, that is, a so-called free box. Therefore, if there is no storage stage registered by the user, or even if the storage stage is designated. If all the storage trays have already been used and the previously output sheet remains, the sheets can be output to the shared storage tray, and the output cannot be performed, so that the operation is not interrupted.

When it is not possible to output to the shared storage stage, the controller or the host computer is informed that the output is not possible, and it is made clear that there is any paper that has not been output, and the output paper is removed and output is possible. Then, the paper that has not been output is output to the storage tray, and at the same time, the information about the output storage tray is transmitted to the controller. As a result, the controller side displays the information about the storage tray output to the display device or transmits the information to the host computer side so that the corresponding user can take out the output sheet without mistake.

In addition, when the paper is discharged to all the storage trays in advance and there is no storage tray that can be used, a mode in which the paper is output to the shared storage tray and information indicating that there is no storage tray that can be output at the same time Is stored in the controller or the host computer once, the paper output to the storage tray is removed, and when output to the storage tray becomes possible, one of two modes is set to output to the storage tray. , If you execute the set mode, the paper will be output as described above anyway, so
There is no interruption of operation, even if it is interrupted,
It is limited to the period in which all the storage bins are used, and when any user removes the paper from the storage bin, the work is resumed immediately.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention in which a mail box (personal discharge device) is attached to a printer (image forming device), and FIG. 2 shows a printer in the image forming system. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a mechanical configuration, and FIG. 3 is a system block diagram showing a connection relationship of printers.

[Schematic Configuration] First, the mechanical configuration of the printer will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the printer includes a laser printer main body (LP main body) 1, an upper paper feeding cassette 2 and a lower paper feeding cassette 3, a large-volume paper discharging unit (LCOT) 8 having upper and lower paper discharging units, and an envelope. And a rear paper ejection tray 5 for ejecting strong paper. In addition, a double-sided unit 6 for printing a screen is provided in the lower portion, and a large-volume sheet feeding unit (LCIT) 7 is attached. Figure 2
10 bins (#
1- # 10) mail box (hereinafter referred to as "MB")
Also called. ) 9 is installed, and the system in which this laser printer is incorporated is an optional double-sided unit 6, mass-feeding unit 7, mass-ejection unit 8,
By selecting the mail box 9 and the mail box 9, various system configurations can be obtained. The operation display panel 1 described later
1 is provided on the upper portion of the laser printer main body 1, and
Similarly, a RAM or R storing font data of different character types is provided on the upper portion of the laser printer body 1.
Font cartridges 12 and 13 having an OM built therein are provided.

[Laser Printer (Image Forming Means)] In the laser printer main body 1, two upper and lower paper feed rollers 19 and 2 are provided.
0, 2 pairs of paper feed rollers 21, 22, a pair of registration rollers 23, a conveyor belt 24, a delivery roller 25, a rear paper discharge roller 26, an upper conveyor roller 27, a lower conveyor roller 28, and a number of guide plates. A paper transport path is formed and constitutes a transport system.

An OPC photosensitive drum 29 is rotatably provided on the upper side of the conveying path between the registration roller 23 and the conveying belt 24, a transfer charger 30 is arranged on the lower side, and the conveying belt 24 and the sending roller 25 are arranged on the lower side. A fixing device 31 is provided between the fixing device 31 and a pair of paper path changing claws 32 and 33 provided between the delivery roller 25 and the rear paper discharge roller 26 downstream of the fixing device 31. Around the photosensitive drum 29, a charging charger (main charger) 3 is further provided.
4, a developing unit 35, a cleaning unit 36, and a charge eliminating LED 37 are provided. The developing unit 35 is attached to the drawer 18 together with the developing motor 38, the toner cartridge 39, and the cleaning unit 36, and these units configure an image forming system.

The respective parts of the writing system are arranged above the image forming system. The writing system includes a polygon mirror (rotating polygon mirror) 44 that reflects and scans laser light from a semiconductor laser (not shown), an fθ lens 45, a first mirror 47, a second mirror 46, and a dustproof glass 48. And a laser writing unit 40 including the above. The laser writing unit 40 itself is known and will not be described here.

A printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as "PCB") rack 5 containing a print engine board 51 and two controller boards 52 is provided on the upper part of the writing system.
3, a PCB pack fan 54 for cooling the PCB, and a main fan 55 for cooling the inside of the laser printer body 1 are further provided. A main motor 57 for rotating and driving the photosensitive drum 29, each roller, and the like, and a power supply unit 58 are provided below the sheet conveyance path.
Also, a high voltage power supply unit 59 for applying a high voltage to each charger is arranged.

Upper paper feed cassette 2 and lower paper feed cassette 3
Are detachably attached to the laser printer main body 1, respectively, and the rear paper ejection tray 5 is stored as shown in the drawing when not in use, and when in use, the rear paper ejection tray 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow with the shaft 5a as a fulcrum to move backward. It can be extended. A registration sensor 60 is arranged in front of the registration roller 23 in the sheet conveying direction, and a fixing outlet sensor 61 is arranged at the sheet exit of the fixing device 31.

In the table 10, a reversing conveyance path 65,
Standby transport path 66, paper path changing claw 67, three sets of transport rollers with clutch 68, 69, 70, double-sided entrance sensor 7
1, a double-sided exit sensor 72, a double-sided unit (DPX) 6 including a double-sided drive motor 73, and the like, and a paper feed roller 74 for feeding paper from a large-volume paper feed unit (LCIT) 7; Roller 75, duplex unit 6
A sheet feeding roller 76, which is also used for, and an LCIT drive motor 77 are also incorporated. Although not shown in the figure, a mechanism for raising and lowering the stored sheets, a drive motor for driving the mechanism, and the like are built in the large-volume sheet feeding unit 7.

The large-volume sheet discharging unit (LCOT) 8 includes a conveying roller 80, a sheet path changing claw 81, and an upper sheet discharging roller 8.
2, lower-stage discharge roller 83, upper-stage discharge tray 84, lower-stage discharge tray 85, and two-stage discharge tray 8 (not shown)
A mechanism for moving each of the rollers 4, 85 in the width direction to shift the sheet discharge position, a drive motor (job separation motor) for the same, and various sensors and switches are provided.

The control system of this laser printer system will be described in detail later, but image data and the like from a host such as a computer, a workstation, and a word processor (not shown) are input to the print engine PCB 51 via the controller PCB 52 and processed. After selecting the paper feed path and the paper discharge path, the print operation is started by the print start request signal. When the print sequence starts, one of the paper feed rollers 19, 20, and 74 is driven at a predetermined timing, and the upper paper feed cassette 2, the lower paper feed cassette 3, or the LCIT 7 is selected. Start feeding the paper and feed roller 2
The sheet is fed by any one of 1, 22, and 75, and is temporarily stopped while being abutted against the registration roller 23. When the print sequence is started, one of the paper feed rollers 19, 20, and 74 is driven at a predetermined timing to start paper feeding from the tray selected from the paper feed trays 2, 3, and 7, and the registration roller is started. It is stopped in the state of hitting 23.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 29 rotates in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 1, and the surface charged by the charger 34, the surface charged by the laser writing unit 40, and the image data by the laser writing unit 40 are converted into image data. A correspondingly modulated laser beam is irradiated while performing main scanning in the drum axis direction to be exposed to form a latent image. The latent image is developed by toner in the developing unit 35, and is transferred by operating the transfer charger 30 to the sheet fed by the registration roller 23 at a predetermined timing.

The transferred sheet is separated from the photosensitive drum 29, conveyed to the fixing device 31 by the conveying belt 24, heated and fixed by the fixing device 31, and then sent out to the paper discharge portion by the sending roller 25. At that time, the paper path changing claw 32,
Select the paper path according to the rotation position of 33, 81,
The large-volume sheet discharge unit 8 discharges the sheets to either the upper sheet discharge tray 84, the lower sheet discharge tray 85, or the rear sheet discharge tray 5. Normally, one of the trays of the large-volume paper discharge unit 8 is selected and the printed paper is discharged face down, but in special cases such as when using strong paper such as envelopes and postcards. Then, the rear discharge tray 5 is selected. However, when the rear paper ejection tray 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 and the rear paper ejection roller 26 is not ready to eject paper, the rear paper ejection tray 5 cannot be selected.

When double-sided printing is selected, the sheet printed on one side is sent to the double-sided unit 6 in the table 10 by the lower conveying roller 28. Then, after being first fed to the reversing conveyance path 65, the conveyance direction is reversed and conveyed to the waiting conveyance path 66 to stand by, and is fed to the main body 1 by the paper feed roller 76 at a predetermined timing, Similarly, the other side is printed, and then discharged to one of the discharge trays.

[System Configuration of Control System] The connection relationship of the control system of this embodiment is as shown in the system block diagram of FIG. In FIG. 1, a power supply unit 58 in the laser printer main body 1, a print engine PCB 51, a controller PCB 52, heaters and fans 54 and 55 of the fixing device 31, a double-sided unit 6 and a large-volume sheet feeding unit 7 in the table 10 are shown. DPX & LC to control
The IT / PCB 91 and the MB / PCB 93 for controlling the mail box (MB) unit 92 when the mail box 9 is attached are respectively connected to power lines 94A and 9A.
It is directly connected by 4B, 94C, 94D and 94E.

Further, connection lines 95A and 95B including a power supply line and a signal line are provided between the print engine PCB 51 and the print engine (PE) unit (including each mechanical portion in FIG. 1) 90 and between the controller PCB 52. The connection lines 95C and 95D including the power supply line and the signal line are connected between the standard discharge unit 4 and the standard discharge unit 4 and the large-size discharge unit (LCOT) 8 when connected. Connect by.

The print engine PCB 51 and DP
Two optical fiber cables 96A, 96B, 96C for transmission and reception are respectively provided between the X & LCIT PCB91, MB PCB93, and the operation display panel PCB94.
Signals are exchanged by optical communication between them. And the controller PCB52
Is connected to a host system such as a computer or a word processor by a connection cable 97, and data such as image data is input from the connection cable 97.

Power is also supplied to the operation display panel PCB94 from the power supply unit 58, the print engine PCB51, or the controller PCB52 via a power supply line (not shown). Print engine PCB51, controller PCB52, LCOT8, DPX & LCIT / PC
B91, MB / PCB93, and operation display panel / PC
Each of the B94s includes a micro computer that controls the control of each unit.

[Connection State of Loads and Sensors to Each PCB] Next, the print engine PCB in this embodiment
The connection between 51 and the other PCBs 52, 91, 93, 24 and the connection state of each PCB and its various loads and sensors will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the power supply unit 58 rectifies and steps down the voltage supplied from the commercial AC power supply 174,
The voltages of V _CC , V _LG1 , V _LG2, and V _DRV are output, and these output voltages are output to the print engine PCB 51, respectively.
Controller PCB52, DPX & LCIT PCB9
1 and MB / PCB 93 are powered. The output voltage of V _DRV is supplied to the print engine PCB 51 via an interlock switch (not shown). Further, a voltage switching circuit is provided in the power supply unit 58, and the main fan 55 and the PCB pack fan 5 are connected through this circuit.
4, during the print V _DRY, V _DRY in standby
It supplies a lower V _LG1 voltage to change the fan speed during printing and during standby.

In addition, the print engine PCB51 and DP
The optical fiber cables 96A, 96B, 96 are connected between the X & LCIT.PCB 91, the MB.PCB 93, and the operation display panel PCB 94, respectively, as described above.
They are connected by C respectively. This connection is shown in Figure 4.
, Each serial interface port SIF of the communication control interface circuit (CCI) 150 in the print engine PCB 51, and the CPU in the PCB 91.
152, a CPU 157 in the PCB 93 and each serial interface port SIF of a CPU (not shown) in the operation display panel PCB 94 are connected to each other through an optical fiber.
This is done by connecting by an optical communication line via a cable.

A drum counter (nonvolatile memory NVRAM or E ² PRO) controlled by the CPU 142 is provided in the print engine PCB 51.
M) and a power control circuit for controlling the light emission power of the semiconductor laser 41, and the drive circuit of the semiconductor laser 41 having the laser diode LD and the monitoring photodiode PD performs video control directly and via the power control circuit. It is connected to the circuit 149. The video control circuit 149 controls the laser diode LD by the modulation signal VIDEO corresponding to the image data while controlling the emission brightness of the laser diode LD by the semiconductor laser drive circuit by the power control circuit to be constant using the feedback signal from the photodiode PD. Flashing is performed to control writing of print data to the photosensitive drum 29 by the laser writing unit 40 shown in FIG. The sync detection signal DETP obtained by waveform-shaping the detection signal of the photodetector that receives the reflected light from the polygon mirror 44 before writing is also input to the video control circuit 149 to regulate the write start magnetism.

Further, this print engine PCB51
Includes a job separation motor for moving each component in the large-volume discharge unit (LCOT) 8, that is, each discharge tray to the left and right, a sensor for detecting the left and right position of each discharge tray, and a paper path changing claw 81. A plunger for driving to select the upper and lower discharge trays, a lower exit switch, an upper exit switch, overflow sensors of upper and lower and lower discharge trays, etc. are connected.

The DPX & LCIT PCB 91 includes a clutch 219 for double-sided conveyance, a double-sided drive motor 73, a double-sided entrance sensor 71, a double-sided exit sensor 72, a plunger 67P for driving the paper path changing claw 67, and hereinafter LCI.
T paper feed clutch 220, drive motor 77, paper size sensor 221, paper stack vertical drive motor 222, cover open switch 223, upper limit switch 224, lower limit switch 225, paper end sensor 226, tray lowering switch 227. , And a double-sided cover open switch 228 are connected.

Further, the mail box PCB 93 has a carrying motor 230, a bin paper sensor 231, a bin overflow sensor 232, a mail box entrance sensor (feed-in sensor) 233, and plungers 235 # 1 to 235 # for selecting each bin. 9. A job separation motor 240 for moving each bin left and right, a left end switch 241 and a right end switch 242 for detecting the left and right positions of each bin are connected.

The controller PCB 52 is connected to the CPU 142 and the video control circuit 149 in the print engine PCB 51 by a large number of signal lines, and is also connected to the font cartridges 12 and 13 and the emulation card 14. Further, the voltage of V _CC is supplied to the operation display panel PCB94.

[Mailbox (MB) PCB] FIG. 5 is a system block diagram showing details of the MB / PCB 93. The MB / PCB 93 includes a CPU 157, an address latch circuit 161, a ROM 162 which is a program memory,
RAM163 which is a data memory, expansion I / O164,
A driver / receiver 165 and a communication control interface circuit 166 are provided.

The mail box 9 according to this embodiment has one
Approximately 9 bins, and the 10th bin is a general (common) paper ejection unit. The 9 bins # 1 to # 9 are provided with a lock plunger and a branch claw plunger, respectively, as a selection plunger for each bin. Further, the overflow sensors 232 # 1 to 232 # 9 and the bin paper empty sensor 231 are provided.
# 1 to 231 # 9 are provided. Also, this MB
The PCB 93 is also provided with a door switch 234 and a card reader 235 for detecting opening of a door provided for removal during paper jam, in addition to the above-described transport motor 230 and feed-in sensor 233. In addition, a display unit 200 that displays jams, overflows in each bin, and other information.
An operation display unit 200 including a and an operation unit 200b for releasing the bin lock, inputting an ID code, and performing other input operations is also connected. Note that the bin-out sensor 231 and the bin overflow sensor 232 in FIG.
In addition to the 1st to 9th bins (# 1 to # 9 bins), the shared 10th bin (# 10 bin) includes a no-paper sensor and a bin overflow sensor.

The interface circuit 166 of the MB / PCB 93 may be connected to the controller PCB 52 and the host computer, but considering the system configuration, it interfaces with the print engine and configures the mailbox 9 as a part of the laser printer 1. It is generally preferable to use the print engine because the print engine can cover everything from the input of the print paper to the discharge.

[Overall Control of Printer] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the overall control procedure of the printer.
In the figure, first, after turning on the power, initial setting of each state,
That is, system initialization is performed (step S
1) The subroutine of the engine status check module is executed to check the internal state of the print engine itself such as the maintenance request of the print engine and the error occurrence (step S2), and the subroutine of the engine-controller interface module is executed to print. The interface control between the engine and the controller is checked (step S3).

Further, in step S4, a subroutine of the engine-option interface module is executed to execute interface control of a device which is optionally connected to the print engine, and in step S5, such as sheet passing timing and ON / OFF of high voltage. Executes the subroutine of the module that performs sequence control. When the process of step S5 ends, the process returns to step S2 and the processes of step S2 and subsequent steps are repeated.

On the other hand, it has a module for interrupt processing for performing each processing independently of the main sequence shown in FIG. 6, and enters this routine at every predetermined time set by the print engine CPU 142, and it is necessary. It is supposed to process. That is, in the interrupt processing routine as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, first, in step S11, it is determined whether or not there is an interrupt check, and if it is not the interrupt check timing, the process returns as it is. By executing each interrupt process (step S1
2) Return.

[Free Box Automatic Selection Control] In this embodiment, the mail box 9 has 9 bins # 1 to # 9,
# 10 is set as a free box. The control procedure of the free box automatic selection control at this time is shown in the flowchart of FIG. This process is performed at a predetermined time interval or every predetermined condition. In this process, it is checked whether or not each bin # 1 to #N (N = 9 in the embodiment) of the mail box 6 can be used (steps S21 to 24), and if all the bins cannot be used, the free box (# 1
0) is selected as the paper discharge port (step S25). If there is an unused bin, that bin is selected as the paper ejection port of the mail box bin (step S26).

In this embodiment, the mail box 9
Although the number of bins is described as 10 stages, the number of bins N is actually an arbitrary natural number because it can be set as appropriate according to the mailboxes that are further connected as shown in FIG.

When the power of the mail box 9 is turned off, the memories of the user settings for all the bins are reset, and when the power is turned on and the use of the mail box 9 is started, the users of the bins are reset. Set and make each bin function as a so-called mailbox.

[Mail Box Selection Control] When the shared bin is not used as a free box, the bin from which the paper has been removed as the mail box is set and output when the paper is removed. This process is performed at a predetermined time interval or every predetermined condition. In this process, the bins # 1 to #N of the mail box 6 (N in the embodiment
= 9) is available (step S31)
34), if all the bins are unusable, the mailbox is set as unusable and the controller 52
(Step S35). As a method of transmitting, a method of transmitting status via serial communication, turning on / off a signal via an output port, or the like is adopted.

Further, steps S31 to S3
If any of the bins becomes usable in the check of 4, the bin is selected as the bin of the mail box, and the number of the selected bin is transmitted to the controller 52 side. The information transmitted to the controller 52 is transmitted to the host computer side via the connection cable 97.

[Mode Selection Control] When all the mail boxes are in use, there are a mode for outputting to the free box as described above and a mode for transmitting warning information to the controller without selecting the free box, The control is such that both can be selected. In this control procedure, first, in step S41, it is checked whether or not the free box automatic selection control mode is selected, and if it is selected, the control of FIG. 8, that is, the free box automatic selection control is executed and selected in step S42. If not, the control of FIG. 9, that is, the mailbox selection control is executed in step S43. This selection is determined by a predetermined input value, for example, the status of serial communication from the controller, the value of the input port by the DIP switch, or the like.

[0052]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects.

That is, according to the invention of claim 1, wherein at least one of the storage stages is set as a common storage stage used by an unspecified user, there is no storage stage registered by the user himself. Both can output to the common storage stage, and there is no fear of interrupting the printing operation because the output cannot be performed.

According to the invention of claim 2, further comprising a control means for outputting the paper to the shared storage tray when the sheets are discharged to all the storage trays and there is no usable storage tray. Even if the storage tray set for each of the storage trays cannot be used, the output is output to the common storage tray, so there is no risk of interruption of the printing operation.

When the sheets are discharged to all the storage trays and there is no storage tray that can be used, the information indicating that there is no storage tray that can be output is temporarily stored in the controller or the host computer, and the paper output to the storage tray is removed. According to the invention as set forth in claim 3, further comprising a control means for outputting to the storage stage when the output becomes possible to the storage stage. When it is informed and ready to output, it automatically outputs to the empty storage tray, so the interruption time can be minimized.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the control means can inform the user of the output storage stage, so that the user can be notified of the output storage stage. The output paper can be immediately taken out from the storage stage without looking for the output bin, and the dead time can be minimized.

Paper is discharged to all the storage tiers, and when there is no usable storage tier, a mode in which the paper is output to the common storage tier and paper is discharged to all the storage tiers When the controller or host computer temporarily stores the information that there is no storage tray that can be output when there is no
It has two modes, one is a mode to output to the storage stage when the paper output to the storage stage is removed and the output to the storage stage becomes possible, and either mode is set in advance and set. According to the invention of claim 5, which is provided with a control means for executing the different mode, the interruption of the printing operation is avoided or the interruption time is minimized by selecting the control mode which is considered to be most suitable for the user. Can be suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an internal structure of an image forming unit in an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus in which a sheet for personal management is attached to the image forming unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a system block diagram showing a connection relationship of a control system of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a print engine PCB according to the embodiment and another P.
It is a block diagram which shows the connection state between CB.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a connection state of each unit to the mailbox PCB according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an overall control procedure of the printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an interrupt control procedure in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of free box automatic selection control in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of mailbox selection control in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a selection control procedure of either a free box automatic selection mode or a mail box selection mode in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Laser Printer Main Body 9 Mail Box 10 Table 11 Operation Display Panel 51 Print Engine PCB 52 Controller PCB 58 Power Supply Unit 90 Print Engine (PE) Unit 91 DPX $ LCIT / PCB 92 Mail Box (MB) Unit 93 Mail Box (MB) PCB 94 Operation display panel PCB 142, 152, 157 CPU #N Selected bin in mailbox # 10 Free box

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical indication H04N 1/00 Z (72) Inventor Masaki Narita 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks Within Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Hiroshi Komai 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image forming system comprising a host computer, a printer, and a mailbox having a plurality of storage stages controlled by a command from the host computer via serial communication with the printer, When the power is turned off, the setting of the specific user of the storage stage is canceled, the power is turned on, and when the storage stage is used, with a control means capable of setting the specific user corresponding to the storage stage, An image forming system, wherein at least one of the storage stages is set as a common storage stage used by an unspecified user. 2. The control means for outputting the paper to the shared storage stage when the storage stage is discharged and the available storage stage is not available. Image forming system. 3. When the sheets are ejected to all the storage stages and there is no usable storage stage, the information indicating that there is no storage stage that can be output is temporarily stored in the controller or the host computer, and the sheets output to the storage stage are stored. The control means for causing the storage stage to output when is removed and is ready to output to the storage stage.
The image forming system described. 4. The image forming system according to claim 3, wherein the control means transmits the output information about the storage stage to the controller or the host computer side. 5. A mode in which paper is ejected to all of the storage stages and a sheet is output to the shared storage stage when there is no usable storage stage, and paper is ejected to all of the storage stages, Information that there is no storage tray that can be output when there is no storage tray available is temporarily stored in the controller or host computer, and the paper output to the storage tray is removed,
It is provided with two modes, that is, a mode for outputting to the storage stage when it becomes possible to output to the storage stage, and a control means for setting one of the modes in advance and executing the set mode. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein: