JPS606546A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prohibit a device from being brought into an image forming motion until conditions of completing formation of an image are satisfied, by a method wherein, in prior to the starting of formation of an image such as reproduction, it is reported whether the residue of a recording medium is enough. CONSTITUTION:The same combination as that of a clock plate and a photo interrupter 3 is mounted to a motor 40, and an output pulse from the photo interrupter is inputted to a microcomputer. In the micocomputer, counting of the number of such input pulses enables finding of the rotating amount of the motor 40, i.e., a rising distance of a lift 43. If the thickness of the single paper 47 is previously known, the residue of the paper can be calculated from the thickness thereof and the rising distance of the lift. The use of a means for comparing the residue with the number of setting times enables to prohibit the number of setting times from being set in excess of the residue if the residue is less than said number of setting times.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Technical Field) The present invention relates to an image forming device such as a copying machine or a printing device, and particularly relates to detecting the remaining amount of paper on a recording medium for image formation, such as recording paper. This invention relates to improvements in the control of the operating section.

(Background Art) In a conventional image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, how much copy paper remains as an unused recording medium?

I could only make a rough judgment that there was no paper left or not, or that it was running low.

In such devices, especially if a cassette or deck containing unrecorded copy paper is stored inside the copier, the amount of copy paper left is not known at all; for example, if a large number of copies are to be made, After pressing the copy button, I left the copying machine, and when I returned a while later, it had stopped, with no paper left, and I had to replenish the paper and start copying again, which was inconvenient.

Further, some users may not notice even if there is a warning display indicating that copy paper is running low.

(Purpose) Therefore, an object of the present invention is to inform the user whether or not the remaining amount of the recording medium is sufficient before starting image formation such as T-copy, so that the conditions for completing the image formation are satisfied. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus suitably constructed so as to be able to prohibit the image forming operation from starting until the end of the image forming operation.

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

1 to 7 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a copying apparatus. FIG. 1 schematically shows the internal structure of the main body of the copying apparatus, where 1 is a photosensitive drum which forms an electrostatic latent image from y'6j1. 2 is a clock plate that is directly connected to the drum 1 and has a hole or notch for producing clock pulses used to control the main body; 3 is a clock plate that is placed across the clock plate 2, and detects the hole or notch to generate a clock. This is a photointerrupter that generates pulses.

4 and 5 are chargers, 8 is a static eliminator, 7 is a developer, 8 is a cleaner, 8 is a paper feed roller, 1O is a paper feed guide, 11 is a separation roller, 12 is a separation guide, 13 is a conveyance unit, and 14 is a Fixing guide, 15 is a fixing roller, 18 is a paper output tray, 1
7 is a paper thickness sensor section, 18 is a paper feed guide, and 8 is a deck section for storing unrecorded copy paper.

First, when a copying operation is started by pressing a copy start key, which will be described later, the photosensitive drum 1 rotates, and the clock plate 2 directly connected to the drum 1 rotates. Since the clock plate 2 is provided with holes along its circumference, the holes are detected by the photo ink club 3 to generate a control clock.

The photosensitive drum 1 is neutralized by a static eliminator 8, and the photosensitive drum 1 is removed by a cleaner section 8.
The toner on the surface is removed. Then, the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged by the charger 4. Thereafter, a latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1 by a light image from an optical system (not shown).

This latent image is visualized by the developing device 7, and then the toner image is transferred by the transfer charger 5 onto the copy sheet fed from the paper feed roller a along the paper feed guide lO.

Thereafter, the photosensitive drum l repeats the process described in i11 again.

The paper onto which the toner image has been transferred is sent to a conveyance section 13 by a separation roller 11 and a separation guide 12. Furthermore, it is fixed in the fixing section 15 via the fixing guide 14, and then fixed on the paper output tray 1.
The paper is ejected to 6.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the display and operation section of the main body, where 21 is a numerical display section, 22 is a copy start key, and 23 is a numerical display section.
2 is a copy number setting key, 24 is a stop key for interrupting the copying operation, and 25 is a paper size and warning display section on the main body. 26 is a mode switching key for setting the number of sheets and displaying the remaining amount.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the control circuit of the main body, where:
The control unit Ql is a well-known one-chip microcomputer (
(hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer), the central processing unit CP
U, ROM that stores the program, and data memory I'lAI! , an accumulator AGO, and input/output ports A-F for outputting signals necessary for copying operations.

Port A is an input port of G, which is a key part of the operating section shown in FIG. 2, and port B is an output port used for performing a manual scan of the key. Port C is an input section, and sensor outputs from various parts of the main body are input manually.

A circuit of a photo ink converter 3 is connected to the terminal 8 of the port C as an example of a sensor. This circuit 3 corresponds to the photointerrupter 3 shown in the first diagram. D and E are output ports to the display section H, which collectively represents the display sections 21 and 25 shown in FIG.
Dynamic lighting is performed via 0 and 31. Port F is a control output port, and an example is shown in which a circuit for controlling an AC load is connected to its terminal 8. By turning on and off terminal 8 of port F, the SSR circuit Q3 is driven via the transistor Q2, thereby controlling the AC power of the motor, heater, etc.
The load 32 is controlled.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the structure of the deck portion a shown in FIG. Here, 40 is a reversible motor that can rotate in both directions, 41 is a belt driven by the motor 40, and 42 is a cam fixed to the bell I/41, which is rotated by the rotation of the motor 40.
41 moves, this cam 42 moves in the vertical direction in the figure. As a result, the lift 43 that has moved the copy paper 47 up and down moves vertically. 44 and 45 are microswitches, the microswitch 44 detects the lowest position of the lift 43, and the microswitch 45 detects whether the top paper of the paper 47 has reached the proper position 1N. It is something. The detection outputs of these microswitches 44 and 45 are input to the microcomputer Ql shown in FIG. 4θ is a paper feed roller.

i) By opening the i-door (not shown) of the main body, the motor 40 is started and rotated, thereby causing the lift I.43
descends. Next, micro switch 44 or lift 43
When the position is detected, the motor 40 stops. Therefore,
After replenishing the paper, when the front door is closed, the motor 40 rotates in the opposite direction and the lift 43 moves up A.

At this time, although not shown in FIG. 4, the motor 40 is equipped with the same combination of clock plate 2 and photointerrupter 3 shown in FIG. 1, and the output pulse from the photointerrupter is to the microcontroller Ql. The microcomputer Ql can determine the amount of rotation of the motor 40, that is, the amount of lift of the lift 43, by counting the number of human pulses. If the thickness of a sheet of paper is known in advance, the remaining amount of paper can be calculated from the thickness and the upper view of the lift.

As described above, when the lift 43 rises and the microswitch 45 detects the upper y1 position, the motor 40
stops 1Ij1 rotation.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the paper feeding portion shown in FIG. 1. As explained with reference to FIG.
6, the paper passes through the paper feed guide 18, is fed to the paper feed roller 8, and is stopped there. In FIG. 5, 50 is a paper feed guide, and 51 is a paper holding roller.

Further, as soon as the paper feed roller 9 finishes transporting the paper, the lift 43 is raised, and the next paper is fed to the paper feed roller 8 by the paper feed roller 46.

The thickness of the paper can be determined by the amount of rise of the lift 43 at this time.

Another example of thickness detection will now be described with reference to FIG.

Figure 6 shows the paper thickness sensor section 17 that detects the thickness of the paper.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration near FIG. 5 when viewed in a right angle direction. Here, 60 is the paper fed onto the paper feed guide 18. The paper thickness sensor unit 17 consists of a roller 61 and a support for a light emitting diode (LED) 62, and depending on the thickness of the paper 8o, Move up and down.

Since the LED 82 is for detecting the thickness of the paper 6o, it is necessary to have a sufficiently small area.

63 is a charge coupled device (ccn).

The smallest CCCeB6 element can have a size of several microns, which is large enough to detect paper thickness.

Note that while the paper 60 is being conveyed, even if the paper holding roller 51
Even if the paper 6o moves up and down, the paper thickness cannot be measured accurately, so be sure to stop the paper and measure the paper thickness by 1.
It is necessary to do this.

The output of the CCD θ3 is manually input to the microcomputer Q1 as paper thickness data.

In the present invention, the remaining amount of paper is detected as described above, and the operation and display in this case will be described next.

First, in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the number of copies input by the number setting key 23 is displayed on the numerical display section 21. When the paper remaining amount display key 26 is pressed in this state, the remaining amount of the previously inserted paper is displayed for a predetermined period of time, such as 3 seconds, and then the display returns to the number of copies.

The above display control is performed by the microcomputer Ql, and an example of the display control operation procedure in this case will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the number of sheets setting key 23 is pressed, a display routine shown in FIG. 7 is entered. First, in steps STI and ST2, the number of copies and the remaining amount of paper are compared. If the remaining amount of paper is greater than the number of copies, step ST8 is executed and the processing of this routine is ended. On the other hand, if the remaining amount of one sheet is not greater than the number of copies, steps ST3 and ST4 are executed. For example, when the number of copies is 80 manually, "80" is flashed. Alternatively, the remaining amount of paper may be displayed blinking to indicate that there is no more paper left. At the same time, inputs from the next copy start key 22 and number of copies setting key 23 are not accepted.

Next, the process proceeds to step ST5, where it is determined whether or not paper has been replenished. Here, if paper has been replenished, the process returns to step STI and steps 11F+ from STl to ST4 are executed again.

If paper is not replenished, the process moves to step ST8, and if the clear key (C) among the numeric keys shown in the second figure is input here, the number of copies is set to °l° in step ST7.
Then, STELLA 7'5T11 is executed to make it ready to accept inputs from the copy start key 22 and the number of copies setting key 23, and stop blinking the display.

(Effects) As explained above, according to the present invention, manual key power is prohibited depending on the remaining amount of the image forming recording medium, for example copy paper, so that the user can form the desired image. Even if you manually press a key without noticing the display indicating whether the image is in the current state or not, it is still possible to form such an image because the key press is prohibited.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of the main body in an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a display and operation i"il (
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the control circuit according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the deck portion shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 5 and 6 is a detailed configuration diagram of the paper feed section in Figure 1, ? 117 □ is a flowchart showing an example of the control procedure of the control circuit shown in the third figure. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Drum, 2... Clock board, 3... Photo interrupter, 4.5... Charger, 6... Static eliminator, 7... Developer, 8... Cleaner, 8 ... Paper feed roller, 10.18 ... Paper feed roller, 11 ... Separation roller, 12 ... Separation guide, 13 ... Conveyance section, 14 ... Fixing guide, 15 ... Fixing Department. 1B... Paper output tray, 17... Paper thickness sensor, a... Paper storage deck section, 21... Numerical display section, 22... Copy start key, 23... Number of sheets setting key, 24...Stop key, 25...Paper size and warning display section on main unit, 26...
・Display switching key, Ql...Microcomputer, Q2...Transistor. Q3...SSR circuit. 40... Deck part motor. 41... Belt, 42... Cam, 43... Lift, 44... Micro switch for detecting the lowest position of lift 43, 45... When the top paper of paper 47 comes to the proper position. 46...Paper feed roller, 60...Paper, 61...Roller, 62...LED, 83...COD. Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a detection means for detecting the remaining amount J4 of the image forming recording medium, a means for comparing the remaining amount with a set number of times of image formation, and when the remaining amount is less than the set number of times, the set number of times,
An image forming apparatus comprising: means for prohibiting a setting exceeding the remaining amount.