JP4391158B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus with good usability by promptly notifying an abnormal state of a fixing unit or the like when power is turned on.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the image forming apparatus 100 such as a printer or a copying apparatus includes a plotter unit 110, a controller unit 120, an operation unit 130, and the like. The plotter unit 110 includes sequence control and a controller unit of the plotter unit 110. 120, a control unit 111 that communicates with 120, an image forming unit 112 that forms a toner image on transfer paper by an electrophotographic process by the control unit 111, and a fixing unit that thermally fixes the toner image formed on the transfer paper by the image forming unit 112 113 grade.

  The controller unit 120 controls the controller unit 120 and communicates with the plotter unit 110 or the operation unit 130, the I / F unit 122 connected to the network, and the image data transmitted via the I / F unit 122. A hard disk (hereinafter referred to as HDD) 123, a non-volatile memory 124 that holds characteristic values of the image forming apparatus, abnormal state management data, and the like.

  The operation unit 130 includes a control unit 131 that controls the operation unit 130 and communicates with the controller unit 120, a display unit 132 that displays the state of the image forming apparatus 100, and an input unit 133 that sets the image forming apparatus 100. ing.

  In the image forming apparatus 100, when the power is turned on, the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110, the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120, and the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130 are individually initialized, and the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 is When initialization of the controller unit 120 is completed, initialization of the communication module with the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110 and connection confirmation are performed, and the fixing unit 113 is abnormal from the data held in the nonvolatile memory 124 (abnormal state management data). If it is confirmed that the state is not in a state, a command “fixing status = OK” is transmitted to the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110. When receiving the “fixing status = OK” command from the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120, the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110 starts lighting a fixing heater (not shown) built in the fixing unit 113.

  When an abnormality occurs in the fixing unit 113, the control unit 121 writes the abnormality status in the nonvolatile memory 124 so that the abnormality status of the nonvolatile memory 124 is not canceled until the abnormality state is repaired. Therefore, when the power is turned OFF / ON in a state where an abnormality has occurred in the fixing unit 113, after the initialization of the controller unit 120 is completed, the “fixing” is performed from the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 to the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110. Since the command “status = NG” is transmitted, the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110 cannot start lighting a fixing heater (not shown) built in the fixing unit 113.

  When the power is turned on, the controller 121 of the controller unit 120 initializes the communication module with the controller 131 of the operation unit 130 and confirms the connection when the initialization of the controller unit 120 is completed. Display data generated based on the data (including abnormal state management data) is transmitted to the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130. When receiving the screen data from the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120, the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130 displays the screen data on the display unit 132.

  When the power is turned OFF / ON in a state where an abnormality has occurred in the fixing unit 113, after the initialization of the controller unit 120 is completed, the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 checks the abnormal status of the nonvolatile memory 124, and The screen data generated based on the abnormality status is transmitted to the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130, and abnormality information of the fixing unit 113, for example, information such as SC (service man call) is displayed on the display unit 132.

  The time required for initialization of the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110, the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120, and the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130 when the power is turned on is controlled by the control unit 111 and the operation unit 130 of the plotter unit 110. While the unit 131 is about 1 second, the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 is several tens of seconds. This is because a logic unit including a CPU (not shown) can be initialized in a few seconds, whereas the HDD 123 requires several tens of seconds for its rise time. That is, the controller 121 of the controller unit 120 can complete initialization of the controller unit 120 by waiting for the HDD 123 to rise and confirming normal access with the HDD 123.

  Therefore, initialization of the controller unit 120 is performed when communication between the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 and the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110 is started or communication between the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 and the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130 is started. After completion, the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110 receives the “fixing status = OK” command and starts the lighting of the fixing heater (not shown) of the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110. It will be after several tens of seconds from the completion of initialization. In order to satisfy the function, the fixing unit 113 needs to be heated to a predetermined temperature, and the initialization time of the controller unit 120 + the rising time of the fixing unit 113 becomes the rising time of the image forming apparatus 100. .

  On the other hand, the same applies to the operation unit 130. The control unit 131 of the operation unit 130 can receive the screen data and display the screen data on the display unit 132. The initialization of the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130 is completed. Tens of seconds have passed since then. In the meantime, not the screen reflecting the state of the image forming apparatus 100 (characteristic values stored in the nonvolatile memory 124, abnormal state management data), but information generated by the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130, for example, “waiting” Please display "or the like.

  Therefore, when the power is turned OFF / ON in a state where an abnormality has occurred in the fixing unit 113, after the initialization of the controller unit 120 is completed, the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 checks the abnormal status of the nonvolatile memory 124, and Since it takes tens of seconds to transmit the generated screen data to the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130, after displaying “please wait” for several tens of seconds, abnormality information of the fixing unit 113, for example, SC ( Serviceman call) will be displayed.

  On the other hand, conventionally, as in the image forming apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 6, there is a type in which the non-volatile memory 211 is mounted in the plotter unit 210 and abnormal state management data of the fixing unit 113 is held. In FIG. 6, the same components as those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  In this image forming apparatus 200, when the power is turned on, the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 210, the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120, and the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130 are each initialized independently. Then, the time required for initialization of the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 210 is about 1 second. When the initialization is completed, the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 210 accesses the nonvolatile memory 211 and confirms that the fixing unit 113 is not in an abnormal state among the data stored in the nonvolatile memory 211. Otherwise, lighting of a fixing heater (not shown) built in the fixing unit 113 is started.

  When the fixing unit 113 is in an abnormal state, the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 210 does not turn on a fixing heater (not shown) built in the fixing unit 113, and after several tens of seconds have elapsed, the controller unit 120 When the initialization of the controller 120 is completed, the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 initializes the communication module with the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130 and confirms the connection, confirms the abnormal status of the nonvolatile memory 124, and The screen data generated based on the above is transmitted to the control unit 131 of the operation unit 130, and abnormality information of the fixing unit 113, for example, SC (Service Man Call) is displayed on the display unit 132.

  However, even in this method, it is not possible to shorten the time required for displaying the abnormality of the fixing unit 113 when the power is turned OFF / ON in a state where the abnormality occurs in the fixing unit 113.

  First, the applicant has the first and second control units, and when the power is turned on, the first control unit has data necessary for starting the unit controlled by the second control unit. In an electronic device that transfers data from a nonvolatile first storage unit to a second storage unit included in a second control unit, the first control unit transfers the data according to a preset priority order. An electronic device that sequentially reads from the storage means and transfers it to the second storage means has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

  When this conventional technique is applied to the image forming apparatus 100, the plotter unit which is another control unit from the control unit 121 including the nonvolatile memory after the power is turned on, that is, the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 including the nonvolatile memory 124. When starting up the device after transferring the stored data to the control unit 111 of 110 and holding it in the memory, it is possible to complete the preparatory operation in a short time and realize the start of use without wasteful waiting time. Therefore, the stored data is read from the control unit 121 of the controller unit 120 which is the main control unit, transferred to the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110, and RAM (arranged in the control unit 111 of the plotter unit 110: not shown). Storage data used for time-consuming start-up control when the start-up control is started with the data stored in ( Status = OK "command) priorities higher may be set in the reading of the stored data according to the priority, and executes the transfer.

  In addition, the present applicant has at least a facsimile function that transmits / receives image data to / from another facsimile apparatus via a communication line, and a low power that controls power supply to a predetermined portion with respect to normal power supply. When the image forming apparatus with a facsimile function having a mode returns to the normal state from the low power mode, at least failure information of a recording unit that records an image is acquired, and predetermined control is executed based on the failure information System control means, volatile first storage means for storing received data, non-volatile, low-capacity second storage means, and third storage means for storing system information And the facsimile control means stores system information related to the device status immediately before the transition to the low power mode in the third storage means. An image forming apparatus with a facsimile function is proposed that determines an incoming call based on device information stored in the third storage means when returning from the low power mode to a normal state (see Patent Document 2). ).

  This prior art obtains failure information of at least a recording unit (in the conventional example, the HDD 123 of the controller unit 120) that records an image when returning from the low power mode to the normal state, and performs control based on the failure information. System controller (control unit 121 of controller unit 120 in the above conventional example), DRAM and FLASH-ROM for storing received data, and SRAM with backup for storing system information (nonvolatile memory 124 in the above example) The FCU stores system information related to the device state immediately before the transition to the low power mode in the SRAM with a backup backup (nonvolatile memory 124), and when returning from the low power mode to the normal state, SRAM with backup (in the above example, nonvolatile memory It is to determine incoming based on the device information stored in the re 124).

  In other words, this prior art stores data immediately before the transition to the low power mode, and determines that an incoming call can be made in response to a call even in a slow-starting system by judging an incoming call based on the system state. .

JP 2002-108137 A

JP 2001-94693 A

  However, such a conventional image forming apparatus has the following problems.

  That is, in the prior art described in Patent Document 1, the time required for initialization of the HDD 123 of the controller unit 120, which is a control means including a nonvolatile memory, cannot be shortened, and the time required for abnormal display is reduced. There is a problem that it cannot be shortened.

  In the prior art described in Patent Document 2, the time required to acquire the failure information of the recording unit that records the image (in the above example, the HDD 123 of the controller unit 120) cannot be shortened. There is a problem that the time required for display cannot be shortened.

SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus with good usability by promptly displaying a display of an abnormal state of an image forming apparatus on a display unit. It is said.

An image forming apparatus according to claim 1 is an image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet; a display unit that displays information; and a control unit that controls the entire apparatus. The unit includes an image forming unit initialization unit that performs an initialization operation of the image forming unit when the image forming apparatus is turned on, and the control unit A control unit initialization unit that performs an initialization operation, and an abnormality information storage process that stores information on an abnormality occurring in the image forming unit in a storage medium provided in the display unit when an abnormality occurs in the image forming unit The display unit performs an initialization operation of the display unit when the image forming apparatus is turned on. An initialization unit, an abnormality information storage unit configured of a nonvolatile storage medium that stores information on an abnormality that has occurred in the image forming unit, and a display unit that represents information, the display unit initialization unit In the initialization operation of the display unit, when information on an abnormality occurring in the image forming unit is stored in the abnormality information storage unit, a screen corresponding to the abnormality of the image forming unit is displayed on the display unit. The above-mentioned purpose is achieved.

In this case, for example, as described in claim 2, the display unit initialization unit stores information on an abnormality that has occurred in the image forming unit in the abnormality information storage unit in the initialization operation of the display unit. In this case, a signal corresponding to an abnormality of the image forming unit may be output to the image forming unit.

According to the present invention, the display of the abnormal state of the image forming apparatus can be promptly displayed on the display unit, and the usability can be improved.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, since the Example described below is a suitable Example of this invention, various technically preferable restrictions are attached | subjected, However, The scope of the present invention limits this invention especially in the following description. As long as there is no description of the effect, it is not restricted to these aspects.

  1 and 2 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a main part of the image forming apparatus 1 to which the first embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied. It is a block block diagram.

  1, the image forming apparatus 1 mainly includes a plotter unit 10, a controller unit 20, an operation unit 30, and the like.

  The plotter unit (image forming unit) 10 includes a control unit (image formation control unit) 11 that performs sequence control of the plotter unit 10 and communication with the controller unit 20, and toner on transfer paper by an electrophotographic process under the control of the control unit 11. An image forming unit 12 that forms an image, and a fixing unit (fixing unit) 13 that thermally fixes a toner image formed on the transfer paper by the image forming unit 12 are provided.

  The controller unit (control unit) 20 includes a control unit (main control unit) 21 for controlling the controller unit 20 and communicating with the plotter unit 10 and the operation unit 30, an I / F unit 22 connected to a network, A hard disk (HDD) 23 that stores image data transmitted via the I / F unit 22 and a non-volatile memory (non-volatile storage unit) 24 that holds characteristic values, abnormal state management data, and the like of the image forming apparatus 1 are provided. ing.

  An operation unit (operation display unit) 30 includes a control unit (operation control unit) 31 that controls the operation unit 30 and communicates with the controller unit 20, a display unit (display unit) 32 that displays the state of the image forming apparatus 1, An input unit 33 for setting the image forming apparatus 1 and abnormal state information (abnormal status information) concerning an abnormal state of the image forming apparatus 1 and a nonvolatile memory (nonvolatile storage unit) 34 that holds at least the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13. It consists of and.

  The operation of the image forming apparatus 1 is executed by communication processing between the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20 and the control unit 11 of the plotter unit 10, and the MMC (Man Machine Communication) of the image forming apparatus 1 is performed by the controller unit 20. This is executed by communication processing between the control unit 21 and the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment displays an abnormality on the display unit 32 based on abnormal state information (abnormal status information) stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30 when the power is turned on.

  That is, in the image forming apparatus 1, in the operation state, the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20 monitors the state of each part of the image forming apparatus 1, and particularly fixes the state of each part of the image forming apparatus 1, particularly the plotter unit 10. The abnormal state of the unit 13 is monitored, and abnormal state information (abnormal status information) of the plotter unit 10 is stored as abnormal state management data in the nonvolatile memory 24 of the controller unit 20 and is also passed to the operation unit 30 for operation. The control unit 31 of the unit 30 stores the data in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30.

  When the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on after the power is turned off, as shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 11 of the plotter unit 10, the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20, and the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30. Are initialized independently (step S101), and the nonvolatile memory 34 is accessed to check the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 (step S102).

  In step S102, when the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30 is OK (the fixing unit 13 is in a normal state), the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 uniquely displays the information. Screen data for prompting the user to wait, for example, screen data of “Please wait” is generated (step S103), and the screen data is displayed on the display unit 32 (step S104).

  When the initialization of the controller unit 20 is completed and the connection confirmation is received from the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20 (step S105), the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 is transmitted from the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20. Screen data is acquired (step S106), and the screen data is displayed on the display unit 32 (step S107).

  If the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 is NG (the fixing unit 13 is in an abnormal state) in step S102, the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 independently determines the abnormality of the fixing unit 13. Screen data, for example, SC (Service Man Call) screen data is generated (step S108), displayed on the display unit 32, and the process ends (step S109).

  Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the time required for displaying an abnormality (SC: serviceman call) of the fixing unit 13 when the power is turned OFF / ON in a state where the fixing unit 13 has an abnormality.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, during operation, the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20 including the non-volatile memory 24 and the control unit 21 that controls each unit performs abnormal state information on each unit, in particular, the control unit 11. Abnormal state information of the plotter unit 10 that forms an image on a sheet under control is acquired and stored in the nonvolatile memory 24 of the controller unit 20, and the abnormal state information of the nonvolatile memory 24 is stored in the control unit 11 of the plotter unit 10 when the power is turned on. Of the operation unit 30 having the display unit 32 and the control unit 31 and displaying at least various kinds of information on the display unit 32 under the control of the control unit 31. When the control unit 31 displays the abnormal information corresponding to the abnormal state information on the display unit 32 after being transferred to the control unit 31, the operation unit 30 is provided with a non-volatile memory 34, The abnormal state information collected by the control unit 21 of the trawler unit 20 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30, and when the power is turned on, the control unit 31 stores the abnormal state information stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30. Abnormal information is displayed based on this.

  Therefore, the display of the abnormal state of the image forming apparatus 1 can be promptly displayed on the display unit 32, and the usability can be improved.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the plotter unit 10 is heated by a fixing roller that is controlled to be heated to a predetermined fixing temperature, and the transfer paper as the paper on which the toner image is transferred is heated to It is assumed that the fixing unit 13 for fixing the transfer paper is provided, the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20 acquires the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13, and the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30 detects the abnormal state of the fixing unit 13. Information is stored, and when the power is turned on, the control unit 31 displays the abnormality information of the fixing unit 13 based on the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30.

  Therefore, when the power is turned off / on in a state where an abnormality has occurred in the fixing unit 13, the abnormality information of the fixing unit 13 can be quickly displayed, and the usability can be improved.

  In the above embodiment, the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 is stored in both the nonvolatile memory 24 of the controller unit 20 and the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30, but is stored only in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30. You may make it do.

  In this case, in the flowchart of FIG. 2, when the abnormal state information stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30 is NG in step S <b> 102, the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 detects the SC (serviceman) of the fixing unit 13. Call) After abnormal screen data such as screen data is created and displayed on the display unit 32 (steps S103 and S104), normal screen data is transmitted from the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20. The control unit 31 of the unit 30 ignores the screen data from the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20.

  In this way, it is possible to reduce the time required for displaying an abnormality (SC: serviceman call) of the fixing unit 13 when the power is turned OFF / ON in a state where the fixing unit 13 is abnormal. It is not necessary to store the same data in the non-volatile memory 24, and the increase in the capacity of the non-volatile memory 24 can be suppressed.

  3 and 4 are diagrams showing a second embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus 40 to which the second embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied. It is a block block diagram.

  The present embodiment is applied to an image forming apparatus similar to the image forming apparatus 1 of the first embodiment. In the description of the present embodiment, the same components as those of the first embodiment are used. Are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 40 includes a plotter unit 10, a controller unit 20, an operation unit 30, and the like similar to the image forming apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, and the control unit 31 to the plotter unit of the operation unit 30. A signal line 41 to 10 control units 11 is provided.

  In the image forming apparatus 40 according to the present exemplary embodiment, when the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 accesses the nonvolatile memory 34 and the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 is OK (the fixing unit 13 is normal), the signal line When the fixing control permission signal as the abnormal state notification signal output to the control unit 11 of the plotter unit 10 is asserted (L level) through 41, and the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 is NG (the fixing unit 13 is abnormal) Alternatively, before the access to the nonvolatile memory 34, the fixing control permission signal output to the control unit 11 of the plotter unit 10 through the signal line 41 is deasserted (H level).

  That is, in the image forming apparatus 40, in the operation state, the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20 monitors the state of each part of the image forming apparatus 40, and particularly the fixing of the plotter unit 10. The abnormal state of the unit 13 is monitored, the abnormal state information of the plotter unit 10 is stored as abnormal state management data in the nonvolatile memory 24 of the controller unit 20, and is passed to the operation unit 30 to be transmitted to the control unit of the operation unit 30. 31 stores in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30.

  When the image forming apparatus 40 is turned on after the power is turned off, as shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 11 of the plotter unit 10, the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20, and the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30. Are initialized independently (step S201), and the nonvolatile memory 34 is accessed to check the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 (step S202).

  In step S202, if the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30 is OK (the fixing unit 13 is in a normal state), the information is output to the control unit 11 of the plotter unit 10 through the signal line 41. The fixing control permission signal is asserted (L level) to permit fixing control of the fixing unit 13 (step S203), and the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 displays the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 independently. Screen data for prompting the user to wait, for example, screen data of “Please wait” is generated (step S204), and the screen data is displayed on the display unit 32 (step S205).

  When the initialization of the controller unit 20 is completed and the connection confirmation is received from the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20 (step S206), the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 is transmitted from the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20. Screen data is acquired (step S207), and the screen data is displayed on the display unit 32 (step S208).

  In step S202, if the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 is NG (the fixing unit 13 is in an abnormal state), it is output to the control unit 11 of the plotter unit 10 through the signal line 41. The fixing control permission signal is deasserted (H level), and fixing control of the fixing unit 13 is prohibited (step S209). Note that the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 disables the fixing control of the fixing unit 13 by deasserting the fixing control permission signal (H level) before accessing the nonvolatile memory 34.

  Then, the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 uniquely generates abnormal screen data of the fixing unit 13, for example, SC (Service Man Call) screen data (step S210), displays it on the display unit 32, and ends the processing. (Step S211).

  Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the time required for displaying an abnormality (SC: serviceman call) of the fixing unit 13 when the power is turned OFF / ON in a state where the fixing unit 13 has an abnormality.

  Then, after completing the initialization, the control unit 11 of the plotter unit 10 polls the fixing control permission signal, waits for the fixing control permission signal to change from “H” to “L”, and sets the fixing control permission signal. When assert (L level) is detected, lighting control of a fixing heater (not shown) built in the fixing unit 13 is started.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus 40 according to the present exemplary embodiment directly transmits the fixing control permission signal, which is an abnormal state notification signal corresponding to the abnormal state information, from the operation unit 30 to the plotter unit 10 through the signal line 41. However, the image forming operation, in particular, the fixing operation is controlled based on the fixing control permission signal.

  Therefore, without mounting a non-volatile memory in the plotter unit 10, image formation preparation operations such as fixing control without waiting for initialization of the controller unit 20 after several tens of seconds and communication processing with the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20. Can be executed, and the shortening of the rise time of the image forming apparatus 40 can be shortened, and the usability can be further improved.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the plotter unit 10 is heated by a fixing roller that is controlled to be heated to a predetermined fixing temperature, and the transfer paper as the paper on which the toner image is transferred is heated to It is assumed that the fixing unit 13 for fixing the transfer paper is provided, the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20 acquires the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13, and the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30 detects the abnormal state of the fixing unit 13. Information is stored, and when the power is turned on, the control unit 31 displays the abnormality information of the fixing unit 13 based on the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30.

  Therefore, when the power is turned off / on in a state where an abnormality has occurred in the fixing unit 13, the abnormality information of the fixing unit 13 can be quickly displayed, and the usability can be improved.

  Also in the second embodiment, the abnormal state information of the fixing unit 13 is stored in both the nonvolatile memory 24 of the controller unit 20 and the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30, but is stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30. May be held only.

  In this case, in the flowchart of FIG. 4, when the abnormal state information stored in the nonvolatile memory 34 of the operation unit 30 is NG in step S202, the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 asserts the fixing control permission signal. Then, after creating abnormal screen data such as SC (Service Man Call) screen data of the fixing unit 13 and displaying it on the display unit 32 (steps S203 to S205), normal screen data is transmitted from the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20. However, the control unit 31 of the operation unit 30 ignores the screen data from the control unit 21 of the controller unit 20.

  In this way, it is possible to reduce the time required for displaying an abnormality (SC: serviceman call) of the fixing unit 13 when the power is turned OFF / ON in a state where the fixing unit 13 is abnormal. It is not necessary to store the same data in the non-volatile memory 24, and the increase in the capacity of the non-volatile memory 24 can be suppressed.

  The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  A copying apparatus and a facsimile apparatus for improving the usability by promptly notifying even when the power is turned on when an abnormality occurs in the fixing section of the image forming apparatus in which an image is formed by an electrophotographic method and a toner image is fixed by a fixing section. It can be used for an image forming apparatus such as a printer.

1 is a circuit block diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus to which a first embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied. 3 is a flowchart showing screen display processing when power is turned on by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus to which a second embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied. 3 is a flowchart showing screen display processing when power is turned on by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 10 is a circuit block diagram of a main part of a conventional image forming apparatus. FIG. 10 is a main part circuit block configuration diagram of another example of a conventional image forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Plotter part 11 Control part 12 Image creation part 13 Fixing part 20 Controller part 21 Control part 22 I / F part 23 Hard disk 24 Non-volatile memory 30 Operation part 31 Control part 32 Display part 33 Input part 34 Non-volatile memory 40 Image Forming equipment 41 Signal line

Claims (2)

  An image forming apparatus comprising an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a display unit that displays information, and a control unit that controls the entire apparatus,
  The image forming unit includes an image forming unit initialization unit that performs an initialization operation of the image forming unit when the image forming apparatus is turned on.
  The control unit includes a control unit initialization unit that performs an initialization operation of the control unit when the image forming apparatus is turned on, and a storage medium provided in the display unit when an abnormality occurs in the image forming unit An abnormality information storage processing unit for storing information on abnormality that has occurred in the image forming unit,
  The display unit includes a display unit initialization unit that performs an initialization operation of the display unit when the image forming apparatus is turned on, and a nonvolatile storage medium that stores information on an abnormality that has occurred in the image forming unit. An abnormality information storage unit, and a display unit for displaying information,
  In the initialization operation of the display unit, the display unit initialization unit is configured to display a screen corresponding to an abnormality of the image forming unit when information on an abnormality that has occurred in the image forming unit is stored in the abnormality information storage unit. Is displayed on the display unit.   In the initialization operation of the display unit, the display unit initialization unit may store the image forming unit with respect to the image forming unit when information on an abnormality that has occurred in the image forming unit is stored in the abnormality information storage unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a signal corresponding to an abnormality of the unit is output.

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