JPH08119535A - Jam clear recognition device of image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To carry out jam clearance by removal of jammed paper from the output side by recognizing a sheet of a connection part on the output side in accordance with a signal from a main body side sensor to detect sheet jamming of the connection part of an output and a main body. CONSTITUTION: Existence of jammed paper in the neighbourhood of a main body delivery part is recognized on the output side by taking up a signal of an exit sensor 6 of a main body 1 to an output device 2. Consequently, both of jammed picture planes are cleared by clearing one of the jammed picture planes of a main body and an output. For example, when jam on a connection part is removed on the output side, the jammed picture plane on the output side is cleared, and simultaneously, the jammed picture plane on the connection part is cleared on the main body side, too. Consequently, an operator tries removal of a sheet from the output side as much as possible, and nonconformity of jammed paper torn and remaining in the device, etc., is eliminated at the time of removing the jammed paper caught much in the output side from the main body side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a jam clear recognizing device for removing a paper jammed on a paper path in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, for removing a so-called paper jam, and more particularly to a sorter, a finisher and the like. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a jam clear recognizing device suitable for canceling a paper jam generated at a connecting portion of a main body device and an output device in an image forming apparatus equipped with an output device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional image forming apparatus having a screen display function such as a CRT, when a plurality of jams occur, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-138049,
The priority of jam display was determined, the jam screen was displayed based on the priority, and the clearing of the jam was guided. Also, the main unit and the output device each have an independent paper path, and the jam clear check is performed by the sensor placed on the paper path of each device. The detection sensor is arranged on the main body side. Jam that has occurred at the joint between the output device and the main unit has been basically recognized by both devices, but in reality, clearing such paper from the output device side is not covered. It was. When clearing from the main body side, the paper also straddles the output device side, so it was difficult or impossible to take out the paper. Further, the jam screen has a jam clearing priority determined in advance according to the jam occurrence portion, and the jam screen is displayed according to this rank. When a jam occurs at a plurality of parts including the connecting portion with the output device, the jam screen first displays the jam status on the output device side according to the priority order. In the case of a compound jam that occurs at the joint part and elsewhere, first open the output interlock and remove the jammed paper according to the jam screen, but do not notice the paper jam at the joint part and turn the output interlock on. When closed, the jam screen will be cleared. After that, a jam screen on the main body side for removing the paper of the combined portion from the main body side is displayed. I was supposed to remove the paper from the main body side on this jam screen. By the way, it may be difficult to find the paper jam at the joint portion depending on the amount of paper jam in the output device side. In the case of such a paper jam, the jam screen on the output device side is cleared by opening / closing the output interlock without removing the jam paper, and the following jam screen on the main body side is unavoidable. Has been done.

[0003]

However, in the case of a jam generated at the connecting portion of the main body device and the output device, it is usually easier to take out the paper from the output side, so the jam screen on the output side Is displayed, but since the jam detection sensor (hereinafter referred to as the exit sensor) at the connecting portion is arranged on the main body side, the jam clear cannot be recognized. That is, the operator opens the output interlock and tries to remove the jammed paper,
If you do not notice it due to the position of the jammed paper, determine that there is no paper and close the output interlock.
At this point, the jam screen on the output side is cleared,
Next, the jam screen on the main body side is displayed. According to this jam screen, the fuser unit is pulled out to remove the jammed paper, but at this time, the jammed paper is blown out depending on the amount of the paper part that has entered the output side (M / C).
It may remain inside. Even if the operator removes the paper from the output device side, when the condition (trigger) for executing the jam clear check on the main body side is closed after opening the main body interlock, that is, main body interlock close It's time. Therefore, although the jammed paper is not actually present at the connecting portion, the jam on the main body side remains as a result, and the jam screen on the main body side is displayed. This jam screen is not cleared unless the operation of the main body interlock, that is, the operation of closing after opening (hereinafter referred to as open / close). In addition, if the output device side can recognize the presence or absence of jammed paper at the joint, and if it is not possible to remove the jammed paper from the output side due to the jam paper stop position under the jam clear condition, the main body The paper is removed from the side. In this series of operations, the operator opens the output interlock and attempts to remove the jammed paper, but determines that it is impossible to remove the jammed paper from the position of the jammed paper, and closes the output interlock.
At this point, the output does a jam clear check. The trigger for the jam clear check of the output device is when the output interlock is closed, but since the jam paper remains on the sensor, the jam on the output device side is not cleared and the jam display remains.
There was a problem that the jam was not cleared unless the output / interlock was opened / closed again. The object of the present invention is to recognize the paper of the connecting part on the output device side based on the signal from the sensor on the main body side which detects the paper jam of the connecting part of the output device to the main body device, and from the output device side. An object of the present invention is to provide a jam clear recognizing device in an image forming apparatus in which a jam is cleared by removing the jammed paper.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 is an image forming apparatus equipped with an output device such as a sorter and a finisher, and the image forming apparatus main body. Placed in the paper unloading section of
An exit sensor for detecting the paper conveyed to the output device, a means for detecting an interlock on the main body side and the output device side, a means for displaying a jam screen, and a main body side and an output device side ,
A jam recognizing means on the output device side, the input signal of the exit sensor is fetched, and a jam paper near the paper carrying-out part is provided. The number and position of the sheets are recognized and one of the jam clear conditions is set.

[0005]

According to the structure of claim 1, the signal from the exit sensor of the main body is fetched into the output device, and the output device recognizes the presence or absence of the jammed paper near the main body unloading portion, whereby the main body and the output device are detected. By clearing either one of the jam screens, both jam screens are cleared. For example, when the paper is removed from the output device side, the corresponding jam screen based on the jam recognition of the joint portion on the main body side is also cleared.

[0006]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, in a copying machine equipped with an output device such as a sorter and a finisher, when a paper jam (hereinafter referred to as a jam) occurs at the joint between the copying machine body and the output device, the paper jammed in the paper path. It is characterized by the so-called jam clearing (jam clear) in which the copy operation (job) can be restarted by removing (hereinafter referred to as jam paper).

FIG. 1 shows a state in which a jam has occurred at the joint between the output device and the device body. The copying machine main body 1 is provided with an input device 3 for reading a document image and sending the signal to the main body. After forming an image on a sheet based on the read document image, it is carried out to the output device 2 and The output device 2 performs collation of output paper, stapling, and the like. An exit sensor 6 is arranged in the paper path on the main body side in order to detect a jam generated in the connecting portion 4 between the main body 1 of the copying machine and the output device 2.

FIG. 2 shows a control block for clearing a jam at the connecting portion between the main body device and the output device. A display control process for inputting job conditions instructed by the user, providing management information such as replenishment of paper and toner, and issuing a jam clear instruction in the control system for performing image forming processing in the main unit User interface (U
A main body device control unit 10 including I) and a display device 11 including an LCD (liquid crystal display) for displaying the contents processed by the UI are provided. Normally, the display device 11 has a touch panel built into the display, and by pressing a button portion displayed on the screen, the function of the button is executed based on a signal obtained from the touch panel.

Signals from various sensors provided in the main body device are sent to the main body device control section 10.
Especially for paper, all paper positions and statuses are managed. In the figure, the interlock and exit sensor of the main body and the output necessary for clearing the jam of the connecting portion of the main body device and the output device are drawn. Output device control unit 12 connected to the main device control unit by a communication line
Transmits a signal from a sensor arranged in the apparatus to the main body apparatus control section, or controls a predetermined drive section according to a command from the main body apparatus control section 10. Further, the output device control unit 12 recognizes a jam clear based on the exit sensor status signal and the output interlock operation information sent from the main device control unit 10, and detects the jam data in the main device control unit. Send to 10.

3 and 4 show the flow of jam clear check on the output device side. Here, the conditions for clearing output jams are as follows. When the main unit is stopped, the detection timing is set to interlock / close and exit sensor OFF detection. That is,
The detection is performed when the jam paper is cleared on the output side and when it is cleared on the main body side. The sensors for detecting this are the main body exit sensor 6, the top tray sensor 7, and the tray eject sensor 8 arranged at the positions shown in FIG. In order to clear the jam screen at the joint with the main body by the signals of the sensors 7 and 8, it is checked that there is no other jam paper in the output. When there is no paper on all the sensors at the time of interlock / close and when the exit sensor is detected to be OFF, the condition for clearing the jam is that the interlock is opened / closed when the exit sensor is detected to be OFF. That is the condition. It is not detected while the main unit is operating (RUN).

Jam clearing by interlocking and closing will be described with reference to FIG. It is executed in 100 ms in the main unit and the interlock close input detection (S10
0), it is determined whether there is paper in the top tray sensor (S101), and it is determined whether there is paper in the tray eject sensor (S102). When the input to close the interlock is not detected, and if there is paper in the top tray sensor and the tray eject sensor, the jam clear check ends.

Further, if the interlock close input is detected and there is no paper in the top tray sensor and the tray eject sensor, it is judged whether or not there is paper in the exit sensor (S103). When there is paper in the exit sensor, that is, when it is determined that there is jammed paper at the joint with the output device, the jam clear check by interlock / close is completed. On the other hand, when there is no paper in the exit sensor, that is, when there is no jammed paper in the joint, the jam screen (Jam C
(lr) is cleared (S104). This series of processing is
Since it is executed every 100 ms, the jammed paper is removed and the jammed screen is displayed until the jam clear condition is satisfied.

Jam clearing by turning off the exit sensor will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, the timing for clearing the jam in the output device is usually when the interlock of the output device is closed, and when there is only one sheet at the joint with the main body, after closing the interlock of the output device, The jam is cleared by constantly sampling the input signal from the main body exit sensor.

It is executed in 100 ms in the main body device, and it is determined whether the exit sensor OFF input is detected (S110) and the interlock is opened / closed (S).
111), the top tray sensor determines whether there is paper (S112), and the tray eject sensor determines whether there is paper (S113). Exit sensor O
When there is no FF detection, when the interlock is not opened / closed, and when there is paper in the top tray sensor and the tray eject sensor, the jam clear check ends.

If it is detected that the interlock is closed and there is no paper in the top tray sensor and the tray eject sensor, it is determined whether there is paper in the exit sensor (S114). When there is paper in the exit sensor, that is, when it is determined that there is jammed paper in the connecting portion with the output device, the jam clear check ends. On the other hand, when there is no paper in the exit sensor, the jam screen (Jam Clr) is cleared (S104). Since this series of processing is executed every 100 ms, the jammed paper is removed and the jammed screen is displayed until the jam clear condition is satisfied.

Next, the jam clearance on the main body side after the jam clearance on the output device side is performed will be described. FIG. 5 shows a jam clear check process on the main body side. In this example, at the detection timing during M / C stop,
There is only one sheet in the fuser unit, and when the exit sensor is ON, the output jam screen is cleared (exit sensor OFF detection) so that the fuser jam is not displayed. That is, when clearing the jam of the main body is usually triggered by the closing of the main body interlock as the trigger, and no paper is detected on the paper path sensor of the main body, when there is only one paper at the joint with the main body, the output Clear the jam by using the jam clear on the device side as a trigger.

In FIG. 5, a signal (OUTPUT JAM) indicating the end of checking the jam of the output is completed.
When CMD) is received, it is determined whether the jam is cleared by the jam area (JAMZONE) transmitted from the output (S120), and it is determined whether the main body device (M / C) is stopped (S121). If these conditions are not met, send a jam command (JAM C
OMMAND SEND) processing is executed (S125),
The jam command is returned to the user interface control unit as it is. When steps 120 and 121 are satisfied, the number of sheets in the fuser unit and the sheet stop position are checked (S122), and from the result, it is determined that the output jam-cleared sheet and the sheet in the fuser unit are the same sheet. (123), otherwise step 1
Execute 25. Further, the paper jam screen in the fuser unit as the main body device is cleared (S124).

Here, the output jam area is defined by a combination of sensor groups arranged in the device,
It is tabulated. The main body side always stores the jam area from the output, and it is determined in step 120 that all the jam areas have been cleared. The paper stop state check in step 122 will be described with reference to FIG. When checking the paper position of the fuser by executing from the point A in FIG. 5, the fuser unit is correctly attached to the main body (FUSER INTERRELOCK CLO
(SE) is determined (S130), and if properly installed, all the following paper path sensors are turned off.
(Exit sensor (S131), fuser exit sensor (S132)), and when all of these conditions are satisfied, it is determined that the sheet is in the same stopped state as the output jam sheet, and the sheet B in FIG. Run point If any one of the above determinations (S130 to 132) does not satisfy the condition, point C in FIG. 5 is executed.

When a paper jam occurs at the joint between the copying machine main body 1 and the output device 2, the main body 1 detects a main body exit off jam, which indicates a state in which no output is made from the main body to the output device, Output device 2
Then, the on-jam of the output exit sensor, which indicates the paper stop state, is detected on the paper path of the output device side, and each user interface (U /
Send to I).

Embodiments of the present invention will be described. 1. When the output interlock is opened, the jam is not noticed.The operator attempts to remove the jammed paper by opening the output interlock, but if the operator does not notice it due to the position of the jammed paper, the operator must be out of paper. Judge and close the output interlock. At this point, the jam on the output side is cleared,
Next, the jam screen on the main body side is displayed. The operator pulls out the fuser unit in order to remove the jammed paper, but at this time, the jammed paper is blown and remains in the M / C depending on the amount of the paper that has entered the output side. (Improvement Example 1) By inputting the input signal of the main body exit sensor into the output device and adding it to the output jam clear condition, the output jam clear is not performed without removing the paper. As a result, the operator tries to remove the paper from the output side as much as possible, and the frequency of occurrence of the above problems is significantly reduced. 2. Case where jam paper is removed from the output side The operator opens the output interlock, removes the jam paper, and closes the output interlock. At this point, the output checks for jam clear and clears the jam. However, since there is no trigger for interlock / close on the main body side, the jam clear is not performed and the jam screen on the main body side is displayed. (Improvement example 2) When the output clears the jam, the fact that the jam has been cleared is notified to the main unit by serial communication. At this timing, the main body checks the jam clear near the main body exit and clears the jam if there is no other paper in the same jam area area. 3. When jam paper cannot be removed from the output The operator attempts to remove the jam paper by opening the output interlock, but it is judged that the jam paper cannot be removed from the jam paper position, and the output interlock Close. At this point, the output does a jam clear check, but since the jam paper remains on the sensor, the jam is not cleared. Next, the operator tries to remove the jammed paper from the main body side, but opens the main body interlock, takes out the jammed paper, and closes the main body interlock. At this point, the jam close on the main body side is performed, but the output side does not have the trigger for the output interlock close, so the jam clear is not performed and the jam screen remains.
Jam is released by opening / closing the output interlock again. (Improvement example 3) After confirming that the interlock is closed even if the output is only once, the input signal of the exit sensor of the main body is constantly sampled to find out that the paper has been removed from the main body side, and at that timing The jam clear on the output side is checked, and the jam is cleared if there is no other paper in the same jam area area. In the above case, when the jam on the main body side is cleared, the jam on the output side is also cleared.

[0021]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the input signal of the main body exit sensor is input to the output device and added to the jam clear condition of the output, so that the output signal can be greatly input. Even if you close the output interlock without noticing the jammed paper, the output jam clear will not be released, so the operator will try to remove the paper from the output side as much as possible. The problem of removing the paper from the main body side is solved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a jam clear recognition device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a jam clear recognition device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of jam clear by interlock / close.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for clearing a jam by turning off an exit sensor.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a jam clear check on the main body side.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a paper stop position check.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main body device, 2 ... Output device, 3 ... Input device, 4 ... Connection part of a main body and an output device, 5 ... Jam paper, 6 ... Exit sensor, 10 ... Main body device control part (user interface UI), 11 ... Display device, 1
2. Output device control unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus equipped with an output device such as a sorter or a finisher, the exit sensor being arranged in a paper carry-out section of the main body of the image forming device and detecting a paper carried out to the output device. A means for detecting an interlock on the main body side and the output device side; a means for displaying a jam screen; and a jam generated at the connecting portion of the main body and the output device on the main body side and the output device side. And a means for recognizing jam, and the jam recognizing means on the output device side receives the input signal of the exit sensor, recognizes the number and position of the jammed paper in the vicinity of the paper carry-out section, and detects one of the jam clear conditions. Jam clear recognition device characterized by: