JP4741744B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a toner density control software system for development in an image forming apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, with the cost reduction of image forming input / output devices, the scale of software and the required specifications and problems that are the subject of the increase in complexity have been increasing year by year. In addition, the development cycle of products incorporating such software is becoming shorter year by year. In such an environment, improvement in development efficiency has become a necessary requirement in the software industry. Therefore, as a solution, software componentization can be mentioned, and some proposals have been made. As one of them, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-108319 (hereinafter referred to as Conventional Example 1) proposes an automatic program generation method using data-centric software components. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-204301 (hereinafter referred to as Conventional Example 2) proposes software componentization like a program generation system.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional examples 1 and 2 do not relate to the componentization method for a specific application, that is, the toner density control in the image forming apparatus based on the componentization of software is not proposed.
[0004]
According to the present invention, software for controlling toner density in an image forming apparatus is configured by individual parts, that is, software components so that the software can be easily reused. It is intended to improve the efficiency of software development over the medium to long term. Another object of the present invention is to improve the reusability of software by enabling componentization specific to the problem area in a software system for controlling paper conveyance in an image forming apparatus.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, and controls the toner density of the current image unit, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the software component of the toner concentration sensor for controlling the toner density sensor of the current image unit, the developing unit Toner replenishment state by the toner replenishment unit based on toner density data obtained from the toner density sensor in cooperation with the software component of the toner replenishment unit that controls the toner replenishment unit, the software component of the toner concentration sensor, and the software component of the toner replenishment unit and a software component of the toner density curve section for determining a function as a software component that each software component is independent. Therefore, the configuration of the toner density control software can be developed as an independent module, the software productivity and reusability can be improved, and the development cost can be reduced accordingly. Image forming apparatus can be provided.
[0006]
The software component of the toner concentration curve section, the software component of the toner density sensor receives the update instructions of the toner concentration, out of the acquisition instructions of the toner density data to the software component of the toner concentration sensor, a toner concentration sensor software was obtained from the component toner concentration data and the toner density curve of the software components by comparing the lifting one target toner density value, by issuing an instruction of the toner supply state to the software component of the toner supply unit, the toner density control Software productivity and reusability can be improved, and highly scalable software can be built, and development costs can be reduced accordingly, providing high-quality and inexpensive image forming devices to users. can do.
[0007]
Further, the software component of the toner density curve section receives an instruction to update the toner supply status from the software component of the toner supply section, issues an instruction to acquire the toner supply status to the software component of the toner supply section, and the software component of the toner supply section from by the software component of the toner density curve section on the basis of the toner supply state obtained makes changes of lifting one goal toner density value, increase productivity and reusability of the toner density control software, and scalability It is possible to construct high software, and at the same time, to reduce the development cost, and to provide a user with a high-quality and inexpensive image forming apparatus.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Imaging equipment of the present invention, the software component of the toner concentration sensor for controlling the toner density sensor of the current image unit, and software components of the toner supply section for controlling the toner replenishing portion of the developing unit, the toner density sensor software components And a software component of a toner density curve section that cooperates with the software component of the toner replenishment section and determines the toner replenishment state by the toner replenishment section based on the toner density data obtained from the toner density sensor , and each software component is independent Function as a software component .
[0009]
【Example】
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, as an example to which the present invention is applied, an image input / output apparatus 100 includes a CPU 10 that controls the entire apparatus, a ROM 11 that stores program codes, fonts, and other static data, and a temporary The RAM 12 used as a storage location, the NVRAM 12 for storing non-volatile data, the operation panel 15 that controls the user interface, the panel control unit 16, and printing on transfer paper as an output unit for image data A personal computer connected to a network 300 such as an Ethernet, and a scan print engine 17 and an engine control unit 18, a storage device 19 and a disk driver 20 used for storing a large amount of image data and the like, and used as a database storage location With external devices such as 400 Communication with the host computer 200 using a communication control unit 21 that enables communication, a modem 22 that is connected to a public line and enables communication with an external device, and an interface such as Centronics or RS-232C is possible. Host I / F 23 to be configured.
[0010]
FIG. 2 shows the structure of the embedded software inside the image input / output device of FIG. Broadly divided, it has a four-layer structure consisting of an application layer, a kernel layer, a driver layer, and a hardware layer. First, the application layer is a layer that forms an application such as copy, fax, or printer, and the document manager is a functional block that is a core function of an application that handles documents according to a scenario such as copy, fax, or printer. . The service manager is a functional block that is commonly required for document handling, and manages and executes various services. The device manager is a functional block that determines operations of physical devices such as a scanner, a plotter, and an image bus, and manages and executes various devices. The subject of the present invention relates to the internal structure of the device manager. The operation manager controls an operation panel attached to the apparatus, and performs button display, button operation notification, alert notification, and the like. The database manager maintains and manages permanent data such as fonts, fixed forms, fax reception histories, device usage histories, and gold data.
[0011]
The kernel layer is normally incorporated as an OS kernel and abstracts various devices to provide services to applications. The application layer operates by making system calls to the kernel layer. The driver layer is a collection of functional blocks that execute control for driving various types of hardware. The hardware layer is a set of controllable resources existing in the apparatus.
[0012]
Here, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a software configuration of the device manager of FIG. 2, and the device manager will be described. The plotter engine control unit 31 controls the devices of the plotter image forming, fixing unit, and developing unit. The present invention relates to a software configuration of a toner density control unit of a developing unit. The plotter paper conveyance control unit 32 controls devices relating to the paper conveyance of the plotter. The scanner control unit 33 controls devices related to scanner reading control. The document conveyance control unit 34 controls devices related to document conveyance control. The memory unit control unit 35 controls a memory unit such as a hard disk.
[0013]
The two control specifications of the toner density control unit of the developing unit will be described. As shown in FIG. 4 showing the characteristics of the control specification 1, the toner density value obtained from the toner density sensor is 2.5 V or more. The control specification is such that toner replenishment is OFF and toner replenishment is ON when the voltage is lower than 2.5V.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 5 showing the characteristics, the control specification 2 is a control specification in which the toner replenishment is turned off when the toner density value obtained from the toner density sensor is 2.5 V or higher and lower than 2.4 V.
[0015]
Next, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration and operation for each control when the control specification 1 is performed, and FIG. 7 is the control specification 2 when performing the control specification 2. In each figure, blocks are independent software components having data and operations, and toner density control is performed by these software components transmitting and receiving messages to and from each other.
[0016]
A case where toner density control is performed will be described with reference to each drawing. First, the control specification 1 will be described. In FIG. 6, the toner density sensor component having the toner density data obtained from the current toner density sensor instructs to update the toner density (step S101). The toner density curve part instructs the toner density sensor part to acquire the current toner density data (step S102). Since this toner density curve component knows the target toner density data, it compares the acquired current toner density with the target toner density data, and when the current toner density is less than the target toner density value, the toner replenishment part is turned on. When the current toner density is equal to or higher than the target toner density value, an off instruction is issued to the toner supply component (steps S103 and S104). The toner replenishing component performs processing so as to be in a toner replenishing state instructed by the toner density curve component. Control specification 1 is satisfied by operating this series of operations at a constant cycle (every second, etc.). FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example in which an instruction to turn off the toner supply component is issued.
[0017]
Next, the case where the control specification 2 is performed according to FIG. 7 will be described. The toner density sensor component having the toner density data obtained from the current toner density sensor instructs the update of the toner density (step S201). The toner density curve part instructs the toner density sensor part to acquire the current toner density data (step S202). Since this toner density curve part knows the current target toner density data, the acquired current toner density is compared with the target toner density data, and when the current toner density is less than the target toner density, the toner supply part is turned on. When the current toner density is equal to or higher than the target toner density, an OFF instruction is issued to the toner supply component (steps S203 and S204). The toner replenishing component performs processing so as to enter the toner replenishing state instructed by the toner concentration curve component, and issues an instruction to update the toner concentration state to the toner concentration curve component (step S205). Then, the toner density curve part instructs the toner supply part that knows the current toner supply state to acquire the toner supply state, and when the toner supply is off, the current target toner density is set to the target toner density (2 when off). .4V), and when toner replenishment is on, the target toner density (2.5V) at on is changed (steps S206 and S207). Control specification 2 is satisfied by operating this series of operations at a constant cycle (every 1 second). FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example in which an off instruction is issued to the toner supply component.
[0018]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, It cannot be overemphasized that various deformation | transformation and substitution are possible if it is description in a claim.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, to control the toner density in the developing unit, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the software component of the toner concentration sensor for controlling the toner density sensor of the current image unit, the toner replenishing portion of the developing unit A toner component that controls the toner replenishment unit software component, the toner concentration sensor software component, and the toner replenishment unit software component in cooperation with each other, and determines the toner replenishment state by the toner replenishment unit based on the toner density data obtained from the toner density sensor and a software component concentration curve section, functions as a software component that each software component is independent. Therefore, the configuration of the toner density control software can be developed as an independent module, the software productivity and reusability can be improved, and the development cost can be reduced accordingly. Image forming apparatus can be provided.
[0020]
The software component of the toner concentration curve section, the software component of the toner density sensor receives the update instructions of the toner concentration, out of the acquisition instructions of the toner density data to the software component of the toner concentration sensor, a toner concentration sensor software was obtained from the component toner concentration data and the toner density curve of the software components by comparing the lifting one target toner density value, by issuing an instruction of the toner supply state to the software component of the toner supply unit, the toner density control Software productivity and reusability can be improved, and highly scalable software can be built, and development costs can be reduced accordingly, providing high-quality and inexpensive image forming devices to users. can do.
[0021]
Further, the software component of the toner density curve section receives an instruction to update the toner supply status from the software component of the toner supply section, issues an instruction to acquire the toner supply status to the software component of the toner supply section, and the software component of the toner supply section from by the software component of the toner density curve section on the basis of the toner supply state obtained makes changes of lifting one goal toner density value, increase productivity and reusability of the toner density control software, and scalability It is possible to construct high software, and at the same time, to reduce the development cost, and to provide a user with a high-quality and inexpensive image forming apparatus.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a structure of embedded software in the image input / output device.
3 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the device manager of FIG. 2. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state of a control specification of control specification 1 for toner density control.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state of control specifications of control specification 2 for toner density control;
6 is a diagram showing an operation of control specification 1. FIG.
7 is a diagram illustrating an operation of control specification 2. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
11; CPU, 12; ROM, 13; RAM, 14; NVRAM,
15; Operation panel, 16; Panel control unit, 17; Scan print engine,
18; engine control unit, 19; storage device, 20; disk driver,
21; Communication control unit, 22; Host I / F, 100; Image input / output device,
200; host computer, 300; network,
400: Personal computer.

Claims (3)

An image forming apparatus for controlling the toner density of the current image unit,
And software components of the toner density sensor for controlling the toner density sensor of the developing unit,
And software components of the toner supply section for controlling the toner supply section of the developing unit,
A software component of the toner density curve section that cooperates with the software component of the toner density sensor and the software component of the toner supply section, and determines the toner supply state by the toner supply section based on the toner density data obtained from the toner density sensor. and,
With
Imaging equipment, characterized in that each software component functions as an independent software components. The toner density curve of the software components from said software component of the toner density sensor receives the update instructions of the toner concentration, out of the acquisition instructions of the toner density data to the software component of the toner concentration sensor, the toner claim toner density data and the toner density curve of the software components obtained from the software components of the density sensor is compared with a lifting one target toner density value, it instructs the toner supply state to the software component of the toner supply unit 1 The image forming apparatus described. Software components of the toner density curve section, from said software component of the toner supply section receives the instruction for updating the toner supply state, issues instructions to acquire the toner supply state to the software component of the toner replenishing portion, of the toner supply unit the image forming equipment according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the toner concentration curve of software components based on the toner supply state obtained from the software component to change the lifting one goal toner concentration value.

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