JPH0649380B2 - Print output device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a print output device connected to an electronic computer, and more particularly to an electrophotographic print output device.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Conventionally, no print output device connected to an electronic computer can touch a print sheet, but recently, a print output device of this type that can touch a print sheet has been proposed.

In the print output device equipped with this touch mechanism, a manual feed command from the computer main body is issued to the print output device,
The configuration is adopted in which the operator, who knows this, touches the printing paper for the first time. Therefore, when the print output device is performing printing by feeding the paper from the cassette, it is not possible to set the touch paper on the print output device even if the touch command is not issued. The reason for this is that it is necessary to feed the target print paper in synchronism with the latent image transfer on the photosensitive drum in the print output device. Another reason is that a switch is provided in the print output device for detecting the print position of the print paper when the print paper reaches a predetermined position, and this switch is supplied from the cassette. It is common to both the printed printing paper and the printing paper supplied by hand. Therefore, unless a print sheet is set at this switch for the first time after receiving a touch instruction, another print sheet cannot be supplied from the cassette while keeping the print sheet at this switch.

Therefore, it is only necessary to set the target paper in the target tray in advance and take the set paper into the main body of the computer without operator intervention when the target instruction comes from the main body of the computer. However, due to the structure, it is difficult to take in the printing paper on the tray by the roller, and the above cannot be done. Further, the maximum size printing paper has a disadvantage that the paper is out of the tray and cannot be set in the tray.

[Object of the Invention]

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, an object of the present invention is to provide a print output device capable of holding a print sheet at the print output device before there is a touch command from the computer body.

[Outline of Invention]

The present invention is a print output device that is connected to an electronic computer and prints print data sent from the electronic computer on a print sheet conveyed from a cassette via a sheet conveying mechanism,
A target paper feeding mechanism that conveys the targeted print paper to the paper transport mechanism, a detection unit that detects that the print paper is touched by the target paper feed mechanism, and a detection result of the detection unit. On the basis of the above, when it is detected that the print sheet is touched by the target sheet feeding mechanism before receiving the target instruction from the electronic computer, the target sheet feeding mechanism is driven to drive the target print sheet. Is conveyed to a position in front of a position where it interrupts the conveyance path of the printing paper from the cassette to the paper conveyance mechanism and is made to stand by at that position, and then when a handing command is received from the electronic computer, the waiting printing paper is immediately By providing the control means for controlling the paper to be conveyed to the paper conveying mechanism, the print paper can be aimed at the print output device before the handing command is sent from the electronic computer.

Example of Invention

An embodiment of the print output device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the mechanical portion of the print output device of the present invention. An A cassette 2 and a B cassette 3 are detachably attached to the main body 1 of the print output device. Cassette paper take-out rollers 4 and 5 are provided at positions near the upper portions of the A cassette 2 and the B cassette 3 in the print output device 1. Cassette paper take-out roller 4
Alternatively, the printing paper taken out by 5 is carried by the next paper carrying roller 6 or 7, passes through the switch 8 portion, and reaches the feeding roller 9. Further, the printing paper is fed by the feeding roller 9 between the photosensitive drum 10 and the peeling transfer device 11 disposed directly below the photosensitive drum 10, and during this time, the toner on the photosensitive drum 10 is transferred onto the printing paper. The transferred printing paper is sent to the fixing device 13 by the paper carrying belt 12, the fixing process of the transfer toner is performed by the fixing device 13, and then it is stacked by the sending roller 14 on the stacker 15 provided outside the main body. Then, the printing ends. or,
On the upper part of the portion of the main body 1 of the print output apparatus where the A cassette 2 is mounted, a hand tray 16 and a print paper take-in roller 17 for the hand are arranged. Also, this take-in roller 17
A switch 18 for detecting the insertion of a sheet of paper is provided in front of. The print sheet placed on the hand tray 16 by the operator's hand 19 passes through the detection switch 18 and is conveyed inside by the hand sheet take-in roller 17.
It reaches the position of the feed roller 9 through the position of the switch 8. The subsequent operation is the same as that of the printing paper fed from the cassette.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the control unit of the print output device of the present invention. The control unit 21 of the print output device includes a microcomputer 22, an input / output control circuit 23, and a memory 2.
4, a switch detection circuit 25, a motor control circuit 26, a data control circuit 27 and a mechanism control circuit 28 are connected. Further, a character generator 29 is connected to the memory 24, and the character generator 29 is connected to the common bus 30. The memory 24 is connected to the bus 30 via a DMA (Direct Memory Access) circuit 31. The control unit 21 of the print output device is the computer main body 32.
The computer main body 32 and the microcomputer 22 send and receive data, status, commands and the like via the input / output control circuit 23. The memory 24 has an area for storing a program for controlling the microcomputer 22, a print data buffer area, a control table, a page memory area, and the like. The switch detection circuit 25 detects the on / off signals of the switches 8 and 18 provided in the main body 1 of the print output device, and informs the microcomputer 22 of these signals. The motor control circuit 26 controls various motors 33 that drive various rollers of the print output apparatus main body 1 and the photosensitive drums. The data control circuit 27 is a circuit for transferring the data from the memory 24 to the video data control device 34 of the print output device main body 1.
The mechanism control circuit 28 is a circuit that performs various controls necessary for printing of the mechanism section 35 of the print output apparatus body 1, and can be read and written by the microcomputer 22.
The print data stored in the memory 24 is directly transferred to the video data control circuit 34 by the DMA circuit 31 through the data control circuit 27.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the control table stored in the memory 24 shown in FIG. A logic "1" or "0" is set to each bit of the control table by the microcomputer 22, and the mode is the hand-hold mode or the cassette mode, the paper is fed from the A cassette 2, or the B cassette. Paper is fed from 3
This is to instruct things such as-.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. Electronic computer body
The print data is sent from 32 to the control unit 21 of the print output device. This print data is input to the microcomputer 22 through the input / output control circuit 23. Then, the microcomputer 22 checks the code and stores the print data in the memory 24.
It is stored in the print data buffer area of. Further, the microcomputer 22 sends the print data stored in the memory 24 to the character generator 29. The character generator 29 generates character font dot data corresponding to the print data code and stores it in the page memory area of the memory 24. 1 in the page memory area of memory 24
When all the data for the page is stored, the microcomputer 22 specifies the address of the image data for one page and the number of transfer data to the DMA circuit 31 and the data control circuit 27, and activates them. At the same time, the microcomputer 22 controls the motor control circuit 26 and the mechanism control circuit 28 to supply the print paper from the A cassette 2 to the print output apparatus main body 1. The supplied printing paper reaches the switch 8 by the printing paper carrying roller 6. Then, the switch 8 detects this and is turned on. The microcomputer 22 recognizes that the switch 8 is turned on through the switch detection circuit 25. Further, in order to carry out the above-described paper conveyance, the microcomputer 22 controls the motor control circuit 26 to drive various motors 33.

On the other hand, the dot data in the memory 24 is sent to the video data control device 34 through the DMA circuit 31 and the data control circuit 27. The video data control device 34 turns the laser on and off based on the sent image data, and scans the laser beam on the photosensitive drum 10 through the scanner. Then, although not shown here, toner adheres to the photosensitive drum 10 by electrophotographic processing. The photosensitive drum 10 is subjected to the above-described processing while rotating clockwise, and when the toner-attached portion comes to the lower side, the feeding roller 9 is synchronized with this.
The printing paper is fed between the photosensitive drum 10 and the peeling transfer device 11 by. The peeling transfer device 11 attracts the toner charge on the photosensitive drum 10 with a charge of opposite polarity, thereby attracting the toner toward the peeling transfer device 11 and transferring the toner to the printing paper.
The printing paper on which the toner is transferred is sent to the fixing device 13 by the paper carrying belt 12, and the fixing device 13 fixes the toner on the paper by heat. After that, the print sheets are stacked on the stacker 15 by the delivery roller 14. The above-described operation is performed by the microcomputer 22 controlling the switch detection circuit 25, the motor control circuit 26, the data control circuit 27, and the mechanism control circuit 28, and these operations are already known.

Next, an explanation will be given of the operation in the case of performing the hand print by the print output device of the present embodiment. Now, when the print output apparatus main body 1 is feeding paper from either the A cassette 2 or the B cassette 3 for printing, and when the hand designating has not come from the computer main body 32, the operator When the user touches the print paper, the touch paper insertion detection switch 18 is turned on. The microcomputer 22 of the control unit 21 recognizes this through the switch detection circuit 25. Then, the microcomputer 22 checks whether or not it has received a handing command from the computer main body 32, and if it has not received it, it controls the motor control circuit 26 to drive various motors 33 and rotate the roller 17 at a low speed, The leading edge of the print sheet 20 is sent to a position where it does not interfere with the path of the print sheet from the cassette, that is, a position P in the figure, without completely sending the print sheet 20 to the position of the feed roller 9. During this time, the microcomputer 22 continues to print the printing paper fed from the cassette.

In this state, when a handing command is received from the computer main body 32, the microcomputer 22 confirms that the switch 18 has already been turned on,
Make sure 20 is already set. Then, the microcomputer 22 controls the motor control circuit 26 to stop the take-in roller 4 or 5 and the carrying roller 6 or 7 to interrupt the feeding of the paper from the cassette, and then to rotate the hand print paper take-in roller 17. Print paper 20
Bring the tip of the to the position of the feeding roller 9. Further, when the print data is prepared and the latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 10, the microcomputer 22 synchronizes with the latent image and transfers the print paper 20 between the photosensitive drum 10 and the peeling transfer device 11 by the feeding roller 9. Send in and print. If the operator holds the printing paper 20 after the microcomputer 22 receives a handing instruction from the computer main body 32, and thereby the handing paper insertion detection switch 18 is turned on, the microcomputer 22 turns on the motor. Through the control circuit 26, the print-paper take-in roller 17 for the hand is rotated at a high speed, and the paper is fed so that the leading end of the print paper 20 for the hand comes immediately to the feed-in roller 9.

When the microcomputer 22 has not received the handing command from the computer main body 32 and the operator sets the printing paper 20 on the hand tray 16 by hand, the front end of the printing paper 20 is set as shown in FIG. It must be stopped at the position, and for this purpose, the microcomputer 22 causes the motor control circuit 26 to slowly rotate the hand print paper intake roller 17 to perform the above operation. This is because when the print-paper take-in roller 17 for the hand is rotated at a high speed, in order to stop the print paper 20 at the position P, the time during which the take-up roller 17 is rotating becomes several 100 ms, and the operator takes the print paper 20. When you set it by hand, it is not set correctly (printing paper 20 does not enter the intake roller 17 and the rotation of the roller 17 stops, the printing paper 20 cannot be fixed by the roller 17, and the printing paper 20 slips from the paper tray 16. This is to prevent the occurrence of (falling down). Therefore, the print-paper take-in roller 17 for the hand is rotated at such a low speed that the print paper 20 can be fed to the position P in about 1.5 seconds.

Next, the hand print operation of the present embodiment will be described based on the processing flowchart of the microcomputer 22 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In the flow of FIG. 4A, the print data sent from the computer main body 32 to the control unit 21 of the print output device is subjected to the print data check processing by the microcomputer 22. That is, in step 401, the control code (E
(SC code) is checked, and if it is a control code, it is determined in step 402 whether it is an @ code. If it is an @ code, the microcomputer 22 is a hand command in step 403. Recognizing this, the logic "1" is set in bit 0 of the control table in FIG. Next, in step 404, it is determined whether or not the flag is set in the above step, and if it is set, in step 405 the microcomputer 22 rotates the finger print paper intake roller 17 through the motor control circuit 26. Then, the desired print paper 20 is supplied into the main body 1 of the print output device. Next, in step 406, the target paper feed set completion flag is set in bit 6 of the control table in FIG. 3, and further in step 407 the target paper feed completion flag is set in bit 2 of the control table. In step 408, the next print data check is performed. If the flag is not set in the previous step in step 404, immediately step 408
To check the next print data.

If it is determined in step 401 that it is not a control code, go to step 409, check the undefined character here, then determine in step 410 whether it is an undefined character, otherwise it is print data. After storing the print data in the print data buffer of the memory 24 in step 411, the process goes to the next print data check in step 408. If the character is an undefined character in step 410, the process proceeds to the next print data check in step 408.
If it is not the @ code in step 402, it is determined in step 412 whether or not it is a control code other than the @ code, and if it is the control code, each control code processing is performed in step 413. If it is not the control code in step 412, error processing is performed in step 414.

By the way, in step 411 of the print data check process, the microcomputer 22 performs a process of expanding the print data stored in the memory 24 into character font data according to the flow shown in FIG. The dot data is stored in and the dot data for one page is created. That is, in step 501, the code for one character is read from the print data buffer area of the memory 24. Next, in step 502, it is determined whether the code is a HEXOC code or an FF code, and if NO, the character code is set in the character generator 29 in step 503. Next, in step 504, the memory address and the print position of the paper are calculated. For this character, the address in the page memory of the memory 24 from which the font dot data is to be written is known, and the start address is determined by the character generator.
Set to 29, then go to step 505. In step 505, the character generator 29 reads character font dot data corresponding to the character code from itself and writes it in the page memory area of the memory 24. The write address of the page memory area uses the address set in the previous step. Then step 50
At step 6, after confirming that the character generator 28 has written all the font dot data for one character in the page memory area of the memory 24, at step 507, the electronic data is stored in the next address of the print data buffer area of the memory 24. It is determined whether or not the data already sent from the computer main body 32 is included, and if it is included, the process returns to step 501, and if not included, the process waits for print data from the electronic computer main body 32 at step 508. Such processing is repeated until the data for one page is completed.

Since the last data for one page is the HEXOC: FF code, this is checked in step 502, and if it is determined that it is the end for one page, the process proceeds to step 509. Since the form feed code is detected in step 509, the head address of the page memory and the number of transfer bytes are set in the DMA circuit 31 in order to send the dot data of the page memory as video data.
Data control circuit 27 from 31 to page memory dot data
Instruct to transfer to.

Next, at step 510, bit 0 of the control table
Is checked to determine whether the mode is the handhold mode or the cassette mode. If it is in the handing mode, go to step 511, check bit 2 of the control table in FIG. 3, determine whether the handing paper ready flag is set, and if the paper is already set and the paper is already in the feeding roller 9. If it has reached, D at step 512
The MA circuit 31 is activated, and in step 513, the motor control circuit 26 is activated to control the rotation of the feed roller 9, the sheet conveyance belt 12, the feed roller 14, etc. in synchronization with the photosensitive drum 10. When the preparation of the target paper is not completed in step 511, the bit 3 of the control table in FIG. 3 is checked here in step 514 to determine whether the target paper preparation flag is set. If it is set, then in step 515, the target paper feed completion flag is set in bit 6 of the control table in FIG. If the flag for preparing the target paper is not set in step 514, the flag for preparing the target paper is set in bit 3 of the control table in step 516.
Set to. If the target paper preparation flag is set in step 516, the target print pending flag is set in bit 4 of the control table in step 517, and if not set in step 51.
At 8, set the desired paper setting weighting flag to bit 5 of the control table. Step 510
If it is determined in the cassette mode in step 519, step 520 or step 521, step 522
Alternatively, the processing from step 512 onward is performed.

On the other hand, when the operator sets the print sheet with his / her hand, the switch 18 for detecting the inserting of the hand / sheet is turned on, an interruption occurs in the microcomputer 22, and the processing shown in FIG. 4 (B) is performed. That is, it is determined in step 415 whether or not the switch 8 is on, and if not, it is determined in step 416 whether or not the switch 18 is on. If it is on, the memory 24 of the memory 24 is determined in step 417. Check the flag of the handing mode of bit 0 of the control table. Next, in step 418, it is determined whether or not it is in the handing mode.If it is in the handing mode, in step 419 the various motors 33 are driven through the motor control circuit 26, and the hand print paper take-in roller 17 is set. The print paper 20 is supplied by rotating it. Then step 420
Then, the target paper preparation flag is set in bit 3 of the control table in FIG. 3 and the process returns. If it is determined in step 418 that the touch mode is not set, it is determined that the print sheet for the touch is set even though the touch mode is not set, and the process proceeds to step 421. Step 4
In 21, the microcomputer 22 controls the motor control circuit 26 to drive the various motors 33, rotate the print sheet take-in roller 17 for the aim at a low speed for about 2 seconds, and print the target print sheet 20 as shown in FIG. Send to position P and stop here. Thereafter, at step 422, the desired paper feed set completion flag is set in bit 6 of the control table in FIG. 3 and the process returns. In step 421, print paper 2
After feeding 0 to the position P, the print sheet is taken in by the print sheet intake roller 17 for the hand. The time until the printing paper is held by the roller 17 (the time for feeding the printing paper to the position P) is 2 seconds. Here, the advantage that the printing paper 20 is bitten by the roller 17 is that the tray 16 for holding the hand has a short depth, and therefore, when a large paper such as A3 printing paper is placed, the printing paper 20 slips off from the tray 16. To prevent that. Further, since the print-paper take-in roller 17 for touching rotates at a low speed, the print paper 20 can be chewed in a normal state.

On the other hand, if the print paper reaches the switch 8 at step 415 and the switch 8 is on, the process goes to step 423. In step 423, various motors 33 are controlled through the motor control circuit 26, and the transport rollers 6 and 7 are controlled.
To stop the rotation of. Next, in step 424, bit 0 of the control table shown in FIG. 3 is checked to determine whether it is in the aiming mode. If it is the aiming mode, in step 425 the bit in the control table shown in FIG. 3 is checked, and it is determined whether or not the flag paper preparation flag is set. If it is not set, error processing is performed in step 434, and if it is set, the process proceeds to step 426. In step 426, the flag for preparing the paper for handing paper is reset, and in step 427, bit 4 of the control table shown in FIG. 3 is checked to determine whether or not the handing print pending flag is set. If so, the flow advances to step 428 to reset the target paper preparation flag, and then the flow advances to step 512 onward in the flowchart shown in FIG. If the finger print pending flag is not set in step 427, go to step 429, where the third
Bit 5 of the control table shown in the figure is checked to determine whether the desired paper setting weighting flag is set. If it is set, in step 430, the setting paper setting weighting flag is reset and step 512 in the flowchart of FIG.
Go to later. If the setting paper weighting flag is not set in step 429, step 43
Go to 1 and set the desired paper ready flag in bit 2 of the control table in FIG. 3 and then return.

When it is determined in step 424 that the mode is not the touch mode, the process proceeds to step 432, and it is checked whether or not the cassette paper preparation flag is set in the control table in the memory 24 in FIG. 2, and if it is set. For example, in step 433, this flag is reset. Step 4
If the cassette paper preparation flag is not set at 32, error processing is performed at step 434. Step 4
After resetting the flag at 33, it proceeds to step 435 to judge whether or not the cassette print pending flag of the control table in the memory 24 of FIG. 2 is set, and if it is set at step 436. The flag is reset, and the processes in and after step 512 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 are performed. If the cassette print pending flag is not set in step 435, the flow advances to step 437 to set the cassette paper preparation completion flag in the control table in the memory 24 of FIG. 2, and then returns.

According to this embodiment, the microcomputer 22 has a memory
If the control table of 24 does not indicate the watch mode, but the switch 18 for detecting the paper insertion is turned on, rotate the print paper intake roller 17 for the finger at a low speed and The printed printing paper 20 is fed to the position P in FIG.
When the hand print command is received from the computer main body 32 after being bitten into and supported by the electronic computer main body 32, the print sheet is immediately sent to the feeding roller 9 and printing is performed, so that the hand from the computer main body 32 is printed. The printing paper 20 for the hand can be held on the main body 1 of the print output device before the handing command comes. Therefore, conventionally, it was necessary to synchronize the direction of the printing paper by the operator with the direction command sent from the computer main body 32, but in the present embodiment this can be made asynchronous and the burden on the operator is reduced. As a result, the printing speed of the entire print output device can be improved. Further, since the print sheet 20 of the hand is supported by being bitten by the roller 17, even if the size of the hand tray 16 is much smaller than the maximum size of the print sheet, the print sheet is prevented from falling off. Can be prevented.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the print output apparatus of the present invention, when the operator touches the print sheet on the print output apparatus before the handing command is sent from the electronic computer, the print sheet thus picked up is ejected from the cassette. By conveying to the front of the position where the print paper conveyance path to the paper conveyance mechanism is blocked, and waiting at that position, if a handing command is sent from the computer, immediately print on the printed print paper. The print paper can be touched to the print output device before the touch command is sent from the electronic computer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a mechanism section of the print output apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a control section of the print output apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a control table stored in the memory 24 shown in FIG. 2, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are operation flowcharts of the microcomputer shown in FIG. 1 ... Print output device main body, 2 ... A cassette 3, ... B cassette, 6,7 ... conveying roller 8 ... switch, 9 ... feeding roller 10 ... photosensitive drum, 11 ... peeling transfer device 16 ... … Hand tray 17 …… Hand print paper take-in roller 18 …… Hand paper insertion detection switch 22 …… Microcomputer 24 …… Memory, 25 …… Switch detection circuit 26 …… Motor control circuit, 27 …… Data control circuit 28 …… Mechanism control circuit 29 …… Character generator 32 …… Electronic computer, 33 …… Various motors 34 …… Video data control device, 35 …… Mechanism part

Front page continuation (72) Hideki Kimura Inventor Hideki Kimura 2-9 Suehirocho, Ome-shi, Tokyo Inside Toshiba Computer Engineering Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A print output device for printing print data sent from an electronic computer onto print paper carried from a cassette via a paper carrying mechanism, and carrying a designed print paper to the paper carrying mechanism. On the basis of the detection result of the hand feeding mechanism, the detecting means for detecting that the printing paper is handed to the hand feeding mechanism, and the detection result of the detecting means,
If it is detected that the print sheet is touched by the target paper feed mechanism before receiving the target instruction from the electronic computer, the target paper feed mechanism is driven to remove the target print paper from the cassette. To the sheet transport mechanism, the sheet is transported to a position before the position where it interrupts the transport path of the printing sheet and waits at that position, and then when a handing command is received from the electronic computer, the standby printing sheet is immediately transported to the sheet transporting unit. A print output device, comprising: a control unit that controls the transfer to a mechanism, and prints on a printed print sheet.