Patent Application
20150130124
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to feeding apparatuses, image forming apparatuses, control methods thereof, and storage media storing programs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses that form an image on paper aim for increased speed through technological advances, and feeding apparatuses in which papers are stacked for feeding to the image forming apparatuses also require mechanisms for stacking large volumes of paper and mechanisms capable of resupplying paper during printing.
Technologies relating to large volume feeding apparatuses such as these are described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-246058 for example. In the feeding apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-246058, two paper stacking units are arranged in parallel and in a case where the first paper stacking unit runs out of paper, the papers contained in the second paper stacking unit are automatically transferred to the first paper stacking unit. Thus, a feeding apparatus is described that is capable of stacking twice the papers of an ordinary feeding tray by feeding papers continuously in this manner. Description is given in regard to this conventional feeding apparatus with reference to
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-240630 describes a feeding apparatus that is capable of feeding large sized papers by simultaneously raising left and right trays in a case where large sized papers such as A3 papers are stacked astride the left and right trays.
However, with the above-described conventional image forming apparatus, even in a case where large sized papers such as A3 size or ledger sized papers are stacked astride the left and right trays of the feeding apparatus, the display of the remaining amount of paper is carried out separately for the right tray and the left tray. For this reason, the user is unable to identify from the display of the remaining amount whether or not large sized papers are stacked, and there is the probability that the user will misidentify that small sized papers are stacked. Moreover, the display of the remaining amount cannot accurately inform of the remaining amount of paper.
An aspect of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems with the conventional technology.
The present invention provides a technology by which the user can accurately recognize the status of the contained papers.
The present invention in one aspect provides a feeding apparatus, comprising: first and second stacking units, each configured to be capable of stacking a predetermined size of paper, first and second detection units configured to detect a presence/absence of paper on the first and second stacking units respectively, a determination unit configured to determine whether or not paper of a size larger than the predetermined size is stacked astride the first and second stacking units, and a control unit configured to perform control such that a paper remaining amount is displayed based on the detection of either the first or the second detection unit in a case where the determination unit determines that the large size paper is stacked astride, and to display paper remaining amounts based on the detection of the first and second detection units respectively in a case where the determination unit determines that the large size paper is not stacked astride.
By changing the form of the remaining amount display of the papers according to the present invention for a case in which a predetermined size of papers is stacked in two stacking units and for a case in which a predetermined size of papers is stacked, the user can accurately grasp the status of the papers.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described hereinafter in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the following embodiments are not intended to limit the claims of the present invention, and that not all of the combinations of the aspects that are described according to the following embodiments are necessarily required with respect to the means to solve the problems according to the present invention. Same reference numbers are assigned to same compositional elements and description thereof is omitted.
A reader unit 101 optically reads an image of a document and outputs image data thereof. The reader unit 101 is provided with a scanner unit 111 that reads the document, and a document feeding unit (DF unit) 112 that conveys documents to the scanner unit 111.
A printer unit 102 conveys papers (sheets), then prints the image data thereon as visible images, and discharges to outside the apparatus. The printer unit 102 is provided with a feeding unit 122 having multiple types of paper cassettes, and a printing unit 121 that transfers and fixes the image data onto the paper. As a feeding apparatus according to the present embodiment, further provided are a discharge unit 123 that discharges printed papers to outside the machine, and an optional feeding unit 124 having a paper deck capable of being loaded with large volumes of paper.
A control unit 103 is provided with a CPU 131, an image memory 132, a nonvolatile memory 134, a RAM 135, a ROM 136, and a console unit 104. The control unit 103 is electrically connected to the reader unit 101 and the printer unit 102. Furthermore, the CPU 131 of the control unit 103 provides a copy function by controlling the reader unit 101 to write the image data of the document to the image memory 132, and controlling the printer unit 102 to print the image data of the image memory 132 onto paper. Further still, various adjustment values are stored in the nonvolatile memory 134. The RAM 135 is used as a work area of the CPU 131, and the ROM 136 stores a control program of the CPU 131.
The console unit 104 is provided with a display unit, a touch panel input unit that is installed over the display unit, and multiple hard keys. Signals inputted through the touch panel or the hard keys are transmitted to the CPU 131, and the display unit displays functions of the image forming apparatus and image data and the like.
First, description is given regarding a configuration and operation of the reader unit 101.
A document D placed on a document feeding tray 205 of a document feeding unit 111 is separated sheet by sheet by separation rollers 201 then conveyed over a platen glass 211 by conveyance rollers 202. The documents D that have passed over the platen glass 211 are discharged to a discharge tray 204 due to the rotation of discharge rollers 203.
The documents D that pass over the platen glass 211 are irradiated by a light source 212, and the light reflected by the document is read as image data by a CCD image sensor 214 via a lens system 213. The image data read by the CCD image sensor 214 is temporarily transferred to the control unit 103 and saved in the image memory 132.
Next, description is given regarding a configuration and operation of the printer unit 102.
In an image forming unit 220, the image data that has been saved in the image memory 132 is sent to a laser output unit 221, and a laser beam is outputted from the laser output unit 221 based on the image data. The outputted laser beam passes through an imaging lens system 222, is reflected by a mirror 223 then condensed as an image onto a photosensitive member 224. A photosensitive drum 224 is charged in advance by a primary charger 225 such that an electrostatic latent image is formed thereon by being irradiated by the beam, then the electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device 226 to form a toner image.
In the feeding unit 122 and the optional feeding unit 124, printing sheets (printing medium) S and printing sheets S-1 are stacked onto a manual loader 237, feeding cassettes 232 and 233, and a feeding deck (right tray) 241. It should be noted that reference numeral 242 indicates a left tray and reference numeral 243 indicates a transition tray. These are described later with reference to
The printing sheets S and printing sheets S-1 are conveyed up to registration rollers 231 by feeding rollers 234, 235, 238, and 244 and conveyance rollers 236, then have their slant corrected by the registration rollers 231. And then they are further transferred to the image forming unit 220 with a timing matched to image forming processing. In the image forming unit 220, the toner image on the photosensitive member 224 is transferred onto the incoming printing sheet S by a charger 237. The printing sheet S onto which the toner image has been transferred in this manner is separated from the photosensitive member 224 by a separation charger 238. The separated printing sheet S is conveyed to a fixing unit 250 by a conveyance unit 239, and the toner image is fixed to the printing sheet S due to the heat and pressure of the fixing unit 250. The printing sheet S onto which the toner image has been fixed in this manner is conveyed to the discharge unit (post-processing unit) 123 by the rotation of discharge rollers 251.
The printing sheet S conveyed to the discharge unit 123 is conveyed to a processing tray 263 by rotations of conveyance rollers 261 and 262. The printing sheets S that are successively conveyed to the processing tray 263 are sorted into printing sheet bundles by a sorting member 264. The printing sheet bundles sorted in this manner undergo a stapling process by an unshown stapling unit as required in accordance with instructions from the user. They are then discharged to a stacking tray 266 by bundle discharge rollers 265. In this manner, one unit of copied sheets of the document D is finished, and this operation is repeated for the number of copies desired by the user.
Next, description is given with reference to
A wire rope 313a is secured onto the transition tray 243 and is connected again to the transition tray 243 by way of a wire pulley 311a and a winding shaft 312. By using the winding shaft 312 to cause the wire rope 313a to move, the transition tray 243 can move rightward and leftward.
By causing the winding shafts 307 and 308 to rotate simultaneously, it is possible to raise and lower the right tray 241 and the left tray 242 to the same height.
A display unit 600 is provided with a touch panel function and screens for the main mode settings and status displays are displayed here. A numeric keypad 601 is used for inputting numerical values of zero to nine. An ID key 602 is used in a case where the image forming apparatus is managed by different divisions for example and when a divisional number and authentication code are to be inputted. A reset key 603 is a key for resetting the mode that has been set. A guide key 604 is a key for displaying help screens in each mode. A user mode key 605 is a key for entering a user mode screen and a user is able to carry out paper size settings, which are described later, by pressing this user mode key 605. An interrupt key 606 is a key that instructs an interruption copy. A start key 607 is a key for causing operations such as copying to commence, and a stop key 608 is a key for causing a job such as a currently executed copying job or the like to stop. When a software power source SW609 is pressed, the backlight of the display unit 600 extinguishes and the apparatus transitions to low power mode. When a power saving key 610 is pressed, a transition is made to a power saving mode, and when this is pressed again, the apparatus returns from the power saving mode.
A screen contrast key 614 is a key for adjusting the contrast of the display unit 600. When a counter confirmation key 615 is pressed, a count screen is displayed on the display unit 600 that displays an aggregate of the number of sheets used for copying up to that point. An LED 616 lights when image data is being accumulated in the image memory 132 during job execution. An error LED 617 lights when the apparatus is in an error state such as a paper jam or when a door on the apparatus is open. A power supply LED 618 lights when the main switch of the apparatus is on. When the user touches a paper information key 619, paper sizes, types, and remaining amounts are displayed on the display unit 600.
Next, with reference to
When the user presses the user mode key 605 on the console unit 104, a user mode setting screen shown in
An optional feeding unit button 704 is displayed on this paper size setting screen, and when the user presses this button 704, a paper size specification screen shown in
By pressing any of buttons 707 through 712 on the paper size setting screen of the optional feeding cassette 124 shown in
In
In this way, by having the user specify in advance from the operation screens shown in
Next, description is given with reference to
A region 802 is a region that indicates paper information, and reference numerals 803 through 806 are icons that indicate remaining amounts of paper. The icon 803 is an icon that indicates the paper remaining amount on the manual loader 237, icon 804 indicates this for the feeding cassette 232, and the icon 805 indicates this for the feeding cassette 233, while the icon 806 is an icon that indicates the paper remaining amount of the optional feeding cassette 124. An OK button 807 is a button that closes this paper information screen.
In
In
The icon 812 indicates a case where paper of a size smaller than the predetermined size has been specified. In this case, it indicates a state in which papers are stacked on the right tray 241 and papers are not stacked on the left tray 242. The icon 813 is for a case where paper of a size smaller than the predetermined size has been specified, and indicates a state in which paper is not stacked on either the right tray 241 or the left tray 242.
The icon 814 corresponds to a case of printing papers of a size larger than a predetermined size (for example, a state in which any one of the buttons 710, 711, and 712 is specified on a paper size variation screen of
When the user presses the paper information key 619 on the console unit 104 at S901, the CPU 131 obtains the paper size specified for the optional feeding cassette 124, which is saved in the paper size saving area (not shown in diagrams) of the nonvolatile memory 134. Then, proceeding to S902, the CPU 131 obtains a signal from the paper sensor 314 of the right tray 241 and proceeds to S903. At S903 the CPU 131 determines whether or not the paper size obtained at S901 is a large size greater than the predetermined size, and transitions to S904 if it is a large size, and transitions to S907 if it is not a large size. At S904 the CPU 131 transitions to S905 in a case where the signal from the paper sensor 314 obtained at S902 does not indicate no-paper, and transitions to S906 if it does indicate no-paper. At S905 the CPU 131 displays the icon 814 shown in
In this way, according to the icons 814 and 815, the user can identify whether or not there is paper in the optional feeding cassette 124 when large size paper has been specified for the optional feeding cassette 124.
On the other hand, when the paper size is not large size, the CPU 131 obtains a signal from the paper sensor 315 of the left tray 242 at S907 and transitions to S908. At S908 the CPU 131 transitions to S909 in a case where it determines that the signal from the paper sensor 314 obtained at S902 does not indicate no-paper, and transitions to S912 if it determines that it does indicate no-paper. At S909 the CPU 131 transitions to S910 in a case where the signal from the paper sensor 315 obtained at S907 does not indicate no-paper, and transitions to S911 if it does indicate no-paper. At S910, since there is a state in which paper is present on both the right tray 241 and the left tray 242, the CPU 131 displays the icon 811 of
Furthermore, at S912 the CPU 131 transitions to S911 in a case where the signal from the paper sensor 315 obtained at S907 does not indicate no-paper, and transitions to S913 if it does indicate no-paper. At S913, since both the right tray 241 and the left tray 242 have no paper, the CPU 131 displays the icon 813 of
As described above, according to the present embodiment, in a case where small size papers are stacked, the paper remaining amounts of the left and right trays are displayed separately, and in a case where large size papers are stacked, a single remaining amount is displayed for the left and right trays. In this way, the user is able to accurately grasp the status of the papers inside the feeding cassettes.
It should be noted that the present embodiment was configured such that two states were displayed for the paper remaining amounts, these being no-paper or paper-present, but it is also possible to vary the icons such that the status of paper-present is shown incrementally.
Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the icon 812 is displayed in a case where the right tray 241 has no paper and the left tray 242 has paper, but since paper on the left tray 242 is being transferred to the right tray 241 at this time, it is also possible to display an icon indicating that paper is being transferred.
Furthermore, in a case where the detection results of the paper sensors 314 and 315 of the left and right trays 241 and 242 are different from each other when large size papers have been specified, for example in the state shown in
Accordingly, it is desirable that a message or the like prompting the user to confirm the positions of the left and right trays 241 and 242 or the paper size setting is displayed on the console unit 104.
Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions recorded on a storage medium (e.g., non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) of the present invention, and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU), or other circuitry, and may include a network of separate computers or separate computer processors. The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™, a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.
Furthermore, a control circuit designed so as to execute the processing based on each flowchart may be used instead of the CPU 131.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-232582, filed Nov. 8, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-232582 | Nov 2013 | JP | national |
