JPH08289077A - Combined equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] When printing a fax, it is possible to prevent memory overflow even if the fax tray is closed.
It is an object to provide a composite device having an AX function. A FAX unit 1, a print engine unit 2 ′ for printing image data 9, a counter 30, and a display unit 11 are provided. When printing a FAX, the FAX tray open / close detection sensor 8 is used to open / close the FAX. Check the opening / closing of the tray. If the open / close type FAX tray is closed, an error is displayed on the display unit 11, the counter 30 waits for a predetermined time, and if the open / close type FAX tray is opened within that time, the FAX tray is opened. If the recording paper is ejected to and is kept closed after a preset time, the conveyance path is switched to the normal paper ejection tray by the conveyance path switching switch 31, and the print engine unit 2 '
Eject the recording paper printed in.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a composite device having a FAX function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a composite device in which a function such as a FAX function and a scanner function is added to an ordinary printer. However, in a composite device to which a FAX function is added,
There is only one outlet for recording paper, which is a recording medium.
Do not confuse the X received data output and the other output, that is, the output from the personal computer or the like, with the model ejected from the same recording paper outlet, and the FAX received data output and the data output from the personal computer or the like. There is a model that outputs separately to different recording paper outlets.
Below, a description will be given of a conventional compound device such as the latter, which has different recording paper discharge ports.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control unit of a conventional compound device, FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of the compound device, and FIG. 5 is a mechanism configuration diagram of the compound device. As shown in FIG. 3, the conventional multifunctional device includes a FAX unit 1 and a print engine unit 2, and the FAX unit 1
Has an image memory 4 for holding transmission / reception data 3, and the print engine unit 2 is composed of a central processing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as CPU) 5, a ROM 6, a RAM 7, and a FAX tray opening / closing detection sensor 8.

In a multi-function device having separate recording paper discharge ports, when the FAX unit 1 receives image data, the received image data 3 is first accumulated in the image memory 4. After that, the image data 9 stored in the image memory 4 is transferred to the print engine unit 2. At this time, at the same time that the image data 9 is transferred to the print engine unit 2, a FAX print signal 10 indicating whether or not the content of the transferred image data 9 is a FAX is output. As a result, the CPU 5 of the print engine unit 2 determines whether the content of the print data is FAX (step 1 in FIG. 4). If the result of this determination is that the content of the print data is something other than FAX, that is, if the FAX print signal 10 is at L level, then print processing is performed (step 5).

The printing process is as follows. That is, in FIG. 5, the recording paper 12 is fed from a paper feed cassette 13 set at the bottom of the main body to a drive motor (not shown).
The paper is fed one by one onto the paper conveying path 15 by the paper feeding roller 14 driven by. This fed recording sheet 12
In addition, the organic photoconductor (hereinafter referred to as O
The toner image formed on the OPC 17 by the laser scanning unit (hereinafter abbreviated as LSU) 18 is transferred by the transfer roller 19 based on the image data transmitted to the PC 17 and then installed in the fixing device 20. The heat and pressure of the heating roller 21 and the pressure roller 22 melt the toner to fix the toner image transferred on the recording paper 12.

The recording paper 12 on which the toner image is fixed is normally discharged to a paper discharge tray 23. Next, when the result of the determination is that the content of the print data is FAX, that is, the FAX print signal 10 is at the H level, first, the FAX tray 24
The opening / closing of the tray is detected by the FAX tray opening / closing detection sensor 8,
Whether the FAX tray 24 is open or closed is determined based on the signal (step 2). At this time, the transport path switching means 26 uses the FA
In conjunction with opening and closing the X tray 24, the FAX tray 24
When is open, the transport path is switched to the FAX tray 24 side, and when the FAX tray 24 is closed, the transport path is switched to the normal paper discharge tray 23.

When the FAX tray 24 is open, that is, when the output of the FAX tray opening / closing detection 8 is at the L level, the printing process (step 5) is performed, and the recording paper 12 on which the toner is fixed is transferred to the FAX tray 24. Discharge. FA
When the X tray 24 is closed, that is, when the output of the FAX tray open / close detection sensor 8 is at the H level, the display unit 11
An error is displayed in (Fig. 3) (step 3), and FAX is displayed.
It is in a standby state until the tray 24 is opened. When the FAX tray 24 opens, cancel the error display (step 4),
The printing process (step 5) is performed, and the recording paper 12 on which the toner is fixed is discharged to the FAX tray 24.

[0008]

However, in the case of the conventional multifunction device as described above, when the FAX tray is in the closed state, the print output of the image data transmitted by FAX is prohibited. The image data received by the FAX cannot be output, and the FAX image data that is sent is stored in the image memory of the main body of the multifunction device.
When the received data by exceeds the memory of the composite device main body,
It sometimes caused a memory overflow.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when printing FAX,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a composite device that can prevent memory overflow even when the AX tray is closed.

[0010]

To this end, the present invention provides a fax unit for transmitting and receiving image data, a transport path switching means for switching the transport path of a recording medium, a print engine section for printing image data, and a fax discharge unit. An image received by the FAX unit, which has an opening / closing FAX tray for paper, a FAX tray opening / closing detection unit for detecting opening / closing of the opening / closing FAX tray, a time counting unit, and a display unit for displaying the state of the device. When outputting the data, the F
The open / close state of the open / close type FAX tray is detected by the AX tray open / close detecting means, and the recording medium is ejected to the open / close type FAX tray if the open / close type FAX tray is open, and the display means is displayed if the open / close type FAX tray is closed. An error is displayed, and the time counting unit measures the time from the error display by the display unit to the opening of the open / close-type FAX tray, and the time is measured within a preset time.
If the X tray is opened, the recording medium is ejected to the FAX tray. If the FAX tray is not opened within the set time, the recording medium recording the data received by the FAX unit is ejected to the recording medium ejection tray for normal output. As described above, the transport path switching unit switches the transport path of the recording medium.

[0011]

With the above configuration, when printing a fax, the fax
If the tray is open, eject the paper to the FAX tray,
If the FAX tray is closed, an error message is displayed for a certain period of time, and then the paper is normally discharged to the paper discharge tray, so that the overflow of the memory at the time of FAX reception can be eliminated.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control unit of a composite device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a control flowchart thereof. Note that the same elements as those of the conventional example shown in FIG. The mechanical configuration of the composite device is similar to that shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, this composite device comprises a FAX unit 1 and a print engine section 2 '
The X unit 1 has an image memory 4 for holding the transmission / reception data 3.
Has a print engine unit 2 ', a CPU 5, a ROM
6, a RAM 7, a counter 30, a FAX tray opening / closing detection sensor 8, and a conveyance path changeover switch 31.

When the FAX unit 1 receives the image data 3, the received image data 3 is first transferred to the image memory 4.
Is accumulated in After that, the image data 3 stored in the image memory 4 is transferred to the print engine unit 2 ′. At this time, a FAX print signal 10 indicating whether the transferred image data 9 is a FAX image or not, is transmitted to the print engine unit 2 ′ together with the image data 9. As a result, in the CPU 5 of the print engine unit 2 ',
It is determined whether the content of the print data is FAX (Fig. 2
Step 11). As a result of this determination, when the content of the print data is something other than FAX, that is, when the FAX print signal 10 is at the L level, the conveyance path changeover switch 3
1, the transport path switching means 26 is connected to the normal paper discharge tray 23.
Then, the print processing (step 22) is performed.
The print processing (step 22) is the same as that of the conventional example, and therefore its explanation is omitted.

Next, as a result of the discrimination, the content of the print data is FA
In the case of X, that is, when the FAX print signal 10 is at H level, first, the transport path changeover switch 3
The transport path switching means 26 is switched to the FAX tray 24 side by 1 (step 12). Next, FAX tray 24
The opening / closing of the tray is detected by the FAX tray opening / closing detection sensor 8,
Whether the FAX tray 24 is open or closed is determined based on the signal (step 14). When the FAX tray 24 is open, that is, when the output of the FAX tray opening / closing detection sensor 8 is at the L level, the printing process (step 22) is performed, and the recording paper 12 is discharged to the FAX tray 24. When the FAX tray 24 is closed, that is, when the output of the FAX tray opening / closing detection sensor 8 is at H level, the display unit 11 displays “F
An error message such as "AX tray closed" is displayed (step 1
5), the value of the counter (A) 30 is cleared (step 16). Next, the value of the counter (A) 30 is compared with a predetermined value t0 (step 17).

Counter (A) <t 0 (1) When the equation (1) is satisfied, that is, when the predetermined time t 0 has not been reached from the error display, counter (A) ← counter (A ) +1 ... (2). Therefore, the processing of equation (2) is performed (step 1
8) After that, the opening / closing of the FAX tray 24 is detected by the FAX tray opening / closing detection sensor 8 and the opening / closing of the FAX tray 24 is determined (step 19). As a result of this determination, FA
If it is determined that the X tray 24 is open, the error display is canceled (step 20) and the print engine unit 2 '
Print processing of the image data 9 transferred in step (step 2
2) is performed, and the recording paper 12 on which the toner image is fixed is FA
Discharge to the X tray 24. If it is determined that the FAX tray 24 is closed as a result of the determination in step 19, the determination of formula (1) is performed again (step 17). At this time, if the formula (1) is established, the process of the formula (2) is performed again (step 18). This loop (steps 17-19)
Means that the determination (step 17) of Expression (1) is not established,
That is, the process is repeated from the error display (step 15) to a predetermined time t 0. Then, the formula (1)
Is not established (step 17), that is, a certain time t 0 determined in advance from the error display (step 15).
If the FAX tray 24 has not been opened until then, the transport path switching means 26 that has been switched to the FAX tray 24 side is switched to the normal paper discharge tray 23 side (step 21), and the error display is changed from "FAX tray closed" to "FAX tray closed". Since the tray is closed, the message is changed to "Normal discharge tray" (step 23), the print engine 2'prints the image data (step 22), and is discharged to the normal discharge tray 23. .

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, when outputting the image data received by the FAX unit, the FAX unit
The open / close state of the open / close type FAX tray is detected by the tray open / close detection means, and the recording medium is ejected to the open / close type FAX tray if the open / close type FAX tray is open. By counting means
The time from when an error is displayed by the display means to when the openable FAX tray is opened is measured. If the FAX tray is opened within a preset time, the recording paper is discharged to the FAX tray, and the FAX tray is opened within the set time. Since the transport path is switched by the transport path switching means so that the recording paper is normally discharged to the paper discharge tray if the open position is not opened, it is possible to realize a composite device capable of preventing memory overflow and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control unit of a composite device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control flowchart of the composite device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control unit of a conventional composite device.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of a conventional composite device.

[FIG. 5] Mechanism configuration diagram of a conventional composite device

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 FAX unit 2'Print engine section 4 Memory 5 Central processing unit (CPU) 6 ROM 7 RAM 8 FAX tray open / closed detection sensor 11 Display section 12 Recording paper 30 Counter (A) 31 Transport path changeover switch

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A FAX unit for transmitting and receiving image data, a transport path switching means for switching a transport path of a recording medium, a print engine section for printing image data, and a FA.
An X-paper open / close type FAX tray, a FAX tray open / close detecting means for detecting the opening / closing of the open / close type FAX tray, a time counting means, and a display means for displaying the state of the device are received by the FAX unit. When outputting the image data, the open / close state of the open / close type FAX tray is detected by the FAX tray open / close detecting means, and the open / close type FA tray is opened.
If the X-tray is open, the recording medium is ejected there. If the open / close type FAX tray is closed, an error is displayed by the display means, and after the time counting means displays an error by the display means, Openable FA
The time until the X tray is opened is measured, and if the FAX tray is opened within a preset time, the recording medium is ejected to the FAX tray, and the FAX is delivered within the set time.
If the tray is not opened, the conveyance path switching means switches the conveyance path of the recording medium so that the recording medium recording the data received by the FAX unit is ejected to the recording medium ejection tray at the time of normal output. And compound equipment.