Paper feeding method of envelope, image forming equipment and storage medium

Abstract

The invention provides an envelope feeding method, an image forming apparatus, and a storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: when the distance between a first piece of envelope paper and a second piece of envelope paper is a first distance, controlling the second piece of envelope paper to start feeding; when it is determined that the second envelope paper can be normally printed, the paper feeding time of the nth envelope paper is controlled according to the first actual paper length of the first envelope paper, and n is a positive integer larger than or equal to 3 and smaller than or equal to the total number of work pieces. The paper feeding control of the third envelope paper and the remaining envelope paper to be printed later is controlled according to the actual paper length of the first envelope paper, so that the paper spacing distance between the adjacent envelope paper is shortened, the printing rate is improved, the paper jamming probability of the subsequent envelope paper can be reduced, and meanwhile, the user experience is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of image forming technology, and in particular to an envelope paper feeding method, an image forming device and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] When the image forming device performs an envelope operation task, the paper feed roller takes out the envelope paper from the paper box and transports it to the image forming component via the conveying roller for image printing. Currently, there are envelope papers with different cover lengths on the market, such as C5 envelope paper. Different envelope paper lengths are composed of different cover lengths and envelope body lengths, such as 247mm, 270mm, 292mm, etc. In the paper feeding control method of envelope paper, the sum of the pre-set fixed envelope paper length value and the residual detection value is usually used as the paper spacing distance control of adjacent envelope papers, and the paper spacing distance often does not change with the different paper lengths of different envelope papers, so that when printing short envelopes, the phenomenon of double-feeding paper jams cannot be identified, and due to different cover lengths, the actual paper length of the envelope paper is not accurately identified, resulting in false alarms of paper type mismatch, affecting the user experience. Therefore, how to improve the printing efficiency of paper supply under different cover lengths, reduce false alarms, and accurately identify paper jams to improve the user's printing experience is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of this, the present application provides an envelope paper feeding method, an image forming device and a storage medium to solve the problem in the prior art that envelopes with different cover lengths frequently experience paper jams, false alarms and other anomalies during paper feeding, thereby affecting the user experience.

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a paper feeding method for envelopes, comprising:

[0005] When the distance between the first envelope paper and the second envelope paper is a first distance, controlling the second envelope paper to start feeding;

[0006] determining a first actual paper length of the first envelope paper;

[0007] When it is determined that the second piece of envelope paper can be printed normally, the paper feeding time of the nth piece of envelope paper is controlled according to the first actual paper length; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3 and less than or equal to the total number of sheets in the job.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the first distance is a distance from a position of a correction sensor to a position of a paper feed roller in a paper feed path of the image forming device.

[0009] In a possible implementation, determining a first actual paper length of the first envelope paper includes:

[0010] Obtaining a theoretical paper feeding speed of the image forming device;

[0011] Determining a first paper feeding time of the first envelope paper;

[0012] The product of the first paper feeding time and the theoretical paper feeding speed is used as the first actual paper length of the first envelope paper.

[0013] In a possible implementation manner, determining a first paper feeding time of the first piece of envelope paper includes:

[0014] When the paper head of the first envelope paper reaches the correction sensor in the paper feeding path of the image forming device, starting a timer to record a first moment;

[0015] When the tail of the first envelope paper leaves the calibration sensor, recording a second moment;

[0016] The difference between the second moment and the first moment is calculated as the first paper feeding time.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the determining that the second envelope paper can be printed normally includes:

[0018] determining a second actual paper length of the second envelope paper;

[0019] When the difference between the second actual paper length and the first actual paper length is within the interval range between the first threshold and the second threshold, it is determined that the second envelope paper can be printed normally; wherein the first threshold is used to represent the minimum paper length to ensure that the image forming device can print the envelope paper normally, and the second threshold is used to represent the maximum paper length to ensure that the image forming device can print the envelope paper normally.

[0020] In a possible implementation, controlling the feeding time of the nth envelope paper according to the first actual paper length includes:

[0021] When the paper feeding distance of the n-1th piece of envelope paper reaches the first actual paper length and the n-1th piece of envelope paper can be printed normally, the nth piece of envelope paper is controlled to start feeding.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the second distance from the tail of the (n-1)th piece of envelope paper to the head of the nth piece of envelope paper is smaller than the first distance.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0024] Based on the comparison result of the first actual paper length and the second threshold, it is determined whether the first envelope paper has a double-feeding abnormality; wherein the second threshold is used to represent the maximum paper length to ensure that the image forming device can print the envelope paper normally.

[0025] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an image forming device, including:

[0026] A paper feeding control unit, used for controlling the second envelope to start feeding when the distance between the first envelope and the second envelope is a first distance;

[0027] A paper length calculation unit, used to determine a first actual paper length of the first piece of envelope paper;

[0028] The paper feed control unit is also used to control the paper feed time of the nth envelope paper according to the first actual paper length when it is determined that the second envelope paper can be printed normally; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3 and less than or equal to the total number of sheets in the job.

[0029] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and the computer instructions enable the computer to execute the method described in the first aspect.

[0030] The embodiment of the present invention provides a paper feeding method, image forming device and storage medium for envelopes. In the process of printing multiple envelopes, the paper feeding operation of the second envelope is controlled only when the distance between the first envelope and the second envelope is the first distance. Therefore, no matter what style and length of envelope paper of the cover and the envelope body supported by the image forming device, the first envelope of the envelope printing operation can be normally printed, and the compatibility is strong. From the third envelope and the remaining envelopes to be printed, the paper feeding control is to control the paper feeding time of the next envelope to be printed based on the actual paper length of the first envelope, shortening the paper spacing distance between adjacent envelopes, increasing the printing rate, and reducing the probability of paper jams of the subsequent envelopes, reducing the occurrence of continuous feeding, and improving the user experience. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0032] Figure 1 A structural block diagram of an image forming device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a paper supply path in an image forming device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 3 A schematic flow chart of a paper feeding method for envelopes provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of paper feeding of a first envelope paper and a second envelope paper provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a cover closed state and a cover open state of an envelope paper in a long-edge feeding direction provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a cover closed state and a cover open state of an envelope paper in a short-edge feeding direction provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of paper feeding of a second envelope paper and a third envelope paper provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of paper feed control for a six-envelope printing job provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of paper feeding of the nth envelope paper and the n+1th envelope paper provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Fig.10 A schematic flow chart of another envelope paper feeding method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0042] Fig.11 for Fig.10 Schematic diagram of the process in Part A;

[0043] Fig.12 A schematic structural diagram of an image forming device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] In order to better understand the technical solution of the present application, the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0046] It should be clear that the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0047] The terms used in the embodiments of the present application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present application. The singular forms "a", "said" and "the" used in the embodiments of the present application and the appended claims are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates other meanings.

[0048] It should be understood that the term "and / or" used in this article is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0049] At present, most of the image forming devices on the market, such as printers and copiers, have structures such as Figure 1 As shown, it usually includes a body and a medium supply unit, a pickup component, an image forming component, a fixing component and a paper discharge component arranged in the body. The medium supply unit is detachably connected to the body and is used to store and replenish the medium. The pickup component (paper feeding roller 101, conveying roller 102, etc.) is used to send the medium from the medium supply unit. The medium is transported to the image forming component through the paper feeding path. The image forming component (transfer roller 103) transfers the printing image composed of the developer to the medium. The fixing component (fixing roller 104) fixes the printing image in the medium by heating, and the paper discharge component (discharge roller 105) discharges the printed medium out of the body. The image forming device forms an image on the medium, and the medium includes ordinary printing paper, color laser glossy photo paper, color laser glossy photo promotional paper, color laser matte promotional paper, color laser matte photo imaging paper, color laser soft medium glossy paper, color laser projection film, labels, envelopes and cards, etc., which are not limited here.

[0050] When the medium in the medium supply unit (such as a paper box) is transported, the paper feed roller 101 in the pick-up member needs to pick up the medium and transport the medium to the conveying assembly. Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of the paper feeding path. A correction sensor 106 is provided on the paper feeding path. Taking printing envelope paper as an example, during the printing process, the envelope paper is fed out from the paper box. When the leading edge of the envelope paper reaches the correction sensor 106, the correction sensor is triggered to start. When the tail of the envelope paper leaves the correction sensor 106, the correction sensor 106 is triggered to turn off, such as the reset operation of the correction sensor 106. When the tail of the envelope paper leaves the correction sensor 106 for a period of time within a preset time, the correction sensor 106 is reset normally. A detection sensor is provided on the paper supply path. The detection sensor is provided on the paper supply path at a position at a set distance from the medium supply part (such as a paper box). When the medium is transported to the detection sensor position, it means that the paper head of the medium has arrived at the position of the set distance. At this time, the paper head and the medium on the medium supply part are at a set distance. When the medium leaves the detection sensor, it means that the paper tail of the current medium is at a set distance from the medium on the medium supply part. Under the continuous printing control command and combined with the timing control, the picking component should start the transmission of the next medium at this time to ensure that the spacing between the two continuously transmitted media is the set spacing (or the set paper spacing distance). Of course, the set spacing may not be the set paper spacing between the previous medium and the next medium. The detection sensor corresponding to the set spacing is provided in the paper supply path to detect whether there is a phenomenon of early paper feeding, such as the paper head of the given medium is not in the paper box and is transmitted to the paper supply path in advance.

[0051] Currently, there are envelope papers with different cover lengths on the market. For example, C5 envelope paper has different envelope paper lengths such as 247mm, 270mm, and 292mm in different cover lengths and envelope body lengths. In the paper feeding control method of envelope paper, the sum of a pre-set fixed envelope paper length value and a remaining detection value is usually used as the paper spacing distance control for adjacent envelope papers. However, the paper spacing distance often does not change with the different paper lengths of different envelope papers, which makes it impossible to identify paper jams when printing short message envelopes. In addition, due to different cover lengths, the actual paper length of the envelope paper is not accurately identified, resulting in false alarms of paper type mismatch, affecting user experience.

[0052] In order to solve the problem of how to improve the printing efficiency of paper feeding under different cover lengths, reduce false alarms, and accurately identify paper jams, an embodiment of the present invention provides a paper feeding method for envelopes. Figure 3 The following is a flow chart of a paper feeding method for envelopes provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1 , the medium takes envelope paper as an example, and the method includes:

[0053] Step S100: when the distance between the first envelope and the second envelope is a first distance, controlling the second envelope to start feeding.

[0054] In an embodiment of the present invention, when an image forming device receives an envelope printing job, it parses the envelope printing job, and the envelope printing job includes N envelopes to be printed, that is, N is the total number of envelopes in the envelope printing job. The first envelope refers to the first envelope to be printed in the envelope printing job, that is, N=1, and the second envelope refers to the second envelope to be printed in the envelope printing job, that is, N=2. The first distance is the distance from the position of the correction sensor to the position of the paper feed roller in the paper feeding path of the image forming device, such as Figure 4 The first distance E shown is the distance (length) between the tail of the first envelope and the head of the second envelope. Therefore, on the paper feeding path, when it is detected that the distance between the tail of the first envelope and the head of the first envelope reaches the first distance, the second envelope is controlled to be taken out of the paper box and then the paper feeding operation is performed, and at this time, the head of the second envelope just reaches the position of the paper feeding roller.

[0055] Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the paper feeding operation of the second envelope paper can also be controlled by the working state of the correction sensor. When executing the envelope printing operation, the conveying roller conveys the first envelope paper. When the tail of the first envelope paper leaves the correction sensor within the preset time, the working state of the correction sensor changes from the start state (i.e., the envelope paper passes through the correction sensor, so that the correction sensor does not sense the ambient light, so that the correction sensor is shielded when the envelope paper just reaches the correction sensor, triggering the start) to the off state (such as when the tail of the envelope paper leaves the position of the correction sensor, it senses the ambient light, that is, the correction sensor is in an unshielded state, triggering the off), it can be known that the distance between the tail of the first envelope paper and the paper feeding roller is the first distance, and at this time, the second envelope paper is controlled to start to be taken out of the paper box to perform the paper feeding operation.

[0056] Of course, in a multi-envelope printing operation, the feeding operation of the second envelope paper is controlled only when the distance between the first envelope paper and the second envelope paper is the first distance E. That is to say, the feeding operation of the second envelope paper is controlled only when the tail of the first envelope paper leaves the correction sensor, and the feeding operation of the second envelope paper is not controlled before the tail of the first envelope paper passes the correction sensor. Therefore, regardless of the envelope paper of any style and length of the cover body that the image forming device can support, it can ensure that the first envelope paper of any style of envelope printing operation can be printed normally, avoiding the occurrence of paper jam of the first envelope paper.

[0057] Step S200, determining a first actual paper length of a first envelope paper.

[0058] In the embodiment of the present invention, based on the aforementioned step S100, when the leading edge of the first envelope reaches the correction sensor in the paper feeding path of the image forming device, the correction sensor is triggered to start (ON state), and the timer is started at this time to record the first moment t1. When the tail of the first envelope leaves the correction sensor, the correction sensor is turned off (OFF state). At this time, the timer is turned off, the timing is stopped, and the second moment t2 is recorded. Then, the first paper feed time T1 of the first envelope can be calculated by the difference between the second moment t2 and the first moment t1, that is, T1=t2-t1. Then, the product of the first paper feed time T and the theoretical paper feed speed V is used as the first actual paper length L1 of the first envelope, that is, L1=T1*V=(t2-t1)*V.

[0059] Among them, the theoretical paper feed speed of an image forming device refers to the speed of conveying a single sheet of media in the image forming device, which is usually expressed in PPM (Pages per minute) of the image forming device. The PPM is used to measure the printing speed of the image forming device, which is the average speed during continuous printing. The PPM is usually a fixed value, but the theoretical paper feed speed varies based on the performance of different image forming devices.

[0060] In some embodiments, the calibration sensor may be a photoelectric sensor, an infrared sensor, a gravity sensor, or any sensor capable of detecting the presence or absence of envelope paper.

[0061] In some embodiments, whether the first envelope paper can be printed normally is determined by the first actual paper length L1, and the paper feeding operation of the second envelope paper is controlled only when the first envelope paper can be printed normally. Specifically, when L1 is within the threshold interval range, it means that the first envelope paper can be printed normally. The threshold interval includes a first threshold and a second threshold, and the second threshold is greater than the first threshold. The first threshold refers to the minimum paper length to ensure that the image forming device can print the envelope paper normally. For example, when the cover of the envelope paper is in a closed state, the minimum paper length of the envelope paper that the image forming device can print normally is the first threshold. The second threshold refers to the maximum paper length to ensure that the image forming device can print the envelope paper normally. For example, when the cover of the envelope paper is in an open state, the paper length of the envelope paper that the image forming device can print normally is the second threshold. When the first actual paper length L1 is not within the threshold interval range, it means that the first envelope paper cannot be printed normally, and an error prompt will be notified. The error prompt includes a paper jam error prompt, a paper size inconsistency error prompt, a double-feed paper jam error prompt, etc. When the actual paper length of a piece of envelope paper exceeds the maximum paper length that the image forming device can normally print, that is, the second threshold value, it is characterized that the actual paper length of the piece of envelope paper has exceeded the longest length that the image forming device can accept, and paper jams are likely to occur. Specifically, when the first actual paper length L1 is greater than the second threshold value, a double-feed paper jam error prompt will be notified, and a correction sensor failure reset error prompt will be displayed. In this way, the double-feed paper jam of the first piece of envelope paper can be identified by comparing the actual paper length of the first piece of envelope paper with the maximum paper length of the envelope paper that the image forming device can accept. When the first actual paper length L1 of the first piece of envelope paper is less than the minimum paper length that the image forming device can normally print, that is, the first threshold value, it is characterized that the first piece of envelope paper has a paper size inconsistency phenomenon, that is, L1 is less than the first threshold value, and a paper size inconsistency error prompt will be notified.

[0062] Furthermore, the envelope paper includes an envelope body and an envelope cover. The envelope body is usually rectangular, and the envelope cover is usually trapezoidal. Figure 5 and Figure 6 shown. Figure 5 a and Figure 5 b illustrates the closed state of the envelope cover 301 and the open state of the envelope cover 301 when paper is fed along the long side of the envelope body 303. Figure 6 c and Figure 6 d illustrates the state in which the envelope cover 307 is closed and the state in which the envelope cover 307 is open when paper is fed at the short side of the envelope body 305. Figure 5 and Figure 6For example, the image forming device sets different minimum paper lengths and maximum paper lengths according to different paper feeding directions. Specifically, if the paper feeding direction of the envelope paper is horizontal, i.e., the long-edge paper feeding direction, the image forming device can ensure the minimum paper length and maximum paper length of the envelope paper to be normally printed in the horizontal paper feeding direction. If the paper feeding direction of the envelope paper is vertical, i.e., the short-edge paper feeding direction, the image forming device can ensure the minimum paper length and maximum paper length of the envelope paper to be normally printed in the vertical paper feeding direction.

[0063] It should be noted that the shapes of the envelope body and the envelope cover of the envelope paper are not limited and can be customized according to user needs, and the corresponding length of the envelope body and the length of the envelope cover can be known. For example, the envelope body is set to a square or an isosceles triangle, and the length of the envelope body when its shape is a square is the side length of the square; the envelope cover is set to a fan shape, a wave shape, etc., and the length of the fan-shaped cover is determined based on the length of the arc side. Of course, in order to reduce calculations and improve calculation efficiency, users can also customize the minimum paper length when the envelope cover is closed and the maximum paper length when the envelope cover is opened, so that the image forming device can directly obtain the minimum paper length set by the user as the aforementioned first threshold, and the maximum paper length is the aforementioned second threshold.

[0064] In some possible implementations, in the same paper feeding direction, the minimum paper length is the difference between the length of the standard envelope paper when the cover is closed in the image forming device and the standard margin value B, and the standard margin value B (such as 1-25mm) can be set differently according to the performance of different image forming devices. The standard envelope paper refers to the envelope paper of the standard A4 size envelope body, the envelope paper of the A3 size envelope body, the envelope paper of the A5 size envelope body, etc., and the length of the corresponding standard envelope paper is the sum of the length of the envelope body and the length of the envelope cover. The maximum paper length is the sum of the maximum envelope length of all envelopes of different styles that can be printed in the image forming device (the maximum of the sum of the lengths of multiple cover bodies and the length of the envelope body, such as the short side envelope length of envelope paper F1 in Table 1 is 230mm+10mm=240mm, the short side envelope length of envelope paper F2 is 115mm+5mm=120mm, and the short side envelope length of envelope paper F3 is 125mm+11mm=136mm, then the maximum envelope length is 240mm of envelope paper F1) and the maximum standard margin value A (such as 30-50mm). Wherein, B<A.

[0065] In some possible implementations, different from the foregoing, the minimum paper length in the same paper feeding direction can also be based on the sum of the minimum length of the envelope body and the minimum cover length in all styles that the image forming device can accept, and the maximum paper length can also be based on the sum of the maximum length of the envelope body and the maximum cover length in all styles that the image forming device can accept.

[0066] For example, the image forming device can receive three types of envelope paper F1, F2, and F3, and the lengths of the envelope bodies and the cover bodies are shown in Table 1 below:

[0067]

[0068]

[0069] Table 1

[0070] Table 1 shows that the image forming device can receive envelopes with short side lengths of 115mm, 123mm, and 230mm, long side lengths of 450mm, 225mm, and 176mm, and envelope cover lengths of 10mm, 5mm, and 11mm. In the short-edge feeding direction, the image forming device can normally print envelope paper with a minimum paper length of the minimum short side length of the envelope body and the minimum cover length, i.e. 115mm+5mm=120mm, and the maximum paper length is the sum of the maximum short side length of the envelope body and the maximum cover length, i.e. 230mm+11mm=241mm. When feeding in the long edge direction, the minimum paper length for which the image forming device can normally print envelope paper is the sum of the minimum long side length of the envelope body and the minimum cover length, that is, 176mm+5mm=181mm; the maximum paper length is the sum of the maximum long side length of the envelope body and the maximum cover length, that is, 450mm+11mm=461mm.

[0071] Step S300, when it is determined that the second envelope paper can be printed normally, the paper feeding time of the nth envelope paper is controlled according to the first actual paper length, where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3 and less than or equal to the total number of envelopes in the job.

[0072] In an embodiment of the present invention, determining whether the second envelope paper is printed normally includes determining whether the second envelope paper can be printed normally by comparing the second actual paper length L2 of the second envelope paper with a preset threshold value. Specifically, the paper feeding operation starts on the second envelope paper, and then the second paper feeding time from the head of the second envelope paper reaching the correction sensor to the tail of the second envelope paper leaving the correction sensor is calculated, and the second actual paper length of the second envelope paper is obtained by multiplying the second paper feeding time by the theoretical paper feeding speed. The first actual paper length of the first envelope paper is used as the paper spacing distance to control the paper feeding time of the next envelope paper, i.e., the third envelope paper, and at the same time, whether the second envelope paper can be printed normally is determined by comparing the second actual paper length with the first actual paper length. Specifically, in a possible implementation, when the second actual paper length does not exceed the first actual paper length, it is determined that the second envelope paper can be printed normally. In another possible implementation, whether the second envelope paper can be printed normally is determined by whether the second actual paper length is within the interval range of the first threshold and the second threshold. The implementation method is the same as the aforementioned method for determining whether the first envelope paper can be printed normally, so it will not be repeated here. In another possible implementation, when the difference between the second actual paper length and the first actual paper length is within the preset difference interval, it can also be determined that the second envelope paper is printed normally. The preset difference interval can be set to (first remaining threshold, second remaining threshold), such as (20mm, 35mm). Among them, the first remaining threshold refers to the minimum threshold for normal printing when the cover is closed, and the second remaining threshold refers to the maximum threshold for normal printing when the cover is open. In a possible implementation, the first remaining threshold can be the difference between the minimum paper length and the first actual paper length, and the second remaining threshold can be the difference between the maximum paper length and the first actual paper length.

[0073] Further, when the paper feeding distance of the second envelope paper reaches the first actual paper length of the first envelope paper, the distance between the paper tail of the second envelope paper and the paper feeding roller is a second distance F, such as Figure 7 As shown, the second distance is smaller than the first distance. When it is detected that the paper feeding distance of the second envelope paper reaches the paper spacing distance of the first actual paper length, the head of the second envelope paper has passed the correction sensor, while the tail of the second envelope paper has not yet reached the correction sensor. In this way, timing starts from the time the head of the second envelope paper reaches the correction sensor, and stops when the paper feeding distance of the second envelope paper reaches L1. At this time, the second paper feeding time T2 of the second envelope paper is determined by the first actual paper length L1 and the theoretical paper feeding speed V, that is, T2 = L1 / V. At the same time, when the tail of the second envelope paper leaves the correction sensor, the third envelope paper can be controlled to start the paper feeding operation. At this time, the distance from the tail of the second envelope paper to the head of the third envelope paper is the second distance. It can be seen from this that, Figure 7As shown in the figure, the distance between the second envelope and the third envelope is shortened.

[0074] When the second envelope paper can be printed normally and the second paper feeding time of the second envelope paper reaches T2, the paper feeding time of the third envelope paper is controlled. When the third envelope paper is fed, the paper feeding time of the fourth envelope paper is controlled according to the first actual paper length of the first envelope paper. When the paper feeding distance of the third envelope paper reaches the first actual paper length L1, the tail of the third envelope paper still does not reach the correction sensor, and the distance between the tail of the third envelope paper and the fourth envelope paper is still the second distance F. The paper feeding control of the fifth envelope paper, the sixth envelope paper and the remaining envelope paper are all controlled by the first actual paper length of the first envelope paper, so that the distance between the tail of the previous envelope paper and the head of the next envelope paper except the first envelope paper is fixed to the second distance F, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 As shown. That is to say, when it is determined that the second envelope paper can be printed normally, the feeding time of the nth envelope paper is controlled according to the first actual paper length, where 3≤n≤N is a positive integer. Specifically, when the feeding distance of the n-1th envelope paper reaches the first actual paper length and the n-1th envelope paper can be printed normally, the nth envelope paper is controlled to start feeding. At the same time, it can be known that the distance from the tail of the n-1th envelope paper to the head of the nth envelope paper is the second distance F, as shown Fig. 9 As shown. In this way, in the paper feeding control of the nth envelope paper, it is not necessary to wait until the tail of the n-1th envelope paper leaves the correction sensor before starting to control the nth envelope paper to start feeding. Instead, the first actual paper length of the first envelope paper is used as the paper spacing distance to control the paper feeding time of the remaining envelope paper except the first envelope paper or the time to start the paper feeding operation, thereby shortening the paper spacing distance between two adjacent envelope papers in advance, improving PPM, reducing the probability of paper jams, improving printing efficiency, and improving user experience.

[0075] In order to further understand and describe the technical solution in the present invention, Fig.10 A schematic flow chart of a paper feeding method for envelopes provided in an embodiment of the present invention, Fig.11 for Fig.10 Schematic diagram of the process in Part A. Fig.10 and Fig.11 As shown, taking printing three envelopes as an example, the method includes:

[0076] Step S600: Sending an envelope printing job of 3 envelopes

[0077] Step S601, the first piece of envelope paper is taken out from the paper box by the paper feed roller, and starts to feed the paper through the conveying roller. When it is detected that the leading end of the first piece of envelope paper reaches the calibration sensor, the timer is started and the first moment t1 is recorded. When it is detected that the tail of the first piece of envelope paper leaves the calibration sensor, the timer is stopped and the second moment t2 is recorded.

[0078] Step S602: Calculate the first actual paper length L1 of the first envelope paper according to t1, t2 and the theoretical paper feed speed v.

[0079] L1=V*(t2-t1)

[0080] Step S603, determine whether L1 is less than the first threshold, if so, execute step S605, if not, execute step S604

[0081] The first threshold is the minimum paper length that the image forming device can ensure normal printing of envelope paper. According to different paper feeding directions, the minimum paper lengths of different paper feeding directions that are preset can be obtained.

[0082] Step S604: determine whether L1 is greater than the second threshold. If so, execute step S606; if not, execute step S608.

[0083] The second threshold is the maximum paper length that the image forming device can ensure for normal printing of envelope paper. According to different paper feeding directions, the maximum paper lengths of different paper feeding directions that are preset can be obtained.

[0084] Step S605, notifying the size mismatch error and stopping the printing operation.

[0085] Step S606: Notify of a paper jam error and stop the printing operation.

[0086] When it is the first envelope, the error is a double feed jam error; when it is another envelope, the error is a paper jam error.

[0087] Step S608: the second envelope paper starts to be fed, and the timer is started until the feeding distance of the second envelope paper reaches L1, then the timer is stopped and the second actual paper length L2 is calculated.

[0088] The first actual paper length is used as the paper spacing distance to control the paper feeding time of the second envelope paper.

[0089] Step S609, determine whether |L1-L2| is less than the first remaining threshold, if so, execute step S605, if not, execute step S610

[0090] The first margin threshold may be 20 mm.

[0091] Step S610, determine whether |L1-L2| is greater than the second remaining threshold, if so, execute step S606, if not, execute step S611

[0092] The second margin threshold is greater than the first margin threshold, and the second margin threshold may be 35 mm.

[0093] Step S611: The third envelope paper starts feeding, and the timer is started. When the feeding distance of the third envelope paper reaches L1, the timer is stopped, and the third actual paper length L3 is calculated, and S612 is executed.

[0094] The first actual paper length is used as the paper spacing distance to control the paper feeding time of the third envelope paper.

[0095] Step S612, determine whether |L3-L1| is less than the first remaining threshold, if so, execute step S605, if not, execute step S613

[0096] Step S613, determine whether |L3-L1| is greater than the second remaining threshold, if so, execute step S606, if not, execute step S614

[0097] Step S614, ends after normal printing.

[0098] In the paper feeding method of envelopes provided by the embodiment of the present invention, during the printing process of multiple envelopes, the paper feeding operation of the second envelope is controlled only when the distance between the first envelope and the second envelope is the first distance. Therefore, regardless of the envelope paper with any style and length of the cover body supported by the image forming device, the first envelope paper of the envelope printing operation can be guaranteed to be printed normally, and the compatibility is strong. From the third envelope paper and the remaining envelope paper to be printed, the paper feeding control is to control the paper feeding time of the next envelope paper to be printed based on the actual paper length of the first envelope paper, shortening the paper spacing distance between adjacent envelope papers, increasing the printing speed, and also reducing the probability of paper jams of the subsequent envelope papers, reducing the occurrence of continuous feeding, and improving the user experience.

[0099] Corresponding to the above-mentioned envelope feeding method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an image forming device. Fig.12 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an image forming device provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Fig.12 As shown in , the image forming apparatus includes: a paper feed control unit 401 and a paper length calculation unit 402.

[0100] A paper feeding control unit 401, configured to control the second envelope to start feeding when the distance between the first envelope and the second envelope is a first distance;

[0101] A paper length calculation unit 402, used to determine a first actual paper length of the first envelope paper;

[0102] The paper feed control unit 401 is also used to control the paper feed time of the nth envelope paper according to the first actual paper length when it is determined that the second envelope paper can be printed normally; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3 and less than or equal to the total number of sheets in the job.

[0103] Fig.12 The image forming apparatus provided in the illustrated embodiment can be used to implement the present invention. Figure 1-Figure 11 The technical solution of the method embodiment shown, its implementation principle and technical effects can be further referred to the relevant description in the method embodiment.

[0104] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. Fig.13 As shown, the electronic device may include at least one processor and at least one memory in communication with the processor, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the processor, and the processor calls the program instructions to execute the instructions of this specification. Figure 1-11 The illustrated embodiment provides a method for feeding envelopes.

[0105] like Fig.13 As shown, the electronic device is in the form of a general computing device. The components of the electronic device may include but are not limited to: one or more processors 510, communication interface 520 and memory 530, and a communication bus 540 connecting different system components (including memory 530, communication interface 520 and processor 510).

[0106] The communication bus 540 represents one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, a graphics acceleration port, a processor or a local bus using any of a variety of bus structures. For example, these architectures include but are not limited to Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MAC) bus, Enhanced ISA bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus and Peripheral Component Interconnection (PCI) bus.

[0107] Electronic devices typically include a variety of computer system readable media. These media can be any available media that can be accessed by the electronic device, including volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

[0108] The memory 530 may include a computer system readable medium in the form of a volatile memory, such as a random access memory (RAM) and / or a cache memory. The electronic device may further include other removable / non-removable, volatile / non-volatile computer system storage media. The memory 530 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules configured to perform the functions of each embodiment of the present specification.

[0109] A program / utility having a set (at least one) of program modules may be stored in memory 530, such program modules including, but not limited to, an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each of which or some combination may include an implementation of a network environment. The program modules generally perform the functions and / or methods of the embodiments described in this specification.

[0110] The processor 510 executes various functional applications and data processing by running the programs stored in the memory 530, such as implementing the Figure 1-11 The illustrated embodiment provides a method for feeding envelopes.

[0111] The embodiment of the present specification provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions enable the computer to execute the present specification. Figure 1-11 The illustrated embodiment provides a method for feeding envelopes.

[0112] The above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium can adopt any combination of one or more computer-readable media. The computer-readable medium can be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium can be, for example, - but not limited to - an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples (non-exhaustive list) of computer-readable storage media include: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ReadOnly Memory; hereinafter referred to as: ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (ErasableProgrammable ReadOnly Memory; hereinafter referred to as: EPROM) or flash memory, optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above. In this document, a computer-readable storage medium can be any tangible medium containing or storing a program, which can be used by an instruction execution system, device or device or used in combination with it.

[0113] The above is a description of a specific embodiment of the specification. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recorded in the claims can be performed in an order different from that in the embodiments and still achieve the desired results. In addition, the processes depicted in the drawings do not necessarily require the specific order or continuous order shown to achieve the desired results. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing are also possible or may be advantageous.

[0114] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of this specification. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples, unless they are contradictory.

[0115] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this specification, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0116] Any process or method description in a flowchart or otherwise described herein may be understood to represent a module, segment or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for implementing the steps of a custom logical function or process, and the scope of the preferred embodiments of this specification includes alternative implementations in which functions may not be performed in the order shown or discussed, including performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in reverse order depending on the functions involved, which should be understood by technicians in the technical field to which the embodiments of this specification belong.

[0117] The word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at the time of" or "when" or "in response to determining" or "in response to detecting", depending on the context. Similarly, the phrases "if it is determined" or "if (stated condition or event) is detected" may be interpreted as "when it is determined" or "in response to determining" or "when detecting (stated condition or event)" or "in response to detecting (stated condition or event)", depending on the context.

[0118] It should be noted that the devices involved in the embodiments of this specification may include but are not limited to personal computers (Personal Computer; hereinafter referred to as: PC), personal digital assistants (Personal Digital Assistant; hereinafter referred to as: PDA), wireless handheld devices, tablet computers (Tablet Computer), mobile phones, MP3 displays, MP4 displays, etc.

[0119] In the several embodiments provided in this specification, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0120] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of this specification may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

[0121] The above-mentioned integrated unit implemented in the form of a software functional unit can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The above-mentioned software functional unit is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a connector, or a network device, etc.) or a processor (Processor) to perform some steps of the method described in each embodiment of this specification. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (Read-Only Memory; hereinafter referred to as: ROM), random access memory (RandomAccess Memory; hereinafter referred to as: RAM), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

[0122] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of this specification and is not intended to limit this specification. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of this specification should be included in the scope of protection of this specification.

[0123] In this specification, the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other. In particular, for the device embodiment and the terminal embodiment, since they are basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the description in the method embodiment.

Claims

1. A paper feeding method for envelopes, characterized in that: Applicable to image forming equipment, including: When the distance between the first envelope paper and the second envelope paper is a first distance, controlling the second envelope paper to start feeding; determining a first actual paper length of the first envelope paper; When it is determined that the second piece of envelope paper can be printed normally, the paper feeding time of the nth piece of envelope paper is controlled according to the first actual paper length; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3 and less than or equal to the total number of sheets in the job.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first distance is a distance from a position of a correction sensor to a position of a paper feed roller in a paper feed path of the image forming apparatus.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining a first actual paper length of the first piece of envelope paper includes: Obtaining a theoretical paper feeding speed of the image forming device; Determining a first paper feeding time of the first envelope paper; The product of the first paper feeding time and the theoretical paper feeding speed is used as the first actual paper length of the first envelope paper.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The determining of a first paper feeding time of the first piece of envelope paper includes: When the paper head of the first envelope paper reaches the correction sensor in the paper feeding path of the image forming device, starting a timer to record a first moment; When the tail of the first envelope paper leaves the calibration sensor, recording a second moment; The difference between the second moment and the first moment is calculated as the first paper feeding time.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The step of determining that the second envelope paper can be printed normally includes: determining a second actual paper length of the second envelope paper; When the difference between the second actual paper length and the first actual paper length is within a preset difference interval, it is determined that the second envelope paper can be printed normally.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The controlling the feeding time of the nth envelope paper according to the first actual paper length includes: When the paper feeding distance of the n-1th piece of envelope paper reaches the first actual paper length and the n-1th piece of envelope paper can be printed normally, the nth piece of envelope paper is controlled to start feeding.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The second distance from the tail of the (n-1)th envelope paper to the head of the nth envelope paper is smaller than the first distance.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Based on the comparison result of the first actual paper length and the second threshold, it is determined whether the first envelope paper has a double-feeding abnormality; wherein the second threshold is used to represent the maximum paper length to ensure that the image forming device can print the envelope paper normally.

9. An image forming device, characterized in that: include: A paper feeding control unit, used for controlling the second envelope to start feeding when the distance between the first envelope and the second envelope is a first distance; A paper length calculation unit, used to determine a first actual paper length of the first piece of envelope paper; The paper feed control unit is also used to control the paper feed time of the nth envelope paper according to the first actual paper length when it is determined that the second envelope paper can be printed normally; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3 and less than or equal to the total number of sheets in the job.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and the computer instructions enable the computer to execute the envelope feeding method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

Images