Patent Publication Number: US-2010119272-A1

Title: Image forming apparatus capable of inputting a paper size

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2008-111041, filed Nov. 10, 2008 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     Aspects of the present invention relate to image forming apparatuses, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus capable of inputting a size of a print medium, sensed by a device to sense the print medium size, into a display part (e.g., a user interface window or a printer driver window) through a control unit, without a user directly inputting the print medium size into the display part. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Generally, users of image forming apparatuses (such as an inkjet printer, a laser printer, and a photocopier) use a variety of print media having a variety of different sizes (hereinafter referred to as “user defined print medium”), in addition to standard-size print media, such as the A4 paper size. The user defined print media are generally used in image forming apparatuses that are supported by a paper tray such as a multipurpose tray. 
     Conventionally, in order to print printing data on a user defined print medium, the user directly inputs the size of the user defined print medium through a user interface window or a printer driver window. Accordingly, the user is inconvenienced. Furthermore, the user must know the print medium size. Thus, if the user is unable to measure the size of the user defined print medium, the user cannot input the print medium size. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Aspects of the present invention provide an image forming apparatus to input the size of a print medium, sensed by a device capable of sensing the print medium size, into a display part (e.g., a user interface window or a printer driver window) through a control unit, without a user directly inputting the print medium size into the user interface window or the printer driver window. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, including: a display part to input information about a print medium; a print medium tray to load the print medium; a print medium guide to align the print medium loaded in the print medium tray; a sensor to sense information about the size of the print medium according to movement of the print medium guide; and a control unit to receive the sensed print medium size information from the sensor and to input the print medium size into the display part, and to determine the size of the print medium according to the print medium size information sensed by the sensor. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, the display part may input information about a print medium designated by a user. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, the print medium guide may be disposed in the print medium tray, and may include a first guide to align the print medium vertically and a second guide to align the print medium horizontally. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, the sensor may sense information about a vertical size of the print medium and/or information about a horizontal size of the print medium according to the movement of the first guide and/or the second guide. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, the display part may be a printer driver display window. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, the sensor may sense information on the print medium size according to the movement of the print medium guide through a variable resistor and/or a variable capacitor. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, a resistance value of the variable resistor and/or a capacitance of the variable capacitor may vary according to the movement of the print medium guide. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, the print medium tray may be a manual tray, a print medium cassette, or a multipurpose tray. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, the sensor may sense information about the vertical size of the print medium by loading the print medium vertically in the print medium tray and moving the print medium guide, and it may sense information about the horizontal size of the print medium by loading the print medium horizontally in the print medium tray and moving the print medium guide. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, the control unit may receive the sensed vertical size information and the sensed horizontal size information of the print medium from the sensor and may input the print medium size into the display part. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a host apparatus connected to an image forming apparatus to determine a size of a print medium loaded into the image forming apparatus, the host apparatus including: a communication unit to receive a print medium size determined by the image forming apparatus and corresponding to a movement of a print medium guide of the image forming apparatus; a control unit to generate a user interface to display the received print medium size that corresponds to the movement of the print medium guide; and a display unit to display the generated user interface. 
     According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system to determine a size of a print medium, the system including: an image forming apparatus, including: a print medium tray to load the print medium, a print medium guide to align the print medium loaded in the print medium tray, a sensor to sense information about the size of the loaded print medium according to movement of the print medium guide, and a control unit to perform a printing operation on the print medium based on the print medium size that is determined according to the print medium size information sensed by the sensor; and a host apparatus to display the print medium size. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of determining a size of a print medium loaded in an information storage medium, the method including: sensing, by a sensor of the image forming apparatus, information about a size of the loaded print medium according to a movement of a print medium guide on the image forming apparatus; determining, by a processor, the print medium size according to the sensed print medium size information; and performing a printing operation on the print medium based on the determined print medium size. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a host apparatus connected to an image forming apparatus to determine a size of a print medium loaded into the image forming apparatus, the host apparatus including: a communication unit to receive print medium size information sensed by the image forming apparatus and corresponding to a movement of a print medium guide of the image forming apparatus; and a control unit to determine the print medium size according to the received print medium size information. 
     Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a printer driver window that is activated on a user interface display when a user executes a command to print according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a display through which a layout, a print medium, a graphic, and additional information are displayed where any property key of the printer driver window shown in  FIG. 1  is executed can be changed according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a display for a user defined print medium displayed where a paper designating key is executed on the display shown in  FIG. 2  according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a top plan view of a print medium tray in which the print medium is received and a print medium guide to guide the print medium according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the print medium tray and the print medium guide according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a print medium size sensor to sense a print medium size, a connection of the print medium size sensor, and a control unit of the image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view of the print medium size sensor shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
     The image forming apparatus according aspects of the present invention may include a printer, a multipurpose machine or the like that performs a printing operation to form images on a print medium (e.g., paper, transparencies, etc.) based on printing data. The image forming apparatus receives the printing data from a host (such as a personal computer (PC), a sender&#39;s facsimile machine, a camera, etc.), reads the printing data stored in a storage such as a universal serial bus (USB) memory, or produces the printing data through a scanning by a scanning device internally installed therein. Image forming by the image forming apparatus may be performed by an inkjet printing or a laser printing, but is not limited thereto. 
       FIGS. 1 to 4  are provided to explain an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a display part into which a kind, a name, and/or a size of a user defined print medium is input though a printer driver window  100 ,  200  or  300 . The display part for the image forming apparatus  1  may be displayed on a host (such as a PC, a mobile phone, a portable digital assistant, etc.) or a display device installed in the image forming apparatus  1  (such as a display panel). Where the display part is displayed on the host, the image forming apparatus  1  transmits data on the print medium size to the host, and the host displays the display part based on the transmitted print medium size data. Hereinbelow, with respect to the display part according to an embodiment of the present invention, a printer driver window  100 ,  200 ,  300  will be explained by way of example. It is understood that aspects of the present invention are not limited to a printer driver window  100 ,  200 ,  300 , and can be applied to any user interface corresponding to an image forming apparatus  1 . Furthermore, aspects of the present invention are also applicable to a case where the display part is displayed on the display device of the image forming apparatus  1 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a printer driver window  100  is displayed as a user interface when a user executes a command to print, and the user can change any property of the image forming apparatus  1  through the printer driver window  100 . If the user selects and executes a property key  101  to change a property of the image forming apparatus  1 , a printer driver window  200  for the selected property key  101  is activated as shown in  FIG. 2 . It is possible to change a layout, a print medium, a graphic, and/or additional information through the printer driver window  200 . If a key  201  involved in designation of a print medium is selected and executed, a printer driver window  300  with respect to a user defined print medium (hereinafter referred to as “user defined print medium display”) is activated, so that the user can directly input a kind, a name, and/or a size of a print medium different in size from the standard A4 paper, to form images on the print medium. 
     To describe the user defined print medium display  300  in more detail, the user defined print medium display is configured with a user defined print medium frame  301 , a user defined print medium name input unit  303 , and a page space  303 . Accordingly, the user can input the size of the user defined print medium in the page space  303 , and the name of the user defined print medium in the user defined print medium name input unit  302 , so as to distinguish a user defined print medium having a specific size. The user defined print medium frame  301  displays to the user at least one user defined print medium name input through the user defined print medium name input unit  302 . For example, the user measures the size of the user defined print medium in vertical and horizontal directions and inputs the measured user defined print medium size into the user defined print medium display  300 , though it is understood that aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto. According to other aspects, the user defined print medium size is input through a print medium size sensor  500  ( FIG. 7 ), to be described later. 
       FIGS. 1 to 3  illustrate by way of example that the size of the user defined print medium is input through the printer driver windows  100 ,  200  and  300 , though embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. For example, where a user inserts the user defined print medium in the print medium tray, such as a multipurpose tray  400 , and aligns the print medium guide adaptively to the user defined print medium by moving the print medium guide  401 , an active window (such as a popup window) is launched on the user defined print medium display. In detail, the active window displays information about the print medium size resulting from a movement of the print medium guide  401  as input into the active window, thereby allowing the user to visually perceive information about the user defined print medium. The active window may also be linked to the printer driver windows  100 ,  200  and  300  shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , thereby allowing the print medium size information input into the active window to be automatically input into the user defined print medium display  300  thereof. 
       FIGS. 4 and 5  are respectively a top plan view and a perspective view of the print medium tray  400  in which print media are received, and the print medium guide  401  guiding the print media. Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the image forming apparatus  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the print medium tray  400  and the print medium guide  401 . In addition, the image forming apparatus  1  further includes a print medium loading plate  402 , a guide rail  403 , a guide groove  404 , and a rack gear  405 . While not shown, it is understood that the apparatus  1  further includes a controller to control an operation of the apparatus, and a printing unit which prints data on a print medium. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the user loads the user defined print medium in the print medium tray  400 , moves the print medium guide  401  disposed within the paper tray  400 , and aligns the user defined print medium thereto. In detail, the print medium guide  401  moves on the print medium loading plate  402  supporting the print medium in order to guide the print medium. The print medium guide  401  includes a first guide  401   a  to guide the print medium vertically (i.e., lengthwise relative to the medium) and a second guide  401   b  to guide the print medium horizontally (i.e., widthwise relative to the medium). Thus, the print medium guide  401  can move adaptively to the vertical and the horizontal corners of the print medium. With respect to the print medium guide  401 , aspects of the present invention are not limited to the number, the disposition direction, and the movement direction of the print medium guide  401  illustrated in  FIG. 4 . In addition, though  FIG. 4  depicts that the print medium guide  401  includes both the first guide  401   a  and the second guide  401   b , it is understood that aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto. According to other aspects, the print medium guide  401  may be configured with either the first guide  401   a  or the second guide  401   b,  or a plurality of first guides  401   a  and/or second guides  401   b.    
     The first guide  401   a  and the second guide  401   b  are movable along the guide rail  403  and/or the guide groove  404 , and the rack gear  405  is connected to the first guide  401   a  and the second guide  401   b.  The rack gear  405  is linked to a print medium size sensor  500  ( FIG. 7 ) such as a variable resistor, to be described later. 
     The print medium tray  400  may be, for example, a cassette tray, a manual feeding tray, and/or a multipurpose tray. The multipurpose tray receives and guides various kinds of print media having various sizes as well as the standard 8.5×11 or A4 paper, for multiple purposes, and feeds the print media. That is, the print medium tray  400  receives and guides print media of any size within a maximum size and a minimum size that can be received by the print medium tray  400 .  FIG. 4  illustrates the print medium tray  400  as a multipurpose tray by way of example, though it is understood that aspects of the present invention are applicable to any kind of print medium tray. 
       FIG. 6  shows the print medium size sensor to sense the print medium size, a connection unit of the print medium size sensor, and a control unit of the image forming apparatus, and  FIG. 7  depicts the print medium size sensor  500  in detail. That is, the image forming apparatus  1  according an embodiment of the present invention further includes the print medium size sensor  500  to sense the print medium size according to a movement of the paper guide  401 , and a control unit  700  to input the print medium size into the display part based on the sensed print medium size. The print medium size sensor  500  is an example of a sensor according to aspects of the present invention. 
     As described above, the paper tray  400  according an embodiment of the present invention is equipped with the print medium size sensor  500  that automatically determines the print medium size. The print medium size sensor  500  may include, but is not limited to, a variable resistor, a variable capacitor, and/or an actuator sensor. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the variable resistor is illustrated as an example of the print medium size sensor  500 . The print medium size sensor according an embodiment of the present invention includes a pinion gear  501 , a rotary gear  502 , and a resistance body  503 . If the user moves the print medium guide  401  to align the print medium, the rack gear  405  linked to the print medium guide  401  is also moved. As the rack gear  405  moves, the pinion gear  501  connected to the rack gear  405  is rotated, and the rotary gear  502  connected to the pinion gear  501  is rotated. The resistance body  503  coupled with the rotary gear  502  has two terminals  504   a  and  504   b  contacting an outer circumferential surface of the resistance body  503 . The resistance body  503  may be configured integrally with the rotary gear  502 . 
     Furthermore, the resistance body  503  may include resistance material layers different in thickness, in an inner circumferential direction from the outer circumferential surface (for example, along the circumferential direction), so as to make the resistance values between the two terminals  504   a  and  504   b  vary depending on the rotation positions thereof. Accordingly, the variable resistor sensor  500  provides different resistance values through both ends of the two terminals  504   a  and  504   b  according to the rotation position of the pinion gear  501 . 
     The image forming apparatus  1  further includes a voltage signal generating source  600  having a direct current voltage source  601  and a fixed resistance element  602 . In addition, the image forming apparatus  1  further includes an analog-digital converter (ADC)  701  installed within the control unit  700 . The voltage signal generating source  600  generates voltage signals corresponding to the resistance values of the two terminals  504   a  and  504   b . Moreover, the voltage signal generating source  600  is connected to the fixed resistance element  602  so as to divide the voltage level of the direct current voltage source  601  provided therein from the resistance values of the two terminals  504  and  504   b , and the voltage signal whose voltage is reduced by the resistance values between the two terminals  504   a  and  504   b  of the variable resistor  500  is output to the analog-digital converter  701 . 
     The image forming apparatus  1  further includes a frame  900 , and the print medium size sensor  500  further includes projected terminals  505   a  and  505   b  and coupling terminals  506   a  and  506   b . To connect the print medium tray  400  to the frame  900  electrically, when the print medium tray  400  is installed in the frame  900 , the two terminals  504   a  and  504   b  are connected to the terminals  505   a  and  505   b  projected at ends of the frame  900 , and the print medium tray  400  capable of being drawn into and out of the frame  900  is mounted inside. In this state, the terminals  505   a  and  505   b  contact coupling terminals  506   a  and  506   b  that are engaged with each other as male and female terminals. 
     In the case where the print medium size sensor is the variable capacitor, an operation thereof is similar to that of the variable resistor sensor  500  described above. Thus, a description of the variable capacitor will be omitted herein. In the case where the print medium size sensor is an actuator sensor, the actuator sensor checks on/off operations. Thus, by using n number of actuator sensors, 2n types of print media can be distinguished. Furthermore, the actuator sensor can be used individually, or jointly with the variable resistor sensor  500 . For example, the variable resistor sensor  500  may be used to obtain information about the width of a print medium, and the actuator sensor may be used to obtain information about the length of the print medium. 
     The control unit  700  includes an analog-digital converter  701  to convert an input voltage signal into a digital signal, and a microprocessor  702  to read the digital signal to determine the print medium size. The image forming apparatus  1  may further include a communication port  800  to perform communications with the host (such as a PC). 
     The microprocessor  702  is configured to determine the print medium size by reading the input digital signal, to receive printing data input and output through the communication port  800 , and to control general printing operations. The determined print medium size data is provided to the display device (not shown) and/or the host (PC) connected through the communication port  800 . 
     The configuration to input the size of the user defined print medium into the user defined print medium display  300  so that the user can perceive the size will now be described. A resistance value and/or a capacitance of the variable resistor and/or the variable capacitor sensor  500  at the moved position of the print medium guide  401  is determined. The determined resistance value and/or capacitance is converted into a digital signal through the analog-digital converter  701  and transmitted to the control unit  700  of the image forming apparatus  1 . To input the size information of the user defined print medium into the user defined print medium display  300 , the control unit  700  retrieves the print medium size information corresponding to the received digital signal through a lookup table stored in the control unit  700  or in a memory of the image forming apparatus  1 , and inputs the size into the user defined print medium display  300 . However, the inputting of the print medium size information through the lookup table is merely by way of example, and aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto. For example, according to another aspect of the present invention, the size may be determined from the received digital signal according to an algorithm. 
     Moreover, though the above-described embodiments provide the image forming apparatus to determine the print medium size, it is understood that all aspects are not limited thereto. For example, the image forming apparatus may transmit a digital signal and/or print medium size information sensed by the sensor to a host apparatus, whereby the host apparatus determines the print medium size therefrom. 
     While not restricted thereto, aspects of the present invention can also be embodied as computer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data that can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. The computer-readable recording medium can also be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the computer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Aspects of the present invention may also be realized as a data signal embodied in a carrier wave and comprising a program readable by a computer and transmittable over the Internet. 
     Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.