US-12617640-B2 - Sheet feeder, image forming apparatus, and non-transitory computer readable medium

Abstract

A sheet feeder includes: multiple sheet feeding trays each configured to house one or more print media sheets; and a processor configured to cause a sheet feeding tray assigned a top priority to feed a print media sheet after the sheet feeding tray is set up for sheet feeding and a state of the sheet feeding tray is fixed, the top priority being highest among priorities that are assigned to the multiple sheet feeding trays and that are determined in advance with regard to sheet feeding.

Inventors

• Joji SAITO
• Makoto Ito
• Haruhiko Kojima
• Ai NAKAO

Assignees

• FUJIFILM BUSINESS INNOVATION CORP.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20230313

Priority Date

20220916

Claims (16)

1. 1 . A sheet feeder comprising: a plurality of sheet feeding trays each configured to house one or more print media sheets; a processor configured to: cause a sheet feeding tray assigned a top priority to feed a print media sheet after the sheet feeding tray is set up for sheet feeding and a state of the sheet feeding tray is fixed, the top priority being highest among priorities that are assigned to the plurality of sheet feeding trays and that are determined in advance with regard to sheet feeding; and a covering configured to cover the plurality of sheet feeding trays from outside, wherein the processor is configured to: start to monitor the state of each of the plurality of sheet feeding trays by using a corresponding sensor when the covering is closed.
2. 2 . The sheet feeder according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to: when the state of the sheet feeding tray assigned the top priority is fixed, cause the sheet feeding tray assigned the top priority to feed a print media sheet even if a state of any one of the plurality of sheet feeding trays is still unfixed.
3. 3 . The sheet feeder according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to: cause a sheet feeding tray assigned a second highest priority to feed a print media sheet when the sheet feeding tray assigned the top priority becomes empty during a sheet feeding job.
4. 4 . The sheet feeder according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to: cause the sheet feeding tray assigned the top priority to feed a print media sheet after states of the plurality of sheet feeding trays are all fixed.
5. 5 . The sheet feeder according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to: cause the sheet feeding tray assigned the top priority to feed a print media sheet after states of one or more of the plurality of sheet feeding trays are fixed, the one or more sheet feeding trays requesting supply of the print media sheet.
6. 6 . The sheet feeder according to claim 1 , further comprising: a memory configured to store priorities assigned to the plurality of sheet feeding trays with regard to sheet feeding, wherein the processor is configured to: change the priorities stored in the memory in response to an external input.
7. 7 . The sheet feeder according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to: select one or more of the plurality of sheet feeding trays in accordance with the states of the plurality of sheet feeding trays, the one or more sheet feeding trays being capable of feeding a print media sheet, and determine a sheet feeding tray to feed a print media sheet among the selected one or more sheet feeding trays at least based on the assigned priority and optionally based on a size of the print media sheet.
8. 8 . An image forming apparatus comprising: the sheet feeder according to claim 1 ; and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a print media sheet fed from the sheet feeder.
9. 9 . An image forming apparatus comprising: the sheet feeder according to claim 2 ; and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a print media sheet fed from the sheet feeder.
10. 10 . An image forming apparatus comprising: the sheet feeder according to claim 3 ; and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a print media sheet fed from the sheet feeder.
11. 11 . An image forming apparatus comprising: the sheet feeder according to claim 4 ; and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a print media sheet fed from the sheet feeder.
12. 12 . An image forming apparatus comprising: the sheet feeder according to claim 5 ; and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a print media sheet fed from the sheet feeder.
13. 13 . An image forming apparatus comprising: the sheet feeder according to claim 6 ; and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a print media sheet fed from the sheet feeder.
14. 14 . An image forming apparatus comprising: the sheet feeder according to claim 7 ; and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a print media sheet fed from the sheet feeder.
15. 15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process for controlling a plurality of sheet feeding trays each configured to house one or more print media sheets, the process comprising: causing a sheet feeding tray assigned a top priority to feed a print media sheet after the sheet feeding tray is set up for sheet feeding and a state of the sheet feeding tray is fixed, the top priority being highest among priorities that are assigned to the plurality of sheet feeding trays and that are determined in advance with regard to sheet feeding; and starting to monitor the state of each of the plurality of sheet feeding trays by using a corresponding sensor when a covering, which covers the plurality of sheet feeding trays from outside, is closed.
16. 16 . A sheet feeder comprising: a plurality of sheet feeding trays each configured to house one or more print media sheets; means for causing a sheet feeding tray assigned a top priority to feed a print media sheet after the sheet feeding tray is set up for sheet feeding and a state of the sheet feeding tray is fixed, the top priority being highest among priorities that are assigned to the plurality of sheet feeding trays and that are determined in advance with regard to sheet feeding; and a covering configured to cover the plurality of sheet feeding trays from outside, wherein the means is configured to: start to monitor the state of each of the plurality of sheet feeding trays by using a corresponding sensor when the covering is closed.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-148542 filed Sep. 16, 2022. BACKGROUND (i) Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a sheet feeder, an image forming apparatus, and a non-transitory computer readable medium. (ii) Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-125318 discloses a printer including multiple sheet feeding trays configured to house one or more print media sheets; an open/close detector configured to detect opening and closing of each of the sheet feeding trays; a sheet transport path configured to transport a print media sheet fed from each of the sheet feeding trays; a printing unit configured to print an image on a print media sheet transported along the sheet transport path; a priority memory unit configured to store the priority of each of the sheet feeding trays with regard to sheet feeding; a size memory unit configured to store the size of a print media sheet set for each of the sheet feeding trays; an acquiring unit configured to acquire the size of a print media sheet fed to the sheet transport path from each of the sheet feeding trays; and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to perform a determination process in which an execution tray that is one of the sheet feeding trays and that is to feed a print media sheet is determined in accordance with the priority, a setting process in which the size acquired by the acquiring unit for the print media sheet fed from the execution tray is saved to the size memory unit as the size of a print media sheet to be set for the execution tray, a changing process in which the top priority is assigned to a specific tray among the sheet feeding trays on condition that the open/close detector has detected opening and closing of the specific tray. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-255873 discloses a disallowed tray method for an image recording apparatus including a setting unit for setting a tray of choice as a disallowed tray and a unit for causing an automatic sheet selection function and an automatic tray switching function to reflect the setting of the disallowed tray on condition that the disallowed tray has been set by the setting unit. SUMMARY Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to controlling a sheet feeding tray to feed a sheet in comparison with the case where the priorities of multiple sheet feeding trays with regard to sheet feeding are changed based on the states of the sheet feeding trays. Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure address the above advantages and/or other advantages not described above. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not required to address the advantages described above, and aspects of the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not address advantages described above. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a sheet feeder including: a plurality of sheet feeding trays each configured to house one or more print media sheets; and a processor configured to cause a sheet feeding tray assigned a top priority to feed a print media sheet after the sheet feeding tray is set up for sheet feeding and a state of the sheet feeding tray is fixed, the top priority being highest among priorities that are assigned to the plurality of sheet feeding trays and that are determined in advance with regard to sheet feeding. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein: FIG. 1 is a diagram for describing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting a hardware configuration of a control device included in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment; FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment; FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting an operation of selecting a sheet feeding tray in a sheet feeder according to the first exemplary embodiment; FIG. 5 is a diagram describing an operation of selecting a sheet feeding tray in the sheet feeder according to the first exemplary embodiment; FIG. 6 is a diagram describing an operation of selecting a sheet feeding tray in the sheet feeder according to the first exemplary embodiment; FIG. 7 is a flowchart depicting an operation of selecting a sheet feeding tray in a sheet feeder according to the second exemplary embodiment; FIG. 8 is a diagram describing an operation of selecting a sheet feeding tray in the sheet feeder according to the second exemplary embodiment; FIG. 9 is a flowchart depicting an operation of selecting a sheet feeding tray in a sheet feeder according to the third exemplary embodiment; and F