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US 6,151,457 AGranted
Image forming system for diagnosing communication interface between image forming apparatuses
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorHiroyuki Kawamoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses, a malfunction in a transmission interface of each image forming apparatus can be recognized before a transmission of image data is performed and a malfunctioning position can be easily specified. Each image forming apparatus includes an interface unit transmitting encoded image data and also receiving image data from a remote image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatuses are connected by a transmission path so that the encoded image data is transmitted therebetween. The interface unit is subjected to a diagnosis operation when a power of each image forming apparatus is turned on.
Claims13
An image forming system comprising:
- a plurality of image forming apparatuses each of which includes:
- an image scanner scanning an original document so as to generate image data;
- an image processing unit processing the image data generated by said image scanner;
- an encoding unit encoding the image data processed by said image processing unit;
- an interface unit transmitting the image data encoded by said encoding unit, said interface unit also receiving image data from one of said image forming apparatuses;
- a memory unit storing the image data encoded by said encoding unit and the image data received by said interface unit;
- a decoding unit decoding the image data stored in said memory unit;
- and
- a printing unit printing an image by the image data decoded by said decoding unit;
- a transmission path connecting said interface unit of each of said image forming apparatuses so that the encoded image data is transmitted between the image forming apparatuses;
- and
- means for diagnosing any one of the interface units of any one of said plurality of image forming apparatuses and for diagnosing the transmission path when a power of each of said plurality of image forming apparatuses is turned on.
9 more elements
An image forming system comprising:
- a plurality of image forming apparatuses each of which includes,
- an image scanner scanning an original document so as to generate image data,
- an image processing unit processing the image data generated by said image scanner,
- an encoding unit encoding the image data processed by said image processing unit,
- an interface unit transmitting the image data encoded by said encoding unit, said interface unit also receiving image data from one of said image forming apparatuses,
- a memory unit storing the image data encoded by said encoding unit and the image data received by said interface unit,
- a decoding unit decoding the image data stored in said memory unit, and
- a printing unit printing an image by the image data decoded by said decoding unit;
- a transmission path connecting said interface unit of each of said image forming apparatuses so that the encoded image data is transmitted between the image forming apparatuses;
- and
- diagnosing means for diagnosing said interface unit and said transmission path in accordance with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error detection method when a power of each of said image forming apparatuses is turned on, wherein
- said diagnosing means includes,
- a linear feedback shift register generating pseudo image data including random numbers having a long period,
- a CRC data adding unit adding cyclic redundancy check data to the pseudo image data, and
- an error detecting unit detecting an error in the pseudo image data in accordance with the CRC error detection method.
12 more elements
An image forming system comprising:
- a plurality of image forming apparatuses each of which includes,
- an image scanner scanning an original document so as to generate image data,
- an image processing unit processing the image data generated by said image scanner,
- an encoding unit encoding the image data processed by said image processing unit,
- an interface unit transmitting the image data encoded by said encoding unit, said interface unit also receiving image data from one of said image forming apparatuses,
- a memory unit storing the image data encoded by said encoding unit and the image data received by said interface unit,
- a decoding unit decoding the image data stored in said memory unit, and
- a printing unit printing an image by the image data decoded by said decoding unit;
- a transmission path connecting said interface unit of each of said image forming apparatuses so that the encoded image data is transmitted between the image forming apparatuses;
- and
- diagnosing means for diagnosing said interface unit and said transmission path when a power of each of said image forming apparatuses is turned on, wherein
- a connection mode is provided in which at least first and second image forming apparatuses from among said image forming apparatuses are connected so that image data generated by said first image forming apparatus is transmitted to said second image forming apparatus,
- said diagnosing means performs a diagnosing operation when said connection mode is designated through one of said first and second image forming apparatuses, and
- said diagnosing means is provided to each of said first and second image forming apparatuses, and each of said first and second image forming apparatuses includes,
- a linear feedback shift register generating pseudo image data including random numbers having a long period,
- a CRC data adding unit adding cyclic redundancy check data to the pseudo image data, and
- an error detecting unit detecting an error in the pseudo image data in accordance with the CRC error detection method, wherein
- when said connection mode is designated through said first image forming apparatus, said first image forming apparatus transmits the pseudo image data to said second image forming apparatus through said transmission path, and said second image forming apparatus performs a CRC error detection in accordance with the pseudo image data received from said first image forming apparatus.
15 more elements
An image forming system comprising:
- a plurality of image forming apparatuses each of which includes,
- an image scanner scanning an original document so as to generate image data,
- an image processing unit processing the image data generated by said image scanner,
- an encoding unit encoding the image data processed by said image processing unit,
- an interface unit transmitting the image data encoded by said encoding unit, said interface unit also receiving image data from one of said image forming apparatuses,
- a memory unit storing the image data encoded by said encoding unit and the image data received by said interface unit,
- a decoding unit decoding the image data stored in said memory unit, and
- a printing unit printing an image by the image data decoded by said decoding unit;
- a transmission path connecting said interface unit of each of said image forming apparatuses so that the encoded image data is transmitted between the image forming apparatuses;
- and
- diagnosing means for diagnosing said interface unit and said transmission path when a power of each of said image forming apparatuses is turned on, wherein
- a connection mode is provided in which at least first and second image forming apparatuses from among said image forming apparatuses are connected so that image data generated by said first image forming apparatus is transmitted to said second image forming apparatus,
- said diagnosing means performs a diagnosing operation after said connection mode is designated through one of said first and second image forming apparatuses and when a start of an image forming operation according to said connection mode is designated, and
- said diagnosing means is provided to each of said first and second image forming apparatuses, and each of said first and second image forming apparatuses includes,
- a linear feedback shift register generating pseudo image data including random numbers having a long period,
- a CRC data adding unit adding cyclic redundancy check data to the pseudo image data, and
- an error detecting unit detecting an error in the pseudo image data in accordance with the CRC error detection method, wherein
- when a start of the image forming operation is designated through said first image forming apparatus, said first image forming apparatus transmits the pseudo image data to said second image forming apparatus through said transmission path, and said second image forming apparatus performs a CRC error detection in accordance with the pseudo image data received from said first image forming apparatus.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.