Hi all,

I am looking for a schematic for a copy counter for a Minolta 7255 copier.
I can't think that it would be too hard to make, a couple of flip-flops,
interface circuitry and display driver.
Problem is that I don't know the pin-out of the interface, or the signals
that are sent through it and the fact that my knowledge of digital circuitry
is at the level of digital electronics 101/102. Although I have done some
electronic repair at the level of repairing Commodore 64 and Apple II+
computers at the component level so I do understand a little - basic level
only.
Even the signaling of the copier interface would be a great help.

Thanks

Chris

Chris wrote:

Hi all,

I am looking for a schematic for a copy counter for a Minolta 7255 copier.
I can't think that it would be too hard to make, a couple of flip-flops,
interface circuitry and display driver.
Problem is that I don't know the pin-out of the interface, or the signals
that are sent through it and the fact that my knowledge of digital circuitry
is at the level of digital electronics 101/102. Although I have done some
electronic repair at the level of repairing Commodore 64 and Apple II+
computers at the component level so I do understand a little - basic level
only.
Even the signaling of the copier interface would be a great help.

Best way to approach this is to ignore the existing copier circuitry.
Hacking into that could be a major chore. You'd be better off affixing a
dedicated microswitch to some part of the copier mechanism hat cycles
one per copy and count that.

The simplest way to handle this would be with a microcontroller. Your
application is simple enough to accomplish with something like a Basic
Stamp. See http://www.parallax.com/
There are add-on modules available, such as LCD displays, or you could
do your own with a couple of 7 segment LED displays.

Consider whether your application will require non-volatile memory of
the current count (store it when the power is off).

The simplest counter would be an electromechanical counter, driven by
the dedicated microswitch. But not nearly as much fun, if that's part of
the project requirements.

--
Paul Hovnanian
------------------------------------------------------------------
668: The Neighbor of the Beast

On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:37:27 -0700, Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:
Chris wrote:

I am looking for a schematic for a copy counter for a Minolta 7255 copier.
I can't think that it would be too hard to make, a couple of flip-flops,
interface circuitry and display driver.
Problem is that I don't know the pin-out of the interface, or the signals
that are sent through it and the fact that my knowledge of digital circuitry
is at the level of digital electronics 101/102. Although I have done some
electronic repair at the level of repairing Commodore 64 and Apple II+
computers at the component level so I do understand a little - basic level
only.
Even the signaling of the copier interface would be a great help.

Best way to approach this is to ignore the existing copier circuitry.
Hacking into that could be a major chore. You'd be better off affixing a
dedicated microswitch to some part of the copier mechanism hat cycles
one per copy and count that.

The simplest way to handle this would be with a microcontroller.

Are you on drugs? Once he's got the microswitch mounted, the simplest
way is just a counter that's incremented by a switch closure.

Cheers!
Rich

Thanks Paul and Rich for the microswitch idea but there is a little problem
with that. The leasing company counts "clicks." One click is one side of an
8.5x11 paper. If the copy is double sided then that is two clicks but with a
microswitch only one copy would be counted. Also, an 11x17 single sided copy
is two clicks and double sided is four clicks. And, depending on which
options are used the paper is outputed via one of three output trays.
I talked to a copier repair tech. today and he didn't know the pinout or
signals but did say that on one of the pins there are pulses produced my the
motherboard which are driven by the number of clicks.

Thanks anyone for any help.

"Chris" schreef in bericht
...
Hi all,

I am looking for a schematic for a copy counter for a Minolta 7255 copier.
I can't think that it would be too hard to make, a couple of flip-flops,
interface circuitry and display driver.
Problem is that I don't know the pin-out of the interface, or the signals
that are sent through it and the fact that my knowledge of digital
circuitry is at the level of digital electronics 101/102. Although I have
done some electronic repair at the level of repairing Commodore 64 and
Apple II+ computers at the component level so I do understand a little -
basic level only.
Even the signaling of the copier interface would be a great help.

Thanks

Chris


Don't you have a user manual? There is a total counter inside the machine
and you can display and print total counts for prints, copies and scans. The
service manual is for sale on e-Bay but I doubt it will show the pin-out of
the key counter. Do you have a plug for that interface anyway? If you have
access to the contacts and know one of them provides the pulses you need, is
it that difficult to find that pin using a simple (analog) multimeter?

petrus bitbyter

drugs? or du mean mr. jack daniels?

"Rich Grise" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:37:27 -0700, Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:
Chris wrote:

I am looking for a schematic for a copy counter for a Minolta 7255
copier.
I can't think that it would be too hard to make, a couple of
flip-flops,
interface circuitry and display driver.
Problem is that I don't know the pin-out of the interface, or the
signals
that are sent through it and the fact that my knowledge of digital
circuitry
is at the level of digital electronics 101/102. Although I have done
some
electronic repair at the level of repairing Commodore 64 and Apple II+
computers at the component level so I do understand a little - basic
level
only.
Even the signaling of the copier interface would be a great help.

Best way to approach this is to ignore the existing copier circuitry.
Hacking into that could be a major chore. You'd be better off affixing a
dedicated microswitch to some part of the copier mechanism hat cycles
one per copy and count that.

The simplest way to handle this would be with a microcontroller.

Are you on drugs? Once he's got the microswitch mounted, the simplest
way is just a counter that's incremented by a switch closure.

Cheers!
Rich

Chris wrote:

Thanks Paul and Rich for the microswitch idea but there is a little problem
with that. The leasing company counts "clicks."

Leasing company? Then all bets are off. I don't think the typical copier
lease will allow modifications to the machine.

Still, if you could affix a magnet and reed switch to a movable tray
non destructively, you might be able to count its cycles.

Why not just get access to the leasing companies counters read-only?

One click is one side of an
8.5x11 paper. If the copy is double sided then that is two clicks but with a
microswitch only one copy would be counted. Also, an 11x17 single sided copy
is two clicks and double sided is four clicks. And, depending on which
options are used the paper is outputed via one of three output trays.
I talked to a copier repair tech. today and he didn't know the pinout or
signals but did say that on one of the pins there are pulses produced my the
motherboard which are driven by the number of clicks.

Thanks anyone for any help.

--
Paul Hovnanian
------------------------------------------------------------------
Your mouse has moved. Windows must be restarted for
the change to take effect. Reboot now? [OK]

Paul,

The leasing company does allow the use of add on copy counters but they
don't supply them.
The reason I want to build one is bacause all the counters that I was able
to find on line (can't find any local) are $200 on up.
It would be connected to the machine via about a 60 foot CAT5 cable and the
counter would be placed by the check out counter.
Most people will tell us the truth when we ask them how many copies they
made but I know a few think that they should not have to pay for their
mistakes, eventhough we do have to pay the leasing company for every click -
mistake or not.
The counter on the display of the machine resets everytime you press the
start button.

Petrus,

Yes I have a manual and no it does not give any info on the add on counter
port, even the reapir tech looked through his manuals and said there is no
info on this.
Yes there is a total click counter on the machine but unless we scroll
through the menu and write down the count before and after every customer
makes his copies, it does us no good. When the store is busy we don't always
have the time to run over to the machine and write down the counts. Besides,
would you go back to a business if every time you wanted a few copies, you
had to wait for someone run over and write the counts down?
You do have a point though, it shouldn't be to hard to figure out which pin
produces the pulse.

Thanks everyone.
Chris

Rich Grise wrote:

On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:37:27 -0700, Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:
Chris wrote:

I am looking for a schematic for a copy counter for a Minolta 7255 copier.
I can't think that it would be too hard to make, a couple of flip-flops,
interface circuitry and display driver.
Problem is that I don't know the pin-out of the interface, or the signals
that are sent through it and the fact that my knowledge of digital circuitry
is at the level of digital electronics 101/102. Although I have done some
electronic repair at the level of repairing Commodore 64 and Apple II+
computers at the component level so I do understand a little - basic level
only.
Even the signaling of the copier interface would be a great help.

Best way to approach this is to ignore the existing copier circuitry.
Hacking into that could be a major chore. You'd be better off affixing a
dedicated microswitch to some part of the copier mechanism hat cycles
one per copy and count that.

The simplest way to handle this would be with a microcontroller.

Are you on drugs? Once he's got the microswitch mounted, the simplest
way is just a counter that's incremented by a switch closure.

Read my entire post. That's what I recommended in the end. But it
violates the s.e.d and a.b.s.e charters not to suggest a microcontroller
for all projects.

--
Paul Hovnanian
------------------------------------------------------------------
2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2.