JP2000284659A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image forming device capable of setting the total number of additional images such as advertisement images printed per fixed period to the previously set number. SOLUTION: This image forming device 10 is provided with a storage means 64 storing plural additional images, a printing number setting means 81 setting the number of printing times per a specified period that the additional image is added to an original image and printed, and a control means 61 selecting and printing the additional image to be printed out of plural stored additional images at specified intervals based on the number of printing times per set specified period.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of printing an additional image stored in advance such as an advertisement image in addition to a read original image by a provider of the additional image such as an advertiser per predetermined period. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of printing a desired number of sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of copying machines, a large number of copying machines equipped with a billing device have been installed in convenience stores and the like. The copier installed in such a place is used by an unspecified number of users. Therefore, if a copy is made and printed including image information such as an advertisement, the advertiser can obtain a predetermined advertisement effect.

[0003] In view of such circumstances, a copy machine capable of additionally synthesizing and printing an advertisement image is provided in a blank portion generated when the read original image is printed on a sheet, and is the advertisement image added and copied? Various image forming apparatuses have been proposed in which a user and an advertiser are charged depending on whether or not they are not.

In this type of image forming apparatus, when a user desires to print an advertisement image, and there is a margin in the original image, the advertisement image is combined with the original image and printed. There has been known a method in which billing for each advertiser is distributed based on the total number of sheets printed by a user and the number of sheets of an advertisement image synthesized and printed (see JP-A-9-90832).

[0005]

In the image forming apparatus disclosed in the above publication, a user wants to print an advertisement image,
Further, the advertisement image is printed only when there is a blank portion in the document image, so that the advertiser does not have a constant advertisement fee charged for a certain period, for example, one month.

[0006] However, among advertisers, in addition to advertisers who wish to make a contract (so-called “pay-as-you-go”) to charge an advertisement fee according to the number of actually printed advertisements in one month, a certain Some advertisers want a contract to charge a fee (so-called flat-rate payment). In the latter advertiser, it is desired that the total number of advertisements to be printed in a certain period (for example, one month) is contracted in advance, and that the advertisement fee per month is almost the same. .

[0007] For this reason, there is a demand for the development of an image forming apparatus capable of making the total number of advertisements printed per month substantially equal to the contracted number.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to meet the above demand, and provides an image forming apparatus capable of reducing the total number of additional images, such as advertisement images, to be printed per predetermined period to a predetermined number. The purpose is to:

[0009]

The above object is achieved by the following means.

(1) Copying means for printing a prestored additional image or a read original image, first charging means for charging a user of the original image printing, and providing the additional image provider with A second billing unit for billing the user, a storage unit for storing a plurality of additional images, a print count setting unit for setting the number of prints per predetermined period for adding and printing the additional image to the document image, and At a predetermined interval based on the number of printings per predetermined period set by the number setting means,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls printing by selecting an additional image to be printed from a plurality of additional images stored in the storage unit.

(2) The apparatus further comprises history storage means for storing usage history per predetermined period, wherein the control means includes the number of prints per predetermined period set by the number-of-prints setting means and the history storage means. An image forming apparatus, wherein the predetermined interval is calculated based on a stored use history.

(3) The use history is characterized in that it is the number of document images printed in a previous predetermined period.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2A to 2C are views for explaining a printing form by the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 7A shows a form in which only an original image is printed, FIG. 7B shows a form in which an advertisement image is synthesized and printed in a margin portion of the original image, and FIG. 1 shows a form in which the advertisement image is printed in a large size on the back side of the sheet or another sheet.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10
A copying machine 11 (corresponding to a copying unit) and a charging device 12 for a user (corresponding to a first charging unit) are provided. The billing device 12 in the illustrated example is a coin vendor,
The user himself inserts a coin into the charging device 12 and
By manipulating, the original can be copied. Here, the billing device 12 displays the inserted amount to the user, permits the copying operation of the copying machine 11 according to the inserted amount, collects a predetermined amount when the copying operation is performed, and subtracts the predetermined amount. After that, the remaining amount is newly displayed. The amount to be subtracted depends on the paper size used for copying, the set color mode, and the like. Also,
The billing device 12 prohibits the copying operation of the copying machine 11 when the amount of money after performing the copy operation and subtracting the amount is equal to or less than a predetermined amount. Then, when the charge is added again, the copying operation of the copying machine 11 is permitted again. As described above, the billing device 12 has a function of instructing the copying machine 11 to permit or prohibit the copying operation while managing the usage fee and the remaining amount.

More specifically, the charging device 12 has a vertically long box shape, and has a coin slot 13 on its upper surface,
A coin return button 14 for returning coins and a display unit 15 such as a liquid crystal display for displaying the amount of money inserted and the balance are provided, and a coin return slot 16 is provided on the front surface. The charging device 12 is connected to the copying machine 11 via a relay connector 17 pulled out from the back.

The copying machine 11 communicates with the billing device 12 via the relay connector 17. From the copying machine 11, information such as during a copying operation, a paper feed signal, a paper discharge signal, a size, and a copy mode are transmitted to the charging device 12. On the other hand, information such as copy permission, copy non-permission, and input amount is transmitted from the charging device 12 to the copying machine 11. The copying machine 11 is controlled to a copy enabled state or a copy disabled state according to each piece of transmitted information. Also, on the upper surface of the copier 11, an operation panel 1 operated when the user sets a copy mode such as the number of copies.
8 are provided.

The billing device 12 calculates the required amount from the input amount and the copy mode set by the user.
It is determined whether or not copying is possible, and if copying is possible, a copy permission signal is transmitted to the copying machine 11. The copying machine 11 to which the copy permission signal has been sent is set in a state where the user can execute copying.

When the user starts copying, the copying machine 11
Starts a predetermined copy operation. The copying machine 11 transmits discharge information to the charging device 12 when the paper is discharged, and the charging device 12 subtracts a predetermined amount according to a copy mode such as size and color. When the usage fee is sequentially reduced and the balance becomes less than the amount required for copying,
Billing device 12 transmits a copy prohibition signal to copier 11. The copying machine 11 to which the copy prohibition signal has been sent is set to a copy prohibition state for the user.

It should be noted that a billing device 1 comprising a coin vendor
Although FIG. 2 is illustrated, a charging device may be used in which a medium such as a prepaid card in which amount information is stored is inserted and charge management is performed based on the balance information stored in the card.

The image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the advertisement image shown in (C) is always printed in principle. FIG. 7B shows a form in which a blank portion in the document image shown in FIG. 6A is detected, and an advertisement image is combined with the blank portion (the lower portion of the sheet in the illustrated example) and printed. FIG. 3C shows a form in which the advertisement image is largely printed on the entire back surface of the sheet on which the document image is printed or on another sheet.

In this specification, an advertisement printed in a margin portion of a document image is referred to as a “margin advertisement”, and an advertisement printed on another sheet, ie, a slip sheet, is referred to as a “slip sheet advertisement”.
The advertisement printed on the back side of the paper on which the document image is printed is referred to as a “back side advertisement”.

The image forming apparatus 10 automatically selects an optimum advertisement form from a blank advertisement, a slip-sheet advertisement, or a back advertisement in accordance with a copy mode set by a user, etc. Advertisement printing can be selected by the user according to his / her preference. Therefore, advertisement printing can always be performed even when it is not desired to combine the advertisement image with the blank portion of the document image or when the document image has no blank portion in the first place. In addition, in the case of a slip-sheet advertisement or a back advertisement, a high advertisement effect can be obtained because printing can be performed using the entire surface of the sheet.

Further, the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment
In order to meet the demand of the advertiser who wants to make the advertising fee per fixed period substantially the same, the number of printings or the total number of advertising images printed per certain period It is configured to be equal to

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the inside of the copying machine 11 shown in FIG.

The illustrated copying machine 11 is a four-cycle full-color copying machine, and includes an image scanner unit 21 for reading an original image, a signal processing unit 22 for processing a signal read by the image scanner unit 21, and an original image. The printer unit 23 includes a printer unit 23 that prints an image corresponding to an image on paper, a paper storage unit 24 that stores paper, and a casing 25 that arranges or stores these units.

In the image scanner section 21, the original placed on the platen glass is irradiated by a lamp, and the light reflected by the original is reflected by a plurality of mirrors 26a, 26b, 26
c and a line sensor (CCD) through the condenser lens 27
An image is formed on 28. By driving the scanner motor 29, the first scanner 31 is driven at a speed V and the second scanner 32 is driven at V / 2 in a direction perpendicular to the electrical scanning direction (main scanning direction) of the line sensor 28 (sub scanning direction). Direction), and scans the original surface.

The signal processing unit 22 receives a signal read by the line sensor 28, generates an image signal by electrically processing the signal, and sends it to the printer unit 23.

The printer unit 23 includes a laser generator 35,
The photosensitive drum 36 that is driven to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG.
And a transfer drum 37 on which the sheet 30 is attracted to the outer peripheral surface. Around the photoreceptor drum 36, a charging charger 38 for uniformly charging the photoreceptor drum 36 and a developing device 39 for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum 36 are sequentially arranged along the rotation direction. (Developers 39C, 39M,
39Y, 39K), a transfer charger 40 for transferring the developed toner image to the sheet 30, and a photosensitive drum 3
Cleaning device 41 for removing toner remaining on 6
And are arranged. The developing device 39C contains cyan (C) toner.
9Y and 39K contain magenta (M) toner, yellow (Y) toner, and black (K) toner, respectively. The laser generator 35 drives and modulates the semiconductor laser according to the level of the image signal sent from the signal processing unit 22. The laser beam is applied to the photosensitive drum 36 at a position between the charger 38 and the developing device 39 via a polygon mirror (not shown), an f-θ lens, and a return mirror. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 36 is developed by the developing device 39 with toner.

On the other hand, the paper storage section 24 is provided with a plurality (three in the illustrated example) of paper feed cassettes 45a, 45b and 45c. Each paper cassette 45a, 45b, 45c
, A plurality of sheets having different sheet sizes and vertical and horizontal directions are stored in a stacked state. The copying machine 11
Is a manual feed tray 46 for manually setting paper.
It has. The paper in the paper feed cassettes 45a, 45b, 45c is fed by the paper feed rollers 47a, 47b, 47c.
The sheets are separated and fed one by one, and electrostatically attracted to the outer peripheral surface of the transfer drum 37. When manually fed paper is used, the paper on the manual feed tray 46 is fed.

On the sheet 30 adsorbed on the transfer drum 37,
The developed image is transferred onto the photosensitive drum 36. When the copy mode is monochrome, a monochrome (K) toner image forming, developing and transferring recording process is performed only once to form a monochrome image. On the other hand, when the copy mode is full color, in the copying machine 11 in the illustrated example, the recording process of image formation, development, and transfer is repeated for each color toner to rotate the transfer drum 37 four times, and is attracted to the transfer drum 37. The basic color images of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) are sequentially superimposed on the paper 30 to form a full-color image. It should be noted that it is possible to set a mono color for printing the image in a single color of only cyan (C), only magenta (M), and only yellow (Y). In the case of a mono color, the image is printed in a single color of black (K) only. As in the case of monochrome printing, the recording process is performed only once.

The sheet on which the image has been formed is separated from the separation charger 48.
And separated from the transfer drum 37 by a separation claw 49,
The sheet is conveyed toward the fixing device 50. The fixing device 50 includes a fixing roller 51 having a built-in heat source such as a halogen heater.
And a pressure roller 52 that presses against the fixing roller 51 via a sheet, and heats and melts the unfixed toner transferred onto the sheet to form a permanent image. The sheet on which the toner has been fixed is discharged onto a discharge tray 53.

The copying machine 11 has a double-sided copying function.
Paper reversing mechanism 5 for reversing the paper on which the image is printed
5 are provided. The sheet reversing mechanism 55 includes a reversing path 56 on which the sheet conveyed from the fixing device 50 is conveyed at the time of double-sided copying, and a switching claw for selectively switching the sheet conveyance destination to the discharge tray 53 or the reversing path 56. 57,
It has a paper transport path 57 connected to the manual feed tray 46 and a plurality of transport rollers 58. The sheet conveyed to the reversing path 56 has the first surface on which the image is printed becomes the back surface, and the second surface on which the image is not printed becomes the front surface.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing a control system of the image forming apparatus 10.

The image forming apparatus 10 includes a copying machine 11 and a billing device 12 which can communicate with each other via the relay connector 17 and the input / output interfaces 60a and 60b. ), The image scanner unit 21 and the signal processing unit 22 described above.
And the printer unit 23, and the operation panel 18 including the advertisement function selecting unit 62. Further, the control unit 61 includes an advertisement image memory 63 (corresponding to a storage unit) in which a plurality of advertisement images are stored in advance, and a charging memory 64 (according to a storage device) that accumulates and stores the number of printed advertisements and charges for the advertiser. 2), a working memory 6 used for temporarily storing image data and synthesizing images.
5, a timer 66 for measuring the current time, a counter 67 for accumulating the number of advertisements printed, and the like, a print count setting unit 81 (print count setting) for setting the number of prints per predetermined period for adding and printing an advertisement image to a document image. A history storage unit 82 (corresponding to a history storage unit) for storing the usage history of the copying machine 11 per predetermined period is connected. The control unit 61 controls the respective units of the copying machine 11 and controls the communication with the billing device 12.

By accumulating and storing the charges for the advertiser in the charging memory 64, it is possible to collectively collect the charging information for each predetermined period. The amount accumulated and stored as one of the billing information is the amount charged to the advertiser, and this amount is collectively charged to the advertiser at predetermined intervals.

The operation panel 18 has a number key for setting the number of copies, a key for setting a color mode (monochrome copy / color copy) for printing an original image, and other copy modes (for example, double-sided copy, enlargement / reduction). copy,
And the like, a key for selecting or setting), a start key, a display section 69 for displaying a setting state, a list of printable advertisements and other information, and an advertisement function selection part of the operation panel 18. A part 62 is provided. The advertisement function selection unit 62 includes an auto key that allows the copier 11 to automatically set whether to print in the form of a blank advertisement, a slip sheet advertisement, or a back face advertisement, or a slip sheet advertisement or a back face according to the user's preference. A selection key for selecting an advertisement is arranged. This key is a touch panel type key.

The number-of-prints setting section 81 is provided in the image forming apparatus 10.
The administrator operates a dedicated key or a key provided on the operation panel 18 to set the number of times of printing per predetermined period described above. Further, the history storage unit 82 stores the total number of copies of the document image printed in the previous predetermined period.

On the other hand, the display section 15 described above is connected to the control section 71 of the charging apparatus 12, and further, a charging table memory 72, a charging memory 73 for accumulating and storing the number of copies and the charging amount for the user are provided. It is connected.
The control unit 71 charges each of the user and the advertiser according to the specific copy operation to be executed, with reference to the table stored in the charging table memory 72. The control unit 71 controls the components of the charging device 12 and controls the communication with the image forming apparatus 10.

The image forming apparatus 10 is connected to a terminal 74 in a store where the image forming apparatus 10 is installed. When the clerk operates the terminal 74, the copy machine 11 such as the current number of remaining sheets and the remaining amount of toner is displayed.
, The use of advertising printing, the amount charged to the advertiser, and the like.

Further, the image forming apparatus 10 may be connected via a network (not shown) to a terminal in a management facility for centrally managing the image forming apparatuses 10 installed in a plurality of stores. . In this management facility, the operation status of each image forming apparatus 10 is grasped, the billing information to the advertiser sent from each image forming apparatus 10 is integrated, the advertiser is collectively billed, The advertisement image stored in the device 11 can be periodically replaced by remote control.

By the way, as described above, if the advertiser wishes to bear only the same advertising fee every month,
In some cases, a contract is made to set the total number of advertisement images to be printed in a month to a predetermined number. In such a case, since the copy volume, that is, the total number of copies of the original image printed in one month is different for each image forming apparatus, the advertisement printing is performed for every predetermined number of copies uniformly for all the image forming apparatuses. Is performed once, there is a possibility that an image forming apparatus that cannot secure the total number of contracted advertisement prints may appear.

Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the control unit 61 controls the number of prints per predetermined period set by the number-of-prints setting unit 81 and the usage history stored in the history storage unit 82. Predetermined interval (ad print interval)
Is calculated, and an advertisement image to be printed is selected from a plurality of advertisement images stored in the advertisement image memory 63 and printed at this predetermined interval. Here, such a print control procedure in which the usage history is the total number of copies of the document image printed in the previous predetermined period will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. A print control procedure in a case where the total number of advertisement images to be printed per month, for example, as a predetermined period is contracted in advance will be described. Also,
For easy understanding, one advertisement print prints one advertisement, and only one advertisement image is stored in the advertisement image memory 6.
3 is stored.

In step S11, the control means 61
Calculates the advertisement printing interval B of the current month at the beginning of the month. The advertisement print interval B is calculated by calculating the total number of copies of the original image printed in the last month stored in the history storage unit 82 by the number of prints in the contracted month, that is, the number of advertisements A to be printed. It is calculated by dividing by. For example, if the total number of document images printed on a certain copier is 10,000 last month when the monthly contract advertisement print number A is 1,000, the advertisement print interval B for the current month is 10, and One copier is set to perform advertisement printing once every time the number of printed original images reaches ten. If the total number of document images printed by another copying machine was 20,000 last month, the advertisement printing interval B of the current month would be 20, and the number of document images printed by the other copying machine would reach 20. It is set so that advertisement printing is performed once every time.

After setting the advertisement printing interval B, a variable N1 for counting the number of prints in the advertisement printing interval B is set.
And a variable N that counts the number of advertisements already printed in the current month.
2 is reset to zero (S12).

Next, it is determined whether or not the number N2 of printed advertisements for the current month exceeds the number A of printed contract advertisements (S13).
If not exceeded (S13 "N"), this means that the actual number of times the advertisement has been printed has not reached the contracted number for the current month. At this time, the printed number N1 is incremented by 1 (S14), and the printed number N1 is increased. It is determined whether or not it matches the advertisement printing interval B (S15).

If it is determined that the number of prints N1 is equal to the advertisement print interval B (S15 "Y"), the number of prints N1 is reset to zero (S16), and the original image is printed with an advertisement image added thereto (S16). S17). The advertisement image is printed as one of a margin advertisement, a slip-sheet advertisement, and a back advertisement. When the advertisement printing is completed, the number N2 of the advertisement prints for the current month is incremented by one (S18).

On the other hand, if the number N2 of printed advertisements for the current month exceeds the number A of printed contract advertisements (S13 "Y"), that is, if the actual number of printed advertisements has already reached the number of contracted advertisements for the current month, the original image Only the image is printed (S20). Even when the number of prints N1 has not reached the advertisement print interval B ("N" in S15), only the original image is printed (S2).
0).

Then, it is determined whether or not the current time is at the end of the month (S19). If not, the procedure of steps S13 to S18 and S20 described above is repeated.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the interval at which advertisement printing is performed is calculated based on the total number of original image copies in the last month and the number of contract advertisements in the current month, and advertisement printing is performed at this interval. Even if the image forming apparatus 10 has a different copy volume, it is possible to secure and print the contracted number of advertisement images, and to charge the advertiser a fixed amount per month.

The case where the predetermined period is one month has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this.
It goes without saying that an arbitrary period such as a week can be set.
Also, for convenience of explanation, the case where only one advertisement image is stored in the advertisement image memory 63 has been described.
When a plurality of advertisement images are stored in the advertisement image memory 63, a monthly advertisement printing interval B is set for each advertisement image.
Is set. Then, the control unit 61 selects and prints an optimum additional image to be printed from the stored plurality of additional images based on a combination of the number of advertisement images and each advertisement printing interval B, and the like. ing. Therefore, as the number of advertisement images stored in the advertisement image memory 63 increases, the process of printing only the original image shown in step S20 decreases, and different types of advertisement images are printed.

When the total number of copies of the original image in the current month is significantly reduced compared to the previous month, the number of contract advertisements in the current month may not be able to be printed. By reducing the stored charge to the advertiser, an appropriate charge can be made to the advertiser.

Further, the total number of copies for each month varies depending on the vacation period such as summer vacation and the season, but the prediction of the change in the total number of copies for the current month with respect to the total number of copies for the previous month is known throughout the year. In such a case, the advertisement printing interval B may be calculated using a value obtained by multiplying the total number of copies for the last month by a predetermined conversion coefficient. This eliminates the need to reduce the amount charged to the advertiser.

[0054]

According to the present invention described above, the following effects can be obtained for each claim.

According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect,
The number of times of printing of the additional image to be printed per fixed period can be set to a preset number, and an image forming apparatus suitable for a provider of the additional image that wants to charge a certain amount per fixed period can be provided. .

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the predetermined number of printings per predetermined period and the usage history such as the number of original images printed in the previous predetermined period are used. Since the additional image is printed at intervals of, even if the print amount of the original image per fixed period differs for each image forming apparatus, the additional image can be reliably printed the set number of times. Becomes

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are views for explaining a printing mode by the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2A is a mode in which only a document image is printed; (B) shows a form in which an advertisement image is synthesized and printed in a margin portion of a document image, and FIG. (C) shows a form in which the advertisement image is largely printed on the back surface of the sheet on which the document image is printed or on another sheet. I have.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the inside of the copying machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a control system of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a print control procedure when the total number of advertisement images to be printed per month as a predetermined period is contracted in advance.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image forming apparatus 11 ... Copy machine (copy means) 12 ... Billing apparatus (first billing means) 18 ... Operation panel 61 ... Copy machine control unit (control means) 62 ... Advertising function selection unit 63 ... Advertising image Memory (storage means) 64 ... Charging memory (second charging means) 71 ... Control unit of charging apparatus 81 ... Print count setting section (print count setting means) 82 ... History storage section (history storage means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H027 DA38 DA44 DA45 DE07 EF09 EJ06 EJ08 FD01 FD08 FD10 5C062 AA05 AB20 AB42 AC22 AC24 AF07 AF08 5C076 AA14 AA18 AA19 BA02 BA04 BA06 CA09

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A copy unit for printing an additional image stored in advance or a read original image, a first charging unit for charging a user of the original image, and a provider for the additional image A second charging unit for storing a plurality of additional images, a storage unit for storing a plurality of additional images, a print number setting unit for setting the number of prints per predetermined period for adding and printing the additional images to the original image, and the print number Control means for selecting and printing an additional image to be printed from a plurality of additional images stored in the storage means at predetermined intervals based on the number of printings per predetermined period set by the setting means; and An image forming apparatus comprising: 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a history storage unit configured to store a usage history per a predetermined period, wherein the control unit stores the number of times of printing per predetermined period set by the number of times of printing setting unit and the history storage unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined interval is calculated based on the used usage history. 3. The use history according to claim 2, wherein the use history is the number of document images printed in a previous predetermined period.
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1.