JP2006062194A - Image formation device, temporarily storing method of printed matter and the program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the time of user's waiting for the output of highly-secret document beside a machine to be shortened. <P>SOLUTION: The printed matter discharged from the image formation device 1000 is temporarily preserved for every printing job by a buffer tray 403. If receiving from user the demand of discharging to the outside the designated printed matter among the printed one preserved in a buffer tray 403, a buffer module 400 performs an authenticating of the user which has issued the demand. As a result, when the user which issued the demand has been authenticated to be the right one for receiving the designated printed matter, the designated printed matter is taken out from the buffer tray 403, then discharged outside. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a printed material temporary storage method, and a program, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that temporarily stores printed material discharged from an image forming unit and discharges it in response to a request from a user. The present invention relates to a printed material temporary storage method applied to an apparatus, and a program for causing a computer to execute the printed material temporary storage method.

Conventionally, when printing out a highly confidential document, a printing method called “Secured Print” is used (for example, Patent Document 1). In this method, data is temporarily stored in a data storage device such as a hard disk provided in the multifunction device, etc., and the user directly operates the operation panel of the multifunction device and inputs a password to issue a print start command. By doing so, printing based on the data is started, and a printed document is prevented from being seen or stolen by other users.
JP 05-143253 A

  However, the conventional secure print has a problem that the user has to wait for the print to be completed near the multifunction peripheral.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and in the output of highly confidential documents, an image forming apparatus, a printed matter temporary storage method, and a method for shortening the time that a user waits beside the device, And to provide a program.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the holding means for temporarily holding the printed matter discharged from the image forming means for each print job, the discharge request receiving means for receiving from the user, When the discharge request receiving unit receives the request, the authentication unit authenticates the user who made the request, and the user who made the request by the authentication unit is a valid user who receives the designated printed matter. When authenticated, the image forming apparatus includes: a discharge unit that takes out the designated printed matter from the holding unit and discharges the designated printed matter to the outside.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: a holding unit that temporarily holds a printed material for each print job; and a discharge unit that discharges the printed material held by the holding unit to the outside. In the applied printed matter temporary storage method, a holding control step for holding the printed matter discharged from the image forming unit on the holding unit, and a request for discharging the specified printed matter among the printed items held on the holding unit to the outside. When a discharge request receiving step received from a user, an authentication step for authenticating the user, and the authentication step verify that the user who made the request is a valid user who receives the specified printed matter, the discharge And a discharge control step for taking out the designated printed matter from the holding means and discharging it to the outside. Temporary storage method is provided.

  Furthermore, a program for causing a computer to execute the printed matter temporary storage method is provided.

  According to the present invention, the holding unit temporarily holds the printed matter discharged from the image forming unit for each print job. When a request is received from the user to discharge the designated printed material among the printed materials held in the holding means, the user who made the request is authenticated. As a result, when the user who makes the request is authenticated as a valid user who receives the designated printed matter, the designated printed matter is taken out from the holding means and discharged to the outside.

  Thereby, in the output of a highly confidential document, it is possible to reduce the time that the user waits beside the device.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming system includes an image forming apparatus 1000, a buffer module 400, a folding apparatus 500, and a finisher main body 600.

  The image forming apparatus 1000 includes a document feeder 100, an image reader 200, and a printer 300.

  The document feeder 100 transports the set documents one by one from the top page in order from the left to the right on the platen glass 102 through a curved path, and then discharges them to the sheet discharge tray 112. At this time, the scanner unit 104 is held at a predetermined position, and the document is read by passing the document from the left to the right on the scanner unit 104.

  When the original passes, the light from the lamp 103 of the scanner unit 104 is irradiated onto the original, and the reflected light from the original is guided to the image sensor 109 via the mirrors 105, 106, 107 and the lens 108. The original can be read by stopping the original after the original is conveyed onto the platen glass 102 by the original feeder 100 and moving the scanner unit 104 from left to right.

  The document image read by the image sensor 109 is subjected to image processing and sent to the exposure control unit 110. The exposure control unit 110 outputs laser light corresponding to the image signal. The laser beam is irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 111, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 111. The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 111 is developed by the developing unit 113, and the developer on the photosensitive drum 111 is applied to the sheet fed from any of the cassettes 114 and 115, the manual sheet feeding unit 125, and the duplex conveyance path 124. The image is transferred by the transfer unit 116.

  The sheet onto which the developer has been transferred is subjected to a developer fixing process in the fixing unit 117. The paper that has passed through the fixing unit 117 is once guided to the path 122 by the flapper 121, and after the trailing edge of the paper has passed through the flapper 121, the paper is switched back and guided to the discharge roller 118 by the flapper 121.

  As a result, the surface onto which the developer has been transferred is discharged from the printer 300 by the discharge roller 118 in a downward state (face down).

  When an image is formed on a hard sheet such as an OHP sheet fed from the manual sheet feeding unit 125, the discharge roller 118 is not directed to the path 122 and the surface onto which the developer is transferred is faced up (face up). Discharged from.

  Further, when forming an image on both sides of a sheet, the sheet is guided straight from the fixing unit 117 to the discharge roller 118, and the sheet is switched back immediately after the rear end of the sheet passes through the flapper 121. Lead to 124.

  The paper discharged from the discharge roller 118 is sent to the buffer module 400.

  The buffer module 400 has a buffer tray 403 capable of temporarily storing paper, and carries out the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus 1000 in accordance with the processing speed of the folding processing unit 500 or the finisher main body 600 at the next stage. Therefore, the switching control of the inlet switching flapper 401 and the outlet switching flapper 402 is performed, and it is sent to either the through path 411 or the inlet path 412. As a result, the processing speed between the image forming apparatus 1000 and the post-processing apparatuses 500 and 600 is adjusted. The detailed control content of the buffer module 400 will be described later.

  The folding device 500 performs a process of folding the paper into a Z shape. The folding device 500 has a folding conveyance horizontal path 501 for introducing the paper discharged from the buffer module 400 and guiding it to the finisher main body 600 side. In addition, a folding path selection flapper 502 is provided at the exit (finisher main body 600 side) of the folding conveyance horizontal path 501. When performing the folding process, the folding path selection flapper 502 is turned on, and the sheet is guided to the folding path 503. The sheet guided to the folding path 503 is conveyed to the folding roller 504 and folded into a Z shape. On the other hand, when the folding process is not performed, the folding path selection flapper 502 is turned off, and the sheet is directly sent from the buffer module 400 to the finisher main body 600 via the folding conveyance horizontal path 501.

  The finisher main body 600 performs processing such as sorting, binding, and punching. The finisher main body 600 has a pair of inlet rollers 601 for guiding the paper discharged from the folding device 500 to the inside. A switching flapper 604 for guiding the sheet to the finisher path 602 or the first bookbinding path 603 is provided downstream of the entrance roller pair 601.

  The sheet guided to the finisher path 602 is sent toward the buffer roller 606 via the conveying roller pair 605. The conveyance roller pair 605 and the buffer roller 606 are configured to be able to rotate forward and backward.

  A punch unit 607 is provided between the conveying roller pair 605 and the buffer roller 606, operates as necessary, and punches the vicinity of the rear end of the conveyed paper.

  The buffer roller 606 is a roller on which a predetermined number of sheets fed via the conveying roller pair 605 can be stacked and wound around the outer periphery of the buffer roller 606. It is wound by rollers 608, 609, and 610.

  A switching flapper 611 is disposed between the pressing rollers 609 and 610, and a switching flapper 612 is disposed downstream of the pressing rollers 610. The switching flapper 611 is a flapper for separating the paper wound around the buffer roller 606 from the buffer roller 606 and guiding it to the non-sorting path 613 or the sorting path 614. The switching flapper 612 sorts the paper wound around the buffer roller into the sorting path. 614 or a flapper for leading to the buffer path 615.

  The sheet guided to the non-sort path 613 is discharged to the sample tray 701 through the discharge roller pair 616. The sheets guided to the sort path 614 are stacked on the intermediate tray 619 via the conveyance roller pair 617 and the discharge roller pair 618. The sheet bundle loaded on the intermediate tray 619 is subjected to alignment processing and stapling processing as necessary, and then discharged onto the stack tray 700 by the discharge roller 620.

  A stapler 621 is used for the stapling process for binding sheets stacked on the intermediate tray 619. The stack tray 700 is configured to be capable of self-propelled in the vertical direction.

  The sheets from the first bookbinding path 603 and the second bookbinding path 622 are stored in the storage guide by the first transport roller pair 623 and the second transport roller pair 624, and the leading edge of the sheet is movable by the third transport roller 625. The sheet is conveyed until it contacts the sheet positioning member 626 of the type. Then, the sheet bundle is folded and folded by the pair of folding rollers 627 and the protruding member 628, and then discharged to the saddle tray 702.

  The inserter 800 is provided in the upper part of the finisher main body 600, and sequentially separates the sheet bundles stacked on the tray 801 and conveys them to the finisher path 602 or the second bookbinding path 622.

  The sheet bundle is set with the front side facing up, and is conveyed by a sheet feeding roller 802 to a separation unit including a conveyance roller 803 and a separation belt 807, and sequentially separated one by one from the uppermost sheet.

  A drawing roller pair 804 is disposed in the vicinity of the separation unit, and stably transports the separated paper downstream. A conveyance roller pair 805 is provided between the entrance roller pair 601 and the drawing roller pair 804.

  The conveyance path 806 from the inserter 800 joins the conveyance path from the buffer module 400 upstream of the inlet roller pair 601.

  Next, the configuration of the buffer module 400 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed internal configuration of the buffer module 400.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the buffer module 400 includes an inlet roller pair 404 for guiding the paper discharged from the printer 300 to the inside. Downstream of the inlet roller pair 404, an inlet switching flapper 401 for guiding the paper to the through path 411 or the inlet path 412, an outlet for discharging the paper from the through path 411 and the paper from the paper discharge path 413 to the outside of the apparatus. A switching flapper 402, an inlet sensor 414 for detecting paper, and a paper discharge sensor 415 are provided.

  The sheet guided to the through path 411 by the switching of the inlet switching flapper 401 is sent toward the paper discharge roller pair 406 via the transport roller pair 405 (405a, 405b, 405c). The paper sent to the paper discharge roller pair 406 is discharged outside the buffer module 400 and sent to the folding device 500.

  The sheet guided to the inlet path 412 by the switching of the inlet switching flapper 401 is sent toward the buffer tray 403 via the transport roller 407 and stacked on the buffer tray 403.

  Below the buffer tray 403, a feeding unit for feeding the stacked sheets to the folding device 500 at the next stage is provided. The feeding unit includes a half-moon roller 409, a separation roller 408, a separation conveyance roller 418, a separation sensor 417, and a paper presence / absence detection sensor 416 for detecting the presence / absence of paper in the buffer tray 403.

  Here, the half moon roller 409 and the separation roller 408 are rotated by a separation motor (not shown) to separate the sheets one by one from the lowermost part of the sheet bundle stacked in the buffer tray 403. The separation sensor 417 is a sensor that detects whether a sheet is separated from the buffer tray 403. The separated sheet is transferred to the conveyance roller pair 410 (410a, 410b, 410c) via the separation conveyance roller pair 418, passes through the paper discharge path 413, and is fed from the paper discharge roller pair 406 to the next folding. It is fed to the device 500.

  A full load detection sensor 421 is disposed above the buffer tray 403. The full load detection sensor 421 detects paper when the uppermost surface of the paper stacked in the buffer tray 403 reaches the position P.

  As another configuration of the buffer module 400, as shown in FIG. 3, there is a configuration in which the buffer tray 403a is divided into stages, and one tray is used for each user job.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the buffer module 400 is disposed after the folding device 500 and the finisher main body 600 (only a sort process, a binding process, a punching process, etc. are performed, and a paper discharge unit is separately provided). A configuration is also possible in which the printed matter that has been printed and post-processed can be temporarily stored in the buffer module 400 and output to the paper discharge tray when instructed by the user.

  Furthermore, an authentication lock mechanism is attached to the buffer tray itself, and a buffer tray having a mechanism that allows only the administrator or a person who has paper in the buffer tray to open and close the buffer tray can be incorporated in the buffer module 400.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit 900 that controls the operation of the buffer module 400.

  The control circuit 900 is mainly composed of a microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as “CPU”) 901, and various load drive circuits and various sensors are connected to the input / output ports of the CPU 901.

  The control circuit 900 also includes an area for temporarily storing control data, a RAM 904 that is used as a work area for calculations associated with control, and a ROM 903 that stores control sequence software. The control circuit 900 is connected to a communication IC 902 for controlling data communication with the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 and the finisher control unit 905.

  The inlet motor 433 is driven by a driver 443. The driver 443 receives an excitation signal and a motor current control signal from the CPU 901. Similarly to the above, the separation motor 434 and the paper discharge motor 435 are also driven by drivers 444 and 445 that have received input signals from the CPU 901. The inlet solenoid 431 and the paper discharge solenoid 432 are driven by drivers 441 and 442, respectively. The drivers 441 to 445 are all connected to the output port of the CPU 901, and their operations are controlled by signals from the CPU 901.

  Further, various sensors such as an inlet sensor 414, a paper discharge sensor 415, a paper presence / absence detection sensor 416, a separation sensor 417, and a full load detection sensor 421 are connected to an input port of the CPU 901, and detection signals from these sensors are stored in the buffer module 400. It is used to control the paper conveyance and driving load.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 6, the main controller 4111 mainly includes a CPU 4112, a bus controller 4113, and a serial communication controller 4114.

  The CPU 4112 and the bus controller 4113 control the overall operation of the image forming apparatus control unit 4110. The CPU 4112 operates based on a program read from the ROM 4120 via the ROM I / F 4121. This program also describes a process of interpreting PDL (page description language) code data received from the host computer and developing it into raster image data. Such interpretation and development are processed by software. The bus controller 4113 controls data transfer inputted / outputted from each I / F, and controls arbitration at the time of bus contention and DMA data transfer.

  The DRAM 4122 is connected to the main controller 4111 by a DRAM I / F 4123, and is used as a work area for the CPU 4112 to operate and an area for storing image data.

  Asynchronous serial communication controller 4114 transmits / receives control commands to / from CPUs of image reader 200 and printer 300 via serial buses 4172 and 4173, and also operates a touch panel and key inputs of an operation unit (not shown). Communicate with the department.

  The network controller 4125 is connected to the main controller 4111 by an I / F 4127 and is connected to an external network by a connector 4126. The network is generally Ethernet (registered trademark).

  The serial connector 4124 is connected to the main controller 4111 and performs communication with an external device. A USB is generally used as the serial bus.

  The fan 4128 is connected to the main controller 4111 and is used to cool the image forming apparatus control unit 4110.

  The temperature monitoring IC 4142 is connected to the main controller 4111 by a serial bus 4143. The temperature monitoring IC 4142 is used for controlling the fan 4128, correcting the temperature of the real-time clock module 4137, and the like.

  The general-purpose high-speed bus 4130 is connected to an expansion connector 4135 for connecting an expansion board, an I / O control unit 4136, an HD controller 4131, and a Codec 4133. A general-purpose high-speed bus is a PCI bus.

  The Codec 4133 compresses the raster image data stored in the DRAM 4122 by a system such as MH / MR / MMR / JBIG / JPEG, and conversely decompresses the code data compressed and stored into raster image data. The SRAM 4134 is used as a temporary work area of the Codec 4133. Data transfer to and from the DRAM 4122 is controlled by the bus controller 4113 and DMA transferred.

  The HD controller 4131 is for connecting an external storage device. In this embodiment, a hard disk drive 4132 is connected via this HD controller 4131. The hard disk drive 4132 is used for storing programs and storing image data.

  The I / O control unit 4136 controls the general-purpose high-speed bus 4130 and controls the port control unit 4145 and the interrupt control unit 4146.

  The panel I / F 4141 is connected to the LCD controller 4140 and has an I / F for displaying on a liquid crystal screen on an operation unit (not shown) and a key input I for inputting from a hard key or a touch panel key. / F.

  The operation unit includes a liquid crystal display unit, a touch panel input device attached on the liquid crystal display unit, and a plurality of hard keys. A signal input from the touch panel input device or a hard key is transmitted to the CPU 4112 via the panel I / F 4141 described above, and the liquid crystal display unit displays image data sent from the panel I / F 4141. On the liquid crystal display unit, function display and image data display in the operation of the image forming apparatus are performed.

  The real-time clock module 4137 is for updating / saving the date and time managed in the device, and is backed up by a backup battery 4138.

  The SRAM 4139 is backed up by a backup battery 4138 and stores user mode information, various setting information, file management information of the hard disk drive 4132, and the like.

  The graphic processor 4151 performs image rotation, image scaling, color space conversion, binarization, scanner image input, and printer image output on the image data stored in the DRAM 4122. The DRAM 4152 is used as a temporary work area for the graphic processor 4151. The graphic processor 4151 is connected to the main controller 4111 via the I / F 4150, and data transfer to and from the DRAM 4122 is controlled by the bus controller 4113 and DMA-transferred.

  The image reader 200 and the printer 300 are connected to the connector 4160 and the connector 4155, respectively, and the asynchronous serial I / F 4173, 4172 and the video I / F 4163, 4162 are connected to the connector 4160 and the connector 4155, respectively.

  The scanner image processing unit 4157 is connected to the image reader 200 via the connector 4160, and is connected to the graphic processor 4151 via the scanner bus 4161. The scanner image processing unit 4157 performs a predetermined process on the image received from the image reader 200. And a function of outputting a control signal generated based on the video control signal sent from the image reader 200 to the scanner bus 4161.

  The FIFO 4158 is connected to the scanner image processing unit 4157 and is used for line correction of the video signal sent from the image reader 200.

  The printer image processing unit 4153 is connected to the printer 300 via the connector 4155, and is connected to the graphic processor 4151 via the printer bus 4156. The printer image processing unit 4153 performs predetermined processing on the image data output from the graphic processor 4151, and It has a function of outputting to the printer 300, and further has a function of outputting a control signal generated based on the video control signal sent from the printer 300 to the printer bus 4156.

  The DRAM 4154 is connected to the printer image processing unit 4153 and is used for delaying the video signal for a predetermined time.

  Transfer of raster image data developed on the DRAM 4122 to the printer 300 is controlled by the bus controller 4113 and DMA-transferred to the printer 300 via the graphic processor 4151, the printer image processing unit 4153, and the connector 4155.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of the entire network system including the image forming system shown in FIG.

  Reference numeral 1000 denotes the image forming system shown in FIG. The image forming system 1000 can flow an image read from the image reader 200 to a local area network (hereinafter referred to as “LAN”) 1010 and print out an image received from the LAN 1010 by the printer 300. Further, an image read from the image reader 200 can be transmitted to the PSTN or ISDN 1030 by a FAX transmission unit (not shown), and an image received from the PSTN or ISDN 1030 can be printed out by the printer 300.

  A database server 1002 stores a binary image and a multi-valued image read by the image forming system 1000 and manages them as a database. Reference numeral 1003 denotes a database client of the database server 1002, which is a client terminal device capable of browsing / searching image data stored in the database server 1002. Reference numeral 1004 denotes an electronic mail server that can receive an image read by the image forming system 1000 as attached data of an electronic mail. Reference numeral 1005 denotes an e-mail client, which is a client terminal device that receives and browses e-mail received by the e-mail server 1004 and transmits e-mail. Reference numeral 1006 denotes a WWW server that provides an HTML document to the LAN 1010, and the HTML document provided from the WWW server 1006 can be printed out by the image forming system 1000. Reference numeral 1007 denotes a DNS server, which associates an IP address with an alphabetic character string. Reference numeral 1011 denotes a router, which connects the LAN 1010 to the Internet / intranet 1012.

  In the Internet / intranet 1012, apparatuses similar to the database server 1002, the WWW server 1006, the e-mail server 1004, and the image forming system 1000 described above are the database server 1021, the WWW server 1022, the e-mail server 1023, and the image forming system 1024, respectively. It is connected as

  On the other hand, the image forming system 1000 is connected to the FAX apparatus 1031 via the PSTN or ISDN 1030, and can send and receive facsimile signals. A network compatible printer 1040 is also connected to the LAN 1010 so that an image read by the image forming system 1000 can be printed out by the printer 1040.

  Also, a printer driver is installed in the client terminal 1003 and the client terminal 1005, and the client terminal converts document data into print data via the printer driver, and sends the print data to the image forming system 1000, the image forming system 1024, or the printer 1040. Send print data. The image forming systems 1000 and 1024 and the printer 1040 that have received the print data can implement a network print operation by printing out an image based on the received print data.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a setting operation performed on a copy job or a print job by a user in a copy operation or a print operation. First, a copy operation in the image forming system will be described as an example.

  The user sets whether or not to discharge the printed paper for the copy job (step S7010). In the present embodiment, the control mode in which the printed matter that has been printed is not discharged to the outside but is held in the buffer module 400 is referred to as “standby printing”. The arrangement position of the buffer module 400 that holds the printed material may be the position shown in FIG. 1 or the position shown in FIG. If standby printing is set for the processing target document by the user, the process advances to step S7020, and the print module for the processing target copy job is not discharged to the outside by the image forming system. A standby command to be held in is given. On the other hand, if the standby print is not set by the user, a normal job is performed in which printing is performed and the printed matter that has been printed is directly discharged to the outside. However, depending on the number of print output copies and finishing conditions, the standby print The image forming system performs a discrimination process shown in steps S7011 to S7013.

  That is, in step S7011, it is determined whether or not the job of the processing target document has a plurality of output copies. In step S7012, it is determined whether or not the job of the processing target document meets a predetermined output condition. In step S7013, a standby print setting key for setting standby printing is displayed on the screen (illustrated in FIG. 11) of the operation unit of the image forming system. In the next step S7014, it is determined whether or not a user operation has been performed on the standby print setting key displayed in step S7013. When the user operation is performed and standby print is set, the process proceeds to step S7020, and the user operation is performed. If not, the process proceeds to step S7030.

  In step S7030, the image forming system performs normal job setting for performing printing on the job of the document to be processed and discharging the printed matter after printing to the outside.

  After step S7020 or step S7030, in step S7050, the user inputs a print start command to the image forming system.

  Even in the case of a printer operation in which a print job is input from the client terminal to the image forming system, the user operates the printer driver property screen (FIG. 10) in the client terminal to operate the image forming system in the copy operation. The same operation as that performed on the copy job on the copy screen is performed on the print job, and the print job is input from the client terminal to the image forming system in step S7050.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a printing process performed by the image forming system based on a print start command in a copy operation or a printer operation.

  In step S7055, the image forming system determines whether a standby instruction is given to the job of the processing target document. If the standby instruction is given, the process proceeds to step S7060. Proceed to

  In step S7070, the image forming system immediately discharges the printed material. In step S7080, the user receives the discharged printed matter.

  In step S7060, an input operation for user authentication is performed by a user who has come to the image forming system, and it is determined whether or not the user has been authenticated as a result. User authentication may be performed using a password, or user authentication using a wireless tag IC card or the like. If authenticated, the process proceeds to step S7065, and the user inputs a discharge command to the image forming system. In step S7080, the user receives the discharged printed matter.

  As described above, even if the user cannot leave the image forming system because of a highly confidential document and it takes time to print a large number of copies, the user temporarily It is possible to perform other work away from the forming system.

  Note that when printing is completed, the image forming system may notify the user by e-mail of the completion, or notify the user by an end alarm or the like.

  In addition, when the printed matter exists in the buffer module 400 for a predetermined time or more by standby printing, the user may be notified to prompt the user to discharge the printed matter, and the number of notifications may be recorded. The correspondence may be changed according to the number of notifications.

  In addition, when a standby state is entered, this may be notified to the user. The notification method may be set and saved in an IC card for user authentication.

  Next, standby print processing performed by the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are flowcharts showing the procedure of print processing including standby print processing performed by the image forming apparatus control unit 4110.

  The image forming apparatus control unit 4110 determines whether standby printing is set for the processing target job (step S8010). If standby printing is set, the process proceeds to step S8030, and if not set, the process proceeds to step S8020.

  In step S8020, the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 performs printing, and outputs a normal print / discharge command for discharging the printed matter after printing to the outside as it is.

  In step S <b> 8030, the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 communicates with the finisher control unit 905 to obtain buffer tray information indicating the stacking state of sheets on the buffer tray 403, and determines whether there is an empty space in the buffer tray 403. Determine. As a result, if there is an empty space in the buffer tray 403, the process proceeds to step S8050, and if there is no empty space in the buffer tray 403 and the sheets are full, the process proceeds to step S8040.

  In step S8050, the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 performs printing, and then outputs a print / finishing standby instruction to be held in the buffer tray 403 without discharging the printed matter after printing.

  In accordance with this standby command, printing is performed, and the printed matter that has been printed is stacked on the buffer tray 403. Therefore, the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 receives a buffer indicating a new stacking state of the buffer tray 403 from the finisher control unit 905. The tray information is acquired, and the buffer tray information acquired in step S8030 is updated (step S8051).

  Thereafter, the user comes to the operation panel of the image forming system, designates a job corresponding to the printed material stacked on the buffer tray 403, performs an input operation to discharge the printed material, and then performs user authentication. (Step S8052), if the result is authenticated, the process proceeds to Step S8053, and if not authenticated, the process proceeds to Step S8060. Note that the user authentication in step S8052 can be performed a predetermined number of times, and if the authentication is still not performed, the process may proceed to step S8060.

  In step S8053, the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 outputs a paper discharge command so as to discharge the designated printed matter stacked on the buffer tray 403 to the outside, and the print processing ends.

  In step S8060, notifying that the user is not authenticated is displayed by voice or an operation panel display, and there is a printed matter that remains on the buffer tray 403 by e-mail or facsimile communication to an administrator or a user related to the job. Warning to that effect. Furthermore, after a lapse of a predetermined time, processing such as invalidating the authority to discharge the designated printed matter from the buffer tray 403 to the outside may be performed (step S8061).

  In step S8040, the document data to be processed is temporarily stored in a storage device such as a hard disk in the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 (a process similar to conventional secure printing). In this case, it may be notified to the user by a method such as e-mail.

  Next, it is determined whether or not there is a vacancy in the buffer tray 403 before the user performs the authentication work. If there is a vacancy, the process proceeds to step S8050. If it has not started yet, step S8050 is executed again, and no empty space is generated. However, if the user authentication operation has started, the process proceeds to step S8042.

  In step S8042, the user comes to the front of the operation panel of the image forming system, designates a job, performs an input operation so as to immediately eject the printed matter, and performs user authentication. The process proceeds to S8043, and if not authenticated, the process proceeds to step S8060. Note that the user authentication in step S8042 may be performed a predetermined number of times, and if the user authentication is not still performed, the process may proceed to step S8060.

  In step S8043, the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 performs printing based on the processing target document data temporarily stored in a storage device such as a hard disk in the image forming apparatus control unit 4110, and immediately prints out the printed document. Output finishing instructions. In this case, the waiting time until paper discharge is the same as that of the conventional secure print.

  Then, the printing process ends.

  If the document data to be processed is temporarily saved in a storage device such as a hard disk in the image forming apparatus control unit 4110, then after step S8041, the process proceeds to step S8060 without user authentication in step S8042. In addition to notifying that the user is not authenticated by displaying voice or the operation panel, the administrator or the user related to the job is warned that there is document data stored in the storage device by e-mail or facsimile communication. To do. Furthermore, after a predetermined time has elapsed, processing such as deleting document data stored in the storage device may be performed (step S8061).

  Next, a printed matter holding / discharge process performed by the control circuit 900 of the buffer module 400 will be described.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of printed matter holding / discharge processing performed by the control circuit 900 of the buffer module 400.

  First, the control circuit 900 determines whether standby printing is set for the processing target job (step S9010). If it is set, the process proceeds to step S9030. If it is not set, the process proceeds to step S9020.

  In step S9020, the control circuit 900 outputs a command to perform normal finishing and paper discharge.

  In step S9030, the control circuit 900 determines whether the printed material should be held on the buffer tray 403 or whether the printed material held on the buffer tray 403 should be discharged. If the printed material is to be held in the buffer tray 403, the process proceeds to step S9040. If the printed material held in the buffer tray 403 is to be discharged, the process proceeds to step S9031.

  In step S9031, the control circuit 900 refers to the tray holding information held in the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 and designates the tray number to which the printed material is to be discharged. In step S9032, the control circuit 900 A command to eject the printed matter held in the tray with the specified number is issued.

  In step S9040, the control circuit 900 checks the empty information of the buffer tray 403, and if there is a free space, the process proceeds to step S9041, and if there is no free space, the process proceeds to step S9043.

  In step S9041, the control circuit 900 outputs a finishing command, and in step S9042, a command to put the target printed material in the empty portion of the buffer tray 403 is output. In step S9043, tray holding information indicating which printed matter is held in which tray of the buffer tray 403 is transmitted to the image forming apparatus control unit 4110.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S9040 that the buffer tray 403 is not empty and the process proceeds to step S9043, the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 is notified of this, and a command from the image forming apparatus control unit 4110 regarding the job is issued. wait.

  A configuration in which a wireless tag reader is attached to the buffer tray 403 to efficiently manage the wireless tag-attached paper and the tray holding information is also possible.

  In addition, a paper jam may occur in the finisher main body 600. The door of the buffer module 400 cannot be unlocked even when a paper jam occurs in a place other than the buffer module 400. There may be a door in the buffer module 400 corresponding to each job, and only the administrator and the user corresponding to the job may have the right to unlock it. Further, when the user authentication is not completed, the finisher main body 600 may not be opened.

[Other Embodiments]
An object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus. It is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium and program storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  The storage medium for supplying the program code is, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW. DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used. Alternatively, the program is supplied by downloading from another computer or database connected to the Internet, a commercial network, a local area network, or the like.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) or the like running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. Includes a case where part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. This includes a case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the detailed internal structure of a buffer module. It is a figure which shows the other structure of a buffer module. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming system having a configuration in which a buffer module is arranged behind a folding device and a finisher main body. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control circuit which controls operation | movement of a buffer module. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus control unit illustrated in FIG. 5. It is a figure which shows the structure of the whole network system containing the image forming system shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a setting operation performed on a copy job or a print job by a user in a copy operation or a print operation. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process performed by the image forming system based on a print start command in a copy operation or a printer operation. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a property screen displayed when the image forming system is used as a printer. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a property screen displayed when the image forming system is used as a copying machine. 10 is a flowchart (1/2) illustrating a procedure of a printing process including a standby printing process performed by an image forming apparatus control unit. 6 is a flowchart (2/2) illustrating a procedure of a printing process including a standby printing process performed by an image forming apparatus control unit. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of printed matter holding | maintenance / discharge | emission processing performed with the control circuit of a buffer module.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Document feeder 200 Image reader 300 Printer 400 Buffer module 403 Buffer tray (holding means)
500 Folding device 600 Finisher body 1000 Image forming apparatus (image forming means)
900 control circuit 901 CPU (discharge request receiving means, authentication means, discharge means)

Claims (13)

Holding means for temporarily holding the printed matter discharged from the image forming means for each print job;
A discharge request receiving means for receiving from the user a request to discharge the designated printed material out of the printed materials held in the holding means;
An authentication means for authenticating the user;
And a discharging unit that takes out the designated printed matter from the holding unit and discharges the designated printed matter to the outside when the authentication unit authenticates that the user who made the request is a valid user who receives the designated printed matter. An image forming apparatus.   When the authenticating unit does not authenticate that the user who made the request is a valid user who receives the designated printed matter, or without the user authentication by the authenticating unit, the designated printed matter is received from the holding unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising blocking means for blocking taking out.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printed matter held by the holding unit is a printed matter that has been subjected to predetermined post-processing after image formation.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the authentication unit performs the authentication by using a wireless tag attached sheet and a personal identification card. Detecting means for detecting a free space in the holding means;
A holding request receiving unit that receives a request to hold a printed matter by a processing target job in the holding unit from a user;
When the detection unit detects that the holding unit is empty when the request is received by the holding request receiving unit, the image forming unit does not perform printing based on the processing target job, and The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a first command unit that commands the image forming unit to store print data of a job to be processed in a storage device in the image forming unit.   When the detection unit detects that the holding unit is empty after the command is issued by the first command unit, the print data stored in the storage device of the image forming unit is stored in the print data. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a second command unit that commands the image forming unit to perform printing based on the image forming unit and to hold the obtained printed matter on the holding unit. Image forming apparatus.   After the command is issued by the first command unit, the detection unit does not detect that the holding unit is empty, and receives a request from the user to eject the printed matter by the processing target job to the outside. If the user is authenticated, the image forming unit performs printing based on the print data stored in the storage device of the image forming unit, and the obtained printed matter is discharged to the outside. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising third command means for commanding the image forming means to cause the image forming means to perform the operation.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising notification means for notifying a user related to the printed matter held by the holding means that the printed matter is being held. In a printed matter temporary storage method applied to an image forming apparatus including a holding unit that temporarily holds a printed matter for each print job, and a discharge unit that discharges the printed matter held in the holding unit to the outside.
A holding control step of holding the printed matter discharged from the image forming unit in the holding unit;
A discharge request receiving step of receiving from the user a request to discharge a specified print out of the prints held in the holding unit;
An authentication step for authenticating the user;
When it is authenticated by the authentication step that the user who made the request is a valid user who receives the designated printed matter, the ejecting unit takes out the designated printed matter from the holding unit and ejects the designated printed matter to the outside. A method for temporarily storing printed matter, comprising: a discharge control step. A detection step of detecting a vacancy in the holding means;
A holding request receiving step for receiving from the user a request to hold the printed matter by the processing target job in the holding unit;
When the request is received by the holding request receiving step, if the detecting unit detects that the holding unit is empty, the image forming unit does not perform printing based on the processing target job, The printed matter according to claim 9, further comprising: a first command transmission step of transmitting a command to the image forming unit so as to store print data of the processing target job in a storage device in the image forming unit. Temporary storage method.   After the command is transmitted in the first command transmission step, if the detection step detects that the holding unit is empty, the print data stored in the storage device of the image forming unit And a second command transmission step of transmitting a command to the image forming unit so as to cause the image forming unit to perform printing based on the image and hold the obtained printed matter on the holding unit. Item 11. A method for temporarily storing printed matter according to item 10.   After the command is transmitted in the first command transmission step, it is not detected by the detection step that the holding unit is empty, and a request is issued from the user to discharge the printed matter by the processing target job to the outside. If received, the user is authenticated, and if authenticated, the image forming means performs printing based on the print data stored in the storage device of the image forming means, and the obtained printed matter is externally provided. The printed matter temporary storage method according to claim 10, further comprising a third command transmission step of transmitting a command to the image forming unit so as to be discharged. Executed on a computer a temporary printed material storage method applied to an image forming apparatus that includes a holding unit that temporarily holds a printed material for each print job and a discharge unit that discharges the printed material held in the holding unit to the outside. In the program to let
A holding control step of holding the printed matter discharged from the image forming unit in the holding unit;
A discharge request receiving step of receiving from the user a request to discharge a specified print out of the prints held in the holding unit;
An authentication step for authenticating the user;
When it is authenticated by the authentication step that the user who made the request is a valid user who receives the designated printed matter, the ejecting unit takes out the designated printed matter from the holding unit and ejects the designated printed matter to the outside. A discharge control step.

Images