JP2007181992A - Image forming apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance visibility for the user by easily visualizing an appropriate character or image corresponding to the thickness on the side face of a bundle of recording media printed in a large volume by using only an ordinary print head. <P>SOLUTION: Thickness data per a sheet printed by using an operation panel 14, sheet size data, and number-of-print sheets data are inputted. Side face image data to be visualized on the side face of a bundle of sheets is read out from an ROM 125 by a controller 120. The controller 120 performs line partition of the side face image data by the number of print sheets, and loads an index value into every partitioned side face image data before being stored into the system memory 124. If it appears not as imaged, the controller 120 creates an image to be printed on the side face of a bundle of sheets and performs enlargement/reduction processing. If it appears as imaged, the controller 120 inputs a print source image, determines a print position of the side face image data, unifies normal image data and the side face image data and performs printing by using an ordinary print head. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method for performing printing on a printing surface of a recording medium and printing on a side surface of a recording medium bundle using a normal print head.

  Conventionally, arbitrary characters are stamp-printed on the side surface of a printed recording medium. For example, there has been a technique for clarifying chapter breaks in a dictionary or the like by printing an index on the side of a sheet bundle such as a dictionary (see Patent Document 1). Up to now, when creating an index on the side of a recording medium, it has been necessary to perform complicated operations such as calculation of an index pattern allocation position and incorporation of the pattern. However, in Patent Document 1, such complicated work is not required, and an index and its accompanying characters can be easily created.

JP-A-3-102515

  However, in the above-mentioned patent document 1, only an index used for a dictionary or the like and printing of its accompanying characters are disclosed, and printing is performed on the side surface of a bundle of recording media using arbitrary character data or image data. There is a problem that the user's needs for improving the visibility of the user cannot be answered.

  In addition, if stamping arbitrary characters and images on the side surface of the recording medium, the characters and images printed on the side surface will not be deformed even if the size and thickness of the recording medium and the number of recording medium bundles are changed. However, since a separate print head for side printing is required, there is a problem that the structure is complicated and the cost is high.

  Furthermore, when a character or image is printed on the side surface of a recording medium bundle using a print head that performs printing on a normal printing surface, the size, thickness, and recording medium of the recording medium are not incurred. When the number of bundles changes, the side printing area and shape change. For this reason, even if printing is performed using the same character data and image data, it is very difficult to adjust the characters and images to be printed with an appropriate size and shape on the printing surface.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and uses only a print head that performs printing on a normal printing surface, and matches the thickness of the entire side surface of a bundle of recording media printed in large quantities. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming method capable of easily visualizing appropriate characters and images and improving visibility for a user.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to an image forming unit that transports a recording medium to a predetermined position and forms an arbitrary image on the recording medium, and the recording Stores thickness input means for inputting thickness data per sheet, number input means for inputting number data of a series of recording media forming an image, and side image data to be printed on the side of a series of recording media. Image storage means, side image data dividing means for equally dividing the side image data according to the number of sheets input from the number input means, and an index unique to each divided side image data divided by the side image data dividing means Divided side image data management means for storing and assigning a value, and performing read management, and the divided side image in a predetermined order based on the index value It reads over data, characterized by printing on an end portion of the recording medium conveyed one by one by the image forming means with the divided side image data.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising recording medium size input means for inputting a size of the recording medium, wherein the image forming means is controlled by the recording medium size input means. An end position of a recording medium to be printed is determined based on input size data.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus further comprises a print side selection unit that selects a side of a recording medium on which the divided side surface image data is printed. The divided side image data is printed on the edge of the side of the recording medium selected by the above.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the image forming apparatus includes an image reading unit that scans the read image and reads the image data. The image data is stored in the image storage means as the side image data.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, thickness data per recording medium by the thickness input unit, and a series of recording medium number data by the number input unit, Based on the size data of the recording medium by the recording medium size input means and the divided side image data managed by the divided side image data management means, an image image of the side image printed on the side surface of the recording medium bundle is obtained. An image image creating means to be created, a display means for displaying the image created by the image image creating means on the screen, and a value for enlarging or reducing the side image data based on the image image displayed on the display means are input. And an enlargement / reduction value input means.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the enlargement / reduction value input means is one of an interface connected to an operation panel and an external device, and the operation panel Alternatively, an enlargement / reduction value is input from an external device.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, thickness data per recording medium by the thickness input unit, and a series of recording medium number data by the number input unit, An enlargement that calculates a side area of the recording medium bundle based on the recording medium size data by the recording medium size input means, and performs enlargement or reduction processing so that the side image data fits the side face of the recording medium bundle / Reduction processing means is provided.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the number input unit is one of an interface connected to an operation panel and an external device, the operation panel or the external device. The number data of a series of recording media is input from the above.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thickness input step for inputting thickness data per recording medium for forming an image, a number input step for inputting number data of a series of recording media for forming an image, An image storage step for storing side image data to be printed on a side surface of a series of recording media, a side image data division step for equally dividing the side image data according to the number of sheets input by the number of sheets input step, and the side image data division step A divided side image data management step for storing each divided side image data divided in step (i) with a unique index value and performing read management, and any image while conveying the series of recording media one by one When printing the divided side image data in a predetermined order based on the index value. An image forming method characterized by printing on an end portion of the medium.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the recording medium is conveyed to a predetermined position by the image forming means, and an arbitrary image is formed on the recording medium. Thickness data per recording medium is input by the thickness input means, and the number data of a series of recording media forming an image is input by the number input means, and printing is performed on the side surfaces of the series of recording media by the image storage means. Side image data to be stored is stored. Side image data is divided equally by the number of input images from the number input means by the side image data dividing means, and the divided side image data management means assigns a unique index value to the divided divided side image data and manages it for reading To be able to The divided side image data management means reads the divided side image data in a predetermined order based on the index value, and prints it on the edge of the recording medium conveyed one by one by the image forming means. Thus, by grasping the thickness per recording medium and the number of recording media, the height of the printing surface on the side surface when the recording medium bundles are stacked can be calculated. By dividing the side image data to be printed by the number of recording media, it is possible to easily obtain the divided side image data that is maximum in the height direction of the recording medium bundle. In addition, by printing individual divided side image data on the edge of the recording medium and superimposing the divided images to form a side image, both the normal image and the side image are printed with only a normal print head. Thus, the apparatus cost can be kept low.

  In the image forming method according to the present invention, thickness data per recording medium on which an image is formed is input in the thickness input step, and a series of recording medium number data on which an image is formed is input in the number input step. The side image data to be printed on the side surface of a series of recording media is stored by the image storage step, and the side image data is equally divided by the number of sheets input by the number input step by the side image data dividing step. The divided individual side surface image data is stored with a unique index value by the divided side surface image data management step to enable read management. When a series of recording media are conveyed one by one and an arbitrary image is printed, the divided side surface image data is read out in a predetermined order based on the index value and printed on the end of the recording medium. Thus, by grasping the thickness per recording medium and the number of recording media, the height of the printing surface on the side surface when the recording medium bundles are stacked can be calculated. By dividing the side image data to be printed by the number of recording media, it is possible to easily obtain the divided side image data that is maximum in the height direction of the recording medium bundle. In addition, by printing individual divided side image data on the edge of the recording medium and superimposing the divided images to form a side image, both the normal image and the side image are printed with only a normal print head. Thus, the apparatus cost can be kept low.

  Embodiments of an image forming apparatus and an image forming method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining the external appearance of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a system in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a folder provided in the memory, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of divided side image data corresponding to an index value stored in the divided side image folder of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present invention is a color digital copying machine using an electrophotographic technique. A scanner 11 as an image reading unit that scans a color original image and reads image information is read. The printer 12 as an image forming unit that performs image forming processing based on image information, the display unit 13 as a display unit that displays operation information and the like when setting and operating the image forming apparatus 10, and the image forming apparatus 10 An operation panel 14 on which operation buttons for setting and operation are arranged, a paper feeding unit 15 for storing a recording medium such as a copy sheet and supplying it to the printer 12 one by one, a document being fed one by one and reading by the scanner 11 It consists of an automatic document feeder (ADF) 16 that transports it to a position, and a manual feed tray 17 that manually supplies copy paper from the outside.

  In FIG. 2, the constituent blocks to which the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are attached are the same parts or corresponding parts, and overlapping explanations are omitted. As shown in FIG. 2, the scanner 11 is provided with a scanner control unit 110 that controls the reading operation of the document image.

  The printer 12 includes a controller 120 that manages various memory data or controls the entire image forming apparatus, an image processing unit (IPU) 121 that performs image processing such as automatic binarization of image information and document size detection, The printer engine 122 and the like that execute an image forming operation.

  The controller 120 also stores a program memory 123 for storing program data, and various data such as a sheet thickness, the number of printed sheets, a divided side image, a sheet size, a side image, and a side image printing position characteristic of the present invention. A system memory 124 as image storage means to manage, a table for storing paper thickness data corresponding to the model number of the paper, a ROM 125 for storing various parameters, and the like.

  Further, the controller 120 includes side image data dividing means for equally dividing the side images from the number of prints stored in the system memory 124 to form divided side image data. A divided side image data managing means for associating a unique index value and storing it in the divided side image folder 33 (see FIG. 3) in the system memory 124; thickness data per recording medium; Image image creation means for creating an image of a side image based on the size data of the recording medium and the divided side image data, or the thickness data per recording medium, the number of recording media, and the size data of the recording medium The side surface area of the recording medium bundle is calculated based on the side image data on the side surface of the recording medium bundle. Constitute the enlarge / reduction processing means for performing enlargement / reduction processing to be compatible.

  The operation panel 14 has thickness input means for inputting thickness data per recording medium, number input means for inputting the number data of a series of recording media forming image data, and recording medium size input for inputting the size of the recording medium. Means for selecting which side of the recording medium the side image is printed on, or an enlargement / reduction value input means for enlarging or reducing the side image data based on the displayed image image, etc. Is also used.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the system memory 124, a sheet thickness folder 31 for storing thickness data per sheet, a print number folder 32 for storing a series of sheet number data for forming image data, a sheet bundle A divided side image folder 33 for storing divided side image data obtained by dividing the side image data to be printed on the side by the number of prints, a paper size folder 34 for storing the size data of the paper to be printed, and the side image data to be printed on the side of the sheet bundle Are formed, and a side image printing position folder 36 for storing printing position data indicating which side of the sheet (which side of the four sides of the rectangular sheet) the side image is to be printed is formed. ing.

  Further, FIG. 4 shows an example of a data storage state in the divided side image folder 33 of FIG. 3, and for each divided side image data obtained by dividing the side image data to be printed on the side of the sheet bundle by the number of prints. The unique index value (index No.) is stored in association with each other. As a result, the index No. It is possible to individually read out desired divided side surface image data or to read out by changing the reading order freely. Therefore, it is possible to easily cope with a case where the printing order of a series of sheets is reversed or when only a specific sheet is replaced and printed. The divided side image data in FIG. 4 shows a pattern of a sheet (recording medium) 40 and a divided side image 41 printed on the edge of the sheet.

  Next, FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating the principle of forming a side image on the side surface of a series of sheet bundles on which image data is formed, and FIG. 5B is a plan view of the sheet bundle of FIG. FIG. 5C is a state diagram in which the side image is completed by printing and superimposing the divided side images on the edge of the sheet in FIG. FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a combination of a normal image and a side image printed on a printing surface of a sheet. FIG. 6B is an integrated image obtained by integrating the two images illustrated in FIG. FIG.

  In the first embodiment, the thickness per sheet and the number of sheets in a series are grasped, the height of the printing surface on the side when the sheet bundle is stacked is calculated, and the side image data is divided by the number of sheets. Therefore, it is possible to easily obtain the divided side surface image data that is maximum in the height direction of the sheet bundle. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, a series of sheets 43 are overlapped by printing a divided side image 41 divided by the number of sheets on an end 42 a of a series of sheets 43 on which a normal image is formed on a sheet 40. A side image with good visibility can be formed by fully utilizing the height of the sheet bundle in the combined state.

  5B is a plan view of FIG. 5A. In FIG. 5B, a normal image 44 (in this case, “R”) is printed on the printing surface of the paper 40, and the edge 40a of one side of the paper 40 is printed. A divided side image 41 is printed. As described above, in the first embodiment, the side image is not printed from the side direction of the sheet bundle using the special print head, but is printed on the end portion of the same printing surface as the normal image, and this is overlapped. By combining them, a side image is formed. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a print head dedicated to a new side image, and it is possible to print both the normal image 44 and the divided side image 41 only by using a print head for printing on a normal print surface. Thus, the device cost can be kept low.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the normal image 44 and the divided side image 41 can be printed by forming one image and then adding the other image. As shown, the normal image 44 and the divided side image 41 may be integrated and printed on the paper 40 at the same time.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, the end face 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d of any one of the four sides of the paper 40 can be used as the side face on which the side face image is printed. The selection of the print side can be selected by using the operation buttons on the operation panel 14 shown in FIG. For this reason, the user selects any one of the four sides of the paper 40 (of course, it is also possible to select to form different images on a plurality of sides), and prints the side image. be able to.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, thickness data per sheet of paper to be printed is input (step S100). Here, the user directly inputs (for example, 0.2 mm) using the operation panel 14. In addition, when a paper model number is input from the operation panel 14, the controller 120 in FIG. 2 inputs thickness data by referring to a table (ROM 125) that stores paper thickness data corresponding to the paper model number. You may do it. Further, although not shown, the paper thickness may be automatically detected using a paper thickness sensor provided on the transport route from the paper feed tray of the paper feed unit 15.

  Next, paper size data is input (step S101). Since the paper size data is stored in the paper feed tray for each size, it may be input when the paper feed tray is designated. Further, the user may input paper size data using the operation panel 14.

  Next, the number of prints of a series of sheets for side printing is input (step S102). A series of sheets refers to the number of sheets to the extent that a bundle of a certain thickness is formed by printing on a normal printing surface. When such a bundle of sheets is bound or bound, characters and images printed on the side surfaces can be visualized with high visibility. The user inputs the number of printed sheets using the operation panel 14. When a series of originals are automatically conveyed using an automatic document feeder (ADF) 16 as in a copying machine, image data is read by a scanner 11 and printed by a printer 12, the number of originals and the number of sheets of paper are Since the number of printed sheets matches, the count value of the ADF 16 may be used as an input value for the number of printed sheets.

  Furthermore, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present invention can be connected to an external device such as a personal computer (PC) via a network (not shown). At that time, when printing is performed by the image forming apparatus using image data sent from the PC, the number of printed sheets is recognized by the printer driver of the PC and the set value is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 10. You may enter.

  Next, image data to be displayed on the side surface is input (step S103). The side image data to be visualized on the side surface of the sheet bundle may be prepared in the ROM 125 in advance. Alternatively, a document image to be converted into a side image using the scanner 11 may be separately read and temporarily stored in the side image folder 35 in the system memory 124 for use. Thereby, the side image data to be printed on the side surface of the sheet bundle can be easily captured simply by bringing an arbitrary image and scanning. Further, when connected to the PC via the network as described above, when the print data is transmitted from the PC, the side image data is also transmitted simultaneously or continuously, and is transmitted to the side image folder 35 of the system memory 124. It may be stored and used.

  Next, the controller 120 divides the input side image data into lines by the number of printed sheets (step S104). For example, if the number of printed sheets is 100, the side image data is divided into 100 parts. The divided divided side image data is stored in the divided side image folder 33 of the system memory 124. At that time, as shown in FIG. 4, the controller 120 assigns unique index values to the divided side image data divided into, for example, 100 in order, arranges them, and stores them in the memory (step S105).

  Next, the controller 120 is based on the inputted sheet thickness data, sheet size data, sheet number data, recording medium size data by the recording medium size input means, and divided side image data. Then, an image forming image to be printed on the side surface of the sheet bundle is generated, and the image is displayed on the display unit 13 (a display unit on the operation panel 14 or a display unit provided separately) (step S106).

  The user looks at the image forming image printed on the side surface of the sheet bundle displayed on the display unit 13 and checks the size, aspect ratio, etc. of the image, and determines whether or not this image forming image is acceptable. (Step S107). If the user can use this image formation image, the process proceeds to step S109. If the user does not like the image image, a process of enlarging or reducing the side image data before division to suit the thickness of the sheet bundle is performed in step S108. Done. For example, if the thickness of 100 sheets is 5 centimeters and the height of the side image data is 1 centimeter, the thickness is increased five times. If the side paper width is 30 centimeters and the side image width is 10 centimeters, the paper is enlarged three times. Whether the height is adjusted or the width is adjusted is set so as to obtain a side image suitable for the user's intention by repeating the processing of step S104 to step S108. In this way, by checking on the screen the area of the side surface according to the paper size and the thickness of the paper bundle and the image formation image printed on the screen, the operation for enlarging / reducing the image size and the ratio between the vertical and horizontal directions A desired print image can be easily created simply by performing the above. Note that the operation of enlarging / reducing the image size and the aspect ratio can be performed using the operation panel 14 and the enlargement / reduction operation can be performed using an external device such as a PC connected to the image forming apparatus. You may make it do.

  When the side image intended by the user is obtained in step S107, the process proceeds to step S109 to input the print source image. The print source image is image data of the normal image 44 (see FIG. 5B) to be printed on the paper surface, not the side image data. As for the input of the original image, the image data is input by automatically feeding the original document with the ADF 16 and reading it with the scanner 11 or transmitting it from a PC or the like connected via a network.

  Next, it is determined where the side image data is to be printed on the paper (on which side of the four edges) (step S110). As shown in FIG. 5B, the side image data is printed on which side of the sheet is selected from the top (end portion 42c), the bottom (end portion 42a), and the right (end portion 42b). ) Or left (end portion 42d). The designation method may be designated from the operation panel 14 or may be designated when data is transferred from a PC which is an external device. Further, by default, for example, an initial setting may be made so that printing is normally performed on the right side of the sheet.

  Next, in step S111, normal image data to be printed on a normal surface and side image data are integrated as shown in FIG. The integrated images are sequentially printed using a normal print head (step S112). At this time, since the paper size data is input in step S101, the position of the edge of the paper on which the side image data is printed can be determined accurately and reliably.

  As a result, a series of sheets 43 on which the divided side images 41 as shown in FIG. 5A are printed are formed. On the side 46 of the sheet bundle 45 on which the sheets are superimposed, the side images 47 as intended by the user are displayed. Can be formed.

  Thus, according to the first embodiment, the completed side image 47 can be enlarged / reduced while the user confirms the image before printing, so that the user intended. Can be printed. In addition, it becomes easy to adjust to an appropriate image so as to match the size of the entire side surface of the sheet bundle, and by visualizing it, visibility to the user can be improved. Furthermore, since the normal image 44 and the divided side image 41 are printed on the same sheet surface, it is not necessary to provide a special print head separately, and an increase in apparatus cost can be suppressed.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, an image image to be printed on the side surface of the sheet bundle is generated and displayed on the display unit 13 so that the user confirms this, and the enlargement / reduction processing ( Step S108) is performed. However, the feature of the second embodiment is that the enlargement / reduction process is automatically processed, so that the user does not necessarily have to be involved.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation according to the second embodiment. Since the processing from step S200 to step S202 shown in FIG. 8 is the same as step S100 to step S102 in the first embodiment, description of the operation is omitted.

  The controller 120 calculates the area of the side surface of the completed printed booklet bundle based on the paper thickness data, the paper size data, and the paper number data input in steps S200 to S202 (step S203).

  Next, when the side image data is input (step S204), the controller 120 performs appropriate enlargement / reduction processing on the side image data in accordance with the calculated side area of the completed printed booklet bundle (step S205). The side image data suitable for the side surface of the printed booklet bundle can be automatically formed.

  Next, in step S206, the controller 120 divides the side image data automatically formed in step S205 into lines by the inputted number of prints (step S202), and generates divided side image data. The divided side image data generated in this way is stored in the divided side image folder 33 of the system memory 124. At that time, as shown in FIG. 4, the controller 120 assigns unique index values to the divided side surface image data divided into, for example, 100 in order, arranges them, and stores them in the memory (step S207).

  After the divided side image data is stored in the divided side image folder 33 of the system memory 124, the print source image is input (step S208). In the same manner as in the first embodiment, the original image is input by automatically feeding a document with the ADF 16 and reading it with the scanner 11 or transmitting it from a PC or the like connected via a network. Is entered.

  In step S209, it is determined where the side image data is to be printed on the paper (on which side of the four edges). The designation method may be designated from the operation panel 14 as in the first embodiment, or may be designated when data is transferred from a PC which is an external device. Further, by default, for example, an initial setting may be made so that printing is normally performed on the right side of the sheet.

  Next, in step S210, normal image data and side image data to be printed on a normal surface are integrated as shown in FIG. 6-2, and the integrated image is sequentially printed using a normal print head (step S211). .

  As a result, a series of sheets 43 on which the divided side images 41 as shown in FIG. 5A are printed are completed, and the side 46 of the sheet bundle 45 on which the sheets are superimposed corresponds to the side area of the completed printed booklet bundle. Thus, the side image 47 enlarged / reduced automatically can be formed.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the completed side image 47 is automatically subjected to enlargement / reduction processing of the side image data without using the user, and is adjusted to an appropriate image. Thus, rapid processing is possible without bothering the user. Further, by visualizing a proper automatically adjusted image on the side surface of the sheet bundle, visibility to the user can be improved. Furthermore, since the normal image 44 and the divided side surface image 41 are printed on the same sheet surface, it is not necessary to separately provide a special print head, and an increase in apparatus cost can be suppressed.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus and the image forming method according to the present invention form a desired image on the side surface of a sheet bundle with good visibility when an arbitrary image is formed and bundled on a plurality of sheets. It is suitable for copying machines, printers, facsimiles, or a combination of them.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows an example of the folder provided in the system memory of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the division | segmentation side surface image data corresponding to the index value stored in the division | segmentation side surface image folder of FIG. It is a principle explanatory view of forming a side image on the side surface of a series of sheet bundles on which image data is formed. FIG. 5 is a view of the sheet bundle of FIG. FIG. 6 is a state diagram in which a side image is completed by printing and superimposing a divided side image on the paper edge in FIG. It is a figure which shows combining the normal image and side image which were printed on the printing surface of the paper. It is a figure which shows the integrated image which integrated two images of FIGS. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement concerning 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement concerning 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 11 Scanner 110 Scanner control part 12 Printer 120 Controller 121 IPU
122 Printer Engine 123 Program Memory 124 System Memory 125 ROM
13 Display Unit 14 Operation Panel 15 Paper Feed Unit 16 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)
17 Manual Tray 31 Paper Thickness Folder 32 Number of Printed Folders 33 Divided Side Image Folder 34 Paper Size Folder 35 Side Image Folder 36 Side Image Print Position Folder 40 Paper (Recording Medium)
41 Split side image 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d End 43 A series of paper 44 Normal image 45 Paper bundle 46 Side 47 Side image

Claims (9)

An image forming means for conveying the recording medium to a predetermined position and forming an arbitrary image on the recording medium;
Thickness input means for inputting thickness data per sheet of the recording medium;
A number input means for inputting the number data of a series of recording media forming an image;
Image storage means for storing side image data to be printed on a side surface of a series of recording media;
Side image data dividing means for equally dividing the side image data by the number of sheets input from the number input means;
A divided side image data managing unit that stores each divided side image data divided by the side image data dividing unit with a unique index value and performs read management, and has a predetermined order based on the index value The divided side image data is read out and printed on the edge of the recording medium conveyed one by one by the image forming means using the divided side image data. A recording medium size input means for inputting the size of the recording medium;
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit determines an end position of the recording medium to be printed based on the size data input by the recording medium size input unit. Printing side selection means for selecting a side of a recording medium on which the divided side image data is printed;
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the divided side surface image data is printed on an end portion of a side of the recording medium selected by the print side selection unit. An image reading means for scanning the read image and reading the image data;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein image data read by the image reading unit is stored in the image storage unit as the side image data. Thickness data per recording medium by the thickness input means, a series of recording medium number data by the number input means, recording medium size data by the recording medium size input means, and the divided side surface image data management Image image creating means for creating an image of a side image printed on the side surface of the recording medium bundle based on the divided side image data managed by the means;
Display means for displaying an image image created by the image image creating means on a screen;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: an enlargement / reduction value input unit that inputs a value for enlarging or reducing the side image data based on the image image displayed on the display unit.   6. The enlargement / reduction value input means is one of an interface connected to an operation panel and an external device, and an enlargement / reduction value is input from the operation panel or the external device. The image forming apparatus described.   Based on thickness data per recording medium by the thickness input means, a series of recording medium number data by the number input means, and recording medium size data by the recording medium size input means, a recording medium bundle The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an enlargement / reduction processing unit that calculates a side area of the recording medium and performs enlargement / reduction processing so that the side image data fits the side of the recording medium bundle. apparatus.   6. The number-of-sheets input means is any one of an interface connected to an operation panel and an external device, and the number data of a series of recording media is input from the operation panel or the external device. The image forming apparatus described. A thickness input step for inputting thickness data per recording medium forming an image;
A number-of-sheets input step for inputting the number of sheets of recording media forming an image;
An image storage step for storing side image data to be printed on a side surface of a series of recording media;
A side image data dividing step for equally dividing the side image data by the number of sheets input by the number of sheets input step;
A divided side image data management step for storing each divided side image data divided in the side image data dividing step with a unique index value stored therein, and performing a read management. An image forming method, wherein when printing an arbitrary image while being conveyed, the divided side surface image data is read out in a predetermined order based on the index value and printed on an end portion of the recording medium.

Images