JP2008023713A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus suitable for index printing. <P>SOLUTION: In the image forming apparatus which layouts in a row direction and a column direction arrangement sections 42 where both picture data showing contents of files and file identification information for identifying the files are arranged, and which prints on a recording paper, the file identification information and the picture data related to the file identification information are each arranged in the order in the arrangement sections 42 aligned in the row direction by sorting by lengths of the file identification information. The file identification information is wholly displayed in the arrangement section 42. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an index printing function.

  Conventionally, an image forming apparatus having an index function is known. For example, in the method for creating an index print for an image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, after selecting an image stored in the same folder, setting of the size of one image, setting of attached printing items, and as necessary The font and printer are set, and the image selected according to the set conditions is automatically laid out along with the accompanying print items and index printed. The accompanying print items include a file name, an image title, and a file update date / time. Therefore, according to the index print creation method described in Patent Document 1, a complicated procedure for setting the layout of images and incidental print items at the time of index printing is unnecessary, and the operability of the image forming apparatus can be improved.

JP 2000-332985 A

  However, an image forming apparatus to which the above-described index print creating method is applied is inconvenient if the file name is long, the entire file name cannot be index printed on the recording paper, and the file cannot be identified.

  Specifically, for example, when the first page of document data is displayed as an image and index printed, characters displayed in the image may become dots. Also, for example, when the contents of the created report are modified several times and each report is saved in the same folder with the number of revisions added to the back of the file name, the image of the index print is the report data. However, the file name displayed together with the image data may differ only by the number of corrections added at the back. When the file cannot be identified from the index-printed image in this way, the user needs to determine the content of the document data using the file name as a clue.

  However, when the file name is long, the image forming apparatus to which the conventional index print creation method is applied prints the file name only partially from the top. For this reason, the user cannot confirm the data such as the document contents from the index printed file name, and eventually has to check the document contents by putting out the document data of the files one by one.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus suitable for index printing.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention has the following configuration.
(1) In an image forming apparatus that lays out arrangement sections in which image data corresponding to the contents of a file and file identification information for identifying the file are arranged in a row direction and a column direction and printed on a recording sheet. The file identification information having a short length is selected, and the selected file identification information and image data related to the file identification information are respectively arranged in the arrangement sections arranged in the row direction.

(2) In the image forming apparatus that prints the layout area in which the image data corresponding to the contents of the file and the file identification information for identifying the file are arranged in the row direction and the column direction, and printed. And an arrangement unit that arranges the file identification information selected based on the length of the information and the image data related to the file identification information in the arrangement section arranged in the row direction.
(3) The invention according to (2), wherein the arrangement unit sorts the file identification information in the order of length, and arranges each in the arrangement section in that order.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, even when the file identification information is long, the file identification information having a short length is selected and related to the selected file identification information and the file identification information. Since the image data to be arranged are arranged in the arrangement sections arranged in the row direction, the entire file identification information can be printed easily.
Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention arranges the image data and the file identification information in the arrangement section so that the utilization of the recording paper is increased, so that the printing efficiency can be improved.

  Next, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external configuration diagram of the laser printer 1.
The laser printer 1, which is an example of the “image forming apparatus” of the present invention, has an index function that arranges and prints image data and file identification information in the arrangement section 42. The laser printer 1 of the present embodiment is characterized in that image data and file information are sorted according to the length of the file identification information and arranged in order in the arrangement section 42.

(Appearance structure of laser printer)
The external appearance of the laser printer 1 is constituted by a box-shaped main body casing 2. Below the main casing 2, a paper feed cassette 4 that accommodates the recording paper 3 is provided so as to be detachable from the front side. A paper discharge tray 5 is formed on the upper surface of the main casing 2, and an operation unit 6 is provided on one side of the paper discharge tray 5. The operation unit 6 operates the laser printer 1 and includes an operation button 7 for inputting an operation instruction, a display panel 8 for displaying data, and the like. On the side surface of the main casing 2, a power-on switch 9 for turning on / off the laser printer 1 is provided. In addition, a USB port 10 is provided on the front side surface (side surface on which the paper feed cassette 4 is mounted) of the main body casing 2, and an external storage device such as a USB cable or a USB memory is connected thereto.

(Internal structure of laser printer)
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the internal structure of the laser printer 1 shown in FIG.
In the laser printer 1, a conveying belt driving roller 11 and a conveying belt driven roller 12 are installed in the main body casing 2 above the paper feed cassette 4, and are wound around the conveying belt driving roller 11 and the conveying belt driven roller 12. The transport belt 13 is moved counterclockwise. A paper feed unit 14 is provided on the upstream side of the transport belt driving roller 11 and the transport belt driven roller 12, and the recording paper 3 is picked up from the paper feed cassette 4 and sent out to the image forming unit 15.

  The image forming unit 15 is provided with the image forming units 16Y, 16M, 16C, and 16K arranged side by side along the conveying direction of the conveying belt 13, and the fixing unit 17 is disposed on the downstream side of the image forming units 16Y, 16M, 16C, and 16K. Yes. The image forming units 16Y, 16M, 16C, and 16K store yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toners, and each color is recorded on the recording paper 3 that is conveyed by the conveyance belt 13. Are formed by overlapping the visible images. The visible image formed on the recording paper 3 is thermally fixed in the fixing unit 17.

A paper discharge unit 18 is provided on the downstream side of the image forming unit 15, and the recording paper 3 on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 15 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 5.
In the laser printer 1 having such a configuration, each unit is controlled by the control unit 19.

(Electric configuration of laser printer)
FIG. 3 is an electric block diagram of the control unit 19 shown in FIG.
The control unit 19 is a well-known computer, and is configured around a CPU 21 that processes and calculates data. The CPU 21 includes an input / output interface (hereinafter referred to as “input / output I / F”) 22, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 23, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 24, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 25, and a USB. An interface (hereinafter referred to as “USB I / F”) 26 is connected.

The CPU 21 processes and processes the data.
An operation button 7, a display panel 8, a power-on switch 9, a paper feed unit 14, an image forming unit 16, a fixing unit 17, a paper discharge unit 18, and the like are connected to the input / output I / F 22.

  The ROM 23 is a read-only nonvolatile memory and stores various data and programs. The ROM 23 stores an index printing program 27.

  The index printing program 27 reads the image data stored in the storage medium such as the USB memory 30 and the file identification information related to the image data, and sets an arrangement section 42 for arranging the image data and the file identification information. It is arranged in a plurality of arrangement areas 41 and controls index printing for printing a list on the recording paper 3. Specific contents of the index printing program 27 will be described later.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printing result obtained by executing the index printing program 27.
On the recording paper 3, the arrangement sections 42 are arranged in a lattice pattern in the arrangement area 41 side by side in the row direction (X direction) and the column direction (Y direction). Each placement section 42 includes an image data placement field 43 for placing image data and a file information placement field 44 for placing file information. In the present embodiment, the file information arrangement column 44 includes a serial number display column 45 for displaying a serial number, a file identification information display column 46 for displaying file identification information, and update information for displaying update information. A display field 47 is provided.

In this embodiment, “image data” refers to data that displays data stored in a file, such as image data captured by a digital camera, data that displays a character string in a document file, and the like. including.
“File information” refers to information related to a file, such as a file name, a file path name, data properties (creation date, update date, creator, etc.), and the first character string in the case of a document file. including.
“Serial number” refers to a number assigned to each placement section 42 individually.
“File identification information” is one piece of information included in file information and refers to information for identifying a file. For example, the file identification information includes a file name, a character string identifier in data, and the like.
“Update information” is information relating to file update, and includes, for example, date and time.

  In the present embodiment, the file identification information display field 46 has 24 characters per line. Therefore, the file identification information display column 46 displays the entire file identification information over a plurality of lines when the file identification information exceeds 24 characters. Therefore, the setting range (area) of the file identification information display field 46 varies depending on the length of the file identification information. Accordingly, the setting range (area) of the arrangement section 42 may be different. In this embodiment, file image data and the like are arranged in order in the arrangement section 42 in ascending order of the length of the file identification information. In the present embodiment, the arrangement sections 42 are arranged in the row direction so that the image data positions are arranged in a line in the row direction. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the space between the rows in which the arrangement sections 42 are arranged in a horizontal manner is not always constant.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the RAM 24 is a readable / writable volatile memory, and stores various data and programs. The RAM 24 is provided with a file identification information storage table 28 and a buffer 29. The file identification information storage table 28 stores file identification information of a file read from a storage medium such as the USB memory 30. The buffer 29 stores image data and file information used at the time of index printing.

The HDD 25 is a readable / writable nonvolatile memory.
The USB I / F 26 inputs / outputs data to / from the USB memory 30 connected to the USB port 10 (see FIG. 1).

(Index printing program)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the index printing program 27 shown in FIG.
The index printing program 27 sorts image data and file information related to the image data based on the length of the file identification information, arranges them in the arrangement section 42, and prints them on the recording paper 3. When the user operates the operation unit 6 to input an index print command, the index print program 27 is read from the ROM 23 to the RAM 24 on the condition that a storage medium such as the USB memory 30 is externally connected to the USB port 10. Executed.

  First, in step 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as “S1”), the index printing program 27 initializes the arrangement area information stored in the buffer 29 and erases the arrangement area information updated and registered in the immediately preceding index printing. . Here, the “arrangement area information” refers to information related to the arrangement area 41 (see FIG. 4). For example, the setting range of the arrangement area 41, the number of arrangement sections 42 that can be arranged in the row direction and the column direction, and the arrangement sections 42, the setting range per unit, information on whether or not the data is arranged in the arrangement section 42, the size of the image data that can be arranged in the image data arrangement column 43, and the condition of the data arranged in the file information arrangement column 44 (for example, serial number) The number of characters that can be displayed in one line of the file identification information display column 46, the display method of update information, the type of data to be arranged in the file information arrangement column 44, and the like. In this embodiment, the image data and the file identification information related to the image data are sequentially arranged from the upper left side to the right side in FIG.

  In S 2, all files stored in the USB memory 30 are read from the USB memory 30 connected to the USB port 10 and stored in the RAM 24. In S 3, the file identification information is extracted and acquired from all the files stored in the RAM 24 and stored in the file identification information storage table 28 of the RAM 24. At this time, the file identification information is stored in the file identification information storage table 28 according to the order of the files stored in the USB memory 30.

  In S4, the length (number of characters) of the file identification information stored in the file identification information storage table 28 is checked, and the file identification information length (number of characters) is checked from the shortest (less) to the longer (larger). Sort and sort identification information. In S5, the order in which the files are arranged is determined according to the sorting result in S4. In the present embodiment, files are arranged in the arrangement section 42 in order from the shortest file identification information.

  In step S6, arrangement area information is acquired from the buffer 29. At the stage where the arrangement area information is initialized, the arrangement sections 42 are arranged at regular intervals in the row direction and the column direction, and all the arrangement sections 42 are blank. A serial number is assigned to the arrangement section 42 in order from the upper left side to the right side, and the serial number is displayed in the serial number display field 45.

  In S7, the file identification information storage table 28 is referenced to identify the shortest file identification information among the unallocated file identification information that is not arranged in the arrangement section 42, and corresponds to the identified file identification information. Image data and file information are acquired from the RAM 24. Whether the file identification information is unallocated or has been allocated is determined by, for example, a flag (not allocated: 0, allocated: 1) set for each file identification information in the file identification information storage table. And Then, the arrangement area information acquired in S6 is checked, and the first arrangement section 42 that is blank is extracted according to the serial number. Then, the image data corresponding to the file information is arranged in the image data arrangement column 43 of the arrangement section 42. Further, the file identification information included in the file information is arranged so as to be displayed entirely in the file identification information display field 46 of the arrangement section 42. Further, the update information of the file included in the file information is arranged in the update information display column 47 of the arrangement section 42.

  Here, the file identification information varies depending on the file. Therefore, when the number of characters of the file identification information exceeds the number of characters per line of the file identification information display field 46 (24 characters in the present embodiment) and cannot be displayed on one line, the setting range (area) of the file identification information display field 46 ) Is expanded in the column direction, and the file identification information is displayed in multiple lines. By changing the setting range (area) of the file identification information display field 46, the setting range (area) of the arrangement section 42 is also expanded. When the setting range (area) of the arrangement section 42 is expanded, the arrangement area is arranged so as to leave a line between the line in which the arrangement section 42 is provided and the next line below the line in which the arrangement section 42 is provided. 41 layout is changed. This is for aligning the image data positions of the arrangement section 42 provided in the next row in the row direction.

  In this way, the placement section 42 in which the image data, the file identification information, and the update information are placed in the placement section 42 is stored in the buffer 29. At this time, if the setting range (area) of the placement section 42 has been changed, the changed content is stored in the buffer 29.

  In S8, the arrangement area information rewritten by arranging data in the arrangement section 42 in S7 is updated. As a result, one of the placement sections 42 that is blank is filled with the image data, serial number, file identification information, and update information. Further, when the setting range (area) of the placement section 42 is expanded in the column direction, the layout in which the spacing between the placement sections 42 is expanded is also updated.

  In S9, referring to the arrangement area information of the buffer 29, whether or not the arrangement area 41 is full is confirmed by checking whether or not the image data, the file identification information, and the update information are arranged in all the arrangement sections 42. Judging.

  If there is a blank in the placement section 42 and it is determined that the placement area 41 is not full (S9: No), a file that is not placed in the placement section 42 with reference to the file identification information storage table 28 in S10 By checking whether or not there is identification information, it is determined whether or not a file to be arranged remains. If there is unallocated file identification information in the file identification information storage table 28, it is determined that there are still files to be allocated (S10: No), and the process returns to S6. Then, the image data, the file identification information, and the update information of the remaining file are arranged in the arrangement section 42 of the next order that is blank by the processing after S6.

  As described above, the file image data, the file identification information, and the update information are arranged in the blank arrangement section 42 according to the serial number, and before the arrangement area 41 becomes full (S9: No), the file identification information storage table If there is no unidentified file identification information in 28, it is determined that there are no files to be arranged (S10: Yes), and the information stored in the buffer 29 is printed on the recording paper 3 in S11. . That is, the index printing is performed so that the image data, the file identification information, the update information, and the serial number are displayed halfway through the arrangement section 42. Then, the process ends.

  On the other hand, when the file identification information and the like are arranged in all the arrangement sections 42 and it is determined that the arrangement area 41 is full (S9: Yes), the information stored in the buffer 29 is recorded on the recording sheet in S12. Print to 3. That is, index printing is performed so that image data, file identification information, update information, and serial numbers are displayed in all the arrangement sections 42. Then, in S13, it is confirmed whether there are any files to be arranged by the same process as in S10.

  If the file to be arranged remains (S13: No), the arrangement area information in the buffer 29 is initialized in S14, and the information used in the previous index printing is discarded. Thereby, all the arrangement sections 42 become blank, and the line spacing also returns to the initial state. Thereafter, the process returns to S6, and image data, file identification information, and the like are arranged in the arrangement section 42 in order to perform index printing on another recording sheet 3.

  On the other hand, when the file to be arranged does not remain (S13: Yes), the process ends.

  In the present embodiment, the processes of S4 and S5 correspond to “selecting means”, and the processes of S6 to S20 correspond to “arranging means”.

(Function and effect)
Therefore, the laser printer 1 according to the present embodiment is based on the length of the file identification information of the file even when the file identification information is too long to be displayed in a line in the file identification information display field 46 of the arrangement section 42. The file identification information is sorted, the order of arrangement in the arrangement section 42 is determined (see S4 and S5 in FIG. 5), and the file identification information and image data related to the file identification information are arranged in the row direction according to the determined order. Since the files are arranged in the sections 42 (see S6 to S10 in FIG. 5), the entire file identification information can be easily printed and printed on the arrangement sections 42.

Specifically, for example, when the first character string of the document file is printed as image data in the image data arrangement column 43 as in the arrangement section 42 indicated by the serial number “No. 9” in FIG. It may be difficult to read.
For example, as shown in the serial numbers “No. 7” and “No. 8” in FIG. 4, the “report” shown in “No. 2” is corrected several times, and the file name is changed so that the number of corrections can be understood. When the document data of the report is stored in a file with the number of corrections added to the back, the first page (cover) of the “report” is displayed in the same format in the image data arrangement column 43, and only the image data is displayed as “ “Report” may not be identified.
When the document content cannot be recognized from the image data as described above, the user determines the document content by looking at the file identification information.

  The laser printer 1 of the present embodiment is sorted based on the length of the file identification information and arranged in that order. Are likely to be placed in the placement section 42 in the same row. Therefore, the entire image data and file identification information are printed on the recording sheet 3 in an easy-to-read manner, and the contents of the document file can be grasped and a report can be specified.

  In addition, when index printing is performed with a combination of a file identification information that is long and displayed in multiple columns and a file identification information that is short and displayed in a single column, the margin between lines increases, and the appearance and printing efficiency are poor. There is. On the other hand, the laser printer 1 of the present embodiment sorts the file identification information in ascending order of the length of the file identification information and arranges them in the arrangement section 42 in order, so that there is little space between lines, and the appearance and printing efficiency are good. Can be.

  Further, the laser printer 1 of the present embodiment adjusts the line spacing of the arrangement area 41 so as to align the position of the image data of each line, and arranges the arrangement sections 42 in the line direction (see FIG. 4). File identification information can be printed easily.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various applications are possible.

(1) For example, in the above embodiment, the USB memory 30 connected to the USB port 10 is taken as an example of a storage medium. On the other hand, a device having a data transmission function (for example, a camera) may be connected to the USB port 10, or a device capable of transmitting data to the image forming apparatus via a data transmission unit other than USB. Also good.

(2) For example, in the above embodiment, the laser printer 1 is described as an example of the image forming apparatus, but an ink jet printer or the like may be used as the image forming apparatus.

(3) For example, in the above embodiment, the file arrangement order is determined so that the file identification information is arranged in the arrangement section 42 in order from the shortest in S5 of FIG. On the other hand, the file arrangement order may be determined so that the files are arranged in the arrangement section 42 in order from the longest one. Further, the utilization rate (printing range) of the recording paper is calculated using the set range (area) of the file identification information display field 46 (arrangement section 42), and the utilization rate is increased (the printing range is increased). In addition, by determining the file arrangement order, waste of the recording paper 3 may be reduced and efficient printing may be realized. Further, the file identification information may be sorted not on a character basis but on a line basis (number of lines).

(4) For example, in the above embodiment, the file identification information storage table 28 is created, and the file identification information is sorted to determine the file order. In contrast, a file information table for storing all file information read from a storage medium such as the USB memory 30 is provided in the RAM 23, and the file identification information is extracted from the file information storage table to check the length of the file identification information. The file information in the file information storage table may be rearranged and sorted in order of decreasing length.

1 is an external configuration diagram of a laser printer (image forming apparatus) according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows the internal structure of the laser printer shown in FIG. It is an electrical block diagram of the control part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the printing result obtained by performing the index printing program shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the index printing program shown in FIG. 3.

Explanation of symbols

1 Laser printer (image forming device)
27 Index printing program (selection means, arrangement means)

Claims (3)

In an image forming apparatus that lays out an arrangement section in which image data corresponding to the contents of a file and file identification information for identifying the file are arranged in a row direction and a column direction and printed on a recording sheet.
Image formation characterized by selecting a file identification information having a short length and arranging the selected file identification information and image data related to the file identification information in the arrangement sections arranged in the row direction. apparatus. In an image forming apparatus that lays out and prints layout sections in which image data corresponding to the contents of a file and file identification information for identifying the file are arranged in a row direction and a column direction,
And arrangement means for arranging the file identification information selected based on the length of the file identification information and image data related to the file identification information in the arrangement sections arranged in the row direction, respectively. Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the arrangement unit sorts the file identification information in the order of length, and arranges the files in the arrangement section in that order.

Images