JP2008233444A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which can be used for print service that an advertiser bears print cost and other purposes, and by which content of advertisement is surely propagated to a customer when it is used for the print service. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus has a single attribute one-side print mode in which the image G of first attribute given by a first image data output means is printed on one side of paper P, and a multi-attribute double-sided print mode in which the image of the first attribute is printed on one side of paper, and the image of second attribute given by a second image data output means is printed on the other side of the paper. In such a case, print order in the multi-attribute double-sided print mode is set to such order that the image of the first attribute is printed on the other side of the paper after the image of the second attribute is printed on the other side of the paper. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of duplex printing. The image forming apparatus includes a multifunction peripheral device (MFP) called a copying machine, a printer, and a multifunction peripheral.

  Copiers that can be used by unspecified customers for a fee are installed in various stores such as convenience stores. Color copiers are widely used as this type of copier. In general, a color copying machine is a multi-function type that enables duplex printing by mounting a duplex unit. The multi-function type can naturally perform basic monochrome single-sided printing.

  In recent years, as a new form of paid copying service, a business in which a paper on which an advertisement is printed on one side in advance is stored in a copying machine and the advertiser bears all or part of the copying fee has been attracting attention. The original brought in by the customer is copied to the other side of the advertisement-printed paper. Customers can receive photocopying services free of charge or inexpensively. Advertisers can conduct effective advertising according to the customer base. This business can be implemented by a general-purpose copying machine that does not have an additional function of printing advertisements separately from the original image.

A copying machine having a function of printing an advertisement when copying a document is known. For example, the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 includes a copying machine having a memory for storing an advertisement image and a billing apparatus that receives a charge, and the advertisement image is printed on the back side of a sheet on which a document is copied or on another sheet. Print. Then, the copy fee is changed according to the time required for printing the advertisement. In addition, there are various proposals such as one in which the arrangement of advertisements can be selected in single-sided printing and one in which a customer can select the type of advertisement product.
JP 2000-347533 A

  In general, most of the use of a copying machine is copying a monochrome manuscript. That is, a large proportion of customers desire monochrome printing using a single color material. On the other hand, as an advertisement image, a color image is preferable to a monochrome image in terms of advertising effect. Therefore, it is considered that there are many advertisers who desire a color print using a plurality of color materials for an advertisement.

  Therefore, when the original image is printed on one side of the paper and the advertisement image is printed on the other side, both monochrome printing and color printing are performed on the paper. Although it is possible to reproduce a monochrome image by color printing, the color material for color reproduction is wasted. In addition, the unit price of color printing is higher than that of monochrome printing, which is the reason for using both monochrome and color. Copy services where advertisers pay for color copy are difficult to establish as a business. A copying service that does not require a customer to pay only when the original image is printed in monochrome is more easily established as a business.

  Service providers, including advertisers who pay the fee, for the implementation of a copy service (hereinafter referred to as “free copy”) in which advertisements are printed on paper instead of being free from the customer's perspective, Expect to be distributed and at least the advertising will be visible to customers. It is the most unfavorable situation for the service provider that only the original image is printed and the advertisement-free paper is delivered to the customer. The advertisement is not touched by the customer's eyes or the advertisement-printed paper is immediately discarded. It is considered unfavorable for the service provider.

  On the other hand, double-sided printing including color printing performed as a free copy requires several times as long as monochrome single-sided printing. For this reason, it is expected that many customers feel that free copies are inconvenient compared to existing paid copy services (hereinafter referred to as paid copies).

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention can be used for a print service in which an advertiser bears the print cost like a free copy and other uses, and when used for the print service, the advertisement is surely a customer. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that extends over a wide range. Another object is to improve the adaptability of the image forming apparatus to the print service.

  An image forming apparatus that achieves the above object includes a single attribute single-sided print mode in which an image having a first attribute given by a first image data output unit is printed on one side of a sheet, and the image having the first attribute on one side of a sheet. And a multi-attribute double-sided print mode for printing an image having a second attribute provided by the second image data output means on the other side of the paper. In the multi-attribute double-sided print mode, the image forming apparatus prints the first attribute image on the other side of the paper after printing the second attribute image on the other side of the paper.

  Since the second attribute image is printed before the printing of the first attribute image, the second attribute image is always printed on the other side of the sheet on which the first attribute image is printed on one side. Will be. Here, assuming that the first attribute image is applied to the original image that the customer desires to print, and the second attribute image is applied to the advertisement image that the advertiser desires to print, assuming that the copy is used for free copy, the customer Therefore, the original image and the advertisement image are always printed on the sheet obtained by the customer.

  If the printing order is reversed, there may be a problem that the customer acquires a sheet on which only the original image is printed and the advertisement image is not printed. For example, when the customer performs a predetermined operation such as turning off the power switch in anticipation of the time when the manuscript image has been printed, the image forming apparatus interrupts double-sided printing, and the advertisement image is not printed. Is discharged. Although it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the paper is not discharged, it is desirable to forcibly discharge the paper in order to prevent jamming. Further, if the interruption operation is invalidated or the power switch is disposed at a place where it is difficult to operate, the versatility of the image forming apparatus is lost, and the operability and convenience other than the free copy or similar use are impaired. On the other hand, the above-described inconvenience cannot occur if the order of printing the manuscript image is followed by the advertisement image.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus may or may not include one or both of the first and second image data output units. A typical example of the first image data output means is an image scanner that reads a document. A personal computer or memory device that requests image printing can also serve as the first image data output means. For example, a print service is conceivable in which a computer is connected to the image forming apparatus, and a customer stores image data as a document in a removable memory and brings the image data. A typical example of the second image data output means is a nonvolatile image memory. A communication device that receives and outputs image data from an external image server can also serve as the second image data output means. A system for transferring an advertisement image to an image forming apparatus is known.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image forming apparatus includes a print image quality adjustment unit that constitutes an operation input unit. In the single attribute single-sided print mode, the image formation apparatus determines an image quality adjustment parameter according to an operation of the print image quality adjustment unit, In the attribute double-sided print mode, the operation of the print image quality adjustment unit is invalidated.

  Assuming the use of free copy, if the customer can manually adjust the image quality, the customer can make many copies with different image quality for a single document, and the so-called mis-copy paper other than the one that he likes. May be thrown away on the spot. In this case, the advertisement printed on the miscopy paper is substantially wasted, and the advertiser is disadvantaged. Disabling the image quality adjustment by the customer solves this problem.

  According to the present invention, since the situation where the image of the first attribute is printed and the image of the second attribute is not printed does not occur, the image of the first attribute is printed on the condition that the image of the second attribute is printed. Necessary conditions are surely satisfied when used for a print service.

  A typical example of the situation where the “multi-attribute double-sided printing mode”, which is a mode for printing two types of images from different image data output means on the front and back of one sheet, is as described above. Free copy to bear. In the following, an example of an image forming apparatus used for a copying service that performs double-attribute double-sided printing when a customer who provides the service designates a free copy will be described. Note that it is not necessarily free, and a discount may be used. Pricing is a matter that service providers should decide.

  The image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is installed in a convenience store, for example, and is used in a self-service manner by an unspecified customer. Hereinafter, an unspecified customer who is a user of the image forming apparatus 10 is referred to as a user for convenience. If the user accepts that the advertisement is printed on the back side of the paper, the user can copy the manuscript free of charge. If you do not agree to print the advertisement, you can copy the manuscript for a fee. The free copy print mode is a “multi-attribute double-sided print mode” in which a document that is an image having a first attribute and an advertisement that is an image having a second attribute are printed. The manuscript is printed in monochrome and the advertisement is printed in color. The pay copy print mode is a “single attribute duplex print mode” in which only the original is printed. The manuscript is printed in either monochrome or color depending on user specifications.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes a multifunction peripheral (MFP) 11 capable of color printing and a charging device 12. The charging device 12 shown in the figure is a coin bender having a vertically long box shape, and is placed beside the multifunction device 11 and connected to the multifunction device 11 via a cable-like relay connector 17 drawn from the back. .

  For example, when a user inserts a coin in pay copying, the charging device 12 sequentially displays the amount of money inserted on the display unit 15 including a liquid crystal display, and when the amount of money reaches a predetermined amount, printing is performed on the multifunction device 11. Instructs acceptance of panel operation for specifying details. The user operates the operation panel 18 to specify items such as a set number (number of copies), a paper size, and a print color (monochrome / color). If the copy fee corresponding to the designated copy content is equal to or less than the amount that has been entered, the charging device 12 permits the multifunction device 11 to perform a copy operation. Even in the case of free copy, the user makes desired designations for items other than the color mode and image quality adjustment. When the user presses the start key on the operation panel 18, the copy operation starts. The multifunction device 11 transmits discharge information to the charging device 12 when the paper is discharged to the face-up tray 54 (or the face-down tray 53 in the case of a free copy). Upon receipt of the discharge information, the charging device 12 collects a predetermined copy fee and newly displays the balance. The copy fee to be collected depends on the copy content. When the balance falls below a predetermined amount, the charging device 12 prohibits the copying operation. When a coin is additionally inserted, the charging device 12 permits the copying operation again. When the user presses the coin return button 14 of the charging device 12 while the copying operation is stopped, coins corresponding to the balance are sent from the inside of the charging device 12 to the coin return port 16 on the front surface.

  In addition, although the charging apparatus 12 which consists of a coin vendor was shown in figure, it can also be set as the charging apparatus using information storage media, such as a prepaid card which memorize | stored money amount information. The billing apparatus in this case collects a copy fee based on the balance information stored in the inserted prepaid card. In addition, there is a form of use in which an advertisement is always printed on any paper and a copy fee is free. In this usage pattern, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 may be the one excluding the charging apparatus 12.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-function machine 11 is capable of two types of paper discharge, a reduction projection type flat image scanner 21 as a first image data output means, a tandem color printer 23, a multistage paper stocker 25, and the like. A discharge unit 26 and a duplex unit 27 are provided. In the copying operation, the document image is read by the image scanner 21 and becomes a toner image of four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) by the color printer 23. The four color toner images formed at a predetermined timing are sequentially primary-transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 40 and overlapped on the intermediate transfer belt 40. The superimposed four color toner images are secondarily transferred to the paper fed from the paper stocker 25 to the color printer 23. Thereafter, the toner image is fixed on the sheet through the fixing unit. The sheet on which the toner image is fixed is discharged through the discharge unit 26. In the case of duplex printing, the sheet is sent to the duplex unit 27 after the transfer of the first page. The paper that has been turned upside down by the duplex unit 27 returns to the transfer position (printing position) and is discharged after the transfer of the second side. Since the basic configuration of such a multifunction machine 11 is widely known, detailed description of the structure and function of each element is omitted here.

  The multifunction machine 11 has a multi-attribute double-sided print mode related to the free copy service as described above. In the multi-attribute double-sided print mode, an original image given by the user is printed on one side of the paper, and an advertising image given in advance by the advertiser is printed on the remaining side. The document image is converted into data by the image scanner 21, and the advertisement image is converted into data in advance and stored in a non-volatile memory of the multifunction machine 11. The form of paper discharge is face-down, and the paper is discharged upward to the face-down tray 53 so that the color-printed advertisement surface can be seen by the user. The print order of the manuscript and the advertisement on one sheet is important. In this example, the advertisement image is printed first and the manuscript image is printed later. The print on the first page is a color print, and the print on the second page is a monochrome print.

  The procedure for transporting one sheet in duplex printing is as shown in FIG. When the paper is fed from the paper stocker to the printer main body, the paper is guided to the printing position (secondary transfer position) and receives the first print. The paper on which one-sided printing has been completed is introduced into a switchback path 91 that is a part of the circulation conveyance path 90 that enables double-sided printing, and is conveyed in the opposite direction to the introduction and enters the duplex unit 27. The paper whose front and back sides are reversed in the duplex unit 27 is again guided to the print position and receives the second print. Then, the paper on which both-side printing has been completed passes through the switchback path 91 and is discharged.

  4A and 4B schematically show the paper transport and printing procedures in the double-attribute double-sided printing operation for free copying and the single-attribute single-sided printing operation for pay copying.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, in the multi-attribute double-sided print mode, the second attribute advertisement image G2 is printed as the first print on the paper P. The front and back sides of the paper P are reversed, and the original image G1 having the first attribute is printed as the second print. Then, the paper P is discharged in a face-down format in which the document image G1 is facing downward and the advertisement image G2 is facing upward.

  Since the advertisement image G2 is discharged upward, the advertisement image G2 is easily recognized by a user who wants to take out the discharged paper P. That is, there is a high probability that the advertisement image G2 will attract the user's interest. If the advertisement image G2 is facing downward, the user may not see the advertisement image G2. Face-down emissions contribute to advertising effectiveness.

  On the other hand, in the single attribute single-sided printing mode as shown in FIG. 4B, the document image G1 having the first attribute is printed, and the sheet P is immediately discharged in a face-up format in which the document image G1 faces upward.

  Since the original image G1 is discharged upward, a user who wants to take out the discharged paper P can quickly recognize the end of copying and the success or failure of copying. If the document image G1 is facing downward, the user must turn the paper P over to confirm the copy result. Face-up type discharge is excellent for users.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the image forming apparatus 10.

  The multi-function device 11 and the billing device 12 communicate with each other via the relay connector 17 and the input / output interfaces 60a and 60b. Communication control of the multifunction device 11 is controlled by a control unit 61 provided in the multifunction device 11, and communication control of the charging device 12 is controlled by a control unit 71 provided in the charging device 12.

  The control unit 61 of the multifunction machine 11 is connected to operation mechanisms and sensors provided in the image scanner 21, the color printer 23, the discharge unit 26, and the duplex unit 27 through an interface. In addition, a signal processing unit 22 that processes a read signal from the image scanner 21 and the above-described operation panel 18 are also connected to the control unit 61. Further, the control unit 61 includes an advertisement image memory unit 63 including a nonvolatile memory for storing a plurality of advertisement images in advance, a billing memory 64 for accumulating and storing the number of printed advertisements and billing for the advertiser, Work memory 65 used for temporary storage of data and image composition, timer 66 for measuring the current time, counter 67 for accumulating the number of printed advertisements, productivity for printing advertisement images and / or manuscript images A determination unit 68 for determination is connected.

  On the operation panel 18, an advertisement function selection key 82 for setting pay / free copy, a color mode key 83 for setting a color mode (monochrome copy / color copy) for printing an original image, and a copy density and background level are set. An image quality setting key 84 and other various keys 85 are arranged. The image quality setting key 84 functions only in the case of pay copying, and is automatically set by preliminary scanning (pre-scanning) in the case of free copying. Other keys include a numeric key for setting the number of copies, a key for selecting and setting various value-added copy modes (double-sided copy, enlarged / reduced copy, etc.), and a start key. Note that some of these keys are buttons that are displayed in a timely manner on the touch panel screen of the display unit 88.

  The display unit 88 on the operation panel 18 displays a setting state such as the number of copies and a paper size, a pay / free copy setting state, and other information. Other information includes an operation guide and a message that informs the user of the copy operation status.

  On the other hand, the control unit 71 of the billing apparatus 12 includes the display unit 15 described above, a billing table memory 72 that stores table data indicating the correspondence between copy contents and charges, and a bill that accumulates and stores the number of copies and the billing amount for the user. A memory 73 is connected.

  The outline of the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is shown in the activity diagram of FIG.

  In FIG. 6, the user first selects a free copy or a paid copy using the operation panel 18 of the multifunction machine 11 (# 01). At this time, as shown in FIG. 7A, the display unit 88 of the multifunction machine 11 displays the selection buttons 82A and 82B and the message 101 for requesting selection from the user. Message 101 includes a sentence telling that the free copy will print the advertisement.

  In the case of a free copy, the advertisement image is printed on the first side, and the user's original image is printed on the second side. The advertisement image may be a color image or a monochrome image. If it is a color image, it is printed in color, and if it is a monochrome image, it is printed in monochrome. However, in the free copy, the second print on which the original image is printed is limited to monochrome print. That is, even if the user sets a color document, the color document is printed in monochrome.

  No charge is required for free copies. When the user presses the start key, the multi-function device 11 starts a copying operation and takes in the advertisement image from the advertisement image memory 63 (# 02, # 03). In parallel with the printing of the first advertisement image by the color printer 23, the image scanner 21 reads the document.

  While the parallel processing is performed, the display unit 88 displays a message 109 “Advertising is being printed” as shown in FIG. This display is made to inform the user who is unfamiliar with the free copy of the operation status and feel secure. Although the time required for a free copy is longer than that for a single-sided paid copy in monochrome, displaying the status makes it less likely that the user will be confused by a long waiting time.

  While the paper is fed from the predetermined cassette of the paper stocker 25 to the color printer 23, the advertisement image is printed, and the paper is turned upside down (# 8, # 9, # 10), the image scanner 21 presses the original. A can is performed (# 04). Based on the image information of the document obtained by the prescan, the control unit 61 of the multifunction machine 11 determines the value of the image quality adjustment parameter (# 05). The image quality adjustment parameter includes a print density and a background level related to contrast. After determining the parameters, the image scanner 21 scans the document (# 06), and outputs document image data having a predetermined resolution to the buffer memory for image formation.

  When the parallel processing of the printing of the advertisement image and the reading of the manuscript is completed, the multi function device 11 starts the manuscript image printing operation. As shown in FIG. 7C, the display unit 88 displays a message 107 “Original printing is in progress” (# 11). The multi-function device 11 conveys the paper that has been turned upside down from the duplex unit 27 to the printing position (# 12), prints the original image (# 13), and discharges the paper printed on both sides to the face-down tray 53.

  Such a free copy operation is characterized in that image quality adjustment in the printing of an original image is automatically performed based on the result of pre-scanning. The user cannot specify the image quality in the free copy. By limiting the image quality adjustment to automatic adjustment, there is no possibility that the user will make a large number of copies with different image quality on a single document and throw away misprinted paper other than the one with good quality on the spot.

  In the case of pay copying, the display unit 88 displays a message 103 asking the user to input a fee as shown in FIG. When the user pays a fee (# 15), the multifunction machine 11 receives a copy content designation operation including image quality adjustment (# 16). At this time, as shown in FIG. 8B, the display unit 88 displays the density selection buttons 84A and 84B and the message 105 indicating the current setting state. When the user presses the start key (# 17), the original is scanned (# 18), the original image is printed (# 19), and charging (# 20) is performed, and the paper on which the original image is printed is transferred to the face-up tray 54. To be discharged.

  In the above embodiment, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to the example, and can be appropriately changed within the scope of the present invention. For example, the second image data output unit may include a communication unit that acquires advertisement image data from an external image server instead of or in addition to the memory unit 63. The image forming apparatus 10 may be connected to a terminal in a management facility that centrally manages image forming apparatuses installed in a plurality of stores via a network (not shown). In this management facility, the operation status of each image forming apparatus can be grasped, and advertisement images stored in the multifunction peripheral can be periodically replaced by remote operation.

  The color printer 23 is not limited to the tandem type, and may be a rotary type or other types. Color printing and monochrome printing may be performed by a method such as inkjet other than the electrophotographic process.

  In order to reduce the disadvantage of the service provider due to someone's mischief in the free copy, a predetermined number of copies (for example, about 5) can be set for one opening / closing of the document cover covering the document glass of the image scanner 21 ). A user who needs a predetermined number or more of multi-copies may open the original cover once after the predetermined number of prints, close the original cover while leaving the original intact, and press the start key again. By restricting the number of copies, it is possible to prevent an illegal act of specifying the maximum number (for example, 999 sheets) that can be specified and then leaving as it is by pressing the start key.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction machine. It is a figure which shows an example of the paper conveyance path | route in double-sided printing. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a paper conveyance and printing procedure in multi-attribute double-sided printing and single-attribute single-sided printing. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the image forming apparatus. FIG. FIG. 6 is an activity diagram illustrating an outline of operation of the image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the display by the operation panel in a free copy. It is a figure which shows an example of the display by the operation panel in pay copying.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 90 Circulation conveyance path 12 Charging apparatus (billing means)
21 Image scanner (first image data output means)
G1 Document image (first attribute image)
P paper 63 advertising image memory unit (second image data output means)
18 Operation panel (operation input means)
61 Control unit (mode setting means)
84 Image quality setting key (Print image quality adjustment section)
54 Face-up tray (first discharge part)
53 Face-down tray (second discharge part)
107, 109 Message 88 Display section (display means)

Claims (10)

A single attribute single-sided print mode in which an image having a first attribute given by the first image data output means is printed on one side of the paper; and a second image data output means for printing the image having the first attribute on one side of the paper. An image forming apparatus comprising a multi-attribute double-sided print mode for printing an image of the second attribute given by the other side of the paper,
An image forming apparatus, wherein in the multi-attribute double-sided printing mode, the image having the second attribute is printed on the other side of the paper, and then the image having the first attribute is printed on the other side of the paper. An image scanner for reading a document as the first image data output means;
In the multi-attribute double-sided printing mode, in parallel with the printing of the image of the second attribute, the image scanner performs preliminary scanning of the document, determination of image quality adjustment parameters based on information obtained by preliminary scanning, and scanning of the document. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: an image storage unit that includes a non-volatile memory that stores an advertisement image as the image having the second attribute as the second image data output unit. Operation input means;
Mode setting means for selecting one of the single attribute single-sided print mode and the multi-attribute double-sided print mode in accordance with the operation of the operation input means;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a charging unit that charges for a printing operation in the single attribute single-sided printing mode. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the charging unit does not charge for a printing operation in the multi-attribute double-sided printing mode. The operation input means has a print image quality adjustment unit,
The image formation according to claim 5, wherein an image quality adjustment parameter is determined according to an operation of the print image quality adjustment unit in the single attribute single-sided print mode, and an operation of the print image quality adjustment unit is invalidated in the double attribute double-sided print mode. apparatus. Having first and second discharge sections on which printed paper is placed;
The paper is discharged to the first discharge unit in the single attribute single-sided print mode, and the paper is discharged to the second discharge unit in the multi-attribute double-sided print mode. Image forming apparatus. The sheet discharged to the first discharge unit has a format in which the print surface of the first attribute image is the upper surface, and the sheet discharge to the second discharge unit has the print surface of the image of the second attribute as the upper surface. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image forming apparatus is in a format. 6. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit configured to display a message indicating the image during printing of the first attribute image and to display a message indicating the message during printing of the image of the second attribute. Image forming apparatus. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the multi-attribute double-sided print mode, the image having the second attribute is color-printed and the image having the first attribute is monochrome-printed.

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