JP2018075842A - Image formation apparatus, image formation method and image formation program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress a large amount of recording media that become image formation failure from being discharged in an image formation apparatus performing image formation on the recording media.SOLUTION: An image formation apparatus executes: residual amount acquisition processing (S5) of acquiring information on the residual amount of image formation media; counting processing (S15) of counting the image formation value expressing the use amount of the image formation media used by an image formation unit or the number of recording media subjected to image formation by the image formation unit when the acquired residual amount of the image formation media is less than the first amount; and image formation stop processing (S20, S25, S60) of stopping image formation by the image formation unit when the counted image formation value becomes equal to or greater than the first value. The image formation apparatus can suppress a large amount of recording media that become image formation failure from being discharged by stopping image formation when the image formation value becomes equal to or greater than a threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium, an image forming method, and an image forming program.

  As the above-described image forming apparatus, there is known an apparatus that notifies a user once in a predetermined period when the remaining amount of an image forming medium such as toner decreases (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-192151 A

  However, since the image forming apparatus can perform image formation even after notification that the remaining amount of image forming medium is low, image formation using a plurality of recording media is possible. If an image formation defect (for example, blurring of an image due to a shortage of image forming medium) occurs during the process, many recording media are wasted.

  Accordingly, in view of such problems, it is an object of the present invention to enable an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium to prevent a large amount of recording media that has failed to form an image from being discharged. To do.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a transport unit that transports a recording medium, an image forming unit that forms an image using the image forming medium as a recording medium transported by the transport unit, a transport unit, and an image forming unit are provided. A control unit that controls the remaining amount acquisition process for acquiring information about the remaining amount of the image forming medium, and the remaining amount of the image forming medium acquired by the remaining amount acquisition process is less than a first amount. In this case, a counting process for counting the amount of image forming medium used by the image forming unit or an image forming value indicating the number of recording media on which image forming has been performed by the image forming unit, and the counting process And an image formation stop process for stopping image formation by the image forming unit when the image formation value is equal to or greater than the first value.

  According to such an image forming apparatus, the image formation is stopped when the image formation value is equal to or greater than the threshold value, so that it is possible to prevent a large amount of recording media having an image formation failure from being discharged.

  The present invention may be realized as a method or a program. Further, the descriptions in the claims can be arbitrarily combined as much as possible. At this time, a part of the configuration may be excluded within a range in which the object of the invention can be achieved.

1 is a schematic diagram (side sectional view) showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus 1 to which the present invention is applied. 4 is a flowchart illustrating job print processing executed by a control unit 10. It is a flowchart which shows the stop dot count determination process among job printing processes. 6 is a flowchart illustrating stop number determination processing in job printing processing. It is a flowchart which shows the printing process among job printing processes. It is an image figure which shows an example of a confirmation screen. It is a flowchart which shows the job printing process of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the stop number determination process of 2nd Embodiment.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
[Configuration of this embodiment]
The image forming apparatus 1 to which the present invention is applied is configured as a printer that performs printing on a recording medium such as paper or an OHP sheet. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 10, a touch panel 21, an image forming unit 22, a transport unit 23, a recording medium holding unit 31, and a discharge unit 32.

  The touch panel 21 is configured as a well-known touch panel having a function as a display unit that displays information and a function as a reception unit that receives an instruction from a user. The touch panel 21 sends an instruction from the user to the control unit 10 and displays an image in accordance with a command from the control unit 10.

  In response to a command from the control unit 10, the image forming unit 22 applies an image forming medium (toner in the present embodiment) such as toner or ink to a recording medium that is transported along the transport path 41 by the transport unit 23 described later. To form an image.

  The conveying unit 23 conveys the recording medium along the conveying path 41 from the recording medium holding unit 31 to the discharge unit 32 by driving a plurality of conveying rollers 24 according to a command from the control unit 10. The transport unit 23 is configured to be able to reverse the recording medium and discharge it to the discharge unit 32 by transporting the recording medium after the image formation by the image forming unit 22 along the reverse path 42. Since the transport unit 23 transports the recording medium that has passed through the reversal path 42 so that the image forming unit 22 can form an image, image formation (double-sided printing) on both sides of the recording medium can also be performed.

  The control unit 10 is configured as a computer including a CPU 11 and a memory 12 such as a ROM and a RAM. The CPU 11 performs various processes described later based on a program (including an image forming program) stored in the memory 12. carry out. That is, the conveyance unit 23 and the image forming unit 22 are controlled as an example.

  In addition, the control unit 10 manages the remaining amount of the image forming medium. When the remaining amount of the image forming medium decreases, the control unit 10 notifies the user that the remaining amount of the image forming medium has decreased. It has a function of shifting from the normal mode in which the amount is not lowered to the toner extension mode in which the remaining amount of the image forming medium is reduced.

  In the present embodiment, for example, a cumulative dot count that is the amount of toner used since the toner is replaced with a new one is managed in the memory 12, and when this cumulative dot count exceeds a certain threshold value (first value) (for example, When the remaining amount of toner becomes less than 10% of the maximum amount of toner (the remaining amount of toner in an unused state), it is determined that the remaining amount has decreased. Further, the control unit 10 manages the post-extension dot count, which is the amount of toner used after the transition to the toner extension mode, in the memory 12.

When the toner is replaced with a new one, the control unit 10 clears the accumulated dot count and the extended dot count, and shifts to the normal mode.
[Process of this embodiment]
In the image forming apparatus 1 configured as described above, the control unit 10 performs the job printing process shown in FIG. In the job printing process, for a job (image forming job) representing a group of data for printing one document, the printing state is confirmed by stopping printing during printing according to the status of each job. This is a process prompting the user. The one-job printing process is a process that is started for each job when a command is received from the touch panel 21 or another external device (for example, a personal computer (not shown)) to execute a certain print job.

  In the job printing process, as shown in FIG. 2, it is first determined whether or not the toner extension mode is in effect (S5). If it is not in the toner extension mode (S5: NO), the process proceeds to S60.

  If it is in the toner extension mode (S5: YES), it is set to reduce the amount of use of the image forming medium (S10). In this process, for example, the density is uniformly reduced by 10% so that the usage amount of the image forming medium in the toner extension mode is set to be smaller than that in the normal mode.

  Subsequently, after the dot count is cleared (reset) (S7), the dot count (dot count of the main job) for the image forming medium used in the main job is calculated (S15). In this process, the dot count is obtained by counting the number of dots (points formed on the image forming medium) included in the job.

Further, this process is, for example, a process of counting all dots included in the job. The dot count is sequentially counted from 0 for each job.
Subsequently, stop dot count determination processing is performed (S20). The stop dot count determination process is a process for setting a stop dot count representing a dot count when printing is stopped.

  In the stop dot count determination process, as shown in FIG. 3, first, a reference dot count amount a, a dot count subtraction reference value b, and a stop dot count lower limit c are set (S110). Here, the reference dot count represents the maximum dot count that permits continuous printing in the toner extension mode, and represents, for example, a dot count corresponding to 50 average text prints. The reference dot count is a value stored in the memory 12, and is read and set.

  Subsequently, a stop dot count is obtained (S115). The stop dot count is a dot count subtraction reference value b that decreases the dot count value according to the number of copies to be extended after extension (for example, b = 20 when it is desired to reduce the dot count for one sheet after printing 20 sheets). This value is obtained by subtracting this value from the reference dot count amount a.

  Subsequently, the stop dot count is compared with the lower limit c of the stop dot count (S120). Here, the lower limit value c is a value for preventing frequent printing from being stopped, and is set to, for example, a dot count corresponding to 10 average text prints.

If the stop dot count is less than or equal to the lower limit value c (S120: NO), the lower limit value c is set as the stop dot count (S125), and this stop dot count is recorded in the memory 12 (S130). If the stop dot count is larger than the lower limit value c (S120).
: YES), this stop dot count is recorded in the memory (S130).

  Here, the significance of the stop dot count determination process will be described. As the dot count after the extension increases (closer to the state where the toner is completely removed), an image formation defect (printing defect) is more likely to occur. Therefore, the calculation for decreasing the stop dot count as the dot count after extension increases is performed in S115 of FIG. However, since the printing is frequently stopped when the stop dot count becomes too small, the process of setting the lower limit value of the stop dot count to c is performed in S125 of FIG.

  When such processing is finished, the stop dot count determination processing is finished and the processing returns to FIG. Subsequently, the dot count of this job is compared with the stop dot count (S25). If the dot count of this job is equal to or less than the stop dot count (S25: NO), the process proceeds to S60.

  If the dot count of this job is larger than the stop dot count (S25: YES), stop number determination processing is performed (S40). In the stop number determination process, as shown in FIG. 4, the number of stop dots counted by the stop job is determined by calculation, and this value is set as the print stop number (S155).

  Subsequently, the dot count of the main job stored in the memory 12 is updated to a value obtained by subtracting the count obtained by adding the stop dot count and the remaining dot count of the page to be stopped from the dot count of the main job (S160).

When such processing is finished, the stop number determination processing is finished and the processing returns to FIG. Subsequently, printing using the image forming unit 22 is performed (S60), and the job printing process is terminated.
Subsequently, a printing process is performed (S50). The printing process here includes a process of performing printing using the image forming unit 22 up to the number of print stops determined in the stop number determination process, and stopping printing with the determined number of print stops.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the stop page number determined in the stop number determination process is set as a stop page (S210).
Subsequently, printing is performed up to one page before the stop page (S215). Then, the stop page is reversed and printed (S220). That is, face-up printing is performed in which the print surface (image-formed surface) of the recording medium is discharged upward in the discharge unit 32. Note that when this process ends, printing of the job is stopped.

  Subsequently, a confirmation screen is output to the user interface (S52). Here, the user interface from which the confirmation screen is output is, for example, the touch panel 21, and the confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the touch panel 21. This confirmation screen includes a message asking about the print quality and options “Yes” and “No” for answering the question. When such processing is finished, the printing process is finished.

  Subsequently, returning to FIG. 2, the user confirmation result is determined (S52). In this process, when the user selects “Yes” on the confirmation screen, the confirmation result is recognized as OK, and when the user selects “No” on the confirmation screen, the confirmation result is recognized as NG. If “Yes” or “No” is not selected, the process waits in S52.

  If the confirmation result is OK (S52: YES), the process returns to S20 to restart the printing of the pages after the stop page, and the above-described processing is repeated. If the confirmation result is NG (S52: NO), the job printing process is immediately terminated.

[Effects of this embodiment]
In the image forming apparatus (1) described in detail above, the image forming is performed by using the conveyance unit (23) that conveys the recording medium and the recording medium conveyed by the conveyance unit (23). An image forming unit (22) to be performed, and a control unit (10) for controlling the conveying unit (23) and the image forming unit (22). The control unit (10) is information about the remaining amount of the image forming medium. Remaining amount acquisition processing (S5) for acquiring the image and image formation used by the image forming unit (22) when the remaining amount of the image forming medium acquired by the remaining amount acquisition processing (S5) is less than the first amount A counting process (S15) for counting an image forming value indicating the amount of medium used or the number of recording media on which image forming has been performed by the image forming unit (22), and an image forming value counted by the counting process (S15). When the value exceeds the first value, the image forming unit (22 An image formation stop processing for stopping the image formation by (S20, S25, S60), characterized by the execution.

  According to such an image forming apparatus (1), since the image formation is stopped when the image formation value becomes equal to or greater than the threshold value, it is possible to prevent a large amount of the recording medium in which the image formation has failed from being discharged.

  In the image forming apparatus (1), the control unit (10) resets the image forming value when the image forming unit (22) forms an image related to a new image forming job in the counting process (S15). A first reset process (S7) is executed.

  According to such an image forming apparatus (1), since the image forming value is newly monitored for each job, it is possible to prevent the image forming unit (22) from stopping immediately when a new job is executed. can do.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus (1), the control unit (10) performs a second reset process (S160) for resetting (resetting) the image formation value every time the image formation stop process (S20, S25, S60) is executed. Run.

According to such an image forming apparatus (1), image formation can be stopped every time the image formation value becomes equal to or greater than a threshold value.
In the image forming apparatus (1), the control unit (10) sets the first value to a smaller value as the remaining amount of the image forming medium decreases in the image forming stop process (S20, S25, S60). A first value setting process (S115) is executed.

  According to such an image forming apparatus (1), the frequency at which the image forming unit (22) is stopped can be increased as the remaining amount of the image forming medium decreases. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the discharge amount of the recording medium in which the image formation is defective.

Further, in the image forming apparatus (1), in the first value setting process (S115), the first value is set to be equal to or greater than a preset lower limit value.
According to such an image forming apparatus (1), since the threshold value is prevented from becoming less than the lower limit value, it is possible to suppress an extremely high frequency of stopping the image forming unit (22).

  Further, the image forming apparatus (1) includes a receiving unit (21), and the control unit (10) performs image formation by the image forming unit (22) by executing the image forming stop process (S20, S25, S60). In the stopped state, when a command for resuming image formation is received by the receiving unit (21), a restart process (S52) for restarting image formation by the image forming unit (22) is executed.

According to such an image forming apparatus (1), the stopped image formation can be restarted by a simple operation.
Further, in the image forming apparatus (1), the control unit (10) uses at least one of the transport unit (23) and the image forming unit (22) and immediately before stopping the image formation by the image forming unit (22). A discharge process (S220) for discharging from the image forming apparatus (1) is performed so that the surface on which the image of the formed recording medium is formed faces vertically upward.

  According to such an image forming apparatus (1), the image forming surface of the recording medium is discharged from the image forming apparatus (1) with the upper side facing upward, so that the user can correct the image formation failure without inverting the recording medium. Confirmation can be made. Therefore, user convenience can be improved.

  The image forming apparatus (1) includes a display unit (21) for displaying information, and the control unit (10) stops image formation in the image formation stop process (S20, S25, S60). Then, a display control process (S225) for causing the display unit (21) to display a display for confirming the image formation failure is executed.

According to such an image forming apparatus (1), when the image formation is stopped, it is possible to prompt the user to confirm an image formation defect by display.
In the image forming apparatus (1), the first amount is 10% or less of the maximum amount of the image forming medium.

According to such an image forming apparatus (1), the image formation can be stopped when the amount becomes 10% or less with respect to the maximum amount of the image forming medium.
In the image forming apparatus (1), the control unit (10) uses the image forming medium used for image formation when the remaining amount of the image forming medium acquired by the remaining amount acquiring process (S5) is less than the first amount. Specific image forming processing (S10, S50) is performed to control the image forming unit (22) so that the amount of the image forming medium is less than the amount of the remaining amount of the image forming medium equal to or greater than the first amount.

According to such an image forming apparatus (1), when the remaining amount of the image forming medium is reduced, the image can be formed while saving the image forming medium.
[Second Embodiment]
Next, another form of the image forming apparatus 2 will be described. In the present embodiment (second embodiment), only the portions different from the image forming apparatus 1 of the first embodiment will be described in detail, and the same portions as those of the image forming apparatus 1 of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. Therefore, the description is omitted.

  In the image forming apparatus 2 of the present embodiment, the stop number is set regardless of the dot count, and printing is stopped when the job reaches the stop number. That is, in the job printing process of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the stop dot count determination process (S20) and the dot count determination process (S25) performed in the job printing process of the first embodiment are omitted. To do.

  Also, instead of clearing the dot count (S7) performed in the job printing process of the first embodiment, clearing the sheet count (S417) is performed, and this job performed in the job printing process of the first embodiment. Instead of calculating the dot count for the image forming medium to be used (S15), the number of recording media (number of pages in the job) used in this job is calculated (S415).

In the stop number setting process (S40), the process shown in FIG. 8 is performed. That is, in the stop number setting process of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, first, a reference stop number α, a subtraction number reference value β and a stop number lower limit value γ are set (S310). Here, the values α, β, and γ in the present embodiment are sequentially set on the same basis as the values of a, b, and c described above.

  Then, the subtraction number is set (S315). Here, the control unit 10 manages the number of prints after the start of toner extension, and the subtraction number in this process is the number of prints after the start of toner extension (the number of prints after the start of toner extension and before the start of the job). (The number of prints from the start of this job) is divided by a constant β.

  Subsequently, the print stop number, which is a value obtained by subtracting the subtracted number from the reference print stop number α, is compared with the lower limit value γ (S320). If the print stop number is larger than the lower limit γ (S320: YES), this print stop number is recorded in the memory 12 (S335), and the stop number determination process is terminated.

  If the print stop number is equal to or less than the lower limit value γ (S320: NO), the lower limit value γ is set as the print stop number (S330), and the print stop number is recorded in the memory 12 (S335). The decision process is terminated.

Further, after the stop process is completed, the number of print stoppages is subtracted from the number of pages in the job to update the number of pages in the job (S51).
In this way, it is possible to manage the printing state in units of the number of printed sheets rather than managing the printing state based on the amount of use of the image forming medium.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention is not construed as being limited by the above embodiment. Moreover, the aspect which abbreviate | omitted a part of structure of said embodiment as long as the subject could be solved is also embodiment of this invention. An aspect configured by appropriately combining the above-described plurality of embodiments is also an embodiment of the present invention. Moreover, all the aspects which can be considered in the limit which does not deviate from the essence of the invention specified only by the wording described in the claims are embodiments of the present invention. Further, the reference numerals used in the description of the above embodiments are also used as appropriate in the description related to the claims, but are used for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the invention according to each claim. It is not intended to limit the technical scope of the claimed invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the remaining amount of the image forming medium is less than the predetermined amount (in the toner extension mode), the image forming value is not reset when the image forming for the new job is performed. Alternatively, the image forming value may be reset only when the image forming value exceeds the threshold, and the image forming unit 22 may be stopped each time the image forming value exceeds the threshold.

  Specifically, the control unit 10 manages the print stop dot count, which is the amount of toner used after the transition to the toner extension mode, in the memory 12, and uses the print stop dot cant as the dot count of this job. May be. In this case, the dot count for stopping printing may be reset between S225 and S52.

In this way, it is possible to manage the print state in units of the amount of use of the image forming medium, instead of managing the print state in units of jobs.
Further, in the above embodiment, the setting is made so that the amount of image forming medium used is reduced in the toner extension mode. However, even if the configuration does not reduce the amount of image forming medium used in the toner extension mode. Good.

In the above embodiment, the dot count counts the number of dots, but is not limited to the number of dots. The name and form of the dot count are not particularly limited as long as the count corresponds to the amount of toner to be used (the amount of image forming medium used).

  In the above embodiment, the constant b is a value equal to or smaller than the reference dot count amount a, but the constant b may be a value exceeding a. Further, this process is, for example, a process of counting all dots included in the job. The dot count is sequentially counted from 0 for each job.

  In the above-described embodiment, the dot count in S15 of FIG. 2 is a process for counting all dots included in the job. For example, the dot count is a process that is performed while reading data about the job. Alternatively, the dot count for the data read at the present time may be obtained. In such a configuration, if a negative determination is made in the process of S55, the process may return to the process of S15. In this case, every time the process of S15 is repeated, the read data increases, and the dot count also increases.

  In the above embodiment, the page of the print stop number determined in the stop number determination process is set as the stop page. However, a page with a higher print rate than the print stop number (for example, the highest print rate in this job). May be set as a stop page. Here, the printing rate represents a ratio of an area where an image is formed to an area where an image can be formed on the recording medium.

  Such a page with a high printing rate makes it easier to check for printing defects, so the user can easily check for printing defects. Further, a page with a high printing rate may be a page with a predetermined printing rate (for example, 50%) or more.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 ... Image forming apparatus 10 ... Control part 11 ... CPU, 12 ... Memory, 21 ... Touch panel, 22 ... Image forming part, 23 ... Conveyance part, 24 ... Conveyance roller, 31 ... Recording medium holding part, 32 ... Discharge unit, 41 ... transport path, 42 ... reverse path, 50 ... text printing.

Claims (12)

A transport unit for transporting the recording medium;
An image forming unit that forms an image using an image forming medium as a recording medium conveyed by the conveying unit;
A control unit for controlling the transport unit and the image forming unit;
With
The controller is
A remaining amount acquisition process for acquiring information about the remaining amount of the image forming medium;
When the remaining amount of the image forming medium acquired by the remaining amount acquiring process is less than the first amount, the amount of image forming medium used by the image forming unit or the image forming unit performs image formation. A counting process for counting an image formation value representing the number of recorded recording media;
An image formation stop process for stopping image formation by the image forming unit when the image formation value counted by the counting process is equal to or greater than a first value;
An image forming apparatus characterized in that The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The controller is
In the counting process, an image forming apparatus is configured to execute a first reset process for resetting the image formation value when the image forming unit performs image formation related to a new image forming job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
The controller is
An image forming apparatus, wherein a second reset process for resetting the image formation value is executed every time the image formation stop process is executed. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The controller is
In the image forming stop process, the first value setting process for setting the first value to a smaller value is executed as the remaining amount of the image forming medium decreases. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4.
In the first value setting process, the first value is set so as to be equal to or more than a preset lower limit value. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
It has a reception part,
The controller is
In a state where image formation by the image forming unit is stopped by execution of the image forming stop process, a restart process for restarting image formation by the image forming unit when a command regarding resumption of image formation is received by the receiving unit An image forming apparatus characterized in that The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The controller is
Using at least one of the transport unit and the image forming unit, the surface on which the image of the recording medium on which image formation has been performed immediately before stopping the image formation by the image forming unit is directed vertically upward. An image forming apparatus that executes a discharge process for discharging from an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A display unit for displaying information;
The controller is
In the image formation stop process, an image forming apparatus is configured to execute a display control process for displaying a display for confirming an image formation defect on the display unit when the image formation is stopped. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first amount is 10% or less of the maximum amount of the image forming medium. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
The controller is
When the remaining amount of the image forming medium acquired by the remaining amount acquisition process is less than a first amount, the amount of the image forming medium used for image formation is equal to or more than the first amount. An image forming apparatus that executes a specific image forming process for controlling the image forming unit so as to reduce the amount of the image forming unit. A transport unit for transporting the recording medium;
An image forming unit that forms an image using an image forming medium as a recording medium conveyed by the conveying unit;
A control unit for controlling the transport unit and the image forming unit;
An image forming method performed by the control unit in an image forming apparatus comprising:
A remaining amount acquisition process for acquiring information about the remaining amount of the image forming medium;
When the remaining amount of the image forming medium acquired by the remaining amount acquiring process is less than the first amount, the amount of image forming medium used by the image forming unit or the image forming unit performs image formation. A counting process for counting an image formation value representing the number of recorded recording media;
An image formation stop process for stopping image formation by the image forming unit when the image formation value counted by the counting process is equal to or greater than a first value;
An image forming method comprising: A transport unit for transporting the recording medium;
An image forming unit that forms an image using an image forming medium as a recording medium conveyed by the conveying unit;
A control unit for controlling the transport unit and the image forming unit;
An image forming program executed by the control unit in an image forming apparatus comprising:
In the control unit,
A remaining amount acquisition process for acquiring information about the remaining amount of the image forming medium;
When the remaining amount of the image forming medium acquired by the remaining amount acquiring process is less than the first amount, the amount of image forming medium used by the image forming unit or the image forming unit performs image formation. A counting process for counting an image formation value representing the number of recorded recording media;
An image formation stop process for stopping image formation by the image forming unit when the image formation value counted by the counting process is equal to or greater than a first value;
An image forming program for implementing the above.

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