JP2003223087A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To read image data, obtained by reading an additional document document image data which has been already read, and inserting the image data to print the data. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming device has an operation part which is operated by an operator, an image forming part which creates document data from a document image read by a document reading part, and a storage part which stores the document data created by the image forming part, an image compositing part which composites document data supplied from the storage part, a printing part which outputs a composited image from the image compositing part, and a control part which controls the functions of the document reading part, operation part, image forming part, storage part, image compositing part and printing part. The storage part stores first document data created from the firstly read document image by the image forming part, and subsequently stores second document data created from the later read document image by the image forming part. The image compositing part inserts the second document data into a predetermined page of the first document data, thereby synthesizing the data as a single unit. The printing part sorts and prints the data synthesized by the image compositing part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to insertion printing in which image data that has already been read can be read by inserting an additional document afterwards by an easy operation and inserting the image data for printing. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a mode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional digital copying machine, there is sort printing in which a plurality of original images are bundled and output as one copy. And in general, the number of copies output as a bundle is
One or more copies are possible. This sort-printing of a plurality of copies is realized by storing the image data of a plurality of read originals in a memory and repeating the process of outputting from the first page to the last page in order.

In this sort printing, there are some problems when an image is additionally inserted into the document image data already read in the memory for printing. For example, in the case of printing a plurality of copies in sort printing, if there is an error in the original document, there is a risk that all the plurality of copies will be wasted. In order to solve the problem, conventionally, for example, only one copy is output to confirm whether the output of various set print modes is the output intended by the user, and the subsequent print processing is interrupted. The "trial print mode" was invented.

[0004]

In the case of the output of the trial print mode, for example, when it is known that there is a missing original among a plurality of originals, the conventional printing process is stopped here. After that, it is necessary to reread the bundle of originals in which the missing originals have been inserted, or to print only the missing originals and manually insert them later, resulting in a significant loss of work efficiency. The same applies not only to the trial print mode, but also to the case where the user notices that there is a missing document during the execution of general print processing.Stop the process and read the document again, or select only the missing document later. It had to be printed and inserted manually.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
(EN) An image forming apparatus provided with an insertion printing mode in which additional image data can be inserted and printed later by an easy operation with respect to read original image data.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an image is obtained by scanning all of a plurality of document images set in a document reading unit and then sorting and printing the plurality of document images as a bundle. In the forming apparatus, an operation unit operated by an operator, an image forming unit that creates original data from an original image read by an original reading unit, a storage unit that stores the original data of the image forming unit, and the storage unit An image synthesizing section for synthesizing the original data of the document, a printing section for outputting a synthetic image from the image synthesizing section, the original reading section, the operating section, the image forming section, the storage section,
A storage unit that controls the functions of the image combining unit and the printing unit, and the storage unit stores the first document data created by the image creating unit from the first read document image;
The second original data produced by the image forming unit is stored from the original image read later, and the image combining unit inserts the second original data into a predetermined page of the first original data. And combine them as a bundle, and the printing section
The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the combined data by the image combining unit is sorted and printed. With this configuration, for manuscript data that has been read,
By inserting at least one document unit into any page of the document data and printing afterwards, it is possible to improve overall work efficiency by eliminating the need to reread the document as a whole and the labor of inserting additional printed matter by the operator. It has become possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing the above.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the print job based on the first original data is interrupted, and the second original data is a predetermined one of the first original data. When the corrected original data is created by inserting the page into the page 1, the print job based on the first original data is canceled, and the sorted printing is started from the beginning by the corrected original data. With this configuration, when a document is inserted while a print job is interrupted, you can restart printing from the beginning of the first copy and add the missing pages later to print, or the number of copies. This makes it possible to provide an image forming apparatus with high work efficiency by eliminating the trouble of changing.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the print job based on the first original data is interrupted, the second original data is inserted into a predetermined page, and a correction original is added. In the copy in which the data is created and in the interrupted print job, if the printing just before the interruption is before the predetermined page, the interrupted copy is newly set as the first copy and the correction original is set. Depending on the data
It is characterized in that sort printing is resumed continuously immediately after the interruption. With this configuration, when a document is inserted while the print job is interrupted, if the subsequent copy including the number of inserted pages is not performed in the copy of the interrupted print job, By printing the new copy as the first copy from the continuation of the interruption, it is possible to reduce the maximum number of copies that would be wasted printing without inserting the additional original before the interruption, to 1 It is possible to reduce the number of copies (printing), and to provide an image forming apparatus with good working efficiency and printing efficiency.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a main controller 20, a connection I /
F24, operation unit 30, paper feed unit 50, IPU (image processing unit, image forming unit) 60, document reading unit (reference numeral 8 in FIG. 2)
0), a printing unit 90, and the like. The overall configuration of the operation unit, document reading unit, image forming unit, paper feeding unit, image combining unit, control unit, etc. of the image forming apparatus main body is the same as that of the conventionally known electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and therefore is described. By omitting, the respective configurations and operations of the image memory (storage unit) 66, which serves as a storage unit of image data particularly related to the present invention, and the memory controller (image synthesis unit) 65 will be mainly described. Here, printing does not make a distinction between sort printing and normal printing, and considers normal printing as a special case of sort printing.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining the operation of the main controller and each device. As shown in FIG. 2, the main controller 20 includes a control unit 10, an image composition unit (memory controller) 65, and a storage unit 66. As is well known, the control unit 10 includes a CPU 68 that executes various processes according to a preset program, a ROM 69 that stores the program, a RAM 70 that stores the process result and data, an I / O port 67, and the like. Connected to the main controller 20 is a connection I / F 24 that is connected to a plurality of image forming apparatuses to send and receive device configuration and function information and information related to operation control.

The operation unit 30 includes a liquid crystal display 31 and keys 32. The paper feeding unit 50 includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) 51, a main motor 55, and various clutches 5.
2, a conveyance motor 56, and a document set sensor 57. The IPU (image forming unit) 60 includes means for performing various corrections on image data, combining them, and performing scaling to process image data immediately before printing.

The main controller 20 further includes an operation unit 30 for displaying information to the operator and controlling input of function settings from the operator, control of the scanner, control of writing a document image in the image memory, control of image formation from the image memory. An image processing unit (IPU) 60 for performing the above and the like, and a distributed control means such as an automatic document feeder (ADF) 51 (FIG. 1) are connected.

Further, the main controller 20 obtains information of the image forming apparatus connected via the above-mentioned connection I / F 24 and controls the connection operation by setting the operation, or other connected operation. Upon receiving a request from the image forming apparatus, it controls the operation of its own device. The main controller 20 and each decentralized control means are connected to the machine state,
Exchange command commands. Also the main controller 2
0 is also connected to a main motor 55 and various clutches 52 required for conveying a print medium such as paper.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining the functions of the memory controller (image combining section) 65 and the image memory (storage means) 66. Details of the memory controller 65 and the image memory 66 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the memory controller 65 includes an input data selector 101 and an image synthesizing means 1.
02, primary compression / expansion means 103, output data selector 104, and secondary compression / expansion means 105. The control unit 1 sets the control data in each block.
0, especially by the CPU 68 (FIG. 2).

The image memory (storage means) 66 comprises primary and secondary storage devices (106, 107). The primary storage device 106 is capable of high-speed access such as a DRAM so that data writing to the memory or data reading from the memory at the time of image output can be performed at high speed substantially in synchronization with the transfer rate of input image data. Use memory. Further, the primary storage device 106 has an interface with a memory controller, and is configured to divide into a plurality of areas according to the size of image data to be processed and to simultaneously execute input / output of image data. Two sets of address and data lines for reading and writing are connected to an interface with a memory controller so that image data can be input and output in parallel in each divided area. This enables the operation of outputting (reading) the image from the area 2 while inputting (writing) the image to the area 1.

The secondary storage device 107 is a large-capacity memory that stores data for combining input images and sorting. Both primary and secondary storage devices
If an element that can be accessed at high speed is used, data processing can be performed without distinction between primary and secondary, and control becomes relatively simple. However, since elements such as DRAM are expensive, 2
Although the access speed is not so high for the secondary storage device, an inexpensive, large-capacity recording medium may be used, and input / output data processing may be performed via the primary storage device. By using an inexpensive recording medium for the secondary storage device as in the second example described above, the image memory 66 is configured to be capable of inputting / outputting, storing, and processing a large amount of image data. Thus, the image forming apparatus can be realized at a low cost and with a relatively simple structure.

Next, the operation of the memory controller (image combining section) 65 will be described. First, image input (storing in image memory) will be described. The term image is used here because the read original is recognized as an image. The input data selector 101 selects image data to be written to the primary storage device 106 in the image memory 66 from a plurality of data. The image data selected by the input data selector 101 is supplied to the image synthesizing means 102 and is synthesized with the data already stored in the image memory 66. This corresponds to saving the original data of the read original, and inserting the additional original data of the additional original read later into the original original data of the original read first, for example. The image data processed by the image synthesizing means 102 is the primary compression / decompression means 103.
The data is compressed according to, and the compressed data is written to the primary storage device 106. The data written in the primary storage device 106 is, if necessary, secondary compression / expansion means 105.
Further compressed by the secondary storage device 107.
Stored in.

Next, image output, that is, reading from the image memory 66 will be described. When outputting images,
The image data stored in the primary storage device 106 is read. The image to be output is the primary storage device 106.
Primary compression / decompression means 103 if stored in
The image data in the primary storage device 106 is decompressed, and the decompressed data or the data after the decompressed data and the input data are combined by the output data selector 104 is selected and output. In this way, the original data added to the previous original data is inserted to be corrected original data, and is output from the image memory 66 for printing and used for printing.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a display showing image insertion settings associated with the operation unit of the image forming apparatus. The flow shown will be described. First, the operation key 32 of the operation unit 30 is operated to start a copy operation to read all the originals set in the original reading unit 80 (hereinafter, the original read first is referred to as “original original”). . After that, when there is a document to be inserted with respect to the original document, the number of pages to be inserted is designated by the ten keys 32 while registering by looking at the liquid crystal touch panel (liquid crystal display) 31 of the operation unit 30 as shown in FIG. . Then, the document to be additionally inserted is read by the document reading unit 80. When the reading of the inserted document is completed, the operation unit is operated to start printing by the printing unit 90 in order from the first page of the original document, and when the document of the specified number of inserted pages is printed, the above-mentioned inserted image is displayed. To start printing. After that, when the printing of the inserted image is completed, printing is restarted from the number of pages next to the number of pages designated for insertion in the inserted and corrected document to the last page.

As an overview of the correspondence between the flow chart of FIG. 4 and the block diagram, the phrase “store the original document in the reading memory” means that it is stored in the primary storage means 106 or, in some cases, secondary storage. It may be stored in the device 107. In the printing in FIG. 4, the original data stored in the primary and / or secondary storage device (106, 107) is the primary and / or secondary compression / expansion means (103, 10).
The data is expanded by 5) and is printed by the printing unit based on the data output via the output data selector 104. In addition, each determination step in FIG.
This is performed by the judgment processing by the CPU 68 arranged at 0 and the stored program. Then, the control unit 10 determines the end of printing of all the sheets, and a print end command is sent to the printing unit 90 to end the printing.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of insertion printing of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 shows an output example when three documents are first read and then an additional document is inserted on the second page. As can be seen from FIG. 8, in printing (outputting), according to correction data newly created by inserting and reading an additional document,
The first page is printed, then the insertion image data a is printed, and then the first second page is printed as the third page,
Finally, four sheets are printed as one copy. In this way
For the manuscript data that has been read, 1 later
By inserting the above document unit into any page of the document data and enabling printing, it is possible to improve the work efficiency by re-reading the whole document and saving the labor of inserting an additional printed matter by the operator. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing the above.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. First, in the image forming apparatus 1, the operation key 32 on the operation unit 30 is operated to start the copy operation, and all the documents set in the document reading unit 80 are read by the document reading unit 80. Then, the printing unit 90 performs printing sequentially from the first page. If there is an original that you want to insert after the printing process (job) is interrupted, perform the interrupt operation from the operation unit 30 and specify the page position you want to insert using the numeric keypad 32 while looking at the liquid crystal touch panel 31 (Fig. 7). To do. Then, the inserted document is read by the document reading unit 80. When the reading of the inserted original is completed, the corrected original created by inserting is printed again in order from the first page,
When the designated insertion page is printed, the printing of the inserted document is started. Then, when the printing of the inserted image is completed, the printing of the correction original is restarted from the page next to the designated insertion page number in the correction original, and printing is performed up to the last page.

As an overview of the correspondence between the flow of FIG. 5 and the block diagram, the phrase “store the original document in the reading memory” means that it is stored in the primary storage means 106 or, in some cases, secondary storage. It may be stored in the device 107. Further, in the printing in FIG. 5, each original data stored in the primary and / or secondary storage device (106, 107) is a primary and / or secondary compression / expansion means (103, 10).
The data is decompressed by 5) and printed based on the data output via the output data selector 104. Further, each judgment step in FIG. 5 is judged by a CPU 68 provided in the control unit 10 or a program stored in the control unit. Then, it is determined by the control unit 10 that the printing of all the pieces is completed, the end command is sent to the printing unit 90, and the printing is completed.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the insertion printing example. Here, during printing to output three copies of three original images, the printing is interrupted when the second page of the second copy is output.
An output example when an image is inserted on the second page is shown. That is, when the additional original a is inserted in the second page of the originals 1, 2, and 3, the corrected original data newly created and inserted comes a next to the original 1. Then, 2 and 3 follow in that order, and printing is restarted from the beginning based on this corrected original. That is, regarding the output after the interruption of the print job is restarted, all the already output 1 copy plus 2 pages are invalidated, printing is newly performed from the first page, and 4 pages are set as 1 copy.
It will be partly output. In this way, if you insert a document while a print job is interrupted, you can restart the printing process from the beginning of the first copy and add the missing pages later to print, or reduce the number of copies. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that saves the labor of changing and has high work efficiency.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. First, the operation key 32 on the operation unit 30 of the image forming apparatus 1 is operated to start the copy operation, and the document reading unit 8
All originals set to 0 are read by the original reading unit 80. After that, the printing unit 90 prints sequentially from the first page. When there is a document to be inserted with respect to the original document after the printing process (job) is interrupted, the number of pages to be inserted is designated by the ten keys 32 while looking at the liquid crystal touch panel 31 (FIG. 7) of the operation unit 30. Then, the original reading section 80 reads the inserted original to be added. If the number of inserted pages specified here is a page after the already printed page in the print section at the time of interruption, printing of the original document will continue after printing is resumed after insertion. When the designated insertion page is printed, the printing of the inserted image data is started.
When the printing of the inserted image data is completed, thereafter, in the corrected manuscript data inserted and produced, printing is restarted from the page immediately after the page specified to be inserted and printing is performed up to the final page.

As an overview of the correspondence between the flow chart of FIG. 6 and the block diagram, "store original document in read memory" means that it is stored in the primary storage means 106 or, in some cases, secondary storage. It may be stored in the device 107. Further, in the printing in FIG. 6, each original data stored in the primary and / or secondary storage device (106, 107) is primary and / or secondary compression / expansion means (103, 10).
The data is expanded by 5) and is printed by the printing unit 90 based on the data output via the output data selector 104. Further, each determination step in FIG. 6 is performed by a determination process by a CPU 68 provided in the control unit 10 or a program stored in the control unit. Then, after the printing of all the pieces is completed, an end command is sent to the printing section 90 to complete the printing.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view for explaining an example of insertion printing by the image forming apparatus in this case. Here, an example of output when the first page of the second copy is interrupted at the stage when the output of the second copy is finished and the image is inserted to the third page during printing of outputting three copies of three original images is shown. ing. Since image data was inserted on the third page after the first page that was being output when the interruption was made, the output (printing) after the interruption and restart is
The first one of the already printed copy plus one page
Only the copy is invalidated, the printed matter output as the first page of the second copy is left as it is as the first page of the first copy after the interruption and restart, and the image is additionally inserted after printing from the second page, And in the inserted revised manuscript,
Print from the page following the inserted page. In this way, a total of 3 copies are output. As a result, as compared with printing newly starting from the first page after resumption of interruption, the output image that becomes invalid in printing before resumption of interruption is saved by one page. In this way, when a document is inserted while the print job is interrupted, and the subsequent pages including the number of inserted pages are not printed in the copy of the interrupted print job. By printing the interrupted copy as the first copy from the continuation of the interruption, it is possible to reduce the maximum number of copies that would be wasteful printing without inserting the additional document before the interruption, which is a waste. It is possible to reduce the number of misprints (printing), and to provide an image forming apparatus with good working efficiency and printing efficiency.

[0028]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the original can be read later and inserted between arbitrary pages of the original original for the original bundle that has been read, the printing can be performed. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving the work efficiency by re-doing the whole process, and saving the labor of a person who inserts the additionally printed printed matter into the printed matter of the original document.

According to the invention of claim 2, claim 1
In addition to the effects of the invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving work efficiency by restarting printing from the beginning when a document is inserted while a print job is interrupted.

According to the invention of claim 3, claim 1
In addition to the effects of the present invention, when a document is inserted while a print job is interrupted, if printing is not performed after the number of pages of the document inserted in the interrupted copy, the interrupted copy is interrupted as the first copy. Immediately after restarting printing, the maximum number of copies that can result in a miscopy without inserting the original before interruption is 1
Since it is possible to reduce only the number of copies and wasteful miscopy, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus with high work efficiency and less waste.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating operations of the main controller and each device of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of a memory controller and an image memory of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a display attached to an operation unit of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of insertion printing of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of insertion printing of the image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of insertion printing of the image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image forming device 10 Control unit 20 Main controller 24 Connection I / F 30 Operation part 31 LCD display 32 keys 50 paper feeder 51 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) 52 Various clutches 55 Main motor 56 Conveyor motor 57 Original set sensor 60 IPU (image processing unit, image forming unit) 65 Memory controller (image composition section) 66 image memory (storage unit) 67 I / O ports 68 CPU 69 ROM 70 RAM 80 Document Reader 90 Printing department 101 Input data selector 102 image synthesizing means 103 primary compression / expansion means 104 Output data selector 105 Secondary compression / expansion means 106 primary storage device 107 secondary storage device

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C087 AA09 BA03 BB10 BC02 CA01                       CA05                 2H027 DA32 DB04 DB08 DE04 DE07                       EC06 EC18 ED04 ED06 EE01                       EE07 EE08 EE09 EF09 EK04                       FA09 FA30 FB07 FD08 GA34                       GA47 GA54 ZA07                 5C062 AA05 AB17 AB22 AB42 AC24                       BA00                 5C073 AA02 CC03 CE04

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for scanning all of a plurality of document images set in a document reading unit and then sorting-printing the plurality of document images as a bundle, and an operation unit operated by an operator. An image forming unit that creates original data from the original image read by the original reading unit, a storage unit that stores the original data of the image forming unit, and an image combining unit that combines the original data from the storage unit, A storage unit that outputs a composite image from the image composition unit; and a control unit that controls the functions of the document reading unit, the operation unit, the image forming unit, the storage unit, the image composition unit, and the printing unit. The unit stores the first document data produced by the image forming unit from the document image read first, and then stores the second document data produced by the image forming unit from the document image read later. However, in the image composition unit, Note that the second document data is inserted into a predetermined page of the first document data and combined as a bundle, and the printing unit sorts and prints the combined data by the image combining unit. Image forming apparatus. 2. When the print job based on the first original data is interrupted and the second original data is inserted into a predetermined page of the first original data to create corrected original data, 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print job based on the first original data is canceled, and sort printing is started from the beginning based on the corrected original data. 3. The print job based on the first original data is interrupted, the second original data is inserted into a predetermined page to create corrected original data, and a copy in the interrupted print job is created. In the case where the print just before the interruption is before the predetermined page, the interrupted copy is newly set as the first copy and the corrected original data is used to continuously restart the sort printing immediately after the interruption. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: