JP2005074678A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system capable of reducing power being consumed in power saving reset operation of a slave unit after ending a linked job. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming system comprises a means for transferring image data read by an arbitrary one of a plurality of image forming apparatus, serving as a master unit, to a plurality of other image forming apparatuses, serving as slave units, and making the master unit to process the image data in parallel as a linked job, and a means for transferring the image data of a reserved linked job to the slave unit side when the master unit is executing a print job. In the linked job, the master unit requests the slave unit to reset from an energy saving state to a printable state when the linked job is started and if Tr≥Tp, the master unit release request of resetting the slave unit from an energy saving state to a printable state when processing of the linked job by only the master unit is ended, where Tr is the time required for the slave unit to reset from an energy saving state to a printable state and Tp is the time required for ending the linked job when it is printed entirely by the master unit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected and can perform linked printing by sharing a printing function, and in particular, can reduce power consumed in energy saving return operation of a slave unit after a linked job ends. The present invention relates to a possible image forming system.

In general, there is known an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected and can perform linked printing by sharing a printing function, and various proposals have been made for performing linked jobs.
That is, as the prior art, 1. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-140894 (the time required from the copy condition such as the number of originals, the number of copies, the copy magnification, the paper size, etc. to the end of copying is calculated by a required time calculation unit); 2. JP-A-11-157172 (When a slave unit is in a state of reducing power consumption, when a connection request is issued from the master unit, the power consumption reduction state is canceled and the master unit is notified of the status of the slave unit. And, if printing is possible, shift to the print output state). JP 2000-098796 A (including temperature detecting means for detecting the surface temperature of the heat roller and control means for controlling power supply to the heating means of the heat roller).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-140894 JP-A-11-157172 JP 2000-098796 A

However, conventionally, if the energy saving recovery time is longer than the printing time of the parent device alone by starting the energy saving recovery of the child device at the same time as the connection job is entered in the parent device, the child device will continue after the parent device itself has finished printing. The recovery from the energy saving of the machine is not completed, and at this time, the energy saving return operation is wasted in the slave unit, and there is a disadvantage that power is wasted.
The present invention can reduce the power consumed by the energy-saving return operation of the slave unit after the linked job is completed by notifying the release of the return from the energy-saving state to the printable state at the end of printing of the master unit alone. An object is to provide a forming system.
Another purpose is to return the slave unit to the energy-saving recovery operation when the time required to return from the energy-saving state to the printable state is shorter than the time required to print all the linked jobs on the master unit. When the request to confirm the request is received, the energy saving return operation is continued, and the time taken to return from the energy saving state to the printable state is longer than the time required to print all the linked jobs on the parent machine. The machine aims to reduce the power consumed in the energy-saving return operation after canceling the return request by receiving the notification of the return request release during the energy-saving return operation and shifting to the energy-saving state again.
Another purpose is to notify the slave device that the return request has been confirmed when the time required to return from the energy saving state to the printable state is shorter than the time required to print all the linked jobs on the master device. If the time taken to return from the energy-saving state to the printable state is longer than the time required to print all the linked jobs on the parent device, the child device cancels the return request. An object is to reduce the electric power required for the energy-saving return operation by continuing the energy-saving state upon receiving the notification.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a reading means for reading a document as image data, an image processing means for performing image processing on the image data read by the reading means, and the image processing means. The image forming system includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses that are electrically connected to each other, and includes a printing unit that prints image data formed by the image forming process and a temperature detection unit that detects the surface temperature of the fixing roller. Any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses serves as a master unit, and the read image data is transferred to the other plurality of image forming apparatuses serving as slave units. Parallel processing means for sharing printing as a linked job and processing in parallel; and while the master unit is executing a print job, the reserved linked job transfers the image data to the slave unit side. Transfer means, and in the linked job, Tr indicates the time required for the slave unit to return from the energy-saving state to the printable state, and the time until the completion when the linked job is all printed by the master unit. When Tp is set, the parent device requests the child device to return from the energy saving state to the printable state at the start of the connection job. When Tr ≧ Tp, the parent device is set at the end of the connection job of the parent device alone. Cancels the request for returning to the energy-saving state to the slave unit.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided reading means for reading a document as image data, image processing means for performing image processing on the image data read by the reading means, and image data formed by the image processing means. An image forming system comprising a plurality of image forming apparatuses electrically connected to each other and a temperature detecting means for detecting the surface temperature of the fixing roller. Any one of the image forming apparatuses is the master unit, and the scanned image data is transferred to other image forming apparatuses that are slave units. Means for processing, and means for transferring the image data to the slave device side by the reserved linked job while the master device is executing a print job, In this case, when the time required for the slave device to return from the energy saving state to the printable state is Tr, and the time until completion when all the linked jobs are printed by the master device is Tp, The master unit requests the slave unit to return from an energy saving state to a printable state. After receiving the request, the slave unit starts a recovery operation from energy saving, and the master unit is in an energy saving state. Means for notifying the time Tr required to return from the energy-saving state to the printable state when Tr ≧ Tp, and notifying the cancellation of the request for returning from the energy-saving state to the printable state. In the case of ≧ Tr, the slave unit is notified of confirmation of the return request from the energy-saving state to the printable state, and when the slave unit receives the release request for return to the printable state, the slave unit starts the energy-saving return operation. Shift to an energy-saving state Upon receiving the confirmation of the request for return to the printable state, characterized in that it continues the returning operation.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided reading means for reading a document as image data, image processing means for performing image processing on image data read by the reading means, and image data formed by the image processing means. An image forming system comprising a plurality of image forming apparatuses electrically connected to each other and a temperature detecting means for detecting the surface temperature of the fixing roller. Any one of the image forming apparatuses is the master unit, and the scanned image data is transferred to other image forming apparatuses that are slave units. Means for processing, and means for transferring the image data to the slave device side by the reserved linked job while the master device is executing a print job, In this case, when the time required for the slave device to return from the energy saving state to the printable state is Tr, and the time until completion when all the linked jobs are printed by the master device is Tp, The master unit requests the slave unit to return from the energy saving state to the printable state, and after receiving the request, the slave unit takes the master unit to return from the energy saving state to the printable state. Means for notifying the time Tr, and the master unit notifies the slave unit of cancellation of a return request from the energy saving state to the printable state when Tr ≧ Tp, and to the slave unit when Tp ≧ Tr. Notifying the confirmation of the return request from the energy-saving state to the printable state, the slave unit does not return to the printable state when the release request is canceled, and enters the energy-saving state as it is and receives the confirmation of the return request. To print ready Characterized in that it starts the return operation.

According to the image processing system of claim 1, when the time required for the energy saving recovery of the slave device is longer than the time when the linked job is printed by the master device alone, the energy saving return is canceled to the slave device at the end of printing of the master device alone. By notifying this, it is possible to stop the return operation on the slave unit side after the end of linked printing, and not to consume useless power for the subsequent return operation. Further, it is not necessary to calculate the time required for the slave unit to return to energy saving.
According to the image processing system of claim 2, when the time required for the energy saving return of the slave unit is longer than the time when the linked job is printed by the master unit alone, the energy saving return is stopped halfway on the slave unit side. It is possible to avoid wasting electric power required for the return operation. Also, when the time required for the energy saving return of the slave unit is shorter than the time when the linked job is printed by the master unit alone, the time required for the return is short because the energy saving return operation is started when the energy saving return request is made.
According to the image processing system of claim 3, when the time required for the energy saving return of the slave unit is longer than the time when the linked job is printed by the master unit alone, the energy saving return operation is not started on the slave unit side. As compared with the image processing system of Item 2, it is possible to reduce wasteful electric power required for the energy saving return operation.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, a document bundle placed on the document table 2 of the automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) 1 with the image surface of the document facing up has a start key 34 on the operation unit 30 (see FIG. 2). When pressed, the uppermost document is fed to a predetermined position on the contact glass 6 by the feeding roller 3 and the feeding belt 4. After the image data of the original on the contact glass 6 is read by the reading unit 50, the original that has been read is discharged by the feeding belt 4 and the discharge roller 5. Further, when the document set detection unit 7 detects that the next document is present on the document table 2, it is fed onto the contact glass 6 in the same manner as the previous document. The feeding roller 3, the feeding belt 4, and the discharging roller 5 are driven by a motor.
The transfer papers stacked on the first tray 8, the second tray 9, and the third tray 10 are fed by the first paper feeding device 11, the second paper feeding device 12, and the third paper feeding device 13, respectively, and are conveyed vertically. The unit 14 is transported to a position where it abuts on the photoreceptor 15.
The image data read by the reading unit 50 is written on the photoconductor 15 by the laser from the writing unit 57 and passes through the developing unit 27 to form a toner image. Then, the toner image on the photoconductor 15 is transferred while the transfer paper is conveyed by the conveyance belt 16 at the same speed as the rotation of the photoconductor 15. Thereafter, the image is fixed by the fixing unit 17 and discharged to the finisher 100 of the post-processing apparatus by the paper discharge unit 18.
The finisher 100 of the post-processing apparatus guides in the normal paper discharge roller 102 direction and the staple processing unit direction. That is, by switching the switching plate 101 upward, it is possible to discharge the paper to the normal paper discharge tray 104 side via the transport roller 103, and by switching the switching plate 101 downward, the transport rollers 105, 107 can be discharged. , And can be conveyed to the staple table 108.
Each time a sheet of transfer paper loaded on the staple table 108 is discharged, the paper end surface is aligned by a paper alignment jogger 109, and is bound by the stapler 106 upon completion of partial copying. The group of transfer sheets bound by the stapler 106 is stored in the staple completion discharge tray 110 by its own weight.

On the other hand, the normal paper discharge tray 104 is a paper discharge tray that can be moved back and forth. The paper discharge tray 104 that can be moved back and forth moves back and forth for each document or for each copy section sorted by the image memory. This sorts out the copy paper that is simply ejected.
When forming an image on both sides of the transfer paper, the transfer paper fed from each of the paper feed trays 8 to 10 is not guided to the paper discharge tray 104 side, and the branch claw 112 for switching the path is used. By setting it on the upper side, it is once stocked in the duplex feeding unit 111.
Thereafter, the transfer paper stocked in the double-sided paper feeding unit 111 is re-fed from the double-sided paper feeding unit 111 to transfer the toner image formed on the photosensitive member 15 again, and the branching claw for switching the path. 112 is set on the lower side and guided to the paper discharge tray 104. In this way, the duplex feeding unit 111 is used when creating images on both sides of the transfer sheet.
The photoconductor 15, the conveyance belt 16, the fixing unit 17, the paper discharge unit 18, and the development unit 27 are driven by a main motor 25 (see FIG. 4), and each of the paper feeding devices 11 to 13 feeds the drive of the main motor 25. Transmission is driven by the clutches 22 to 24. The vertical conveyance unit 14 is driven to transmit the drive of the main motor 25 by the intermediate clutch 21. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a drive control system in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the operation unit 30 in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
The operation unit 30 includes a liquid crystal touch panel 31, a numeric keypad 32, a clear / stop key 33, a print key 34, a preheat key 35, and a reset key 36. A message indicating the status of the device is displayed.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of display on the liquid crystal touch panel 31 of the operation unit 30.
When the operator touches a key displayed on the liquid crystal touch panel 31, the key indicating the selected function is inverted in black. In addition, when it is necessary to specify the details of the function (for example, if it is variable magnification, the variable magnification value, etc.), the detailed function setting screen is displayed by touching the key. Thus, since the liquid crystal touch panel uses a dot display device, it is possible to graphically perform an optimal display at that time.
In FIG. 3, the upper left is a message area for displaying messages such as “Ready to copy” and “Please wait”, the right is a copy number display section for displaying the set number of copies, and a process for arranging copies one by one in page order. Sort key to specify the copy, stack key to specify the processing to sort the copy by page, staple key to specify the processing to bind the sorted one part at a time, below that automatic paper to automatically select the transfer paper Select key, same magnification key for setting the magnification to the same magnification, scaling key for setting the enlargement / reduction magnification, duplex key for setting the duplex mode, editing key for setting the binding margin mode, etc. Cover / interleaf key, and a connection mode key 40 for printing out a large number of print operations divided into a plurality via a digital copier network A. In addition, a paper feed tray state corresponding to the number of paper feed trays is displayed, and keys for manually setting the paper feed tray are displayed for the number of paper feed trays.

Next, with reference to FIG. 1, the image reading means in the present invention and the operation until the latent image is formed on the recording surface will be described. A latent image is a potential distribution generated by converting an image into light information and irradiating it on the surface of the photoreceptor 15.
The reading unit 50 includes a contact glass 6 on which an original is placed and an optical scanning system. The optical scanning system includes an exposure lamp 51, a first mirror 52, a lens 53, a CCD image sensor 54, and the like. Yes. The exposure lamp 51 and the first mirror 52 are fixed on a first carriage (not shown), and the second mirror 55 and the third mirror 56 are fixed on a second carriage (not shown). When reading a document image, the first carriage and the second carriage are mechanically scanned at a relative speed of 2 to 1 so that the optical path length does not change. This optical scanning system is driven by a scanner drive motor (not shown). The document image is read by the CCD image sensor 54, converted into an electrical signal, and processed. The image magnification is changed by moving the lens 53 and the CCD image sensor 54 in the left-right direction in FIG. That is, the positions of the lens 53 and the CCD image sensor 54 are set in the left-right direction corresponding to the designated magnification.
The writing unit 57 includes a laser output unit 58, an imaging lens 59, and a mirror 60. Inside the laser output unit 58, a rotating polygon mirror (polygon) that rotates at a constant high speed by a laser diode and a motor as a laser light source. Mirror).
Laser light emitted from the laser output unit 58 is polarized by a polygon mirror that rotates at a constant speed, passes through an imaging lens 59, is folded by a mirror 60, and is focused on the surface of the photoconductor 15.
The polarized laser light is exposed and scanned in a direction (main scanning direction) perpendicular to the direction in which the photoconductor 15 rotates, and is output in units of lines of the image signal output from the selector 64 (see FIG. 5) of the image processing unit described later. Make a record. An image (electrostatic latent image) is formed on the surface of the photoconductor 15 by repeating main scanning at a predetermined cycle corresponding to the rotational speed and recording density of the photoconductor 15.
As described above, the laser beam output from the writing unit 57 is applied to the image forming photoconductor 15. Although not shown, a beam sensor for generating a main scanning synchronization signal is disposed at a position where a laser beam near one end of the photoconductor 15 is irradiated. Based on the main scanning synchronization signal, control of image recording start timing in the main scanning direction and generation of a control signal for inputting / outputting image signals described later are performed.

The configuration of the image processing unit (image reading unit and image writing unit) in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The light emitted from the exposure lamp 51 illuminates the original surface, and the reflected light from the original surface is imaged and received by a CCD image sensor 54 with an imaging lens (not shown), and is photoelectrically converted. The digital signal is converted by the D converter 61. The image signal converted into the digital signal is subjected to shading correction by the shading correction unit 62 and then subjected to MTF correction, γ correction and the like by the image processing unit 63. In the selector 64, the destination of the image signal is switched to the writing γ correction unit 71 or the image memory controller 65. The image signal that has passed through the writing γ correction unit 71 is sent to the writing unit 57. Between the image memory controller 65 and the selector 64, an image signal can be input and output bidirectionally. Although not explicitly shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the image data input from the reading unit 50, image data supplied from outside (for example, output from a data processing device such as a personal computer) is output to the image processing unit (IPU). A function of selecting input / output of a plurality of data.
A CPU 68 for setting the image memory controller 65 and the like and controlling the reading unit 50 and the writing unit 57, and a ROM 69 and a RAM 70 for storing programs and data thereof are provided. Further, the CPU 68 can write and read data in the image memory 66 via the memory controller 65. Also, an HDD 73 for saving or saving the contents of the image memory 66 is provided.

Here, an image signal for one page in the selector 64 will be described with reference to FIG.
/ FGATE represents a valid period in the sub-scanning direction of one page of image data. / LSYNC is a main scanning synchronization signal for each line, and the image signal becomes valid at a predetermined clock after this signal rises. A signal indicating that the image signal in the main scanning direction is valid is / LGATE. These signals are synchronized with the pixel clock VCLK, and one pixel of data is sent for one cycle of VCLK. The image processing unit (IPU) 49 has separate generation mechanisms for / FGATE, / LSYNC, / LGATE, and VCLK for each of image input and output, and various image input / output combinations can be realized. .
In order to share the work, it is necessary to transmit / receive image data and commands to / from another digital copying machine. In this embodiment, the IEEE 1394 connection interface is used for transmitting / receiving image data. A serial communication line is used. The main controller 20 of FIG. 4 implements this via the connection interface driver 80. Further, the fixing unit 17 has a temperature detecting means including a thermistor for detecting the surface temperature of the fixing roller as shown in FIG. 1 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-098796.

Next, a software control module configuration, image transfer, and print control in the image forming apparatus will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a module configuration of software in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
The job information set in the application layer is passed to the control service layer using a start key or the like as a trigger. The control service layer interprets job information from the application and requests the handler manager for process information for operating the handler layer. The handler manager operates individual handlers according to the process information.
Here, the handler includes a scanner handler for controlling the reading unit, an image memory handler for controlling input / output of image data to / from the image memory, a plotter handler for controlling the writing unit and paper transport, and a post-processing peripheral device. The software modules cooperate to perform processing from reading to storage in the image memory and image formation.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the image forming apparatus includes a connection I / F driver for connecting to another image forming apparatus, and image data and command information can be exchanged via the I / F. It is possible. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which two image forming apparatuses are connected as a master unit and a slave unit.
In the single copy job, the procedure is to read and store an image and print the stored image. In the linked copy job, the following control is added to the above procedure.
The linked copy job generated on the master side is a process of storing the image read by the scanner in the image memory 66 after the job information is interpreted in the control service of the master unit, and the image stored in the image memory 66 of the slave unit. Each process is executed separately.
When the necessary image transfer is completed, the slave unit control service generates a print process that refers to the image data transferred in advance according to the information received from the master unit control service, and prints it to the handler manager of the slave unit. Request. Then, the control service of the slave unit sequentially notifies the master unit of print jobs processed by the slave unit. Based on this information, the control service of the master unit monitors the progress of the print job of the master unit and the print job of the slave unit, and performs the necessary printing.

Next, the procedure corresponding to claim 1 will be described.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the fixing temperature and time when the state is changed from power-on → printable state → energy saving state → printable state. The figure shows the time Tr [sec] required to return from the energy saving state to the printable state. The energy-saving state of the slave unit here is a state from when the energy-saving transition request is received from the master unit to when the energy-saving return request is received.
The line of the fixing temperature at the time of energy saving transition and return is originally a curve, but here it approximates a straight line. Tr [sec] varies depending on the fixing temperature at the time of energy saving return request.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a procedure in which the slave unit starts the connecting operation during the energy saving mode in claim 1.
JOB1 is a normal job and JOB2 is a linked job. After the JOB1 copy job is completed on the parent machine side, a JOB2 linked job is started on the parent machine side.
The master unit notifies the slave unit of an energy saving return request simultaneously with reading of the JOB2 document. Thereafter, in the master unit, JOB2 <connection> starts printing after the reading of the original is completed. After receiving the energy saving return request, the slave unit notifies the master unit of the time Tr required to return from the energy saving state to the printable state.
Here, if Tr is the time required to return from the energy saving state to the printable state, and Tp is the time until the end when all the linked jobs are printed by the parent device, the parent device alone is used when Tr ≧ Tp. At the end of the linked job, the master unit notifies the slave unit of cancellation of the request to return to the energy saving state, and the slave unit starts image transfer simultaneously with completion of energy saving return, and starts printing when image transfer ends.

Next, a procedure corresponding to claim 2 will be described.
11 and 12 are diagrams for explaining the operation corresponding to the second aspect.
JOB1 is a normal job and JOB2 is a linked job.
After the JOB1 copy job is completed on the parent machine side, a JOB2 linked job is started on the parent machine side. The master unit notifies the slave unit of an energy saving return request simultaneously with reading of the JOB2 document. Thereafter, in the master unit, JOB2 <connection> starts printing after the reading of the original is completed. Let Tr be the time required to return from the energy-saving state to the printable state, and Tp be the time until completion when all the linked jobs have been printed by the parent machine.
After receiving the energy saving return request, the slave starts a return operation from energy saving and notifies the parent device of the time Tr required to return from the energy saving state to the printable state.
When Tr ≧ Tp, the master unit notifies the slave unit of cancellation of the return request from the energy saving state to the printable state (FIG. 11), and when Tp ≧ Tr, the slave unit changes from the energy saving state to the printable state. The confirmation of the return request is notified (FIG. 12).
When the slave unit receives the cancellation of the request to return to the printable state, the slave unit stops the energy saving return operation and shifts to the energy saving mode (FIG. 11). The return operation is continued (FIG. 12).

Next, a procedure corresponding to claim 3 will be described.
13 and 14 are diagrams for explaining the operation corresponding to the third aspect.
Let Tr be the time required to return from the energy-saving state to the printable state, and Tp be the time until completion when all the linked jobs have been printed by the parent machine.
After receiving the energy saving return request, the slave unit notifies the master unit of the time Tr required to return from the energy saving state to the printable state.
When Tr ≧ Tp (FIG. 13), the master notifies the slave device of cancellation of the return request from the energy saving state to the printable state, and when Tp ≧ Tr (FIG. 14), the slave device prints from the energy saving state. Notify that the request to return to the ready state is confirmed.
When the slave unit receives the cancellation request for returning to the printable state, the slave unit maintains the energy saving mode as it is (FIG. 13). FIG. 14).
The processing shown in FIGS. 10 to 14 is performed under the control of the CPU 68 of each image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation unit 30 in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of display on a liquid crystal touch panel 31 of an operation unit 30 in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a drive control system in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an image processing unit (an image reading unit and an image writing unit) in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. 6 is a time chart of image signals for one page in the selector 64 shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a module configuration of software in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. The figure which showed a mode that two image forming apparatuses were connected as a main | base station and a subunit | mobile_unit. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a fixing temperature and time when a transition is made from power-on → printable state → energy saving state → printable state in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. The figure which shows the procedure which the subunit | mobile_unit side in this image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 8 started connection operation | movement in the energy saving mode. The figure which shows the procedure which the subunit | mobile_unit side in this image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 8 started connection operation | movement in the energy saving mode. The figure which shows the procedure which the subunit | mobile_unit side in this image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 8 started connection operation | movement in the energy saving mode. The figure which shows the procedure which the subunit | mobile_unit side in this image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 8 started connection operation | movement in the energy saving mode. The figure which shows the procedure which the subunit | mobile_unit side in this image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 8 started connection operation | movement in the energy saving mode.

Explanation of symbols

2 Document platen, 3 Feed roller, 4 Feed belt, 5 Discharge roller, 6 Contact glass, 7 Document set detector, 8 to 10 Feed tray, 11 First feed device, 12 Second feed device, 13 Third paper feeding device, 14 Vertical transport unit, 15 Photoconductor, 16 Transport belt, 17 Fixing unit, 18 Paper discharge unit, 20 Main controller, 21 Intermediate clutch, 22-24 Paper feed clutch, 25 Main motor, 27 Development Unit, 30 operation unit, 31 LCD touch panel, 32 numeric keypad, 33 clear / stop key, 34 start key, 34 print key, 35 preheat key, 36 reset key, 40 connection mode key, 51 exposure lamp, 52 first mirror, 53 Lens, 54 CCD image sensor, 55 Second mirror, 56 Third mirror, 58 Laser output unit, 59 imaging lens, 60 mirror, 61 converter, 62 shading correction unit, 63 image processing unit, 64 selector, 65 memory controller, 65 image memory controller, 66 image memory, 68 CPU, 69 ROM, 70 RAM, 71 γ Correction Unit, 73 HDD, 80 Link Interface Driver, 100 Finisher, 102 Normal Discharge Roller, 103 Conveyance Roller, 104 Discharge Tray, 104 Normal Discharge Tray, 105 Conveyance Roller, 106 Stapler, 108 Staple Table, 109 Jogger , 110 Staple completed paper discharge tray, 111 Temporarily double-sided paper feeding unit, 111 Double-sided paper feeding unit, 112 Branching claw

Claims (3)

A reading unit that reads a document as image data, an image processing unit that performs image processing on the image data read by the reading unit, a printing unit that prints image data formed by the image processing unit, and a fixing roller An image forming system configured by electrically connecting a plurality of image forming apparatuses having a temperature detecting means for detecting a surface temperature,
Any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses serves as a master unit, and the read image data is transferred to another plurality of image forming apparatuses serving as slave units. Parallel processing means for sharing printing as jobs and processing in parallel;
A transfer unit for transferring the image data to the slave unit when the linked job is reserved while the master unit is executing a print job;
In the linked job, if the time required for the slave unit to return from the energy-saving state to the printable state is Tr, and the time until the end when the linked job is all printed by the master unit is Tp,
At the start of the connection job, the parent device requests the child device to return from an energy saving state to a printable state,
In the case of Tr ≧ Tp, the master unit cancels a request to return to the energy saving state to the slave unit at the end of the connection job of the master unit alone. A reading unit that reads a document as image data, an image processing unit that performs image processing on the image data read by the reading unit, a printing unit that prints image data formed by the image processing unit, and a fixing roller An image forming system configured by electrically connecting a plurality of image forming apparatuses having a temperature detecting means for detecting a surface temperature,
Any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses serves as a master unit, and the read image data is transferred to another plurality of image forming apparatuses serving as slave units. Parallel processing means for sharing printing as jobs and processing in parallel;
A transfer unit for transferring the image data to the slave unit when the linked job is reserved while the master unit is executing a print job;
In the linked job, if the time required for the slave unit to return from the energy-saving state to the printable state is Tr, and the time until the end when the linked job is all printed by the master unit is Tp,
At the start of the connection job, the parent device requests the child device to return from an energy saving state to a printable state,
The slave unit, after receiving this request, includes a means for starting a return operation from energy saving and notifying the master unit of a time Tr required to return from the energy saving state to the printable state.
When the master unit Tr ≧ Tp, the master unit notifies the slave unit of cancellation of the return request from the energy saving state to the printable state,
In the case of Tp ≧ Tr, the slave unit is notified of the confirmation of the return request from the energy saving state to the printable state,
When the slave unit receives the cancellation request for returning to the printable state, the slave unit stops the energy saving return operation and shifts to the energy saving state. An image forming system characterized by being continued. A reading unit that reads a document as image data, an image processing unit that performs image processing on the image data read by the reading unit, a printing unit that prints image data formed by the image processing unit, and a fixing roller An image forming system configured by electrically connecting a plurality of image forming apparatuses having a temperature detecting means for detecting a surface temperature,
Any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses serves as a master unit, and the read image data is transferred to another plurality of image forming apparatuses serving as slave units. Parallel processing means for sharing printing as jobs and processing in parallel;
A transfer unit for transferring the image data to the slave unit when the linked job is reserved while the master unit is executing a print job;
In the linked job, if the time required for the slave unit to return from the energy-saving state to the printable state is Tr, and the time until the end when the linked job is all printed by the master unit is Tp,
At the start of the connection job, the parent device requests the child device to return from an energy saving state to a printable state,
The slave unit includes means for notifying the master unit of a time Tr required to return from the energy saving state to the printable state after receiving the request,
When the master unit Tr ≧ Tp, the master unit notifies the slave unit of cancellation of the return request from the energy saving state to the printable state,
In the case of Tp ≧ Tr, the slave unit is notified of the confirmation of the return request from the energy saving state to the printable state,
The slave unit does not return to the printable state when the return request is canceled, and enters the energy saving state as it is, and starts the return operation to the printable state when the return request is confirmed. An image forming system.

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