JP2006206287A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device capable of omitting the operations to be made by the user so as to enable quick execution of a printing process by selecting other sheet feeding means accommodating paper sheets in a number equal to or more than the number of sheets to be printed automatically in case sheets in the number necessary for making the requested printing process do not remain in the sheet feeding means selected when the printing process was requested. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming device is structured so that the process "To Be Implemented" (S5-S9) is executed in case sheets in the number necessary for making the requested printing process do not remain in the sheet feed cassette selected when the printing process was requested ("No" at S3), and the sheet feed cassette accommodating sheets in a number equal to or more than the number of sheets to be printed is selected automatically as a sheet feed cassette to be used in the requested printing process. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a plurality of sheet feeding units that can accommodate a plurality of sheets, and more particularly, to the printing process based on the remaining amount of sheets of a sheet feeding unit selected at the time of a printing process request. The present invention relates to processing for selecting a paper feeding unit to be used.

In image forming apparatuses such as printers, copiers, facsimile machines, and multi-function machines, when image processing is requested (such as receiving a print output signal from a personal computer, a copy operation by a user, or receiving a fax), the image is formed. A printing process for printing a predetermined image on a sheet supplied from a sheet feeding cassette or a manual feed tray (hereinafter referred to as “sheet feeding unit”) provided in the apparatus is performed.
The paper feeding means used for the printing process is selected by the user or automatically selected according to the size and type of the sheet when the printing process is requested.
However, when the paper required for the printing process does not remain in the selected paper feeding means, the printing process is interrupted and the workability is poor, and the image forming apparatus having an automatic power-off function is provided. Then, there is a possibility that the print data may be lost when the print processing is interrupted for a predetermined time and the power is automatically turned off. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, the remaining amount of paper of the paper feeding means selected at the time of requesting the printing process is detected, and if the remaining amount of paper is less than the number of prints necessary for the printing process, the fact that the sheet is insufficient is reported. An image forming apparatus that warns the user is shown. As a result, the user can know in advance that the remaining amount of paper is insufficient before starting the printing process. Therefore, the user can replenish paper in the paper feeding means in advance or replace another paper feeding means. By selecting, it is possible to avoid an unexpected abnormality such as interruption of printing processing that occurs during printing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-149066

However, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 merely gives a warning that the remaining amount of paper in the paper feeding unit selected at the time of the print processing request is less than the number of prints required for the print processing. Therefore, the user cannot obtain a print result unless the user replenishes the paper feeding means or selects another paper feeding means. On the other hand, for a user who wants to obtain a printing result as soon as possible regardless of the size and type of paper, the time spent for the work is simply wasted and lacks convenience.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to leave the printing paper necessary for the requested printing process in the paper feeding means selected when the printing process is requested. If there is no image, an image can be quickly printed by excluding the above-mentioned work by the user by automatically selecting another sheet feeding unit that accommodates more sheets than the number printed. It is to provide a forming apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention detects the remaining amount of paper stored in each of a plurality of paper feeding means capable of storing a plurality of papers, and is selected by a user or automatically when a printing process is requested. A determination is made as to whether or not the remaining amount of paper in the selected paper feed means is greater than or equal to the number of prints required for the requested printing process, and if the remaining amount of paper in the selected paper feed means is less than the number of prints If it is determined, the image forming apparatus is configured to select a paper feeding unit to be used for the requested printing process based on a preset selection order of the paper feeding units.
This eliminates the need for user operations such as paper replenishment and re-designation of the paper feed means after requesting the print process, and the requested print process is executed continuously, so that the print result can be obtained quickly. it can.
In addition, a determination as to whether or not the remaining amount of paper in the selected paper feeding means is greater than or equal to the number of printed sheets is performed during execution of the requested printing process, and a paper feeding means to be used is selected each time. In addition, there may be a problem that papers of different paper sizes and types are mixed. Therefore, if the determination as to whether or not the remaining amount of paper in the selected paper feeding means is greater than or equal to the number of prints is made before starting the printing process, the paper feeding means used for the requested printing process. However, since it is selected before the start of the printing process, an output result in which the paper size and type are unified can be obtained.

As a more specific configuration of the present invention, the determination as to whether or not the remaining amount of paper in the other paper feeding means excluding the selected paper feeding means is equal to or greater than the number of printed sheets is made sequentially according to the selection order. , It is conceivable to select the other paper feeding means determined that the remaining amount of paper is equal to or greater than the number of printed sheets. In this case, since it is determined whether or not the number of sheets to be printed is stored in order from the paper feeding unit having the highest selection order, the paper feeding unit having the highest selection order is selected.
Further, the selection order of the paper feeding means may be set for each type of printing process, such as printer output, copy output, and fax output. As a result, the paper feeding means can be selected according to the selection order corresponding to the required type of print processing.
By the way, although the selection order of the paper feeding means may be set in advance by initial setting, it is preferable that the present invention can be set to a selection order desired by the user because convenience is improved.

According to the present invention, even when the number of printed sheets required for the requested printing process does not remain in the paper feeding unit selected at the time of the printing process request, more sheets than the number of printed sheets are accommodated. Since the paper feeding means is automatically selected based on the selection order and the printing process is executed, the requested printing process is continuously executed. Therefore, the user does not need to perform operations such as replenishing paper to the paper feeding means selected at the time of requesting the printing process or selecting another paper feeding means, so that the printing result can be obtained quickly. it can.
Further, it is possible to obtain an output result in which the size and type of the paper are unified by determining whether or not the remaining amount of paper of the selected paper feeding unit is equal to or more than the number of prints before starting the printing process. Can do.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be understood. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus X according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a procedure of print output processing in the image forming apparatus X.
First, the schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus X according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus X includes a CPU and other peripheral devices (ROM, RAM, etc.), and executes processing according to a predetermined program stored in the ROM, thereby executing the image forming apparatus X. A control unit 1 that performs overall control, an operation / display unit 2 such as a liquid crystal display and a touch panel, a paper feeding unit 5 that supplies paper to an image forming unit 3 to be described later at the start of printing processing, and the paper feeding unit 5 schematically includes an image forming unit 3 that performs a printing process on the paper supplied from 5 and a storage unit 4 that stores various data such as information relating to a selection order described later.
The paper feeding unit 5 includes a plurality of paper feeding cassettes 51, 52, and 53 (an example of paper feeding means) that can accommodate a plurality of paper sheets, and a thickness of a paper bundle accommodated in each of the paper feeding cassettes 51 to 53. And thickness detection sensors 61, 62, and 63 for detecting. The remaining amount of paper stored in each of the paper feed cassettes 51 to 53 is the thickness of the paper bundle of each of the paper feed cassettes 51 to 53 detected by the thickness detection sensors 61 to 63 and the thickness of each paper. Is detected by the control unit 1 based on the above. Here, the control unit 1 and the thickness detection sensors 61 to 63 for detecting the remaining amount of sheets stored in the respective sheet feeding cassettes 51 to 53 correspond to sheet remaining amount detecting means. Note that the method for detecting the remaining amount of paper stored in the paper feed cassette in this manner is a well-known technique, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here. The sheet remaining amount detecting means is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

なお，上記表１に示すように，プリンタ出力時には前記給紙カセット５２，５１，５３の順，コピー出力時及びファックス出力時には前記給紙カセット５１，５２，５３の順に前記選定順位が設定されており，その選定順位に関する情報が前記記憶部４に記憶されている。なお，前記選定順位は，前記画像形成装置Ｘの初期設定において予め設定されていてもよいが，ユーザによる前記操作・表示部２への操作入力に応じて前記制御部１によって前記選定順位が設定或いは変更され得る構成が利便性の観点から望ましい。ここに，前記選定順位を設定するときの前記操作・表示部２及び前記制御部１が選定順位設定手段に相当する。
このように構成された画像形成装置Ｘでは，上述したように，印字処理の要求時にユーザ操作により或いは自動的に選択された給紙カセットを用いてその印字処理が実行されるが，その選択された給紙カセットに印字処理に必要な印刷枚数が残存していない場合には，後述する給紙カセット選定処理がなされることにより，前記選定順位に従って他の給紙カセットが自動的に選定される。 The image forming unit 3 includes a photosensitive drum uniformly charged to a predetermined potential by a charging device, an exposure device such as a laser scanning unit that forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum by exposure, A developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum with toner supplied from a toner cartridge, and a toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum by the developing device on a sheet The image forming apparatus includes a transfer device for transferring, a fixing device for fixing the toner onto a sheet, and the like (not shown). The image forming apparatus X receives a print output signal from a personal computer (not shown), receives a print processing request such as a copy operation to the operation / display unit 2 by a user, and a fax reception, and the like. Control is performed by the control unit 1 such that the paper supplied from any of the paper cassettes 51 to 53 is subjected to a printing process by the image forming unit 3.
Each of the paper feed cassettes 51 to 53 included in the paper feed unit 5 accommodates a plurality of sheets of different sizes and types. In the present embodiment, the paper feed cassette 51 is A4 size plain paper, the paper feed cassette 52 is A4 size reuse paper (so-called back paper), and the paper feed cassette 53 is B4 size paper. Plain paper shall be accommodated. Of course, it is possible to appropriately change the paper size that can be accommodated in each paper feed cassette. For example, all paper feed cassettes may contain paper of the same size.
These paper cassettes 51 to 53 are set with a selection order for each type of print processing required for the image forming apparatus X, such as printer output, copy output, and fax output. This selection order is an order that is referred to when a paper feed cassette selection process (steps S5 to S9 in FIG. 2) described later is performed. Since such a selection order is set in advance, in a later-described paper feed cassette selection process, a paper feed cassette to be used for the printing process is selected according to a selection order corresponding to the requested type of the printing process. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, an example in which the selection order is preset as shown in Table 1 below will be described.

As shown in Table 1, the selection order is set in the order of the paper feeding cassettes 52, 51, 53 when outputting to the printer, and in the order of the paper feeding cassettes 51, 52, 53 when outputting the copy and fax. Information regarding the order of selection is stored in the storage unit 4. The selection order may be set in advance in the initial setting of the image forming apparatus X, but the selection order is set by the control unit 1 in accordance with an operation input to the operation / display unit 2 by a user. Or the structure which can be changed is desirable from a viewpoint of convenience. Here, the operation / display unit 2 and the control unit 1 when setting the selection order correspond to selection order setting means.
In the image forming apparatus X configured as described above, as described above, the printing process is executed by a user operation or automatically using a paper feed cassette when the printing process is requested. If the number of printed sheets required for the printing process does not remain in the selected paper cassette, another paper cassette is automatically selected according to the selection order by performing a paper cassette selection process described later. .

Hereinafter, an example of the procedure of the print output process (including the paper feed cassette selection process) executed by the control unit 1 of the image forming apparatus X will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, S1, S2,... Represent processing procedure (step) numbers.
In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, 50 sheets of A4 size plain paper are stored in the sheet feed cassette 51, 30 sheets of A4 size reused paper are stored in the sheet feed cassette 52, and B4 size sheets are stored in the sheet feed cassette 53. When 200 sheets of plain paper remain, an operation input to the operation / display unit 2 by the user causes 100 copy output using A4 size reused paper stored in the paper feed cassette 52 to be output. An example of processing to be performed will be described.
First, in step S1 of the print output process, the control unit 1 determines whether a print process request is made to the image forming apparatus X. Specifically, determination is made based on a request signal input to the control unit 1 by inputting the number of prints, specifying (selecting) a paper cassette to be used, starting a copy operation, and the like in the operation / display unit 2. Is done. Here, when a print processing request is detected, the process proceeds to the next step S2, and the control unit 1 determines the type of the requested print processing and the number of prints required for the print processing. Here, it is determined that the requested printing process is copy output and the number of printed sheets is 100.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 52 selected at the time of a print request by the user is 100 or more required for the copy output. Note that the control unit 1 when executing such determination processing corresponds to a first remaining paper amount determination unit. Here, for example, when a special print output function such as so-called aggregate printing that consolidates and prints a plurality of originals at the time of request for print processing is set, the control unit 1 performs post-combination. The number of printed sheets necessary for print output is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the calculated number of printed sheets remains in the paper feed cassette 52.
In the present embodiment, since the remaining amount of paper in the paper cassette 52 detected by the control unit 1 based on the detection result by the thickness detection sensor 62 is 30, the paper cassette 52 in step S3. It is determined that the remaining amount of paper is less than 100 sheets (No in step S3), and then a paper feed cassette for selecting a paper feed cassette to be used for the requested copy output (printing process) based on the selection order Selection processing (steps S5 to S9) is executed by the control unit 1. The control unit 1 when executing the paper feed cassette selection process corresponds to the paper feed selection means.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 52 is 100 sheets or more, the process proceeds to step S4 and the paper stored in the paper feed cassette 52 is used. The copy process is executed by the control unit 1, and the print output process ends.
That is, the image forming apparatus X is configured to first select a paper feed cassette to be used for the printing process and then start the printing process (step S4) when the printing process is requested. ing.

First, in step S5 relating to the paper feed cassette selection process, the selection order corresponding to the type of printing process requested for the image forming apparatus X is read from the storage unit 4. The selection order read out here is the order of the paper feed cassettes 51, 52, and 53 as shown in Table 1 because the type of the printing process is a copy process. If the selection order is not set, the configuration may be such that the process proceeds to step S10 to be described later and the print output process is terminated.
Subsequently, in step S6, the control unit 1 searches for the paper feed cassette having the highest selection order among the paper feed cassettes 51 and 53 excluding the paper feed cassette 52 selected at the time of the print processing request. Here, as described above, since the selection order at the time of copy output is the order of the paper feed cassettes 51, 52, 53, among the paper feed cassettes 51, 53 excluding the paper feed cassette 52, the paper feed. Cassette 51 is detected as a search result.
In step S7, the control unit 1 determines whether the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 51 detected by the search in step S6 is 100 or more. Here, since the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 51 detected by the control unit 1 based on the detection result by the thickness detection sensor 61 is 50 sheets, the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 51 is 100 sheets. The process proceeds to step S8. If it is determined that the remaining amount of paper in the paper cassette 51 is 100 sheets or more, the process proceeds to step S4, and the copy process using the paper stored in the paper cassette 51 is performed. It is executed by the control unit 1 and the print output process ends.

In the subsequent step S8, the control unit 1 searches for the paper cassette having the next highest selection order. That is, among the paper feed cassettes excluding the paper feed cassettes 51 and 52 that have already been confirmed to have less than 100 sheets, the paper feed cassette having the highest selection order is searched. In the image forming apparatus X, since only the paper feed cassette 53 becomes the search target at this time, the paper feed cassette 53 is detected as a search result. In addition, in an image forming apparatus having a configuration in which other paper feed cassettes and manual feed trays are present, the one having the highest selection order is detected as a search result.
In step S9 as in step S7, the controller 1 determines whether the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 53 is 100 or more. Here, since the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 53 detected by the control unit 1 based on the detection result by the thickness detection means 63 is 200 sheets, the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 53 is 100 sheets. It determines with it being above, and a subsequent process transfers to step S4. In step S4, the control unit 1 executes a copy process using the paper stored in the paper feed cassette 53 that has been confirmed to be 100 or more printed sheets, and the print output process ends. As described above, in steps S5 to S9 executed by the control unit 1, it is determined whether or not 100 sheets or more are stored sequentially from the paper feed cassette having the higher selection order according to the selection order. (The control unit 1 when executing the determination process corresponds to the second sheet remaining amount determination unit), and the sheet cassette that is initially determined to be 100 sheets or more is used for the printing process. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus X, the printing process using the paper feeding cassette having the highest selection order as much as possible is executed.
If it is determined in step S9 that the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 53 is less than 100 sheets, the process proceeds to step S10 and 100 or more sheets are stored in the image forming apparatus X. The operation / display unit 2 displays that there is no paper feed cassette that accommodates paper, warns the user that the paper is insufficient, and the print output process ends.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus X according to the present embodiment, 100 sheets of sheets necessary for the requested printing process remain in the sheet feeding cassette 52 selected when the printing process is requested. If not, the paper feed cassette 53 containing the 100 or more sheets is automatically selected based on the selection order and the printing process is executed. In other words, even when 100 sheets required for the requested printing process do not remain in the paper feed cassette 52, the requested printing process is continuously executed. Therefore, conventionally, there is no need for operations such as replenishment of paper and resetting of the paper feed cassette, which had been forced by the user when 100 sheets of print sheets have not remained in the paper feed cassette 52. Since time is not wasted, print results can be obtained quickly.
In the image forming apparatus X, a paper feed cassette that satisfies the number of prints necessary for the printing process is selected before the start of the printing process in step S4. Obtainable.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the print output process is terminated when a warning is displayed in step S10 has been described. However, in this step S10, the user executes a process to be executed after that in addition to the warning. Another embodiment may be configured such that a touch key for selection is displayed, and then, when an operation input is made to the touch key by the user, processing corresponding to the operation input is executed. .
The processing executed after the step S10 is, for example, the paper remaining cassette selected at the time of requesting the printing processing with the knowledge that the paper is insufficient, or the remaining paper amount among a plurality of paper feeding cassettes. Forcible printing processing that prints using many paper cassettes, centralized printing processing that prints multiple originals on one sheet, and multiple paper feeding cassettes that are used during printing For example, a process for printing on the paper supplied from the printer may be considered. If the aggregate printing process is set, the subsequent process proceeds to step S2, and after the number of sheets necessary for the aggregate printing is determined, the subsequent processes after step S3 are executed.
This eliminates the need for the user to request the printing process again from the beginning, thereby improving the convenience of the apparatus.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus X according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a procedure of print output processing in the image forming apparatus X according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control part 2 ... Operation and display part 3 ... Image formation part 4 ... Memory | storage part 5 ... Paper feed part 51,52,53 ... Paper feed cassette (an example of a paper feed means)
61, 62, 63 ... thickness detection sensors S1, S2, ... processing procedure (step) numbers

Claims (5)

A plurality of sheet feeding means capable of accommodating a plurality of sheets, a sheet remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of sheets accommodated in each of the plurality of sheet feeding means, and the sheet feeding unit selected at the time of request for printing processing. An image forming apparatus comprising: a first sheet remaining amount determining unit configured to determine whether or not the remaining amount of paper in the sheet unit is equal to or greater than a required number of prints for a requested printing process;
When the first remaining paper amount determining means determines that the remaining amount of paper is less than the number of printed sheets, the paper supply used for the requested printing process is performed based on a preset selection order of the paper supply means. An image forming apparatus comprising a paper feed selection means for selecting a paper means.   2. The first sheet remaining amount determining unit determines whether or not a remaining sheet amount of the selected sheet feeding unit is greater than or equal to the number of printed sheets before starting a printing process. Image forming apparatus. A second paper remaining amount determining means for sequentially determining whether or not the remaining amount of paper of other paper feeding means excluding the selected paper feeding means is equal to or greater than the number of printed sheets, according to the selection order;
3. The sheet feeding selection unit selects the other sheet feeding unit that has been determined by the second sheet remaining amount determining unit that the remaining sheet amount is equal to or greater than the number of printed sheets. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection order of the sheet feeding unit is set for each type of printing process.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a selection order setting unit that sets a selection order of the sheet feeding unit.

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