JP2006212888A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing a printed material of another user from being placed between printed materials of an identical user and of preventing jobs of different users from being continuously printed on a continuous paper sheet. <P>SOLUTION: This image forming apparatus comprises a printing means 14, a job registration means 13 for registering print jobs issued from a plurality of users in the issuing order, a user recognition means 16 for recognizing a user who issued the print job, and an execution order sorting means 16. The execution order sorting means 16 sorts the execution order by the printing means 14 for the jobs registered in the job registration means 13 based on the recognition result by the user recognition means 16 such that the print jobs of the identical user can be continuously carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer capable of printing image data or the like.

  In general, a single image forming apparatus is shared by a plurality of users by connecting a plurality of user terminals to the image forming apparatus such as a printer via a network.

  In this case, the image forming apparatus generally receives print jobs issued from a plurality of users and performs printing in the received order.

  However, when a print job is issued by another user between two print jobs issued by the same user, other users' printed materials are mixed between the same user's printed materials, which is inconvenient. There was a problem of being.

  In particular, in an image forming apparatus capable of using continuous paper as paper, if printed materials of other users are mixed between printed materials related to the job of the same user, the users must be cut because they are different. Nevertheless, there is a problem that jobs of different users are continuously printed on continuous paper.

In Patent Document 1, in a printing apparatus having a printing transport unit and a post-processing transport unit, post-processing such as continuous paper cutting is performed only when it is determined to be necessary, thereby frequently performing post-processing. Techniques have been proposed to prevent productivity loss and jamming when performed.
JP-A-8-59070

  However, in the image processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to prevent the printed materials of other users from being mixed in between the printed materials of the same user, or jobs of different users are continuously printed on continuous paper. The inconvenience could not be solved.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a technical background, and can prevent other users' printed materials from being mixed between printed materials of the same user, and jobs of different users can be continuously printed on continuous paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can prevent printing.

The above problem is solved by the following means.
(1) Based on the printing means, a job registration means for registering print jobs issued by a plurality of users in the order of issue, a user recognition means for recognizing the user who issued the print job, and a recognition result by the user recognition means. And an execution order rearranging unit that rearranges the execution order of the jobs registered in the job registration unit by the printing unit so that print jobs of the same user are continuously executed. Image forming apparatus.
(2) The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein the execution order rearranging unit rearranges the job execution order with priority given to a user who has issued a print job first.
(3) The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein the execution order rearranging unit rearranges the execution order based on a print capacity for each user.
(4) The image forming apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 3, wherein a selection operation can be performed as to whether or not the job execution order is rearranged.
(5) A printing unit capable of printing on continuous paper, a job registration unit for registering print jobs issued by a plurality of users, and a print job registered in the registration unit after being printed by the printing unit A cutting means for cutting continuous paper, a cutting presence / absence judging means for judging whether or not to cut the continuous paper selected by the user for each print job, and issuing a next print job based on a recognition result by the user recognition means If the selected user is different from the user who issued the previous print job, the continuous paper is forcibly cut at the boundary between the previous print job and the next print job regardless of the selection of whether or not to cut. An image forming apparatus comprising: a cutting control unit that controls the cutting unit.
(6) The image formation according to item 5 above, wherein the user can select whether or not to perform continuous cutting of continuous paper when the user who issued the next print job is different from the user who issued the previous print job. apparatus.

  According to the invention described in item (1) above, based on the recognition result by the user recognition unit, the execution order of the jobs registered in the job registration unit by the printing unit is the same as that of the print job of the same user. Since they are rearranged so as to be executed, it is possible to prevent the printed materials of other users from being mixed between the printed materials related to the job of the same user, and the image forming apparatus can be easily used.

  According to the invention described in item (2) above, the job execution order is rearranged with priority given to the user who issued the print job first, so that the user's print job issued later is prevented from being executed first. can do.

  According to the invention described in item (3) above, the execution order control means rearranges the job execution order based on the print capacity for each user, so that, for example, a user's print job with a small print capacity is executed first. Thus, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom of execution order control, such as preventing a user with a small print capacity from waiting for a long time.

  According to the invention described in item (4) above, since it is possible to select whether or not to rearrange the job execution order, the job execution order can be rearranged as necessary. Yes, it's even easier to use.

  According to the invention described in (5) above, if the user who issued the next print job is different from the user who issued the previous print job, the previous print is performed regardless of the presence or absence of the cutting selected by the user. Since the cutting means is controlled so as to cut the continuous paper at the boundary between the job and the next print job, even if the job execution order is rearranged, it continues in the part related to the job of different users. Paper can be cut reliably, and jobs of different users can be prevented from being continuously printed on continuous paper.

  According to the invention described in item (6) above, it is possible to select whether or not to cut continuous paper when the user who issued the next print job is different from the user who issued the previous print job. Therefore, it is even easier to use.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network system using an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an image forming apparatus, and reference numerals 21 to 23 denote a plurality of user terminals such as personal computers. These image forming apparatuses and each user terminal are connected via a network 3. The image forming apparatus 1 is a multifunctional image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions such as a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a data transmission function such as image data. It is configured.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a network interface unit (network I / F) 11, an operation unit 12, a job registration unit 13, a printing unit 14, a storage unit 15, and a control unit 16.

  The network interface unit 11 functions as a communication unit for connecting the image forming apparatus 1 to the network 3. In this embodiment, the print job and other data transmitted from the user terminals 21 to 23 can be received via the network interface unit 11.

  The operation unit 12 includes a display device having a touch panel and a keyboard, and has a display function and a function for a user to perform an operation.

  The job registration unit 13 registers the print jobs transmitted from the user terminals 21 to 23 in the issue order (reception order) in association with the information of the issuer user, and is configured by a storage medium such as a hard disk. Has been.

  The printing unit 14 prints print target data included in a print job registered in the job registration unit 13 on a sheet.

  The storage unit 15 stores various data other than jobs. The storage unit 15 may be composed of the same storage medium as the job registration unit 13.

  The control unit 16 includes a computer system including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and comprehensively controls the entire image forming apparatus 1. For example, control is performed so that a print job received via the network I / F unit 11 is registered in the job registration unit 13 or output to the printing unit 14 for printing. Further, in this embodiment, from the function of rearranging the execution order of the print jobs waiting to be registered registered in the job registration unit 13 in a predetermined order and the user information associated with the print job and registered in the job registration unit 13, It has a function for recognizing the user who issued the print job, a function for determining whether to rearrange the job execution order, and other determination functions.

  The type of the user information for the control unit 16 to recognize the user is not particularly limited, and the IP address of the user terminal may be used, but different users issue jobs using the same user terminal. In consideration of the case where the same user issues a job from a different user terminal, it is preferable to use user identification information (ID) when the user logs on.

  Next, rearrangement of the execution order of print jobs performed by the control unit 16 will be described.

  For example, it is assumed that a print job is issued at the timing shown in FIG. 3 by the three user terminals 21 to 23 shown in FIG. That is, “Job A” to “Job C” are issued by the user of the user terminal 21, and “Job A” is changed to “Job B” from the user terminal 22 of a different user between “Job A” and “Job B”. “Job 1” is issued between “Job C” and “Job C”, and “Job 1” is issued from the user terminal 23 of a different user between “Job A” and “Job B”.

  In the conventional image forming apparatus, as shown in FIG. 4A, the issued “Job A”, “Job A”, “Job 1”, “Job B”, “Job I”, “Job C” are issued. Were printed in the order of. For this reason, there has been a problem that, for example, the printed material from the user terminals 22 and 23 is mixed in the printed material related to the job issued from the user terminal 21.

  On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, the job execution order is rearranged so that print jobs issued by the same user are collectively executed.

More specifically, the control unit 16 determines the issued user based on the user information stored in association with the job for the job waiting for printing registered in the job registration unit 13, and among the jobs waiting for printing, When there are print jobs issued by the same user, the printing order is rearranged so that the print jobs of the same user are continuously printed. When sorting,
(1) Reordering the user who issued the print job first,
(2) Sorting by giving priority to users with small (or large) print capacity,
There is a sort priority method. Such rearrangement conditions are set in advance by an administrator, a user, or the like and stored in the storage unit 15.

  In the example of FIG. 4B, the user who issued the print job first is rearranged, and the user “print job A” to “print job C” of the user terminal 21 is executed first. Next, rearrangement is performed so that “print job” and “print job” of the user of the user terminal 22 are executed, and then “print job 1” of the user of the user terminal 23 is executed. Note that the arrows between FIGS. 4A and 4B indicate the movement destinations of jobs whose order has been moved in the conventional and the present embodiment.

  Further, the administrator or the user can select and set in advance whether or not to rearrange print jobs. Such a selection operation may be performed by the operation unit 12, or may be performed via the network 3 by the user terminals 21 to 23. The setting contents for performing or not rearranging the print jobs are stored in the storage unit 15, and the control unit 16 performs control so as to perform or not perform rearrangement according to the setting contents.

  The timing for rearranging is not limited. For example, the rearrangement may be performed when the number of waiting jobs registered in the job registration unit 13 reaches a certain number, or the number of jobs per user is designated. It may be performed when the number of waiting jobs of any user reaches the specified number.

  In such job rearrangement control, when many jobs are issued from one user, there is a possibility that jobs issued from other users may be postponed. This can be avoided by using the function, and the maximum delay time from when the job is issued to when it is printed is set in the sorting condition settings. If this is expected, interrupt printing may be automatically performed.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the contents of the sort processing of the execution order of the print jobs performed by the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. In the following description and drawings, the step is abbreviated as “S”.

  In this embodiment, the rearrangement process is performed when the number of waiting jobs registered in the job registration unit 13 reaches a certain number.

  At the execution timing of the rearrangement process, in S11, the control unit 16 determines whether or not the rearrangement is set in advance.

  If reordering is set (YES in S11), the user is recognized for each waiting job in S12, and then in S13, the user who issued the print job first is reordered. If it is in the order of issued users (Yes in S13), the job is rearranged for each user in the job issue order as shown in FIG. 4B in S14, and then the process proceeds to S18. .

  If it is not the rearrangement in the order of issued users (NO in S13), it is determined in S15 whether the rearrangement is in the order of decreasing print capacity for each user. If the print capacity is in ascending order (YES in S15), the total print capacity for each user is calculated in S16, the print jobs are rearranged in the order of the user with the smallest print capacity, and then the process proceeds to S18. . If the print capacity is not in order from the smallest (NO in S15), the total print capacity for each user is calculated in S17, the print jobs are rearranged in the order of the user having the largest print capacity, and the process proceeds to S18. .

  In S18, the control unit 16 outputs the data of the first print job rearranged in the printing unit 14, and after printing is performed in S19, it is determined whether printing is completed in S20.

  If printing has not been completed (NO at S20), the process waits until completion. When printing is completed (YES in S20), the presence or absence of the next job is checked in S21 (if the determination in S21 is YES), the process proceeds to S18 and the data of the next job is output to the printing unit 14. Then, the processes in S18 to S21 are repeated until printing is completed for all the rearranged jobs.

  When there is no next job (NO in S21), the process is terminated.

  If it is determined in S11 that sorting is not set (NO in S11), the process proceeds to S18 without performing sorting, and printing is performed in the order of issue of each job.

  As described above, in this embodiment, printing is performed after the print jobs are rearranged so that print jobs issued by the same user are continuously executed. It is possible to reliably prevent other users' prints from being mixed.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a main body configuration of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. This image forming apparatus is an industrial color continuous paper printer capable of printing on continuous paper, and can print a large amount of labels / tags.

  In FIG. 6, a sheet (continuous sheet) 101 is hung on a tractor pin 117 in the tractor 102. The tractor pin 117 is rotated by a conveyance motor (not shown), and the paper 101 is conveyed.

  On the photoreceptors 22Y to 22K (22Y: yellow, 22M: magenta, 22C: cyan, 22K: black), a toner image is created by the exposure device / developer and is primarily transferred to the transfer belt 107. A toner image of each color is superimposed on the transfer belt 107 by a photoconductor.

  The sheet 101 is pressed against the transfer belt 107 by the pre-transfer guide 108, and the color toner image formed on the transfer belt 107 is secondarily transferred to the sheet 101 by the transfer charger 115.

  The sheet 101 on which the color toner image is transferred is sent to the preheating unit 111 and the flash fixing unit 112 by the conveying belt 110 and is fixed while being sucked by the suction fan 109.

  Further, the fixed sheet 101 is conveyed by the intermediate roller 113 and the sheet discharge roller 114 and is discharged from the printer main body. Here, when it is necessary to cut the paper, the paper is cut by a burster 118 as cutting means.

  An operation panel 119 is installed on the side of the printer, and various parameter / operation mode settings can be changed and numerical values can be input to the printer.

  In such a printer, the user needs to select whether or not to cut the paper after the end of the job (hereinafter, also referred to as paper cutting) in addition to the general cut paper printer operation. For example, in consideration of the use of post-processing devices such as labelers and laminators for output products from a plurality of jobs, it is desirable that the paper 101 is as continuous as possible. On the other hand, it is desirable that the paper 101 is cut when these output products are subjected to separate post-processing.

  Based on these determination criteria, the user selects whether or not to cut the paper at the end of the job when the print job is issued.

  When the paper cut at the end of job is set, the paper 101 is cut at the end of the job, the next job is accepted, and when no paper cut at the end of the job is set, the paper is cut at the end of the job. Instead, it accepts the next job as it is.

  The electrical configuration of such a printer (image forming apparatus) 100 is the same as that of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2, but in this embodiment, a print job issued by a user and a sheet at the end of the job. The job is registered in the job registration unit 13 with the presence or absence of the cut included. Further, the control unit 16 determines whether or not there is a paper cut selected by the user for each print job, determines the identity of the user of the next job and the user of the previous job, and if the users are not the same, Regardless of whether or not there is a paper cut selected by the user, control is performed so that continuous paper is cut at the boundary between the previous printed job and the next job before the next job is executed.

  Also, assuming that multiple users may issue print jobs for the same purpose, whether or not to forcibly cut continuous paper when the next job user and the previous job user are different as described above This can be selected and set in advance by an administrator or user of the image forming apparatus. Such a selection operation may be performed by the operation unit 12, or may be performed via the network 3 by the user terminals 21 to 23. The setting content for performing or not performing forced disconnection is stored in the storage unit 15, and the control unit 16 performs control so as to perform or not perform forced disconnection according to the setting content.

  In the printer 100 shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that a print job is issued at a time timing as shown in FIG. That is, “Job A” to “Job C” are issued by the user of the user terminal 21, and “Job A” is changed to “Job B” from the user terminal 22 of a different user between “Job A” and “Job B”. “Job 1” is issued between “Job C” and “Job C”, and “Job 1” is issued from the user terminal 23 of a different user between “Job A” and “Job B”. For “Job A”, “Job B”, “Job A”, and “Job I”, the user selects “no paper cut”, and for “Job C” and “Job 1”, the paper cut is selected by the user. It is assumed that

  At this time, although the user terminals 21 to 23 desire the output shown in FIG. 8A, the output result of the conventional image forming apparatus is as shown in FIG. There is a problem that the printed matter is not cut in the rice mark portion of (b) even though the users are different.

  However, in the printer 100 according to this embodiment, regardless of the presence or absence of the paper cut selected by the user, when the user changes, the paper is forcibly cut so that the appropriateness as shown in FIG. Print output.

  FIG. 8D shows an application example, in which the forced paper cutting control is applied to a job that has been rearranged as described with reference to FIGS. The paper is cut.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the content of the forced paper cutting control process performed by the printer 100 shown in FIG. In this example, an example of application in the case where jobs are rearranged as shown in FIG. 8D is shown. When the number of waiting jobs registered in the job registration unit 13 reaches a certain number, the rearrangement is performed. Processing is supposed to be performed.

  At the execution timing of the rearrangement process, in S11, the control unit 16 determines whether or not the rearrangement is set in advance.

  If reordering is set (YES at S31), after recognizing the user for each waiting job at S32, whether the user who issued the print job first is reordered at S33. If it is in the order of issued users (YES in S33), the job is rearranged for each user in the job issuance order in S34, and the process proceeds to S38.

  If it is not the rearrangement in the order of the issued users (NO in S33), it is determined in S35 whether the rearrangement is in the order of decreasing print capacity for each user. If the print capacity is in ascending order (YES in S35), the total print capacity for each user is calculated in S36, the print jobs are rearranged in the order of the user with the smallest print capacity, and the process proceeds to S38. . If the print capacity is not in order of decreasing (NO in S35), the total print capacity for each user is calculated in S37, the print jobs are rearranged in the order of users with the largest print capacity, and the process proceeds to S38. .

  Further, in S31, if the sorting is not set (NO in S31), the process proceeds to S38 without performing the sorting.

  In S38, the control unit 16 outputs the data of the first print job rearranged in the printing unit 14, and after printing is executed in S39, it is determined whether printing is completed in S40.

  If printing has not been completed (NO in S40), the process waits until completion. When printing is completed (YES at S40), the presence or absence of the next job is checked at S41 (if the determination at S41 is YES), the process proceeds to S42.

  In S42, the control unit 16 refers to the storage unit 15 to check whether or not to perform forced disconnection control when the user of the previous job and the next job is different. If it is set (YES in S42), the process proceeds to S43, and if not set (NO in S42), the process proceeds to S44.

  In S43, the identity of the user of the next job and the user of the previous job is determined. If they are not the same (NO in S43), the paper 101 is forcibly cut in S45, and then the process proceeds to S38 to proceed to the printing unit 14 The next job data is output to. In S43, when the users are the same (Yes in S43), the process proceeds to S44.

  In S44, the presence or absence of the paper cut selected by the user for the previous job is referred to, and the process proceeds to S38 and the data of the next job is output to the printing unit 14 after or without performing cutting accordingly.

  Then, the processing of S38 to S45 is repeated until printing is completed for all the rearranged jobs.

  When there is no next job (NO in S41), the process is terminated.

  As described above, in this embodiment, when the user of the next job and the user of the previous job are different, the paper made of continuous paper is forcibly cut, so that the jobs of different users are continuously printed on the paper. Can be prevented.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the job rearrangement is performed. However, the forced paper cutting control process may be applied to an image forming apparatus that does not have a job rearranging function.

1 is a block diagram of a network system using an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating issuance timing of print jobs issued from different users. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of rearrangement of print job execution order. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the contents of a print job rearrangement process performed by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the main body structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating issuance timing of print jobs issued from different users. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a forced paper cutting process. 7 is a flowchart showing the content of a forced paper cutting process performed by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 6.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 21-23 User terminal 13 Job registration part 14 Printing part 15 Control part (User recognition means, execution order rearrangement means, cutting | disconnection presence determination means, cutting | disconnection control means)
118 Burster (cutting means)

Claims (6)

Printing means;
Job registration means for registering print jobs issued by a plurality of users in the order of issue;
User recognition means for recognizing the user who issued the print job;
Based on the recognition result by the user recognition means, the execution order is rearranged so that the printing means of the jobs registered in the job registration means are continuously executed by the printing means. Means,
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the execution order rearranging unit rearranges the job execution order with priority given to a user who has issued a print job first.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the execution order rearranging unit rearranges the execution order based on a print capacity for each user.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a selection operation can be performed as to whether or not the job execution order is rearranged. Printing means capable of printing on continuous paper;
Job registration means for registering print jobs issued by a plurality of users;
Cutting means for cutting the printed continuous paper after execution by the printing means of the print job registered in the registration means;
Cutting presence / absence judging means for judging whether or not the continuous paper is selected by the user for each print job;
If the user who issued the next print job is different from the user who issued the previous print job based on the recognition result by the user recognition means, the next print job and the next print job are selected regardless of whether or not the cutting is performed. Cutting control means for controlling the cutting means to forcibly cut continuous paper at the boundary with the print job of
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a selection operation can be performed as to whether or not the continuous paper is forcibly cut when the user who issued the next print job is different from the user who issued the previous print job.

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