JP2006331145A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device capable of detecting a document size allowing printing on a margin area. <P>SOLUTION: This image forming device has: a scanner 11 reading an already printed paper sheet inside a machine and detecting the margin area to print requirement to the margin area of the already printed paper sheet; a transmission/reception device 13 notifying the outside of the document size allowing the printing on the margin area; a printer 14 performing the printing on the margin area of the already printed paper sheet; and a central controller 15 controlling the whole. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of printing in a blank area without intersecting a printed area on printed paper.

An image recording apparatus capable of duplex printing is provided with a means for detecting whether the surface of the paper is a printed surface, printing on a non-printed surface, and printing on the other surface when the other surface is printed. A technique for discharging paper has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
A paper tray management unit for recognizing whether or not a backing paper is set in the paper tray; and a printed paper determination unit for detecting whether the printing side of the fed paper has already been printed. When single-sided printing is specified, if it is determined that the specified paper feed tray is not the tray with the back paper set, or if the printing side of the fed paper has already been printed, printing is performed. When it is determined that printing has been completed, there has been proposed a printing apparatus including a print data output destination determination control unit that switches to a paper feed tray on which another backing paper is set (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
Further, the image processing apparatus includes a reading unit that reads a printed area or a blank area in a print sheet, and a controller that transmits information on the printed area or the blank area to the information processing apparatus. The controller is designated by an operator. There has been proposed a printing apparatus that receives print data including print position information in the margin area and prints an image according to the print data in the margin area (see, for example, Patent Document 3).
JP 2002-211045 A JP-A-2005-007825 JP 2001-096835 A

As described above, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-096835 discloses a technique for printing in a blank area of printed paper. In other words, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-096835 proposes a technique for instructing the user which margin area to print in the margin printing of printed paper, but which paper size document is printed in the margin area. Since it is not possible, it is difficult for the network image forming system to allow the user to determine the paper size of the original and send the original data to the image forming apparatus.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of detecting a document size that can be printed in a margin area.

In order to achieve the above object, in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, in response to a print request to a blank area of a printed paper, a scanner that reads the printed paper in the image forming apparatus and detects the blank area, and the blank An image forming apparatus having a transmission / reception device that notifies the size of a document that can be printed in an area to the outside, a printing device that prints in a blank area of printed paper, and a central control device that controls the whole is the main feature. .
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the central control device converts the width and length of the blank area of the printed paper into a standard size and notifies the standard size of the document size that can be printed in the blank area. The main feature is an image forming apparatus to be controlled as described above.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the central control unit controls the margin area of one printed sheet to be divided into a plurality of areas and calculates a document size that can be printed in each area. The main feature is an image forming apparatus.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the central control device accepts the condition contents to be regarded as a blank area in the input printed paper, and controls to extract the blank area according to the condition. Is the main feature.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the central control device receives a notice that denies the document size that can be output on the printed paper, and does not print anything on the printed paper. The main feature is an image forming apparatus that controls paper.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, when there is no printable document size in the margin area, the central control unit notifies the outside and prints nothing on the printed paper. The main feature is an image forming apparatus that controls to discharge paper.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the central control device receives a notification of the total number of printed sheets together with a request to print in the blank area of the printed paper, reads the number of printed sheets, and reads the margin of each sheet. An image forming apparatus that controls to detect a region is a main feature.
The invention according to claim 8 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control device receives the desired document size and controls to notify the outside of whether or not printing is possible with the document size in the margin area of the printed paper. Is the main feature.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the first or fourth aspect, the central control device is mainly characterized by an image forming apparatus that controls to store and call a condition regarded as a blank area of printed paper.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the central control device according to the first or third aspect is characterized in that the central control device is an image forming apparatus that controls to print different pages of originals in a plurality of blank areas in one printing. .
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the central control device controls to notify the outside of the document size that can be printed in the blank area from the width and length of the blank area of the printed paper in an irregular size. The main feature is an image forming apparatus.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the main feature of the image forming apparatus according to the first or fourth aspect is that the central control device controls the input of a condition regarded as a blank area to be received from another information processing apparatus via a network. To do.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the main feature of the first or eighth aspect is that the central control apparatus controls the image forming apparatus to accept the input of the document size from another information processing apparatus via the network.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the central control unit adds a plurality of margin areas in one printed sheet, and calculates a document size that can be printed in the added margin area. An image forming apparatus to be controlled is a main feature.
According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, when the rule for converting the width and length of the margin area of the printed paper into the standard size is set, the central control device follows the rule. An image forming apparatus that controls the conversion is a main feature.
According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first or fifteenth aspect, the central control device sets a rule for converting the width and length of the blank area of the printed paper to a standard size from another information processing device via the network. The main feature is an image forming apparatus that is controlled so as to receive the image.
According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the first or fifteenth aspect, the central control device controls the image formation so as to store and call a rule for converting the width and length of the margin area of the printed paper into a standard size. Features the device.
According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, the main feature of the first aspect is that the central control device controls the image forming apparatus to print on the blank area of the paper on which the handwritten character string is described.

According to the first aspect, the user is notified of the document size that can be printed in the margin area of the printed paper, and the user issues a print command with the notified document size, thereby intersecting the printed area of the printed paper. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a sheet printed in the margin area, and to effectively reuse the printed sheet.
According to the second aspect, in order to notify the user of the document size that can be printed in the margin area of the printed paper in a standard size, when the user wants to print the document in a standard size, the user selects which standard size the document size should be I know if it ’s good.
According to the third aspect, the margin area of one printed sheet is divided into a plurality of areas, and the document size that can be printed in each area is calculated, thereby increasing the number of document size candidates that can be selected by the user. it can.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of conditions that can be regarded as a blank area in a printed sheet can be considered, and the user can input the conditions, so that printing that reflects the user's desire can be performed.
According to the fifth aspect, when the size of the document that can be printed on the printed paper does not meet the user's request, the printed paper is discharged to print on another printed paper in the paper feed tray. be able to.
According to the sixth aspect, when there is no printable document size in the margin area of the printed paper, the user is notified of this, and the user can discharge the printed paper without printing anything, so that the user can Does not need to remove the printed paper by itself.

According to the seventh aspect, in order to read the printed sheets for the number of printed sheets and notify the user of the document size that can be printed in the margin area of each sheet, the user can select which size the document size of each page of the document to be printed. Know what to do at once.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, since the user can input a desired document size and know whether or not printing is possible with the document size, when the user has determined the document size in advance, the printed paper can be efficiently processed in time. It is possible to print in the margin area.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to save and call a condition that is regarded as a blank area in a printed sheet, thereby saving the user from re-inputting the same condition.
According to the tenth aspect, since it is possible to print originals of different pages in a plurality of blank areas by one printing, it is possible to save the trouble of printing the originals of a plurality of pages in a plurality of times.
According to the eleventh aspect, in order to notify the user of the document size that can be printed in the margin area of the printed paper in an irregular size, when the user wants to print the document in an irregular size, the document size is set to any irregular size. I know what to do.
According to the twelfth aspect, since a condition to be regarded as a blank area can be directly input to the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus and can be input from another information processing apparatus via the network, the user is close to the image forming apparatus. In this case, the margin condition can be input immediately even when the user is near the information processing apparatus.

According to the thirteenth aspect, the user can directly input the document size desired by the user to the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus and can also input from another information processing apparatus via the network. The user can immediately input the desired document size even when the user is near the information processing apparatus.
According to the fourteenth aspect, when a plurality of margin areas on one printed sheet are added together, the user knows the size of an original that can be printed in the margin area, so that the user can make one page of one original. It is possible to print over a plurality of margin areas on the printed paper.
According to the fifteenth aspect, a plurality of rules for converting from the width and length of the margin area of the printed paper to the standard size can be considered, and the user can input the rules, so that printing that reflects the user's wishes can be performed.
According to the sixteenth aspect, the rule for converting the width and length of the blank area into the standard size can be directly input to the apparatus body of the image forming apparatus, and can be input from another information processing apparatus via the network. Whether the user is near the image forming apparatus or the information processing apparatus, the user can immediately input.
According to the seventeenth aspect, it is possible to save and call a rule for converting from the width and length of the margin area to the standard size in the printed paper, thereby saving the user from re-inputting the same rule.
According to the eighteenth aspect, printing can also be performed on the margin area of the paper on which the handwritten character string is described, so that not only the printed paper but also the paper on which the handwritten character string is described can be effectively reused.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network image forming system in which an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus according to the present invention are network-connected. In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 and a plurality of information processing apparatuses (host personal computers) 2 (2-1 to 2-3) are connected by a network 3, and print data created by an arbitrary information processing apparatus 2 is displayed as an image. The forming apparatus 1 outputs to a sheet.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a margin reading scanner (scanner) 11, various information input / output panels (input / output panels) 12, various information transmission / reception devices (transmission / reception devices) 13, a margin printing device (printing device) 14, and the above-described devices. A central control device 15 for overall control is provided.
3, 4, and 5 are diagrams illustrating examples of printed paper. Examples of processing for printing in the margin area of printed paper will be described below with reference to flowcharts (FIGS. 6 to 20). The following processing is performed under the control of the central controller 15.
Example 1
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a first processing example (Example 1), and each step (S1-S5) in FIG. 6 will be described below.
S1: The user determines on the information processing apparatus 2 whether or not to print on printed paper.
S2: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in the image forming apparatus 1.
S3: The size of the document that can be printed in the margin area is calculated, and the result is notified to the user through the transmission / reception device 13.
S4: The user issues a print command through the transmission / reception device 13 with the document of the notified size.
S5: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs a printing process.

(Example 2)
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a second processing example (Example 2), and each step (S11-S16) in FIG. 7 will be described below.
S11: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether or not to print on the printed paper.
S12: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S13: The margin width and length are converted to a standard size.
S14: The printable document size is notified to the user in a fixed size through the transmission / reception device 13. When the margin of the printed paper is a margin area as shown in FIG. 3, if the margin area has a width of 220 mm and a length of 300 mm, the notified size is “A4”. The user issues a print command with the document of the notified size.
S15 and S16: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.
(Example 3)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a third processing example (Example 3), and each step (S21 to S26) in FIG. 8 will be described below.
S21: The user determines on the information processing apparatus 2 whether to print on the printed paper.
S 22: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S23: The margin width and length are converted to a standard size.
S24: The printable document size is notified to the user in a standard size through the transmission / reception device 13. When there are a plurality of margin areas 1 to 4 as shown in FIG. 4, the printable document size is notified to the margin areas 1 to 4.
S25: The user selects one of the notified sizes and issues a print command with the document of that size.
S26: This print command is received and the printing apparatus 14 performs a printing process.

Example 4
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a fourth processing example (Example 4), and each step (S31 to S38) in FIG. 9 will be described below. FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart of S32 in FIG. 9 (No. 1).
S31: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether the user prints on the printed paper.
S32: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S32-1 (FIG. 10): In blank area detection, first, the user decides whether or not to set a condition to be regarded as a blank area.
S32-2 (FIG. 10): When the user sets a margin condition, a margin area is detected based on the condition. Examples of the condition to consider as a blank area include “character string printed with a certain density or less is regarded as a blank”.
S32-3 (FIG. 10): If the user does not set the margin condition, the margin detection is performed with the default margin condition of the image forming apparatus.
S33, S34: When the format of the document size to be printed in the margin is a fixed size, the width and length of the margin area are converted to the fixed size.
S35: The printable document size is notified to the user through the transmission / reception device 13 in a fixed size. When the margin area of the printed paper is the margin areas 1 to 4 as shown in FIG. 4, the printable document size is notified to the margin areas 1 to 4.
S36: If there is no change in the conditions, the user issues a print command for the document of the notified size.
S37, S38: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.

(Example 5)
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a fifth processing example (Example 5), and each step (S41 to S48) in FIG. 11 will be described below.
S41: The user determines on the information processing apparatus 2 whether to print on the printed paper.
S42: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S43: The margin width and length are converted to a standard size.
S44: The printable document size is notified to the user through the transmission / reception device 13 in a fixed size. When the margin of the printed paper is the margin areas 1 to 4 as shown in FIG. 4, the printable document size is notified to the margin areas 1 to 4. When the notified document size does not meet the user's request, the user issues a paper discharge command (negative notification) to the image forming apparatus 1.
S45, S46: When a paper discharge command is received, the paper is discharged, and the process returns to S41. When the user wants to print at the notified document size, the user issues a print command.
S47 and 48: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.
(Example 6)
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a sixth processing example (sixth embodiment), and each step (S51 to S58) in FIG. 12 will be described below.
S51: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether the user prints on the printed paper.
S52: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S53, S54: When the size of the document that can be printed in the margin is calculated, if there is no document size that can be printed because the margin area is too narrow, the user is notified through the transmission / reception device 13.
S55, paper discharge is performed, and the process returns to S51.
S56, S57, S58: If there is a printable document size, the user is notified through the transmission / reception device 13. Then, the printing apparatus 14 receives this print command and executes printing.

(Example 7)
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a seventh processing example (seventh embodiment), and steps (S61 to S66) in FIG. 13 will be described below.
S61: The user determines on the information processing apparatus 2 whether to print on the printed paper.
S62: When printing on printed paper, the user inputs the total number of prints.
S63: The margin area of the printed paper in the paper feed tray is detected for each paper through the scanner 11 for each paper.
S64: The document size that can be printed in the margin area is calculated for each sheet, and the result is notified to the user through the transmission / reception device 13. The user issues a print command with the document of the notified size.
S65, S66: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs a printing process.
(Example 8)
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an eighth processing example (Eighth Example). Each step (S71 to S78) in FIG. 14 will be described below.
S71: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether or not to print on the printed paper.
S72: The user inputs “A4” as the desired document size.
S73: When printing on the printed paper, the margin area of the printed paper is detected through the scanner 11.
S74: It is checked whether the A4 document can be printed in the margin, and the result is notified to the user through the transmission / reception device 13. The user issues a print command with an A4 document.
S75, S76: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.

Example 9
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a ninth processing example (Example 9). Each step (S31 to S38) in FIG. 9 will be described below. FIG. 15 is a detailed flowchart of S32 in FIG. 9 (part 2).
S31: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether the user prints on the printed paper.
S32: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S32-1 (FIG. 15): In blank area detection, first, the user decides whether or not to set a condition to be regarded as a blank area.
S32-2 (FIG. 15): When a user sets or saves a margin condition that is set or saved as a condition to be regarded as a margin area, the margin area is detected based on the condition. Examples of the condition to consider as a blank area include “character string printed with a certain density or less is regarded as a blank”.
S32-3 (FIG. 15): If the user does not set the margin condition, the margin detection is performed with the default margin condition of the image forming apparatus.
S32-4, S32-5 (FIG. 15): When the user designates saving of the set margin condition, the margin condition is saved.
S33, S34: The width and length of the margin area are converted to a standard size.
S35: The printable document size is notified to the user through the transmission / reception device 13 in a fixed size. When the margin area of the printed paper is the margin areas 1 to 4 as shown in FIG. 4, the printable document size is notified to the margin areas 1 to 4.
S36: If there is no change in the conditions, the user issues a print command for the document of the notified size.
S37, S38: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.

(Example 10)
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the tenth processing example (Example 10), and each step (S81-S86) in FIG. 16 will be described below.
S81: The user determines on the information processing apparatus 2 whether to print on the printed paper.
S82: When printing on the printed paper, the margin detection of the printed paper in the paper feed tray (not shown) is performed through the scanner 11.
S83: The margin width and length are converted to a standard size.
S84: The user can be notified of the printable document size in a standard size through the transmission / reception device 13. When the margin area of the printed paper is the margin areas 1 to 4 as shown in FIG. 4, the printable document size is notified to the margin areas 1 to 4. When the printable document size is notified in the margin areas 1 to 4, a print command is issued with each page of the document (in this case, 4 pages) set to the notified document size.
S85, S86: When this print command is received, the printing apparatus 14 performs a process of printing the originals of different pages in the plurality of blank areas by one printing.
(Example 11)
FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an eleventh processing example (Example 11), and each step (S91 to S95) in FIG. 17 will be described below.
S91: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether or not to print on the printed paper.
S92: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S93: The printable document size is notified to the user in an irregular size through the transmission / reception device 13 (the width and length of the blank area detected in S92 are notified as they are). The user issues a print command with the document of the notified size.
S94, S95: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.

(Example 12)
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a twelfth processing example (Example 12). Each step (S31 to S38) in FIG. 9 will be described below. FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart of S32 in FIG. 9 (No. 1).
S31: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether the user prints on the printed paper.
S32: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S32-1: In the blank area detection, first, the user decides whether or not to set a condition to be regarded as a blank area.
S32-2: When the user sets a condition to be regarded as a blank area, the blank area is detected based on the condition. Examples of the condition to be regarded as a blank area include “character string printed at a certain density or less is regarded as a blank area”.
S32-3: If the user does not set a condition to be regarded as a blank area, blank area detection is performed using the default blank condition of the image forming apparatus. The input / output panel 12 is used to set a condition to be regarded as a blank area. When setting via the network, information is received using the transmission / reception device 13.
S33, S34: The width and length of the margin are converted to a standard size.
S35: The printable document size is notified to the user through the transmission / reception device 13 in a fixed size. When the margin of the printed paper is the margin areas 1 to 4 as shown in FIG. 4, the printable document size is notified to the margin areas 1 to 4. An input of the document size can be received from another information processing apparatus via the network.
S36: If there is no change in the conditions, the user issues a print command for the document of the notified size.
S37, S38: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.

(Example 13)
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a thirteenth processing example (embodiment 13). Each step (S81-S86) in FIG. 16 will be described below.
S81: The user determines on the information processing apparatus 2 whether to print on the printed paper.
S82: When printing on the printed paper, the margin area detection of the printed paper in the paper feed tray (not shown) is performed through the scanner 11.
S83: The width and length of the margin area are converted to a standard size.
S84: The user can be notified of the printable document size in a standard size through the transmission / reception device 13. When the margin area of the printed paper is the margin areas 1 and 2 as shown in FIG. 5, the printable document size is notified to each of the margin areas 1 and 2, and the margin areas 1 and 2 are added together to obtain the margin area. The document size that can be printed is also notified when the width of the margin area is “width of the margin area 1” and the length of the margin area is “length of the margin area 1 + length of the margin area 2”. In this case, when printing is performed in the notified size, the document is printed across the margin areas 1 and 2. The user issues a print command with the document of the notified size.
S85 and S86: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.

(Example 14)
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a fourteenth processing example (embodiment 14), and each step (S11-S16) in FIG. 7 will be described below. FIG. 18 is a detailed flowchart of S13 in FIG. 7 (part 1).
S11: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether or not to print on the printed paper.
S12: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S13: The width and length of the margin area are converted to a standard size.
S13-1 (FIG. 18): In the conversion to the standard size, first, the user decides whether or not to set a rule for conversion to the standard size.
S13-2 (FIG. 18): When the user sets a conversion rule, conversion to a standard size is performed based on the conversion rule. Examples of the conversion rule include “not convert to a size larger than A3”, “prioritize the size in the vertical direction”, and the like.
S13-3 (FIG. 18): If the user does not set a conversion rule, conversion is performed using the default rule. Note that the conversion rule can also be received from another information processing apparatus via the network.
S14: The printable document size is notified to the user in a fixed size through the transmission / reception device 13. When the margin area of the printed paper is a margin as shown in FIG. 3, if the margin area has a width of 220 mm and a length of 300 mm, the notified size is “A4”. The user issues a print command with the document of the notified size.
S15 and S16: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.

(Example 15)
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a fifteenth processing example (fifteenth embodiment), and steps (S11 to S16) in FIG. 7 will be described below. FIG. 19 is a detailed flowchart of S13 in FIG. 7 (part 2).
S11: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether or not to print on the printed paper.
S12: When printing on printed paper, the scanner 11 detects the blank area of the printed paper in a paper feed tray (not shown).
S13: The width and length of the margin area are converted to a standard size.
S13-1 (FIG. 19): In the conversion to the standard size, first, the user determines whether or not to set a rule for conversion to the standard size.
S13-2 (FIG. 19): When the user sets a conversion rule, conversion to a standard size is performed based on the conversion rule. Examples of the conversion rule include “not convert to a size larger than A3”, “prioritize the size in the vertical direction”, and the like.
S13-3 (FIG. 19): If the user does not set a conversion rule, conversion is performed using the default rule.
S13-4, S13-5 (FIG. 19): When the user designates saving of the set conversion rule, the conversion rule is saved.
S14: The printable document size is notified to the user in a fixed size through the transmission / reception device 13. When the margin area of the printed paper is a margin area as shown in FIG. 3, if the width of the margin area is 220 mm and the length is 300 mm, the notified size is “A4”. The user issues a print command with the document of the notified size.
S15 and S16: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.
(Example 16)
FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a sixteenth processing example (sixteenth embodiment). Each step (S101 to S105) in FIG. 20 will be described below.
S101: The information processing apparatus 2 determines whether the user prints on handwritten paper.
S <b> 102: When printing on handwritten paper, the margin area of the handwritten paper is detected through the scanner 11.
S103: The size of the document that can be printed in the margin area is calculated, and the result is notified to the user through the transmission / reception device 13. The user issues a print command with the document of the notified size.
S104, S105: Upon receiving this print command, the printing apparatus 14 performs print processing.

1 is a configuration diagram of a network image forming system in which an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus of the present invention are network-connected. 1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example (part 1) of printed paper. The figure which shows the example (the 2) of the printed paper. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example (part 3) of printed paper. The flowchart which shows the 1st process example. The flowchart which shows the 2nd, 14th process example. The flowchart which shows the 3rd processing example. The flowchart which shows the 4th, 9th, 12th process example. The detailed flowchart (the 1) of S32 of FIG. The flowchart which shows the 5th process example. The flowchart which shows the 6th process example. The flowchart which shows the 7th process example. The flowchart which shows the 8th process example. The detailed flowchart (the 2) of S32 of FIG. The flowchart which shows the 10th, 13th process example. The flowchart which shows the 11th process example. FIG. 8 is a detailed flowchart (No. 1) of S13 in FIG. FIG. 8 is a detailed flowchart (No. 2) of S13 in FIG. The flowchart which shows the 16th process example.

Explanation of symbols

11 Scanner 12 Input / Output Panel 13 Transmitter / Receiver 14 Printer 15 Central Controller

Claims (18)

  In response to a print request to the blank area of the printed paper, a scanner that reads the printed paper in the image forming apparatus to detect the blank area, a transmission / reception device that notifies the document size that can be printed in the blank area to the outside, An image forming apparatus comprising: a printing device that prints in a blank area of the printed paper; and a central control device that controls the whole.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control device converts a width and length of a blank area of the printed paper into a standard size, and notifies a document size that can be printed in the blank area in a standard size. An image forming apparatus that is controlled to perform.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit performs control so as to divide a blank area of one printed sheet into a plurality of areas and calculate a document size that can be printed in each area. An image forming apparatus.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit receives a condition content that is regarded as a blank area in the input printed paper, and controls to extract the blank area according to the condition. Image forming apparatus.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit receives a notification that denies the document size that can be output on the printed sheet, and does not newly print anything on the printed sheet. An image forming apparatus that controls to paper.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when there is no printable document size in the margin area, the central control unit notifies the outside and prints nothing on the printed paper. An image forming apparatus that performs control so that the paper is discharged.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit receives a request for printing in a margin area of the printed paper and a notification of the total number of printed sheets, reads the number of printed sheets, An image forming apparatus controlled to detect a blank area.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit controls to receive a desired document size and to notify the outside whether the document size can be printed in a margin area of the printed paper. An image forming apparatus.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control device controls to store and call a condition regarded as a blank area of the printed paper.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit performs control so that originals of different pages are respectively printed in the plurality of blank areas by one printing. 5.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit is configured to notify the outside of a document size that can be printed in the blank area from the width and length of the blank area of the printed paper in an irregular size. An image forming apparatus.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit performs control so that an input of a condition regarded as the blank area is received from another information processing apparatus via a network. .   9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control device controls to accept an input of the document size from another information processing apparatus via a network.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit is configured to add a plurality of margin areas on one printed sheet and calculate a printable document size in the added margin area. An image forming apparatus.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a rule for converting the width and length of a margin area of the printed paper into a standard size is set, the central control device follows the rule. An image forming apparatus controlled to convert.   16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit sets rules for converting the width and length of a margin area of the printed paper to a standard size from another information processing apparatus via a network. And an image forming apparatus that controls to receive the image.   16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit controls to store and call a rule for converting the width and length of a margin area of the printed paper into a standard size. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control device controls to print also on a blank area of a sheet on which a handwritten character string is described.

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