JP2007276339A - Control apparatus, control method and program for controlling sheet feeding - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique which enables a proper paper feed even when tray designation information included in output request data designates a paper feeding tray that is not actually present, and using the paper feeding tray depending on a user or service used by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for controlling sheet feeding is provided in which a control unit 40 of an image forming apparatus 1 retrieves a combined record of an owner ID, a PDL version and a service ID included in output request data received from a user setting table TBL1, retrieves an user ID of the retrieved record from a tray setting control table TBL2 stored in a memory unit 60, selects a tray setting table corresponding to the user ID, retrieves a tray designation information included in output request data received from the selected tray setting table, and feeds a sheet contained in a sheet tray indicated by a tray ID corresponding to the retrieved tray designation information to an image forming unit 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for feeding a sheet in an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet.

  An image forming apparatus such as a printer generally includes a plurality of sheet feeding trays, and selects one of the plurality of sheet feeding trays to form an image on a sheet stored in the selected sheet feeding tray. It is. In such an image forming apparatus, the paper feed tray is selected by sending data representing an output image described in a page description language (hereinafter referred to as “output request data”) from another device such as a personal computer via a communication network. This is performed by determining information (hereinafter, “tray designation information”) for selecting a paper feed tray included in the received output request data.

  By the way, the tray designation information included in the output request data may designate a paper feed tray that does not actually exist in the image forming apparatus. This can occur, for example, when a user purchases a new printer and uses a different printer, when the user's system (environment) is changed, or when the specification of the image forming apparatus is changed. As described above, when a paper feed tray that does not physically exist is selected, there is a problem that the image forming process does not operate normally.

Even when a tray that does not physically exist is selected, as a method for normally performing image forming processing, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a case where a paper discharge tray that does not physically exist is designated. Has proposed a method of associating with a paper discharge tray that actually exists.
Patent Document 2 proposes a method for setting an emulation that can be used for each paper feed tray. According to this method, it is possible to reliably select a paper feed unit suitable for emulation and use it. User convenience can be improved.
JP 2000-85216 A JP-A-8-310085

Incidentally, an image forming apparatus such as a printer is often used by a plurality of users. When used by a plurality of users, the version of the page description language used by each user may be different, or the system used may be different. In addition, some users desire to use different sheets for different services (print function, FAX function, etc.). In the technique described in Patent Document 1 or 2, it is not possible to properly use the paper feed tray depending on the user and the service used by the user.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described background. In an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet, a sheet feed tray that does not actually contain tray designation information included in output request data is designated. However, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technology that can perform paper feeding suitably and can properly use paper feeding trays depending on the user and the service used by the user.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention includes at least any two sets of user information for identifying a user, format information indicating a data format of image data, and mode information indicating an output mode of an image, A tray setting table indicating a correspondence relationship between identification information storage means for storing the set identification information assigned to the set in association with each other, and a sheet tray for storing sheets and tray designation information for designating the sheet tray; Tray information storage means for storing in association with the set identification information, and output request data for requesting output of an image to a sheet, wherein at least one of the user information, the format information, and the output mode information Input means for inputting output request data including any two and the tray designation information, and included in the output request data input by the input means An identification information search means for searching the identification information storage means for group identification information corresponding to this group using at least any two of the user information, data format information and output mode information as a key; and the identification information Corresponds to table search means for searching the tray setting table associated with the set identification information searched by the search means from the tray information storage means, and tray designation information included in the output request data input by the input means. The sheet tray is stored in the sheet tray selected by the tray selecting unit with respect to the tray selecting unit that selects from the tray setting table searched by the tray setting table searching unit and the image output unit that outputs an image to the sheet. A sheet supply means for supplying the used sheet Providing a paper controller.

  According to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet, even when a paper feed tray that does not actually contain tray designation information included in output request data is designated, paper feeding is suitably performed. In addition, the paper feed tray can be used properly depending on the user and the service used by the user.

<A: Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system is configured by connecting an image forming apparatus 1, an image forming apparatus 2, and a computer apparatus 3 via a communication network 4. In the figure, an image forming apparatus 1 and an image forming apparatus 2 are apparatuses having a printer function and a FAX function, each having a plurality of sheet feeding trays, and forming an image on a sheet stored in the sheet feeding tray. . The image forming apparatus 1 and the image forming apparatus 2 have different numbers of paper feed trays, and the corresponding page description language versions are also different. The computer device 3 is a device such as a personal computer, and communicates data indicating an output request for an image described in a page description language (hereinafter referred to as “output request data”) to the image forming device 1 or the image forming device 2. To send through.

Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet. The image forming unit 10 determines each color of Y, M, C, and K based on data in Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black) format (hereinafter referred to as “YMCK data”). The toner image is generated, and the toner image is transferred to a sheet and fixed to form an image on the sheet.
A sheet supply unit 20 supplies a sheet to the image forming unit 10. The sheet supply unit 20 includes sheet feed trays 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d that stack and store sheets of different sizes. In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish the paper feed trays 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d, these will be referred to as “paper feed tray 21”. Note that the “sheet” in the present embodiment is not limited to so-called paper, but also includes plastic such as an OHP sheet and sheets of other materials.
Reference numeral 30 denotes a UI unit for the user to perform various operations. The UI unit 30 includes a liquid crystal display that functions as a touch panel, and the user can perform various operations by touching the liquid crystal display.

  Next, a hardware configuration related to the control of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2 will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration related to the control of the image forming apparatus 1. In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes a control unit including an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). A storage unit 60 includes a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a hard disk, or an EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable ROM), and stores various programs for operating each unit of the image forming apparatus 1. The control unit 40 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 1 by reading and executing a program stored in the storage unit 60. Reference numeral 50 denotes a memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area when the control unit 40 reads and executes a program stored in the storage unit 60.

  A communication unit 70 includes various communication devices and the like, and exchanges data with other devices through the communication network 4 under the control of the control unit 40. In particular, the control unit 40 receives output request data described in a page description language (PDL) or the like via the communication unit 70 via the communication network 4. When the output request data is received, the control unit 40 generates YMCK data based on the received output request data, and supplies the generated YMCK data to the image forming unit 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, the storage unit 60 of the image forming apparatus 1 stores a user setting table TBL1 and a tray setting management table TBL2. The user setting table TBL1 is a table for managing a user for each service (function) used by the user and each type of PDL.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the user setting table TBL1. As shown in the figure, this table is configured by associating items of “owner ID”, “PDL version”, “service ID”, and “user ID” with each other. Among these items, the “owner ID” item stores user information for identifying the user. The item “PDL version” stores format information indicating the data format of the image data, such as information indicating the type (type, version, etc.) of the PDL. In the item “service ID”, mode information indicating an output mode of an image such as “print output” and “FAX reception” is stored. In the case of “print output”, it is also possible to set information for identifying more detailed functions such as “stapling dough”, “hole punching”, and “double-sided printing”. Next, in the item “user ID”, group identification information for identifying a combination of an owner ID, a PDL version, and a service ID is stored. When receiving the output request data from the computer apparatus 3, the control unit 40 of the image forming apparatus 1 searches the user setting table TBL1 for a record having a combination of the owner ID, the PDL version, and the service ID included in the output request data. A tray selection process corresponding to the user ID included in the retrieved record is executed.

Next, the tray setting management table TBL2 in the storage unit 60 is a table that is referred to when the control unit 40 of the image forming apparatus 1 selects a tray. FIG. 5A shows an example of the contents of the tray setting management table TBL2. In this table, a tray setting table for selecting the paper feed tray 21 is stored in association with the user ID (group identification information) as shown in the figure. As shown in FIG. 5B, the tray setting table stores “tray designation information” and “tray ID” in association with each other. “Tray designation information” is information for designating a paper feed tray (sheet tray), and is information included in the output request data. The tray ID may be information for designating a paper feed tray that does not actually exist in the image forming apparatus 1 depending on the version of the PDL used by the computer apparatus 3 and the type of driver. Next, identification information for identifying the paper feed trays 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d of the image forming apparatus 1 is stored in the item “tray ID”. Instead of the tables shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, a table that indicates the tray ID in the secondary arrangement of the tray designation information and the user ID as shown in FIG. 5C is used. Also good.
The user setting table TBL1 and the tray setting management table TBL2 can be changed by the user of the image forming apparatus 1 by operating the UI unit 30.

<B: Operation>
A specific operation executed by the image forming apparatus 1 based on the above configuration will be described below.
First, a user of the image forming apparatus 1 operates an apparatus such as the personal computer apparatus 3 to transmit output request data indicating an image output request to the image forming apparatus 1 via the communication network 4. When detecting that the output request data has been received, the control unit 40 of the image forming apparatus 1 records a record of a combination of “owner ID”, “PDL version”, and “service ID” included in the received output request data. A search is performed from the user setting table TBL1, and the “user ID” of the searched record is read from the storage unit 60.

  Subsequently, the control unit 40 of the image forming apparatus 1 retrieves the read user ID from the tray setting management table TBL2 stored in the storage unit 60, and selects the tray setting table corresponding to the user ID. Then, the control unit 40 searches the selected tray setting table for tray designation information included in the received output request data, and reads the tray ID corresponding to the tray designation information. The paper feed tray 21 is selected by the above processing.

  The control unit 40 of the image forming apparatus 1 causes the image forming unit 10 to perform image formation based on the received output request data and the read “tray ID”. That is, the control unit 40 converts the data representing the image included in the output request data to generate YMCK data, supplies the generated YMCK data to the image forming unit 10, and controls the sheet supply unit 20, The sheets are conveyed one by one from the sheet feeding tray 21 indicated by the identified tray ID and conveyed to the image forming unit 10. The image forming unit 10 forms Y, M, C, and K toner images on the sheet conveyed from the sheet supply unit 20 based on the supplied YMCK data, and forms an image on the sheet.

  For example, in the case of the computer apparatus 3 in which a driver that generates output request data corresponding to the image forming apparatus 2 is installed, the tray designation information included in the output request data transmitted from the computer apparatus 3 is the image forming apparatus 1. May not correspond to the paper feed tray 21 that actually exists. Even in such a case, in the present embodiment, since the tray setting table corresponding to the type of PDL is selected, it is possible to select the paper feed tray 21 included in the image forming apparatus 1.

As described above, in this embodiment, a user ID is assigned for each user, service, and PDL version, and the tray setting table used for selecting a tray is switched according to the assigned user ID. Even when the included tray designation information designates a paper feed tray that does not actually exist, it is possible to select a paper feed tray that actually exists. Furthermore, it is possible to use different paper feed trays for each user and service.
In this way, it is possible to perform paper feed control on the image forming apparatus side without changing the system used by the user. Further, since the table can be set by the user, customization according to the user's system becomes possible.

  The programs executed by the control unit 40 of the image forming apparatus 1 in each of the above-described embodiments are a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, a CD (Compact Disk) -ROM, a DVD. (Digital Versatile Disk) and a storage medium such as a RAM can be provided. It is also possible to download the image forming apparatus 1 via a network such as the Internet.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the system which concerns on this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration related to control of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of the user setting table which concerns on the embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of the tray setting management table which concerns on the same embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 ... Image forming apparatus, 3 ... Computer apparatus, 4 ... Communication network, 10 ... Image forming part, 20 ... Sheet supply part, 21 ... Paper feed tray, 30 ... UI part, 40 ... Control part, 50 ... Memory, 60 ... Storage unit, 70 ... Communication unit.

Claims (3)

Corresponds to at least any two sets of user information for identifying the user, format information indicating the data format of the image data, and mode information indicating the output mode of the image, and set identification information assigned to the set Identification information storage means for storing information;
Tray information storage means for storing a tray setting table indicating a correspondence relationship between a sheet tray in which sheets are stored and tray designation information for designating the sheet tray, in association with the set identification information;
Output request data for requesting output of an image to a sheet, and output request data including at least any two of the user information, the format information, and the output mode information, and the tray designation information Input means for inputting;
Using at least any two sets of user information, data format information, and output mode information included in the output request data input by the input means as a key, group identification information corresponding to this group is stored in the identification information storage An identification information search means for searching from the means;
Table search means for searching a tray setting table associated with the set identification information searched by the identification information search means from the tray information storage means;
Tray selecting means for selecting a sheet tray corresponding to the tray designation information included in the output request data input by the input means from the tray setting table searched by the tray setting table searching means;
A sheet supply control device, comprising: an image output unit that outputs an image to a sheet; and a sheet supply unit that supplies a sheet stored in a sheet tray selected by the tray selection unit. Corresponds to at least any two sets of user information for identifying the user, format information indicating the data format of the image data, and mode information indicating the output mode of the image, and set identification information assigned to the set Tray information for storing a tray setting table indicating the correspondence between the identification information storage means for storing the sheet, the sheet tray for storing the sheet, and the tray designation information for designating the sheet tray, in association with the set identification information A control method of a sheet supply control device comprising storage means and control means,
Output request data for requesting that the control means output an image to a sheet, wherein at least any two of the user information, the format information and the output mode information, and the tray designation information Receiving input of output request data including;
The control means uses at least any two sets of user information, data format information, and output mode information included in the input output request data as a key, and sets the group identification information corresponding to the group as the identification information. Retrieving from the storage means;
The control means searching the tray information storage means for a tray setting table associated with the searched set identification information;
The control means selecting a sheet tray corresponding to the tray designation information included in the input output request data from the searched tray setting table;
And a step of causing the image output means for outputting an image to a sheet to supply the sheet stored in the selected sheet tray. Corresponds to at least any two sets of user information for identifying the user, format information indicating the data format of the image data, and mode information indicating the output mode of the image, and set identification information assigned to the set Tray information for storing a tray setting table indicating the correspondence between the identification information storage means for storing the sheet, the sheet tray for storing the sheet, and the tray designation information for designating the sheet tray, in association with the set identification information A sheet supply control device that includes a storage unit and supplies a sheet to the image forming unit;
Output request data for requesting output of an image to a sheet, the output request data including at least any two of the user information, the format information, and the output mode information, and the tray designation information An input function that accepts input;
Using at least any two sets of user information, data format information and output mode information included in the output request data received by the input function as a key, set identification information corresponding to this set is stored in the identification information storage An identification information search function for searching from means;
A table search function for searching from the tray information storage means a tray setting table associated with the set identification information searched by the identification information search function;
A tray selection function for selecting a sheet tray corresponding to the tray designation information included in the output request data received by the input function from the tray setting table searched by the tray setting table search function;
A program for realizing an image output means for outputting an image to a sheet, a sheet supply function for supplying a sheet stored in a sheet tray selected by the tray selection function.

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