JP2008146573A - Image forming device, image forming method, and imaging forming program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device provided with a paper discharge control function capable of determining when and where the separation page is inserted, at a glance. <P>SOLUTION: A sheet insertion job is executed, when one set of printed paper sheets 21 is discharged by one print job, and a sheet 22 with a mark printed in color 22a at a tip portion is discharged and inserted after the last page of the one set of printed paper sheets 21. The sheet 22 with the color print 22a at a tip portion in a surface side is discharged therein along a longitudinal direction (non-R direction) for the separation page, when the one set of printed paper sheets 21 is discharged along a lateral direction (R-direction). The user can easily confirm the own print paper sheets 21 by a visual observation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that continuously prints data from a plurality of jobs, and more particularly to a discharge control function that inserts a separator page into a print sheet printed by a plurality of jobs and discharges the sheet. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multi Function Peripherals), there is a paper discharge control function that prints and discharges a separator page by an operation from a driver. This separator page is a page that is inserted separately from the print data to make it easier to understand the boundaries of the print job, and the paper discharge control function that prints and inserts such separator pages is a marker for the separator. A desired mark is printed on the sheet to be inserted between the print data.

For example, when a network printer prints a plurality of data transmitted continuously over the network, a data identification mark is printed at a predetermined position on a page (that is, a separator page) indicating a separator of each data and discharged. To do. Thus, it is possible to easily determine who is the printed matter for which the output request has been made (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, a technique is disclosed that makes it easy to understand the separation points of print jobs for each user by discharging sheets having different directions and colors as separation sheets for different print jobs (see, for example, Patent Document 2). .
JP-A-6-342349 JP-A-9-114328

  However, in the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the information of the printer is printed on the separator page #. However, since no noticeable processing is performed, the separator page is found from a large bundle of printed materials. Is difficult. Therefore, in order to identify the printed material for each separation page, there is only a method of visually checking the separation page by holding a bundle of printed materials. For this reason, it takes time to search for a desired printed material, and as a result, other printed materials are also viewed, which may cause a decrease in information security.

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, when the user selects a color to be a mark of the sheet, no consideration is given to preventing the color from being the same as the color selected by another user. When the color to be printed on the sheet is selected from the job type or the IP address, the same color may be selected continuously. In addition, since the information on the sheet inserted between the printed materials is not recorded in the log, if you do not collect the printed materials immediately from the tray, you will not be able to know which of your printed materials is the mark from the accumulated printed materials. There is a risk that.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, such as when the separator page is inserted and where it is inserted, and can determine the separator page at a glance. There is an effect that it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program capable of easily obtaining printed matter from the tray.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus that inserts a sheet representing a break between print jobs between print sheets discharged by each of a plurality of print jobs. Corresponding to print job, sheet printing means for printing in color, history saving means for saving information about colors printed by sheet printing means as history, and information about colors saved as history in history saving means And a print color display means for displaying. According to such a configuration, the user who made the output request can be specified, so it is possible to reduce the trouble of searching for the printed matter.

  Further, the present invention is an image forming method for inserting a sheet representing a break between print jobs between print sheets discharged by each of a plurality of print jobs, printing on a sheet in a predetermined color, Information about the colors printed on the sheet is stored as a history, and information about the colors stored as the history is displayed corresponding to the print job based on a user instruction.

  The present invention also provides an image forming program for causing a computer to execute an image forming method for inserting a sheet representing a break between print jobs between print sheets discharged by a plurality of print jobs. Printing with a predetermined color, storing information about the color printed on the sheet as a history, and displaying information about the color stored as the history corresponding to the print job based on a user instruction It is what is executed by a computer.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to determine the separator page at a glance such as when the separator page is inserted and where it is inserted.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, taking an MFP as an example.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an MFP applied to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the MFP 1 includes a printer function unit 2 that executes printing processing, a FAX function unit 3 that executes fax communication, a scanner function unit 4 that executes document reading processing, a ROM 5 and a RAM 6, which are storage devices, And the page memory 7, the display unit 9 for displaying on the control panel (touch panel) 8 and the operation unit 10, the interface unit (I / F unit) 11 for communication connection between the outside, the paper feed unit 12a and the cassette 12b. And a CPU 13 that performs overall control of the MPF 1.

  It should be noted that setting buttons for various functions and display contents for confirmation are displayed on the control panel 8 in the image of a touch panel. Further, as an option, a paper feeding device 12, a paper discharge device (not shown) such as a finisher, an automatic document feeder (not shown), and the like are mounted.

  Next, the operation in which the MFP 1 shown in FIG. 1 inserts and discharges a sheet printed with a mark color between jobs by the discharge control function of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart. To do. Note that print processing, FAX processing, scanner processing, and the like that are normally performed by the MFP 1 are well-known techniques, and thus descriptions thereof are omitted.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for executing a sheet insertion job in the MFP applied to the present embodiment. First, when the user executes printing, whether or not to insert a sheet on the printer driver is set (step S1). Here, when setting is made not to insert a sheet (step S1, No), normal printing by the print job is executed (step S2), and the print job is ended (step S3).

  On the other hand, when setting to insert a sheet on the printer driver in step S1 (step S1, Yes), it is determined whether or not the sheet paper to be inserted is in the cassette 12b of the paper feeder 12 (step S4). ) If the sheet sheet to be inserted is not in the cassette 12b (step S4, No), the sheet insertion job is canceled, normal printing by the print job is executed (step S2), and the print job is ended (step S2). Step S3).

  In step S4, if the sheet sheet to be inserted is in the cassette 12b (step S4, Yes), since the sheet is set to be inserted, after one print job is executed (step S5), the printing is performed. The job is finished (step S6), and a sheet insertion job is started (step S7).

  Next, it is determined whether or not information is set to be printed on the sheet (step S8). If the information is set to be printed on the sheet (step S8, Yes), the MFP 1 selects a color to be printed on the sheet (step S9) and prints the color on the upper surface side of the sheet. (Step S10). Further, the color printed on the sheet is registered as history information (step S11).

  Then, a sheet printed with a predetermined color is discharged on the upper surface side, and this sheet is inserted into the break of the paper (printing paper) printed by the print job (step S12). In this way, the sheet insertion job is completed (step S13). If it is determined in step S8 that the information is not printed on the sheet (No in step S8), the sheet is not printed on the sheet, and the sheet is inserted into the printing paper break (step S12). The insertion job is terminated (step S13).

  Then, the color information printed on the sheet or the information not printing the color on the sheet is registered as history information, and the history information is displayed on the display unit 9 of the control panel 8 (step S14). Through the processing as described above, printing in which the log information is reflected is executed on the sheet, and the sheet is inserted into the break of the printing paper.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for creating a sheet insertion job in the MFP applied to this embodiment. That is, the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating in detail the procedure from the sheet insertion job start (step S7) to the sheet insertion job end (step S13) in the flowchart of FIG.

  In FIG. 3, first, the print information of the sheet insertion job executed last time is acquired (step S21), and the paper size of the sheet insertion job to be inserted this time is acquired from the set value (step S22). Next, it is determined whether the last page of the printing paper printed by the print job is in the R direction (horizontal direction) or the non-R direction (vertical direction) (step S23).

  Here, if the last page of the printing paper printed by the print job is the R direction, the orientation of the insertion sheet is set to the non-R direction (step S24), and the last page of the printing paper printed by the print job is non-printing. If the direction is the R direction, the orientation of the insertion sheet is set to the R direction (step S25).

  Next, the previous sheet print color is acquired from the print information of the previous sheet insertion job acquired in step S21 (step S26), and the current sheet print color is set to a color different from the previous sheet print color (step S26). S27). Then, print data corresponding to the set print color is acquired from the HDD inside the MFP. For example, if the set print color is yellow, green character print data is acquired (step S28).

  Then, the orientation of the printing surface is set to the front side of the sheet (step S29), and printing on the sheet is started (step S30). By such a procedure, the sheets inserted in the respective breaks of the adjacent printing paper are printed in different colors, and the sheets are inserted at predetermined positions of the printing paper breaks in different directions from the printing paper. The

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet is inserted at a break of the printing paper in the present embodiment. When the sheet insertion job is executed, as shown in FIG. 4, the sheet 22 with the color printing 22 a serving as a mark at the front end portion is discharged and inserted after the last page of the printing paper 21. For example, when a section of printing paper 21 is discharged in the horizontal direction (R direction), the sheet 22 having the color printing 22a applied to the front end portion on the front side is disposed in the vertical direction (non-R direction). The paper is ejected. As a result, the user can easily check the boundary of his / her own printing paper 21 by visual inspection and take out the desired printing paper 21.

  The relationship between each component described in each claim and the embodiment is as follows.

  Sheet printing means for printing on a sheet in a predetermined color can be realized in steps S9 and S10 of the flowchart shown in FIG. Further, the history storage unit that stores the information about the color printed by the sheet printing unit as a history can be realized in step S11 of the flowchart shown in FIG. Further, the print color display means for displaying the information about the color stored as the history in the history storage means corresponding to the print job can be realized in step S14 of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  Also, the color changing means for changing the predetermined color printed by the sheet printing means for each print job can be realized in steps S26 and S27 of the flowchart shown in FIG. Furthermore, the job information printing means for printing the print job information on the sheet can be realized in steps S28 and S29 of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  Further, a table that holds combination information with the color of information printed by the job information printing unit is stored in the HDD of the flowchart shown in FIG. Furthermore, the paper direction acquisition means for acquiring the orientation of the print paper discharged in the print job can be realized in steps S22 and S23 of the flowchart shown in FIG. Further, the sheet insertion direction determination unit that inserts a sheet in a direction different from the sheet direction acquired by the sheet direction acquisition unit can be realized in steps S24 and S25 of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus (for example, MFP) of the embodiment of the present invention, in a multi-function printer having a color printing function, a sheet on which a mark color is printed between jobs is printed. Equipped with a paper discharge control function that automatically creates a job to be inserted. The sheet is printed on the front side, and the mark color is printed in different colors on the adjacent separator pages. The paper is discharged in a different direction. As a result, the sheet serving as the separator page can be identified at a glance by identifying each user.

  Even if the user arbitrarily selects the print color of the sheet, the print color is automatically assigned with a certain print job cycle, so there is a possibility that the selected print color may overlap between adjacent print jobs. Disappear. As a result, the breaks in the printing paper are always easy to understand. Furthermore, even if the printed material is collected after a long time has passed since the print job was executed, the selected print color remains in the history information, so that each user has what color mark on his printed material. It is possible to take out the self-printing paper without fail. That is, the user can easily check and take out his / her printed matter without looking at the printed contents of the other printed matter.

  Note that the program described in this embodiment has a function of being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, read by the computer, and causing the computer to execute the image forming method of the present invention. With respect to such a function, the present embodiment has been described in the case where the function for carrying out the invention is recorded in advance in the apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a similar function may be downloaded from the network to the apparatus. A device having the same function stored in a recording medium may be installed in the apparatus. The recording medium may take any form as long as it can store a program such as a CD-ROM and can be read by the apparatus. In addition, the functions obtained by installing or downloading in advance may be realized in cooperation with an OS (operating system) or the like inside the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an MFP applied to the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for executing a sheet insertion job in the MFP applied to the present embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for creating a sheet insertion job in the MFP applied to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet is inserted at a print sheet break in the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 MFP, 2 printer function section, 3 FAX function section, 4 scanner function section,
5 ROM, 6 RAM, 7 page memory, 8 control panel, 9
Display unit, 10 operation unit, 11 interface unit (I / F unit), 12 paper feeder
12a paper feed unit, 12b cassette, 13 CPU, 21 printing paper, 22 sheets, 22a color printing

Claims (10)

An image forming apparatus that inserts a sheet representing a break between print jobs between print sheets discharged by each of a plurality of print jobs,
Sheet printing means for printing on the sheet in a predetermined color;
History storage means for storing information about colors printed by the sheet printing means as history;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a print color display unit configured to display information about the color stored as a history in the history storage unit in correspondence with the print job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a color changing unit that changes the predetermined color printed by the sheet printing unit for each print job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
An image forming apparatus comprising job information printing means for printing print job information on the sheet. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.
A color having a combination of the predetermined color printed by the sheet printing unit and the color of information printed by the job information printing unit as a table, and printing the information with respect to the printing color on the sheet An image forming apparatus characterized by the above. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
Paper orientation acquisition means for acquiring the orientation of the printing paper ejected in the print job;
Sheet insertion direction determination means for inserting a sheet in a direction different from the paper direction acquired by the paper direction acquisition means;
An image forming apparatus comprising: An image forming method for inserting a sheet representing a break between print jobs between print sheets discharged by each of a plurality of print jobs,
Printing on the sheet in a predetermined color,
Save information about the colors printed on the sheet as a history,
An image forming method for displaying information on the color stored as a history corresponding to the print job based on a user instruction. The image forming method according to claim 6.
An image forming method, wherein the predetermined color printed on the sheet is changed for each print job. The image forming method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein:
An image forming method, wherein print job information is printed on the sheet. An image forming program for causing a computer to execute an image forming method for inserting a sheet representing a break between print jobs between print sheets discharged by each of a plurality of print jobs,
Printing on the sheet in a predetermined color,
Save information about the colors printed on the sheet as a history,
An image forming program for causing a computer to display information about the color stored as a history corresponding to the print job based on a user instruction. The image forming program according to claim 9,
An image forming program for changing the predetermined color printed on the sheet for each print job.

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